The pale blue light from last night still lingered in the corner of his mind. Rimuru Tempest stepped into the great conference hall of Volga Manor, remembering the northeastern sky. He still didn't know what it had been. The report said "pale blue luminescent pattern." He hoped it was a mistake, but probably not. Well, I'll sort it out properly during today's meeting. With that thought, he settled into the seat at the head of the table. The conference hall was spacious. A long table stretched east to west, and magical stone lamps lined the stone walls at regular intervals. Morning light slanted through the high windows, illuminating the wood grain of the table. Two goblin scribes sat in the corner with pens and notepads at the ready. Two guards stood at attention on either side of the entrance. Rimuru set down the stack of documents in front of him. It was quite thick. The reconnaissance report Grimso had brought last night, layered with additional reports from each department—at a glance, he couldn't tell where one section ended and another began. (I'll have to read through this properly.) With that thought, he glanced down beneath his chair. The steamed bun he'd bought this morning at Haruna's shop—red bean paste flavor. Still in its wrapper, tucked underneath the stack of documents. To all appearances, it was completely part of the paperwork. No one would notice. A perfect hiding spot. "[gentle]Good morning, Rimuru-sama," The door opened quietly. Long pale pink hair caught the morning light and swayed softly. Shuna Onizawa entered. About 160 centimeters tall, slender, small horns on either side, clear aquamarine eyes. A notepad in one hand, a thick file in the other. The perfect aide, as always. Rimuru straightened his posture. "Hey, Shuna. Morning," "[gentle]Let me confirm the agenda right away. Since this is an emergency early session," Shuna stood at the edge of the table and opened her file. The executive council meetings mandated by the Tempest Coexistence Decree were normally held twice monthly with full attendance required and consensus as the principle—but this time, Shuna had judged the Galmburg situation urgent enough to call an emergency session ahead of schedule. She'd coordinated everyone's schedules, and it had come down to this morning. "First agenda: the abnormal outbreak of the Galmburg swarm. Second agenda: defense measures for the Volcera apiary. Third agenda—" "[excited]Oh yeah, Volcera honey. I heard there's a prototype with cinnamon flavor. What happened with that?" Rimuru flipped through the documents in front of him and read it aloud. "—Volcera honey new product development proposal, cinnamon flavor (prototype stage). I see, cinnamon. That sounds nice, it'd go well with steamed buns too—" "[cold]Rimuru-sama," Her voice was quiet. Calm, but completely unwavering. "That is the third agenda. Please start with the Galmburg matter," Rimuru stopped. He checked the stack of documents. Sure enough, the new product development proposal was on top. The Galmburg report was on the third page. Why had the order gotten mixed up? He quietly checked the very bottom of the stack. The steamed bun wrapper was there. It must have gotten shuffled when he'd tucked it in. When Rimuru said nothing, Shuna quietly approached. She picked up the wrapper. The bun's packaging fell with a soft flutter, and Shuna gently placed it in front of Rimuru. She said nothing. Her expression didn't change. She simply set it down with tremendous quiet. Rimuru shrank a little. "…I'll organize this," He carefully arranged the documents in order, putting the Galmburg report on top. Shuna returned to her seat—next to Rimuru, slightly forward—and the goblin scribes resumed writing as if nothing had happened. The guards remained at attention. Alright. Let's start over. "So, let's begin with Galmburg," Shuna stood and opened the file she'd been holding. She pulled out a large sheet of paper—a detailed map of the northeastern part of the Great Jura Forest. She spread it across the table, and red dots marked according to the reconnaissance team's reports lined up in rows. "[serious]Please look at this. These are the Galmburg sighting locations," Shuna's finger traced across the map. "Compared to last month's sightings, this month exceeds eight times that number. And—when you connect all the sighting points, they form this shape," An arc. Rimuru had noticed it last night too, but seeing it on the map made it unmistakable. The dots formed a curve that enclosed something from three directions. At the center— "The Volcera flower garden," "[serious]Yes. The swarm is moving in a formation that surrounds the apiary. Normally, Galmburg act as solitary hunters. This level of coordinated swarm behavior has never been confirmed since Tempest's founding," Shuna opened her notepad and continued, checking numbers. "Volcera honey is the primary ingredient in the recovery potion that Tempest produces five hundred bottles of monthly. At two hundred milliliters per bottle, it's a luxury item worth five silver coins, and in trade treaties with human nations like the Ingrassia Kingdom, recovery potions are positioned as a primary export. If the apiary is destroyed, potion production stops. Exports are delayed. Trade treaty obligations are compromised—this isn't just monster extermination. It's a national economic issue," Rimuru groaned. "I know. I was thinking the same thing last night," "One more point," Shuna pointed to another location on the map. "All sighted individuals have the pale blue pattern on their backs. This is not a normal Galmburg characteristic. According to witness testimony, the swarm's movements aren't chaotic—they're orderly, as if receiving instructions," "They're being coordinated?" "[serious]That's a possibility. However, at this point, we don't know who or what is coordinating them. We've also detected unusual magical waves from beyond the Mist Gate—approximately sixty kilometers northwest from here, in unexplored territory—but the investigation team hasn't reached it yet," Rimuru studied the map. Attraction to honey. Abnormal swarm behavior. Pale blue patterns. Something coming from beyond the Mist Gate. The pieces didn't fit together. But this wasn't something to ignore. "What are the countermeasures?" "[serious]Broadly, two options. One: set traps around the apiary and eliminate them all at once. Two: venture into the forest, locate the swarm's origin point, and remove the root cause," "Set traps and take them all out at once…" Rimuru murmured absently, studying the map. If Galmburg were attracted to honey, then if he produced more honey and concentrated it in one place— "[excited]Wait, what if we increased honey production and built one huge apiary to lure them all there and take them out together? If we expanded the Volcera bee colonies—" "[cold]In other words," Shuna paused for a breath. "You're suggesting we increase honey production to attract bears?" "[excited]Exactly!" "[cold]Expanding the Volcera bee colonies takes a minimum of three months," "…………" "[cold]During which time, all current apiaries will be destroyed," "…………" "[cold]And our inventory will be depleted," The conference hall fell silent. The goblin scribes quietly stopped writing. The guards remained at attention, though their eyes had shifted slightly upward. Rimuru quietly picked up the steamed bun from the table and took a bite. It was delicious. But he couldn't appreciate it right now. "…I see," "[gentle]However, I don't think the direction of your thinking is wrong. The principle of luring traps could work. The issue is scale and timeline, so if we use the existing apiaries for an attraction strategy—" The door suddenly burst open. A goblin messenger. Small-framed, sweating, breathing hard as he rushed in. His face was pale. "[scared]Rimuru-sama! Emergency! A report from the reconnaissance team—!" Rimuru stood. He set the steamed bun on the table. "Speak," "[scared]The Volcera flower garden, the southern apiary! It's been attacked by a Galmburg swarm! At least four of them! Three bee colonies destroyed, three goblin beekeepers struck by claws and injured!" Rimuru looked at the map. The southern apiary. Last night, he'd seen pale blue light in the northeastern sky. That direction and the current damage location—they matched. "What's the current situation?" "[scared]The swarm is still in the area. The injured have been evacuated, but the remaining beekeepers are isolated!" The atmosphere in the conference hall, which moments ago had been discussing steamed buns, completely changed. "[serious]Rimuru-sama," Shuna's eyes fell on the map as she spoke quietly. "Even if we handle this with traps, unless we sever the cause coordinating the swarm, this will repeat. We need to act on both apiary defense and cause investigation simultaneously," Rimuru nodded. He'd assign defense command to someone here. The investigation—he needed to go into the forest himself and see with his own eyes. The light from last night, the swarm's abnormality, the magical waves from beyond the Mist Gate. Reading reports in a conference room wouldn't answer these questions. He couldn't hide behind paperwork now. "I'm going to investigate. I need to see it myself," "[serious]Understood. I'll accompany you. Going alone is dangerous," No hesitation. She said it without a beat of pause. Rimuru was slightly surprised and looked at Shuna. Her aquamarine eyes were calm, unwavering. The eyes of someone who'd made a decision. "I'll hand off defense command to another executive. That work?" "[serious]I'll arrange it. I'll prepare the departure schedule and documents, so please wait about an hour," "Got it," He instructed the messenger on casualty care and site maintenance, then left the conference hall. --- When he returned to his office, Shuna followed immediately. She needed to prepare tomorrow's travel documents. As Rimuru spread out a map copy and equipment checklist at his desk, Shuna naturally took position beside him, pulling documents from her file and arranging them. For a while, there was only the sound of paper. "…Do you need a copy of the Galmburg damage map?" Shuna held out a sheet toward Rimuru. As he reached to take it, their fingers overlapped. Just for a moment. Shuna's hand hesitated slightly. Rimuru was looking at the map. His mind was full of sighting distributions, apiary locations, distances to the Mist Gate. He noticed nothing else. "[gentle]…No, I'll keep this," Shuna quickly took the map back. Her voice was normal. Calm as always. Rimuru nodded while arranging documents. "That's easier to manage. You keep it," "[gentle]Understood. Don't forget," Shuna wrote something in her notepad. Departure time, list of documents to bring, messages for the executive taking over defense command. Her neat handwriting filled the small squares in orderly rows. Rimuru glanced at her briefly. "Shuna, you don't have to come if it's too much. The forest is pretty dangerous," "[gentle]I'm coming," Immediate answer. Without even looking up from her notepad. "Without me, you'd hold the map upside down," "…That only happened once," "[gentle]I'm glad you remember," Rimuru smiled wryly. Shuna stood. She organized the documents and filed them away. Before leaving the office to arrange departure preparations, she turned back at the door. "[gentle]Six o'clock at the front entrance tomorrow morning. Don't be late, Rimuru-sama," "I'll be there. I'll wake up," "[gentle]Just one steamed bun, please. The luggage will get heavy on the journey," "…How do you know about that?" "[gentle]Don't forget," The door closed quietly. Rimuru remained alone in his office, studying the map. The Volcera flower garden. The apiaries. The Mist Gate. The depths of Jura. What were the bears with pale