Side: Yuki (Kazuya Torino)
On the monitor, soldiers could be seen falling into the abyss below—about 100 meters down.
"W-What have you done!? Don't you have any pride as a Dungeon Master!?"
Seraria shouted something incomprehensible as she rushed toward me.
But from my perspective, I had no idea what she was talking about.
"...Uh, what exactly is 'Dungeon Master's pride'?"
"It means placing monsters, watching over them, and engaging in glorious battles against those strong enough to reach this point!"
I'm starting to get a headache.
"...Hey, Oriel. Do other dungeons not have traps?"
"No, they normally do."
"Sorry, Seraria. I don't see what the problem is here."
"It's cowardly! Our country's soldiers are advancing head-on, and you're using pitfall traps!?"
"Uh... they're attacking a weaker dungeon with overwhelming numbers. Isn't that the cowardly part?"
"...That's that! And this is this!"
This conversation is going nowhere!
"My apologies. Seraria-sama is a martial advocate and dislikes underhanded tactics. Her principle is that the military should fight gloriously, and that is the source of the Roshure Kingdom's strength."
Oriel interjects, which sparks a question in my mind.
"Hey... does this country not have strategists? Like tacticians or staff officers?"
"Strategists? Staff officers? What are those?"
Seraria tilted her head in confusion.
"They're... people who plan battles. Like civil officials, I guess."
"What are you talking about? What use is a civil official on a battlefield? Sigh, you really don't know war, do you? The battlefield is ruled by 'Heavenly Luck'. No matter how much you outnumber the enemy or how many high-level allies you have, you cannot win without 'Heavenly Luck'. Small tricks are useless. In fact, they only tarnish your name!!"
...That is some wild theory.
As expected of a civilization on par with medieval Europe... No, even they were definitely better than this.
"While Seraria-sama's words are a bit extreme, it is true that if someone is high-level enough, they can rampage freely even in direct combat, and strategies can be crushed. Additionally, there are many uncertain factors such as skills..."
Oriel added.
I see... So it's the drawbacks of levels and skills.
In this world, the higher your level, the stronger you are. And the stronger you are, the more absurd things you can get away with. No wonder overpowered individuals are so common—and why strategic thinking is considered unnecessary.
"To win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill. I'll show you what that means... well, we are already fighting, but it's close enough."
"One hundred victories... what?"
"It's a famous saying from my country... well, from a book. To put it simply: ‘Always consider the method with the least casualties.' I'll explain it in detail later."
"What are you talking about!? The dungeon is already under attack! Talking about minimizing losses... huh?"
It seems Seraria noticed the contradiction in her own words. She's not stupid, at least.
"Is something wrong, Chii-anesama? Are you feeling unwell?"
"...I'm fine, Elju. Oriel, do you notice?"
"Notice what, Highness?"
"This guy... he hasn't taken a single loss yet."
"Ah!"
"!?"
Elju and Oriel also finally realized the current situation.
Exactly. My subordinates' casualties: zero. We haven't even entered a melee. Yet the enemy has lost about 200 men "without fighting."
The two of them stare at me in awe.
Well, whatever. Let's watch what the enemy does next.... Oh, looks like they've figured out that only groups of six can pass through. I even put up a sign, so it was only a matter of time.
Now then... the next part is where it gets interesting.
After passing through a long 500-meter corridor, there's a door. If there are six or fewer people, the door opens into the next room. And waiting there is a literal monster—a Level 95 "Blood Minotaur", summoned with all the DP I've saved over the past ten days.
The six soldiers who face it freeze for a second, but they immediately spring into action. They aren't Royal Guards for nothing.
Meanwhile, the Minotaur didn't move an inch.
"Why isn't it moving!? Give it an order already!"
Seraria screams at me in a panic. But she's mistaken.
"I already gave it an order: 'Eliminate the leftovers'."
"Leftovers...?"
"Look at the monitor."
The room is quite large, partly so the Minotaur can go wild... but there's another reason.
Suddenly, a sound echoes from the monitor.
CLANG!!
『Wha, UWAAAAAAAAAHHHHH─!!』
『KYAAAAAAA─!!』
『W-What... another pitfall!?』
In front of where the Minotaur stands, a darkness leading to the abyss has opened up.
『D-Dammit, everyone...! Curse you!』
Oh, one guy barely managed to stay outside the pitfall's range, huh... I should adjust the settings.
『S-Stay back! UWAAAAHHHHHHHHH!』
Minotaur-kun proceeded to "eliminate the leftovers" into the pit, just as ordered.
"..."
"..."
"..."
I'll leave the young ladies to their stunned silence.
Why would you think there wouldn't be traps in a boss room? The enemy is bound to stop and act cautiously there. Why wouldn't I exploit that?
"...Are you just playing around? Are you toying with the fight?! Why are you fighting in such a way that tramples opponent's pride!? If you were going to do this, you might as well have just dropped them all into pitfalls from the start!"
Seraria was furious.
"Well, that would be true if my goal were just to annihilate the enemies inside the dungeon."
If my goal was to annihilate everyone inside, it would've been more efficient to trap them all in pitfalls at once.
"Look at the monitor. After hearing about the damage, reinforcements have entered. About 500 more from outside."
Military combat relies on numbers—and reserves are always kept. This time is no exception. About 2,000 troops were deployed, but only half initially entered the dungeon.
"So... you set traps to cause heavy initial losses, then forced them to proceed in small groups... all to lure in the remaining forces?"
"Right. If a thousand soldiers were wiped out instantly, they'd retreat. But if they take casualties but think they can proceed if they're careful, they'll come, right? Especially since the nation's pride is at stake."
"Unbelievable... You even considered their situation?"
"Of course. 'Know your enemy and know yourself, and in a hundred battles, you will never be in peril.'"
"What's that saying... I can guess from context, which makes it more sinister..."
"They attacked me first. The least they can do is help me gather some data."
"Data? What are you planning now?"
"Nothing much. I just want them to surrender. They've been a real pain, and I ended up having to shelter a loudmouth princess because of them."
"WHAT DID YOU SAY!?"
"Um, Yuki-san... how exactly are they supposed to surrender? There are still over 1,000 soldiers left..."
As Seraria was about to lunge at me, Elju asked a question.
A reasonable question.
"That's simple. Okay, the reinforcements have joined up. Now, I'll leave the pitfall in the entrance corridor open. What happens then?"
"The soldiers inside the dungeon... will be completely isolated?"
The entrance corridor is about 300 meters long—too long to bridge with nearby trees.
"Um... how does that lead them to surrender?"
"Elju, what do humans need to survive?"
"What do humans need to survive... Necessities like food?"
"Exactly. The soldiers inside have no way to resupply. That means they have to break through that Minotaur with the ruthless traps in groups of six... then get through whatever traps are on the second floor, then defeat us... and even then, they don't know if they can escape."
"...I see. And there's no water on the first floor. Without water, a person won't last more than three days. They may have some supplies... but..."
"They'll last five days at most..."
Oriel and Seraria pieced it together.
"Ah!"
Elju finally understood what I was getting at through the other two's words.
"So if they want to survive... their only option is to surrender to us."
Seraria muttered in disbelief.
"To actually win with zero casualties..."
"...It is an unbelievable sight."
Well then—time to sit back and wait for the other side to surrender.
"Know the enemy and know yourself." and "He wins his battles by making no mistakes." I never thought I'd actually experience it firsthand. As expected of Sun Tzu.
"Ah, another one fell."
On the monitor, another "brave" soldier (lol) plummeted while heroically charging the Minotaur.
He was probably dead serious. But hey, it's not every day you get to die while getting a laugh out of the audience, right?
