Dungeon Defense (WN)

Chapter 92: A King and his General (5)

ΟΟΟ

The office became quiet. It felt like the temperature had dropped.

I heard the boisterous laughter from outside the window. Once I glimpsed outside the window, I saw Brother Beleth with a liquor jug holding a small banquet with a few Demon Lords on the castle courtyard. Brother Beleth must’ve felt my gaze as he waved towards me. I smiled and waved back.

A languid landscape of fir groves and mounds of red clay on a hill stretched out beyond the castle walls. I drank a gulp of my whiskey as I stared out the window for a while. There was a type of eternity paused within nature itself. The laugher from the banquet grabbed on to it and dragged it out.

“Commander Paimon will end up betraying the demon world. She will be attacking her own allies. Would this not infuriate the Neutral Faction and the unaffiliated Demon Lords?”

“They simply have to create a justification. The demon world has already experienced 2,000 years of failure. The number of demons that doubt the Crescent Alliance, no, the number of demons that doubt Demon Lords themselves are not few in numbers.”

Ivar Lodbrok is a prime example. As the owner of the Keuncuska Firm and a vampire lord, she was greatly disappointed in the genuine state of Demon Lords. In the end, Ivar betrays the Demon Lord army. She devotes herself to the free company led by the hero. It is highly doubtful that she alone is the only citizen of the demon world that has disassociated themselves from Demon Lords.

“If there is no hope for success, then what is the point of these expeditions? Every time the Crescent Alliance fails, hundreds of orcs, ogres, and other monsters die. Are the Demon Lords not gambling with the lives of demonkind……? This concern is undoubtedly in the minds of the people.”

It isn’t a coincidence that the Mountain Faction managed to push the Plains Faction aside and become the largest faction of the Demon Lord army. The rise of the Mountain Faction is also reflected by the trends within demon society. Instead of needlessly wasting campaign funds and the lives of demonkind, we should try to work together with the humans―This sort of ideology has been on the rise lately.

“In this situation, the Plains Faction will cooperate with the third imperial princess. The Plains Faction will officially accept the third imperial princess’ request for an armistice and she will acknowledge the land the Demon Lord army had occupied as ours. Do you know what this would mean? With this, the Demon Lord army will have not conquered the continent, but it will have acquired a certain amount of land.”

A hopeless conquest or a definite acquirement of land.

Even if you didn’t ask, it’s obvious which option demon society would prefer more. The demon world was clearly exhausted after 2,000 years of expeditions. People would more than gladly send their applause to Paimon’s decisive measure if it means we can acquire an immediate, tangible achievement. ‘A Demon Lord who attained a definite profit over some antiquated cause.’ Paimon will be praised like this.

I smiled.

“The first achievement in 2,000 years of the Crescent Alliance’s history. There is a reason why Paimon is a frightening individual. Paimon is not the one who fought while shedding blood. The Plains Faction did that. And yet, Paimon will manage to reap every merit for herself simply by having a secret treaty with the third imperial princess. War is nothing more than a scheme. A single person’s tongue is more terrifying than a hundred people’s fists.”

“……Commander Barbatos will not stand idly by.”

I shook my head.

“What else can she do? Laura, we previously discussed the Heaven, Earth, and Man aspects of war. Compared to the 1st legion, the 6th legion is behind in all three aspects.”

First, a cause. While the 6th legion has some old and dated cause like conquering the continent, the 1st legion has the cause of leading demonkind to a new world in a more practical way. If the former is nothing more than a cause, then the latter is practical as well.

Next, the lay of the land. If things go according to Paimon’s plan, then the 6th legion will be surrounded by the 1st legion and the third imperial princess’ army. The popular sentiment of the people will instantly begin to shake as we lose ground, and this will lead to them revolting here and there in order to look good for the future owners of the land.

We’ll have enemies on all sides followed by internal discord. There’s no way we could win.

Finally, manpower. The 6th legion Plains Faction has a force of 18,000 soldiers. This number will most likely be sharply reduced after fighting against the margraves and the crown prince’s soldiers. On the other hand, the 1st legion Mountain Faction is the largest group in the Demon Lord army with 30,000 troops. Include the third imperial princess’ army here. The Plains Faction will have to fight against a force almost 3 to 4 times their size. 

The result is obvious.

“We will be surrounded and wiped out…….”

Laura let out a sigh. I nodded.

“If the commander refuses the armistice and we end up fighting for our lives, then that would simply lead us into being criticized by demonkind. They would say that we are throwing away a golden opportunity to obtain land for the sake of something trivial like a cause.”

Paimon will most likely shed alligator tears as she declares this: It is truly sad that we must fight our own kind, but for the sake of a greater cause, we must continue forward. Let us embrace this tragedy for the sake of achieving the wishes of demonkind…….

As a result, the Plains Faction will be wiped out. The Mountain Faction will occupy the northern region of the Habsburg Empire. The Mountain Faction will once again be acknowledged as the biggest faction of the Demon Lord army. At that point, the Neutral Faction and the Demon Lords with no affiliation will have no other choice but to be led by the Mountain Faction as they make decisive decisions.

Paimon, as the Rank 9 Demon Lord, will practically have control over the entire Demon Lord army. For the sake of the Mountain Faction’s absolute supremacy……. If you exclude how she trusts her own people too excessively, she is quite a capable individual.

“Is this not a terrible situation?”

Laura spoke up somewhat urgently.

“We will be utterly helpless. What do you plan to do?”

“Well, let us applaud Paimon’s scheme.”

“……Lord.”

Laura narrowed her eyes and glared at me. I was being serious, though.

To be able to win a war without fighting, that is truly an impressive plan. Her style is completely different from Barbatos who believes war is an aggregation of battles. Honestly, I prefer Paimon’s methodology over Barbatos’. A methodology that’s wicked, silent, and mercilessly stabs the back of the opposition.

Oh dear, Laura’s gaze has gotten stronger. It seems this is as far as my joke goes. I spoke with a smile.

“Our 6th legion will have only one option left. We will accept the imperial princess’ armistice. We will immediately stop the war against Habsburg. We will take the fame Paimon is trying to acquire for ourselves.”

“Mm.”

Laura twirled her side bang around her finger. This was a habit of hers that would come out whenever she was in deep thought.

“I see. It will be the 6th legion that conquers the northern region of Habsburg and not the 1st legion. Therefore, our 6th legion will be the one to receive the support of demonkind……. That is not bad.”

“It will not satisfy the Plains Faction as they wish to conquer the continent, but, well. we will simply have to teach the members of the Plains Faction how to be satisfied with life.”

For the most part, Barbatos, that loli earl, is way too greedy. She’s the type of person to want everything or get nothing at all. She needs to live a little more wisely.

“If we do this, then Commander Paimon will gain nothing.”

“No. Even if the 6th legion accepts the armistice, Paimon does not lose anything.”

“Why is that?”

“Must you really ask?”

I asked back. Laura touched her golden hair.

Shortly after, her eyes opened wide.

“……! The Teuton Kingdom!”

“That is correct.”

As I thought. Laura is a great conversation partner. She tosses me the questions and answers that I want to hear. Referentially, you must have at least the same amount of knowledge as Laura in order for a conversation to have a moderate amount of tension. A conversation where only one side does the talking isn’t interesting.

“The 1st legion would profit greatly simply by advancing through the northern region of Habsburg. The 1st legion would normally have to go through the fortresses on the Black Mountains like we had in order to advance to the Teuton Kingdom; however, the 1st legion will be able to get through the Black Mountains without shedding a single drop of blood by using the path we had opened up. Most importantly…….”

Laura continued in an excited tone.

“If the armistice is established safely, then the 1st legion can turn their flag bearers and invade the Teuton Kingdom from the southern side of their nation which has no defenses against demons prepared! If the 1st legion plays their cards right, they could seize the entirety of the Teuton Kingdom!”

I nodded gently in agreement.

That’s right. To Paimon, it doesn’t matter whether the 6th legion accepts or denies the armistice. If we refuse, then she’ll form an alliance with the third imperial princess and wipe the 6th legion out, gaining control over the northern region of Habsburg.

If we accept, then they’ll turn their attention towards the Teuton Kingdom. Traditionally, the Habsburg Empire and the Teuton Kingdom have had friendly relations, so Teuton has not set up any particular defenses on their border with Habsburg. The 1st legion will invade from that front. The Teuton Kingdom will most likely get trampled over miserably.

In the end, compared to the 6th legion, which will have only conquered a corner of the Habsburg Empire, the 1st legion will have achieved an even greater feat by conquering an entire kingdom. This will solidify the Mountain Faction’s position even more.

This isn’t all. The Plains Faction won’t be the group to lead the armistice with the third imperial princess, it’ll be the Mountain Faction. The Plains Faction will simply have acknowledged the agreement a little later. The Mountain Faction will take a portion of the Plain Faction’s achievement as well. Paimon will benefit no matter what we do. Barbatos’ loss……this will be a great, inexcusable loss.

Laura emptied her glass in an instant. Her shoulders were trembling ever so slightly.

“Is this a trap?”

“Yes. This is war.”

They say that the people who win wars are the ones who ascertain their victory before fighting……. Fundamentally, it’s no different from the battle that was forced upon us by Riff and the party of 70 adventurers he was leading. Laura started an internal conflict between the mountain villages and caused the collapse of Riff’s party.

The 6th legion took the task of breaching the Black Mountains and defeating the margraves as their mission. We were simply looking at our opponents as enemies. Paimon is different. She has a thorough grasp of the situation within the Habsburg Empire and distinguishes between people who could be her allies and her enemies. Thus, she has planned things out to be advantageous for her allies regardless of what the 6th legion does.

Think ahead of people who think ahead and obtain victory before people who act ahead. 

“……It feels like this young lady’s understanding of war has abruptly broadened.”

“Congratulations. Please continue to grow quickly.”

“However, there is a large hole in this plan. You.”

Laura held her glass towards me.

“Excluding Your Lordship, no one in the 6th legion should have grasped this situation. No, even in the Mountain Faction, Paimon is most likely the only one who is aware of this. But Your Lordship managed to figure it out. The playing field will change according to how Your Lordship decides to act. However, Your Lordship has not told anyone about this and is simply drinking away by yourself. What exactly is Your Lordship hoping to accomplish?”

“…….”

I pour Laura more whiskey with an impassive look on my face. Her glass was soon filled. I didn’t stop pouring. The alcohol overflowed out of her glass and spilled onto the ground. I continued to pour the whiskey until the bottle was empty.

“There is only one thing that I want. Anarchy.”

“Anarchy……?”

“Laura, lengthen and widen your view. The commander of the 1st legion forms an alliance with the third imperial princess of the Habsburg Empire and the commander of the 6th legion signs a treaty as well. Do you not understand what this would mean?”

I chuckled.

“This means that Demon Lords will be diving into international politics. Until now, demons and humans have been nothing more than archenemies. However, it will suddenly be revealed to the world that demons and humans are capable of working together or against one another. The war between races will come to an end. Demons and humans will not act according to their races, they will act solely for the sake of their own interests. Groups will form and split up according to each individual person’s interest.”

Laura’s soft lips opened. I could feel the shock in her breath. She must’ve figured it out as well. I continued as my enjoyment surged out.

“Anarchy, Laura! We will arrive at unprecedented anarchy. The long-cherished wishes of each race will fade into history and rivalries where people fight solely for the sake of their own factions, profits, and beliefs, will unfold. Do you not hear it yet? The sound of a new era approaching!”

***

TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter. Yup, I’m translating sort of fast now. Enjoy it while you can! I might burn out soon. 

Uuuh…that’s all I have to say? See you guys on the next chapter.