Dungeon Defense (WN)

“I am not sure what you are saying, Monsieur Bernard.”

“You dare try to disdain me? Hah. You have become quite arrogant after having received Barbatos’ affection.”

Once I deliberately said his fake name, Leraje furrowed his brows. It wasn’t surprising that he would be upset since I chose to act ignorant instead of apologizing for being discourteous.

“I smell the foul stench of a pig’s rotten innards. Is it not your pride? You are making a foolish mistake if you think Habsburg and Frankia are the same, young Demon Lord. The sacred land of Demon Lords and the Black Mountains do not exist here!”

“I still do not understand what you are trying to say.”

Leraje was giving off a very fierce mood. It was to the point that the rims of my eyes were trembling. If I hadn’t already faced numerous high-ranking Demon Lords before, then I would have probably pissed myself and groveled.

“As Your Highness pointed out, I am young and do not know many things. Nonetheless, there is one thing that I am aware of.”

However, I knew how to move my tongue despite the fear my body was feeling. I was like a canvasser, who had spent their entire life wandering, facing an emperor during a period of war.

“Regardless of whether it be Habsburg or Frankia, Demon Lords are Demon Lords and humans are humans.”

“Demon Lords are the enemy of humans and the humans are the enemy of Demon Lords……is this not the case?”

Leraje’s face contorted further.

I was simply smiling like a polite youth.

“I must confess that I have been waiting a long time to meet Your Highness. The other Demon Lords in the Plains Faction seem to ignore Your Highness somewhat, but I am different. It is a fundamental strategy in military tactics to assault the enemy from behind during a war. It may only be a basic, but a basic nonetheless.”

“…….”

“No one would want to do this, but someone had to. Not only does it not attract much attention, but it gives little merits as well. This is the type of task that Your Highness had carried out. I believed that, without a doubt, Your Highness was loyal to our true cause and devoted to the Crescent Alliance…….”

Leraje’s expression lightened up as I continued to speak. I could tell that his flames were waning.

“Thus I was rather disappointed by Your Highness’ display today. Why were you so passionate about something that belongs to human culture? Humans are our enemies.”

“Hmph.”

Leraje let out a snort. His interest was gone. That was the impression I got from him.

“I was wondering what sort of person you were since you’ve been making a name for yourself lately……but it seems you are but a simple ‘Demon Lord’.”

Leraje took out a bottle of wine from a chest that was inside the carriage. He uncorked it with his bare hands before drinking straight out of the bottle.

“A simple Demon Lord?”

I asked back a little more shamelessly.

“Your Highness has been saying confusing things since earlier.”

“I am saying that you are not interesting, young Demon Lord. Gravitas is like a ray of sunlight that chases away all of the subtle shades and shadows of the world. Furthermore, it makes everything boring and strict under the pretext of cleansing them. This is why I dislike my comrades of the Plains Faction to a certain extent.”

His anger was long gone. Leraje was now scorning me.

Contrary to Leraje’s young appearance, he spoke like an old man. There was a strange kind of charm hearing a handsome, young man talk like an old man. The Demon Lord before me possessed both the air of a young man and a wise, old man.

“Let me ask you a question.”

Leraje spoke with a jeer.

“Not only did you not pillage the land of Brandenburg, but you promised them safety and freedom. This is an absurd decision to make for someone who believes that humans are our enemies. Why did you do this?”

“Because our long-cherished ambition far precedes something like my own personal feelings.”

I responded a matter-of-factly.

“Killing the humans in Brandenburg would have given an immediate satisfaction, but that would push the day we conquer the continent further away. If it is for the sake of our ambition, I can more than gladly endure the foul stench of humans.”

“Kuku. Our ambition, is it……?”

Leraje gulped down the wine.

“It’s been a while since I last met a loony this devoted to the Plains Faction. It makes sense that Barbatos would want to raise you. How could she not be happy when she found a dog that would earnestly bark for her?”

I erased the smile from my face and brought my voice down to a serious tone.

“……Your Highness. I apologize, but are you criticizing our supreme commander?”

“Kuhahaha!”

Leraje burst out into abrupt laughter.

“He’s even loyal to his master! This is quite the spectacle. You must bark quite a bunch in front of Barbatos. Kuku. I can guess what sort of state the center of the continent must be in if Habsburg was split apart by someone like you.”

“…….”

“Well, then. I understand why Barbatos sent a guy like you to me. Your mind is on the level of a child, so it would naturally frustrate those under Barbatos.”

Leraje was now looking at me with a gaze partially mixed with scorn and sympathy. Scorn and sympathy, this meant that he was completely looking down on me.

I grinned broadly in my mind.

‘It worked.’

There was something that I realized after dealing with crafty and wicked Demon Lords for the past year. Persuading the other party and making them understand wasn’t the only way to go about things.

Strategy and tactics exist in the art of conversation, so even if you lose the battle, you simply have to win the war. You don’t have to move the other party emotionally. You don’t have to receive their goodwill either.

I was going to pretend to be a typical idiot and give Leraje the impression that I was a foolish and shortsighted individual. It was easy to make him perceive me as ‘this sort of character’.

If I do this, then.

“You, your name is Dantalian, right? Have you ever stayed in a human city for at least half a month?”

“……No. I have not.”

“Kuh. You speak of annihilating humankind despite not having touched flesh with them for even half a month. I have never witnessed someone act like such a clown. Is this not like trying to conquer a mountain without having ever seen one before?”

―The other party was under the delusion that he was superior.

There was no need for him to investigate further into me. His reconnaissance was basically over.

This will make him think that I’m not strong enough to be worried about and that it should be fine to ignore me. He was basically lowering his mental guard before me completely.

Of course, I couldn’t end it here.

“……Your Highness, something like that is not important in our current situation.”

“Our current situation? Did you say our current situation? Kuhaha. How could you resemble my young self so much?”

Leraje laughed while spilling some of his wine.

“It is like the arrow that I had thoughtlessly shot in the past had come back now to pierce me through the heart. How intriguing. It is quite the sight to see someone who does not even know himself talk about the current situation. Fine. Tell me about it.”

“As you know, our Demon Lord army is on the verge of splitting apart again.”

I told him. I gave off a tone that sounded as if I were upset after Leraje had scorned me, but barely managed to endure it. Leraje seemed to notice this as well as he constantly had a smirk on his lips.

I must look like a child who’s trying to do his best. There was nothing more refreshing to see than this for Leraje.

He had been working hard by his lonesome at the border and some rookie Demon Lord he had never seen before had risen up in rank within the main army. He was curious to see what sort of person the rookie was, but it turned out that he was a rather immature brat who believed all humans were evil and all demons were good.

A brat among brats……. This was mixed together with the negative emotions Leraje had inadvertently piled up over time toward the main army, thus making it feel as if Leraje was laughing at the entire main army by laughing at me.

He was definitely below the main army in terms of distinguished military service, but he was far superior when it came to the class of Demon Lords.

The main army isn’t impressive. The accomplishments the 8th Crescent Alliance managed to make were most likely from luck……. He will probably console himself subconsciously like this.

I spoke with a serious tone.

“Her Highness Barbatos and our Plains Faction had shed sweat and blood in order to conquer Habsburg, but the other Demon Lords are atrociously demanding for the land to be divided. A compromise is impossible if you consider Her Highness Barbatos’ temper. Therefore, the Crescent Alliance expedition is no longer simply about the humans fighting demons.”

Leraje glanced at me as he drank his wine.

“The problem is the humans. We must keep in mind that the humans had cooperated with that wretched Paimon before. The humans had worked together with Paimon in order to set our Plains Faction up in a trap and annihilate us all at once…….”

I grit my teeth. I made it seem like I got angry just at the act of mentioning Paimon’s name. Even I felt like I was putting on an amazing performance.

“What does this mean? This means that humans and Demon Lord are more than capable of cooperating for the sake of their own personal gains. This is especially the case now since the Demon Lord army had become divided.”

“Hm…….”

“Contrary to our army’s division, the human alliance is still strong. If the other Demon Lords try to bring the humans in now to hurt their fellow kind, then this would only benefit the humans. Your Highness, the Crescent Alliance will fail once again.”

Leraje spoke up.

“So? What are you saying we have to do in order to prevent the failure of the Crescent Alliance?”

“Uniting the Demon Lord army is a far-off task. We have no other choice but to put our enemies in the same situation as us because of this. Your Highness, we must divide the human world.”

“And how do you intend to do that?”

The boredom in Leraje’s eyes slowly faded away.

He no longer believed that I was simply a ‘shallow-minded rookie’. He probably thinks I’m a ‘shallow-minded, but somewhat cunning rookie’ now.

“Frankia is definitely right below Habsburg in terms of size. Lord Satan must be watching over us as a civil war is brewing within Frankia.”

“The Empress Dowager and the Emperor do not intend to fight seriously.”

Leraje asserted.

“What mother would try to kill her own son?”

“But the Emperor does not think the same……now does he?”

“…….”

Leraje put down his bottle.

Now he thinks I’m a ‘shallow-minded and somewhat cunning rookie with a formidable information network’. I was deliberately leading him on to think this.

“A civil war will happen. The issue is how much this civil war will expand. It cannot simply end as a fight between royalists and republicans. There is a need to incite the people of Frankia as well.”

“Incite the people of Frankia?”

“Not only were they hit with the Black Death and a famine, but if the lords were also to forget their duties……then those foolish human commoners would no longer be able to hold back their anger.”

Leraje touched his front bangs. This seemed to be a habit of his that would come out whenever he fell into deep thought. Okay, let’s remember this.

“What do you mean about lords forgetting their duties?”

“It is simple. I will lead a trustworthy group of mercenaries. Please lead your troops to attack certain areas. We will respond from the inside.”

“Hm. So you’re saying that you will ultimately conquer those territories. There is no point in even considering this idea. Demon Lords are the enemy of humankind. This will only give them an excuse to stop their internal fighting.”

I shook my head.

“No, it is the opposite. I apologize, but Your Highness must get driven back.”

“What?”

“However, you must get driven back by our mercenaries and not the lords.”

I continued.

“The armies of those lords will be unable to handle the Demon Lord army that was suppressed by mercenaries. The areas protected by our mercenaries will suffer almost no losses, while the areas protected by those lords will incur great losses. This will dramatically decrease the trust these regional lords possess.”

“…….”

“If our mercenaries leave in this situation……can Your Highness imagine how the commoners will react? Their frustration toward their lords should be at its peak at this point.”

Leraje became silent.

He finally opened his mouth after fiddling with his front bang for a while.

“Tsk, I see. You’re a rookie, but your skills are unquestionable.”

“……You are praising me too much.”

I gave a doubtful response. I made it seem like I wasn’t pleased with being called a rookie. Of course, my true thoughts differed completely. I didn’t care whether he thought I was a rookie or not.

It didn’t matter if he thought I was an idiot either. I can endure ridicule. What does pointing at a pile of garbage and calling it garbage change? You simply have to enjoy the meals I prepare for you, Leraje.

He gets to feel satisfied by his sense of superiority while I get to accomplish my goal. No one is losing here. It’s a win-win situation.

Everyone can be happy as long as I alone throw away my self-respect? Isn’t this a great business deal?

However.

My mind felt cold.

Something would get worn down whenever I would deceive and scorn someone overwhelmingly more powerful than myself and create a seat for myself like I am now. It was another side of my mind.

This was why I needed someone like Laura and Lapis. I need someone whom I don’t have to pretend around next to me. They will probably greet me with a smile and say I did a good job when I return……. That was more than enough for me. I put on a lame, rookie-like expression on my face.

***

TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter. Weather is really hot. I’m dying. Coming home to 97F/37C is the worst. Summer wasn’t this bad last year. What was this chapter about again? I don’t know. Can’t concentrate. I’ll see you guys in the next chapter.

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