Dungeon Defense (WN)

* * *

I was sleeping in a room with Daisy like usual.

I would always sleep in the same room as her ever since I took Daisy in. I told the people around us that she was my adopted daughter, so there was nothing strange about it. Whenever I would return after a day of work to our quarters or inn room, Daisy would be seated on a chair doing homework. Most of the homework Jeremi would give her involved studying the ancient empire language.

“……Ugh, hgh.”

She would occasionally muffle herself as she moaned. Those were the times Luke was using the slime onahole to masturbate. That sensation was being transferred to Daisy.

The libido of a boy going through puberty was rather immense, so Daisy would have to suppress her moaning in a corner of the room twice, or, at most, five times a day. It was a relief if this happened while she was in her room. However, she would have to run off somewhere private whenever Luke started masturbating while Daisy was outside since her face would turn red.

Luke was passionate that day as well. I woke up to the sound of moaning that sounded like a cat crying and saw Daisy on the ground next to her bed squirming around.

“Haa……uh, ha…….”

The black-haired girl convulsed for a moment before letting out a weak breath. I got halfway up from my bed. My head was still hazy since I had just woken up.

“Is that the sixth time today? Kuku. Luke is quite impressive. To be able to do it six times at his age.”

“……That was the fifth. Don’t add another number by yourself. It is disgusting.”

Daisy turned to look at me.

Her tone was rather sharp, but it wasn’t scary at all since her eyes were teary. If anything, it was entertaining for me.

“Be it five or six times, it is still a surprising number. When I was his age, once every three days was also considered a lot. As I thought, an individual destined to become the hero is different down to his roots. I look forward to seeing the future of a lustful hero.”

“You are the worst.”

“The worst? Thank you for the compliment. Oh right, it also amazes me that his first time was with a slime that is mimicking his little sister. As expected of the hero. He is definitely different compared to his peers even during his childhood!”

I chuckled.

Daisy must’ve gotten upset as she threw a pillow at me. Poof, the pillow accurately hit my face. Sorry, but it didn’t hurt at all. I only laughed louder.

Daisy got up and charged at me. She picked up the pillow and started hitting my body with it. This childish antic was actually the most that Daisy could do to struggle. She couldn’t even throw anything heavy or sharp at me.

A pillow. Or a ball of cotton. Maybe droplets of water as well? These were the only things Daisy could strike me with. If you could even call it striking. ……Slave seals were a rather convenient thing. Haha.

“Sir Dantalian, there is a problem!”

The door opened with a slam as Jeremi entered in a hurry.

She turned to look at me before freezing like a statue. Daisy and I also froze up in surprise.

An adult was rolling around on a bed with a 10-year-old girl. In our pajamas. How this must’ve appeared to a third party was apparent by how Jeremi’s expression gradually turned into a scowl.

“……Aah. So Your Highness has that kind of preference. I had a suspicion that this was the case. I knew you were a pervert, but I didn’t think you were this much of a pervert.”

“Oi, Jeremi. I know very well what you are thinking, but you are wrong.”

Jeremi looked at Daisy.

“Daisy, is that true?”

“Teacher, it may be impudent of me to say this, but.”

Daisy didn’t even bat an eye as she continued.

“If Father were to order it, then I am powerless to resist.”

Her left shoulder strap had slid down even though she had been wearing her clothes properly until a second ago! She had used that brief moment in time to pull down her clothes casually.

Jeremi nodded her head sternly like a judge before turning to look at me with cold eyes.

“Your Highness Pedophile Demon Lord, do you have anything to say for yourself?”

“T-These cold-hearted sows…….”

I trembled. These two have been going around as a teacher and disciple pair recently, so their chemistry together had improved.

“You may be saying Your Highness, but there’s no courtesy in your words at all!”

I shouted as I threw a pillow at Jeremi as hard as I could. Jeremi dodged it with so much ease that it annoyed me more.

“This is my bedroom. It is common courtesy to knock whether it is an urgent matter or not. Do you not use that hat holder of yours for anything other than assassination!?”

“Ah!”

Jeremi quickly came back to her senses.

“Sir Dantalian! There is a big problem! I forgot for a moment because I saw something so obscene!”

“……I will fix this misunderstanding later. Fine, O noble Miss Jeremi. How urgent is it for you to barge into a Demon Lord’s room?”

I spoke in a sarcastic tone, but Jeremi answered seriously.

“A purge is going to……no, is happening in Parisiorum!”

***

Shortly after, I walked out with just a mantle over my sleepwear.

The estate we were staying at used to be a rich person’s home. Our mercenary brigade and assassin group started to reside here after the commoners rioted and neatly separated the rich person’s head from his body.

The leading members of our group were already gathered by the time I came downstairs. A table, a military map, and a magic sphere which someone was constantly giving reports through were placed in the lobby. Jacquerie listened to the report with a serious face as he nodded.

“Good work, everyone. It seems we have ended up holding a pajama party in the middle of the night.”

I spoke as I quickly descended the stairs. The dwarves and elves quickly gave me a salute. I raised my right hand and told them to be at ease.

“Give me a report of the current situation first. An analysis of the cause can come later.”

“Yes, Your Highness. Approximately 4 hours ago, a disturbance swept over the cityscape of Parisiorum. It did not happen in only one specific area but throughout the entire city.”

Jacquerie spoke in a clear voice.

“Most of the mobs are being led by servants of nobles and they are inciting others to execute the traitors who had betrayed the Emperor. Currently, we know that General Saint Andre who was injured in the last battle was attacked. It is being publicly stated that Baron Cornatton, Viscount Telenye, and Viscount Rochefoucauld have been killed.”

I pressed my hand against my forehead.

“Are they not all on the Empress Dowager’s side or a republican? This is not an accidental riot. This was planned. Have you finished figuring out the cause?”

“……We are not certain yet, but.”

Jacquerie spoke carefully.

“It is being said that the Emperor of Frankia gave the order himself. We assume that the extremists among the royalists were assigned to carry out this task…….”

“How insane.”

I rubbed my face with my hands.

Insane. This single word lingered in my mouth for a while. I needed something to drink. I needed some type of stimulus that could help me think better.

At that moment, Daisy held up a horn chalice for me. It was filled with water mixed with grape vinegar. Daisy was also wearing her pajamas still and she had been silently listening to our conversation. I took the chalice and gulped the grape vinegar down. The sour taste of vinegar violently traveled up to my brain.

All right. My mind is clear now.

Dantalian, let’s figure out what’s happening.

“First, we must figure out whether this is an arbitrary decision made by the Emperor or not. Jacquerie, is Brittany getting involved in the slaughter? Or are the royalists the only ones moving?”

“Yes, Your Highness. As of this moment, rioters wearing Brittany’s military uniform have not been spotted yet.”

In other words, Brittany has not gotten involved, or at least on the surface they haven’t…….

“What about Henrietta? Where is the queen?”

“Henrietta and the rest of Brittany’s army have been residing in a fortress on the outskirts of the capital. However, we have yet to determine if the Queen was still in the fortress tonight.”

The army from Brittany moved to a fortress nearby as soon as they arrived at the imperial capital, Parisiorum. 

“So you are saying that, at the very least, this looks to have been done completely by the Emperor and the royalists on the surface?”

“That seems to be the case. The citizens of Parisiorum are shouting that as well.”

“……Jacquerie, this is too bizarre.”

“Pardon me?”

I tapped the floor with my right foot as I spoke.

“The Emperor’s authority was already plummeting, but he is committing a slaughter on top of this? That would be foolish. That would be like placing a lump of metal on top of a boat that has already sunk.”

The Emperor started to annihilate the republicans through force. He was also utilizing his own troops instead of asking Brittany for help.

This was probably welcome news to the royalists, but what about the republicans and the other factions?

“People were not against the Emperor simply because they were republicans or on the Empress Dowager’s side. There were many among them who stayed neutral and tried to abide to the Emperor’s orders as much as possible. How will they react if a massive slaughter is carried out like this one?”

They will group together for the sake of their own survival.

It was only natural. The republicans have no other choice but to pick up their weapons and retaliate since their lord was slaughtering his people mercilessly.

The slaughter contrarily caused the gathering of the anti-Emperor group. No matter how much of a fool Henry III was……no, was he already a retard the moment he brought in a foreign power? Let’s just ignore him.

The problem was Henrietta de Brittany. I couldn’t believe that she was only an onlooker in this situation.

The Emperor would’ve at least informed the Queen about the slaughter since they were working together. Henrietta of all people should’ve immediately noticed the negative effect this slaughter would have. Why didn’t she stop him? Why……?

“I don’t understand. Mm, I don’t get it.”

I muttered to myself. I could feel the dwarves and elves looking at me.

“Could the Emperor have actually been a larger fool than we initially thought, so he did this without consulting the Queen?”

“……It is terrifying since that sounds plausible.”

Jacquerie furrowed his brows as he responded.

However, there was no way the Queen wouldn’t have planted a spy next to the Emperor. She would’ve noticed it one way or another. And yet, why……?

Make the enemy gather……. Not only Batavia but numerous nobles from the Empress Dowager’s side……. Aah, is that it? I understand now!

“A pitched battle, Jacquerie. The Queen of Brittany is aiming for a type of pitched battle.”

“Excuse me, Your Highness? A pitched battle?”

The people present looked at me with confused faces. Did I jump too far ahead?

I spoke with a bit of excitement in my voice.

“The group that opposed the Emperor has not been that sizable until now. However, if such a large-scale slaughter is carried out, then an anti-Emperor faction would gather in an instant. They would easily be able to procure an army of 30,000 soldiers.”

Nobles of high positions will most likely be lined up like shining stars among them as well. Their strength would overshadow the few lords in the northern region who had called for Batavia’s army.

“How would Batavia treat this group that has gathered enough power by itself?”

“…….”

Jacquerie thought for a moment before his eyes opened wide.

“Your Highness, their right to command will become divided!”

I nodded.

“If the anti-Emperor group does not come together, then Batavia would be able to monopolize the right to command.”

Normally, the side that has the highest military strength would seize the right to command. The Republic of Batavia’s army was much larger in comparison to the lords in the northern region of Frankia. Thus, Batavia would’ve had the right to command all to themselves…….

“However, the flow changes if the nobles within Frankia are able to build up an even larger army.”

The Republic of Batavia has 22,000 soldiers. If the nobles manage to gather about 30,000 soldiers, then……Frankia would have the higher number! Batavia would no longer be able to monopolize the right to command.

However, this wouldn’t be enough for Frankia to take Batavia in under its command. In this situation…….

“There will be a supreme commander in Frankia’s army and Batavia’s army respectively!”

“Indeed.”

I gave Jacquerie a nod.

That wasn’t all. Frankia’s side wouldn’t consist of only republicans. They would only be a portion. The majority would probably be people from the Empress Dowager’s side and the neutral nobles. 

“The nobles will be cautious about letting Batavia have more military power than necessary and will try to move on their own as much as possible in order to avoid letting others interfere with their domestic affairs. Brittany only has 10,000 soldiers.”

Even if you include the mercenaries with the Emperor’s royal guard, they have at most 20,000 soldiers……. If they have that much, then the nobles could probably wipe them out without reaching out to Batavia. The nobles of the Empress Dowager’s side will most likely think this.

What was Queen Henrietta trying to do by dividing their military command? There was nothing more appetizing than an army with a split head……Therefore, a pitched battle. She was going to wipe them out in a single stroke.

Queen Henrietta was boldly planning to wipe out the northern lords of Frankia, the Empress Dowager’s faction, and Batavia’s army, which all totaled at about 50,000 soldiers, with her army that barely reached 20,000.

She was quite confident in herself.

My spine went cold.

Gathering allied forces and dividing enemy forces was a fundamental military strategy. However, Queen Henrietta did the opposite and made the enemy forces gather. She was making it so that an army with only a massive body but two heads would be created.

She was certain that even if our side had 40,000 or 50,000 soldiers, she could defeat them all!

***

Author’s Afterword

Before I knew it, DD has reached 200 chapters. I’d like to thank all of my readers who’ve been cheering me on.

Have a good day ^^

TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter. Hooray, we’ve reached chapter 200, but we still aren’t even halfway done with the series. Well, it’s still something to celebrate. I also got my first covid vaccination shot last night, so my arm is feeling a bit sore now. I wonder if I should relax for the day.

Welp, I’ll see you guys in the next chapter.

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