Side Story: The Four-Nation War

[Tier-Group 3, 10th Floor Reception Room]?

"So while I was asleep, the neighboring countries, Musashi, Sō, Ke, and Sumō, a coalition of four nations, declared war on us."

"Yes. The brutes of Ke, Arai Kuma in particular, kicked up a fuss, and the other countries seem to have been swept along with it. Aide-de-camp scribe, they'll need time to prepare as well, so it's unlikely they'll attack right away. There appear to be all sorts of misunderstandings, so I believe we ought to pursue negotiations before it comes to a fight."

Mint reports the current situation to Marie, who has only just returned to her post.

"No. We strike first. We'll lay traps throughout the dungeon's sphere of influence and execute any soldiers passing through it on sight, along with any merchant transporting strategic supplies, be it weapons, food, anything."

Marie declares it.

"Marie-san, executing merchants is surely going too far."

"Master, this is war. It's the best way to hinder the enemy's concentration of force and cut off their supply lines. It isn't limited to merchants. Sever all traffic completely. Humans, beastfolk, Pretas. I'll show no mercy, refugees or otherwise."

"Furthermore, we will strike directly at each nation's capital. First, against Sō's Kōnodai: using the energy we gained from the Kozukappara Execution Ground Zombie Dungeon last time, we'll dig a hole one kilometer deep just short of the Nakayama Racecourse Dungeon and bring the entire racecourse crashing down, blasting the surrounding area to pieces. This time I won't bungle it by commanding on-site and getting caught in the blast. Though as it happens, I no longer have the stamina to go there in person."

"Couldn't you spare the racecourse, at least?"

"Master, if you simply must gamble, dog racing would do just fine; it doesn't take up much space. I'm told there's even a country of dog-beastfolk somewhere in Ōshū, or Europe, or wherever."

"Dog racing has far too disreputable a crowd…"

To rival the Army Ministry's horse racing, the Navy Ministry took the lead with hand-rowed dinghy races: boat racing. Later the Ministry of Communications added pigeon racing and the like, but dog racing was said to draw the worst clientele of the lot. Incidentally, the Railway Ministry once dreamed up "locomotive racing," in which engines would compete, but abandoned it as too costly, and the Education Ministry planned "human racing," with track athletes running directly, but gave it up because eliminating fixed matches was impossible in principle.

"That is exactly why you're too soft, Master. This is necessary to destroy the enemy without sacrificing our own. As for Ke's Sōja: the nearby Takasakiyama Dungeon doesn't have an adjacent sphere of influence, so the excavation method won't work there. We'll build a dam out of dungeon structure on the dried-up riverbed just short of Sōja and flood the place under a great deluge of water."

Of course, the Takasakiyama of this otherworld is not the same as Takasaki City, but in dungeon generation there is a tendency for things and concepts with identical or similar names to be drawn toward one another.

"A water attack, then."

"Just so. Naturally there won't be enough water, so we'll temporarily drain Minuma."

"Aide-de-camp scribe, the wheat won't grow if you do that."

Mint tries to stop her.

"It doesn't matter. This war will reduce the population of the neighboring countries by a million, so there'll be food to spare. Humans are extreme in nothing but their breeding rate, so even if a million or two die off, they'll multiply right back."

"Once these two towns are destroyed, we'll take Musashi's Fuchū by direct assault."

"We are overwhelmingly inferior in fighting strength, though."

"With the dungeon energy gained from destroying Kōnodai and Sōja, we'll open a vast pit near Fuchū. The town doesn't sit atop dungeon structure, so the rim of the pit will collapse on its own and the place will cave in."

"Aide-de-camp scribe, it's several kilometers from the edge of the dungeon's sphere of influence to Fuchū."

"Seven or eight kilometers. Bah. Even accounting for the angle of repose and the like, digging a hole ten kilometers deep will be more than enough."