Raid Dungeon Battle (4)

And so, we passed through the graveyard area and continued our advance deeper into the dungeon.

While we were once again moving separately through the dungeon corridors, I suddenly became curious about the state of the invasion.

"By the way, how's everyone else doing?"

"Haku-neesama's got the map updating on her end, so you can just check that."

Prompted by Rokuko, I agreed that made sense and used one of the monsters I had entrusted to her to access Haku-san's map.

I see. I don't know how many floors there are in total, but it looks like we've managed to conquer—no, suppress—five floors so far.

This time, it's not just about reaching all the way inside; we need to utterly crush everything.

That's why it's suppression. Still, if multiple Dungeon Cores are going at it seriously, this pace seems about right.

"Any estimate on how many floors there might be?"

"Since Haku-neesama is from the same initial production run as Core Number 10 and her dungeon has over 150 floors, I'd say Number 10 probably has about the same, wouldn't you?"

"If that's the case, then we're still barely out of the prologue… maybe we should pick up the pace."

I called out to Mikan via comms.

"Hey, Mikan, how's it going on your end?"

[Ooh, it's you, Kyuma! Everything's going smooth-kyu!]

Mikan was scouting ahead of us. He showed me the map.

… Alright, looks like this floor's been fully explored.

"How's the exploration going beyond this floor?"

[Something like this-kyu.]

"… Hmm. So that's floor six. Compared to the first five floors, it's about half the size? We're not making as much progress as I thought."

[There are a lot of places where the squirrels can't go, so we've had to avoid those-kyu.]

Apparently it's mostly poison swamps. Fair enough—that would slow things down.

But still.

"Why not just force your way through? You could have squirrels act as stepping stones for other squirrels."

[Nykyua!? T-that's… that's way too cruel-kyu!]

"You say that, but we've already been sending them into a dungeon."

[If you put it that way… I guess that's true-kyu…]

I guess he's okay with unavoidable sacrifices during an advance, but deliberately sacrificing allies felt wrong to him. That's surprisingly pure of him.

… Or maybe I'm just too jaded.

"In that case, it might be less efficient, but how about we mix in some combat engineers with the squad?"

[Combat engineers-kyu? What's that?]

"In human armies, they're the ones who dig tunnels or build bridges."

[Hmm… but what could squirrels even do for that? At best, it'd take forever-kyu.]

"Make them Named and give them catalog permissions. If we hand over some DP so they can produce wooden planks, they could lay them across the swamp and cross."

[Ooh! That sounds super handy-kyu!]

Naming them takes effort, and you need to allocate DP ahead of time. Plus, it kind of undermines the squirrels' advantage of being 'cheap' and the engineers become a weak point.

But for Mikan, who wants to reduce casualties, this should be a good solution.

"We could even replenish the squirrel troops on-site if needed."

[Ooh—at that point they're more like captains than engineers-kyu! Should we give them sashes or something as a marker?]

"That'd just make them easy targets. Better to keep their appearance the same."

[Got it-kyu! I'll mix them into the next squirrel reinforcement unit!]

That should help speed up Mikan's exploration too.

"Guess I'll start running the rat squad on my end. Surprisingly, GGiant Tester's got some leeway."

"Yeah, in that case, we could send Ichika to lead the mice too."

"Alright then, I'm counting on you, Ichika."

"Roger that~. Say, can't we start by havin' Soto-sama link them into the Golem from the inside or somethin'?"

"It's not like we have unlimited numbers of them to begin with. I'd prefer to conserve resources."

Technically it is possible, though.

Some of the slimes we brought even know [Storage].

"Couldn't we just say they were packed in usin' the method ya told Mikan earlier?"

"… Yeah, we could also just say we had slimes storing them with DP."

In that case, having slimes release mice sounds like a solid plan.

"Alright then—Rat Funnels, launch! No, wait, maybe 'Rat Familiars' sounds better?"

"Uhh, I'll just go ask Soto-sama for help."

"In that case, it'd be better to give the Slime some DP and summon them on-site."

If we're summoning with DP anyway, the effect is the same. And the cost for mice isn't likely to vary much depending on location.

So I quietly had Soto connect a slime operating the right and left arm Golems to the [Storage] dungeon, and secretly had Rokuko pass some DP to the Slime via [Storage].

The Slime's been named [NNaked Tester] and given catalog permissions.

"Aaand now it's time for full-on exploration!"

"Alright, I'm counting on you, Ichika."

"Leave it to me! I'll give it my all!"

Ichika summoned mice remotely via DP, launching them out of the Golem and expertly commanding them. She really was a dependable ally.

"We'll keep piloting GGiant Tester for now… but Niku, Rei. Make sure you swap out and get some rest. There aren't that many enemies around, and you can just control the lead Golem and have the others follow automatically. With two of you, it should be manageable."

"Understood, Rokuko-sama."

"Yes, Rokuko-sama… Then I will operate the Golem first, so please rest up, Niku-senpai."

"No no, Rei, don't you have duties as a saint to attend to? You should take a good rest."

"I took vacation time from the Beddhist Church to attend this Dungeon Battle, so I'm fine."

Both Niku and Rei were skilled Golem pilots, and they usually took the lead during combined operations… but neither of them seemed willing to give up the controls.

I swear I could see sparks flying between their determined stares.

Sure, piloting a combined-robot-style Golem is fun, but if this turns into a long haul, they'll burn out and their performance will drop. I really hope they get proper rest…

"Aah, then I'll go rest first~"

"Yes, I'll rest too."

Meanwhile, Nerune and Kinue leisurely started their break.

Resting when you can—that's the proper way of the Beddhist Church.

"Rei, let's decide who has to rest first based on who can defeat more enemies. I'll take the right-side parts."

"Very well. Then I'll take the left-side parts… Let's go, Niku-senpai!"

"Hmph, think you can keep up with my piloting?"

… Well, just make sure you rest properly, okay?