The Second Dungeon Battle

And so, with a single word from Ontentoo, the negotiations fell apart.

"Ehh, s-so I can't have that knight figurine?!"

"No way! I don't really get it, but she's friends with that [Betrayer]! An enemy!"

"Enemy! It's been a while since I heard that word! What does it mean again? Say it in Draconic!"

"[Enemy]!"

"[Enemy]! My arms are itching for action!!"

Oi, so that's what "enemy" means in Draconic? As expected of the strongest species - they look down on everything with all they've got.

"So that's that, I can't accept the territory negotiations! But I still want the knight figurine, you know?! Do something about this, 112!"

"Ahhh… Oi, Kehma, can't you do something about this?"

First he calls me an enemy, then he's asking me so meekly. What a restless guy, oi.

Is this that thing where the Master's absolute command authority kicked in? With something like "hurry up" or "do something about this"?

"Oi oi, Ontentoo. Aren't I supposed to be your enemy?"

"Don't say something so sad. That's just Dungeon Core stuff. Personally, I like you, you know."

Well, isn't that nice. I like you too, you know. Because you're so easy to deal with!

"You can take the crystal knight figurine. It won't be free though."

"Really?! You really are a good guy. So what do we do? I can't give you territory."

"Yeah. It's simple. I'll propose a Dungeon Battle, and you accept. If we lose, we'll hand over fifty gold coins, the bonus silver coins, and the other crystal knight figurine we have. In exchange, if we win, we get the territory. This way it's decided by the match results, not negotiation. Sound good?"

"Hooh… Well, that should be fine. But wouldn't that be way too advantageous for us…?"

"That's why I want to propose two irregular rules."

Irregular rules. Like in the previous Dungeon Battle, where Haku-san set the victory condition as touching a Dummy Core instead of the actual Dungeon Core.

"First, your side won't attack - you'll focus purely on defense. If you can hold out for a set time, you win… How about one day?"

"Hoh, a defensive battle, huh. But our dungeon is quite deep. Conquering it in a single day would be basically impossible."

It's certainly a five-hundred-year-old dungeon. Who knows how many floors it has.

"That's where the second rule comes in… Our dungeon currently has five floors. So to keep things 'equal,' how about we win if we can reach beyond the fifth floor?"

"Ooh, that would make it equal. Sounds fine to me. If that happens, I'll give you the territory for this tunnel."

For the record, it's not equal at all.

In a normal five-floor Dungeon Battle, you could manage both attacking and being attacked in half a day. Here, I had a full day, and I only needed to focus on invading.

On top of that, I've been preparing for this invasion for a while now. It's completely in my favor.

"While we're at it, let's say… if we can touch the Dungeon Core on the lowest floor, give us half of Tsuia Mountain."

When I got carried away and said that, even the gullible salamander Ontentoo went wide-eyed.

"Wha?! I-isn't that a bit much for the conditions?!"

"What are you talking about? There's no way we could reach the lowest floor in a single day, right?"

"Y-yeah! That's right. It was just one day… Oi, Redra, what do you think?"

"Sounds fine to me! I get the figurine just for accepting, right?! And then all we have to do is deal with the 'enemy' and we get even more gold and silver coins - it's all good!"

She's definitely not considering the possibility of losing.

"If you lose, we get the territory without the gold coins, you know?"

"There's no way I'd lose with equal conditions!"

"So you're fine with these terms?"

"Yeah! So when are we doing this - right now?!"

Honestly, even if she said right now, it's not like I'm completely unprepared.

But to guarantee victory, right now would be bad.

"Our dungeon needs to prepare too."

"Then let's say one week from now."

"Oh, that works. Well then, we'll head back for today."

"I can take this figurine, right?! Right?!"

"… Please, take it."

I smirked to myself.

 

＊ ＊ ＊

 

"… So, do we have a chance of winning?"

Rokuko asked me that as soon as I returned to the inn.

I answered while patting the head of Niku, who had rushed over to serve as my hug pillow.

"What are you talking about, Rokuko? Our victory is already decided."

"… Eh? How?"

Rokuko tilted her head in confusion.

Looks like she didn't notice… Still too naive, Rokuko.

While showing her the map, I explained to Rokuko.

"Our minimum victory condition is reaching beyond the fifth floor of [Flame Cavern]."

"That's what you said."

"What about you, Niku? Do you get it?"

I asked Niku, who had been watching the negotiations via the video feed along with Rokuko. Ichika wasn't here since she was working reception, but if she'd been watching, she'd probably be grinning by now, having figured it out.

Niku thought for a moment before answering.

"… The, figurine?"

"Eh? What about the figurine?"

Oi, Niku's smarter than you. Get it together, Dungeon Core.

"Because… that figurine is Goshujin-sama's golem… right? So it's an ally…"

"Eh? Didn't you give it to them?"

"I said they could take it. I don't recall ever giving it to them."

"But you said it was a present."

"That was only if they accepted buying the gold coins for 500,000 DP. Since that deal fell through, so did the present."

It might sound like a terrible excuse, but since it wasn't a present, ownership remains with us.

And despite its appearance, it's a golem, so naturally it's under my control. It's part of my forces.

… Even if it gets stored away in a treasure room, the fact remains that one of my troops has gone beyond the fifth floor.

If things go well, we might even be able to touch the Dungeon Core itself.

The only way we could possibly lose is if the treasure room is on a floor shallower than the fifth - but it's already been carried pretty deep.

"Victory is guaranteed."

"… Is that really okay?"

"I can check its position on the map, and I can see and hear through the golem. One of my troops has infiltrated their innermost depths without any problems - is there something wrong with that?"

"… You're right. Wow, that's terrible."

A certain warlord once said: In war, victory and defeat are determined before the battle begins. Exactly right.

"But this is just a trump card. If possible, I want to win without revealing that the crystal figurine is a golem… That way, I can eavesdrop on their conversations anytime, and we'll have an overwhelming advantage going forward."

"Kehma, you're making the face of someone plotting something bad… How reliable!"

But that's only "if possible."

If I can't win through normal means, I'll use it without hesitation. And if there's an opening to touch the Dungeon Core, I'll take it even if it means revealing the crystal figurine is a golem. Since I'll be using special golems from now on anyway, maybe it's about time for an "unveiling." Half of Tsuia Mountain would be fair compensation for revealing my trump card.

Well, just winning the tunnel portion would be fine too. Instead of the mountain, we could just extend the dungeon underground beneath the foothills…

"Well, whatever."

I stopped thinking about it since it got troublesome. The most important groundwork was already laid. All that was left was to focus on how to win as cleanly as possible.