And so, preparations are made

I got a message from a devil that we will be grouping up with Comrade

in Gahne, so I head to the residence where Comrade stayed at before.

Apparently the representatives of the nations will be in Gahne, so he told

me not to come with Blue.

The person herself said 'I still have to manage and adjust the monsters

at the Kuama Nether, so I don't mind', so I left her there.

That said, there are so many knights. They gave me dubious looks, but I

managed to enter without much issues thanks to meeting Lord Leano at

the entrance.

"Comrade, are you here?" (Ekdoik)

"Oh, you have come, Ekdoik."

Everyone was present when I opened the door. Marito, Euparo, Zenotta,

and the Gold Demon Lord were there, too. Also, if I remember correctly…

she is the cabinet minister of Gahne, Ludfein, right?

"The density of political authority in the room is quite high. Is this a

strategy meeting?" (Ekdoik)

"That's a pretty unique thing for you to say. We were waiting for you

before doing the strategy meeting. We were chatting until then."

"Even if you call it a chat, they were still decently important topics,

right?" (Ekdoik)

"I was debating pickled vegetables with Pope Euparo until now. It seems

like King Zenotta has begun it, too."

"That's a lot more of a chat than I thought. But was there any need to

wait for me? I think it would have been enough to report to me after the

fact though." (Ekdoik)

"It would be double the work if we don't think with your report

included. How's the number of monsters in the Kuama Nether?"

"So that's what it was. For the numbers, it is hard to say. We are

gathering them, but it is a whole lot less than the time when they

attacked the walls. It is questionable whether they can get 10,000."

(Ekdoik)

Blue was fighting mainly with undeads created from necromancy to

begin with, so she wasn't counting the monsters born from the Nether as

a fighting force. The monsters look similar, but she apparently can't

resurrect them once they die.

High level monsters like Dyuvuleori may have something that could be

called a soul, but she apparently can't even detect such a thing from the

low level monsters.

I tried proposing to her to resurrect the Great Devils the Purple Demon

Lord was controlling then, but it is apparently difficult to influence

monsters who have been born from mana that's not hers. Looks like

things won't just go as we want.

"And what about their battle power?"

"The low rank ones are basically devils. They can't melt into the

shadows, so they are harder to use. But they can hold simple weapons.

They could be used as ordinary soldiers if we have them hold stuff like

spears and bows." (Ekdoik)

"They may not be on the level of a knight, but they would at least be

around the level of your common soldier, huh. Having 10,000 of them

would be big."

"The knights of Taizu prioritize only quality, so they don't have much in

numbers after all. It is hard to believe ya can't even reach 10,000 by far."

(Gold)

"One can work the share of ten people, and the best ones can work the

share of a thousand. We have no intention of losing even if there were

more than 10,000 soldiers." (Marito)

"Even though they will be even more scattered from the raids." (Gold)

"That's why. We create cracks in the lines of the enemy and stir their

breaths. Knights can pull off raids that other nations wouldn't be able to

and return from them." (Marito)

The one with the larger numbers is the one in the advantage in a largescale battle. The more numbers you have, the more conventional

strength you possess. You would need quite the outstanding strategy

even if you were to employ a clever scheme, or you will simply end up

swallowed.

But the coordination of the knights of Taizu is high. They are packed

with people on the level of high class adventurers as if it were the norm.

"Holy knights can fight to a decent degree too, but we can't have them be

reckless like the Taizu knights after all." (Euparo)

"Then, it should be okay to let a part of the monsters be dealt by the

knights of Taizu, right?"

Comrade said this and brought out a ring. It is a simple ring with no

decorations. 3 of them with differing colors.

"Oh, it is the tool that ya spoke about that was made by Nora, right?"

(Gold)

"Yeah, if a normal person sends their thoughts to this ring, they can give

simple orders to monsters somewhat like Demon Lords."

"You were making such a thing in your spare time…?" (Marito)

"The making is simple though. It has the mana of Purple that's used

when giving orders, and if you pour mana into the ring, that mana will

spread in the surroundings and reach the nearby monsters. Basically,

they are disposable."

Now that I look closely, each of them has engraved on them respectively:

'Attack monsters', 'Retrieve injured', and 'Retreat'.

They may not be able to do intricate orders, but it is true that they would

be useful as a fighting force if you can give them orders.

"It says retrieve the injured. What do they do specifically?" (Marito)

"They grab the collapsed humans and carry them back to the base that

has been set. For the ones that have no injured to carry, they will do the

same as when given the attack order. It is also made so that they will

lower the human if a human gets in their way, and they will retreat. This

ring has the Gahne capital registered."

"So you can change the location?" (Marito)

"If they were to carry the injured people in Mejis all the way to Gahne,

they might lose strength after all. I will be giving different ones to the

ones that will head to Gahne and the ones for Mejis, so don't worry."

"How do ya use the retreat one? It would be better to just have them

fight until the end." (Gold)

"One would be in the case when the battle has been won. If you have

them retreat, they will return to their respective Demon Lords that can

order them. If you don't do that, they will just be left there after all. The

other one would be when the enemy is too strong and you would want

to wrap up the retreat as soon as possible. Having them retreat once to

reutilize them is better than having them die a pointless death. I don't

think it will be an issue since we will have the knights carry the rings,

but in the off-chance that they get agitated and activate all the rings, we

have made it so that they prioritize 'Attack the monsters'. Right now it is

only the devils of Purple, but I plan on preparing rings for a number of

knights that can move the monsters of Blue."

The theory itself isn't that complicated. It may be impossible to give it to

all the knights, but it should be spread around enough if it is just the

captains.

I was thinking of using the monsters too, but with the processing skills

of Blue, I thought she would only be able to use it in one place properly.

But this should allow the use of them in several battlefields.

"By the way, the fact that you prepared those rings means that you

predict that the army of the Scarlet Demon Lord will be deployed in

several locations?" (Zenotta)

"That's right. He is clearly trying to ignore the basic strategies here."

"It would be one thing if he were to hide them to serve as an ambush,

but going out of his way to deploy them in several locations… Why do

you think that's the case?" (Zenotta)

I can understand the question of Zenotta. Spreading the soldiers into

several units in the battlefield is in order to face the enemy in a desirable

form. Keeping a number of them in hiding is also a method to utilize

one's own soldiers in the most effective way possible.

But the possibility Comrade is speaking of ignores this basic stratagem.

It would be one thing if it were a small number of elites, but if he were to

just spread out his soldiers blindly, it would just end up in them being

shot down from several places.

"I have found several factors that lead to this conclusion. As for the

reason, I can only say this is the taste of the Scarlet Demon Lord, but I

think he has something that can allow him to pull this off."

"In other words, he has a method that can make him win despite that?"

(Zenotta)

"The Demon Lords have been given unreal powers by Yugura Nariya. I

think it is something that will allow him to get through such a scenario."

The power of the Scarlet Demon Lord… Blue has the power of

Annihilation, the Purple Demon Lord has Enticement, and the Gold

Demon Lord has Ruling. They are special powers that are different from

your regular magic. And this has obviously been granted to the Scarlet

Demon Lord, too.

"Scarlet of Strife. The power given to Scarlet was Strife." (Gold)

"You said you don't know the details of it, right?"

"Umu. I have at least seen it used once though. But I couldn't understand

the specific effects of it at all. He used it on Green after all…" (Gold)

According to her, the Scarlet and Green Demon Lord ended up fighting at

the time when they were learning the powers of the Demon Lords under

Yugura.

The Purple Demon Lord and Blue ended up dragged in this, too, and the

3 Demon Lords came out terribly injured fighting the Green Demon

Lord.

"This is just a possibility, but it is most likely body strengthening. But

they had a bad opponent. The strength of Green is in a different realm

after all. Ya could even say he is on the same stage as Yugura, Black, and

Colorless." (Gold)

"That makes it sound like the Scarlet Demon Lord isn't much."

"Yeah, but at the time when Yugura came in to mediate, the only one who

was glaring at Green with his whole body heavily injured and on one

knee was Scarlet. That alone is enough to make him quite the

tremendous man, ya know?" (Gold)

"Looks like I will need to understand the true nature of that power first.

Oh well, I will just look forward to the leadership of Marito when it

comes to that."

Comrade gave a rough summary of what was discussed here. They will

set communication means with the method of the Yugura Church in each

battlefield, Marito and Euparo will share that information, and Marito

will be the one giving the orders.

This delegation of duties makes sense when considering who would be

the one that would be able to see the whole board the best within the

representatives of the nations.

"But wouldn't it be good if Comrade were to be on standby if we are to

utilize strategies here?" (Ekdoik)

"I am good at setting up individuals into traps, but I am a complete

amateur when it comes to war strategies. I was thinking about getting

tutored by Marito in that regard while reading the moves of the Scarlet

Demon Lord, but I honestly lack way too much knowledge."

"Right. He is not bad at learning, so he would most likely shape up in

around 5 more years, but having him strategize for war seems a bit

impossible." (Marito)

The things he thinks up are probably not good things. The strength of

Comrade is to read the mind of the other party. But no matter how much

you read them, it is difficult to achieve something with only his strength.

He can become a threatening existence only after battle pieces like Ilias

and I begin to join.

"Then, what will you be doing, Comrade?" (Ekdoik)

"I plan on moving around the battlefields every now and then with Ilias.

There's things that you can only grasp when at the place after all."

"So the same as the knights of Taizu, huh. It is true that the strength of

Ilias and Wolfe are suitable for raids…" (Ekdoik)

"I will have Purple and Blue move the monsters at the back most of the

time. Gold will be doing her duties as the king of Gahne."

"Right. This one's strength is useless in a group battle after all. I don't

have many monsters either." (Gold)

"I am instead surprised you have monsters."

"Umu, I imitated the way Purple made devils. I filled a room in the castle

with my mana to play around and see if I could create a monster." (Gold)

"Aah, must be one of the treasuries that has been prohibited entry all of

a sudden. What is this king doing in the Gahne Castle?" (Ludfein)

Ludfein is looking at the Gold Demon Lord with judging eyes. I am

curious as to why she is not even surprised, but is it because it was

within expectations?

"Asking just in case, but how strong are they?"

"They are monsters not suitable for battle to a shocking degree. Ya might

even be able to do a fist fight on equal level against them, Ser." (Gold)

"Damn, that's weak."

Everyone nodded. Are you fine with that, Comrade? I nodded too

though.

"There's not even 10 of them. But they might be unexpectedly useful. I

shall show ya later." (Gold)

"Alright. There's no 'too many' when it comes to helping hands after all."

"Blue and I will continue preparations at the Kuama Nether, but how

should we move?" (Ekdoik)

"The route to Gahne and Mejis from the Kuama Nether has to be either

through Kuama or crossing a mountain range, right? The monsters of

Purple are currently around Taizu and Gahne's national border. We are

gathering them in the Mejis Nether. But Blue's monsters are not suitable

for stealth, so please move a number of them to the Mejis Nether at an

early stage."

"Got it. I will tell her. Right, what about the communication means once

the battle begins?" (Ekdoik)

"I will assign Rakura to your side with a crystal for communication. Mix

will have the one on our side, so we should be able to contact each other

regularly."

So I will have to fight together with Rakura, huh… No, there's no point

being conscious about it. The skills of Rakura when it comes to defeating

monsters is far above mine. Let's just accept it as having obtained

powerful help.

"Uuh, I would have preferred to be together with Counselor-sama…"

(Rakura)

"Give it up. This is the right person in the right place. The role of the 3rd

Faction is to support the war from behind the scenes as we read the

thoughts of the Scarlet Demon Lord. In that case, we would need people

with high observation skills from Gahne and Mejis. You are the one with

the best eye within us."

"Not Mix-chan?" (Rakura)

"If we consider the smarts, then Mix would be winning by a lot, but

what's most important this time is to notice. I think you are better when

it comes to that, Rakura."

"I feel like you are skillfully dissing me here. Is that just my

imagination?!" (Rakura)

Rakura, it is true that you are not good when it comes to thinking while

doing something, but don't forget that I am not even considered as the

right person despite me fighting on the Mejis side.

But that can't be helped. My observation skills excel in measuring the

strength of the enemy, but I can't read the thoughts of the opponent at

all. If I could do that, I wouldn't be angering Blue so much. I should learn

how to concentrate one of these days.

"The invasion will happen in 1 month or maybe even less. Let's make all

the preparations we can."

"What do you plan on doing after this, Comrade? Are you going to stay in

Gahne?" (Ekdoik)

"No, I will return to Taizu. I want to check the demonic tool making of

Purple and the state of Nora and the others after all."

"Then, I shall go with ya." (Gold)

"At least use a clone for that. Is there a king that would leave their

country when war is closing in?" (Ludfein)

Ludfein reprimands the Gold Demon Lord. Her face doesn't show anger,

but her gaze is chilling. Does a close aide kill their emotions this much…?

This is educational.

"I can do diplomacy with a clone. But the happiness of tail rubs can only

be tasted fully with my real body." (Gold)

"Then please leave it for after everything is over. That's okay with you

too, right, Bad Influence-san?" (Ludfein)

"Got it."

"He got it?! Curse ya, Ludfein!" (Gold)

"I am the one who wants to curse you." (Ludfein)

Looks like Comrade doesn't want any problems with Ludfein. The fact

that Comrade, who excels in gauging a person, has obediently stepped

back must mean that she is indeed quite the outstanding person…

"Right, Comrade, what should we do about the side of Gestaf?" (Ekdoik)

Gestaf has already purified a part of the Kuama Nether and has begun

building a small-scale settlement. He is gathering people -mainly

adventurers- and the speed of their pioneering is eye-opening.

But there's the need for many people specialized in purification magic in

order to purify the Nether. It will be hard to secure new land as long as

we are preparing for the attack of the Scarlet Demon Lord. Construction

will most likely be the main job for a while.

"I will have him move a number of adventurers that can fight, but I will

have Gestaf himself continue his nation building work in the Nether. I

doubt they will invade all the way to the Kuama Nether though. We will

have a number of monsters to manage the Kuama Nether anyways, so

we will have them reinforce the defenses while at it."

"Right. The scenery will turn a bit dangerous, but they should endure on

those fronts." (Ekdoik)

"Being surrounded by monsters from day to night sounds rough on the

mind. Gestaf should be able to think up a countermeasure."

After that, we confirmed a number of details and the talk progressed. I

was entrusted with secretary work, writing down the information of

what was spoken in several pieces of parchment, and handing them out

to the representatives.

There's something I could tell after watching one step afar. When it

comes to military related stuff, Marito and Euparo are the main

speakers, but the one who is maintaining the progress of the talk is

Comrade.

The representatives also understand that they should cooperate instead

of trying to assert themselves. The existence of Comrade as a lubricant

must be serving greatly here.

Comrade understands this and would take the initiative to be the

helmsman. He doesn't rely solely on his technical skills and also utilizes

his own position.

This really reminds me just how much I can learn from Comrade. But it

is not only Comrade who I can learn a lot from. There's countless people

who have grown in a different environment from me and I can learn

from. What I need to do is create opportunities to learn.

Comrade is trying to make me learn, so it is easy to create those

opportunities. But that alone is not enough. If that's all my growth

amounts to, I would just be someone dancing on the palm of Comrade's

hand. I need to show more greed.

"This is pretty much all we can talk about right now, I guess."

"Right. Next would be bringing it back to our respective countries and

confirming the progress." (Marito)

"Then, about the conversation just before. What was that about using

the broth of an aired mushroom…?" (Euparo)

…It is true that pickled veggies are tasty. But it makes me tilt my head

when the top of the Yugura Church and the king of a nation are

interested in such a topic.

However, it is true that this is an unexpectedly beneficial topic for

myself. I should take notes. Having means to eat vegetables in a tasty

manner is welcome no matter how many there are.

◇◇

I honestly would like to refrain from showing up in this place. It reeks of

animals in every corner after all. I don't think monsters take baths, but I

would like them to take visitors into consideration.

"…State your business, Colorless."

Figures that someone on the caliber of the Scarlet Beast wouldn't be

surprised by my sudden visit. He is still sitting dignified on his throne as

he looks at me.

Well, the Unique Monsters that are around have been in max combat

mode since a while ago which is amusing to see though.

"The war is about to begin, so let's just say I have come to cheer for you."

(Colorless)

"If you have just come to be a hindrance, leave." (Scarlet)

"Don't say that. It hurts, you know?" (Colorless)

"I see. I shall take pride in that." (Scarlet)

Oh my, I actually like his humor a bit. I will just think he isn't serious

about it.

The weaklings around might jump at me from the tension if I tease him

too much. Let's go to the main topic at once.

"I don't touch battles. But I have come to request one thing of you."

(Colorless)

"A request?" (Scarlet)

"You have heard about the origins and appearance of the resident of

Yugura's planet from Raheight, right? If you manage to catch him in the

war, can you give him to me without killing him?" (Colorless)

"Are you telling me to turn a blind eye on the man that can tame Blue,

Purple, and Gold?" (Scarlet)

"He is a dangerous one if you let him do as he pleases, but he is weaker

than any monster under your rule when it comes to individual strength,

you know? The time you can kill him is the time you can catch him. You

just have to not kill him at that time." (Colorless)

If the female knight and that Illegitimate are by his side, even the Scarlet

Beast himself would have a hard time capturing him though. But he is

just a normal human if he can get rid of them.

It is obvious that Earthling will get involved in the war anyways. He will

die easily if left be when they lose. I have to at least keep him alive for

the sake of Black Sis.

"…I don't see any benefit in doing that." (Scarlet)

"Oi, oi, who do you think you are talking to? I am the man that knows the

most truths of the world after Yugura, you know? There's no way I

wouldn't have any benefits for someone like you." (Colorless)

Oops, the weaklings around have gotten even more irritated. They really

have low boiling points when I am just stating facts here.

"Fine. I will not go out of my way to kill him. Give me something to tell

him apart. I will also tell my subordinates." (Scarlet)

"That's a great help." (Colorless)

"But only the Uniques. I won't be to blame if a monster below that ends

up tearing him apart out of instinct." (Scarlet)

There's obviously a problem. Train them properly -though I won't say

that. I am not such a lowlife to tell someone to do something they can't. I

am different from Yugura.

I show him the appearance of the Earthling in midair. It should be

enough to just show the people here, right?

"Just for your information, you can't use healing magic on him. He can

die just from an accidental deep wound." (Colorless)

"Got it." (Scarlet)

Is this really going to be okay? I can't do anything hostile towards

anyone aside from the ones who have touched the forbidden. In other

words, I can't interject when the time comes.

Aaah, what a pain. There's no way I can trust these beasts.

"Well, it is not a lie that I came to cheer for you. The only one fulfilling

his duty as a Demon Lord is you as of present. Yugura wouldn't try to

stop your invasion either. Chew thoroughly the wish Yugura granted you,

General-sama." (Colorless)

"…No need to even tell me. My wish has not changed even once in these

centuries." (Scarlet)

Figures. He is stubborn to a fault. He did pick a fight with that Green

Lord, and didn't break even when he was left half dead. His heart

wouldn't break against any powerhouse in this world.

But his ambition is warped. Now then, it is about time to leave or the

stench of beast will stick to my body.

"See ya then. Enjoy yourself, Scarlet Beast -the endless strife that

continues on from wake to sleep." (Colorless)