第１２掘：彼を知り己を知れば、百戦しても殆うからず。
Chapter 12: "Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles."
"Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles."
The monitor displayed soldiers plummeting into the abyss, about 100 meters below.
Honestly, I never expected to be trapped like this. A reconnaissance team came ahead, didn't they? Did they not report it?
"W-what are you doing?! Don't you have any pride as a Dungeon Master?!"
Seraria said something nonsensical and advanced towards me.
But I couldn't understand what she was saying.
"...Um, what is pride as a Dungeon Master?"
"It's to place monsters, watch over them, and battle the strong who reach this point!!"
I felt a headache coming on.
"...Hey, Oriel. Do other dungeons not have traps?"
"Yes, they normally do."
"Sorry, Seraria. I don't understand what was wrong with that just now."
"It's cowardly!! Our country's soldiers are confronting you head-on, and yet you use a pitfall!!"
"Uh, the enemy is attacking this dungeon, which has inferior military strength, with overwhelming numbers? Isn't that cowardly?"
"...That's that!! This is this!!"
I can't get through to her!?
"I apologize, Seraria-sama is a martial type and dislikes underhanded tactics. The army's principle is to fight gloriously, and that is the source of our Roschur Kingdom's strength."
Oriel interjected, and a question arose in my mind.
"Hey, does this country have any strategists... advisors?"
"Strategist? Advisor? What are those?"
Seraria tilted her head in confusion.
"It's someone who thinks about battles... like a civilian official?"
"What are you talking about? Civilian officials are useless on the battlefield. Haa, you don't know the battlefield. The battlefield is influenced by 'Heaven's Luck.' Good, no matter how much you outnumber the enemy, even with high-level allies, you cannot win without 'Heaven's Luck.' So, trying strange tricks is useless. On the contrary, it will tarnish your name!!"
...That's an amazing theory... As expected of a civilization on par with medieval Europe... No, I think it was definitely better than this, even if they didn't have positions like "strategist" or "advisor."
"While Seraria-sama's words are somewhat extreme, if high-level individuals clash, they can rampage freely, and strategies will be broken. Furthermore, there are many unpredictable elements like skills..."
Oriel added. I see, the drawback of levels and skills, huh? Here, as you level up, you get stronger. The stronger you are, the more you can get away with. It's easy for overpowered characters to be born. That's why strategic thinking on the battlefield is considered unnecessary.
"To win a hundred victories in a hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill." I'll show you that, or rather, it's close to that already, since we are fighting.
"A hundred victories in a hundred battles...?"
"In my country... well, it's a famous saying from a book. If I have to risk misunderstanding, it means 'always consider the method with the least damage.' I'll explain it in detail later."
"What are you talking about!! We're already being invaded in the dungeon!! Damage... wait, huh?"
Seraria seemed to notice the contradiction in her own words. She's not unintelligent, I guess.
"Is something wrong, Chii-nee-sama? Are you feeling unwell?"
"...I'm fine, Elju. Oriel, are you noticing something?"
"What is it?"
"This person hasn't sustained any damage yet..."
"Ah!!"
"!? "
Elju and Oriel also seemed to realize the current situation with those words. That's right, none of my subordinates have been harmed. We haven't even engaged in combat. Yet, the enemy has suffered about 200 casualties "without fighting."
They both looked at me with surprise.
Well, let's ignore that and check on the enemy. Oh, they seem to have realized that they can pass if there are six or fewer people. It's obvious with the sign, but still.
Now, this next part is quite a spectacle.
After passing through a long corridor of about 500 meters, there is a door that opens to the next room if there are six or fewer people.
And there, I summoned a "Blood Minotaur," a level 95 monster, by spending the DP I've accumulated over the past 10 days.
The six soldiers who faced it froze for a moment but immediately took action. They're not just royal guards for nothing.
In contrast, the Minotaur didn't move an inch.
"Why aren't you moving?! Give the order quickly!!"
Seraria shouted at me in a panic. But there's a mistake.
"No, I've already given the order. 'Eliminate the remaining ones.'"
"Remaining...?"
"Look, look at the monitor."
This room is quite spacious, partly to allow the Minotaur to rampage freely... but there's another reason.
That is... a sound echoes from the monitor.
*Clunk!!*
"N-whoa----!!"
"Kyaaaah----!!"
"W-what... another pitfall!?"
In front of where the Minotaur stood, an abyss opened up.
"N-everyone...!! Damn it!!"
Oh, one person managed to narrowly escape the pitfall's range. I should change the setting.
"Ah, c-come here!! Whoooa----!!"
The Minotaur, as ordered, proceeded to drop the remaining soldiers.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Let's leave the ladies staring at the monitor alone.
Why would you think there wouldn't be traps in the boss room? It makes the enemy wary and stop moving. What's the point if you don't exploit that?
"...Are you playing around? Are you toying with battle?! Why do you fight a battle that insults the opponent's pride like this!! If not this, what do you call cowardly!! If that's the case, it would be more efficient to just drop all the opponents into the pitfall from the start!!"
Seraria was furious.
"That's right, if you want to annihilate all the enemies within the dungeon."
Yes, if you want to annihilate all the enemies within the dungeon, it would be more efficient to set up a pitfall where the enemies are gathered and annihilate them all.
"Look, look at the monitor. Hearing about the casualties, reinforcements have arrived. About 500 more people outside the dungeon."
Army combat is a way of fighting that utilizes numbers. They always leave some reserves. This was no exception; about 2,000 people advanced into the dungeon.
Only half of them infiltrated the dungeon, but the rest were still there.
"You... you set up a trap that caused significant damage initially to lure the rest, and then only allowed small groups to pass, didn't you?"
"Ah, if I had annihilated 1,000 people all at once, they would have retreated. But even though there were casualties, they would think they could proceed if they were careful and come, right? This time, especially with the country's reputation on the line."
"I'm astonished. You even considered the opponent's circumstances?"
"Of course. 'Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles.'"
"What is that saying... Somehow, I can guess from what you said earlier, which makes it even worse."
"We were attacked too. I'd like you to cooperate with some information gathering."
"Information gathering? What, are you still thinking of something strange?"
"Nothing much. I intend to have you surrender. We've been put through a lot of trouble, having to hide an annoying princess."
"What did you say-----!!"
"Um, Yuki-san, how can we make them surrender? There are still over 1,000 of them..."
As Seraria was about to retort, Elju asked a question.
It's a natural question, after all.
"That is... Alright, the reinforcements have joined. If we leave the straight passage at the dungeon entrance open with the pitfall, what will happen?"
"The soldiers invading the dungeon have become completely isolated."
By the way, the straight passage at the entrance is about 300 meters long, making it impossible to cut down nearby trees and make a bridge.
"Um, how will this lead to them surrendering?"
"Elju, what are the essential things for people to live?"
"Food, perhaps?"
"Yes, the soldiers currently inside the dungeon have no way to resupply 'food.' In other words, they must break through the Minotaur with its traps, which can only be passed by a maximum of six people at a time... and then, after passing through the traps on the second floor, defeat us... or rather, even if they defeat us, they don't know if they can escape."
"...That's right. Moreover, there is no water on the first floor. Without water, people can only last about three days. They probably have some emergency rations and water..."
"At most five days, I'd say..."
Elju seemed to understand what I meant from our words.
"If they want to survive, they have no choice but to surrender to us."
Seraria muttered with a look of exasperation.
"To win without any casualties... truly unbelievable."
"...It's a sight that's hard to believe."
Well, now, let's just wait leisurely for the opponent to surrender.
As expected of Sun Tzu, "Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles." And "The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting." I never thought I'd experience it firsthand.
"Ah, another one fell."
On the monitor, a brave soldier (lol) who boldly charged at the Minotaur had fallen. He was probably being perfectly serious. But I wonder, to die with a laugh at the end. That's not something you get to do often, is it?