第１３０掘：作戦説明 (Part2)
"Wait a moment. I am currently a wanted person in Last. While it’s true there are those who would cooperate with me, the idea that they would lend their strength to something so uncertain—something that might not even be true—is..."
Liliana-san looked frustrated, stating that her own value was now almost nonexistent. But in truth, the idea that I was asking for her to "lend her strength" was a misunderstanding.
"Ah, don't worry. You’re going to be the one gathering the turncoats by presenting the Demon King's head. They’ll listen to whatever you say, I’m sure of it."
"Eh?"
"In other words, the capture of the barrier gate will be the very last step for us. Even though the army will be there from the start."
"What do you mean by that?"
As expected, she still didn't grasp it.
"Listen, everyone. If we can join forces with the demons to take that barrier gate, you understand that the conquest of the Demon King's Castle will become much easier, right?"
Everyone nodded.
"That’s why, to secure that cooperation at the gate, we are going to take a subterranean route to conquer the Demon King's Castle first and claim the Demon King's head. We’ll hand that over to Liliana-san and have her propose the defection."
When I said that, everyone’s eyes went wide.
"I-I see. So, Yuki-san, you mean the capture of the barrier gate and the conquest of the Demon King's Castle are just a performance?"
Eris realized the nature of my strategy, the corners of her mouth twitching.
"Well, 'performance' or not, there will still be casualties on both sides."
"Is it really necessary to go that far?"
Elju, who had been silent until now, spoke up. It was better than her flat-out rejection from before, at least. Just as I was about to answer, Liliana-san stepped forward to explain it to her.
"If I were to bring the Demon King's head, a bloodless surrender would indeed be possible. However, that would mean letting the fools who betrayed me—the ones who preached that all non-demons must be eradicated—escape justice. The defection is a screening process for that purpose, isn't it?"
"That’s exactly it."
"Furthermore, it serves as a catalyst for demons and other races to join hands. I have no intention of squandering that opportunity for the sake of traitors."
Hearing Liliana-san say that, Elju still didn't seem entirely convinced, but she backed down.
"That being the case, the remaining issues are the Demon King's Castle conquest we’ll be undertaking in advance, and how we’ll welcome the Allied Forces that will arrive afterward," Ratz noted.
But that part was even simpler.
"First, we’ll turn the Demon King's Castle into a dungeon and seize control. We’ll summon monsters as needed to eliminate hostile factions. If it goes well, we’ll have the monsters take down the Demon King himself."
"Ugh, you really are a devious one, aren't you, big brother..."
"The factions cooperating with Liliana-san are likely already in the dungeons, and the servants will just be running around in a panic. We just need to thoroughly crush anyone who resists. There’s no need for us to put ourselves in danger, but we have to be ready to move nearby just in case."
"That is certainly true."
With that explanation, everyone nodded in agreement.
Demon King-san, I’m sorry, but don't expect a flashy, one-on-one duel with a hero like in some story.
*Heh heh heh...*
Wait. Do I look like the villain here?
Well then, the operation begins now. What will be the fate of the Demon King?!
***
*Author's Note: Continuing from yesterday.*
*Q: What games or stories did you use as references?*
*A: Regarding stories. Since this is an alternate world, it falls into that category.*
*First, the light novels:*
*Genre: Light Novels*
*・The Familiar of Zero: A classic. But I’ll be honest—sorry to Saito, but Louise just seemed to be a constant burden. If it were me, I’d have cut her loose immediately and used tanks or Zero fighters to fight freely.*
*・A Certain Magical Index: Also a classic. Very fun. I really admire Touma-san!! The heroines? I don't really care. I don't think there are many stories out there where the protagonist acts as much of a hero as he does.*
*・RPG W(・∀・)RLD: A "trapped in a game" story from Fantasia Bunko. I find it interesting and like it. It’s a treasure trove of tropes, so there are many bits that make gamers grin.*
*・Knight's & Magic: A work that was adapted from this site (Shousetsuka ni Narou). Using modern knowledge to build custom robots. It’s pure romance. If you’re a man and you love robots, you must read this. This is what a single-minded fool looks like.*
*・Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody (Note: Author likely refers to "Death March" or similar dungeon-crawling titles): Similar "trapped in a game" story. However, the pacing is leisurely, and the thrill of being "cheat-tier" is less pronounced compared to others. But because it shows the process of steadily conquering a dungeon, I never get bored reading it.*
*・The Ideal Sponger Life: Also from Narou. This is close to "Winning Dungeon." It involves bringing modern tools to another world to some extent, followed by providing knowledge and navigating royal politics. There are many highlights.*
*・GATE: Thus the JSDF Fought There. Modern Japanese military forces from Ginza, Tokyo, encounter an invading army from another world and massacre the citizens. The JSDF immediately kicks the medieval-style army to the curb with modern weaponry and takes back the area. Conversely, they march into the other world to demand reparations. The protagonist is an otaku JSDF member, Itami-san, whose motto is "Eat, sleep, play, and live a little in between." I can empathize with him. Politics are heavily involved, which makes it interesting.*
*・Koihime Musou: Not a light novel, but a visual novel (originally an eroge), but it’s quite interesting as a historical intervention story. The major warlords are female, but let’s just leave that as "you know." It’s a story that makes you think about the creation of parallel worlds through branching paths.*
*・Type-Moon series: Tsukihime, Fate, DDD, Mahoutsukai no Yoru. Most of these are also based on eroge. But as you all know, their fame is such that they are just standard reading material. The ideas are interesting, so you won't lose anything by reading them.*
*・Key series: Clannad, Little Busters, AIR, Kanon, etc. Famous for "crying games." I think you can really feel the quality of the scenarios.*
*I’ll leave the light novel section here for now. If I’m talking about the number of books read, I’ve read over 3,000 light novels. It would be endless if I started listing every one I liked.*
*See you next time.*