第１０２８堀：大事なのは結果にたどり着く方法と決断 (Part1)
**Chapter 1028: The Importance of Method and Decision in Reaching a Result**
**Side: Yuki**
"There’s a possibility that a Dungeon Master named Goen has headed toward the Great Mountain Range. I see..."
Seraria muttered, looking troubled as she placed the report she had been holding onto the table.
"The question is, how far should we pursue him?"
"That’s it. I’ve been thinking that we could leave the bare minimum of Steve’s team to monitor the dungeons and divert the rest to search for him."
"It’s not impossible, I suppose. But we can’t afford to slacken our surveillance of the Haun Empire’s territory too much, either... If anything, wouldn't it be better to have Steve and the others continue with the conquest of the other dungeons?"
"That’s a valid approach, too. It really comes down to where we place the priority."
Following Mikos’s suggestion, I was consulting with Seraria—the top of Weed and my wife—about various matters, including the topic we had just discussed. It was a choice between putting our strength into tracking down the Dungeon Master or focusing on suppressing the dungeons.
"Let’s organize our thoughts. First, our original objective. We want to investigate the magical power in the lands where the Zurable Great Empire and the Haun Empire are located. That hasn't changed, right?"
"Yeah. It all started when the diplomatic fleet from the Seasypho Kingdom lost contact, and we received a request for investigation and rescue."
"And when we went, we found the Seasypho fleet captured by the Gusdo Kingdom. Then the Zurable Great Empire invaded and slaughtered the local residents. Seeing that, I ordered the repulsion of the Zurable Great Empire, which was a success. We moved to negotiations and reached a reconciliation. After that, we shifted to supporting the war against the Haun Empire. That’s how it went, right?"
"Man, just hearing it summarized gives me a headache. If someone reported this to a third party, they’d probably scream."
"Even Eris and Ratz were panicking at the time, wondering what on earth was happening."
Well, that’s only natural for those two, given that they manage the finances and supplies. After all, the cost alone meant that using aircraft carriers for actual combat operations should have been impossible.
"Anyway, back to the point. We are currently siding with the Zurable Great Empire and trying to do something about the dungeons in the Haun Empire. Our basic strategy for conquest is that if there’s a main dungeon base like we have in Weed, we want to suppress that and bring all the dungeons under our control at once, right?"
"Yeah. That would be ideal, but the reality is that it’s hard to believe the countless dungeons on the Haun Empire side are managed by a single Dungeon Master."
"Still, we’ve only used two dungeons as a reference, so we can't conclude that for sure."
"That’s why I’m torn between following Goen’s trail or focusing on dungeon conquest. If the notes are accurate, suppressing Goen might give us the chance to bring many of the dungeons under our control."
"But there’s a very good chance that isn't the case. At worst, those notes could be a bluff—just a way to buy time."
As Seraria said, the possibility that those notes, found sitting alone in the lowest residential district, were misinformation planted to confuse us using the famous name of Goen couldn't be ruled out. If that were the case, diverting troops to chase him would only increase the chances of the Zurable Great Empire losing.
...No, that’s not right. I need to change my perspective.
"We can't judge based on current information alone. Alright, let’s consider the worst-case scenario if we leave Goen alone."
"In that case, we have to assume a massive number of monsters will emerge from all the dungeons to attack the Zurable Great Empire army, or perhaps march toward the Zurable territory. A counter-attack while the main Zurable force is invading would be strategically effective."
"Crushing the Zurable Imperial Capital. Striking down the enemy’s leader. Well, I suppose that’s a viable tactic in this era."
"It’s perfectly normal. If the leader is taken out, the army collapses. Actually, isn't it the same on Earth?"
"Well, I guess you’re right."
If you take out the head, the army’s functionality naturally paralyzes. Doing that makes it impossible to steer the country, which makes post-war governance a huge pain for the enemy, but I suppose that doesn't matter to the people in this land. Especially given how the Haun Empire side has acted so far; it seems the Zurable side is fine with being trampled. Man, this era is terrifying.
But let’s set that aside.
"Hmm, I see. If we leave him alone, Goen calls for an all-out war. Then, what if we capture Goen and it yields no results?"
"The outcome would be the same. If Goen is a dud, it means the true enemy exists elsewhere. And in that case, the worst-case counter-attack or encirclement and annihilation still awaits."
"Well, the worst-case scenario remains the same. So, our defeat conditions are three: the total annihilation of the Zurable invasion force, the destruction of the Zurable Imperial Capital, and the death of Emperor Yupia."
"Yes, that’s right."
"In other words, the key to success in this operation is how well we can protect the Zurable Great Empire from enemy attacks, right?"
"Yes. But we can’t protect them openly. That’s why Steve and Kirika went ahead to suppress the enemy dungeons, isn't it?"
"That’s true. But considering the situation, I don’t feel like we can protect everything. We don’t even know how many Dungeon Masters there are. Above all, our available forces are limited."
Until now, we’ve managed by limiting the scope of what we protect, using Weed’s power to gather information, and precisely narrowing down the enemy’s targets. But this time, the scale is just too different. We are protecting an army. An army that is invading enemy territory. The reason is to prevent the enemy from gaining DP. Trying to protect all of this perfectly is what’s causing the strain. In that case...
Seraria seemed to have guessed my intent, as she narrowed her eyes...
"Are you saying we should use the Zurable army as bait?"
"That was the plan from the start, anyway. I was just getting too impatient because we couldn't get information on the enemy even after coming this far. So, I tried to provoke the dungeons to get them to move, but they still haven't. If that’s the case, we have no choice but to stick to what we need to protect and defend it, right? We can only protect part of it, but we can still respond. Am I wrong?"
When I said that, Seraria closed her eyes for a moment to think, but then let out a soft sigh...
"Haa... I suppose so. The realistic approach is to wait for the enemy to move against the Zurable army. It puts us on the back foot, but we were planning to dispatch troops in case the Zurable army was attacked anyway. It seems we have no choice but to proceed as planned."
"That’s it. It’s just that we aren't going to find a shortcut this time."
In other words, we just move according to our original plan.
"Fortunately, the dungeon conquests haven't taken much time. We’ll leave management personnel in the places we’ve seized, and have Kirika and Steve proceed with the conquest of the surrounding dungeons. We’ll solidify the perimeter with that until the investigation of the main dungeon, which the Haun Empire is conducting, begins."