Chapter 129 – Route choice.

Side: Seraria

(Yuki)「Well, onto the next topic. Which route would be the most efficient to march from Weed to the Demon King?」

(Liliana)「Huh, about that next. Do you have a map?」

We’re asking Liliana and making use of Raia and Zergis’ information.
Now my husband and me are planning our route.

(Yuki)「Here, the map. 」

As per Liliana’s request…… My husband pa.s.sed her an handmade map.
Capturing the terrain around the Dungeon, it’s completed to the finest detail.
It’s a map boasting of an unprecedented precision in this world.

(Liliana)「Eh?」

Liliana’s instantly rendered speechless.
……. Speaking of the usual quality of map of our continent, they’re usually considered complete once the rivers and forests, which mark the end of territories, are marked with their rough location.
You can imagine how valuable this map would be for rulers and merchants simply by glancing at Liliana’s face.
Clearly against the rules.
But it’s just as expected from my husband who came from a different world. My pride and joy.

(Yuki)「First of all, I made this map as precise as possible with the data collected thus far. Since I don’t know any settlement names, I’d like you to add them for me as we discuss things. Is that okay?」

This complete map has three human countries and the mountains where the demons reside is in the center.

…… This husband, he seems to have increased the area of land he controls while we weren’t looking.
He must have done this after the ten thousand people reached Weed.
Let’s do a quick calculation. If we round the income to 10000 DP per hour then it’s 240 000 DP in a day.
Make that 3 months … even with a conservative estimate it’s still 21. 6 million DP.
Well, there is a lot that’s put into savings, but the amount of DPs we can use is still huge.

It’s 100 DP for 1KM² and the maintenance cost is 10 DP per KM.

These are the costs when putting land under the control of the Dungeon.
Given how the maintenance fee works, then if you just temporarily purchase the land in order to make the map and then release it again after your done, the costs to generate this map should be quite manageable.
The idea is utterly outlandish.
But I don’t think this map will be used outside the management.

Detailed maps are cla.s.sified and confidential on this continent.
Grasping the topography, location of resources, villages and towns in your country, that is a map.
If all of these are understood in detail by the enemy, you’ll suffer far more damage when attacked and there’s not even the need to mention any of the dirtier things that can be done.
From a military perspective the topography is important when fighting, marching and planning ones strategies. The value of this map is immeasurable. It offers knowledge on advantageous places to intercept an enemy, or what route to bypa.s.s in order to avoid an ambush.
That’s why it is so important to protect a map marked with such scrutinizing detail.

(Yuki)「Calm down Liliana. This is a part of this Dungeons, Weed’s power. 」

(Liliana)「This detail on a map is too much…… Dungeon Master is definitely an existence we should call a natural disaster. 」

That’s right. It’s just as you said Liliana, if one can make good use of the power of his Dungeon.
However this is something very rare.
On the off chance you go on a rampage, Luna will come to settle it as well.
I’ve heard about it from Delille’s younger brother. Luna seems to have tried finding a talented Dungeon Master many times in order to save the continent, b

ut until now all of them had failed.
Too bad for Delille. For two hundred years her brother holed himself up in his single Dungeon. It’s a long time.

Compared to him my husband is a miracle worker.
It’s been only eight months since his arrival and he has made three major countries gather to put an end to the evil Demon King.
For my husband’s safety, I can’t say aloud that he is the amazing Dungeon Master, but I am still very proud.
Let’s be gentle with him in tonight’s bed sharing session. Oups, futon not bed.

(Liliana)「Fo-for the time being. Is-s this area Weed?」

(Yuki)「Yes, and these are the Royal Capitals of Roch.e.l.le, Galtz and Ritea. 」

My husband said so, while putting his fingers on the cities he already knew about, where the names were already written.
Apart from these places, together with the other wives we noted the names of the various villages and towns we know of, that weren’t marked already, on a sketch on the side.
We’ll fix that together later to get a more accurate map. For now though we will use the sketch in the upcoming discussion.
This kind of thing is not to be shown to the rulers of countries after all.

(Liliana)「This is the castle of the Demon King. Well we call it Laiet Castle though. 」

There is a castle in the center of the mountain.
There are a few houses in the surrounding area that the Demons probably use to live in.

(Yuki)「Only one road from Weed seems to lead to the Demon King castle . 」

My husband pointed to the nearest route from Weed.

(Liliana)「We-well this I understand. 」

(Yuki)「Well, the entrance to the route, and some of the roadways, seem to be camouflaged, but walk through the thickets for a bit and the road continues here. 」

I see, if you look closely, roads extend from the Demon King castle toward each country.
Looking from the opposite side of the Castle, they don’t seem to exist at first.
But once you’re aware of them, there’s no problem.

(Yuki)「But it’s too troublesome when seen in this way. 」

My husband frowns as he looks at the map.
What’s the problem?
From the map it is easy to understand that from the Demon King castle there’s only 4 possible routes. One going out of each of the 4 countries.
Although there are existing routes, they are probably tying villages to agricultural land and building togethers, the pathways don’t extend farther.

(Riel)「Hey, what’s wrong?」

Riel tilts her head, asking our husband.

(Yuki)「There are four roads. Considering the sheer fact that they could be camouflaged, the maximum size army that can be sent is small. In addition to that it proves that they are wary of movement from the humans, so they will have appropriate countermeasures in place in case the humans manage to locate a road. From Weed, no, a march using any of these roads will almost certainly meet a defensive force. They probably won’t have permanent garrisons on every road, but they will have thorough sentries in place, ready to inform their defensive army of enemy movement, followed by appropriate relocation of the army. After all, only 4 roads have to be protected. It can’t be that hard to set up defenses for a mere 4 small roads. In nice terms it will be a hard march. In pessimistic words it may become a slow and dirty march littered with sporadic guerilla-style battles every step of the way. 」

(Riel)「Oh, so that’s how it is? Well, I can understand that. Less roads makes you defend more easily and reduces the places that you have to be wary of, is that right Liliana-san?」

(Liliana)「…… Yes, Yuki-san is right. Normally speaking, the pa.s.sageway to defend the road toward Roch.e.l.le is filled with 10 000 defenders. Also, there are many wild monsters on the trail.

(Riel)「Wow, that’s a headache. Or rather, it’s bad. Though it probably heavily depends on how many elites are among their ranks and how elaborate their plans are. 」

As per what Riel had said, there are probably going to be some tough ones.
They may have the time to regroup with such high numbers, but if we don’t beat Rumel to the punch, not just the Demon King, but all of the Demons will be killed.
It is necessary to put our army inside the Demon King’s castle, because without it we won’t be able to persuade Rumel without a lot of dangerous variables.

(Seraria)「Considering the conditions, our army has to consist of elites. How many elites can each country mobilize?」

I’m looking at Lulu and Shera.

(Lulu)「Ritea is cautious of a potential demon’s march right now, so motivating the people shouldn’t be an issue. However there is currently a very real risk of a civil war we have to keep a look out for.This time we should be able to bring a large-ish troop of 5000 elites. The common soldiers are need for public order though. 」

(Shera)「The situation is similar in Galtz, we’re wary about a Demon’s march. We have to deal with Rankus so we can move about 4000 people. However, since Lowell will take command, the delay for preparations won’t be long. Oh, there’s Higil nii-san too. 」

As far as he is concerned, poor Higil.

(King Roch.e.l.le)「Because of Loire, The number and quality of elites we have in Roch.e.l.le had decreased. We can only move about 3000. 」

Seriously, that guy Loire is dead, yet he is still dragging our feets?
When I felt a wrinkle forming between my eyebrows, Tori reports about Weed.

(Tori)「From Weed…… Excuse me. We will bring 300 monsters under Seraria’s direct command to Rankus with Kiyu to a.s.sist her. Excluding those, Weed can put out about 200 people for the clash against the demons. That way, there will be enough people remaining to take care of Weed’s security and a.s.sure the wellbeing of our inhabitants. 」

(Seraria)「We’ll also need to add 10% more to take care of the Logistics.」

(Lutz)「That’s right, a military unit dedicated to carrying foods and supplies will definitely be needed. That’s a lot of people gathering and moving through Weed. A total of 12000 people need to receive food, that total exceeds the population of Weed. 」

(Yuki)「You’re right about that. If we don’t move quickly, I’m afraid we will put pressure on the lives of the people of Weed. 」

No, the Government has properly been issuing salaries, other economic activities might stop, but food production will continue accordingly.
We could reduce the supplies for the blacksmiths, or rely on agriculture and stockpiling on necessary commodities with DP.
Well, even this is a topic of its own.

(Yuki)「In other words, with our army we can only advance forward, while knowing enemies are lying in wait for us….. Am I right?」

(Liliana)「It may go more smoothly than you’d expect, the man who robbed me of my position….. The Demon King isn’t very liked, he will have a hard time rallying reinforcements from the people. The elite scouts who would normally be guarding the border pursued me and were captured by Weed as well, so even if the replacement sentries are elite, they should still be unfamiliar with the new border. 」

Too careless.
But the thing is, there’s no way for us to penetrate the defenses before being noticed…..

(Yuki)「……… Listen, we are going off track for a bit. How long do you think it will take for the army using this route?」

(Liliana)「Let’s see. When I ran away, I was alone and had to walk through a forest without proper roads…… That took me around 15 days I think. 」

(Seraria)「Then it is going to take twice as much time for our army at the least. 」

I think it’ll be one month or so.
Even if there’s survivors from Rumel and they can turn back they’ll need at least one month to reach the castle.
On the up-side though, even if Rumel wishes to pursue, they have to take the time to gather and replenish supplies that they used during the previous siege, and get in formation before they can even try to a.s.sault the Demons.

(Seraria)「So, Anata, why did you want to hear that?」

(Yuki)「Well, I have a good hand to play. Thing is, it’ll take a bit of time to settle. 」

My husband’s eyes are laughing.

Surely, he has come up with yet another dastardly strategy.

I remember the pitfall he used to mock Roch.e.l.le’s elites.

Afterword of the author
Yesterday I wasn’t able to come up with a proper text. There was mistakes in my writing, typos and the grammar was all messed up.
Thanks to those who pointed them to me.
It might not be good to write and post so much.

And, the sequel with Tanaka’s story is neglected for now because Hisshou Dungeon takes priority for the moment.
I’m sorry. But I’ll write once I’m calm.