The Doomed Fief’s Dying Lord (40)

According to Ronari’s plan, twenty units of twenty men each attacked twenty rooms simultaneously.

The central room with the entrance.

Only Ronari and a few liaison officers remained there.

Liaison officers poured in without a break.

Thanks to that, Ronari had no time to rest either.

She issued orders responding to reports at an astonishing speed.

“West 2 medium unit entered room [-2, 1]. Joined with North 1 medium unit.”

“Good. West 2 medium unit continue into [-2, 2]. North 1 medium unit circle through [-1, 2] and advance into [-1, 3]. End.”

Indeed.

Just as Ronari had promised.

What controlled the battlefield now was mathematics.

Before the operation, she classified the Dungeon’s rooms with an XY coordinate system.

For example, the room we are in now is [0, 0], and the room one space to the north is [0, 1].

The idea itself wasn’t remarkable.

Any army in the world would have done the same.

‘But the true value of this operation lies elsewhere.’

Simplicity.

Simplicity is the greatest advantage of this operation.

As Ronari had said earlier, this operation would proceed based on a single strategy.

What is that operation?

Ah, there’s no need to say it at length.

Ronari already said it, didn’t she?

Advance, check the door, retreat if enemies come, advance again.

All units had to do was perform that.

Some might think.

What kind of operation is this?

But think mathematically.

What is the most beautiful formula?

It’s reducing an enormously complex problem into a simple equation.

You all know it, right?

Like E=mc².

Ronari’s operation has units carry out only commands of utter simplicity.

The method is simple too.

The battlefield’s topology is all the same anyway!

If there’s a troll in a room, it’ll just be a bit more annoying.

‘But that simplicity is doing tremendous work.’

Shall I mention just one of them?

I said it.

If you view this operation from a bird’s-eye perspective, our formation would be diamond-shaped.

That’s one of the operation’s core points.

We follow the simple formula the operation prescribes, right?

Then each unit’s scouting area becomes diamond-shaped.

Naturally, the inside of the diamond becomes empty.

It becomes a safe rear for us.

And units protruding at the diamond’s vertices can draw enemy attention from up to four rooms.

The entered room, the room in front, the left room, the right room.

Four in total.

If enemies flood from all four rooms, they can simply retreat.

If they fall back to a safe room and block the door, it’s easy to deal with them.

Then the burden on the medium unit that entered another room is reduced.

Tactical autonomy is secured as well.

You can flank to help the vertex unit.

Or just advance.

So who guards their rear then?

The remaining rear units or medium units coming from the same direction will guard it.

“So we can maintain scouting speed while safely clearing the Dungeon. …How about it, beautiful, isn’t it?”

“Indeed. As befits the young master’s chosen tactician.”

Avenger* said that and bowed his head.*

“Uh-huh.”

He adjusted his helmet that was about to fall.

The Steward, after all, is a young man of Denabi.

Since he went to the battlefield, it was natural he be armed.

His duty was to guard the staff.

Well, though there’s little chance the [0, 0] here would be attacked.

At that moment Avenger asked.

“But what if a unit’s scouting range widens? If the diamond gets too large, gaps will form.”

“Avenger. Could it be you want to be a military officer instead of a Steward or financial advisor?“

I looked at the Steward’s face with a playful expression.

He shook his head.

He did not forget to fix his helmet again.

I said.

“That’s a good point. But the countermeasure is simple as well.”

I pointed to the operation map.

Avenger*’s gaze turned to it as well.*

“?“

The map was being updated in real time by Ronari.

“Strategic analyst! South 1 medium unit has entered [-2, -2]. Both doors opened, and the unit has fallen back to [-2, -1] and is engaged.”

“Return and come back immediately after the engagement ends. Everyone else, relay standby orders to your subordinate units. Over.”

Ronari’s pen marked an X in the blank for [-2, -2].

[-2, -1] already had a mark.

It looked like an X overlapped with a circle.

The X indicated a room in engagement, the circle indicated a scouted and safe room.

Within a few minutes, a liaison officer returned.

He was the officer who had gone to the engagement point at [-2, -2].

“South 1 medium unit engagement ended!”

As soon as that news was delivered, Ronari raised her voice.

“All units withdraw. Rally at the origin and the surrounding eight rooms.”

The liaison officers on standby scattered in all directions.

They returned bringing all twenty allied units.

It didn’t take long to assemble.

Soon the company commanders from each direction returned.

Alejandro, in charge of the north,

Vittorio, in charge of the south,

and two commanders of Limone responsible for the east and west.

Ronari bowed her head to them.

“Well done.”

“Yes. Northern company 100 men. No casualties. You did well too. Your voice is a bit hoarse.”

Alejandro reported succinctly.

His expression was perfect.

The mood among the other companies was the same.

Other commanders also reported only a few minor injuries.

The fighting went on relentlessly for nearly three to four hours.

And yet zero casualties.

It was close to a miracle.

It was the result achieved by Ronari’s operation.

The Limone company commanders said.

“I’ve never had an operation this comfortable. There are no variables.”

“So the claim we’ll finish in sixteen hours wasn’t empty talk. Honestly, I’m surprised.”

They bowed their heads to Alejandro as if showing respect.

They believed Alejandro had devised this operation.

In truth, Ronari issued all the orders.

Because of the operation’s simple appearance.

Since the orders are simple and the tasks look easy, leadership wouldn’t seem like much.

Thus Ronari is the de facto commander, but she is not recognized as such.

So why would there be complaints about her command?

To them, Ronari probably only appeared to be issuing preplanned simple orders.

‘But that’s not the case.’

My mouth itched (I was restless to speak).

Complex calculations must have been taking place in Ronari’s head.

She coordinated the timing of each unit’s advance,

decided advancement directions based on how many doors opened in the rooms entered,

predicted when units’ engagements would end,

and thereby kept the entire army’s formation in perfect shape.

Something only she could do.

Of course, she had already coordinated with Alejandro.

Ronari is competent.

I know it and many people know it.

But there are also many who don’t know.

There are plenty of Limone soldiers too.

Ronari is merely a low-ranking staff member and even young.

If she stepped forward to take command, they’d feel uncomfortable, wouldn’t they?

They might even mutiny.

So she had to show this kind of trick.

It’s regrettable.

But I didn’t even have a chance to speak to Ronari.

She couldn’t rest even while all forces were on standby.

Alejandro said.

“When we entered [0, 4], doors in three directions opened. There were three manticores. We can assume the manticores’ origin is nearby.”

It was Ronari who responded to Alejandro’s words.

“Then, as you said, we should expand starting from [0, 4]. However, due to the areas already cleared, it’s difficult for all 400 men to operate in that direction. That is…”

Ronari looked up at Alejandro.

It was a look as if she were handing him the decision, but in fact the answer was already decided.

Alejandro voiced that answer.

“Then we should split the force into two. One should extend north, and the other resume operations from the east or west. That would be more favorable for cooperation than splitting north-south.”

It was a prearranged statement.

Ronari immediately accepted Alejandro’s words.

“That’s an accurate judgment. Then I should ask the other company commanders for their judgments. What do you think?”

The company commander in charge of the east answered.

“My direct unit didn’t find any particular clue. I’ll have to ask the other squad leaders for their opinions.”

The company commander for the west seemed to think the same.

Ronari said.

“Then how about taking a 30-minute break and gathering to decide whether to advance east or west?”

This time Ronari’s gaze turned to Vittorio.

As expected, the result was similar.

She had told him to follow Ronari.

Vittorio nodded obediently.

“Good. Dismissed. I’ve never had such a simple operation meeting before.”

Alejandro declared the meeting closed.

Vittorio and the company commanders dispersed to their respective units.

After an operation lasting a little over three hours, there was one hour of rest.

In just four hours, we cleared over forty rooms.

With sufficient rest and no casualties, the assault gained even more momentum.

The advance route, aside from the north, was decided to be west.

Watching the backs of the moving soldiers, Avenger said.

“I don’t know if it’s right for someone who’s not even a soldier to say this… but I didn’t expect it to go so smoothly. I still can hardly believe it.”

I chuckled.

“To be honest? I’m the same.”

“No, the young master shouldn’t say that. Aren’t we at the final stage of the plan you made?”

“Didn’t I say? My real plan is the ‘talent-powered, super-easy territory clear’ mode.”

“Talent-powered… super-easy…? Young master, what does that mean?”

‘Eh, tsk tsk. No wonder this is medieval fantasy. Communication isn’t very ‘modern’ (MZ).’

Since we’ve already optimized language and currency units, can’t we fix things like this too?

“It’s all thanks to you in the end. That’s what I mean. What’s the use of my plan, really? Without you, we wouldn’t have made it this far.”

Avenger* gripped the spear’s shaft tightly.*

“The young master seems to have a talent for pleasing his retainers.”

“Of course. Thanks to that, we’re able to make use of Strategic Analyst Ronari like that, aren’t we?”

Those were words not from the heart.

I thought inwardly.

‘Hey Avenger. Do you know? Only three people at most trust me even halfway.’

Two of those are you, Avenger, and my father.

More precisely, Shane’s father.

Counting my father among the Regular contracted talent is absurd.

I thought my attitude was petty.

On top of that, I lost the two people who were going well.

To regain Pietro’s and Izack’s trust, far greater sacrifices than before would be necessary.

“So, Avenger. There are actually very few talents who cheer for me after a few words. At most, you and Ronari. I want to win more people’s hearts.”

“Haven’t you already won them? Most of the young master’s staff deeply believe in you.”

No, that’s not right.

I shook my head.

“What I want is real trust. It’s impossible to gain that by words alone. So I’ll show it through actions.”

“Actions…?”

I loosened my leather armor.

I checked the buckles and retied my boot laces.

Then I said.

“So far it’s gone smoothly, but this is still a Dungeon. A Rank 3 Dungeon. Abnormal situations will inevitably occur.”

“Young master, surely you don’t…!”

“I’ll prevent that. And I’ll make sure everyone truly returns alive. Then all of them will be mine. If I’m lucky, the Denabi populace who get their families back unharmed might become mine as well.”

“As I said earlier, it’s dangerous! Unlike the orchard, the density of monsters here is on a different level!”

I tapped Avenger’s shoulder as he blocked me.

And I passed him.

“Avenger. I want them to serve me.“

Talent-powered, super-easy mode clear?

As I said earlier, that’s my dream.

But a dream is still only a dream.

It hasn’t become reality yet.

I now intend to turn that dream into reality.

There is only one way.

“If the lord does not go ahead, who will follow?”

Proving one’s qualifications by oneself.

Now it was my turn to dance.

A dazzling dance that would steal everyone’s, even the monsters’, gazes.