“What… did you say? Why would you request something like that?”
Lunaria’s expression changed for the first time since he had met her. She was looking at Arnold with widened eyes.
He could tell what she was thinking.
“You’re misunderstanding me. I don’t want you to kill people. I want you to trample on the empire using your nation’s power. You said that you would help me in any way you can. Here.” Arnold picked up the blood crystal, “This is why your nation is supporting me, right? Take it and carry out my order.”
“But why? It’s a little much to resort to destroying a city without a good reason.”
Arnold went silent.
He hadn’t been thinking straight ever since he heard about what dungeon the expedition team entered. Fear and stress had been all he experienced since he heard about it.
It wasn’t just because he was scared about the major characters dying but he also feared for his own life.
Arnold was just an average gamer a few months back. He didn’t want to face a disaster this early when he wasn’t even ready.
“Please explain to me what this is about. I can’t help if I don’t understand the situation, milord.”
Arnold collapsed on one of the couches, “This concerns the academy’s decision to send their final year students to their graves.”
“Their graves?”
Arnold looked down and fiddled with his fingers, “Did your master mention anything about a dungeon called the Sky God Mountain?”
“I heard about it from her, yes. It’s in the territory of the fairies and high elves, I think. Am I correct?”
“Yeah, you’re right. The dungeon is near the shore of the Fairy Province’s capital. The dungeon that Selia told me about was that exact dungeon the final year students were sent to.”
Lunaria didn’t seem to care this time that he addressed Selia so informally, “Sent to their deaths… Do you mean…”
“Yeah... A cruel fate awaits them but no one besides myself knows that.”
“What do you mean by they were sent to their deaths? Are the monsters inside too dangerous?”
“The problem isn’t just the ordinary dungeon monsters… The monsters that are offspring of an ancient creature, however, is.”
“Ancient… creature? Do you mean ancient like the dragon lords?”
Arnold shook his head and clutched his face, “That thing is far older. Perhaps it roamed this world when time itself was constructed by the gods on this world… I’d say it’s as ancient as a timeline god.”
“….”
“And the bastards of that monster is roaming inside that dungeon. If they escape then this entire world is in danger.”
“Will these monsters be a danger to our queen as well?”
It was a very reasonable question to ask him. She was loyal to Selia so it was obvious that she would be worried.
“Seeing as how she—along with many of her subordinates such as yourself—are level cap then I think you’ll be fine. The other nations without such powerful people will be in danger. I think the Theocracy, Demihuman Kingdom and Province might be able to repel the monsters. The dwarves and elves, however, will definitely die. I can’t be certain if this empire will survive even with my father and the other three great nobles.”
‘Unless Serz and the Murim Martial Alliance helps the Empire then the Empire will fall.’
“These monsters do seem troublesome…” Lunaria seemed convinced about his explanation, “Then what’s your plan…?”
Arnold was glad that Lunaria didn’t ask him about how he knew this. She seemed to know not to meddle in her superior’s affairs.
“I want to create a situation that could occur if they don’t call back the expedition team.”
“As in create a worst-case scenario?”
Arnold nodded.
“I admit that it’s a smart idea but… to attack a city with our nation’s power just to prove this?”
“Do you understand what will happen if I don’t do it? Many more cities will fall and many more people will die. Any idiot would know the best outcome is to alert everyone of the danger.”
Leave the situation as it was and let millions die or create a worst-case scenario and destroy some districts. The latter was obviously the best outcome. If people died in the process then it couldn’t be helped. He had to think of the future not worry about a bunch of NPCs.
“Still, a human should feel some remorse for ordering this. Let alone someone as young as yourself.”
“That sounds hypocritical coming from a monster.”
The two stared into each others eyes silently. Only the ticking of the clock resounded.
Lunaria was the first to look away.
“I am only making sure you understand your decision.”
“I already made up my mind. A lot of people don’t have to die for this to work. Just tell your monsters to attack the walls and buildings.”
“Yes, milord. Then how will we make it seem like the monsters came from the dungeon?” Lunaria asked a very reasonable question again.
“Simple. We have the monsters attack the Fairy Province as well. We have to make them attack in a line that leads towards the Empire. Put two and two together then any idiot would come to the conclusion that the monsters came from the dungeon. I call this the [Migration Strategy].”
Birds often migrated when the seasons change. They would fly to other regions where they can find food and a better habitat. Comparing monsters to birds wasn’t exactly logical since the former would kill any living thing in sight.
But the strategy was close enough to how birds migrated. They would also always head in a straight direction.
The Empire being point north from the Province made this much easier.
“We need to set a clear path from the dungeon, hence the line of attacks. Plus, I already told the entire school during the opening ceremony. They will believe me then and tell the expedition team to come back.”
“Won’t they question your involvement if it proves to be true? I mean, you planted that seed of suspicion the moment you told them about the dungeon even if they didn’t listen. Someone will mention this.”
“…I’m a simple city lord with a dying city and no army to my name. How can I possibly do such a thing? I could just say that some minstrel was singing tales about the dungeon but I didn’t believe it at the time.”
“Has anyone ever told you that you are a scumbag? Even my Master wouldn’t order something like this without batting an eye.”
“….” Arnold frowned.
‘Well… I know that already…’
But wasn’t this for the benefit of the people? He had already warned them yet they didn’t listen. What more could a powerless man such as himself do?
Time was running out. He couldn’t think of any other solution to this problem.
“Carry out my order, Lunaria.” Arnold spoke after having cleared his doubts and hesitations, “Summon your strongest monsters. I’ll grant you permission to use some crystals to hide the summons. I’ll send you the coordinates of where you can find some more crystals later.”
‘This one crystal won’t be enough to summon thousands of monsters. That’s why I should tell them where to get more. But I shouldn’t reveal the larger regions where the crystals can be found. Not yet anyway.’
There was a little pond near the entrance of the forest where they killed those bunch of orcs back then. Arnold would send the coordinates of that pond since it had some crystals underneath the surface.
Lunaria bowed, “I shall dutifully carry out your order, milord. But may I ask some assistance for this task?”
“From who?”
“From our nation’s Prime Minister. Vetis Creste has more experience in handling monsters as powerful as we need them to be able to destroy a city. He’s a summoner class, after all.”
“Vetis…”
Arnold couldn’t recall having heard of the name back when he was a player. Judging by the fact that Vetis was from the Greater Creste demon clan, he might’ve been from the demon world.
‘So he’s the Greater Demon I’ve been hearing about….’
“Alright. Get everything ready within the next month. The dungeon is one of the largest ever recorded so there should be no way that they’ve already reached the first boss.”
The dungeon’s layout might also confuse them multiple times and make them go through the wrong paths. They’re probably still in search of the boss monster on the first floor. Unless the offspring hadn’t eaten the monster boss yet and took its place.
Lunaria finished writing everything down that Arnold said. She asked a curious question, “What will you do once this plan is underway?”
“Convince my mother or the vice-director to gather a rescue team,” he had already planned this far ahead once the plan succeeded, “There are multiple entrances to the dungeon so everyone would assume that the monsters came from one of those. But the one the expedition team entered was the reverse waterfall underneath. That’s the entrance to the first floor.”
The first step was to have monster summons acting as dungeon monsters to rampage on the continent. They would take the role of Deviant monsters and alert the people of the danger.
The second step was gathering a rescue team to head into the dungeon to save the final year students.
Arnold would go into the dungeon while this is underway and look for the martial art book. That was his only goal. He didn’t want to fight whatever monsters lurked in the dungeon but he had a feeling that he would be forced to since that abomination of a dungeon was crawling with danger.
“I’ll be entering the dungeon to claim my prize. Selia better be right about that pure martial skill otherwise I’ll risk my life for nothing.”
He would have a skill directly passed down by the Martial God. That would make every single martial artists in the entire world respect him. There were few sects that had pure martial skills, after all. The Murim Martial Alliance currently had four users of pure martial skills. Arnold would be considered equal to them if he got the book.
“Should I assign some guards to you, milord?”
“That’s not necessary,” he had his demon lord power, his Aura Sword and demon sword. What could possibly go wrong unless he didn’t use his power wisely?
“I see. I’ll let those two back in. Is it fine?”
“Sure.”
Lunaria quietly left the room.
Victoria and Lauran came inside after a minute, with Lunaria walking behind them.
“Lauran, get ready. We’re leaving.”
“You’re leaving already?” Victoria spoke up, “The lords are coming later today. Should I meet them alone?”
“Do as you please. I don’t have time to mess around with those pitiful bastards. If I deem it necessary then I will return back.”
They chose an inconvenient time to come to the city lord’s mansion. Perhaps they had aimed for this timeframe when Arnold was supposed to be absent?
Only his little maid would be left to stand in for him alone. They would be able to sink their claws into the city’s resources and finances if their opponent was a politically inexperienced maid.
Well, they’re in for a hell of a surprise, Arnold thought as he looked at his new advisor.
“Lunaria, I want you to sit in at the meeting between my nobles and Victoria,” Arnold spoke as he was about to leave.
“Is that wise to involve me in your internal affairs? I was ordered only to guide and advise you.”
“Well, I’m ordering you to sit in at the meeting. I trust that you will do what will benefit my city?”
“Of course, milord. That is my job.” Lunaria sounded confident. Arnold couldn’t tell by her facial expressions since she looked as poker faced as a doll.
“I’ll be leaving then. Remember to get everything ready about what we talked about.”
“I shan’t forget, milord.” Lunaria bowed. Victoria followed soon after.
“Alright.” He gazed upon their bowing figures before he was swallowed up by Lauran’s mana.
“What… did you say? Why would you request something like that?”
Lunaria’s expression changed for the first time since he had met her. She was looking at Arnold with widened eyes.
He could tell what she was thinking.
“You’re misunderstanding me. I don’t want you to kill people. I want you to trample on the empire using your nation’s power. You said that you would help me in any way you can. Here.” Arnold picked up the blood crystal, “This is why your nation is supporting me, right? Take it and carry out my order.”
“But why? It’s a little much to resort to destroying a city without a good reason.”
Arnold went silent.
He hadn’t been thinking straight ever since he heard about what dungeon the expedition team entered. Fear and stress had been all he experienced since he heard about it.
It wasn’t just because he was scared about the major characters dying but he also feared for his own life.
Arnold was just an average gamer a few months back. He didn’t want to face a disaster this early when he wasn’t even ready.
“Please explain to me what this is about. I can’t help if I don’t understand the situation, milord.”
Arnold collapsed on one of the couches, “This concerns the academy’s decision to send their final year students to their graves.”
“Their graves?”
Arnold looked down and fiddled with his fingers, “Did your master mention anything about a dungeon called the Sky God Mountain?”
“I heard about it from her, yes. It’s in the territory of the fairies and high elves, I think. Am I correct?”
“Yeah, you’re right. The dungeon is near the shore of the Fairy Province’s capital. The dungeon that Selia told me about was that exact dungeon the final year students were sent to.”
Lunaria didn’t seem to care this time that he addressed Selia so informally, “Sent to their deaths… Do you mean…”
“Yeah... A cruel fate awaits them but no one besides myself knows that.”
“What do you mean by they were sent to their deaths? Are the monsters inside too dangerous?”
“The problem isn’t just the ordinary dungeon monsters… The monsters that are offspring of an ancient creature, however, is.”
“Ancient… creature? Do you mean ancient like the dragon lords?”
Arnold shook his head and clutched his face, “That thing is far older. Perhaps it roamed this world when time itself was constructed by the gods on this world… I’d say it’s as ancient as a timeline god.”
“….”
“And the bastards of that monster is roaming inside that dungeon. If they escape then this entire world is in danger.”
“Will these monsters be a danger to our queen as well?”
It was a very reasonable question to ask him. She was loyal to Selia so it was obvious that she would be worried.
“Seeing as how she—along with many of her subordinates such as yourself—are level cap then I think you’ll be fine. The other nations without such powerful people will be in danger. I think the Theocracy, Demihuman Kingdom and Province might be able to repel the monsters. The dwarves and elves, however, will definitely die. I can’t be certain if this empire will survive even with my father and the other three great nobles.”
‘Unless Serz and the Murim Martial Alliance helps the Empire then the Empire will fall.’
“These monsters do seem troublesome…” Lunaria seemed convinced about his explanation, “Then what’s your plan…?”
Arnold was glad that Lunaria didn’t ask him about how he knew this. She seemed to know not to meddle in her superior’s affairs.
“I want to create a situation that could occur if they don’t call back the expedition team.”
“As in create a worst-case scenario?”
Arnold nodded.
“I admit that it’s a smart idea but… to attack a city with our nation’s power just to prove this?”
“Do you understand what will happen if I don’t do it? Many more cities will fall and many more people will die. Any idiot would know the best outcome is to alert everyone of the danger.”
Leave the situation as it was and let millions die or create a worst-case scenario and destroy some districts. The latter was obviously the best outcome. If people died in the process then it couldn’t be helped. He had to think of the future not worry about a bunch of NPCs.
“Still, a human should feel some remorse for ordering this. Let alone someone as young as yourself.”
“That sounds hypocritical coming from a monster.”
The two stared into each others eyes silently. Only the ticking of the clock resounded.
Lunaria was the first to look away.
“I am only making sure you understand your decision.”
“I already made up my mind. A lot of people don’t have to die for this to work. Just tell your monsters to attack the walls and buildings.”
“Yes, milord. Then how will we make it seem like the monsters came from the dungeon?” Lunaria asked a very reasonable question again.
“Simple. We have the monsters attack the Fairy Province as well. We have to make them attack in a line that leads towards the Empire. Put two and two together then any idiot would come to the conclusion that the monsters came from the dungeon. I call this the [Migration Strategy].”
Birds often migrated when the seasons change. They would fly to other regions where they can find food and a better habitat. Comparing monsters to birds wasn’t exactly logical since the former would kill any living thing in sight.
But the strategy was close enough to how birds migrated. They would also always head in a straight direction.
The Empire being point north from the Province made this much easier.
“We need to set a clear path from the dungeon, hence the line of attacks. Plus, I already told the entire school during the opening ceremony. They will believe me then and tell the expedition team to come back.”
“Won’t they question your involvement if it proves to be true? I mean, you planted that seed of suspicion the moment you told them about the dungeon even if they didn’t listen. Someone will mention this.”
“…I’m a simple city lord with a dying city and no army to my name. How can I possibly do such a thing? I could just say that some minstrel was singing tales about the dungeon but I didn’t believe it at the time.”
“Has anyone ever told you that you are a scumbag? Even my Master wouldn’t order something like this without batting an eye.”
“….” Arnold frowned.
‘Well… I know that already…’
But wasn’t this for the benefit of the people? He had already warned them yet they didn’t listen. What more could a powerless man such as himself do?
Time was running out. He couldn’t think of any other solution to this problem.
“Carry out my order, Lunaria.” Arnold spoke after having cleared his doubts and hesitations, “Summon your strongest monsters. I’ll grant you permission to use some crystals to hide the summons. I’ll send you the coordinates of where you can find some more crystals later.”
‘This one crystal won’t be enough to summon thousands of monsters. That’s why I should tell them where to get more. But I shouldn’t reveal the larger regions where the crystals can be found. Not yet anyway.’
There was a little pond near the entrance of the forest where they killed those bunch of orcs back then. Arnold would send the coordinates of that pond since it had some crystals underneath the surface.
Lunaria bowed, “I shall dutifully carry out your order, milord. But may I ask some assistance for this task?”
“From who?”
“From our nation’s Prime Minister. Vetis Creste has more experience in handling monsters as powerful as we need them to be able to destroy a city. He’s a summoner class, after all.”
“Vetis…”
Arnold couldn’t recall having heard of the name back when he was a player. Judging by the fact that Vetis was from the Greater Creste demon clan, he might’ve been from the demon world.
‘So he’s the Greater Demon I’ve been hearing about….’
“Alright. Get everything ready within the next month. The dungeon is one of the largest ever recorded so there should be no way that they’ve already reached the first boss.”
The dungeon’s layout might also confuse them multiple times and make them go through the wrong paths. They’re probably still in search of the boss monster on the first floor. Unless the offspring hadn’t eaten the monster boss yet and took its place.
Lunaria finished writing everything down that Arnold said. She asked a curious question, “What will you do once this plan is underway?”
“Convince my mother or the vice-director to gather a rescue team,” he had already planned this far ahead once the plan succeeded, “There are multiple entrances to the dungeon so everyone would assume that the monsters came from one of those. But the one the expedition team entered was the reverse waterfall underneath. That’s the entrance to the first floor.”
The first step was to have monster summons acting as dungeon monsters to rampage on the continent. They would take the role of Deviant monsters and alert the people of the danger.
The second step was gathering a rescue team to head into the dungeon to save the final year students.
Arnold would go into the dungeon while this is underway and look for the martial art book. That was his only goal. He didn’t want to fight whatever monsters lurked in the dungeon but he had a feeling that he would be forced to since that abomination of a dungeon was crawling with danger.
“I’ll be entering the dungeon to claim my prize. Selia better be right about that pure martial skill otherwise I’ll risk my life for nothing.”
He would have a skill directly passed down by the Martial God. That would make every single martial artists in the entire world respect him. There were few sects that had pure martial skills, after all. The Murim Martial Alliance currently had four users of pure martial skills. Arnold would be considered equal to them if he got the book.
“Should I assign some guards to you, milord?”
“That’s not necessary,” he had his demon lord power, his Aura Sword and demon sword. What could possibly go wrong unless he didn’t use his power wisely?
“I see. I’ll let those two back in. Is it fine?”
“Sure.”
Lunaria quietly left the room.
Victoria and Lauran came inside after a minute, with Lunaria walking behind them.
“Lauran, get ready. We’re leaving.”
“You’re leaving already?” Victoria spoke up, “The lords are coming later today. Should I meet them alone?”
“Do as you please. I don’t have time to mess around with those pitiful bastards. If I deem it necessary then I will return back.”
They chose an inconvenient time to come to the city lord’s mansion. Perhaps they had aimed for this timeframe when Arnold was supposed to be absent?
Only his little maid would be left to stand in for him alone. They would be able to sink their claws into the city’s resources and finances if their opponent was a politically inexperienced maid.
Well, they’re in for a hell of a surprise, Arnold thought as he looked at his new advisor.
“Lunaria, I want you to sit in at the meeting between my nobles and Victoria,” Arnold spoke as he was about to leave.
“Is that wise to involve me in your internal affairs? I was ordered only to guide and advise you.”
“Well, I’m ordering you to sit in at the meeting. I trust that you will do what will benefit my city?”
“Of course, milord. That is my job.” Lunaria sounded confident. Arnold couldn’t tell by her facial expressions since she looked as poker faced as a doll.
“I’ll be leaving then. Remember to get everything ready about what we talked about.”
“I shan’t forget, milord.” Lunaria bowed. Victoria followed soon after.
“Alright.” He gazed upon their bowing figures before he was swallowed up by Lauran’s mana.
