bookpower Chapter 415
Chapter 415
Day 96 – Late Nighttime, White Weirdo InnThey were mad. Apparently even Armored Pres-san, Dancer Girl-san, and Slime-san are against staying behind or going as a separate team.
But the truth is, taking them is an overkill. Having such a force on the same team would make stupid line like『I’m just gonna go destroy the world real quick, will be back for dinner』sound like a genuine threat. Over-the-top, excessive, utterly overgeared, a complete overload of power. I mean, we’re talking about three Dungeon Emperor-class individuals grouped together. That’s not just unbalanced distribution of power, that’s extreme point-concentration. At that point, there’s nothing left but violence. Their very presence creates a high-purity ultra-condensed beating zone where nothing except beatings can exist.
But even so… I don’t want to bring them into the heart of the church. If something were to happen that could neutralize all three of them at once, the balance of power would reverse. And if there’s even the slightest chance they could be manipulated in some way, then bringing them would be a blunder, a failure, and outright idiocy. More than anything, I don’t want to let them touch the darkness. Though I do want to get touchy myself!
Yeah, it’s just too much. They’re too conspicuous for covert infiltration. They’re not the type who can move quietly and stealthily like me?
「I’m just going to sneak into the Grand Cathedral, quietly bludgeon whoever needs it, grab whatever needs grabbing, and come back a rich man? So there’s absolutely no problem, totally safe, right? If anything, the girls are more likely to be isolated and surrounded as decoys, so they’re the ones who need protection. In the end, the most important front is the Frontier, followed by the Kingdom. So I’m just taking a safe, carefree sightseeing trip through the Theocracy, with a little sabotage on the side? Like a coming-of-age journey to find myself with a No Ticket Version on the Youth 16 Pass. There’s even an old saying, 『When traveling, cut down the roadside gods』. So I’ll just quietly slice my way through, and it’ll be fine, okay?」
Considering that I was able to casually infiltrate the royal castle in the Kingdom, with its tight security and magical protection, without anyone noticing except for that ReroReroing Middle-Aged Man my stealth capabilities are by far the best among everyone here. I didn’t spend all that time in the Evil Forest sneaking up behind goblins and clubbing them for nothing. Even build wise, I’m clearly a stealthy, high-speed combat-oriented, melee-specialist magician, so it has to be totally fine… Probably…? But seriously, what am I supposed to do with this build?
「I mean, doesn’t it seem weird to be sneaking around with the four people who have the highest destructive power? Like, with such an excessive force, simply attacking the Cathedral from all directions and turning it into a demolition site would be a more justified approach? Like, it’s pretty clear that if we go with those members, there’s no stealth at all, just annihilation and obliteration and extermination, with zero intent to hide. We’d end up quietly settling on a a bold and open infiltration, or actually assault?」
(Jiggle-Jiggle)
Sure, power is most effective when concentrated. And yeah, splitting forces and deploying in weaker waves is the worst kind of strategy, but focusing maximum firepower into a stealth squad just sounds wrong? That’s like sending a group that’s desperately trying to be stealthy, but even if they are discovered, there’s nothing to worry about, and they are so strong that a full-frontal assault would be faster. There’s just no point in sneaking around if hiding holds no strategic value?
「You can’t, go, alone. Absolutely not.」
「Together. If it’s dangerous, Then we all go at once.」
(Bounce-Bounce)
No, I’m thinking of sneaking in precisely because I don’t want it to become dangerous, but they don’t get it? My plan is perfect, slip quietly into the Grand Cathedral, obliterate targets without a sound, blow it up discreetly, and pick up some souvenirs on the way out. And yet they seem dissatisfied. Looks like I’ll have to try convincing them with a simpler, easier-to-digest explanation.
「I mean, I’m just gonna stroll in, kill some stuff, pick up some other stuff, and then burn it all down, that’s it? In our old world, that’d be like a simple three-step errand that even a little kid could do for their first solo chore (massacre), right? Sort of?」
I guess these Flat Gazes are their reply. A good reply, even, but it doesn’t feel like they were convinced, and I could tell they were thinking, 『Really? Like, really?』. The reply was so good that I actually was this close to switching strategies for a more personal approach, but a chill ran down my spine, so I stopped. I could already see the iron ball. This is not the time.
Even as we talked, I kept working, mithrilizing and enchanting with new properties all of the equipment I’ve been putting off upgrading in case something better turned up. Better to focus on immediate survival and firepower than worrying about possible new items. We can always go look for more mithril later, but the battle won’t wait. Asking a fight to wait just because training isn’t done has never worked, so can’t count on that. And I’m going to stick to thinking that our training being tougher than the actual fights is just my imagination.
「What’s left is the earcuff which is still being analyzed… I feel like I could use it to make earrings… but weren’t piercings banned by school rules? Then again, no one’s been doing uniform checks lately, and the female students’ clothing has gotten so out of control it’s basically a threat to public morality now. The discipline of that school has collapsed entirely. Even the guidance counselor never shows up anymore. Just what do the teachers of that whatever school even take their students for? Not even our homeroom teacher shows up? I think we had one? Or it’s just my imagination? Wait… did that school ever have teachers?」