Book 5: Volume 1 Chapter 12, Inference

Translator: Kazumi

Editor: Silavin

 

After the fourth match, they attended to other matters and finished dinner before gathering for a debriefing.

 

Floria wasted no time. “So then? You’ve figured out the secret of the opponent’s moves, right? Is it a sign of a Monster Flood?”

 

“Hmm. You could say so, but also not,” Kousuke replied ambiguously.

 

Confusion rippled through the room.

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“To put it simply, I don’t think they’re intentionally trying to cause something like a Monster Flood. Rather, it’s happening as a result of their strategy.”

 

Floria looked thoughtful. “I see. So they don’t realize what they’re doing will lead to a Monster Flood?”

 

“Or rather, perhaps the current situation can’t strictly be called a Monster Flood at all.”

 

With this preface, Kousuke began explaining the enemy’s strategy as he understood it.

 

By taking the initiative and invading enemy territory, they encouraged their monsters to grow stronger. Combat against unfamiliar opponents, combined with the variety of battles, stimulated evolution in many participating monsters.

 

While this approach might seem forceful, it was essentially the same principle as Kousuke placing summoning circles near his subordinates’ bases to encourage growth.

 

Additionally, by forcing monsters to fight in groups during Conquest Battles, they learned coordinated tactics. This explained why most monsters deployed by the Santo Emingo Kingdom excelled at group combat. They had been training together through repeated battles.

 

It also explained why their movements appeared so coordinated, almost flood-like in their precision.

 

If they won the first battle, they could redeploy evolved monsters accustomed to group fighting in subsequent battles. Positioned strategically, these veterans could turn the tide. Just like experienced units do in human warfare.

 

This was why it appeared as though a leader species was directing the monster groups.

 

“…So that’s my theory. Does anything seem wrong?” Kousuke looked around.

 

Some appeared convinced, others skeptical. Mia spoke up. “Do you think, Father, that the enemy is intentionally evolving their monsters?”

 

“Yes. I don’t know if they discovered this during Conquest Battles and it’s now been passed down as knowledge, or if they only realized it during this particular battle.”

 

In fact, both of Kousuke’s guesses contained truth. A certain King had originally noticed that declaring war made Conquest Battles easier to win and began launching them actively. Through repetition, he gradually understood why he kept winning.

 

“But is it possible to use monsters efficiently when doing so?” Floria asked.

 

“What are you talking about? Didn’t you do something similar yourself?”

 

“What do you…!?” Floria looked genuinely surprised.

 

Kousuke sighed. “It’s been a while, but you used Nana and the others efficiently in combat, giving clear instructions, right?”

 

“Oh,” Floria murmured, remembering. “That reminds me.”

 

She had definitely done something similar before.

 

“The difference is you’re using familiars that can communicate properly, while the enemy uses monsters that only follow simple commands. But the underlying process is the same.”

 

Just as Floria had directed Nana and the others, detailed instructions were not necessary. you could still command monsters to a certain degree. To send a large force against an enemy’s weak point, you simply needed to let them charge without micromanaging every movement.

 

Most members nodded at Kousuke’s explanation. Then Shrein raised her hand. “I understand your reasoning, but there’s one thing I don’t understand.”

 

“What?”

 

“It’s definitely easier to win if you declare war, but that doesn’t guarantee victory, right? What if you lose?”

 

Kousuke had chosen to lose intentionally this time to learn about Conquest Battles. Had he been determined to win from the start, victory would have come easily, as evidenced by the monsters his opponent deployed.

 

Nana and the other dependents at Amamiya Tower were powerful enough to crush even evolved monsters. Even without deploying his strongest forces, Kousuke could have won, albeit with more difficulty.

 

But using that aggressive tactic from the start risked losing carefully evolved monsters along with surrendered territory.

 

“That’s simple. They use teleportation portals to secure some evolved monsters, ensuring a baseline in population even if the floors are lost.”

 

Knowing that monster evolution was crucial, losing some territory was not catastrophic, not unless the entire Tower fell. But special Conquest Battle rules prevented that scenario.

 

Not only could battles be forcibly ended after five settlement proposals, but other special rules existed like the ‘declaration of war’ Santo Emingo Kingdom had used.

 

This was Kousuke’s first experience with it, and he learned that once a declaration of war was made, neither side could declare war again for ten years.

 

Furthermore, once a monster evolved, the same species could be born through normal breeding. Kousuke and his companions had already confirmed this with descendants of their evolved dependents.

 

It was a long-term strategy, but securing a certain number of evolved monsters made it possible to increase their numbers through breeding over time.

 

“This is merely speculation, though. Considering they’ve neatly inherited multiple Towers as kingdoms over many years, I think it’s entirely possible they’ve developed something like this.”

 

Kousuke’s expression showed genuine admiration. While the enemy’s approach differed completely from his own, what the Santo Emingo Kingdom had accomplished over the years was undoubtedly an effective Tower management strategy.

 

The initial realization may have been coincidence, but the Santo Emingo Kingdom had carefully refined and inherited this method across generations.

 

It was precisely because he had realized this that Kousuke felt such admiration.

 

Everything he had said was speculation, but those listening believed he was probably correct. Part of it was his intuition as a living god, but also because Peach agreed.

 

Peach, who possessed both Kousuke’s divine protection and was a True Dream Demon, used her intuition to catch when Kousuke was about to make significant mistakes. When everyone suspected that they were controlling the monsters, Peach had raised questions.

 

But this time, Peach mentioned nothing out of the ordinary.

 

That alone supported Kousuke’s reasoning. And in fact, he was not far from the truth.