Book 5: Volume 1 Chapter 11, Fourth Battle

Translator: Kazumi

Editor: Silavin

 

Normally, the quickest way to learn what was happening on the opposing side would be to send in his dependents to investigate.

 

However, since Kousuke intended to lose the fourth battle as well, he could not predict what state his dependents would be in afterward. It would be ideal if his summons returned unchanged when he reclaimed the lost floors, but he had no way to be certain.

 

There was the possibility that they might return with completely different personalities, especially the foxes who could speak human language. That was too great a risk for him to accept.

 

To Kousuke, his dependents were already like Family. He had no intention of letting them walk such a dangerous path to prove his own speculations.

 

Therefore, he concluded that for the fourth match, which he had originally intended to lose, he would have to observe through the screen more intently than before. It was unclear how much he would be able to deduce from just a screen, but without risking deploying his dependents, there was no other choice.

 

When the fourth match began, Kousuke watched his opponents’ movements intently. After some time, he could not help but mutter, “I see.”

 

Everyone’s attention turned to him.

 

“What’s wrong? Have you found the leader?” Floria asked.

 

Kousuke shook his head. “No, that’s not it… Anyway, let’s just watch the battle for now.”

 

“Is it really okay…?” Floria tilted her head at his expression but returned her gaze to the screen.

 

Seeing this, Kousuke had an idea. “Oh, that’s right. Floria, I’m sorry, but can I leave the placement of the summoning circles to you?”

 

“What!? Me? Until now, Kousuke had handled the summoning circles himself, but it inevitably took some of his attention away from the screen. He wanted to focus entirely on observing his opponent’s movements.

 

Furthermore, as a member of the Royal Family, Floria had learned strategy and tactics. She was the natural choice out of everyone present.

 

“Yeah. There’s no need to be so nervous. It’s fine even if you lose, as long as you can lose gracefully.”

 

“Well… you can’t just say that as if it were that easy.” Floria said with a hint of exasperation.

 

At that moment, Mia interjected. “If Mother isn’t confident, how about I do it?”

 

Floria’s eyes narrowed. “Hey. Since Kousuke asked me, I’ll do it.”

 

“Really? Ah, what a shame.” Mia said, backing down easily.

 

Whether Mia had spoken intentionally to motivate Floria or genuinely wanted to try remained unclear, but Kousuke found their Mother-Daugther exchange entertaining either way.

 

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Floria had been reluctant at first, but she placed the summoning circles with clear purpose: to lose gracefully. In fact, her placements may have been even more effective than Kousuke’s own placements.

 

This freed Kousuke to carefully observe the opposing monsters’ movements.

 

“…Maybe now?” He muttered toward the end of the day.

 

As if in response, a large number of monsters poured in from the opponent’s side. He zoomed in on the screen and confirmed his suspicion.

 

“Ah, I thought so.”

 

The opponent had reinforced with additional monsters. But what interested Kousuke was not the reinforcement itself, but rather which types of monsters they had deployed.

 

Peach, sitting beside him and having overheard his muttering, looked over. “Did you notice something?”

 

Kousuke nodded. “Yeah. For now, I think I understand their plan.”

 

“Is that so? That’s good to hear.”

 

“Thanks to you, Peach. Without your advice, I probably wouldn’t have noticed.”

 

Peach’s earlier comment about overthinking had allowed him to view the situation from a different angle. Without that, he might still be fruitlessly searching for a leader out of the monsters.

 

“No, no. If I had just watched like everyone else, I probably wouldn’t have noticed either,” Peach said modestly, though she was not entirely wrong.

 

The reason Kousuke and the others had fixated on the idea of a leader was largely because of what they had observed in the previous battle.

 

Shrein, who had been listening, asked with a frown, “What? Do you two know what’s going on?”

 

“Yeah, more or less. Looking closely, it seems like it’s not really such a big deal. I’ll explain after today’s battle.”

 

Kousuke already had a solid grasp of his opponent’s strategy. He also realized there was no need to rush into formulating a countermeasure.

 

“Rather, right now, let’s see what happens when we lose four battles and surrender one floor.”

 

Floria had arranged the summoning circles to ensure defeat, and at this point, even deploying mid-level circles would not change the outcome. This would allow him to verify his original goal: understanding what happened when a floor was lost.

 

All that remained was to hold out until time ran out without being overwhelmed.

 

When the timer finally expired, the enemy was declared the winner once more.

 

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After losing four consecutive battles, one floor of Amamiya Tower was surrendered to the opponent. The entire designated floor, including all its original monsters and even those summoned during the Conquest Battle, was transferred under the enemy’s control.

 

Then, as if to compound matters, his opponent sent a ‘settlement’ proposal.

 

This did not mean the entire Tower had to be conquered; if both sides agreed, the battle could conclude at any point. In this case, the Conquest Battle would end with the opponent claiming one floor of Amamiya Tower.

 

Naturally, Kousuke had no intention of ending things with a floor already lost. He immediately rejected the proposal.

 

This rejection could only be used five times per battle, meaning he could refuse four more settlement requests. If his opponent proposed settlement a fifth time, the battle would automatically end regardless of his wishes.

 

Through observing the monsters’ movements in this battle, Kousuke had deduced his opponent’s objectives to some extent. He had also confirmed what would happen upon losing a floor, which was his other goal. All that remained was to recover all his losses.

 

Now, he just needed to decide how high he was going to aim.