Konbini Ossan Volume 2 Chapter 22 – A Clue to the End of War
“However, Otogi-dono, I understand that a revolution will occur. But isn’t there still no guarantee that the war will end?”
Marceline voiced her doubt. Indeed, just building factories and triggering a technological revolution wouldn't be enough to end a war.
However, it can lead to a chain of events that bring it to an end.
“That's true. For example, let's say one hundred million goblins attack all at once. Do you think the heroes could protect humanity?”
“That would be impossible. No matter how strong the heroes are, they can’t hold off an army of a hundred million all at once.
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If they lined up in a straight row and attacked one by one, that would be a different story.”
“Exactly.”
I nodded, satisfied with Marceline’s response.
“Then what if we mobilized all the knights of this country? Would it be possible to minimize the damage?”
“That too would be impossible. Our country doesn’t even have a total of 100,000 knights.
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Even if each knight could kill 20 or 30 goblins, it would be unrealistic to wipe out an army of a hundred million.”
“Indeed. I think that’s entirely correct.”
I nodded again in agreement with Marceline and continued with another question.
“Finally, let me ask this: What if we equipped each knight with a magical tool capable of killing 1,000 to 2,000 goblins?
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If we gathered an army of 100,000 such knights, could they repel the goblin horde of one hundred million?”
“At that point, it enters the realm of fantasy. But I believe it would be possible.
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Even with an army of 100 million, they would likely attack in a long vertical formation.
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If we responded with a wide horizontal formation, then assuming your conditions, we could win.”
“As I thought. Then there's no issue.”
Marceline tilted her head at my words. I suppose it’s time to explain things more concretely.
“The previous examples were meant to highlight one of the main causes of defeat in war.
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When armies clash, there are generally two main causes of loss: quality and quantity. Either the soldiers are weak, or there aren’t enough of them.
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Of course, strategy can influence the outcome, but these two are the biggest factors.”
Marceline nodded at my explanation, and I continued.
“So, I thought: to end a war through victory, we must first eliminate these major causes of defeat.
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One is quantity. I can’t produce a larger army to overwhelm the enemy. But I can create superior knights through weaponry to deal with the enemy forces.
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Even if they’re not as strong as heroes, knights enhanced with magical tools would be more capable.
…
In other words, we can greatly reduce the risk of being overwhelmed by sheer numbers.”
“So rather than just relying on the tactical advantage of heroes, you’re aiming to gain a strategic advantage by strengthening the entire army?”
Marceline seemed to understand well. I nodded to affirm it. Then Shuri-kun chimed in with a question, almost as if teasing:
“Hey, Otogin. What about the other factor, quality?
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Let’s say there’s an enemy strong enough to defeat all the heroes in a single blow, and that enemy invades the capital.
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How do you plan to win the war against such a monster?”
“That's simple. Either a hero, or I myself, would become strong enough to defeat that enemy.”
“Huh?”
Shuri-kun looked shocked at my answer.
“Even if the heroes could do it, you? Isn’t that kind of reckless?”
“Yes, I used to think it was more realistic to make someone else strong instead of myself. But things have changed now.”
Saying this, I looked over at Arisa.
“W-What?”
Not understanding my reason, Arisa glared at me in confusion.
“Right now, I have a powerful ally—Arisa. With her strength, I think most things aren’t impossible anymore.”
“You really said that...”
Arisa responded, scratching her cheek in embarrassment. But I was just being honest. I wasn't exaggerating.
“That girl’s a hero too, right? Her skill was Calculator, the one that makes her better at math, wasn’t it?”
Shuri-kun asked, sounding doubtful.
“That's right. Arisa’s skill is «Calculator». That’s exactly the skill I’m relying on.”
“Interesting. I’d like to hear the reason why.”
Shuri-kun smiled playfully and asked for a detailed explanation.
From here on, the topic mixes speculation, personal assumptions, and hope. It also touches on the core of my plan, so I can’t go into too much detail.
But if I want to convince Shuri-kun today, there are some things I’ll have to say.
I made up my mind to explain my hypothesis about Arisa’s skill.
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E/N:
The author clarified that the idea of using 10,000 knights to suppress 100 million goblins involved rotating wide formations before the knights were exhausted.
However, since this was a vague interpretation, they adjusted the numbers to make the outcome more certain.
Interesting 🤔, I hope Arisa's skill can bring truce between the humans and demons. The King of Runegard is sketchy af after all 😒
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