Konbini Ossan Volume 5 Chapter 18 — The Assault Operation
Colonel Gavein finally began explaining the details of the plan.
“Hero-dono will assist us so that we can strike first at the Demon King’s army. This time the enemy force is made up mainly of undead, demons, and spirit-type monsters, all of which Hero-dono and Saint-dono excel against.
…
Before they launch their attack, we will defeat either the Four Heavenly King himself or the upper-class monster commanding the horde. The Demon King’s army always operates under a system of fear enforced by upper-class monsters.
…
If the head is cut off, the rest will rout, and they will no longer be capable of mounting an organized assault on the base.”
“I see. If they can no longer function as an army, then they’re just a mob of monsters. Defending against that wouldn’t be too difficult.”
“Exactly, Hero-dono.”
“May I ask something?”
I raised my hand and questioned Colonel Gavein.
“Even if they rout, we’re talking about countless monsters. If they spread across the area and cause random destruction, wouldn’t that still lead to significant damage?”
“That won’t be an issue. We’ve already requested assistance from the knight orders in the surrounding cities and informed them of the plan. A scattered mob of fleeing monsters will pose no problem for them.”
It was true that routed monsters would thin out the farther they spread.
Near the base, the numbers would remain dense, but by the time they reached nearby towns or villages, they would be far less of a threat.
But that also meant —
“So the knight order won’t be coming to reinforce us?”
“Correct. They wouldn’t make it in time for the base assault, regardless. In that case, it’s far more rational to have them focus on containing the damage caused by the rout.”
It was logical, at least on paper. Even so, something about this entire operation still bothered me.
But we were in the middle of the explanation, so I waited for the rest.
“So then, what exactly will this operation look like?”
“That is where the High-Frequency Blades you developed come into play.”
Colonel Gavein spoke with full confidence.
“The basic plan is to conserve Hero-dono and Saint-dono while sending them into the enemy headquarters. The breakthrough unit will assault the deployed Demon King forces and punch open a corridor.
…
The following troops will pour in to hold and expand that opening. We will extend that corridor straight into the enemy’s main camp. Once we reach it, Hero-dono and Saint-dono will advance.
…
The two of them will strike the enemy headquarters while we maintain the corridor as their retreat path and hold the line. The breakthrough unit will withdraw.
…
After the two of them sufficiently devastate the enemy command, they will fall back with the army and return to the base.”
Judging from the description, it sounded extremely aggressive, almost reckless.
“You say you will defend, but can you really hold out while being attacked from both sides by the Demon King’s forces?”
“By committing around seventy to eighty percent of this base’s strength, the calculations say we can. And those estimates are from before we had Otsugi-dono’s anti-blade robes. The odds of success are high.”
That was true. If the soldiers wore the anti-blade robes, they would rarely suffer injuries from ordinary monsters. Holding a line for a limited time was not impossible.
“But as time passes, stronger monsters that can tear through the robes will appear.”
“By then the breakthrough unit will already be withdrawing. They will be used to repel only the especially dangerous ones.”
As a theory, there were no wasted motions.
But it assumed everything went perfectly, with no irregularities whatsoever.
Could anyone expect a battlefield to unfold so neatly?
And above all — the most important thing to protect was the base itself.
Yet the plan sent seventy or eighty percent of the base’s forces far outside, in an elongated formation that would take time to retreat.
On top of that, they wanted to push the irreplaceable Hero and Saint straight into the heart of the enemy camp.
The logic felt completely off.
If it were up to me, the moment the heroes arrived, the defense of this base should be practically guaranteed.
If the base were to fall, it would either be due to overwhelming numbers over a long siege, or the presence of an irregular threat like a Four Heavenly King.
Numbers could be handled — reinforcements from surrounding cities could resolve that. No matter how many monsters came, only so many could attack the base at once because of the terrain.
Holding out until reinforcements arrived was the entire point of a fortified base.
And as for the Four Heavenly King — they had both a Hero and a Saint.
The Saint’s holy magic was extremely effective against creatures like Elder Wraiths, and the Hero should have universal anti-monster bonuses through his [Hero] skill.
Logically, once the two arrived at the base, the defense should be as good as won.
There was no need to launch a forced attack.
Yet Colonel Gavein seemed fixated on annihilating the enemy headquarters at any cost.
I could understand wanting to eliminate a major threat. But this felt like a meaningless, dangerous assault.
While I was thinking this, Kanehama spoke with a grin.
“Don’t worry, Otsugi-san. If anything happens, Saori and I will come straight back. We’ve already beaten one of the Four Heavenly Kings, and our stats look like this.”
He displayed his status board for us.
━━━━━━━━━━
【Name】Keiichi Kanehama
【Level】85
【Strength】SSS
【Magic】SSS
【Endurance】SSS
【Speed】SSS
【Attributes】Light, Flame, Healing, Fighting Spirit
【Skill】[Hero]
━━━━━━━━━━
“See? And Saori is pretty strong too.”
“I can handle myself quite well, you know?”
Mimori displayed her own board.
━━━━━━━━━━
【Name】Saori Mimori
【Level】76
【Strength】SS
【Magic】SSS
【Endurance】SS
【Speed】SS
【Attributes】Light, Water, Healing, Support, Barrier
【Skill】[Saint]
━━━━━━━━━━
“With this, a Four Heavenly King won’t be a problem. And if something happens to the base, the two of us alone can get back much faster than the army.”
“I… see.”
If the Hero and the Saint could truly return instantly, that was somewhat reassuring.
But we still had no idea what the enemy’s plan was.
There was no guarantee that things would go so smoothly.
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E/N:
I sense a little idiot behind this entire farce. One who sits on a throne and schemes with his ministers! Stay tuned!
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