When the Mind Fails, Use the Body
Nahen strode toward the 69th Floor with a deep scowl etched across his face. Trailing behind him, Eri and Dane kept stealing nervous glances at each other, carefully reading the fury radiating from their master.
“W-why does he look so angry?” Eri whispered.
“...It doesn’t seem like it’s because of us, so let’s just stay quiet,” Dane replied.
Upon reaching the 69th Floor, Nahen headed straight for Dantalion’s Demon King Castle.
“W-who goes there! We are in the middle of an extremely important conference—turn back at once!”
A very brave sentry thrust his spear forward, threatening Nahen. Dane and Eri inwardly thought the man must be insane as they waited to see how their master would respond.
Nahen let out a heavy sigh and spoke.
“Is Her Majesty Seere von Devata inside?”
“...Pardon?”
The soldier, unconsciously switching to formal speech at the low, sunken tone of Nahen’s voice, gave a small nod.
“I am Her Majesty Seere’s master. I have business with her, so open the door.”
“Ah, I-I’m terribly sorry! I failed to recognize such an honored guest…!”
The sentry had no way of knowing whether Nahen was truly Seere’s master, but he quickly opened the gates. Seere had given strict orders that anyone claiming to be her master was to be welcomed inside immediately.
“Her Majesty is in the conference room on the second floor.”
“Understood.”
Nahen ascended to the second floor and approached the conference room from which voices could be heard.
“Dane, Eri.”
“Yes.”
“Yes, sir!”
The two straightened up with military precision, awaiting his command.
“Make sure no one enters.”
“Understood.”
“Yes, sir!”
Nahen gave the door a light knock before grasping the handle and opening it. Because he had knocked first, everyone inside the conference room had already turned their attention toward the entrance.
There sat Dantalion, the Demon King of the 69th Floor, along with his ministers. Commander Rin El Laza and Vice-Commander Baruna of the 4th Legion were present, as were Epsilon and Zeta from the 5th Legion, who had drawn attention from the 68th Floor’s forces before joining. And of course, the mastermind behind this gathering—Seere von Devata—was there as well.
“Ah, Teacher!”
Seere, seated in the conference room, greeted him with a bright, beaming smile. Her spotlessly pure, adorable grin had a way of putting anyone who saw it at ease. Everyone, that is, except Nahen, whose expression remained stony.
“Seere.”
The voice that called her name lacked its usual warmth. It was low, heavy, and cold. Realizing that Nahen was truly furious, Seere faltered slightly.
“Teacher, um… about that…”
“What did I tell you?”
“...You told me not to step forward.”
“That’s right. You remember it well. So what exactly is this situation?”
At Nahen’s question, Seere fidgeted for a moment before answering honestly.
“...I just wanted to be helpful.”
“I clearly told you that you didn’t need to do that.”
“But Teacher, I really didn’t make any mistakes this time! I subjugated the 69th Floor, killed Baltazar of the Five Stars on the 68th Floor, captured Crowley alive, and drove out their entire army!”
“Yes. I’ve already heard the results. They were impressive.”
When Nahen offered praise, Seere’s face lit up instantly. Her eyes widened with genuine delight as she smiled radiantly. However, Nahen’s next words remained icy.
“But that’s all just hindsight.”
“...Pardon?”
“What would you have done if you had been hurt in the process? Do you truly not understand what happens to a faction that loses its Demon King?”
“......”
“This time, things turned out well by sheer luck. But if something had gone even slightly wrong, all the effort we’ve poured into the past several years would have gone up in smoke. You’re clever enough to understand that, so why didn’t you listen to me?”
The slight brightness that had returned to Seere’s face gradually faded into gloom. Seeing the child’s expression crumple as if she were about to cry, Nahen swept a hand over his forehead and let out a long sigh.
He had a rough idea why Seere had made this choice. He had never once sent her out to fight on the front lines. Everything had been handled by him and his subordinates. So naturally, she must have wanted to contribute as well. That was why she had ignored his words and acted on her own.
In the end, his own measures may have made her feel impatient.
Once he thought of it that way, Nahen could fully understand how Seere felt. And understanding her feelings caused some of his anger to subside.
He spoke again, his tone and voice now much gentler.
“I won’t stop you when the time truly comes for you to step onto the battlefield. But this wasn’t that time. Your power is still unstable, and there was no need yet to reveal your strength to the world.”
The more the forces of the 72nd Floor distinguished themselves, the more curiosity would naturally grow about the military prowess of their leader, Seere von Devata. And with that curiosity would come fear. After all, nothing inspires greater terror than the unknown.
That was why he had planned to keep Seere’s power hidden until they had built a stronger foundation. But… this incident had caused that plan to collapse completely.
In truth, it had only been a “nice if it works, fine if it doesn’t” kind of plan. What had truly angered Nahen was how lightly this child had stepped onto a battlefield where she could have lost her life.
“Besides, you never know what might happen on the battlefield. Even Commander Rin standing right here could die from a stray sword strike by pure chance. If something like that happened to you, what do you think would become of the forces that follow you?”
They would collapse. Seere knew the answer all too well. No one understood better than she what her father’s death had brought about.
“A Demon King must always keep this in mind. Your life does not belong to you alone. You carry the lives of everyone who follows you on your shoulders.”
After listening to Nahen’s lecture, Seere hung her head low. In a voice choked with tears, she whispered.
“...I’m sorry.”
“......”
Nahen let out another heavy sigh. He really didn’t want to get angry with this child. And it wasn’t simply because she was the key to sending him back to his original world.
Because she’s such a pitiful child.
Even if she was a character from a game, she had lost her father at a young age and fallen from the pinnacle of power to the very bottom as the ruler of her faction. On top of that, she carried around the teddy bear her father had left her, clearly still missing him dearly.
Even if he couldn’t perfectly fill her father’s role, he had wanted to do something similar for her. As her teacher, and as her guardian.
He wanted to give her at least some of the things he had failed to do in the past.
That was why he had gotten angry. Because as her protector, he could not tolerate what she had done.
But thinking about it calmly now, he probably hadn’t needed to press her so hard. The results had been good, after all, and Seere had accomplished something truly remarkable on her own.
“...I’m sorry for getting angry. You did so well by yourself—I should have praised you first. I acted like a fool.”
When Nahen apologized, large teardrops began falling from her jewel-like blue eyes. Startled by the sight, Nahen quickly pulled her into his arms.
“I’m truly sorry. I was too harsh.”
“Hic… hic… waaaaah!”
Finally unable to hold back, Seere burst into tears and clung tightly to Nahen as she sobbed uncontrollably.
Dantalion, who had been watching this scene unfold in real time, felt utterly dumbfounded.
I… submitted to a Demon King like this?
Dantalion felt a sting to his pride that he hadn’t noticed at all until just moments ago. He clenched his fists, stood up from his seat, and spoke.
“Excuse me, but what exactly are you doing in the middle of a confer—”
His words froze in his throat.
Something was pressing down on his entire body with such overwhelming force that he couldn’t move a single muscle. And he wasn’t the only one. Every person in the room—ally and former enemy alike—felt the exact same sensation. In particular, Rin, who had never directly experienced Nahen’s power before, was visibly shaken.
A massive white whale materialized behind Nahen, its jaws gaping wide as it asked,
Dantalion immediately shook his head and sat back down.
“N-nothing at all.”
#
Nahen listened to the full details of the reinforcement treaty Seere had been negotiating with Dantalion. His first impression after hearing it was that it was acceptable.
So the plan is to send Dantalion to the Demon King Castle on the 72nd Floor to handle its defenses while granting him partial autonomy, and to use the 69th Floor as Seere’s primary base of operations.
It wasn’t bad at all. They could finally move their headquarters away from the dangerous 72nd Floor. Moreover, there would be no need to lure merchants specifically to the 70th Floor anymore. They could simply attract them to the 69th Floor instead, which meant there was no longer any reason to consult with Sitri. The amount of hassle had decreased significantly.
On top of that, gaining a talent like Dantalion wasn’t a bad thing either. While his personal combat strength was pitiful for a Demon King, he had managed to gather a considerable faction through clever policies and political maneuvering. He should be more than capable of managing the 72nd Floor.
Originally, Nahen had planned to leave the empty castle to Kain or Rea, but now that was no longer necessary.
Nahen gave a small chuckle and reached over to gently stroke the head of Seere, who was sitting beside him.
“You did well.”
“...Really?”
“Yes, you did very well.”
“Then… could you give me the reward you promised? As a prize?”
“Hm?”
Nahen looked momentarily puzzled before realizing what she meant. She was referring to the promise that if she stayed put and listened to him, they would go out and play together.
“Ah, that. Right.”
“Yes.”
“Sure. I can do at least that much.”
“Really!?”
“But we’ll have to go after the conquest of the 68th Floor is complete.”
“Ah…”
Of course. Since Seere had stirred up this mess, they had to resolve it before they could go anywhere or do anything else. She had killed one of the Five Stars and captured another alive. There was no way Decarabia would sit still after hearing that news.
“Dantalion.”
“Y-yes?”
Since Nahen had spoken casually, Dantalion responded in kind. But the moment he did, Seere shot him a glare so sharp it looked like she might tear him apart right then and there.
W-why is she looking at me like that?
He wasn’t entirely sure, but… it was probably because he had spoken to Nahen so casually. Realizing this, he quickly switched back to formal speech.
“Do you know the scale of the army under Decarabia’s command?”
“...Ah, yes, I do.”
Nahen tilted his head slightly at the sudden change in tone but decided to let it pass.
“How large is it?”
“I believe there are 250,000 infantry and 50,000 cavalry. There are also more than a thousand magic combat troops, as far as I know.”
“That’s a lot. I assume that’s their full strength?”
“Yes. We couldn’t get an exact count of how many soldiers Her Majesty Seere dealt with yesterday, but the number that came was large enough to nearly annihilate most of our forces…”
“So we can assume about half of them are dead.”
“That seems about right.”
Dantalion answered everything respectfully and then glanced at Seere again. Only then did she soften her gaze and turn her attention back to Nahen.
…What a terrifying child.
Judging by her appearance, she looked no older than twelve or thirteen, yet she emanated such overwhelming pressure. Dantalion closed his eyes for a moment and thought.
Seir von Devata had left behind something truly extraordinary in this world.
“Even half of that is still over 150,000… That’s quite a lot. And I imagine almost none of the 69th Floor’s private soldiers remain.”
“...Unfortunately, that is correct.”
“It can’t be helped.”
Given the current situation, waging war against the 68th Floor without suffering any losses was impossible. Considering the difference in military scale, fighting a war would inflict devastating damage on the 72nd Floor as well. Even with Sitri’s help, it might take years to recover from the losses caused by war.
Somehow, they had to win the war against the 68th Floor while preserving their current foundation.
“What will you do, Teacher?”
“There seems to be only one way.”
Nahen was not some legendary strategist like Zhuge Liang. He wasn’t that clever, nor was he skilled enough in schemes to instantly devise a plan that would allow him to gain something from a powerful enemy without any losses.
The only reason he had been able to imitate a strategist at all until now was because of the experience he had gained from playing the game dozens of times.
In this situation where his build had gone completely off track, the first thing Nahen thought of was…
A way to bring the 68th Floor under his control while minimizing damage as much as possible.
And that was to use his own power.
“The only option is to erase the 68th Floor from the Demon Realm.”
When the mind fails, the body must make up for it.