The Porter's Strategy

That crazy bitch… Confusing my ass—she was teasing him outright.

Was that mesugaki act not just for me and the party members, but for everyone? She really was insane. No one in their right mind would pull that.

I asked the thief in front of me what the hell we were supposed to do about this.

"Is… is that okay…?"

"……Yeah. He'll know it's just a joke."

He'd know it was a joke?

They'd looked like people who barely remembered each other's names, but maybe not?

Judging by Erinn's behavior it sure hadn't seemed that way, yet the thief's reaction was so calm it somehow carried weight.

And just as the thief predicted, Orlando spoke with a cheerful laugh so bright even bystanders would have enjoyed hearing it.

"Hahaha! Still the same as ever, Erinn. As mischievous as always."

"Did I do something~?"

Erinn giggled.

Ah, right… He's the hero of the neighboring country. It'd be weirder if they didn't know each other.

Still, to pull a stunt like that right in front of the man himself took some serious guts. If his honor had actually been damaged, there wouldn't have been a single word he could say in protest.

Orlando, however, didn't seem to mind in the slightest. Instead he offered a formal greeting.

"Hero Erinn, and her party members. I am deeply grateful that you have come to aid our kingdom. On behalf of the Estire Kingdom, I offer my greetings."

"Hmm~? Aren't you going to see the grandma~?"

Grandma?

"His Majesty has been quite unwell of late… It seems the recent events have piled too much worry upon him."

…She was talking about the Queen of Estire?

Calling the sovereign of another country "grandma"—she really was out of her mind. The fact that no one was calling her out on it was almost more amazing than the remark itself.

"…Why isn't anyone saying anything to Erinn."

"……Hm?"

"From the Estire Kingdom's perspective she's saying a lot of pretty irritating things. Even if she came to help, considering the relations between the two countries, she shouldn't be doing that… right?"

"……Allen."

The thief suddenly called my name. I tilted my head.

"What?"

"……There aren't many people who can say anything to Erinn."

"Hm? What does that mean…."

"She observes proper etiquette in front of the parties involved, so there's little to criticize. And as the thief said, there aren't many who can lecture a Hero."

Freya added the extra explanation. Heroes were such special existences that people generally left them alone.

"That's observing etiquette…? You said she doesn't do that in front of the person themselves."

"Ah, Orlando is known for having such a good personality that Erinn acts like that around him. He's famous for being mild-mannered and generous."

That… was a real Hero-like person. Unlike our Hero, that is.

"I hope she recovers soon~. So are we heading out right away~?"

"Yes. We'll move to the northeast via teleportation magic. Erwin here has already drawn the coordinates in the northeast."

When Orlando gestured, a mage in pure white robes who had been riding behind dismounted and stepped forward. Then the rest of their party members, and ours, began climbing down from their horses one by one.

Looks like natural introduction time. I followed the thief off the horse and walked forward. Orlando's party members started greeting us first.

"I'm Erwin. I'll be handling the teleportation magic this time."

"I'm Barg, warrior in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠charge of the vanguard! Nice to meet you, fellas!"

Everyone here except me was a woman, and he still said "fellas"…? Not sure, but that must have been how the bald warrior bro expressed himself.

The moment I stepped forward, though, the hooded hikikomori was glaring at me murderously again.

What's with that guy. Bad eyesight, maybe.

"……Kael."

"Kael, greet them properly."

When Orlando chided him for just spitting out his name, the guy named Kael clicked his tongue.

"I'm Kael. Midguard."

This guy's twisted personality was already on full display. I still had no idea why he'd been staring at me like he wanted me dead since earlier.

Incidentally, the names of the NPCs who appeared in the monster wave event of Dungeon in Evil were all different.

Becoming reality must have caused changes in those details. Still, they looked highly skilled, so it might actually be more convenient than the game.

Just looking at that Hero of the Holy Flag, Orlando, alone….

His specs were impressive too. Well-rounded stats and a whole suite of traits befitting a Hero. His blessing levels were lower than Erinn's… but maybe that just varied from Hero to Hero. His disease resistance was actually higher, so it wasn't a flawed build by any means.

Looking at the two Heroes' specs…

We might be able to wrap this up more easily than I expected.

That thought crossed my mind.

Once Orlando's party finished their introductions, we started introducing ourselves in turn.

"Midguard, Ser—"

"Rearguard, Leti—"

"Rearguard and support, Fre—"

Ser-Aria, Letisia, and Freya's voices all overlapped.

What are you, a choir? Why are you all talking at once…?

The three of them looked a little embarrassed and glanced at each other until Letisia spoke up.

"…Let's go in order from the front."

"Puhaha, sure!"

Ser-Aria declared,

"Midguard archer, Ser-Aria!"

"……Midguard, thief. No name."

"Rearguard spirit mage, Letisia."

"Rearguard and support, Freya Ernest."

It was kind of funny that Freya was the only noble among both Hero parties present. The alcoholic was royalty, sure… but not a noble, technically.

"…?"

Everyone was staring at me. They'd all finished their greetings and were waiting.

What, giving even this worthless porter a chance to introduce himself? Surprisingly decent bunch.

"Porter in charge of supplies, Allen."

"…Porter? Heh."

The moment I finished, the guy named Kael openly sneered.

Was that not it? Hadn't they been looking at me so I would introduce myself?

"Kael."

Orlando openly warned him, and Kael clicked his tongue again.

Seemed like I hadn't done anything wrong. The guy just had some inexplicably twisted feelings toward me.

Judging by the reaction, we weren't acquaintances before the possession.

So why was he like this?

"It's a pleasure to meet you all. Your reputations precede you. I would be most grateful if you would lend us your strength in saving the kingdom."

"Puhaha, of course we'll help!"

Ser-Aria answered Orlando's request with hearty cheer, then pulled out a bottle and started guzzling. The expressions on the other party's faces grew subtly complicated at the sight.

…Hard to put much faith in the words of someone drinking at a time like this.

"We're moving right away, right~?"

"Yes. We'll travel together with the paladins here. Please follow me to where the magic circle has already been prepared."

Erinn nodded at Orlando's words, and the party members remounted their horses. I was about to climb up behind the thief when another sharp gaze stabbed into me.

"……?"

Kael again. I still had no idea what his problem was….

"Thief."

"……Hm?"

"Do you know that Kael guy somehow?"

"……I've seen his face once."

So the thief didn't really know him either.

I'd asked in case he was glaring at the thief, but that wasn't it—which meant he really was glaring at me.

"…Why?"

"No reason. He's just been staring weirdly hard since earlier."

"……Must have bad eyes."

…Is that actually it?

"Follow me. I'll take the lead."

"Yes~."

Only after Orlando turned his horse did Kael finally look away from me.

My head tilted on its own at the sight.

Well… I'd figure it out later.

We used the magic circle installed on the wide grounds and teleported straight to the kingdom's northeast. Thank god this world had teleportation magic. Without it we'd have been stuck riding horses for ages again.

Actually using teleportation magic taught me two things, though.

One: teleportation magic was incredibly useful.

Two: it came with incredible motion sickness.

"Urgh…."

"……You okay, Allen?"

"Pfft♡ Getting motion sick all by yourself is so scrub~♡"

"Shut up… bleh…."

That was right. Out of our entire party, I was the only one getting sick. Including the other party, I was still the only one. According to the magic user, Erwin…

—It seems either your stamina or mana is insufficient, so you're experiencing severe motion sickness….

Yeah. My stats were garbage, that was why. If either stamina or mana had been above a certain level it would have been fine, but I didn't meet either threshold.

Stamina and mana around 100 aren't even close, huh….

I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠really needed to find something soon and get stronger so I could stop looking like this….

"A so-called Hero party member looking that pathetic."

The one who tossed that out as he walked past was Kael.

That bastard—why pick a fight when I was already dying? My face twisted on its own from pure irritation. Erinn narrowed her eyes for a moment and muttered,

"That little shit…."

"……?"

I looked at her, wondering if I'd misheard, only for her to suddenly snort and start teasing me instead.

"Pfft♡ You've got puke all over your mouth. Gross~♡"

"…Then go get me some water."

"……Here, Allen."

The kind thief handed me water. I roughly splashed it over my face and rinsed my mouth. Throwing up once actually made me feel a little more alive….

"Are you all right, Allen?"

"Yeah…."

"Come here. I'll make you feel better."

I still felt sticky and unpleasant, so I walked over as if drawn by Freya's words. She lightly stretched out both hands and took hold of my shoulders.

A considerable amount of divine power bloomed and wrapped around my body. The unpleasant foreign sensation vanished completely, and I felt refreshed.

"……Oh."

"Hehe, better now?"

"Yeah. Thanks."

A perfect Saintess except for the exhibitionism….

Just then Orlando walked over.

"Are you feeling a little better?"

"…Yes. Thank you for your consideration."

"It's nothing. Teleportation magic originally causes considerable motion sickness in ordinary people. Some spend the entire day just throwing up—seeing you recover this quickly means your stamina must be quite good, Allen."

Well, I was originally a farm boy from a rural village….

"Then let us head to the conference room, Erinn. We'll hear the operational plan and then depart."

"Sure~."

When Erinn moved, the other party members followed. I was about to go with them when Orlando suddenly stopped me.

"Ah, my apologies, but please wait outside, Allen. We intend to discuss matters among the military command and combatants only."

Ah, right.

I'd been allowed into our own party meetings from now on, but this was a joint operation with the other Hero party and the Estire Kingdom army. A porter had no business casually inserting himself.

I nodded. I figured I could just practice mana control while I waited, so I accepted readily.

"Yes, understood."

I was about to wait outside when Erinn suddenly spoke with a mischievous smile.

"Let him in~."

"Erinn, what do you mean? Why would we include someone who isn't a combatant…."

"Because that scrub is the party commander~♡"

"……Excuse me?"

Huh?

Orlando's eyes went round as he looked at me. You can stare all you want—I don't know either…?

Wasn't the commanding only for that last dungeon?

I was standing there blankly in confusion when someone lightly clapped me on the back from behind.

"Puhaha! That's what she said, Allen! Hurry up and get in!"

It was Ser-Aria. She laughed cheerfully and went in first; Letisia followed and nodded for me to come.

"Come in, Allen."

"…Uh."

Is this really okay? The monster wave event wasn't a standard dungeon, so there was no fixed strategy—just a few approaches depending on the pattern.

In the game you could just retry if the strategy fell apart based on the pattern, but this wasn't a game. And they were leaving it to me…?

Carrying a faint sense of pressure, I followed the party members inside. Orlando still looked puzzled, but he didn't say anything further and came in last.

With all the Hero party members gathered, Barg expressed confusion at a porter being included.

"Hmm? Isn't Allen the porter? He's sitting in on the meeting too?"

"Apparently Allen is the commander of Erinn's party."

"Ah, that so? Well, he does look like he's got a head on his shoulders."

Thanks for the kind evaluation, bald uncle.

"Commander?"

Unlike Barg, who accepted it easily, Kael voiced open doubt.

"How does a porter with no combat experience get to be commander?"

"Kael, this is not something for us to argue over."

"But isn't it? How does a porter command party combat?"

An extremely normal question. Honestly I hadn't imagined I'd end up in this role either. Even I had doubts—of course they would too….

Then Erinn suddenly let out a light snort of laughter.

"Your party member is rather noisy~♡ You're not planning to fight monsters with your mouth later, are you~?"

"…What did you say?"

"Erinn, calm down."

Freya smiled gently as she spoke.

"Of course he talks a lot, but that might just be his natural personality, right? Everyone's different. We should be understanding."

She was pretending to stop Erinn while her words still had thorns in them.

Getting angry on my behalf like this… They spent most of their time teasing me, yet when it counted they got mad for me, which made it hard ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to stay angry at their usual antics.

…Could they maybe be a little nicer on regular days too?

"…I will apologize in his place. Kael spoke without thinking. Please be generous and forgive him."

"……."

Kael fell silent, and Erinn gave a slight nod at Orlando's apology. Then two more people entered the tent.

"It is an honor to meet you, Hero of the Dern Empire and her companions."

A man who looked refined, yet whose physique was anything but refined, stepped inside.

"I am Grinaldo, commander of the Estire Kingdom's 12th Army."

…Guess you really needed that kind of bulk to run an army corps.

"I will explain the outline of the monster wave subjugation operation."

"I am Rosero, staff officer of the Estire Kingdom's 12th Army and the one who drafted this operation."

"Nice to meet you~."

Erinn greeted them lightly; the rest of the party and I bowed our heads slightly in greeting.

"Then I will explain the operational outline. The Canal that triggered the monster wave is located here—midway up Les Blanc Mountain. Over a hundred monsters are pouring out every day, and the kingdom army is currently holding the line using the Sierjuri River as a defensive barrier."

The situation didn't sound great. On the map the Sierjuri River sat roughly in the middle of the wheat-producing region, which meant the far side of the river was already crawling with monsters.

"We have judged it impossible to clear every monster pouring out at a hundred a day and still reach the Canal. Therefore Hero Orlando and Hero Erinn will lead their parties on a detour route, strike the Canal directly, and destroy it. Afterward the isolated monsters will be cleaned up gradually…."

Is that really the best move? Doubt rose, so I asked.

"A detour would take time, which means the contamination of the granary region would accelerate that much more. This place is responsible for Estire Kingdom's food supply—if we want to minimize contamination, handling it quickly would be better, wouldn't it?"

"…My apologies, but… who are you? I was told all of Hero Erinn's party members were women…."

"…Porter Allen."

If you're not a combatant you're not even a party member? Not knowing who I was felt a little too dismissive.

"A porter?"

"A scrub of a porter, but also the party commander~♡"

"…Excuse me?"

Stop putting pressure on me by calling me commander, you brat….

Rosero showed almost the same reaction as Orlando, then realized Erinn wasn't joking and continued.

"Ahem. Understood for now. What you said is a concern we share as well, but there is nothing we can do. Since the Canal appeared we estimate roughly twenty thousand monsters in the northern granary region. Contamination has already progressed as far as it can… so even if we are a little late, it will not change much."

"What? It will change a lot."

There was an achievement related to the Estire Kingdom monster wave event in Dungeon in Evil: clear with the granary region's contamination level at 500 or below. Contamination started at exactly 250 when the wave event began; at that level, dumping divine power for one or two weeks would purify the land.

Even filling it all the way to 500 only took about six weeks. But past that the situation became hopeless.

It was as if a multiplier applied to land contamination—the moment it hit 700, Estire Kingdom's wheat production dropped by half for three years. Hit the max of 1000 and that land could never be used as a granary again for the rest of its existence.

Staff Officer Rosero's plan was extremely rational… and that was exactly the problem. If you thought about the kingdom's future food supply and economy, contamination of the granary region had to be minimized.

"…Of course, handling it quickly as you say would make a difference. However, there are twenty thousand monsters. Would clearing them while advancing to the Canal be faster, or detouring and going straight to the Canal? When you factor in the time spent clearing monsters, nothing changes."

"That's…."

"I believe Staff Officer Rosero's opinion is correct."

Orlando cut in at that moment.

"Taking the detour as quickly as possible, destroying the Canal, then sweeping up the monsters that no longer receive reinforcements will be faster."

"I don't think so. Look…."

"Allen, even Heroes cannot clear twenty thousand monsters that quickly. If we only consider land contamination, your method would be correct, but in reality it would become an extremely drawn-out fight. Monsters would keep pouring from the Canal, and we would be busy plugging the holes."

No, I wish you'd listen to the end. I wasn't suggesting a frontal breakthrough for no reason.

"Scrub, so what's the idea behind all this~?"

Erinn cut in then. She asked as if giving me the chance to speak.

…She was actually helpful at times like this, our mesugaki Hero.

"If roughly twenty thousand have already come out, that means the Canal has been open for about twenty days. Correct?"

"…Yes, that is so."

"Then wyverns will start coming out of the Canal soon. As you said—about a hundred a day."

"……Excuse me?"

Wyverns. The dragon-type monsters also known as flying dragons.

They could fire breath-type magic called mana bullets from the sky, making them extremely dangerous, and their sleek bodies and large wings made them agile and difficult to deal with.

"They'll start pouring out around day twenty-seven or twenty-eight. Once that happens, both sniping the Canal and cleaning up the granary region become much harder."

"W-wait. How do you know that? On what basis are you speaking…."

"Monsters pouring from a Canal always appear in a fixed order. If you don't believe me, check the related records—you'll see it. They generally appear in this sequence."

Just as the monster wave event changed strategy based on pattern, the monsters that appeared were always different. But the types were fixed.

"First come large numbers of swarm-type monsters. Gnolls, goblins, and a little later kobolds and the like. After two or three days, higher species that still form packs appear—orcs, lizardmen, growly bears and so on."

Rosero and Grinaldo's expressions shifted slightly as they listened. It matched the order of monsters that had appeared in the granary region.

"From day ten, ground-crawling monsters capable of ranged attacks—basilisks, arachne, hell hounds and the like. And since you said it's day twenty now, monsters that buff the others should already be appearing."

"……How did you know that?"

"I told you. No matter which Canal it is, this order is fixed."

Sharing information I knew seemed to give my words weight. They were no longer ignoring me and were listening carefully.

"Then on day twenty-seven or twenty-eight, flying monsters appear… and that means wyverns can show up."

Actually it wasn't "can." They would. Every mob in the event spawned randomly, but the wyverns on day twenty-seven or twenty-eight were fixed. That was the bottleneck players struggled with most, and the branch that decided whether you could earn the achievement or not.

"You said you'd detour to the Canal. You can't use teleportation magic, so you'll be on horseback. But there will be sections on the way up Les Blanc Mountain that horses can't climb, and more importantly, taking the detour means leaving the granary region and looping all the way around…."

I pointed at the distances marked on the map, tracing the detour route Rosero had proposed with my finger.

"Going this way, even riding without rest would take three or four days, plus the time to climb the mountain. And of course monsters will be thick around the Canal itself…."

Even roughly adding the time, a week was almost certainly not enough.

"There's no guarantee you'll deal with the Canal before the wyverns appear. If you're late and things like wyverns mix into the monster ranks, reclaiming the granary region becomes even harder than it is now. At the same time, the Hero parties that went to hit the Canal will be in danger."

Orlando's expression grew grave as he listened.

"Then what do you propose we do?"

"We punch through."

"Excuse me?"

Detouring around the vast granary region that covered the entire northeast of the kingdom would naturally make the distance longer and take more time.

"If we punch straight through here, we reach the Canal in one day at best, two at worst."

Driving a straight line into it would work.

"We still have to destroy the Canal first and then deal with the monsters—that part is correct. But if we take the detour, it takes so long that the granary region will be contaminated beyond recovery. If we carve a path while splitting the monsters in half and the kingdom army hits them at the same time, at least one side can be annihilated more easily, right? Then the remaining side becomes that much easier to clean up as well."

Rosero fell silent for a moment after hearing me, then spoke.

"To be honest… we did consider the method you described—punching straight through. As you said, the time difference between detouring and going straight is stark. But I simply could not draft that plan."

"Why not?"

"Does it not require a prerequisite?"

Rosero pointed at the map.

"Twenty thousand monsters swarming across this wide granary region."

He asked,

"Are you saying we can punch through that?"

At the staff officer's words I glanced around lightly. If this world were Extreme difficulty or higher in Dungeon in Evil, I couldn't have been certain. I had come here without fully clearing Extreme Hell difficulty, after all.

"Either way, the Hero parties have to take risks. But if we choose the detour, the Hero parties only put themselves in danger while the chance of operational success becomes ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠abysmally low."

There was one thing I could be certain of, though. The performance of the Hero party I had carefully selected was…

"So we should try the option with higher odds."

Without question, outstanding.