Read Novel Full Chapter 951: What They've Been Up To
Chapter 951: What They've Been Up To
"Alright, so... what do we even really need to talk about now?" Evalia asked, leaning back in her chair after finishing her plate of food. "Isn't our tactic basically figured out already? We'll just fight as we always do, right?"
Eisen smiled at her, slowly shaking his head. "If it were just the five of us, maybe. But it's not."
Letting out a long sigh, Brody looked at the table. "He's right. There's a reason why we brought the soldiers, and it wasn't just for fun."
"... Sorry if this is a bit blunt, but why did we bring soldiers?" Evalia wondered. She was trying not to be so loud, so that the others didn't hear.
As if it were obvious, Brody rolled his eyes. "Because they're useful. They're not weak, you know? Sure, we might be a lot stronger, but they're powerful enough to support us well enough."
"Right, but wouldn't it just go way faster if the five of us rushed down to the bottom of the dungeon?"
"Maybe, but this isn't about being fast. We're not under time-pressure, right?" Brody looked at Eisen and Jyuuk, who both nodded, and he then continued. "Essentially, we're bringing them along for multiple reasons. For one, to save our strength so that we can go all-out whenever we need to, and also to facilitate some potential evolutions in the army, as well as increasing their overall strength. The way things are going, by the time we reach the bottom of the dungeon, half of the soldiers will have undergone another evolution and get their hands on some new abilities. Most of their main skills will have ranked up as well."
"... So we're just using this entire thing as a way to strengthen our army?" Evalia wondered, and Brody shrugged.
"That's part of it. At the end of the day, we do want this area to be self-sufficient to some degree. Right, Eisen?"
The old man quickly nodded his head. "Exactly. That's also why we sent out a larger group to explore the earlier floors, so that we can properly map everything out and use it as a hunting ground to strengthen everyone."
"Hm..." Evalia sighed. "I guess that makes sense. But still... we're dealing with what seems to be a Transcendent monster, isn't it sort of risky to bring so many folk with us that are... well... a lot weaker than us?"
Brody rolled his eyes. "Even if they're weaker than us, that doesn't mean that they're weak, as I've already said plenty of times. They're soldiers that directly underwent training designed by me. They have advanced tactics and could easily hold out against a group of Jyuuk's undead or tamed monsters."
"Hah!" Jyuuk let out an involuntary laugh, and immediately held a hand in front of his mouth. "Sorry, I didn't mean to..."
With a wry, annoyed grin, Brody stood up and leaned onto the table. "What, do you think that your pets are that much better than my men?"
Jyuuk nervously looked around at the others, as if he was hoping to get their help. "I mean... I wouldn't say 'better', but my tamed beasts and undead are certain to be a lot stronger than the soldiers. Not only are they directly empowered by my skills, but I've also raised them carefully to work together in a perfect composition."
"So? My men have the best tactics that I've thought of in the eighty thousand years I've been alive. If you don't remember, I was always the best combat tactician out of all of us. Plus, sure, your undead might be strong in raw power, but their techniques are... shabby. Plus, you've raised them all individually, so it's not like they know how to actually cooperate. In a real fight, do you know how often they get into each others' way?" Brody straightened his back and crossed his arms, looking down at Jyuuk with a grin.
But Jyuuk didn't seem impressed. "So? If I simply direct them a bit more carefully, they can work a bit better together. Plus, I can instantly tell them when a plan has changed. Can you do that?"
Taken aback, Brody looked over at Eisen, and then back at Jyuuk. "Yes. Yes, of course I can. You guys know that I have more skills than just the ones that let me punch things, right? I've got 'Tactics', 'Leadership', 'Commanding', and others... I've got like seven skills that all work together to let me strengthen an army."
Eisen smiled lightly. That was right, Brody had been doing quite a lot to work with other people, no matter how much it seemed like he was only intereted in working alone, even during this whole dungeon dive so far.
But this apparently came as a surprise to the others.
"Wait, seriously?" Xenia asked. "I thought you're just out hunting monsters all the time."
"I- You guys know that I'm the Grand Chieftain of the Wastelands, right? And also the Supreme Leader of a Martial Arts sect?"
Eisen laughed, looking at the others' expression. "Don't worry, you all. Brody doesn't know a lot about what you all have going on either. For example, that Xenia is the head of all the magic towers as well as the headmistress of the academy in the central continent. Or that Jyuuk is on his path to becoming a lord of the underworld and has a seed of eden's garden in his possession that he's been trying to grow. And I'm not even going to get started on Evalia's various identities. Cat burglar, countess, street magician... how many are you at by now? 37?"
Evalia slowly glanced to the side, scratching her cheek. "I'm at 39... I just added a Restauranteur and a beggar to the mix..."
"See? You all have a lot going on yourselves, so it's understandable that you don't know everything about what's going on in the others' lives." Eisen smiled and grabbed the cup standing in front of him and sipped a bit of the tea that Jyuuk had brewed earlier. However, he could just feel the stares of his friends on his skin as he did so.
"And... How do you know about all of this?" Jyuuk wondered, and clearly the others weren't quite sure either. But Eisen just raised a brow.
"... I'm the main supplier of new weapons for the people under Brody's leadership; I personally designed and created the prototypes for magic conduits used at the tower and the new uniforms at the academy; I've made the weapons and tools for the majority of Evalia's identities and even created the basis for all of her art supplies; And Jyuuk, you personally asked me to make items using materials from the underworld, which I didn't even know was a separate thing to hell, and I created the vessel you're using to keep the seed safe." Eisen said, as if it were obvious. Actually, it was pretty obvious, but apparently everyone thought that Eisen was too busy to worry about their matters. "You also have to remember that I'm the King and personally look over all the matters that regard you in the kingdom. Whether it's disputes, high volume material requests, and even the complaints we sometimes get sent from annoying nobles asking why their child is getting bad grades at the academy, and think that, for some reason, we are the right place to ask about that. I'll have you know that I've been cleaning up after you for a while now."
Everyone sitting at the table slowly grew silent.
"So you know about the..." Brody started.
"Yes."
"And the..." Evalia nervously muttered with her cheeks flushed red.
"Mhm."
Jyuuk and Xenia looked at each other, and then back at Eisen. "And the weekend where we..."
"Absolutely." The air around the table became thick and lingered, as Eisen smiled and stood up. "Anyway, that's why I'm going to say this. Stop fighting and just let's get to making some plans. Mostly, we need to figure out how to make sure that the soldiers and Jyuuk's summons don't get in each others' way, signals that we can give to the soldiers in the case of large-scale magic attacks, as well as figuring out what kind of buffs we need Evalia to give to them. They're already equipped with the best things I could give them for now, and as established, they've been trained with Brody's tactics, so things are fine on our side. I'll go and get Bree so that we can properly fill you in on all the data we've collected so far."
The old man smiled and figured he should give the four of them a few moments to calm down, heading over toward the couple sitting at the edge of the campsite.
Seeing Eisen approach, Dien slowly stood up and bowed his head. Though, that was just momentary, and he soon relaxed again. Dien was the sort that liked to be as respectful and mindful of things like noble titles and hierarchies as he could be, but him and Eisen knew each other for long enough that it was clear that Eisen really disliked things like that in his direct circle. It was a weird mixture, but Eisen got used to it.
"I hope you've been well. Sorry for not coming to greet you earlier," he said, but Eisen chuckled and shook his head.
"Don't worry about it. Would you like to join our tactics discussions? Bree might have filled you in already, but she's a vital part of that process."
While the half-fey smiled proudly, Dien quickly and happily nodded. "I would gladly, thank you for allowing me this."