Dungeon Defense (WN)

igin and Barbatos whispered to each other, but their conversation could be heard clearly since no one else was talking.

“I like him~.
Can I have him?”

“Fuck off, you masochist.
I called dibs 140,000,000 years ago.”

“Eeh.
That’s unfair.”

……Don’t treat someone like some sort of object you can pass around.

The leader of the Neutral Faction, Marbas, let out a sigh.
His wrinkles were refined, so he looked like a rather handsome middle-aged man.

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“Dantalian, Demon Lord of Many Faces, I also believe that you have a point; however, if we let this happen, then a river which can never be crossed will appear between the Mountain Faction and the Plains Faction.
The Mountain Faction and the Plains Faction are the 2 main forces of the Demon Lord army.
In truth, this would cause the entire Demon Lord army to be split apart.”

“Is it already not split?”

“It is a matter of degree, Dantalian.
Everything in the world is a matter of degree.”

Marbas removed his monocle and cleaned it with a piece of silk cloth.

“Should we go to war with the humans or should we consider the situation and withdraw……? There is no absolute answer for which action is correct.
It changes depending on the situation and time.
Nonetheless, we may be immortal, but that does not make us all-knowing.
It is impossible to accurately distinguish these things.”

What must be done? He asked again.

“This is why we need factions.
One side will declare why war is good while the other side will declare why war is bad.
Both sides will gather proof to support their claims.
By doing this, the Demon Lord army will gain a general opinion.
You could call this a division of labor.
Do you understand? The goal of a debate is not all there is to a debate.
The goal is to reach a balance by debating.”

“…….”

A statement that befitted the head of the Neutral Faction.
He was saying that discourse between factions is fine, but doing so excessively to the point of killing one side for the survival of the other would be going too far.
Do not go too far.

“A bird that loses a wing will be unable to fly.
Dantalian, if the Mountain Faction trying to attack the Plains Faction is wrong, then would it not also be wrong for the Plains Faction to try and wipe out the Mountain Faction in retaliation? I wish for a reasonable compromise.
Of course, if the Plains Faction chooses to be tolerant, then the Neutral Faction will support you fully.”

In other words, he’ll compensate us politically and materially.

Hm.

Originally, I never planned to wipe out the Mountain Faction.
That would only be doing a good thing for those humans, after all.
Even if I’m officially a part of the Plains Faction, my ultimate goal will always be to survive and conquer.
For this sake, both humans and demons have to be balanced in terms of strength.

The issue is convincing Barbatos.

If a hearing is held, then the Neutral Faction will deliberately take the Mountain Faction’s side.
The Neutral Faction will most likely lead a back and forth debate before finally suggesting a compromise.
I had planned to convince Barbatos to ‘back down here’ at that point. 

But this is different.
……Marbas is already offering a compromise.
It sounded rather reasonable.
If it’s this, then I might be able to convince Barbatos.

It’s a question as to how many people here noticed the nuance behind Marbas’ words, but, at the very least, I managed to see through it.
It would be hard to expect the Neutral Faction’s support if a hearing is held.
……Among the 25 Demon Lords that have the right to vote, the Neutral Faction has about 10 seated members.
I have to take a step back here.

I spoke calmly without batting an eye.

“You make an excellent point.
Hearings are naturally impeding matters.
Similar to how you mentioned that you are a member of the Demon Lord army before being a part of the Neutral Faction, I am also a single Demon Lord before being a part of the Plains Faction.”

Marbas never said that ‘he is a member of the Demon Lord army before being a part of the Neutral Faction’.
The reason why I decided to fabricate these words despite this was purely political. 

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For starters, I placed the words ‘hearings are naturally impeding matters’, which can be taken as nothing more than diplomatic rhetoric, at the front.
I placed the word ‘hearing’ at the front like a traffic sign and followed it with context.

By doing this, I displayed that ‘I understand that your Neutral Faction is going to participate in the hearing while considering the position of the entire Demon Lord army.’

If you look into these words that seem like only a simple exchange on the surface, you’ll discover an excellent political trade.
Marbas is the great individual who has acted as the mediator between the Mountain Faction and the Plains Faction for more than a thousand years.
He should be able to understand the nuance behind my words with ease.

Sure enough.

「Demon Lord Marbas’ affection has risen by 10.」

A notification window popped up with a sound effect.
Marbas was satisfied that his intentions had gotten across clearly and he had received the answer he wanted.

“Of course, the Mountain Faction is in the wrong.
This is unquestionable.
I simply wished to cool down this heated mood.
It would not be too late to discuss this hearing a little later.”

What should I say? I don’t dislike this old Demon Lord before me.
He nailed in the fact that ‘the Mountain Faction is in the wrong’ in consideration of the Plains Faction and he threw out smoke to cover the context behind our conversation by claiming that he wanted to ‘cool down this heated mood’.

After saving the party’s face and hiding the implicit conversation, he naturally continued by adding ‘it would not be too late to discuss this hearing a little later.’ He was telling me to discuss this with Barbatos.

“Now then, I would like to welcome everyone for accepting my invitation.”

Marbas gave a light clap.

Once he did, attractive men and women formed a line as they appeared from between the layers of cloth while dancing.
Their skin glistened with oil.
A portion of them were wearing clothes while the rest were naked.
This was most likely for the sake of pleasing a variety of tastes.
There are a lot of people who prefer clothes, after all. 

The musicians beyond the cloth walls played their instruments louder.
Excluding Paimon and Sitri, the other Demon Lords enjoyed the party.
I exchanged whispers with Barbatos while taking enjoyment out of this extravagant party. 

“What should we do? Do we hold the hearing or not?”

“What are you saying? Of course we’ll hold it.”

Mm.
Barbatos failed to capture the implicit meaning behind my conversation with Marbas.
Once I quietly explained it to her, Barbatos muttered.

“Dear Lord, fuck.”

We smiled pleasantly.
We were managing our facial expressions since we didn’t want other people to know what we were discussing.

***

TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter.
Hm, a couple of people suggested putting early viewable chapters on Patreon.
I never really wanted to do that in the past, but it’s been more than 3 years since I made my Patreon and times are changing.
If I really want to do this, then I’m going to have to sit down and try to translate as much as I can in a single day.
I don’t want to force a delay on regular releases.
I’ll also have to think about how many early viewable chapters should be available on Patreon first and what the delay would be.
I’m not really sure how people will really react to this either.
I’ll have to ruminate over this for a bit.
Don’t expect anything big any time soon.

I’ll see you guys in the next chapter.