The Way to Absolute Dungeon Administration – There Is No Reason To Meet With the Opponent! - Volume 01 Chapter 12: Know Your Enemy and Know Yourself, and You Will Not Be Imperiled in a Hundred Battles

Volume 01 Chapter 12: Know Your Enemy and Know Yourself, and You Will Not Be Imperiled in a Hundred Battles

Side: Kazuya Torino, Alias Yuki

The monitor shows soldiers plummeting into the abyss (about 100 meters down).

Honestly, I didn’t expect it to go this smoothly. The scouting team came earlier… didn’t they report back?

“What the—!? What are you doing!? Don’t you have any pride as a Dungeon Master!?”

Selaria charges at me, spouting nonsense.

I have no idea what she’s talking about.

“…Uh, what’s this ‘Dungeon Master pride’?”

“You set up monsters, watch over them, and fight the strong who make it through!!”

My head hurts.

“…Hey, Oriel. Don’t other dungeons have traps?”

“No, they do.”

“Sorry, Selaria. I don’t get what’s wrong with that.”

“It’s cowardly!! Our kingdom’s soldiers are coming straight at you, and you use pitfalls!?”

“Uh, they’re attacking my underpowered dungeon with overwhelming numbers. That’s not cowardly?”

“…That’s different!! This is this!!”

We’re not communicating!?

“Sorry, Selaria-sama is a martial type and hates underhanded tactics. She believes an army should fight gloriously, as that’s the source of Rocheur Kingdom’s strength.”

Oriel chimes in. Oh, right…

“Hey, doesn’t this kingdom have Gunshi’s(military strategists)… or Sanbous(advisors)?”

“Gunshi? Sanbou? What’s that?”

Selaria tilts her head, puzzled.

“Like… people who plan battles. Civil officials, maybe?”

“What are you saying? Civil officials on the battlefield are useless, right? Ugh, you don’t know war. The battlefield is ruled by the heavens’ luck. No matter how many soldiers or high-level allies you have, without heaven’s favor, you can’t win. So, petty tricks are pointless. They just tarnish your name!!”

…What a theory. Guess that’s medieval Europe-level civilization for you… No, they had strategists, just not called that. Still better than this.

“Selaria-sama’s words are a bit extreme, but in clashes, high-level fighters can dominate freely, breaking through strategies. Plus, skills add too many variables…”

Oriel adds. Got it—levels and skills mess things up. Higher levels mean more power. More power means reckless moves work. That creates overpowered characters.

So, battlefield strategy becomes unnecessary.

“To win a hundred battles is not the best of the best. To make the enemy surrender without fighting is the best of the best. I’ll show you that. Well, we’re already fighting, but something close.”

“Hundred battles, hundred wins… what’s that?”

“A famous saying from my country… or a book. Roughly, it means ‘always choose the path with the least damage.’ I’ll explain later.”

“What are you saying!? They’re already invading the dungeon!! Damage… wait, huh?”

Selaria seems to notice something off in her own words. Not dumb, then.

“What’s wrong, Chii-neesama? Are you okay?”

“…I’m fine, Elju. Oriel, have you noticed?”

“What?”

“This guy hasn’t let us take any damage…”

“Ah!!”

“!?”

Elju and Oriel finally catch on. Exactly—zero losses on our side. No combat even. Yet the enemy’s lost about 200 without fighting.

They stare at me, shocked.

Whatever, let’s check the enemy. Oh, they figured out groups of six or fewer can pass. The sign’s there, so it’s obvious.

Next up’s the highlight.

After a 500-meter corridor, there’s a door. Six or fewer can open it to the next room.

There, I spent ten days’ worth of DP to summon a level 95 [Blood Minotaur], a literal monster.

The six soldiers facing it freeze for a moment but attack instantly. Not royal guards for nothing.

The Minotaur doesn’t budge.

“Why isn’t it moving!? Give it orders already!!”

Selaria shouts at me, panicked.

“I already did. ‘Eliminate the leftovers.’”

“Leftovers…?”

“Look, look at the monitor.”

The room’s large, partly so the Minotaur can rampage, but there’s another reason.

A sound echoes from the monitor.

Clank!!

“Wha—aaahhh!!”

“Kyaaahhh!!”

“What… another pitfall!?”

A dark abyss opens before the Minotaur.

“Damn it… everyone…!!”

Oh, one barely escaped the pit’s range… I’ll tweak the settings.

“No, don’t come!! Aaaahhh!!”

The Minotaur does its job, taking out the survivor as ordered.

“…”

“…”

“…”

I’ll let the ladies stare at the monitor.

Why wouldn’t there be traps in a boss room? The enemy hesitates, slowing down. Why not exploit that?

“…Are you playing around? Toying with battle!? Why fight in a way that dishonors the enemy’s pride!? If this isn’t cowardly, what is!? It’d be more efficient to drop them all in pitfalls from the start!!”

Selaria’s furious.

“Yeah, if I wanted to wipe out every enemy in the dungeon.”

Exactly—if I wanted total annihilation, I’d set pitfalls where they’re gathered.

“Look at the monitor. Hearing of the losses, reinforcements are coming. About 500 reserves from outside.”

Armies fight using numbers, keeping reserves. This time’s no exception—around 2,000 marched in, but only half entered initially.

“You… set traps to cause just enough damage to draw in the rest.”

“Yup. Wiping out 1,000 at once would make them retreat. But if they think they can advance with caution, they’ll come, right? Especially with the kingdom’s reputation on the line.”

“I’m stunned. You even considered their situation?”

“Of course. Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles.”

“What’s that saying…? I can guess from earlier, and it’s nasty.”

“They attacked us. I just want them to help with some info gathering.”

“Info gathering? Still scheming something weird?”

“Just aiming for their surrender. We went through a lot, hiding a noisy princess.”

“What did you say—!!”

“U-Um… Yuki-san, how will they surrender? There’s still over 1,000…”

Elju asks timidly.

Fair question.

“Well… look, the reinforcements joined. If I turn the straight path to the entrance into pitfalls, blocking it, what happens?”

“The soldiers inside are completely isolated.”

Elju answers, watching the monitor.

By the way, the entrance path is about 300 meters, and cutting nearby trees to make a bridge is near impossible.

“So, why would that make them surrender?”

“Elju, what do people need to live?”

“Food?”

Selaria turns to Elju.

“Right. The soldiers in the dungeon have no way to resupply. They’d have to pass that merciless, trap-filled Minotaur in groups of six, then clear the second floor’s traps to reach us… And even if they beat us, escape isn’t guaranteed.”

“…Exactly. Plus, the first floor has no water. Without water, people last maybe three days. They might have some food and water, but…”

“Five days at best…”

Elju gets what I’m driving at.

“If they want to survive, they’ll have to surrender to us.”

Selaria mutters, stunned.

“To win without any losses…”

“…Unbelievable.”

Now, we wait leisurely for their surrender.

Sun Tzu’s the real deal. “Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles.” And “The best warrior wins easily.” Didn’t think I’d put it into practice.

“Oh, another one fell.”

The monitor shows a brave (lol) soldier charging the Minotaur and falling. He’s dead serious, probably. But dying with a laugh? That’s rare.