The Way to Absolute Dungeon Administration – There Is No Reason To Meet With the Opponent!

Volume 02 Chapter 11: Selfishness

Side: Ratsu

Having overheard Lulua-sama’s conversation with Elju-sama, Labiris-chan and I returned to Onii-san’s room.

“It went just as Onii-san planned. You made her trip on purpose, and after healing her injury, Elju-sama had that talk with her.”

“…Yuki, is there really a need to rush like this? Lulua-sama still needs time to recover mentally. Everyone has moments of weakness. If you said something like that to me, I’d hang myself…”

Yes, I thought it was too hasty, no matter how you look at it.

Lulua-sama has only been here for about a week. To treat her like this after being exiled from her homeland— isn’t it a bit much?

“If she were just a noble or some naive girl, that would’ve been fine.”

Onii-san is unusually drinking sake.

Apparently, he doesn’t get drunk. The more he drinks, the more he wants to drink, and it ends up making him nauseous the next day, so he usually avoids alcohol.

…How much of that is true, I don’t know.

“Those conditions Milly and the others set were pretty harsh too. We’ve been trying to mediate and buy time to ease the tension, but telling her to pull herself together without giving her time to process… I want a convincing explanation. As you said, Onii-san, so she doesn’t blindly follow you.”

I demand an explanation from Onii-san for his treatment of Lulua-sama.

“…If Lulua is willing, I’d have her return to Litea Holy Nation and reclaim her position. The deadline for that is approaching, so there’s no time to wait for her to recover naturally.”

“What!?”

“Yuki, are you serious!?”

Even Labiris-chan, let alone me, raises her voice in shock.

To think he’d deliberately send her back to the place where she’s most likely to die.

“If she stays like this, she’ll die here soon enough. People who keep calling themselves pitiful tend to dive headfirst into misfortune. Milly and the others’ endless demands will pile on. And Lulua will wallow in her own misery. In the end, she’ll either be driven out or take her own life.

Honestly, making a child to live is one thing, but making a child out of desperation to survive? Give me a break. I don’t want to have to tell a kid they were born as a tool for their mother’s survival or that their mother killed herself after being forced. I’m not doing that.”

I understand what Onii-san is saying.

When I was an adventurer, I was involved in a quest to take down a band of thieves.

As expected, there were many women who had been violated like objects.

Of the ones we rescued, about half chose to take their own lives within a month.

…Leaving behind the children they bore.

I couldn’t understand it, so I asked one of the surviving women.

“Why did they choose suicide? And why didn’t you?”

She had given birth shortly after being rescued and, holding her child in her arms, answered my tactless question.

“I don’t fully understand why they chose suicide. But they probably couldn’t come to terms with their own hearts. I, too, was ravaged by those men and bore this child. Even now, looking at this child brings back memories. …Those who left their children behind probably couldn’t bear it.

But I… I don’t want to abandon this innocent child. Even if they weren’t wanted, they were born. This is the only certain warmth I have in my hands. Because of this child, I’ve decided to keep living.”

In the end, those who want to live have the will to do so. Those who choose death simply lack that will.

Despite being born or having their lives saved, they lock themselves in a cage of misfortune and head straight for death without passing their life forward. Understanding this, I ask,

“…I get that you provoked Lulua-sama to avoid her spiraling toward suicide. But why send her back to Litea?”

“As I said, if she were just a noble’s daughter or a naive girl, it wouldn’t be an issue. Do you remember what Lulua’s position was?”

“Lulua-sama was the former top figure of Litea Holy Nation, right?”

“Exactly. And don’t you think that’s a bit too heavy a burden for this dungeon to bear?”

“Yes. But if she stays out of the spotlight, couldn’t she live quietly?”

“Sure, if she lived quietly, there’d be no problem. But she negotiated. Not as a powerless girl, but by selling us information. And she’s been meddling in our dungeon operations. Do you understand what that means?”

“…What!? Lulua-sama is still trying to act as a ruler?”

“Exactly. She still carries the pride of being Litea’s Saintess. She might not have realized it, but it’s there. She was losing it in that earlier conversation, so it’s probably unconscious. If she truly wanted to survive here, she should never act as a ruler again. That way, she wouldn’t cause friction, and Milly and the others might see her as repentant.”

That’s right… If Lulua-sama truly wants to live safely here, she shouldn’t voice opinions as a ruler anymore.

The more she exerts her influence, the more her mark is left on this dungeon, and the more she’ll inevitably be exposed.

That puts the dungeon in danger at the same time.

That’s something we need to avoid. That’s why Milly reacted so strongly.

“But Lulua used her status as a former Saintess to join our operations. It’s fine here in the dungeon, but what if this were Rocheur Kingdom, Gartz Kingdom, or even a regular household?”

“…Both nations are currently allied with Litea. If another country sheltered Lulua-sama, they’d either send her back immediately or kill her. That’s the most profitable move for a nation. As for a regular household, it’s foolish to even consider. Lulua-sama’s actions here are like declaring her identity to a family that saved her, then saying, ‘I might cause this village to collapse, but I’ll help with its development.’”

Answering Onii-san’s question, I feel dizzy…

She shouldn’t take actions that reveal her identity anywhere she goes.

…There’s no way someone as intelligent as her doesn’t understand that…

“…I see. So it’s unconscious. Lulua-sama is still hoping, if possible, to return to Litea. But saying or even thinking that right now is reckless.”

What selfishness. Or perhaps, because she understands it’s selfish somewhere deep down, it’s unconscious?

“Exactly. It’s not absolute, though. Lulua’s probably unconsciously testing how far she can go. Taking actions that deepen her rift with Milly and the others or make her think she might kill herself.”

That’s why Onii-san hated the idea of her ending up at suicide and moved quickly to shut that path down. He used the “good story” from Elju-sama, deliberately causing her to trip and get injured, leading to that conversation with Elju-sama.

“So, Onii-san… you’re trying to help Lulua-sama reclaim her position? The time constraint means…”

“It’s been a week since Lulua came here. It’s about a month to Litea Holy Nation on foot, ten days by horse, faster with a swift horse. By now, Litea’s higher-ups have likely declared Lulua dead. They deliberately stacked her escorts with hardliners. Even without a death report, if she doesn’t return, they can process her as dead. They probably took some of her belongings to claim she died. Now, here’s a question, Ratsu. Why do you think Lulua was nearly assassinated?”

“As we discussed before, her authority and abilities were too strong, making her a threat…!? So, you’re saying there’s still a faction in Litea, not quite a Lulua faction, but one that doesn’t align with the hardliners!?”

“Exactly. If the hardliners had complete control, there’d be no need for complaints or anything when Lulua was ousted. The need to kill her comes from wanting to eliminate the non-hardliner faction. Now, imagine the people who think they’ve disposed of Lulua are putting the final touches on their plans, and a living Lulua shows up, talking about assassination. What happens then?”

“The tables would turn instantly. The hardliners planned to seize control of Litea without Lulua, but if she appears and exposes their assassination plot, the tide would shift dramatically. Even better, some hardliners might switch to Lulua’s side for their own gain. There’s no such thing as true loyalty in politics.”

But that’s if it goes well.

How many cards would it take to get to that point?

“But, Onii-san, why go this far for Lulua-sama? I think the odds of failure are higher.”

“Hm? I never said it was for Lulua. Whether this fails or succeeds, it doesn’t matter to me. Say Lulua goes to Litea and dies. That’d vent Milly and the others’ frustrations. If she succeeds, she might not reclaim the top spot, but she’d return in a high position. Then, with a grand cause, we could get her to aid this dungeon. I’m saying this dungeon saved me.”

“That’s harsh, Onii-san. Stop pretending to be selfish when your true intentions are different.”

“…Really. Just say you want to help Lulua-sama honestly.”

Labiris agrees with me. Yes, Onii-san just wants to help Lulua-sama.

If he truly didn’t care either way, he wouldn’t bother with this complicated support.

He could just leave it all to Lulua-sama. But he doesn’t.

He’s going out of his way to frame it as a selfish reason for his own benefit to help her.

“Look, if I act carelessly to help Lulua, it’ll cause huge trouble for Rocheur or this dungeon. Not calculating the benefits and acting is impossible, right?”

“Yeah, yeah, Yuki’s the bad guy.”

“You didn’t even tell Selaria-sama you were sheltering Lulua-sama, yet you say that. You were planning to take all the trouble on yourself, weren’t you, Onii-san? That’s enough alcohol. If we’re thinking about Lulua-sama’s future, we can’t afford to dull the sharpest mind here, yours.”

Saying that, I take Onii-san’s sake away.

“Sigh, you know about a nightcap, right? I was drinking for that, so it’s not…”

“The time constraint means if we delay any longer, the hardliners in Litea will solidify their power, right? You wanted to prepare Lulua-sama quickly to send her into that battlefield, didn’t you?”

“…Exactly. As weak as she is now, she’d die in no time. I plan to play a few cards, but it’s pointless if she doesn’t have the drive. The only cards we can play are Mauve and the others, plus some items I can provide.”

“As expected. In her current state, Lulua-sama won’t accomplish anything. We, Selaria-sama, and Elju-sama are nominally from Rocheur Kingdom. If we intervene, it could be seen as political interference, risking cracks in the alliance. Declaring support later is fine, but intervening now is problematic, right?”

“Exactly. This is something Lulua has to accomplish on her own.”

“She needs to realize that the only way to return to Litea is to act herself. You’re saying that if she only moves because we tell her to, she has no future, right, Onii-san?”

“If she doesn’t act on her own, that’s that. Litea is her country. It’s not something I can help with right away. …I figure we have about three days left. If Lulua doesn’t act by then, returning to Litea will be extremely difficult.”

“That’s… Will Lulua-sama make it in time?”

“If she were as recklessly straightforward as Elju, it might’ve been easier.”

“…That’s harsh. Elju-sama is straightforward in both good and bad ways, you know?”

Labiris defends Elju-sama.

Come on, Lulua-sama.

You already have the answer you need to give.

Please, somehow, give the answer Onii-san hopes for.