After the first battle ended, a full day was set aside for preparation.
This preparation period was a time when they could increase the number of monsters they summoned, and it was possible to set it freely.
This time, they had been repeating battles and preparations on a one-day cycle, which they accepted as is.
“Are we doing nothing today?”
Colette approached Kousuke, who was lounging in the lounge space without showing any signs of activity, and asked.
“Yeah. I plan to increase the beginner monsters, provisionally. But it doesn’t have to be right now, does it?”
If they carelessly increased monsters other than familiars, they would start fighting over territory, making it pointless to increase them beyond a certain number.
Of course, they could just decide to temporarily increase them solely for the suppression battle, but doing so would have a significant impact on the ecosystem later on.
Kousuke had no intention of doing anything so reckless at this experimental stage, let alone trying to win.
“Are you planning to lose again tomorrow?”
“If possible. If I fought the same way I did yesterday twice in a row, our intentions would be revealed, you know.”
“Hmm.”
Kousuke gave Colette, who looked somewhat unconvinced, a smile.
“You’re not convinced?”
Colette’s expression suggested that she felt it was a shame to lose, even if it was for experimentation.
When Kousuke asked, Colette looked embarrassed, her gaze wandering for a moment before she nodded.
“Honestly, you could win if you wanted to, right?”
“Probably. But if I do that, there are things I won’t understand. I intend to lose a few more times.”
“You do?”
“Yeah. This is a good opportunity to investigate various things.”
If they won with overwhelming power, there was a possibility that the opponent would think it was impossible and do nothing.
That would be meaningless.
Therefore, Kousuke intended to lose as cleanly as possible for the first few battles.
Making the opponent believe they could win was the crucial point.
As they were discussing such things, Shurein entered the room.
“Colette. Kousuke is investigating many things for the future, so don’t be selfish.”
“I understand that.”
Colette’s heart seemed unable to accept it, even though her head understood.
If she genuinely wanted them to win, she wouldn’t have spoken so ambiguously just now.
“Well, Kousuke said that the current situation is only for the beginning, so how about just observing for a while? Or, if seeing Kousuke lose is too painful for you, you don’t have to watch.”
“That’s true, though.”
Colette pouted slightly, her lips jutting out.
She probably meant that she didn’t want Kousuke to lose somewhere she didn’t know about.
Kousuke and Shurein exchanged an unutterable expression at her delicate maiden’s heart(?)
Kousuke, judging that it was not good to prolong the conversation, decided to state it clearly.
“In any case, I intend to lose a few more times from now on. This is already decided and won’t change.”
“I understand.”
When Kousuke stated it definitively, Colette grudgingly left the lounge space.
Kousuke watched her leave, then looked at Shurein, tilting his head.
“Did something happen with Colette?”
“Hmm. Indeed, her demeanor is different from usual.”
The usual Colette would almost never act so indecisively.
It had been over ten years since they had started spending time together in the management layer, but this was a demeanor Kousuke and Shurein had rarely, if ever, seen.
“I don’t think anything unusual has happened recently…”
“Indeed. It is bothersome when you mention it. I will inform the others and keep a close watch for a while.”
“Ah, that’s a good idea. Please do.”
Hearing Shurein’s reassuring words, Kousuke’s expression relaxed.
Seeing Kousuke’s face, Shurein felt relieved inwardly.
This was a crucial time for the tower.
It was best not to place any unnecessary burdens on Kousuke.
Shurein was also relieved that Kousuke’s concerns about Colette seemed to have been resolved.
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In the second battle of the suppression, the opponent used a similar strategy: overwhelming numbers.
Kousuke, who did not intend to lose in the same way this time, had summoned a certain number of monsters. However, even though they were summoned, they were beginner monsters, and not familiars, but summoned from ordinary summoning circles.
The strategy was to defend with numbers, just like the opponent from the other day.
At the exact start time, the opponent’s monsters attacked the Amamiya Tower’s field, just like in the first battle.
From what they could see on the screen, they were employing the exact same attack method as in the first battle.
“Huh? I thought they wouldn’t do something exactly the same.”
In the first battle, the opponent had attacked from the upper right of the map. Therefore, this time, they had concentrated their monster summons at that point. Currently, the opponent seemed to be attacking in precisely the same manner.
“…Hmm. It looks exactly the same.”
Floria, watching the screen, tilted her head with a perplexed expression. Even she had not expected them to come with the exact same pattern. Furthermore, in ground wars, it was rare to attack with the exact same pattern while only relying on numbers. This would only happen if they were absolutely certain their own numbers were overwhelmingly superior.
“Eh? Is that all?”
The situation progressed moment by moment, betraying Kousuke’s expectation that they would show some ingenuity. The opponent’s attack pattern remained unchanged from the first battle.
Then, just as Kousuke began to feel anxious inwardly that they might actually defend against it, the situation began to change. Although the overall positions hadn’t changed, the number of Amamiya Tower’s monsters clearly started to decrease.
“Hmm? …Ah, I see. So that’s it.”
Kousuke zoomed in on the screen and finally understood the reason.
“They’ve started mixing in intermediate monsters.”
Floria nodded in understanding as she watched the proceedings. While the main strategy was still overwhelming numbers, they were creating breakthroughs by concentrating intermediate monsters in specific locations. Kousuke’s defense was solely composed of beginner monsters, so he couldn’t win at the points where intermediate monsters were concentrated. Their plan was clearly to eventually break through from where the intermediate monsters were gathered.
“The question is, did they change their strategy after seeing our monster composition, or did they intend to do this from the beginning?”
“Indeed. Normally, one would assume they changed their strategy after observing our formation.”
From what could be seen on the screen, even intermediate monsters were sometimes defeated when surrounded by many beginner monsters. However, this was only in isolated instances; the groups of intermediate monsters still overwhelmed the beginner monsters. Currently, there were more beginner monsters, but it was only a matter of time before their numbers dwindled.
In this battle, to avoid revealing that they were intentionally losing, they had performed more summons than usual partway through. Even so, with Amamiya Tower’s current capabilities, placing multiple beginner monster summoning circles didn’t incur a significant cost. There was also the potential benefit of letting the opponent mistakenly believe that beginner monsters were all Amamiya Tower could currently summon.
Regardless, this battle had revealed that the opponent wasn’t just attacking with sheer numbers. This allowed them to conduct further analysis. Kousuke’s current plan was to lose two more battles in this manner.
They had successfully lost the second battle. As mentioned at the end, Kousuke intends to lose two more times.
Also, Colette’s behavior has been a bit strange. The reason for this will be revealed at a later date.
