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“Right. By the way, the demerit is the possibility of getting betrayed.”

“Uuhh…I could have also told you about that demerit! Merit…merit…let’s see…it’s easier than making him surrender? I mean, getting him to surrender is going to require time since you need to corner him a bit more. At the same time, we’ll keep suffering losses. There’s the saying, Time is money!, so that’d be a huge merit!” Kanon keeps her words coming while frantically thinking.

“Speaking about the current situation, a time reduction would be a huge advantage, yeah. But, my approach is a different one.”

“Please tell me without teasing meee.”

“In my eyes, the biggest advantage to form an alliance lies in the CP.”

“Huh? CP?” Kanon becomes puzzled by my response.

“Is it so unexpected?”

“U-Umm…CP means…if we’re allied, Kaoru remains a Demon King, so…we won’t need to create the subordinates necessary for defense from our side… Is that the line of thinking here?”

“For the most part, yes.”

“But, if you make him surrender, Kaoru’s sectors will become yours, so…won’t your maximum CP increase accordingly? Isn’t CP in proportion to Kaoru’s level possibly a nice bargain?”

“Kaoru’s estimated level was 24, wasn’t it? Certainly, 2400 CP might be big.”

“But, but, you won’t be able to freely use that CP, will you? 2400 CP is a lot, but isn’t the CP you can freely use in proportion to the gained sectors a much bigger advantage?”

Kanon is liable to be seen as an idiot, but she does have some bright moments. She desperately contradicts my answers.

“How many sectors does Kaoru possess?”

“Hmm…70.”

“So it’d be 7000 CP I can freely use versus…9400 CP I can’t use freely. The former certainly has some charm to it, I’d say.”

“Doesn’t it!? Hehehe, just this time the strategist of the Aster Empire ― Kanon ― is clearly the winner here!”

Receiving an agreement for her view, Kanon flies around the air while awfully happy.

“Winner Kanon, what do you think Kaoru is going to do…with those 9400 CP I wouldn’t be able to freely use?”

“Huh? Wouldn’t he invest them into the maintenance of his Domain or creating items and subordinates for his defense?”

“It’d be a different story if Kaoru was some random addict like a certain geezer, but he’s very likely going to spend his CP for the maintenance of his Domain.”

“Likewise, isn’t it better to have a lot of power for defense? But, Shion-san, you’re forgetting one thing!” Kanon points a finger at me as if striking a decisive pose.

Don’t point fingers at others…

“What is it? Out with it.”

“Kaoru’s Alchemy rank is B. On the other hand, your Alchemy rank is A! In other words, it’d be more worthwhile for you to be able to use it as you like!”

“If you’re bringing that up, you could also say that his Creation rank is A while mine is B, right?”

“Ughh…but, but, being able to freely use the CP is definitely a lot more convenient!” Kanon skillfully stamps her feet in the air.

“I’ve understood your view on this. Then, what about the following train of thought?”

“Hmm? What is it?”

“What’s my current, total CP?”

“26,000.”

My current level is 27, and I currently own 233 sectors, so…she’s right.

“Assuming I’d be defending the entire Ishikawa Prefecture and made Kanon surrender to me, how much CP would I have?”

“?? I don’t quite understand the precondition of 『Assuming I’d be defending the entire Ishikawa Prefecture』, but…it’d be 33,000 CP.”

“Next, how much CP would it be if I formed an alliance with Kaoru under the assumption of defending the entire Ishikawa Prefecture?”

“Aaahh…so that’s what you’re going for… In other words, if you add Kaoru’s CP to your 26,000 CP, it’ll be 35,400 CP. Is that what you mean?”

“No.”

“Eh? B-But…26,000 + 9,400 adds up to 35,400!”

Kanon fixes her calculations which she has diligently written down on paper.

“Your way of thinking is wrong.”

“Huh? How? What do you mean?”

“The correct answer is 26,000 + 9,400.”

“――? In short, 35,400, no?”

“No, it’s 26,000 + 9,400.”

“――? You lost me.” Kanon is confused.

“Kanon, what are the ways to use CP?”

“Umm…broadly you can split it into 《Domain Creation》, 《Subordinate Creation》, and 《Item Creation》?”

“Anything else?”

“Anything else…? Ah, 《Random Creation》…making kin…and also…《Reign》 and 《Separation》!”

“Correct. All of them are special rights only available to Demon Kings. What do you think is the difference between the former ― 《Domain Creation》, 《Subordinate Creation》, and 《Item Creation》 ― and the latter ― 《Random Creation》, 《Contract》, 《Reign》, and 《Separation》?”

“The difference between former and latter? …Ahh!! I see…so that’s why 26,000 + 9,400.”

It looks like Kanon has finally reached my conclusion.

The difference between former and latter is the amount of CP consumption. Former uses a fixed amount of CP depending on the item type, facility, or subordinate, while the latter always uses all CP. And I need to do the latter’s 《Random Creation》 regularly for the sake of boosting the motivation of a silly subordinate. 《Contract》 ― the ability to make bloodkin ― is something I need to use often to increase the number of subordinates I can send outside my Domain.

Therefore, keeping Kaoru’s and my CP split allows me a higher yield going beyond the simple numerical values.

“I got it. If you consider the upcoming war against the humans of Toyama, making kin will become essential.”

Moreover, an alliance has another advantage, though I won’t spell it out.

It’s an emotional relief. Ultimately it’s an emotional reason, but I feel mortified when my subordinates die for my sake, but if it’s Kaoru’s subordinates ― monsters I’ve never seen or spoken with ― my sense of loss is going to be zero.

In case I’d make him surrender, his sectors that are facing Fukui would become an important strategic defense position. In such a case, it’d be necessary for me to deploy strong subordinates over there, and depending on the circumstances, it’d entail the risk of them dying.

It’s not like…I’m particularly attached to my subordinates, but…since it’s somewhat an emotional reason, I decided to not voice it out.

Chapter 269 – Heading for an Alliance ④

“For this reason I’m going to suggest an alliance to Demon King Kaoru, starting now.”

“Eh? Now?”

“It’s said to make hay while the sun shines, no?”

“Sure…but…isn’t it a bit too sudden?” Kanon argues in panic just as I’m about to take action.

“Okay, so when should I do it? Tomorrow? The day after tomorrow?”

“Now that you’re asking…”

“Is anything going to change by tomorrow? Or by the day after tomorrow? The only thing that’s going to change are the battle situations around us.”

At the very least it’s necessary for me to make my move before the humans of Toyama unify their entire prefecture.

“Besides, today none of our teams is invading Kaoru’s Domain, right?”

“Oh! So that’s the reason why you forbade invasions for today… Meaning the result of our earlier conversation was already decided from the get-go…”

“If you had worked out a strategy surpassing mine, it might have changed the result. But, the result was just as always.”

“Uuughh…one day I’ll make you say that I’m Strategist Kanon of the Aster Empire!”

“Orly? Well, do your best.”

With a sidelong glance at Kanon who’s burning with pointless combativeness while clenching her fists, I decide to go ahead with my preparations.

First up is contacting Yataro, I’d say. I select Yataro’s number on my smartphone and press the call button.

『Yataro here. Is something the matter?』

“I’ll now go to Kaoru’s Domain while taking the main force’s bloodkin with me.”

『Hooh…I haven’t heard anything about any such plans, but who are you going to take with you?』

“All bloodkin of the main force except you.”

『Hoh? Everyone? …Does that include Izayoi as well?』

“24 people can invade his sectors, so to give you a precise answer, I’ll take Rina, Kotetsu, Takaharu, Hibiki, Saburou, Kazuki, Cúchulainn, Chloe, Layla, Blue, Iron, Red, Dakel, Abel, Cain, Kaede, Noire, Rouge, and five suitable members of Saburou’s corps with me.”

『That’s a full house of main force members…are you going to crush him at last?』

“No, the objective is to propose an alliance.”

『Hoh? Propose an alliance, you say? …I see. So, what do you need from me?』

“I leave my Domain to you while I’m out.”

『Ho ho ho, if it’s an alliance proposal, it won’t take that much time. He’s certainly going to get on board with it』

I finished my call with Yataro.

“Ah, I’m going to stay back as usual, right…?” Kanon feels down as always.

“It’s just a precaution for any unlikely events.”

“I’m happy that you’re giving my safety such a high priority, but isn’t it a tad excessive to go with all of those members?”

“It might be, but I’m heading over myself. Thus I can never have enough combat power with me.”

If I’m killed, everything goes down the drain. Seeing as I’m going to move myself, the idea of excessiveness when it comes to the combat forces accompanying me doesn’t apply.

I use my telepathy to summon the members who’re going to accompany me, and begin moving to Kaoru’s Domain.

◆

“It’s a discussion, right? Any need for me to participate in that?”

“Hihihihi…Taka-cchi, seriously, you’re such a muscle-brain.” Sarah immediately teases Takaharu who whines on the way.

“Tsk…stuff it, woman. Come to think of it, has anyone ever seen Kaoru?”

“Not me.”

“I haven’t either.”

“I also haven’t seen him yet.”

No one has seen Kaoru so far. The only thing we know is that he’s a Devil Demon King.

“The chatting ends here. We’re going to arrive anytime soon now.”

“Sure.”

“Ay~”

We arrived at the sector of Kaoru which is the closest to my Domain.

“So, what are we going to do now? Aim for the deepest part?” Kotetsu asks me as we step into the sector.

“We won’t do anything so bothersome. I’ll do this――”

I breathe in very deeply, and while looking up to the empty ceiling, “Mine name is Shion! I have come here with the intention of holding negotiations! Demon King Kaoru, can you hear me!? We will wait here for one hour! If you are going to accept negotiations, show me a suitable response!”

A Demon King can observe the situation in their own Domain in realtime. Thus my voice should have reached Kaoru with a fairly high probability.

“Now then I wonder how Kaoru is going to move. Noire, Rouge, take out the things I told you to bring.”

“Aye!”

“On it!”

I asked Rouge and Noire to prepare a carpet, food and drinks in advance.

“Okay, time to treat ourselves to a refined tea party.”

I began a tea party with my subordinates inside the enemy Domain.

◆

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