Chapter 119.1 - Equivalent Exchange


    「There''s something I want to say before we have breakfast.」


    I said so to everyone before I thawed the leftover great boar hot pot fromst night which I sh-froze with Witch''s Kettle.


    Yes, by everyone, I mean all the ssmates gathered in this tower. They just couldn''t wait for me to thaw the hot pot and get a serving of THAT.


    Good grief, did they really think that I, who am nothing more than your average stingy otaku, would give them a free meal like their mothers? I''m not some sort of samaritan you know.


    「Oh, what''s the matter, Momokawa? Can that wait till after breakfast?」


    Perhaps his hunger forced Yamada to voice hisin.


    「It''s important.」


    「Eeeh.」


    「Well, Momokawa-kun seems to be rather serious about this matter, let''s hear him first.」


    <i>Nice assist, Yamajun!</i> Now Yamada had no choice but to listen obediently like a good child. I mean, it''s not like breakfast was gonna escape anyway.


    「I think everyone’s noticed that the Gomas were aiming for our tower.」


    It was clear to me that everyone was underestimating this situation. But, I guess they''re unwilling to ept this situation to prevent Reina from throwing a tantrum.


    「It’s just as you say but, sooner orter, the Goma Fortress is gonna send arge force to capture this tower.」


    「Why in the heck are you saying something like that? At least show us some proof.」


    「Have you noticed that there''s always Goma toon stationed close to this tower for the sake of observation?」


    Yesterday, on the way back after obtaining Raptor Rem, the reason we never fought that toon was because they avoided us.


    They might understand the difference between the two sides of power… But, it couldn''t exin the reason behind them trying to avoid us since the Gomas I knew so far have always been charging straight at us as soon as they spotted us.


    Thus, I concluded that they''re ordered by a much stronger superior to not attack any group of humans. Gomas were stupid, that''s why they''re basically really obedient ves of Govus, their higher evolution. In short, their boss in Gomas’ fortress ordered them to just 「Observe」, thus they went as far as holding themself back even in front of us, their prey.


    「Really? Oi, are you guys noticing that too?」


    「Eh, no, it''s …」


    「But still, we were not attacked at all when we camped out yesterday.」


    「Come to think of it, I saw them running with their back to us.」


    As I thought, the Totem Pole Trio still had clear memories about yesterday’s event. And best of all, they''re really used to fighting against the monster called Goma to the point that they found the others’ action yesterday rather weird.


    「That''s right, we weren''t attacked at all during yesterday’s exploration. It feels like they’re intentionally avoiding us.」


    「In short, the reason they avoided fighting us is because they''re observing us right now.」


    That muscle-brain quartet finally nodded their heads after Yamajun summarized the situation.


    「The reason why they''re observing us is because they have yet to give up.」


    At the time when I first arrived in this tower, the defensive battle against those Goma troops might be just their leader testing the waters.


    Thus, they became extremely wary of us after we turned the table on them … that or, it might be the tactic of Goma''s boss who stayed in their fortress.


    「Aren''t they just gettin'' cold feet after those chaps see out powa?」


    「Can you give a reasonable exnation for your im, Yamada-kun?」


    「N-Nay, but…」


    「But you think the same goes for Momokawa''s story, right?」


    「Y-Yeah, I mean, you can''t give a reasonable exnation for your story too!」


    Yamada was riding on Shimokawa''s retort.


    Huhm, aren''t you rather perceptive, Shimokawa, could it be that your specialty lies in quarrelling?


    「You''re right, it''s just my theory based on what I heard from you guys about the Goma''s boss… but, there''s nothing wrong with preparing such possibilities, right? I mean there''s no problem If my guess is wrong and Yamada-kun is right, those Gomas will only look at us in fear from afar. We can use those days for preparing ourselves to capture the fortress in this tower.」


    「But if Momokawa''s guess is spot on… it really is game over for us the next time those Gomase to raid this tower.」


    I heard the sound of someone swallowing his saliva.


    It just was like the first day I met them. But this time, they finally realized the gravity of the situation.


    「Then what shall we do now! At this rate, it''s only a matter of time before this tower falls into their hand!」


    <i>Why in the heck are you barking at me now, Yamada?!</i>


    They had a great number of disposable Goma troops which they could use to exhaust us, and the elite Govu''s troops to protect their fortress, and here we are, not even a little bit of preparation to strengthen our defense in this tower.


    It''s meaningless to speak such logic to thepletely emotional fes.


    「I''ve a strategy to get out of this dangerous situation but,」


    It''s a tactic that will allow us to triumph against Goma''s overwhelming numbers and capture the fortress.


    「Oi, just tell us about that tactic already.」


    「It’s simple. we just need to attack their fortress when they dispatch arge number of Goma army to capture our tower.」


    The strength of the army protecting their fortress decreased in proportion to the army they sent to capture our tower. Since the tower capture battle was also an important operation for them, I''m sure that they''ll at least send more than just Gomas.


    And then, when their biggest advantage, namely superior numbers left their fortress…


    「I see, sure enough, we''ve bigger chance of winning the battle in that situation.」


    Everyone raised a voice of admiration.


    「But then, doesn''t that mean there''s no going back anymore once those Gomas raid this ce?」


    「And forget about raiding their base, we won''t be able to leave the tower once they’ve entered via entrance of our tower.」


    「Exactly, that''s why we''ll station Raptor Rem who has superior enemy sensing to prevent that. In the worst case, we''ve to prepare emergency escape mechanism somewhere in this tower, like fitting window panel on the rooftop.」


    「But then, they''re going to run after us once they know we''re escaping from this ce.」


    「Momokawa-kun, now it''s your turn to exin to them.」


    「… Ah, 『Aqua Mist』 huh!」


    I''d confirmed the effect of this magic yesterday. It had a high-speed invocation and was really suitable for small groups like us to escape from the army of Gomas.


    It doesn''t really matter even if for example we were found out by look out toon around the tower that separated from the army, they didn''t have wireless equipment afterall. The most they could do was scream on the top of their lungs. By then, it was already toote for the whole army to chase after us.


    「We''llplete our preparation while also baiting those Gomas to keep their eyes out on the tower.」


    「Don''t tell me that you want someone to stay behind in the tower?」


    「I-I refuse that role!」


    「Me too!!」


    「Y-You can''t leave me behind since I''m the only one who can use 『Aqua Mist』.」


    <i>These guys didn''t want to be the sacrificial pawn, huh.</i>


    「It''s okay, the one who will stay behind is Rem.」


    「Oooh, so it''s your familiar!」


    「I see now.」


    Though that was her proper original role which I could think of ever since I gained 『Vile''s y Doll』, she could fulfill her role as sacrificial pawn which was normally impossible for us, the humans, since she could resurrect as many times as I want, without feeling pain or fear.


    「As long as she is doing her best, Rem should be able to buy us enough time to escape from this ce, at most dying the return of the army. For that reason, I want to fortify the defense in this tower too.」


    But there''s so little we could do with our limited construction rted knowledge. But still, it was far better than doing nothing while waiting for the iing enemies. I already had an idea about how to do this.


    「I see, that''s amazing Momokawa-kun. It seems we might be able to do something about our current situation.」


    「Uhm, in fact the escape from our tower is the safest part… the problem is the defense in our enemy''s fortress.」


    I mean, I had to make a n based on their report about Goma''s fortress since we didn''t have a leeway to send a scout.


    「It''ll be for the best if they left the fortress wide open, unprotected, but they should''ve left behind a minimal amount of defense force behind in their fortress. That''s why we can''t avoid a battle against them.」


    In addition, we should do something to dy the return of their main force.


    Both of our side were moving around by foot. I know that even if Rem did her best, there''s so little things she could aplish by herself to gain us even a little bit more time.


    「In short, this is blitzkrieg operation to capture the fortress, defeating the boss, and using transfer function to go to the next area.」


    「Hey, how can you be so sure that there''ll be a boss waiting for us in there?」


    「Well, since the Gomas are living in there, let''s say that there''s a Boss’s room.」


    「To be honest, this is just my guess. I mean, we can''t teleport unless we''ve the core to activate the teleportation circle.」


    Assuming that our magicpass only has a function to show the direction of the teleportation circle without the function to detect the boss’s room, another possibility was that the Gomas used the tower that lost its function as the boss’s room with the teleportation circle as their living ce.


    If it was thetter, thening to that tower was enough to make ourpass point to another direction, I hope it''s not thetter though.


    「But still, it''s safe, right? I mean, Yamajun''s mail database showed us that there''s Goma''s boss called Gogma waiting in there.」


    Govus were warriors that ranked higher than Gomas, the one to outrank Govu was a boss monster who had the core we needed to activate the teleportation circle.


    「Well, it doesn''t matter. We originally nned to capture that fortress in the future anyway. Now ain''t the time to get scared, you know.」


    Thanks to reasonable deduction, Yamada agreed with my opinion.


    Even when both Euda and Nakai showed their anxiety regarding the unknown boss, they could’ve had no intention of giving up on the fortress capture from the very beginning. Thus, they also agreed with me.


    「Well, we might have extremely limited information about the boss, but I believe that matching our capture operation with theirs is our best option for the time being.」


    It was an extremely crude tactic bordering on suicide no matter how you looked at it. But still, I really couldn''t find a better n than this. Worse of all, there''s no other input for this n since everyone here was muscle brain.


    But, that was not a problem anymore since everyone had agreed to it. I''d to put my life on the line for the next step.


    「This isst confirmation, no one is opposing this n, right?」


    No one raised their hand.


    「Anyone has a better n than mine?」


    Again, no one raised their hand.


    「Then, please raise your hand if you agree with my n.」


    「I''m with you, Momokawa-kun.」


    Yamajun raised his hand, showing clear approval on his side.