"I'd keep the men together and comb through every chamber at a steady pace," Welf said, without looking at the map. "No rush. Bring shields, and they won't ever touch us. Easy, safe."
Rather than easy, it was a lazy strategy—especially for him.
The blacksmith was an experienced dungeon-diver and knew a lot about goblins.
And yet, Konrad suspected he'd put no thought behind his words.
"I've to disagree," the veteran—Welf's 'deputy' during the battle royale—objected.
He still didn't know his name, but by now, he was too embarrassed to ask.
Konrad waved him to continue.
"From your report, the goblins had archers. Large formations are easy targets. And before we'd react, the beasts would retreat into their caves—we'd never catch 'em like this."
The tribesman shrugged.
"Did I mention shields? I'd rather have the troops safe than the enemies dead. But whatever."
He leaned back in his chair, letting the others sweat the details.
They discussed the raid on the salt mine only two days after the battle royale. Konrad wanted to make Welf a commander despite losing his final duel, but he wasn't thrilled about it.
Now he behaved like a pouty teen, and a lazy one at that.
"It makes no sense to risk our lives in the mines if we don't do a thorough job," the knight noted. "Let even a dozen beasts survive, and we'd have the same swarm problem within a year."
"How many goblins?" Kade Enpe asked, his voice almost a whisper for someone his size.
Bor leaned over the rough-drawn map as he answered.
"About two hundred. Three at most. With a force like ours, it shouldn't be a problem."
"Yeah, we went in blind and unprepared the first time," Konrad agreed. "Now you saw what your men can do, so plan with that in mind. I want to see your leadership capabilities."
His complex illusions worked great in bringing his warriors together.
Now, it was time for some real action—and even handicaps.
"This will be our dress rehearsal for the king's tournament," he said. "So I won't use my magic, and you get no ranged weapons, either. Try not to rely too much on Liliana's healing, please."
"You said the simulation was the dress rehearsal," Welf groaned, crossing his arms.
While his not-sister wasn't present, Konrad felt like she'd give him a scolding by now.
But it was only he, his four commander candidates, the map, and the mission today.
The other three ignored the jab, working with the information they had.
"The best bet would be to split the men into four large platoons," the veteran claimed. "Attack every chamber from every possible angle, and they couldn't escape us."
"We don't know how many side-tunnels they dug," Bor noted. "Four might not be enough."
"Send a main force with half the troops to clear those chambers," Kade offered. "And have smaller squads block the chokepoints. We don't need to be rigid about our organisation."
His voice might have been weak, but his idea was smart.
Konrad's doubts about his intelligence, or if luck allowed him to win earlier, were soon gone.
Whether it was true that he was Count Rolalt's bastard or not, the old fox taught him well.
"The problem with small-scale parties is who's going to lead them?" the veteran pointed out.
Bor seemed to have considered his point, scratching his stubble while humming.
"Yeah, if it's only us four, splitting into too many units will be troublesome."
"And there's the question of who leads what?" the champion added. "Kade would be perfect in a small blocking squad, but we couldn't use his strength in the main force, then."
"Another reason why keeping everyone together is our safest bet," Welf interjected.
"It doesn't have to be all you," Konrad said, trying not to influence them too much. "Suggest sergeants, or lieutenants, even. Nothing's set in stone yet—first I want to see what works."
"Hmm, champions with shields as blocking parties?"
"Tribesmen could sneak around and ambush. They know what to do," Bor claimed.
"There'd be losses—even knights in full armor have gaps the swarm can exploit."
They started another round of spitballing ideas, but Konrad distanced himself.
He had other problems to deal with.
Maple's show drew too much attention, and Helena wouldn't leave him alone about it.
His idea was to 'uncover' the dragon's 'hiding place' by accident, and 'slay her' on the spot.
If his men fought goblins nearby, he'd have enough witnesses to convince the princess. He could still keep things under wraps, though—and don't risk too much exposure.
But the real question was, how could a human even face a powerful monster like that?
Of course, he didn't actually want to kill his haremette—most of the time—but had to make it believable. So as his commanders argued about small details, he had lost himself in thought.
'You could collapse a chamber on me,' someone else's thoughts found their way into his mind.
'Didn't you say you'd stop intruding into my brain?' Konrad scoffed to himself.
Maple wasn't even here—but she was always with him, whether he liked it or not.
'Rude,' she moaned. 'I can't help it. My mind is so attuned to yours for some reason. Is this love?'
Konrad had to suppress a laugh, or his commanders might've thought he lost his mind.
'It's annoying, is what it is,' he replied. What would they have thought if they knew he was almost nonstop sharing his head with the dragon? 'Also, I need those mines up and running.'
'You don't actually have to collapse them,' her thoughts came through. 'Pretend, illusionist.'
As if it were that simple.
'Still no. As I said, it has to be believable. If I fake something that outrageous, and the mines turn out to be fine, people would realize I'm a fraud. Or ask me to do it again.'
Maple—wherever she was—radiated so much annoyed energy that it gave him a headache.
'If you're so afraid of getting found out, why not go with the truth? That I'm a dragon. Your dragon—but you're too busy keeping your little demoness happy.'
Her only luck was that she wasn't in the office.
Okay, not that Konrad could've done anything against her.
That was his main issue in the first place.
But realizing she might've been inside his head while he had sex with Lily—
'Ugh, no, I wasn't,' Maple protested way too fast. 'I left before you got too deep into it.'
That spell, or ward, or whatever could keep his mind free of trespassing—Konrad wanted it more than ever. But seeing his commanders stare at him, he spaced out for too long already.
"Sorry, what?" he asked, trying his best to ignore Maple's chuckle echoing in his head.
"I was asking if you'd lead the main force?" Bor repeated. "That'd free us up for the smaller roles, and we could keep a closer eye on our future sergeants."
Looking at the map, they have already drawn up detailed tactics.
"Um, sure." Konrad tried to pick up the pace. "I'll lead you in the tournament, too, after all."
"Let's go with this approach then," the knight nodded. "You keep the beasts busy, and we deal with the stragglers, flankers, and whatever they throw at us."
Right. Busy. But he also had that pesky dragon to deal with.