Dungeon Prowler : One Man Army

Chapter 36: Strategy: deterrent force (1)

Wednesday afternoon. Yunan, Leol and Reina arrived at the hull number 5 to a very sullen and miserable, the lesson that was planned was footwork and dodging but due to the current circumstances it was changed into target practice and strategy; the students had to shoot dart and run a lap after each dart, while discussing a strategy none stop, next is how the afternoon lesson went.

Once everyone was ready to start the lesson Leader started by a lecture. "Strategy is not for minimizing casualties, it is to win without lifting a finger, let alone having any casualties, for example: a general famous for his strategies that could cripple armies with only a handful of men, had once sent all his army but a thousand men he trusted most. That army went to reinforce a fort at the other end of the country, and as such his fort was about to be attacked, this shrewd general opened his gates told his men to hide and kill any who tried to scale the walls, then sat on the ramparts and played his lute. The invader knew at once there was a plot on action to decimate their army, and they laid siege to the fort for a full month before the invaders backed away for fear of reinforcements reaching the fort. In this example the enemies were defeated by mere reputation and a hint of strategy, the smart strategists refused to move before having an idea about what strategy the general was employing, thus the indecision cost them a fort. The point of our lesson is the famous general not tye indecisive strategists, and so you kids are to use these prisoners to stop any for of spying in the future, the first question you must answer is 'why were there so many that ran away, and why did we release those that followed orders?'".

"Easy" Answered Leol."Those who ran, they belong to different factions, and they did not have the luxury to be questioned, as for those who were released, because either they had nothing to be afraid of except for their lives or they were confident we will not interrogate them.", After a moment of thinking Reina continued " those who followed orders are not a problem, because the information they had were not worth anything to them, no secrets they could not divulge, thus the problem shifts to those who tried to run, they were either too scared they lost their logic; which is very rare in a spy; or they hold information that if uncovered would bring damnation upon them, they are worth questioning".

After a moment of thought Yunan gave his insights " there should be at least one sent by the academy director for monitoring Debauchery; an unstable risk factor; there will also be one sent by the sun emperor to keep an eye on his daughter and future of the kitsune family, not out of distrust but because shit happens no matter how prepared you are. Then there are the rest, they can be divided into two groups, first is the enemies, those who which to harm both us and Debauchery are included into this. Second is those who which to sell what Debauchery is teaching, these are easily dealt with, a slap on the wrist and by selling our own official Debauchery training program. As for those that which us harm Debauchery must act on the announcement they made last week, any who seek to disrupt the mission will pay, there should be an item they use to record our actions, we can use said device to record their confessions, send it to the guild as an explanation to the destruction of those who neglected the warning. The prisoner's lives depend on them, if they confess and their statements can be verified by memory magic they will be sent to the guild to deal with, those who keep lying even when we will check their memories, they can be tortured to give the correct statements, then if they desire death give it to them otherwise send them broken beyond repair to the guild."

Yunan felt disgusted saying those words, he knew they were only making a hypothetical situation and going overboard was okey, but if he encountered the situation in real life he would leave them to the guild and not dirty his hands, but the pleased look he saw in Bai and Leader told him he passed their test.

"Listen here children, brutality is part of the dungeon life, if you go soft on your enemies they will come back again and again until they destroy you, but if you are brutal, you stop all those who had the same idea from even thinking about harming you, do not shy from brutality as it solves problems that are yet to bud, what Yunan described is the way you must act as a dungeon explorer, weather inside or outside tartarus."

"Let's continue the lesson" Bai clapped his hands in the fashion of Leader "We have found exactly as you have predicted so far, all those who were released went to their employers and resigned from the job, as for these ones left here, they are those who plan harm to us, there are two who are here to harm Reina, and one to harm Leol, lastly there are 5 here that are trying to harm Debauchery, and so we ask again, with the utmost brutality you can think of what is the next action Debauchery should take."

Reina was first this time "retaliation in kind, they are threatening a student of Debauchery and as such those who ordered the spies must pay with a child of their own, do not take loves but only maim and ruin the future, take away a hand and a leg, and leave it in the study of the parent, as for those who sent the spies to harm Debauchery themselves, destroy their foundation, take away their treasures and cause unforgettable and unrecoverable injury, and announce it to the world, debauchery does not just issue threats, they act on them too."

"I would go one step further" responded leol. " Find their dirty dealings and share them with the public and the guild to ensure they never rise from their fall, and lastly make sure to destroy their back up while you are at it, most would rather not get on the bad side of the guild without strong background nudging them to do it"

"That is not the Debauchery way, not brutal enough" interjected Yunan ." You expect Debauchery to do more than warn for the threat they defied the guild to release, i think total annihilation, go into their homes amd break the front door, and kill everyone, i myself would avoid innocent people but that would take away from the threat debauchery poses since innocent people can be used against their wishes. Thus debauchery will annihilate all risk factors and their backing as well. This would send a message, now and in the future do not get caught by debauchery or you will perish."