The dark soldiers planning the attack gathered their forces in front of Premeus's kingdom within an hour. Premeus was so arrogant that he had even named his kingdom after himself.
The dark soldiers had no deep strategy. They were aware that they had the numerical advantage and that they were making a surprise move. So they decided to attack directly. Nearly a hundred soldiers suddenly appeared at the kingdom's entrance. They charged forward on horseback. The two guards at the entrance couldn't withstand the attack for even a few seconds, killed by blows to their hearts.
The people were suddenly thrown into confusion by the attack. This confusion soon turned into fear. Everyone began running around frantically. They were seeing people like this for the first time. Word of the situation quickly reached Premeus's ears. Premeus looked out from his balcony again and was shocked when he saw the soldiers.
"WHO THE HELL ARE THESE?"
Premeus turned around and ran to give orders to his commander. He was going to send all his soldiers to the field. The commander relayed the order to all his soldiers. After thirty minutes of close-combat fighting, both sides had taken a certain level of damage. But Premeus's own kingdom had suffered more.
Premeus deployed the cannons he had been saving for Rei. He was attacking the dark soldiers with cannons. This way, he could protect his kingdom for a while longer. Seeing the dark soldiers slowing down, Haru climbed to the top of the tower. He tried to negotiate. He hadn't received orders from Premeus for this, but he was intervening on his own anyway. While he was speaking, the dark soldiers' attention momentarily turned toward the sound. At that moment, a cannon fired a stone ball. The stone ball struck two dark soldiers, killing them. Thanks to the cannons, the dark soldiers' situation was worsening.
Haru said they needed to make a deal. He told them they would give them the supplies they wanted, and in return, he asked for a favor. From behind, Premeus called out to Haru.
"You bastard, I never told you to do that! What are you babbling about? They attacked us!"
"You're right, but we should use this to our advantage. Besides, we have the upper hand in the battle now. Don't you want to kill Rei?"
When Premeus heard the question, he began convincing himself.
"Continue talking with them!"
He turned his face to the dark soldiers. He was saying that the situation was bad for them, that they would give them the supplies they wanted, and in return, he wanted some of their soldiers to temporarily join Premeus's team. He was telling them that if they continued fighting, it would be bad for both sides.
Haru's tone sounded like pure logic as he said this. Everyone was listening to his words. The dark soldiers, instead of speaking, used hand signals, thought for a moment, and then confirmed the situation. They pulled back slightly to avoid being attacked.
Premeus climbed up beside Haru.
"Haru, are you sure? They killed our men!"
"Don't worry. After they help us, we'll betray them."
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"I see. So you're saying it's a secret plan."
"Exactly."
After a while, a deal was reached in exchange for some of the goods they wanted. Premeus's side requested thirty soldiers in return. Within a few hours, the soldiers arrived. Because they didn't trust them, they listened to their orders but still kept their distance. Premeus sent a team invitation to each of them. Premeus's team now exceeded a hundred people. A confident smile appeared on the faces of Premeus and Haru. Their belief that they would win the game was starting to rise.
They began drifting in the irrationality brought on by comfort. They felt good. They stopped doubting themselves and their surroundings. They let themselves be carried away by the irrational current of comfort.
That night, Haru's side partied inside until they fell asleep. They became more and more certain that they would win. That's why they felt good. When they felt good, they started feeling more relaxed, more comfortable. They had let their guard down.
They weren't aware of it, but surrendering themselves to comfort was one of the biggest mistakes they could make.
On Rei's side:
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and checked it. When I saw that Premeus's member count had increased, a thin smile appeared on my face. I called out to Lie.
"Haru seems to have succeeded in convincing them. We're progressing exactly as I wanted."
"Wait, you're saying it's better for you that they made a deal and increased their numbers?"
"When a person feels good, their reasoning dulls. Their emotions start guiding them."
After speaking, I entered the elf king's building again without saying anything more. Lie didn't stop me. She kept watching Rei from behind.
I entered the building and went into the room again. Before entering, I knocked on the door as usual. The king asked what was going on.
"I told him I wanted to talk a bit more about this region."
"Alright. Go ahead and ask your question."
"How does one leave this region? The system gave us a task about needing to escape this capsule. I had received a notification before."
The king thought for a moment, looked at me with sharp eyes, and answered.
"I don't know how to leave this place. I've only heard that you can go up to the next level of the capsule."
"An upper level?"
I had been thinking there was a similar system to the previous one.
"Yes. From the games you play, even duels, you earn points. When you reach a thousand points, you can leave this level. I've heard there are seven region levels in total. At least, the exit score for this level is a thousand."
"With points? They never told us this."
A notification came to my phone. I immediately opened my phone and checked the notification. It said that upon reaching a thousand points, I could exit the first capsule. It also said that the number of points earned varied based on intelligence performance in the game.
I wondered if someone was watching us. It was too hard for it to come as a coincidence right after we talked about it. Even if they were watching me, they weren't aware of the things I had done in the past, so they couldn't block my plan.
I told the king the information I had obtained from my phone. The king thanked me in return for sharing the information.
"So why aren't you trying to leave?"
"We are focused on our peace. We don't desire power that much. Even though I can guess the capsules will get progressively harder, and even though I can understand that after overcoming all of them we could gain superior power, we simply don't desire it."
The king had reached the conclusion that one could eventually obtain significant power at the very top. It was a logical thought. Otherwise, what would be the point of facing difficult situations?
At the same time, I was beginning to understand more of the king's hidden desires. I was aware that getting to know him better would be to my advantage.
"I understand. Thank you, my lord."
"You're welcome, human."
After gaining this information, I continued walking through the village with my hands in my pockets, thinking about how many points the system could give me if my plan succeeded.
But if my plan succeeded... maybe the system wouldn't even be able to give me points at all?