Moru, who belongs to the Underworld Merchant Guild.
After finishing all preparations, she moved towards the dungeon assigned to her.
She didn’t move by walking herself.
Merchants from the guild used pre-installed teleports for easy and fast travel.
Dungeons are spread throughout the continent.
On the other hand, the Underworld Merchant Guild naturally exists in the Demonic Realm, located in the northern part of the continent.
What if a dungeon is located far from the Demonic Realm?
From a human’s perspective, merchants are also monsters.
The merchants would probably be subjugated before they even reached the dungeon.
That’s why the guild came up with the idea of teleportation.
Thanks to this, the guild could conduct transactions with dungeons located in all parts of the continent.
Moru also reached her destination using teleportation.
“It looks like a very ordinary dungeon…”
That was her first impression upon seeing the dungeon.
If she hadn’t seen the document with its location, she might have mistaken it for a simple cave.
No, it was so natural that she would have passed by without even noticing it was a cave, as it was hidden by vines.
Here, Moru noticed one fact.
This transaction was initiated by the dungeon contacting the guild first.
They even tore up the guild’s black card.
There are two main ways dungeons and the guild conduct transactions.
Either the dungeon tears up the guild’s black card to express their intent, or the guild discovers the location of a new dungeon and visits it directly.
The guild’s information network is quite extensive, so most dungeons are reported to the guild in real-time.
This applies even to nascent dungeons that have only recently come into being.
The guild’s assessment, stated in the document, was that the dungeon Moru was assigned to was likely a recently established one.
Here lies a question.
“Where on earth did they get a black card?”
It was a nascent dungeon that the guild hadn’t identified first.
The fact that they possessed a black card from the beginning was unusual.
Or, the dungeon’s owner might have operated another dungeon in the past.
Of course, if that were the case, the guild would have identified it first.
“Is it possible to conceal it this perfectly?”
The dungeon was hidden very cleverly.
It looked like an ordinary cave, and its location was meticulously hidden by vines.
It was like a predator holding its breath before a prey.
As her thoughts reached that point, Moru got goosebumps at the thought that the dungeon she was assigned to might not be an ordinary one.
Honestly, when the dungeon was first assigned to her, she thought it would be, at best, an ordinary dungeon.
This was natural, considering she had considered the worst-case scenario.
Who would entrust her with a good dungeon?
Moru was a being born between a succubus and a human.
Even though she had human blood, she had faced a lot of discrimination from the guild.
However, she couldn’t leave the guild either.
Having already been expelled from the succubus community, leaving the guild would mean losing her place to rely on.
Therefore, Moru saw the assigned dungeon as an opportunity to build her career.
However, the problem was that the person who assigned the new dungeon to Moru was her superior.
Her superior was also a succubus.
The only difference was that her superior, Jewel, was a pure succubus, unlike Moru, a half-succubus with human blood mixed in.
That was the problem.
Her superior, Jewel, despised her.
Moru was the result of a succubus coveting a lowly human.
Jewel considered her to have defiled the succubus blood, so she couldn’t have viewed Moru favorably.
Moru knew that fact, so she didn’t expect a normal dungeon.
However, it was the first dungeon assigned to her since joining the Underworld Merchant Guild.
She had vowed to do her best, no matter what she was assigned.
But considering everything, there was a high chance it was not an ordinary dungeon.
Moru took a deep breath and stepped inside.
Upon entering, her previous deductions were confirmed.
“The interior is quite large…”
From the outside, it looked like a small cave.
But upon entering, it turned out to be a long passage extending underground.
An ordinary nascent dungeon couldn’t exhibit such a feature.
“Did they expand the dungeon?”
If so, how?
Expanding a dungeon also takes a lot of time.
Even if it wasn’t a nascent dungeon, the fact that it evaded the guild’s notice meant it was far from ordinary.
Not long after Moru started walking, a monster appeared.
“Clack.”
“Clack-clack.”
It was a skeleton.
It wasn’t a strong one.
She looked around to see if there were any more dispatched monsters, but that was all.
“You’re from the guild?”
A captivating voice echoed from somewhere.
Moru turned her head in the direction of the voice.
There stood a being as captivating and beautiful as the voice.
She exuded an aura that was clearly not ordinary.
‘Could it be a succubus?’
If it was a succubus, there was a high chance of messing things up.
Even her own superior, who was a succubus, disliked Moru, and the succubus before her seemed to possess a much higher status than her superior.
The chance of her liking her was almost zero.
Even so, it was still the dungeon she was assigned to.
Moru shook off her intrusive thoughts and greeted the being before her.
“Nice to meet you. I am Moru, a merchant from the Underworld Merchant Guild.”
As she greeted her, Moru glanced ahead.
‘Why are they wearing a maid outfit?’
Ah, perhaps that’s their preference?
And thus, the essence of human males…?
Moru’s face flushed for a moment.
It was only for a fleeting moment.
Moru quickly regained her composure and continued.
“I have come to meet the owner of the dungeon…”
However, Moru’s words were cut short.
The being before her put a finger to her lips and said, “Shhh.”
“I apologize for interrupting, but the owner who rules this place is someone else. I am merely their servant.”
“What?”
Moru blinked.
The owner of the dungeon is someone else?
“Ah, I’m late with introductions. My name is Celia. Don’t worry. I have received all the authority related to the dungeon, so the transaction will proceed without any issues.”
The other party’s name was Celia.
She said that all authority had been received from the dungeon owner who existed separately.
How much of that was true?
Did the dungeon owner truly exist separately?
She had heard that some people would brag to increase the value of their dungeon.
It was a strategy to gain an advantage in transactions with the guild.
But was such a strategy really necessary for this dungeon?
Just looking at the person who introduced herself as Celia, she possessed a formidable aura.
She seemed like a being comparable to a Succubus Queen.
What reason would she have to brag?
If what she said was true and an owner existed separately, it meant this place had immense potential.
As such doubts arose, other doubts were resolved.
‘So, is the dungeon owner’s preference the maid outfit?’
Well, that wasn’t very important.
What mattered was her superior, Jewel, who had introduced her to this dungeon.
‘Perhaps Jewel likes me?’
You assigned me such a dungeon?
Of course, there was no need to get ahead of herself yet.
No matter how much potential a dungeon had, to the guild, it was a good dungeon if it generated a lot of money.
“Let me introduce myself again. I am Moru, belonging to the guild. Though I am lacking, I am the owner of the dungeon… no…”
“Just call me Celia. Hehehe.”
“Ah, yes! I will do my best to ensure Celia can conduct the transaction without any inconvenience!”
Fortunately, Celia did not reject her.
With that aura, she must have known that Moru had human blood in her.
Moru, introducing herself again, continued.
“I am proud to say that all the goods handled by our guild are of high quality. If there is anything Celia needs, please tell me.”
Both introductions were finished.
Now, their business relationship officially began.
Since Celia had contacted the guild first, she spoke immediately.
“I intend to expand the dungeon, but as you can see, labor is severely lacking.”
Indeed, the only things present were a few skeletons.
If labor was lacking, Moru’s job was to introduce monsters.
“Ah! If that’s the case, there are two ways. You can hire specialized artisan monsters or acquire slave monsters. If you choose the former…”
Moru’s explanation continued endlessly.
She spoke about the benefits they could provide and how much they could adjust the price.
There were plenty of people who wanted to expand their dungeons.
Naturally, to meet that demand, the guild nurtured monsters with specialized skills for dungeon expansion.
Of course, as they were specialized technicians, they could not be tied to the dungeon and had to be hired temporarily for a fee.
There was no need to mention that the price was high.
On the other hand, the monsters the guild held as slaves were the result of monsters being compensated for unpaid debts from their dungeons.
Naturally, their abilities varied, which was a drawback, but since they could be tied to the dungeon, they were cost-effective.
“Hmm. It’s quite a dilemma.”
Celia had already decided, but she paused for a moment.
Hiring technicians would speed up the work. Even if the payment was high, the abundance of top-grade magic stones meant she didn’t mind.
The problem was that the technicians were affiliated with the guild.
There was a risk of the dungeon’s interior being leaked.
Although the guild wouldn’t spread it openly, the leaking of the dungeon’s interior was a significant risk.
Of course, that was something other dungeons would worry about, but it meant nothing to Celia at the moment.
After all, the current structure of the dungeon was incredibly simple.
If she hired technicians to build the framework, it would be easier for her to work on it later.
Most importantly, the merchant named Moru was a fellow succubus, which made her feel a connection.
Even though she had human blood, that didn’t matter to Celia.
Because of that connection, she deliberately revealed a portion of her formidable aura, which the other party wouldn’t have been able to gauge otherwise.
The dungeon’s stealth effect.
With that, she could hide her aura anytime, so it wasn’t a problem even if technicians from the guild came.
On the other hand, acquiring slave monsters was cost-effective.
They could be used for work, or immediately drafted as dungeon troops for defense.
However, that was an option based on cost-effectiveness, and would the master really need such low-level entities?
Of course not.
Ultimately, there was only one answer.
“I will hire the skilled technicians from the guild.”
Celia replied with a smile.
“Additionally, I need monsters for dungeon defense. Do you have a relevant catalog?”
As Celia said that, she subtly opened a pouch containing magic stones.
‘Amazing…’
Moru saw purple magic stones.
They were top-grade magic stones.
Now she could be sure.
This dungeon was a jackpot.
A fact that no one could deny.
Moru immediately took out the catalogs.
Normally, she would only show monsters from rank 2, at most rank 3, but that applied only to ordinary dungeons.
Not anymore.
This dungeon would be a turning point for Moru.
It wouldn’t hurt to gain the other party’s favor beforehand.
“And I want to sell a human I just caught yesterday. Can we trade?”
Moru thought for a moment at Celia’s question.
Humans were abundant in the guild as well.
There was high demand, so they secured them through various channels.
Although the guild didn’t particularly need them, this would be a regular customer from now on.
It would be best to purchase them, even if it meant using her own funds.
“Of course. How many do you have?”
When Moru agreed, Celia smiled and brought the human.
Moru, who thought Celia’s smile was truly captivating, turned her head towards the human.
“…”
This is crazy.
Moru’s thought almost blurted out.
The scene that appeared before her eyes was that astonishing.
She thought it was an ordinary human, but it turned out to be a Paladin.
The Paladin, with a blissful expression, was closing her eyes.
“I let them dream.”
Moreover, the captured Paladin was in perfect condition without a single scratch.
To capture a Paladin intact using succubus abilities…
This must be purchased.
“It’s preserved in such perfect condition! The guild will purchase it under the best terms. What will you do with the equipment the Paladin was wearing?”
At Moru’s words, Celia thought.
The sword the Paladin possessed was a supply-grade Holy Sword.
Although it was a derivative of the Church’s Holy Relic, ‘Holy Sword,’ its power was considerable.
If an ordinary monster tried to use it, the monster would likely be annihilated first.
In the end, it was an item she didn’t need.
And even if she offered it to the Master through the altar, would they be pleased?
Celia shook her head shortly.
The Master was a noble being.
Unless it was the actual Holy Sword, the Paladin’s sword would be nothing more than a wooden stick to the Master.
“I will sell the sword as well.”
Celia and Moru’s transaction now officially began.
