I enjoyed coffee at the cafe.
The game screen on my smartphone was working hard.
“Celia has been dispatched to the Goblin Shaman’s dungeon.”
I’ve felt one thing while playing this game.
Celia was definitely a capable being.
‘This is also due to the subordinate officer’s stats, right?’
Even if I left the game unattended, she developed the dungeon on her own.
She even increased the number of monsters deployed in the dungeon.
‘It was a good decision to set Celia as my subordinate officer.’
Even if it’s just a game, who else would I favor if not a subordinate officer who works so diligently?
“She’ll do well on this mission too.”
The content I played this time was sending support to another dungeon. And I sent Celia there.
The place I sent support to was close to the mountain range where my dungeon was located.
I had my own reasons for choosing a dungeon in a nearby area.
‘I need to know what kind of guys will attack in the future.’
This is why any gamer should be well-informed.
That way, they can deal with any situation.
My current dungeon was located in the mountain range of the Sail Kingdom. It was also adjacent to the Demonic Realm.
But a nearby dungeon is asking for help?
This meant something had happened in this area.
As a neighbor with a dungeon in the same district, I naturally had to know what it was.
“Let’s eat cake while we wait.”
I placed my smartphone on the table and turned my gaze to the cake.
Celia, my most trusted subordinate officer.
Since I sent her, the result was obvious.
What would it feel like to have such competent subordinates?
At least, wouldn’t it be good not to have to worry about every little thing?
*Beep-*
As expected, an alarm soon rang.
“Celia is talking to the dungeon’s owner.”
‘Right.’
The story that comes out of there will change my strategy.
Now, find out what the reason for asking for help was.
Celia, you can do it!
“The dungeon owner ‘Goblin Shaman’ has surrendered to Celia.”
“Congratulations! You have successfully subjugated the Goblin Shaman’s dungeon.”
“1 Goblin Shaman and 14 Goblins will be affiliated with the dungeon ‘Evil God’s Nest’.”
No, what is this?
Wasn’t she sent to support the dungeon? I sent her to help, so why did she do that?
Was it actually conquest rather than support?
I checked again with a faint hope, and it was indeed dungeon support.
The content, which was supposed to be helping other dungeons, had transformed into a way to increase my dungeon’s forces in an instant.
“Was this the image it was supposed to have?”
Celia, in my mind, was supposed to be intelligent and obedient.
Ah, this must be how a father feels when looking at his daughter going through adolescence.
Well, it can happen.
It’s good to have such flaws sometimes.
Too much consistency can be boring.
These irregular events might be what make Celia’s character stand out.
Celia has done well so far, so I understand.
One shouldn’t be too straightforward.
‘If we’re talking about a straightforward personality, then it’s the Death Knight.’
I got the Death Knight as my first 5-star through the gacha.
After that, the Death Knight, how should I put it…
It had a steadfast image of silently defending the dungeon while having no presence.
It’s probably still silently guarding the dungeon.
*Beep-*
“Death Knight has succeeded in subjugating the ‘Giant Venomous Spider Hatchery’.”
“6 Giant Venomous Spiders will be affiliated with the dungeon ‘Evil God’s Nest’.”
“…”
Sigh, what is this?
Looking at it now, was I unable to keep up with the game?
Why did the Death Knight come out without guarding the dungeon?
Even if the restriction was lifted and it could come out of the dungeon, I never gave such an order.
At least Celia was dispatched by me directly.
The Death Knight left the dungeon without permission and subjugated another dungeon.
“Hoo…”
That means my dungeon was defenseless for a moment.
Of course, there’s the Goblin Lord, but what if someone unstoppable had come?
‘Is this how they adjust the difficulty with such fluctuating settings?’
It turned out well in the end, so it doesn’t matter.
However, I’ll have to pay attention to this part going forward.
“Subordinate officer ‘Celia’ has submitted a report to the Master.”
Just then, an alarm indicating Celia had submitted a report popped up.
I immediately touched the alarm and checked it.
“Hmm.”
Upon checking, the general content was as follows.
The reason the Goblin Shaman asked for help was that paladins had recently increased in the vicinity.
‘Paladins?’
In the El Dorado Continent, paladins were only from the White Church.
However, the Church occupied the southern region of the continent, and my dungeon was in the mountain range of the Sail Kingdom.
The Sail Kingdom was in the northern part of the continent, so it was a very long distance from the Church.
Moreover, paladins were active in the mountain range, not in a kingdom.
‘Why did they come all the way here?’
I continued to read Celia’s report.
With the appearance of paladins nearby, she asked me how to deal with them if encountered.
Oh.
I was impressed by Celia again.
She really was good at this.
‘Speaking of paladins though…’
If it were yesterday, I would have definitely ordered to eliminate them.
However, the uneasy feeling I felt earlier made me hesitate to give the order.
It might be my imagination. Still, my desire to give such an order had already faded.
Unlike before, the order was not made by choosing options, but by typing directly.
I touched the screen and carefully started typing.
“Even if you encounter paladins, do not kill them. Show them mercy. I mean, spare them. Understood?”
After typing the command, as I was about to press confirm, a thought suddenly occurred to me.
“It was a sacrifice, right?”
The game had sent alarms twice about sacrifices.
Both sacrifices were people.
I added one more sentence to the command.
“Ah, thank you for the sacrifice, but how about offering an artifact instead?”
I hadn’t paid attention to the sacrifices until now.
So this time, I ordered them to offer an artifact instead of a living being.
Just to confirm.
“Sigh…”
I found it ridiculous myself.
Still, this was the right way to get rid of my uneasy feeling.
“I trust you to always work hard and do your best. Good luck.”
Finally, I pressed the confirm button.
I wrote “Good luck” just to make myself feel better.
This really makes it feel like I’m ordering a subordinate.
Before quitting the game, I went to the shop.
Then, I purchased 20,000 jewels.
It was a whopping 220,000 won worth of jewels.
This game uniquely developed the dungeon on its own even without me. It consumes jewels in the process.
“This should be enough.”
I’ll be busy again for a while.
Mana Affinity, an A-Rank trait.
For now, sensing mana felt alien.
Therefore, an adaptation period was necessary.
I plan to do some training for a few days for adaptation.
If I perfectly master the trait and acquire just one suitable skill, the rest of my life will be a flower path.
I closed the game, envisioning a hopeful future.
“I should probably head home.”
I’d finished my coffee and cake.
As I was about to get up from my seat.
“Excuse me.”
Someone spoke to me.
I turned my head and saw a woman approaching me.
What is this situation?
I put down the smartphone in my hand and stared at her.
When I didn’t say anything, she quickly greeted me.
“I am Yerin Jeong, a hunter belonging to the Fire Bird Guild.”
The other person introduced herself and handed me a business card.
The business card had the Fire Bird Guild logo and Yerin Jeong’s name on it.
“Ah, yes. I am Kanghyeon Lee. I don’t have a business card.”
Following her introduction, I introduced myself as well.
I didn’t belong to any guild, so I just told her my name.
However, after my introduction, the other person remained silent for a while.
“…”
Seriously, what do you want me to do?
I had no idea why she suddenly came and introduced herself.
Could she be scolding me for being too noisy while playing the game?
Whether that was the case or not, the woman in front of me kept staring at me.
I didn’t know what was going on.
Since it’s like this, I shouldn’t show weakness here.
It’s a world where only the strong survive.
I also looked at the other person.
With a confident and slightly arrogant expression.
After a while.
“Well, thank you. My worries have been resolved thanks to you.”
The woman babbled something I couldn’t understand and got up from her seat.
“I’ll come back if things go well.”
“?”
What on earth did I just experience?
I had no idea why she left with those words.
One thing was certain: she had ordered a piece of cake before leaving.
“What? I have no idea.”
She looked like a dangerous type of person to get close to.
“Yerin Jeong…”
I should remember her.
As someone not to get close to.
* * *
Celia looked at the dungeon with a satisfied expression.
She had successfully carried out the Master’s orders.
“This is only natural.”
She was his loyal servant.
She had an obligation to succeed in any order.
Failure simply did not exist.
“Truly a great being.”
Celia had initially racked her brain to understand the Master’s orders.
Why would she be ordered to support other dungeons when she was busy conquering the surrounding dungeons?
Although she had a moment of doubt, it was the Master’s order.
As ordered, she intended to help the dungeon mentioned by the Master.
However, thinking about it, were the Master’s orders just that simple?
If so, he wouldn’t have ordered her.
From then on, Celia kept thinking.
What was the Master’s intention?
As she thought, Celia reached a conclusion.
‘The instruction to support other dungeons means to save them from difficult situations.’
Salvation is the Master’s mercy.
Mercy means entering the Master’s embrace.
Already in Celia’s mind.
Support other dungeons = Belong to our dungeon.
This strange formula was established.
“I understand it well, Master!”
As expected, a great being!
“Today, Celia feels one step closer to the Master!”
At the same time, she had reported her conversation with the Goblin Shaman to the Master.
“Indeed, paladins are troublesome beings.”
The Goblin Shaman had said so.
Recently, paladins had appeared in the mountain range.
Their purpose was unknown.
However, anyone could tell they did not have good intentions.
As the dungeon’s subordinate officer, Celia had an obligation to ask the Master how to deal with them. The Master’s answer was as follows.
[Mercy, Generosity, Eternal Life]
[Artifact]
[Do your best for future glory.]
“As expected, I deeply feel my inadequacy compared to the Master’s profound wisdom.”
He told her to be generous and merciful to the paladins.
Mercy is the Master’s embrace.
Even if they were from the Church, the Master intended to embrace them as well. And Celia focused on the last word, eternal life.
“Does this mean I should turn them into Ghouls!”
They would live a comfortable life in the Master’s embrace forever.
She muttered that she would have to cooperate with the Death Knight on this matter.
This was the moment the fate of the paladins would be decided.
“Speaking of artifacts…”
A great being naturally needs an artifact that matches his status.
It would be wrong to offer just any artifact just because he said “artifact.”
“I will try to find a legendary artifact! Please wait for me, Master.”
Today again, Celia faithfully followed the Master’s orders.
