Ding-
Ding-
Ding-
“What is it? Why is the alarm going off continuously.”
My smartphone was ringing non-stop, spewing out alarms.
“Maru, bring me my phone.”
At my words, the skeleton quickly handed me the phone.
It was a skeleton soldier who had come to where I was living now after being in a dungeon.
I gave him a name since it felt awkward to keep calling him skeleton.
It didn’t have a particular meaning.
I named him Maru because he obediently followed my commands like a dog.
Now, seeing Maru skillfully doing the dishes, cleaning the bathroom, and even cooking ramen, I felt proud.
It was the kind of situation where I’d naturally think, ‘Aigoo, my kid.’
“What kind of alarm is it that’s going off continuously?”
I immediately checked the alarm content.
– The owner of the ‘Red-Haired Tribe’ dungeon has pledged loyalty to Master Kanghyeon Lee.
– The owner of the ‘Sticky Puddle’ dungeon has pledged loyalty to Master Kanghyeon Lee.
– The owner of the ‘Scraps of the Demonic Realm’ dungeon has pledged loyalty to Master Kanghyeon Lee.
The alarms continued.
Soon, it was the last alarm.
– The owner of the ‘Inheritance of Nature’ dungeon has pledged loyalty to Master Kanghyeon Lee.
“What is this?”
So many dungeons pledging loyalty to me in such a short time…
Counting them all, a total of 26 dungeons were now under me.
Did I perhaps go on a conquest spree in a short period?
I checked the contents of the previous alarms.
– Subordinate Officer Celia attended a banquet for nearby dungeon owners.
Right, after that alarm, suddenly dungeons started expressing their surrender.
Celia didn’t do anything in particular.
“Hmm…”
Well, there was no need to worry.
It was good for my dungeon’s influence to grow.
In a situation where I couldn’t afford to pay for more jewels with real money, I gained monsters for free. There was no way I would refuse this.
“Rather, I welcome it.”
– The number of dungeons that have pledged allegiance to you has greatly increased.
– We recommend reorganizing your dungeons.
“Dungeon reorganization?”
– Dungeons are no different from countries.
– For efficient operation, please merge and reorganize the dungeon organizational chart.
It was true.
It was fine when I only had one dungeon, but with this increase in influence, I couldn’t operate haphazardly like before.
“More importantly, there’s the loyalty and favorability system here.”
I had forgotten about it because there were no major issues until now.
I wasn’t worried because the monsters from the dungeons subjugated by Celia and the Death Knight were all merged into my dungeon.
And.
– ‘Azmo’, the owner of the ‘Illusionary Temptation’ dungeon, is satisfied with Master’s grace.
– Azmo’s favorability has increased.
– Azmo’s loyalty has increased.
The Incubus Dungeon, which existed in another dimension and pledged loyalty to me, also seemed to have no worries about loyalty and favorability.
“What did I even do for them?”
I thought for a moment and then remembered something.
“Ah, I gave them a friend.”
Little guys, they have that sense of camaraderie between men.
With guys like them, even if they were in another dimension, there wouldn’t be much of a problem.
The problem was the 26 dungeons I conquered today, which were quite a headache.
“Merging them seems awkward due to the lack of space to place monsters…”
My dungeon was now saturated.
After the last draw, all sectors were filled with monsters.
Expanding the dungeon also seemed awkward for now.
“I need to categorize them first.”
However, leaving over twenty dungeons unattended was dangerous.
Since their loyalty and favorability were still low, I didn’t know the consequences.
It didn’t make sense to regain independence after conquering them.
– You can merge two dungeons into one. Merged dungeons will increase in size.
“Oh.”
So there was such a function.
I first examined the race composition for this alarm.
First, I merged dungeons with overlapping races.
“Undead are with undead, Orcs are with Orcs.”
After that process, the 26 dungeons were reduced to 9.
“Let’s merge more.”
This time, I merged slightly similar types.
“Goblins and Orcs can live together, right?”
Finally, the 26 dungeons were reduced to 4.
It was extreme compression.
However, I didn’t reduce them further.
Looking at the current dungeon layout, the 4 dungeons were arranged in a way that they enveloped my original dungeon.
It was a nice arrangement.
Instead of merging all dungeons into one, dispersing them like this would allow me to gather information about the surroundings more easily.
“Alright, now I need to pick people to monitor the dungeons.”
Of course, the monsters belonging to my dungeon would do this.
In other words, I needed a position for someone to patrol the surroundings and manage the 4 dungeons.
“Yes, I’ll entrust this to you, Lich.”
Liches are generally undead monsters.
They don’t feel fatigue, so it seemed fine to keep them working.
Moreover, it was a 4-star monster, and if I kept supplementing the skeletons, it would be a formidable existence, making it a perfect fit.
I clicked on the Lich and assigned a position in the settings.
There was nothing established, so I manually entered it.
– Lich (★★★★) (Inspector)
Since they were creatures that understood my words well, I figured this would be enough.
At the same time, I moved the Lich, who was appointed as Inspector, from Sector 1 and reassigned them outside the dungeon.
This was possible because the restriction of not being able to leave the dungeon was removed.
Now, the Lich would lead its skeleton troops to patrol the forest and monitor the four dungeons.
“And if, by any chance, there’s a rebellion…”
It was just my speculation for now.
However, it was better to be prepared for even minor things to feel at ease.
This was reality, and if my dungeon was raided, my life would be threatened.
“Ah, this is for you, Death Knight.”
The unit responsible for suppressing rebellions.
The Death Knight, carrying a huge shield on its back, looked very reliable.
In a way, it was like being in charge of guarding the dungeon.
I gave the Death Knight the title of Knight Captain.
“Now it feels like a foundation is being laid.”
And the most important management position for the dungeon.
“This must be Celia.”
Since she had been doing well so far, it was right for Celia to continue.
Next was diplomacy.
As the dungeons continued to develop, there would be many external issues.
“This will also be Celia.”
Given what I’d seen of Celia so far, she would likely resolve any diplomatic disputes smoothly.
Next was legislation.
Strictly speaking, it was a stretch to call it law, but at least I needed someone to maintain internal discipline within the dungeon. Someone to punish those who violated it.
“Hmm…”
It had to be Celia.
Thus, Celia was appointed to oversee the overall management of the dungeon, along with diplomacy and maintaining internal discipline.
“And…”
This was quite important, and I had read something like this somewhere.
It said that if slaves were given ranks, they would monitor each other more closely to prevent anyone from escaping.
This was the time to utilize that.
“Who was the first one to surrender to me?”
From the alarm, it was the owner of the ‘Red-Haired Tribe’ dungeon.
That owner was, of course, an Orc.
– Skoll (★★★)
It was a unique monster with a name.
“As expected.”
It felt unusual for a reason.
“I should give this fellow the title of Margrave.”
He would be responsible for the defense of the surrounding dungeons.
Therefore, he should also be given equipment.
It’s natural to want to give more to someone who is quick-witted.
“And next…”
So, I continued to think and assign the remaining positions.
* * *
“Manager, Manager Moltis is looking for you.”
Goolon looked up with a surprised expression at the subordinate’s words. He was so surprised that he trembled so much that his very flesh shook with fear.
Why would the manager suddenly be looking for him?
The manager that Goolon knew wouldn’t bother with a mere manager to such an extent.
He gave instructions through the assistant manager below him, and Goolon saw the assistant manager’s face more often than the manager’s.
‘Did something go wrong?’
What had he been doing recently?
No matter how much he thought about it, there was nothing he could point to as a flaw.
The most recent event was his visit to a dungeon in the mountain range yesterday.
‘Did he not like the report I submitted?’
Even when racking his brain, there was nothing to criticize in the report. He had simply reported his observations after examining the dungeon he visited yesterday.
He only wrote that the dungeon was not at a level that the Merchant Guild needed to pay attention to.
‘Is he just in a bad mood?’
The manager Goolon knew was talented and didn’t handle things based on his mood.
He only looked at his subordinates’ abilities.
Since Goolon also hadn’t done anything wrong, he couldn’t understand why he was being summoned.
“Manager?”
After Goolon remained silent for a while, the subordinate called him again.
“Ah… yes, I’ll be right there. Thank you.”
Goolon dismissed the subordinate and prepared to head to the manager’s office.
Still, he couldn’t go empty-handed, so he gathered documents related to his recent work and headed to the manager’s office.
Knock knock-
“Come in.”
After knocking a few times on the manager’s office door, a voice from inside told him to enter.
The problem was that the voice was cold.
Very cold.
“Manager, did you summon me?”
As Goolon bowed respectfully, a document flew towards him.
“Read it.”
Manager Moltis, a man of immense physique, spoke in a low tone.
His species was Owlbear, a monster with the physique of a great bear and a face resembling an owl.
That was Manager Moltis’s species name.
Of course, he had no high-ranking demon bloodline, so he didn’t have connections like himself.
He had only secured the position of manager in the audit team through sheer merit.
When such a person, with a frightening appearance and an equally frightening expression, spoke, Goolon felt his blood run cold.
“What are you doing not reading it?”
Unable to resist the manager’s repeated urging, Goolon picked up the document.
A short title was written at the top of the document.
[Changes in the Dungeon Landscape of the Sail Kingdom Mountain Range]
The content was simple.
It stated that Moru, a merchant from the Merchant Guild, had conquered 26 dungeons in the vicinity of the mountain range.
And that was yesterday, even during the banquet that was held in the evening.
“……”
Goolon broke out in a cold sweat.
Was what he was reading really correct?
The dungeon he had seen yesterday was not of high caliber.
He was sure of it.
Yet, the document stating that all dungeons in the adjacent mountain range had been conquered felt surreal.
And all within a day, or rather, during the time the banquet was held.
“What on earth is this…”
Goolon muttered with a serious expression.
“Thanks to your report, I got severely criticized.”
Moltis’s eyes sharpened further.
A subordinate’s mistake was ultimately the superior’s responsibility.
“The dungeon that you said didn’t need attention has surrendered as many as 26 dungeons. And all at once.”
In essence, it was all the dungeons in the vicinity.
“Even so, you call it a dungeon that doesn’t need attention? Goolon, are your eyes just for decoration?”
Of course, the mountain range was vast.
Even after merging 26 dungeons, it was only a small part of the whole.
However, due to the mountain range’s proximity to the Demonic Realm, it was a place frequently visited by human adventurers and thus drew attention.
As such, owners of dungeons in the mountain range tended to prioritize survival over forming conspicuous alliances.
Therefore, they generally exchanged information through gatherings like banquets, rather than directly increasing their size or forming alliances.
This was certainly the case until now.
But with yesterday’s events, the landscape had completely changed.
“They did have a history of merging other dungeons before, but this incident has become too big.”
The situation had escalated.
That meant someone had to take responsibility, and Goolon was not so incompetent as to not realize he was the designated person.
“I will go and resolve it.”
A staggering 26 dungeons.
In other words, it meant that all 26 dungeons that the Merchant Guild was responsible for had knelt before one entity.
Of course, that one entity was also handled by the Merchant Guild, but there was a big difference between trading with 27 dungeons separately and trading with a single dungeon that had grown to the size of 26 dungeons.
From the Merchant Guild’s perspective, they did not want the dungeons they traded with to grow in size.
This was because the dungeon’s bargaining power would increase accordingly.
“Manager Goolon.”
Moltis’s eyes narrowed further.
“I do not want another Baalcherit to emerge.”
Goolon was well aware of the name.
Baalcherit.
A 5-star Vampire who had also established herself as a regional power by subjugating nearby dungeons.
The Merchant Guild had no choice but to accommodate Baalcherit due to her overwhelming power, but they did not want another strong entity to emerge.
Of course, there were other allied dungeons or dungeons that had significantly increased in size.
However, the more their number increased, the greater the loss for the Merchant Guild, so they wished to maintain the status quo.
The only fortunate thing was that the Church’s movements were unusual lately.
“The Church is currently weakening Baalcherit’s forces. Our Merchant Guild sees this as an opportunity.”
Whatever the reason, the White Church had recently been hunting dungeons near Baalcherit, eroding her influence.
This was a great opportunity for the Merchant Guild.
And now, another strong entity emerges?
That was absolutely unacceptable.
“You understand what I mean, right? I will contact the higher-ups separately. From now on, you are no longer a member of the Merchant Guild.”
Goolon’s expression hardened at Moltis’s words.
He understood the meaning perfectly.
He was being told to resolve the situation in Goolon’s personal name, not the Merchant Guild’s.
Perhaps contacting the higher-ups meant they would assign him some monsters whose identities were unclear.
He would have to lead them and resolve the current situation.
If he succeeded, it would be his own achievement; if he failed, his future would be nonexistent. Looking at Jewel’s state just yesterday, the Merchant Guild wouldn’t let him live.
“Understood.”
Knowing the meaning perfectly, Goolon grit his teeth and bowed his head.
