Skoll, an Orc warrior who leads the “Red-Haired Tribe” dungeon.
As the tribal chief leading his tribe, he possessed an unyielding spirit.
Therefore, he would even host banquets to share information with the masters of nearby dungeons.
However, this banquet was strange.
“Chwiik?”
It was a being he had never seen before.
She possessed an astounding appearance.
Not only that.
The aura emanating from her was no joke.
Had there ever been such a being among those who had attended banquets before?
No matter how he thought about it, it was absolutely not.
“Ah…”
Immediately, Skoll knelt and expressed his surrender.
Even though he, a tribal chief of a dungeon and a warrior, knelt and surrendered, there was no shame or humiliation.
That would only happen if the opponent was on his level, but the being before him was too overwhelming.
A being on a different level than himself.
The world is a jungle.
Therefore, Skoll chose to surrender, and sometimes such swift decisions bring good results.
And the result of his choice was?
“I am Skoll, the chieftain who will rule you. Chwiik.”
It was a great success.
First, the number of subordinates under him increased immensely.
Even the Orcs from other dungeons joined under him, and their numbers were by no means small.
The only regret was that he also received Goblins as subordinates.
‘To have to live in the same dungeon with an inferior race…’
He had his complaints, but he wasn’t foolish enough to voice them.
This was the will of the new ruler.
To act against the will of such a ruler was tantamount to treason.
Therefore, Skoll embraced them all under him.
Fortunately, the size of the dungeon had become much larger than before.
At least enough to separate the living spaces for them and the Goblins.
In fact, the increased size of the dungeon came as a fresh shock to Skoll.
‘The ability to change the size of the dungeon at will. Chwiik.’
He had never heard of such an ability.
With such an ability, one wouldn’t have to go through the trouble of expanding the dungeon’s size with money, labor, and time.
‘She’s more amazing than I thought.’
And that’s not all.
He heard that the person he surrendered to, Celia, was merely a subordinate of the Master.
How great must the ruler, known as the Master, be?
He couldn’t fathom it with his current abilities.
At the same time, he felt anticipation as a warrior.
Lost in thought for a while, Skoll regained his composure and resolved to do his best with the task given to him.
After all, the new ruler had bestowed a title upon him.
Margrave.
He didn’t know the exact meaning.
But he heard that it was an honorable warrior who had to guard the dungeon’s safety as a vanguard and sometimes fight against enemies.
He liked it.
It was as if the ruler recognized him as a warrior.
Of course, the bestowal of the title wasn’t the end of it.
Somewhere, Skeletons appeared and handed them equipment.
Even the quality of the equipment was all decent.
“Clack-clack-clack-” (This is the Master’s benevolence.)
The Lich, who led the Skeletons, said.
“Clack-clack-” (If you do well, even better equipment.)
Items from the new ruler.
And that if he did well, there would be new rewards.
Skoll thought.
The ruler hadn’t simply given him equipment.
After all, a warrior’s weapon is their life.
A warrior gains the glory of being able to charge at the enemy without any worries, and that is how a warrior’s honor is completed.
Yet, hadn’t the ruler bestowed equipment upon him?
Furthermore, he received a promise of better equipment if he achieved results.
The new ruler was by no means someone who ruled solely by force.
He was someone who understood the virtues of a warrior.
He was someone who understood the honor and glory of a warrior.
“Sigh. Chwiik.”
Skoll wept with emotion.
A ruler who could bring even a warrior to tears…
He had to follow without question.
Skoll resolved to strike down anyone who would harm the Master, going beyond eternal loyalty.
As Skoll was moved and building the dungeon’s ruling system.
“Chieftain! An intruder has appeared. Chwiik.”
A subordinate belonging to the original “Red-Haired Tribe” rushed in and shouted.
It was about time.
He had wanted to show results as a reward for his loyalty to the ruler anyway.
Skoll stood up.
Then, he raised the hand holding his weapon.
“Hear me, everyone!”
Everyone looked at Skoll.
“As a courageous warrior, the ruler bestowed upon me the title of Margrave, chwiik. As the chieftain leading the Red-Haired Tribe, chwiik. To those insidious rascals who dared to invade the ruler’s territory, chwiik. I will never forgive them! Follow me! Chwiik!”
It was time for me, Skoll, to show my power!
“Uooooooh!”
All the Orcs cheered and shouted.
At that moment, it didn’t matter which dungeon they were from.
The blood of warriors boiled in all of them.
Even the Goblins, caught up in the atmosphere, shouted and cheered.
They all grabbed their weapons and began to follow Skoll out of the dungeon.
They would make those who dared to invade here regret it.
* * *
The armed individuals entered the mountain range.
“Captain, do we really have to go into the dungeon? We’re not adventurers, we’ve only experienced battlefields.”
Their identity was mercenaries.
And one of the mercenaries spoke to the person at the front.
The person at the front stopped and turned around.
“Battlefields and dungeon subjugations are the same. You have to risk your life every moment.”
The captain of the mercenary group “Red Fang.”
Beren Bloodworth said indifferently to his squad members.
He said that dungeon subjugation and battlefields were no different.
“Don’t worry. If adventurers can do it, why can’t we?”
Basically, mercenaries and adventurers did different jobs.
They were in different positions from the start.
Unlike adventurers who were commissioned for dungeon subjugations and various missions, mercenaries only roamed battlefields.
They valued material rewards over honor, and as a result, they went to dangerous battlefields.
With that, Captain Beren thought.
Mercenaries, who risked their lives on the battlefield, were more superior than adventurers who did odd jobs.
Therefore, there was no reason why he, a mercenary, couldn’t do what adventurers could do, like dungeon subjugation.
Moreover, wars between nations had been infrequent lately.
Although there were occasional small-scale territorial disputes within the empire or kingdom, those alone were not profitable.
Therefore, Beren decided to earn money by subduing dungeons like adventurers.
Monster carcasses were profitable, and sometimes people who subdued dungeons obtained gold and treasures, which is why Beren came to this mountain range.
“Also, I was told to be careful of only one dungeon in this area.”
To be precise, he had a contact in the Adventurer’s Guild of the Sail Kingdom.
According to him, they only needed to be careful of the dungeon that was recently upgraded to Silver Rank.
He said all other dungeons were trash, except for that one.
Of course, some gold was spent in this process, but important information was obtained.
‘With the Church matter, the Adventurer’s Guild cannot pay attention to us.’
All they had to do was quickly raid the dungeons and leave.
“Everyone, check your equipment!”
Beren shouted to his mercenary squad.
From now on, it was a place no different from a battlefield.
They just needed to prepare and head up.
* * *
“That’s strange.”
How far had they climbed?
Beren Bloodworth, the leader of the “Red Fang” mercenary group, felt something was strange.
“There are no dungeons at all.”
He had secretly used gold at the Adventurer’s Guild to obtain a map with dungeon locations.
However, at the location marked on the map, there was no dungeon.
“That guild bastard.”
Nothing was correct.
He had checked all ten over dungeons marked on the map, but they didn’t actually exist.
It was a waste of time.
Nor would they have been able to subdue so many dungeons in such a short time.
Even if they had, there should have been several groups of adventurers, but they hadn’t encountered any group so far.
Beren could only think that he had been deceived by the guild members.
‘You son of a bitch.’
Did he get my gold and then stab me in the back like this?
Beren decided to head down from here immediately and go to the Adventurer’s Guild.
He had to get paid for deceiving him.
Showing greater retaliation to the one who stabbed him in the back.
That was the principle mercenaries thought of.
While persuading his squad members and preparing to descend the mountain.
Clang-
Clang-
A strange sound came from somewhere.
It sounded like something was hitting against something else.
“Everyone, stop.”
Beren shouted in a hushed voice and raised his hand.
Clang-
In the quiet situation, the sound became even louder.
“C-Captain!”
Someone shouted in terror.
When he looked in the direction pointed by one person’s hand, there were.
Clang-
Clang- Clang-
An overwhelming number of Skeletons were surrounding the area.
“Everyone, prepare for battle!”
The only fortunate thing was that they were only Skeletons.
Skeletons were known monsters that even novice adventurers could deal with.
Therefore, Beren did not think he would lose.
At Captain Beren’s words, someone shouted and charged towards the Skeletons.
However, the result was.
Poof-
The Skeleton exploded, and one of the charging mercenaries lost their life.
“……”
Silence fell again.
The Skeleton exploded.
Those ignorant of adventurers and dungeons could not understand the situation.
All they could realize was that they should not approach the Skeletons.
Fearing they might be caught in the explosion, the mercenaries crowded closer to the center.
“……”
Beren looked around with a heavy heart.
There was no longer any space to escape.
The Skeletons were surrounding them in a formation that enclosed them.
‘What is this?’
No matter how he looked at it, they didn’t seem to be planning to move.
That was the only unfortunate piece of luck.
Just as he thought that.
“Chwiik!”
Another sound came from somewhere.
“Lord Lich! You are truly a warrior! To yield prey to us like this! Chwiik!”
The Orcs began to appear in Beren’s eyes.
“What is this…!”
Orcs and Skeletons?
It was a completely incomprehensible combination.
What’s more, the Skeletons maintained their encirclement and moved aside to allow the Orcs to enter.
“Chwiik! I will show my power to the Master!”
Skoll, the Orc tribal chief and warrior who was bestowed the title of Margrave.
Skoll shouted, extending his weapon high into the sky.
Watching Skoll, the Lich nodded.
Then, he took out paper and a quill.
A Skeleton next to him held up a bottle of ink.
It was a tool for recording.
The Lich remembered.
The instructions given by Celia, the Chief Administrator who managed the dungeon on behalf of the Master, handled diplomacy, and established discipline to ensure order.
‘Record all evaluations of everyone encountered while roaming the dungeon without fail. It will be used as reference for future personnel evaluations. Mr. Lich.’
Lich was trying to obey Celia’s orders.
That was the work of Inspector Lich.
