The depths of the dungeon are quiet.
It was desolate in the darkness, and at times even felt cozy.
‘Cozy…?’
No, it wasn’t actually cozy.
She had merely denied reality and looked away; this place was far from cozy.
In fact, no vitality could be found in her eyes.
Hope was the same.
“Haa…”
The only fortunate thing was that her breath didn’t show when she sighed.
This was very important to Jane.
The thin scraps of fabric she was wearing were, at best, far from warm.
Still, the interior of the dungeon, resembling a cave, was warm.
Her situation was so bad that she had to be satisfied with even such small things.
“Ronnie Oppa…”
As always, she called out her brother’s name today.
But there was no answer.
“Denver…”
And she softly called out another name.
This too was like muttering to herself.
Even though she knew it was a meaningless act, she called their names every time.
Otherwise, she felt like she would lose her mind.
Still, it wasn’t all despair.
When she called the two names, childhood memories always came to mind.
Each time, a small smile would form on her lips, a small happiness.
A very small village, too small to even call a neighborhood.
Jane spent her childhood there.
Along with her kind parents and her brother Ronnie, who took good care of her.
Although it wasn’t a wealthy village, it was a life that didn’t envy anyone.
When morning came, she would leave home with Ronnie and play with the neighborhood children.
Denver, large for his age, took on the role of the alley leader, guiding the children well.
Playing with them, oblivious to the passage of time, the sun would eventually begin to set.
As the blue sky turned red, everyone would return home one by one at their parents’ calls.
Upon entering the house, they enjoyed the dinner prepared by their parents, appeasing their hungry stomachs.
It was such a happy memory.
But now it was a memory she could no longer find.
The village had burned down and disappeared due to a monster wave.
Ronnie and Jane survived by luck, but their parents had passed away.
And it was the same for Denver.
They were the only three survivors from the burned village.
It was from then on.
They took care of each other, becoming each other’s support in a bleak world.
And when they became adults, they found their own ways to live.
That was being adventurers.
“…….”
For Jane, happy memories ended there.
If she thought about it, there must have been more fun and enjoyable memories, but now they were too blurry.
Above all, Ronnie and Denver were not around her now.
She sometimes wondered.
She regretted not becoming a noble’s exclusive mage as her brother Ronnie had suggested.
“Regret…?”
In fact, she knew she had a talent for magic.
Though she had no connections and received no education, she gained mana on her own.
If others heard it, it was overwhelming talent.
Naturally, Ronnie wanted her to become a safe noble’s mage rather than an adventurer.
Adventurer life sounded arduous just hearing about it.
Adventurers who entered unknown dungeons and faced monsters.
But being a mage was different.
At the very least, she could live a less dangerous life in a safe territory.
If she were lucky, she might become the representative mage of a territory and be granted land.
But Jane had refused her brother’s offer.
She felt too sorry to live a comfortable life as a noble’s mage while others didn’t.
But now, she regretted that choice over and over again.
“…….”
“If only I had listened to my brother then.”
“If only I had become the noble’s exclusive mage and taken responsibility for my brother and Denver.”
But it was too late to regret it.
She chose to be an adventurer, not a mage, and thus challenged dungeon subjugation with Ronnie and Denver.
The result of entering the dungeon?
It was the same as now.
Her brother Ronnie was pierced through the head by an incoming arrow.
And Denver…
“Sob.”
She didn’t even want to think about it.
Denver had also met his death, but he hadn’t died.
He had already become a monster devoid of any emotion.
Denver, who hated monsters more than anyone, when his village burned down due to the monster wave.
That Denver had become a monster.
If only the tragedy had ended here.
The tragedy was still ongoing.
Jane stroked her abdomen with her small hand.
If she lowered her head, her swollen belly was right there.
“Ugh-”
She gagged.
Although it had been a while since her belly swelled, she had faced goblins every day without fail.
She had become the one responsible for satisfying the goblins’ lust.
And the result of that was now in her belly.
“I didn’t become an adventurer for this…”
It was hollow.
And she resented it.
She resented Ronnie, who had left the world before her.
She even felt the urge to burst her swollen belly.
She felt utter revulsion thinking that a terrible being was growing inside her body.
But nothing of her thoughts came to fruition.
Currently, she was in a prison located in the central part of the dungeon.
Skeleton monsters were positioned around the prison, watching to prevent any mischief.
Inevitably, Jane had no choice but to stay in prison with the terrible thing growing inside her.
Still, she wasn’t the only one here.
There were a few more adventurers in the same situation as her.
Of course, all the adventurers were female, and it was obvious what purpose they were being used for.
“…Are you alright?”
Jane spoke to one person.
The person she spoke to was the latest one brought here, a mage.
Jane could feel mana, so she knew the other person was a mage.
But the other party didn’t answer as if she had lost her mind.
She hadn’t said a word since arriving here, and her eyes were empty.
It wasn’t that her vitality was lost, but it was as if her soul had been completely ripped out.
At the appointed time, the skeletons dragged her out, and after a long while, they brought her back into the prison.
Yet, her expression didn’t change at all.
She hadn’t said anything, so Jane didn’t even know her name.
She knew nothing about the other person except that she was a mage.
Perhaps the mage opposite her had lost her mind from the shock.
Jane didn’t want to think about what was happening outside.
Jane also closed her eyes, leaning against the prison filled only with gloom.
Today, her belly felt particularly heavy.
“Oh…”
The heavy belly began to move violently.
Suddenly, she started feeling pain in her abdomen.
The pain spread from her abdomen to her waist and spine.
“Ugh-!”
She felt pressure.
That pressure extended to her lower body.
“Aaaah!”
Jane writhed in agony.
At the same time, the floor was soaked in blood.
How much time had passed.
Between the pools of red blood, a faint green entity revealed itself.
It wasn’t one.
There were three.
“Aaah…”
Jane, regaining her senses, looked at the “things” placed on the floor.
The faint green ones wriggled and crawled on the floor.
The first one to come into the world among the three touched the floor with its hands and stood up.
Then, it toddled towards the mother who had carried it.
It was instinct.
“…Go away.”
But for Jane, it was no different from a terrible nightmare.
The being approaching her resembled a goblin.
Its skin color was slightly different from theirs, not quite a complete goblin.
Rather than entirely green, it was a lighter shade.
Most importantly, there was an alienness in its face, looking like a fusion of a goblin and a human.
It was disgusting.
To have carried those inside her belly.
It was abhorrent.
The first one to come into the world continued to approach Jane.
But Jane pushed it away.
A moment later, the wigglers on the floor all got up.
All three of them.
No, should they be called three people?
Anyway, the three continued to walk towards Jane.
It was the survival instinct of approaching the mother who had carried them.
Most importantly, they were hungry.
And at that moment, the mother in front of them could satisfy their hunger.
They persistently approached Jane’s chest, but Jane pushed them away.
“Go away…”
But Jane’s strength was depleted from giving birth.
“Please, go away…!”
As she screamed with her last strength, the creatures also stopped in place.
As their mother cried out, they forgot their hunger and remained still.
“Oh my, healthy babies were born?”
And finally, the ruler of the dungeon appeared.
“Ce-Celiah…?”
Having spent a considerable amount of time here, Jane remembered Celiah’s name.
Since all monsters obeyed Celiah, she must be the ruler.
Celiah approached Jane, who was thinking so.
“You must have suffered a lot. I didn’t expect you to give birth to three, but it was worth the wait.”
Celiah smiled genuinely and stroked Jane’s face.
“Aren’t you being too cold to the babies? Here, Jane.”
Celiah lifted Jane’s chin and met her eyes.
“Think back to Jane’s childhood.”
…Childhood?
Certainly, they were only happy memories.
“What kind of people were Jane’s parents?”
Celiah whispered to Jane.
As she listened to her words, Jane felt her mind becoming increasingly confused.
“Parents…”
“Yes, Jane. What kind of people were your parents? Were they kind? Or did they treat you coldly?”
No. Her parents certainly didn’t treat her coldly.
They were kind people.
Because they cherished her more than anyone.
Even with little food, her parents always made sure Ronnie and she ate their fill.
“…They were kinder than anyone.”
Jane’s answer came out.
“That’s right. Then Jane knows what action to take now, right?”
At Celiah’s whisper, Jane looked at the three creatures frozen in place.
No, she looked at the three babies.
“…That’s right.”
Jane’s eyes became hazy.
Then, she hugged the three babies in front of her.
“They are my beautiful children.”
In this hellish place, hope arose.
Jane, who had always felt alone, was no longer alone.
Didn’t she have the babies she gave birth to?
With the triplets, she felt confident that she could overcome any hardship.
“Then I’ll be in your care from now on. Jane.”
Jane couldn’t hear Celiah’s words.
There was only Jane, lost in happy thoughts about how to raise her babies.
* * *
Celiah, after checking Jane’s condition, immediately moved on.
“I didn’t expect her to give birth to three.”
She felt strong mana from Jane’s womb, but she hadn’t expected this.
The beings she gave birth to were a combination of goblin and human.
They were half-goblins who even possessed mana.
As they grew, they would be of great help to the dungeon.
“Please take good care of Jane. Simple suggestions won’t cause problems, so we’ll have to make separate living spaces for them.”
The skeleton knight bowed at Celiah’s words.
The Goblin Lord’s proposed plan for the Goblin Guard was now being initiated.
Celiah wanted to check on Jane, but she was busy.
Celiah had the obligation to report to the Master about Jane giving birth to half-goblins.
There was the task of writing reports, but more importantly, the Arch Lich and Azmo, who had attended the social gathering, had just returned to the dungeon.
“Snap!”
The Arch Lich’s return was spectacular.
“Did you bring all of this?”
Behind the Arch Lich, a large number of slaves were visible.
And in the inventory artifact he brought, there were various equipment and items.
There were even traps useful for the dungeon, so it was an immense haul.
“Snap snap-!”
“Is all of this the Master’s grace?”
“Snap!”
There was no lie in the Arch Lich’s words.
It was the result of the great Master’s actions that such a result occurred.
“Truly a great being.”
Although she was disappointed that she couldn’t witness the Master’s exploits directly, there was no shortage of opportunities now.
Celiah, who planned to summon the great being here one day, decided to focus on her own mission for now.
“Snap snap snap!”
“Did the Master assign me a separate task?”
Eventually, her disappointment vanished.
Celiah’s expression brightened at the thought that the Master was always watching her.
“Snap snap snap snap.”
“Indeed.”
The Arch Lich read the contents written in his notebook.
Celiah nodded and listened intently to the Arch Lich’s words.
“In short, it means to conduct experiments with priests to find the source of power.”
The Arch Lich nodded.
As the Dungeon’s Chief Administrator, he understood immediately.
“Then, two priests won’t be enough.”
“Snap?”
It was a mission given by the Master.
However, the two priests brought by the Arch Lich were not enough for experimentation.
The more priests there were, the more detailed the results could be known, right?
Perhaps the great Master would want such results.
Celiah’s 고민 was not long.
“Then we need to recruit more priests.”
Celiah was proud today, knowing she had accurately understood the Master’s intentions.
