It's Dangerous Outside the Dungeon, Master

I returned to the dungeon on the fifth day after putting Elias in, and two days before contracting with him.

“…Impressive.”

The first thing I checked was the change in my dungeon, which Scarlet, the succubus manager from the Mammon Guild, had been constantly looking after.

The dungeon, which was once just a slightly cleaner cave, had now been completed in the form of a mansion, at least externally. The transformation was evident just by looking at it.

“Right? I put a lot of effort into it! Ah, of course, the Gremlins did most of the hard work though.”

Scarlet had every right to be proud of her efforts.

As long as I, the client, had things to take care of outside the dungeon, someone was needed to continuously provide feedback on the dungeon’s concept to the technician and check for any deficiencies.

She helped me move around with peace of mind by taking care of that part without worry.

Moreover, I honestly thought I might have to revise many parts when I returned to the dungeon, but at least in terms of the overall structure, there was nothing more to touch.

“But what are these statues?”

…Except for this.

The entrance lobby of the mansion, built at the former cave entrance, as the dungeon couldn’t be completely isolated from the outside.

There were two statues with familiar appearances.

“Of course, they’re statues to show Lady Libertas’s greatness!”

“Ah, I see…”

One visible from the corridor at the back. And another visible from the front at the main entrance.

Two statues of me were made like that.

One had demonic membrane wings, while the other clearly had six pairs of angelic feathered wings on its back.

Really.

“I think I can see how you usually view me.”

It seems that about half of those exaggerated praises you usually give me are sincere, which is rather shocking.

I’m not that great of a person.

“I always revere Lady Libertas! I’d even like to serve by your side if possible!”

“I can’t just casually poach such a capable manager from the Mammon Guild.”

“To think you’d acknowledge me so much…! If you sign this contract, such a capable manager could immediately be employed in the dungeon…!”

Scarlet put her hands on both cheeks, blushing, and then shyly held out a document with detailed terms.

Of course, it was a document I couldn’t accept, so I pushed it back and chided her.

“Again with the divine talk.”

“This time it’s half-serious, though…”

Leaving Scarlet sighing behind, I checked the lobby where my statues stood.

This place was now going to be the entrance for guests, so the stairs that were previously made as a secret passage were now open.

The stairs leading to the corridor where my personal room is.

Two statues were made in front and back, centered on those stairs.

The demonic one was sitting with a Necromancer’s staff resembling a scythe on its knee, haughtily looking down on people coming from the corridor, while the angelic one was holding a scepter to the side and extending one hand benevolently towards the entrance.

Of course, both were seated on thrones.

Really…

‘They made it imposingly majestic to the point of being burdensome.’

Naturally, it made me feel uncomfortable, so I finally voiced an opinion.

“Let’s demolish them after all.”

-Clack (No)!

“No way!”

“No…”

“Haah…”

That opinion met with fierce opposition.

I expected it, but I couldn’t help but sigh subtly at their voices, which didn’t deviate an inch from my expectations.

“Why not? This is too flashy and doesn’t match reality.”

I thought I knew the reason, but I decided to ask anyway.

“It doesn’t even capture half of your actual majesty, Lady!”

-Clatter (A rulerl’s majesty is), clack (the dungeon’s status)!

“I’ll pray every time I see this place…”

“That’s a good idea!”

Scarlet and Eve’s words were one thing, but Xue’s words really made me uncomfortable.

Praying? What does she think I am?

Even so, if they oppose so fiercely, it means they really like these statues after all…

“Then just change the angel one to a demon. Isn’t that distortion too extreme?”

Right, let’s compromise.

“Ah, I thought that was too fantastical too. Lady Libertas might be as kind as an angel to her subordinates, but she’s not an angel.”

“What…? She’s an angel though?”

“I said she’s like an angel. So.”

“I said Master is an angel.”

“Then let’s say so…”

But this reaction is also annoying.

Xue and Scarlet’s banter was giving me a headache, but Evangeline was the peak.

-Clatter.

“You don’t like this either?”

-Clack!

She approached the statue and protested with her whole body.

By lying down flat as usual.

“Even Eve likes it so much, so let’s keep it?”

“Yeah… There’s no need to destroy something that’s already made…”

Ah, I see.

But that angel statue is just wrong no matter how I think about it.

A very good way to assert my opinion in this situation came to mind.

“The original is right here. Do you like idols that much? Xue, Eve.”

“Ah… No! Let’s destroy it after all! Lady’s opinion is the best… Yeah!”

Thump!

Both Xue and Eve acted very quickly.

Xue crouched down as if she was about to get a hammer right away, and Eve immediately stood up and positioned herself right behind me as if nothing had happened.

Of course, if I let it go here, the effectiveness of the move I just made would be weakened.

“Did you like it that much? Were you thinking of looking up my skirt from below? Tell me.”

-…!

“Uh, um…”

When I poked Eve’s cheek and glared at her, her eye lights wavered as if she was feeling extremely awkward, to the point where I could almost see an illusion of cold sweat flowing even though she had no skin.

Xue was also sweating and looking away beside her.

“W-why don’t we go to the next place! There’s still a lot to see, Lady!”

The one who saved them was Scarlet.

“You tell me too, Scarlet. You said you liked me so much, but you wanted to keep that even though I said I didn’t like it?”

It was only natural that she became my next target.

“Nooooo! Of course not! Of course not! I’ll change it to a demon!”

“I see. So you disliked it enough to oppose even though I compromised like that…?”

“Uwaaa! I’m sorry!”

This is surprisingly fun.

I shouldn’t overdo it though, as the other side would quickly get tired if used excessively.

“Huhu. Alright.”

When I nodded with a smile, I could see all three of them sighing in relief, but I ignored that out of conscience and moved towards the corridor.

Elias would still be wandering the corridors in here, but of course it was in a direction where we wouldn’t run into him.

“By the way, how long are you planning to keep that man like that?”

“If he can’t escape, he’ll just die. Isn’t that what dungeons are about?”

“That’s true.”

Her interest was naturally not in matters like his life or death. Rather, it was in other aspects that would benefit her.

“The quality of his soul seemed quite good, are you thinking of selling it?”

“I’m still considering that.”

“I see. Please let me know when you decide to sell!”

“What if he survives…?”

“Then, I’ll have to find a suitable way to use him. In my opinion, that man seems quite usable as a blade.”

“He was weak though…”

As we talked about Elias, Xue showed a bit of jealousy timidly.

She really is quite jealous, isn’t she.

“Of course, as an actual blade, Xue is much stronger and more useful.”

“Yeah… I’m confident…”

“That’s right. But his use lies elsewhere. For example, assassination.”

For instance, Elias’s usefulness is more like a dagger hidden next to the enemy’s heart. Xue’s abilities are closer to a greatsword or demon-slaying blade rather than that.

So Xue being jealous of him was really a useless thing, but…

“I can do that well too…”

That jealous attitude itself is so cute that it doesn’t seem useless at all.

“What about poisoning?”

“…”

Seeing Xue close her mouth and seemingly considering whether to really learn about poisons, I touched her ear to stop that train of thought.

“You don’t need to think of strange things. Everyone has their own usefulness. Xue is always a reliable person to me.”

“Yeah… I’ll become even more reliable.”

“Thank you.”

I praised her with a smile, and after seeing her face turn slightly red and become shy.

We resumed exploring the dungeon.

“Ah, over here we’ve made several temporary doors that can be used as traps.”

I listened to Scarlet’s guidance.

As I mentioned before, almost all the styles of my current dungeon, except for a very small part, now followed the style of a high-class mansion.

As a result, it became difficult to use the method of hiding soldiers in the walls of this long corridor we’re walking through now, but instead, by creating room for additional rooms, the space utilization was increased.

We could even set more traps in this corridor itself.

We had now reached the first room after passing through the corridor.

There were also some statues I hadn’t seen before, but they seemed to be for a different purpose than the ones I saw earlier in the entrance lobby.

“Those statues… they’re golems.”

They were golems made of rock or iron cast in the shape of armor.

There weren’t many, but there were enough to use in emergencies.

“They’re friends that can move right away if we just get magic stones and embed them. The Gremlins said it was a service for an interesting project.”

“I see. I should thank them.”

In addition, this room seemed to have been made as a ‘boss room’.

The room was very spacious, and moreover, there were many pillars in the middle of the room, creating a structure where shadows would inevitably be generated no matter where light was emitted from.

If the golems were placed in the middle of the room, there would be even more shadows.

At a glance, I could tell it was a structure conscious of my shadow magic.

“This room, was it the Gremlins’ idea?”

“Yes, it was. They said it was made with reference to the boss rooms of senior Necromancers.”

“I probably won’t use it much… but it’s still excellent.”

“The Gremlins will be happy to hear that.”

Come to think of it, the only time I’ve directly fought in the dungeon so far was when I lured Maria’s group into the dungeon.

My dungeon tends to have subordinates handle adventurers on their own, so the importance of a boss room is relatively low.

Even if I face more powerful enemies in the future, I’m not the type to sit in a boss room.

Other battles are either external expeditions or when drawing in monsters from this forest.

Though now I’m worried about my combat senses getting rusty from not fighting enough.

‘Come to think of it, I forgot about subjugating and bringing in monsters.’

With the dungeon renovation and the matters of Elias and Eleanor, more important tasks piled up, so this was postponed due to its relatively lower importance.

The current location of my dungeon is almost closed off from the outside, so the necessity has greatly decreased.

After deliberately collapsing part of the mountain and placing the entrance in a deeper and more treacherous place.

Although external monsters were still needed to conceal the dungeon’s location, it wouldn’t be foolishly discovered like with Leonis before, and even if discovered, they would be confused unable to find the entrance.

“The rest is structured in a similar way, right?”

“Yes, that’s right!”

“Then I’ll have to check the rest gradually. There are many things to take care of first.”

After checking a few corridors and rooms like this, I could confirm that it was roughly made according to my orders.

A satisfactory level.

The remaining minor adjustments would now have to be discussed directly with the Gremlins, so there was little left for Scarlet to be involved in.

“Ah, I understand. I’ll send the rest with an attached manual. Then, I’ll check if there are any incomplete parts of the construction and take my leave!”

“Alright. Thank you, Scarlet. I’ll pay the remaining balance right away.”

“Not at all. Then, this was Scarlet Spira Spina!”

Scarlet bowed to me and disappeared.

After she disappeared, I immediately gave instructions to two people.

“Eve. Open the gate of the underground prison. I’ll be going down soon. Xue. Could you call Sonia?”

-Clack!

“Yeah… I’ll be right back.”

Sonia, Leonis, Eleanor.

It was time to start wrapping up the matters entangled with these three people.