It's Dangerous Outside the Dungeon, Master

* * *

“My tail…?”

Echidna, who couldn’t hide her surprised expression for a moment with her eyes wide open, nodded with the same puzzled look.

“…This is the first time I’ve had such a reaction. Alright. Go ahead and touch it.”

Of course, no one would dare to touch the body of someone who is the strongest in the group and a queen.

Even among equal queens, there probably wouldn’t be any species that would find her tail attractive.

But I was different.

After all, it’s so tempting.

“Uh… hm.”

Echidna, who had granted my request, skillfully coiled her tail up from under the table.

That limp and flexible movement was quite alluring.

Then, she placed the end on my lap.

Carefully, so as not to put too much weight. And with a tense attitude.

‘How cute.’

Wariness with the thought that this person might harm me.

And at the same time, an attitude that felt more feminine than monstrous, worrying if her body might be too heavy.

Like that, a reptilian tail that was clean and beautiful, unbelievably so considering it had been on the dirt floor just before, came into my hand.

“It’s very… pretty.”

“Is that so…?”

She wouldn’t understand.

How captivating this large and thick body part she’s had since birth is to the viewer.

Sure enough, she just shook her head at my words as if she really couldn’t understand.

“I’ve never thought of it that way, so I don’t really know.”

“Huhu. Then, you’ll know now.”

As you might guess, I tend to like snakes.

I’ve never wanted to raise or tame snakes or pythons on Earth, I’ve just touched snakes tamed by other handlers.

The reason is simple. Because it’s dangerous for beginners.

“I’ll start. Like this. Just a moment…”

“…Why the magic power…?”

However, touching Echidna’s tail isn’t dangerous.

Her attacking me right now would mean war between me and her.

Ah, it might be dangerous for the heart though.

“It’s okay. You can see it’s not an attack, right?”

“That’s true, but…”

A hand slowly going against the grain of the scales along her tail.

I smiled at Echidna, who was looking at me with tense eyes.

It was apparent that this experience of entrusting her body to someone else was almost a first for her too.

There’s no way monsters would have a culture of entrusting their bodies to maids or servants.

‘Then, am I becoming the pioneer of that culture?’

Somehow, I felt amused.

Flutter…

“Relax.”

I extended my magic power as delicately as possible to understand the inside of her tail, then applied pressure where muscles were tense and just stroked down where they weren’t.

As you might have noticed, this is simple massage using magic power.

A massage that uses magic power to loosen tense muscles from the inside.

“Mmm…”

The corners of the Lamia queen’s eyes, which had been looking with wary glances at first, gradually lowered and became half-closed.

Before she knew it, one of her hands was gripping the chair, and the other was fidgeting in front of her chest.

It felt like her feelings of not knowing what to do were clearly visible.

It’s obvious.

That the ‘handling’ is going well.

“How does it feel?”

“It feels refreshing… This feeling… is a first.”

They say snakes have developed sense of smell and touch instead of low vision. The current her, who is at least elite-grade, probably doesn’t have low vision, but that doesn’t mean she lacks snake characteristics.

If so, she would probably feel the stimulation from my hand caressing her tail even more strongly.

Chik.

“Wait. You… What are you trying to do…?”

Well… What’s left is the sense of smell.

“It’s okay. It’s just a simple fragrance. You should know whether this is poison or medicine.”

“Relaxation of tension… and enhancement of recovery… It’s herbs. And this scent is…”

Rumble…

Along with her relaxed body, the backrest of the chair, which had seemed to be made of rock, slowly lowered.

She said she had dwarves, so it seems their technology was applied to this chair as well.

“It’s the perfume I use. How is it?”

“It’s nice… Somehow… your body odor was good…”

“I see. Just relax like that.”

While inwardly thanking them, my hand slowly stroked up her tail and reached near where her body began.

The part where the scales disappear and the sensation becomes sensitive.

“Wait.”

Naturally, she came to her senses at that part.

Echidna’s eyes, which were slightly wider open, contained wariness that could be seen even in their pitch-black color.

An attitude opposite to the open Alraune Queen.

Somehow that made me feel even more pleased.

“Is there a problem?”

Of course, I had no intention of going up there from the beginning.

My interest was in her tail and friendship with her, not in a romantic relationship or anything like that.

…Was that a bit trashy to say? That I’m only interested in her body and influence.

Still, it shouldn’t matter since she wouldn’t want that from her original cautious stance towards me.

“No, it’s nothing. It was my misconception…”

As my hand slowly went down again, she showed signs of relief and closed her eyes again.

That appearance is still eerie and mysterious, but unexpectedly cute in reaction.

‘It will be rewarding.’

She’s a subject with the pleasure of approaching.

Unlike with the Alraune.

“Mmm…”

I repeatedly stimulated the internal muscles with magic power while raising and lowering my hand to the boundary of her body parts like that.

Each time, her voice, which had gradually let down its guard, began to contain comfort that was starting to enjoy the unfamiliar stimulation.

“Does it hurt?”

“Hmm… It feels… good.”

Rustle… rustle…

For a while, only the sound of hands brushing against scales and the queen’s responsive sounds flowed from the queen’s room.

And I enjoyed the exchange with the queen and her reactions like that.

* * *

The enjoyable time that the Queen of Snakes experienced for the first time in her life passed quickly.

After that time passed, Echidna’s eyes towards Libertas were with her tail curved much more softly than at first.

You could say it was a face that had shed much of its wariness and arrogance, revealing friendliness.

“How was it?”

“It was quite good.”

Echidna readily affirmed to Libertas’s question.

‘It was an excellent feast of sensations…’

An unfamiliar touch for her… No.

To tell the truth, since she wasn’t very familiar with touch itself, it should be called a completely new experience.

Anyway, she was pleased with the existence of the person who provided such an experience.

Even if she was a bit reluctant at first.

“It’s a feeling I’ve never experienced before in my life. Do you know what this feeling is called?”

“Humans often use words like refreshing or invigorating.”

“I see… I like ‘refreshing’.”

Echidna chose a word that evokes the image of water, probably because she herself was close to water.

Soon after, she noticed the state of the food placed on the table and made a regretful expression.

“The food has gone cold. I had them prepare it with reference to human and dwarf cuisine. Because your body resembles a human’s.”

The most important thing in wild life is survival.

Food and violence are considered most important for that survival, so it’s inevitable to be disappointed when the value of one of them decreases.

“It looks delicious. I’ll enjoy it.”

“I was about to have them reheat it…”

Therefore, Libertas’s response was both perplexing and pleasing to her.

The sight of gladly accepting the food even though it wasn’t perfect seemed to reveal a desire to become friends with her.

“It’s okay. I don’t have a weak body like humans. As long as it tastes good, that’s all that matters.”

“If that’s the case… Try this. It’s what my chef was most proud of.”

Echidna, who nodded her head a few times, offered food to Libertas, and Libertas also received it with a pleased reaction, sending off the lingering feelings of their time together.

“I heard your dungeon is close to here. Is that right?”

“That’s right. In a way, we could be called neighbors.”

“Since my residence is also not on the surface, it might be even more so.”

During the meal, Echidna naturally revealed the location of her secretly hidden palace, and also subtly expressed an intention to invite.

“So it’s underground?”

“There’s a cave in contact with the water inside this lake. That’s my palace. Come take a look sometime.”

“I see. I look forward to visiting.”

She was feeling a desire to become friends with Libertas now.

With the being she had physical contact with for the first time in her life, letting down formalities and guards.

“You must visit another queen now. I’ll look forward to your next visit.”

“Me too.”

However, Libertas was already sensing the signs of the feelings Echidna had hidden.

Although she wasn’t showing much reaction outwardly, the trembling at the ends of her eyebrows and her slightly lowered mouth corners.

Her gradually restless signs.

“You. This time, may I… make a request?”

And at that question that finally came out, the Dungeon Lady inwardly smiled.

‘This snake really feels rewarding to handle.’

From Libertas’s perspective, this arrogant snake queen clearly hadn’t experienced the need to hide her emotions many times.

This was somewhat natural.

The queen of monsters often shows wisdom responsible for the survival of the group or displays combative and tyrannical aspects rather than a political stance.

The Alraune Queen she had met before was a rarer case.

“What is it? It’s only natural that I listen since you listened to my rude request.”

“Then I too will speak comfortably. …May I consider you a friend?”

However, even in the midst of such ignorance, she was capable of conduct at a level that doesn’t immediately reveal what she wants, so she would quickly learn how to hide emotions if taught.

But who could teach her that now?

Libertas felt that the opportunity to manipulate Echidna at will would soon approach.

“Of course, Echidna. From now on, treat me more comfortably.”

“That’s a pleasing answer. Libertas. You too may treat me comfortably.”

On the surface, a scene of sharing friendship.

However, the actual emotions they hold towards each other inside have similar yet different textures.

The emotions of taming to make handling familiar, and the emotions of a ruler accepting a subordinate with capable talent.

‘Entering under a Dungeon Lord doesn’t suit my temperament. But if I share more friendship with her…’

Echidna, who had never failed to have subordinates, expected that Libertas would soon come under her influence and reverse the usual relationship between Dungeon Lords and monsters.

‘The most fatal poison is the one that flows in during comfortable times. I wonder how well this queen who deals with poison and medicine will resist an unfamiliar poison.’

On the contrary, Libertas believed that Echidna would soon fall under her hand.

This queen, who she heard from Serha handles the power of healing and poisoning, would have no immunity to the poison of human relationships.

‘I want to make her want to serve me of her own accord.’

‘She’ll soon find it hard to bear without me.’

The two queens sharing similar but slightly different thoughts had quite similar aspects, though they might not know it themselves.

Except that the superiority of one side has already been determined.

Clack!

“As a token of friendship towards you whom I’ve come to consider a friend, I’d like to give you a gift.”

In such a situation of mutual delusion, Echidna smiled and called in her subordinate.