Chapter 19
【Wave defense successful.】
【Rewards will be tallied according to difficulty.】
.
.
.
The hobgoblins were dealt with.
There were more of them than last time, so I got my hopes up, but as expected, the difficulty was still Easy.
If you call that stingy, Sechahm will probably shed a stream of tears and say they're going to kill themselves, right?
I'll keep that thought to myself.
The problem was this woman, who had entered before the hobgoblins.
"I didn't come here to invade on purpose! I swear! It's a long story if I explain the circumstances, but I'm a constable who came to catch criminals, um, I mean, catching bad people is my job, but I've never once thought dungeon masters were bad people, and, oh, I actually think you're all wonderful people, you know? Anyway, I heard a criminal was in the Roujinrat Great Mountain Range, so I came with my comrades, but we were attacked by monsters, and while I was running away… I happened to find the dungeon entrance completely by accident, so I had no choice but to come in! I'm truly sorry for stepping into the dungeon of a dungeon master as a mere rookie constable! I'm reflecting on my mistake, so could you please spare my life!?"
Had she won an award at a speech contest?
In stark contrast to how she'd been trembling, she defended herself quickly and without any unnecessary words.
She sure talks well.
"Hmm."
At least, she looked harmless to me.
I logged into the Dungeon Gallery.
I had to see what the veterans thought too.
Magic Hero : I'm a little pissed that our concepts overlap...
ㄴWhaleWhaleYeah : This person has gone completely black too...
ㄴKingjjang Evil Spirit : Uh-uh-uh-uh, don't do that
ㄴMagic Hero : Hehe...
I Have No Minions : I don't feel like she's lying, either.
ㄴAnonymous Butcher : What kind of useless constable is this? The South Kingdom's situation is truly desperate.
ㄴSealed Conqueror : She looks young, so I guess it can't be helped ㅇㅇ
Ssi-gan Saranggae : I'm really pissed that she's hitting on Newbie...
ㄴGolem King : What the hell X
ㄴDIP : Exactly what part of that conversation was her hitting on him?
Ant Queen : But, Newbie-nim, I'm curious—why are you planning to keep her alive?? Are you planning to make her lay eggs or something??
ㄴPsych Ward Chief Patient : LMAOOOOOO Please hold your breath for just 365 days...
ㄴSealed Philosopher : Let's wait and see for now. We should respect Newbie's choice.
ㄴAnt Queen : No, this is ridiculous. Why aren't you guys stopping Newbie................
.
.
.
.
.
"Really?"
"Yes…."
"The reason you didn't leave the dungeon right away was…."
"There are tons of monsters outside! Sorry for interrupting! I really didn't come here with any ulterior motives!"
The name of this lousy constable was Restia.
By the system's judgment, she should have been an intruder, but for now, she was being treated as a dungeon minion.
Among a dungeon master's powers was a hiring function that could turn outsiders into minions, and, incredibly, it even let me check their stats.
Restia's level was 5.
To put it simply, her combat ability was about on par with a hobgoblin.
According to the veterans, I could easily beat her even if I were asleep and she tried to ambush me.
They said there was an insurmountable gap in strength.
Anyway.
"Please spare me…."
It felt strange. I had never been in a position of power in my life until now.
Was this how a small-business owner felt when watching someone desperately suck up to him?
I was definitely in a position where I could hold her life in my hands.
"From now on, no more 'Please spare me. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.'"
"O-okay!"
"Stand up for now. It's getting suffocating just looking at you."
Sucking up only works on abusive assholes.
For an ordinary person like me, it had the opposite effect.
I asked Restia as she awkwardly got to her feet.
"Do you want to leave the dungeon right now?"
"Y-yes, yes! If I could, that would be wonderful…."
"Even if you go outside, like you said, there are going to be a hell of a lot of monsters, right?"
"……."
Restia lowered her head.
"Sigh."
I sighed.
I had rescued her, sure, but I had no intention of volunteering to be her nanny too.
Unlike me, who could live just fine without eating, drinking, or sleeping, minions were different.
Hadn't I Have No Minions told me that at the beginning? You had to feed minions, clean up their poop, and take them on walks or play with them so they wouldn't get stressed.
That's why all the dungeon masters who chose human-related themes, which generally had a strong desire for advancement, had ended up dead, as I'd helpfully explained.
This woman was no different.
She needed food and water to survive.
Of course, I did have the jerky left behind by the black mages.
I could also spend points to buy other food and water.
But did I really have to go that far?
I was already dying from how short on points I was because of the dungeon expansion.
Judging by her condition, I could already see myself having to look after her until the monsters disappeared.
"Hmm."
I folded my arms and thought.
Was there a way?
A little while later.
"Ah."
I had a good idea.
If I did this, we could help each other out.
"Come with me."
"Yes!"
We went outside the dungeon.
"?????"
"Good, even minions can leave the dungeon."
Restia stared at me, utterly flustered.
Had she never seen a dungeon master come out of a dungeon before?
Ah, of course she hadn't.
"I have a job for you. Can you do it?"
"W-what kind of job is it…."
"You know the goblins, trolls, and hobgoblins around here? Can you lure those bastards into the dungeon?"
"What on earth are you talking about…."
"Answer with only Yes or No."
Restia nodded.
"If you do a good job, I'll provide you with the finest food and water. For your information, running away halfway would be pointless. Don't forget that this is the Roujinrat Great Mountain Range. And I can track your location too. You can see that I've come outside the dungeon, right?"
"O-of course. I've never once thought about running away…."
If Restia performed her role as bait well,
I could deal with the enemies nearby, earn points, and give her food and water as payment for her labor.
This was killing two birds with one stone.
"Heh-heh."
The dungeon master had acquired bait.
Just look at those hobgoblins who had entered Dream Land without a care because they had lost their minds over a human.
I didn't know what sort of conspiracy they had cooked up or how, but for some reason, these bastards had been avoiding my dungeon.
"You're dead."
When someone is stupid, instinct comes before reason.
If Restia wiggled her hips at them, surely goblins and trolls would come in too, just like the hobgoblins had this time?
In the games I used to play, the weak, nearly dead mobs that gave 300 gold were always the horniest.
I didn't know how long this would keep working.
"It's time to duplicate points."
They say goodwill comes back around.
It was exactly as they said.
***
Three months passed after that.
The minion labor contract was a tremendous success.
She came into the dungeon crying every day, so I thought she'd complain nonstop, but surprisingly, she didn't.
There was one incident where an ogre came in, but it was stupid too, so it didn't make it past the maze.
Restia worked harder than I expected.
Thanks to her, I was able to get my hands on the enormous sum of 200,000 points.
My level rose all the way to 40.
Once I reached level 80, I could purchase a 4-star minion, but I still had a long way to go.
Anyway.
The bait operation no longer worked.
The entire area around us seemed to have gone completely quiet.
That meant the time to let Restia go was approaching.
"It's time to say goodbye."
"Thank you so much for everything, Dungeon Master…."
We had grown closer than we were at first.
But we still hadn't opened our hearts to each other like the gallery users did.
She was an ordinary human.
And I was a dungeon master who had once been an ordinary human.
You could say there was a certain distance between us.
Even after spending so much time together, I couldn't be as familiar with her as I was with the gallery users.
"You."
"Yes."
"You've worked hard all this time. Once you're outside, don't work yourself ragged—live comfortably."
As a gift, I gave her the old gold necklace I'd obtained as loot during the Manticore Wave.
Restia made a strange expression as she accepted it.
Was she happy, or did she feel burdened?
"Let's not meet again."
"……I, no, never mind."
With those words, Restia left the dungeon.
It would have been nice if we could simply go our separate ways and live happily ever after.
If only I could wrap things up by thinking of it as a happy ending like that.
Newbie : Queen Ant-nim
ㄴAnt Queen : Yep
ㄴNewbie : You remember the terms of our bet, right?
ㄴAnt Queen : Yep yep. If Newbie-nim wins, I'll hire 30 Ssi-gan minions. But if I win, kill every intruder who comes from now on, okay ㅇㅇ
There was one person who wasn't happy with this situation itself.
Ant Queen.
***
All the veterans respected my choice.
Even Ssi-gan Saranggae, who had disliked it at first.
But there was one person who continued to look at it with displeasure.
That was Ant Queen.
Ant Queen.
Simply put, she seemed to see the world in black and white.
Everyone outside the dungeon was an enemy.
That mindset was the foundation of everything.
She didn't like that I was keeping Restia alive.
When I fed and housed her in Dream Land under the pretext of a labor contract, Ant Queen had even seriously advised me to end it quickly and kill her.
I wondered if this was really the same Ant Queen who usually stirred up trouble by posting pictures of her minions.
I understood.
If you didn't want to leave behind future trouble, Ant Queen's method was the right one.
But.
I understood that intellectually.
What could I do when I simply wasn't drawn to that method?
When I refused to listen to her no matter what,
Ant Queen proposed a bet.
Ant Queen : The terms are that I win if that woman stabs Newbie-nim in the back, and Newbie-nim wins if she doesn't harm Newbie-nim or the dungeon.
It was essentially a bet that offered neither of us any benefit.
But at least I knew that she was acting out of concern for me.
So I accepted.
That way, we could resolve this conflict quickly.
I didn't want to sour my relationship with a veteran who was helping me.
Once we saw the result, whichever way it ended, we'd both be able to accept each other's opinions.
At the beginning, I'd told Restia that I could check her location.
That wasn't a lie.
But I hadn't told her everything, either.
The surveillance camera in the core room.
It was still transmitting a view of Restia.
That was a privilege of the anomaly theme.
I folded my arms and quietly watched.
There were no intruders coming in anyway, so I alternated between this and browsing the gallery.
Restia walked through the quiet mountain range.
She walked and walked.
.
.
.
.
.
She encountered a human.
-Constable Restia. Are you all right?
-Ah….
The human she'd encountered didn't look like an ordinary human.
That was because blue light was shining from both eyes.
Ssi-gan Saranggae : Ah, I'm so anxious...
Ssi-gan Saranggae : Why did it have to be the Blessing Bearer in the mountain range...?
Ssi-gan Saranggae : Ah, seriously ㅇㅁㄹㅈㅈㅁㄼㅁㄴㅇㄹㄴㅁㅇㄹ
The Blessing Bearer.
A being who could see status windows, like dungeon masters.
They were as bizarre as the grotesque phenomena that let them resurrect in a temple after death.
Kingjjang Evil Spirit : That guy's the bastard who failed to break through the head mod's dungeon last time, right? Why is he in the mountain range?
ㄴKing Slayer : Ah... what was his name again...?
ㄴKingjjang Evil Spirit : Sinclair, yeah. Looks like his level has gone up since then too
ㄴKing Slayer : Ah, I remember now, thanks
Anyway.
Listening quietly to their conversation, it seemed he'd come because of the manticore and the missing constable.
Orange★ : This is a pretty serious problem... Newbie isn't someone who can face that guy right now.
Orange★ : Restia? How much did that woman say she knew about Newbie's dungeon?
ㄴSsi-gan Saranggae : She probably figured out Area 1, but luckily, we didn't place any minions or traps in Area 2 at all, so she shouldn't know anything about that.
ㄴSsi-gan Saranggae : Even a Blessing Bearer probably couldn't clear it in one go, but...
ㄴOrange★ : Yeah, we need to drag this out until Position Shift. There's about two months left, so let's generously assume eight waves... This is a headache...
ㄴOrange★ : Wait, I'll upload the data I collected later, so check it.
It didn't feel like an exaggeration.
It was the first time the veterans had ever spoken this seriously.
To be honest.
It would be a lie to say I wasn't afraid.
Still.
I simply posted live updates to the gallery and watched the screen.
-Sinclair-nim. Thank you for coming all this way, but... the manticore has already been slain.
-What? You, a rookie constable, slew a manticore?
-It wasn't by my strength alone. It was thanks to the sacrifice of the constables who took part in the mission with me.
Restia.
She presented the old gold necklace I'd given her as evidence.
-I heard from an informant that there was a dungeon here, and that the manticore led the black mages here.
-Huh, a dungeon? I've spent three months suffering here, and all I saw were those wretched goblins and trolls. What dungeon are you talking about?
-I see.
-I want to go home now. I miss seeing my mother's face so much….
.
.
.
.
.
After they continued talking for a while,
the Blessing Bearer and Restia disappeared from the mountain range.
【Human Restia's minion status has been removed.】
The post fell quiet for a moment.
Goodwill comes back around.
I wasn't usually one to believe in such romantic notions.
But the result was right before my eyes.
This time, I decided to let myself be naively fooled.
That aside.
I quickly summoned Ant Queen.
Newbie : @Ant Queen @Ant Queen @Ant Queen @Ant Queen @Ant Queen @Ant Queen
ㄴAnt Queen : Could you let me off if I do a naked dogeza... hehe...
ㄴNewbie : Hehe
I won.
No complaints now, right?