Intruder

I became the village chief, but what I do hasn't changed. Lounging around is the best. Snuggling in the futon. When it's just slightly cold is the ideal time to bask in Futon-sama's love. I want to start Beddhism and spread its teachings.

I wonder how religion works in this world. If there isn't one, I'd be fine becoming the founder of Beddhism. Using believers to make a futon of flesh… no, let's stop there. That kind of thing is fine in dreams, but in reality it'd be heavy and hot, nothing like the comfort of a down comforter. Dreams should be kept as dreams, preserved in their beautiful form.

If I wanted to, I could do it with the monster girls anyway.

It's definitely not because I imagined the path to becoming a religious leader and found it too troublesome.

… Ah, come to think of it, gods actually exist in this world. I mean, I've actually met one. Rather, I was God's Vanguard.

If someone asked me "Do you believe in God?" I could just say "I've met him," haha.

I don't know what the god's name was though… If asked about my religion, I'll just say Beddhism.

Anyway, after warming up nicely and going back to sleep, I expanded the village chief's estate overnight.

Once I got into it, it was surprisingly easy.

Seriously, [Create Golem] is such a cheat. Normally it can only make clay golems, but as long as you have magical power, they'll keep moving… Golems are so convenient, so why haven't they become widespread?

I'd think they wouldn't even need magical power replenishment in the Imperial Capital since it's within dungeon territory and filled with magical power.

The interior incorporated Rokuko's requests, including a room for her. There are also rooms for Niku and Ichika, a guest room, and a decent number of rooms overall. We might not use them, but having them is what matters. It's easy to add on now since there's open land, but in the future there might not be space for expansion. First come, first served.

… Well, as the village chief I could use "This space is reserved for inn use," but even that has its limits…

Maybe I should consider building upward. In a shape that follows the mountain.

Anyway, while I was nodding in satisfaction at the expanded village chief's estate, Kuusaan came over with a dumbfounded expression.

"K-Kehma-san!? What happened to the promise to let me build the village chief's estate!?"

"Never made that promise. Go back and build warehouses."

"Kuh, now that you mention it, we didn't actually promise. I completely thought we had… I've only built one warehouse so far. But this village chief's estate definitely wasn't here yesterday… and yet it looks like it's been one building from the start… I can feel amazing architectural power. As a carpenter's son, I can't lose!"

Saying that, Kusaan left.

Wait, he's already built one warehouse? That's fast work. Maybe he's more capable than I thought.

… Well, the village chief's estate is done, and I'll leave the troublesome domestic affairs to others while I mess around with the dungeon.

I gave them plenty of money, so they'll manage somehow. Man, being village chief is so busy.

 

＊ ＊ ＊

 

Starting today I'll be sleeping at the village chief's estate, so I brought my futon and hug pillow to sleep that night.

I woke up. Or rather, Rokuko woke me up.

"Kehma! It's an emergency!"

Rokuko stomped on me to wake me up. Ah, this method of waking me isn't her being rude—it was my request. If you're going to interrupt my blissful sleep, at least wake me with your feet. From a foot fetishist's perspective, you see.

"Ugu, w-what is it!?"

"There's an intruder in the dungeon, and it's a bad one!"

If it were just an intruder, Rokuko wouldn't bother waking me. With adventurers coming and going constantly, that's nothing new.

Which means a seriously dangerous opponent had invaded. I opened the menu and checked the dungeon.

"This one!"

A red dot representing the intruder glowed on the map. It had "Dangerous One" as its name. Rokuko must have labeled it.

It was advancing through the dungeon at tremendous speed. Along the way in the labyrinth area, it encountered a four-person party of adventurers… and the adventurers melted.

Wait, wasn't that C-Rank party with Bancho and Shatty? Gone in an instant.

"Nn… Goshujin-sama, what's… wrong…?"

Did I wake her? Niku looked at me while rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"There's an intruder, this isn't the time to sleep!"

"! To the defense!"

"Wait, a C-Rank party just got wiped out. First we need to identify the enemy. Rokuko, contact everyone and wake them up."

Stopping Niku who was about to rush out, I moved to the Core Room. I checked the enemy's appearance… Pitch black, a wolf? Some kind of mist was around it.

Its entire body was solid black. The only exception was its red eyes. No whites visible—just red eyes like gemstones set directly into its face.

"What kind of monster is that?"

"I don't know! … Wolf-type maybe? Does Niku know? It's a dog and it's black, so there are similarities."

"… I don't know. But it feels somehow different."

Meanwhile, the dungeon was being cleared. It blazed through the labyrinth area, unfazed by adventurer traps and wandering golems.

But ahead was the Puzzle Area—surely a wolf couldn't break through that!

After the black wolf wandered around the room sniffing,

"GRAAAAAH!"

CRASH—it bit through and shattered the puzzle gimmick golem.

… Hey! Sure, it was still the same Stone Golem from when I first made it, but still!

I never expected the second clear of the Puzzle Area would be through brute force…

"Rokuko, evacuate the Dungeon Core to the inn."

"Okay. Is the village chief's estate room fine?"

Using castling on the Dungeon Core, we swapped it with the Dummy Core. This way we're safe even in the worst case.

Around the time the Puzzle Area was chewed to pieces, there was a response from Ichika and the others. I quickly called them to the Core Room.

"Sorry we're late! For Goshujin-sama to be woken up, this must be a super emergency!?"

"Yeah, right now the intruder has passed through the Puzzle Area and entered the spiral staircase. We'll defend with golems in the next area, the Warehouse Area. If we can't repel it, guide it to [Flame Cavern]."

"Understood!"

Worst case, we'll have Ontentoo handle it. He might complain again, but…

Surely Ontentoo and Redra could deal with this.

The black wolf leaped lightly down the central shaft of the spiral staircase, landing silently as if it had no weight at all.