I Have a Good Idea

When I woke up from sleeping, Rokuko was peering into my face.

"… Why did you sleep?"

"Eh? Well, that's…"

"Seiza."

"Eh? S-seiza?"

"Yes, seiza. Do it. Okay?"

And so I was made to sit in seiza for some reason. Why?

Is sleeping not allowed? I'm human, you know? I need sleep.

"So, why did you sleep? Even though I'm in a pinch."

"… Is that a biological question? Humans die if they don't sleep."

"You'd be fine staying up one night. You just slept right before this."

Well, yes, but. Please think about it. I had just been woken up. Having just been woken up means I endured terrible drowsiness and did my best. Waking up Ontentoo for a consultation and all—I think I did well. Seriously.

I worked hard since I couldn't help in battle, you know?

"Can't you stay awake for my sake?"

"That's not it, Rokuko. I can't perform at full capacity without sleep. In other words, I slept to bring out my full power."

"… Really?"

"Really really. I think while I sleep, so I was even thinking about how to deal with the enemy while sleeping."

"Hmm. So how are you going to deal with it?"

Rokuko looked at me suspiciously. She crouched down, gazing up at me from below as I sat in seiza, as if trying to dig deeper.

Now what should I do? … Ah, come to think of it, Ontentoo mentioned "slimes kept and trained by humans." That means taming… couldn't we tame it? Alright, let me try using that as an excuse.

"I heard from Ontentoo that there's this thing called taming… If we tame that black wolf, wouldn't it become an amazing asset for the dungeon? That's what I was thinking."

"I see, it would certainly be powerful as an ally. So, how?"

"Right. First, there's a strong possibility that wolf is a slime mimicking a wolf form. And that it was previously raised by someone."

"Mm-hm, and then?"

Looks like my excuse caught her interest. Let me continue.

"First we need to know our opponent. We'll try talking to it."

"… Who, and how?"

It would be nice if I could speak directly using dungeon functions, but unfortunately while there's a function to hear sounds inside the dungeon, there's no function to send my voice wherever I want. If there were, it would be convenient for emergency gatherings like this. Setting aside the monster girls, I can't even communicate with Niku and Ichika through the dungeon menu.

But just now I remembered that I made a golem that could play back audio the other day.

"… I'll have a golem convey the message. If it seems safe, I'll get somewhat close and try using [Air Voice]. If it was raised by humans, it should have the intelligence to understand human speech."

While I was at it, I also remembered that I'd learned the wind magic [Air Voice] quite a while ago. Before I went to buy Ichika.

In the end, the only magic I really use is [Create Golem]. It's just too convenient. I've completely become a golem expert… Though that backfired on me this time.

"Hmm, so you actually thought about it properly."

"Of course. Who do you think I am? I'm your partner, the Dungeon Master."

"That's right, you're my partner. Sorry for doubting you, okay?"

Saying that, Rokuko glanced at the red ring shining on her ring finger and smiled.

While I'm at it, let me think about what to do if talking fails… For now, maybe turn the Boss Room into a sea of magma and flood the Core Room with lava.

Ah, that seems pretty good.

"… Talking things out really does help come up with good ideas…"

"Hm? Did you say something?"

"No, nothing. Ah, can I uncross my legs now? I want to go back to sleep."

"… Kehma? Right now, this dungeon has been invaded all the way past the Boss Room, and I'm in a pinch, you know? I'm so scared I can't sleep at night, you know?"

I ended up sitting in seiza for another thirty minutes. Plus she said "This doesn't seem like much of a punishment" and sat down on my thighs. It felt like I'd become a floor cushion. That said, she didn't do anything else, just sat there. I thought saying something would be awkward, but after thirty minutes of silence, I reluctantly spoke up: "Hey, Rokuko?" And she bolted out of the room saying "I-I'll let you off with this much!"

What was Rokuko trying to do?

… My legs are completely numb.

Ah, so it did become a punishment. What do you know, she did exactly what she said at the start.

 

＊ ＊ ＊

 

After being released from Rokuko's floor-cushion punishment, I couldn't exactly go back to sleep, so I decided to replenish the golems for now.

The three girls' favorite quirky golems are easy since they can be made with a single spell, but the Haniwa Golem has a lot of parts and takes time. Seriously, who added so many parts? It's not a plastic model.

For now, I repaired the half-broken stone Haniwa Golem and upgraded its sword and shield to iron.

Then I rebuilt the completely destroyed and devoured Iron Haniwa Golem from scratch.

I didn't add any particular new functions to them.

And I just thought of this—if it's called a Haniwa Golem, shouldn't a golem made from clay be more haniwa-like?

So I made a simple clay haniwa golem without armor as a break.

Made it, but… there's no use for it…

… So I decided to use it as a messenger golem.

Basically, it's just a golem carrying a string telephone golem.

First, the golem runs to the recipient, and when I speak into my string telephone golem, my voice plays from the other end.

Since I can hear voices through the menu's monitoring function, I only need to be able to send my voice.

Then again, this time the other party is a wolf… or a slime, so it doesn't matter…

No wait, it might be able to talk. That salamander can, at least.

By the way, this string telephone golem is different from a normal string telephone. It's an excellent device that can transmit my voice whether the string is caught around corners, pinched in doors, or not pulled taut.

The key point is that the string telephone functions as a single golem body.

The command is: "Receive vibrations with the receiving cup and reproduce them with the playback cup."

With that order input, it can transmit my voice. It's the same principle as "If your right hand is moved, move your left hand the same way."

It's reached a ridiculous level of convenience—I want to run golem telephone lines throughout the dungeon. Should I stop calling myself a Dungeon Master and start calling myself a Golem Master instead?

No, wait wait. That attitude is what got me completely defeated by the black wolf this time.

I checked the black wolf's status through the menu. Still sleeping huh… Maybe we'll get along.

… Ah, doesn't raising flags like this increase the taming success rate?

That's definitely just my imagination.