I Have a Good Idea

When I woke up, 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?

What's wrong with sleeping? I'm human, you know. I need sleep.

"So, why did you sleep? I'm in a crisis here."

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

"You'd be fine staying up one night. You were sleeping right before all this, after all."

Well, sure, that's true, but. Please think about it. I had just woken up. Having just woken up means I was fighting off terrible drowsiness while doing my best. I went and woke up Ittetsu for a consultation and everything. I think I did pretty well, if I do say so myself. Seriously.

I made up for not being useful in the battle, you know?

"Can't you at least stay awake for me?"

"No, that's not it, Rokuko. I can't perform at full capacity without sleep. In other words, I slept in order 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 dubiously. She crouched down and peered up at me from below as I sat in seiza, boring into me with her gaze.

Now, what to do… Ah, come to think of it, Ittetsu mentioned "slimes kept and trained by humans." That means taming is possible… couldn't we tame it? Alright, let me try running with that angle as my excuse.

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

"I see. It would certainly be powerful if we could make it an ally. So, how do we do it?"

"That's the thing. First, there's a strong possibility that wolf is a slime mimicking a wolf's form. One that was previously kept by someone."

"Mm-hm, and then?"

It looked like she was willing to hear me out. I continued.

"First, we need to learn about our opponent. I'll try talking to it."

"… Who, and how?"

It would have been nice if I could speak to it directly using dungeon functions, but unfortunately, while there's a function to listen in on sounds inside the dungeon, there's no function to project my voice wherever I want. If there were, it would be useful for emergency summons like this one too. The monster girls aside, I can't communicate with Niku and Ichika through the dungeon's menu functions.

But then I remembered that I'd just recently made a golem that could play back audio.

"… I'll have a golem deliver the message. If it seems safe enough, 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."

I also remembered just then that I'd learned the wind magic [Air Voice] a long time ago. Way back before I even went to buy Ichika.

In the end, [Create Golem] is the only magic I ever use. It's just too convenient. I've become a full-on golem expert at this point… Though it seems like that's what backfired on me this time.

"Hm, so you did actually think about it properly."

"Obviously. Who do you think I am? Your partner, the Dungeon Master."

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

Saying that, Rokuko stole a glance at the red ring shining on her ring finger and broke into a grin.

I should think about a backup plan in case talking fails while I have the chance… For starters, how about turning the Boss Room into a sea of magma and submerging the entire Core Room in lava?

Ah, that seems pretty good.

"… Good ideas really do come together when you talk things through…"

"Hm? Did you say something?"

"No, nothing. Ah, can I stop sitting in seiza now? I want to go back to sleep."

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

I ended up in seiza for another thirty minutes. On top of that, she said "Sitting there alone doesn't seem like much of a punishment, does it?" and sat down on my thighs. I felt like I'd become a floor cushion. That said, she didn't do anything beyond that, just sat there. I thought it would be awkward to say something, but after thirty minutes of silence, I reluctantly spoke up with "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 turn into a proper punishment after all. What do you know, she followed through on exactly what she said at the start.

 

＊ ＊ ＊

 

After being freed from Rokuko's floor-cushion sentence, going back to sleep wasn't really an option, so I decided to replenish the golems for now.

The three girls' favorite novelty golems are easy enough since they can each be made with a single spell, but the Haniwa Golem has way too many parts and takes forever. Seriously, who's the one that kept adding parts? This isn't a plastic model kit.

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 had a thought. If we're calling it a Haniwa Golem, wouldn't a Clay Golem actually be more haniwa-like?

So as a bit of a break, I made a simple clay haniwa golem without any armor.

I made it, but… there's nothing to use it for…

… So I decided to repurpose it as a Messenger Golem.

Essentially, it's just a golem holding a String Telephone Golem.

First, the golem runs to whoever I want to reach, and when I speak into the String Telephone Golem on my end, my voice plays out from the other side.

Since I can pick up voices through the menu's monitoring function, all I really need is the ability to send my voice.

Of course, this time the other party is a wolf… or a slime, so it probably can't respond…

No wait, it might be able to talk. A salamander can, after all.

Incidentally, the String Telephone Golem is different from a normal string telephone. It's an excellent device that transmits voice even if the string gets caught around corners, pinched in doors, or isn't pulled taut.

The key is that the entire string telephone counts as a single golem body.

By inputting the command "Reproduce the vibrations received by the receiving cup through the playback cup," it can transmit my voice. It's the same principle as ordering "If your right hand is moved, move your left hand the same way."

The convenience is honestly ridiculous. I want to run golem telephone lines throughout the entire dungeon. Maybe I should quit calling myself a Dungeon Master and rebrand as a Golem Master?

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

I checked on the black wolf through the menu. Still sleeping, huh… Maybe we'll actually get along, wouldn't that be something?

… If I set up flags like this, maybe the taming success rate will go up?

Definitely just my imagination.