So, What Now?

After putting the negotiations with the black wolf on hold and returning to the inn, I had a visitor. A man with a turban wrapped around his head… uh, who was this guy again? … Ah, it's the shop manager. The guy I entrusted a hundred gold coins to. I forgot his name though. Wait, did I even hear it in the first place?

As soon as he saw me, he shouted in a panic.

"K-Kehma-han! I-i-it's terrible! T-there's been a m-major incident! A-a crisis for the villaaage!"

I could tell he wanted to convey something urgent, but I had no idea what the major incident was. Did someone get stabbed and die?

"A major incident? What happened? Did you fail at investing the money?"

"T-that's fine! C-c-calm down and listen, okay?! Alright? Good! Now, good news and bad news, which do you want first?!"

You're the one who needs to calm down. This is the first I'm hearing about there being good and bad news.

"Then let's start with the good one."

"The good one, yeah, that… The fourth floor has been cleared!"

The fourth floor… ah, come to think of it, I hadn't fixed the Puzzle Area. Crap.

"Ah, yeah, and?"

"Just as Hero-sama reported, there was a spiral staircase continuing beyond it. Well, they turned back for now though… Hmm, Kehma-han, your reaction is pretty weak. Did you already clear it too?!"

"More or less. So, is that all for the good news?"

"No, there's more. The riddle door was completely destroyed, so you can pass through freely. Even after watching for a while, it showed no sign of repairing itself. That means people can go to the fifth floor as much as they want, where magic swords are sleeping in droves."

Yeah, they can go all they want until I fix it. Haah, what a pain…

"Now for the bad news! … There's a possibility that a boss-class monster has appeared on the second and third floors! This is bad! Actually, Bancho-han was found dead. Bancho-han, the C-Rank adventurer who was about to reach B-Rank, was brutally killed. The body was still there since he'd just been killed, but there were marks like his armor had been bitten clean off…"

Yeah, that's about Rin… the black wolf. Also, I forgot to collect the corpses. Tehe. Actually, everyone forgot about them.

… Wait, both of those things are related to the black wolf. Thanks to that thing destroying the Puzzle Area, adventurers can now proceed to the spiral staircase area, but there's also the possibility of it roaming around inside the dungeon. In reality, it's sleeping in the Core Room, but they don't know that.

"… What do you think we should do, Kehma-han?!"

"Why not put out an investigation or subjugation request through the Guild? … Use the operating funds I entrusted to you for the reward. I'll leave the rest to you."

"O-oh! That's right! Leave it to me!"

The merchant ran off.

… Yeah, if they can solve it on their end, that works too. It's not like I absolutely have to make it a comrade.

Ah, wait, wouldn't this be treated as another transition phase and result in another lookout request?

What a pain. I've got plenty to do right now. I wonder if I can refuse using my authority as village chief～

 

＊ ＊ ＊

 

Since the Puzzle Area was being watched and I couldn't repair it, I decided to just make the parts. This might also be a good opportunity to let adventurers into the Warehouse Area. I have more iron golems wandering around in the Warehouse Area anyway.

And it might be fun to tease adventurers with some unusual golems. I want to steadily show off the dungeon's characteristics.

So, while making various golems bit by bit, I gathered everyone to discuss what to do about the wolf. Though Nerune and Kinue-san aren't here since they're working at the inn.

"Now then, let's discuss our future plans."

"But Kehma, shouldn't you either make golems or discuss? Pick one."

In response to Rokuko's dampening remark, I grinned and said, "Fool, if I can handle annoying tasks at the same time, that's more sleep time for me." Rokuko nodded with an "Ah, that's so Kehma." I don't really get what she understood, but I'm glad she gets it.

"First, about the dungeon. We'll add more floors separate from the current boss room. After the Warehouse Area, it'll branch into the boss room, the magma area, and a new floor."

"The adventurers are still fumbling around in the spiral staircase area for now, but won't they reach the Warehouse Area soon?"

"Yeah, it can't be helped so I'll use DP to quickly build the entrance to the new floor… a new Puzzle Area. Then we'll make it quickly and expand the dungeon deeper. I'm making the golems needed for the Puzzle Area right now, so I'd like to leave the installation to you, Rokuko."

"Got it. I'll have golems dig beyond the new Puzzle Area too."

The way she understood immediately, as expected of my partner.

"… So, what about that black wolf?"

"The black wolf… its name seems to be Rin. About negotiations with it… we could basically communicate, but it was questionable whether we actually understood each other."

"Well, you did get eaten, Kehma."

The messenger golem, that is. Right, I need to replenish that too. Let me make extras in case they get eaten again.

Then Ichika raised her hand with a question.

"So, Goshujin-sama. What was that wolf sayin'? We couldn't understand wolf language at all."

"Ah, I asked if there was something it wanted. What the wolf wants seems to be… a dwelling, and food."

"So if we give it that room and food, it'll stay quiet?"

"… It'll stay quiet, yeah."

Right now, Rin seems satisfied after eating the golem and is sleeping again. Good grief.

"For now, since we were able to communicate, if we patiently negotiate… it's a pain, but… we might manage somehow… but it's a pain…"

"Patiently, huh. Somehow that word feels like it both suits Kehma the least and also kind of does."

"Master, I think you work quite hard."

… Yeah, now that I think about it, when I'm awake, I do work quite a bit, don't I?

"Goshujin-sama sleeps durin' the time other people play, after all."

"My vote is that he sleeps too much!"

"Even though the time you're awake is short, isn't Master's workload more than average?"

Hey, you're getting off topic. Praising me is fine, but right now we're talking about the wolf, the wolf.

"So, the wolf… as for negotiations with Rin, I'll continue using the golem to negotiate. Since we could have a conversation to some extent."

"You're the only one who can negotiate with it, Kehma. No one else can talk to the wolf."

When I negotiated with Rin before, apparently only my first "What are you?" was in human language, and everything else was in wolf language. Like howling. The translation function really worked hard.

Since my first words in human language got through, Rin probably understands human speech. In other words, as long as I can listen to wolf language, I can speak to it in human language and it'll understand.

"Um, Goshujin-sama. May I?"

"Hm? What is it, Niku? Could it be that you can understand wolf language too?"

"Y-yes. Vaguely, but. I am a dog beastkin after all."

"Ooh! Niku, those dog ears aren't just for show! Good girl, good girl."

I patted Niku's ears. Being petted, Niku happily wagged her tail.

This is a pleasant miscalculation. Being both black-colored and canine, she might do better than me at negotiations.

"Alright, then let's leave the next negotiation to Niku. Recruit that wolf, Rin, to our side!"

"Yes! Leave it to me!"

For now, let me make a black messenger golem for Niku so Rin can tell it's a different person. I don't know if it'll be able to tell the difference though. Being black might be important… Maybe it'd be interesting to knead black paint into it instead of just coating it.