New Employees

Sleepsword Siesta had been added to the dungeon's named monster list.

I'd totally overlooked it. That's right, magic swords are monsters.

And so, I returned to the dungeon, [Cave of Desires].

In the end, it was basically like I'd been commuting there every day, but I'd been neglecting this place the whole time. Let me review the situation again. After sleeping soundly for a full day, I called Rei over.

"Alright, let me check on the situation."

"Yes, Master."

First, the dungeon.

As usual, D-Rank and below adventurers were training on the upper floors, while C-Rank level adventurers were diving in after Iron Golems or pushing themselves a bit to get magic sword Golem Blades.

Even though I'd removed the Puzzle Area, descending the spiral staircase beyond it was still quite life-threatening… Hm? There are more traps here now. Spots where spears shoot out from the walls?

"Ah, quite a few adventurers were heading toward the Warehouse Area, so I added those."

"I see. Good judgment. It'd be troublesome if too many of them started taking Golem Blades from the warehouse."

So Rei added them? That's some nice work, it'll serve as a deterrent.

"How many people have made it to the Warehouse Area?"

"About eight parties. One party was wiped out at the spiral staircase, four parties saw the Irregular Golems and decided to observe for now, and three parties took magic swords. Three stone swords and three iron swords, six in total. No parties have made it past the warehouse."

One party wiped out, huh. My condolences, and thanks for the meal.

And six Golem Blades shipped out in one month… That's about the right pace, I think. I'll replenish them later.

"What about the inn?"

"Yes, with two new staff, we've been running it with five people, but nothing has particularly changed. Customer traffic doesn't fluctuate much in just a month, after all."

Well, with more staff now, that's about what I'd expect. Two new people had been working at the inn. They seemed to be sleeping here too, so maybe I should expand the employee dormitory. The Dungeon Battle is over, so things should be peaceful with some free time for a while.

"Speaking of which, they appeared before I knew it, but what kind of monsters are those newcomers? They both had beast ears, so are they a werebeast-type like Misha?"

"Um, they aren't monsters. They're beastkin."

… Beastkin? Can you summon those with DP?

While the gacha could summon exceptions like me, there shouldn't be any non-monster humanoids like humans or beastkin in the catalog.

At least, they're not in my catalog, and I can't imagine Rei could summon something that I, the Dungeon Master, can't…

"How did you summon them with DP?"

"I didn't use any DP. I lured in some passing beastkin adventurers with food and hired them. Following Master's preferred policy of achieving maximum results at minimum cost."

Rei spoke with a triumphant smug smile.

"Umm. In other words, they're not under the dungeon's control?"

"That's right, but is there a problem with that?"

… Isn't that nothing but problems!?

"No, wait, wait. I didn't hear anything about this though?"

"Huh? But I got permission from Rokuko-sama as well."

"Seriously? … We'll need to talk later… So, um. Isn't not having them under the dungeon's control a problem…?"

"They're only doing inn work, and technically, it's a short-term employment through the Adventurer Guild. There haven't been any problems for over two weeks now."

Then… is it fine, I guess?

"If they cause any problems, we can just file a complaint with the guild, and if our secrets get exposed, we simply dispose of them. There are no problems whatsoever."

"Wow, you're pretty cold-blooded about that…"

Rei can be unexpectedly ruthless in her thinking. She's a valuable presence in this dungeon. I can make tough calls when needed too, but I do tend to go soft otherwise.

I sat up properly again. Time for a fresh start.

"Come to think of it, I gave you 50,000 DP, right? What happened to that?"

"Huh? That… besides the additional traps, I invested it all into enhancing myself."

"… What? Enhancing yourself, Rei?"

"Yes. Enhancing myself. You said it was for increasing the dungeon's combat power."

Hold on. That was supposed to be used for summoning newcomers…

… But we do have newcomers, even if they're just part-timers, so is it fine that Rei used the rest however she wanted?

Hmm, well, it bugs me a little that she spent it on powering herself up, but this is Rei we're talking about. I'll let it slide.

"I see. How are Kinue-san and Nerune doing?"

"Kinue has expanded her cooking repertoire a bit. Nerune is absorbed in studying magic formations. She's still excited about the magic tools you brought back as souvenirs."

Kinue had been using her DP salary and money to buy cooking recipes, while Nerune was having a great time discussing magic formations with Kantra. Sounds like they're both living fulfilling lives.

As for Rei, she seemed happy to have been entrusted with work by me. High loyalty is great.

Having heard enough, I headed off to see Rokuko.

Naturally, it was to ask about the part-timers.

"Hey Rokuko! We need to talk."

"What is it? Do you want to use the Divine Comforter?"

"That aside, it's about the part-timers, the part-timers."

"Huh, now?"

It might be old news for Rokuko, but I just heard about it for the first time.

"We just hired them normally through the Adventurer Guild. Rei suggested it. Clever, right?"

"But our inn has secrets that would be bad if exposed."

"You wouldn't normally tell part-time employees anything that sensitive. And the inn has nothing shady about it. Right?"

"What about the golems?"

"They're just ordinary Clay Golems that you put out, Kehma. We make it look like I'm supplying them with magical power, so nothing seems unnatural."

"What about the cooking?"

"Kinue handles the cooking. These days we rarely produce food directly from DP, and while we do use DP for ingredients, we have the storehouse and [Storage] so no one ever sees that."

"The hot spring…"

"The part-timers are only in charge of the inn's reception and serving in the dining area. Cleaning is handled by [Purify] and Kinue's hobbies, and the hot water is perceived as 'some kind of magic tool.' Oh, the Register Golem too."

Huh? Did Rokuko just out-argue me? I can't refute a single thing.

It's starting to seem like part-timers aren't a problem at all. Rather, isn't hiring part-timers so we can focus entirely on the dungeon actually a brilliant idea?

"By the way, the part-timer pay is free lodging and meals. We're paying a small commission to the guild, but considering the inn's profits, it's truly trivial."

… Rokuko has really grown up lately.

"By the way, did you conduct interviews?"

"Yeah, Rei, Ichika, and I did. I called you too, but you were asleep."

Come to think of it, there was a time when Rokuko came back here during the Dungeon Battle.

I feel like someone told me something too…

Hmm, maybe I should talk to them myself.

"Can you call them now?"

"Huh? Mm, well, it should be fine right now. It's almost time for their shift to end anyway."

"Then call them in for an interview."

"Got it. I'll let Rei know. Don't fall asleep while you're waiting, okay?"

Rokuko sent word to Rei.

Still, part-timers, huh… I wonder what kind of people they are. Since I'm technically on the employer's side, I need to be firm. Ahh, I'm getting nervous.