Preparations

That day, Leona was taking a stroll around Succubus Village.

That said, the village itself was just a single dungeon floor, so the area was limited. It looked like a spacious meadow, but there were walls and a ceiling.

There was nothing new to see anymore… or so she thought. Then she suddenly noticed a red button on a rectangular pedestal sticking up from the ground.

"Oh my. Was this here before?"

Leona pressed the button without hesitation.

"…? Nothing's happening."

She pressed the button repeatedly.

Click, click, clickclickclickclick. Eventually she even tried pressing it sixteen times per second, but there was no response at all.

"Hey Leona. What are you doing?"

Just then, a Golem appeared.

"Oh, Kehma-sa… Golem-san. Well, there was a button here so I was pressing it."

"… You pressed it?"

"I did, yeah?"

"How many times? … Hmm, fifty-two times, huh. Well then, here you go."

"Huh? What are you giving me?"

An eggplant dropped into Leona's outstretched hand.

"… I don't want this…!"

"Sorry, it's one of this dungeon's rules. Press this button ten times, and the person who pressed it has to eat one eggplant… Now then, you've got four more coming."

"What kind of rule is that!? Change it!"

"You want me to change it? Fine, I guess. But then I'll need you to accept some conditions in exchange… How about five Philosopher's Stones in place of the eggplants? If you can make them easily, that'd be perfect. I want to experiment with them."

"Sure. Here."

Five Philosopher's Stones, the supreme treasures of alchemy, rolled across the ground.

To Leona, they weren't worth much more than ordinary pebbles.

"Oh, thanks."

"Seriously, why did you suddenly make such a weird rule?"

"The Succubi wanted to eat eggplants, so I made the rule. I'll remove this button then."

With some rustling, the Golem pulled the button out of the ground along with its pedestal. It slung the removed pedestal over its shoulder like it was carrying lumber.

"Listen here, if you've learned your lesson from this, don't go pressing buttons on your own. Don't press them. Absolutely don't press them."

Saying not to press buttons, it left without waiting for a reply.

"…"

Leona smiled.

 

＊ ＊ ＊

 

"With that, she'll definitely press the next button she finds."

"Well, she'll definitely press them after you told her to press them like that."

… Does it come across that way through the translation function?

"Just to clarify, what I told her was not to press them. It's an intentional mistranslation that feels like a scheme. Since Leona is also a Hero, she should hear it in Japanese as-is, so there shouldn't be a problem."

"Huh? What? You told her not to press them… but she'll press them?"

"She'll definitely press them."

Leona's weaknesses. Namely, "eggplants" and "promises"… or rather, "cliches."

She keeps her promises. She keeps cliches even more. Because they're classics.

Incidentally, my "Absolutely don't press them" was such a cliche that the translation function mistranslated it. With this setup, Leona pressing the next button she finds is as good as guaranteed.

"With this, the groundwork for Leona to walk into the trap herself has been laid. Next is setting up the finishing trap… well, it won't kill her, but at least it should drive her out."

However, I ended up getting Philosopher's Stones during the setup phase.

I only meant it as a casual jab, but it seems like Philosopher's Stones really are worth about as much as pebbles to Leona…

… Maybe I should have asked for fifty-two of them. Well, no use crying over spilt milk.

"… Should we try turning one into DP?"

"Ah, wait. That's no good. Based on this feeling… it's ten DP at most."

Rokuko stopped me when I tried to offer a Philosopher's Stone as a treasure to convert it to DP.

She can tell how much DP a treasure is worth before crushing it? When did she pick up that ability…?

"Hm? Why's that? Is it a fake?"

"I don't know, but Kehma's ring gives a similar feeling? This is just a guess, but maybe it's because the time and effort that should normally go into making it wasn't spent? DP seems to scale with how much effort you put in."

I see, so it's the same as the magic sword Golem Blades I made that were cheap in terms of DP… Conversely, when I grew sugar beets and turned them into sugar, I spent time and effort to increase the value of those cheap seeds. It's that kind of thing.

Ah, come to think of it, the DP-earning method Haku-san taught me about raising Jewel Turtles does take time and effort now that I think about it.

"From Leona's perspective, she can probably make Philosopher's Stones from any random pebble, right? But the functionality is the same, something like that."

"I see…"

In that case, maybe I should give one to Nayuta? … I thought, but there's no particular reason to give her one.

Since I went to the trouble of getting them from Leona, I should use them for myself. I shouldn't just give them away for nothing.

Then again, there's nothing I particularly want from Nayuta. Her gun is still a defective prototype in the trial-and-error phase… maybe some freshly worn socks?

"… Wait. You tried crushing the ring I gave you?"

"Hweh!? N-no, Kehma! Haku-neesama offered to buy this ring for 100,000,000 DP, so I just got a little curious about how much it was actually worth and checked, that's all! Of course I turned her down, okay!? Don't worry, I have absolutely no intention of doubting Kehma's love or trading it for money or DP! So, um, right! Let's sleep together tonight!"

"Wait wait wait, stay, staaay, wait."

I calmed down Rokuko, who'd gotten worked up for some reason.

…100,000,000 DP though, wow. But Rokuko is amazing for actually turning that down. If it were me, I might have sold it. I might have sold it and bought a luxurious life of sleep with futons.

"I wouldn't have minded if you sold it for 100,000,000 DP. I could've made another."

"It's a ring I got from you. There's no way I could sell it. Don't say such mean things…"

Rokuko puffed her cheeks in a pout.

… What's with this girl? I inadvertently found her cute.

I might think it's just a ring, but to Rokuko, the fact that she got it from me seems to be what's important.

"Hey, Kehma… um, can a Dungeon Core and a human make children? Looking at examples like Setsuna, they can, right? How do you make children?"

"That's not a conversation we need to have right now, okay? Alright, topic change!"

Ask Haku-san about how to make children… no, I'd be killed, so please don't ask anyone and just quietly forget about it.

But still, Rokuko being in this state… could it be that Leona has done something to influence her? I really do need to hurry and get Leona out of here or my life is going to be in danger.

"Honestly, Kehma, you don't have to be embarrassed. We're in that kind of relationship, aren't we?"

"Yeah, we're partners."

I once again strengthened my resolve to drive Leona out.

"… So, the floor for Leona is finished, right? You were making all sorts of things I don't understand."

"Yeah. I've also properly prepared a chance for Setsuna to land a hit on Leona."

And so, the preparations are complete.

All that's left is to send Leona to the dedicated floor and do what needs to be done.

… We'll execute as soon as Setsuna and the others are ready.

"Nerune, how are things on Setsuna's side?"

"I gave them the weapons I got from Master, so they should be ready anytime? They were practicing swings with the weapons they received."

"In that case, we'll start the operation tomorrow."

I decided to do one last review of the Leona-dedicated floor.

I really want to sleep to prepare for tomorrow, but if I try to sleep now, Rokuko would probably get into my futon, and I probably wouldn't be able to sleep in more ways than one…