Dungeon Core Number 89

"So anyway, I was just telling Number 89 Ane-sama about everything that's happened up until now. I was in the middle of talking about you too, Kehma."

"Right, Rokuko. Come here for a moment… Excuse me, I'll be borrowing her briefly."

After a quick word, I pulled Rokuko aside and whispered to her.

"… How much did you tell her?"

"Umm, I was just talking about the part where we defeated the bandits. Oh, and when I treated her to some Melon Bread, she was so happy and said it was delicious!"

Rokuko seemed delighted that her admired Onee-sama had praised her, squealing with joy.

I bonked her on the head.

"Ow! What was that for!?"

"Listen, don't leak any more unnecessary information. She might be an enemy… Especially, never talk about the golems."

"Ugh, got it… but there's no way Number 89 Ane-sama would be an enemy."

"… Who was the one who taught you that foolish strategy of only deploying Goblins?"

"… Number 89 Ane-sama."

"Who taught you that putting out lots of monsters in one room at once was strong?"

"… … Number 89 Ane-sama."

Yeah, in other words, that's exactly how it is.

Dungeon Core Number 89 had prevented Rokuko from growing as a dungeon.

… Meanwhile, she herself had climbed to the top of some dungeon ranking.

There was definitely some kind of intent behind that, and there was a possibility she could become a hindrance to us in the future.

No, rather, if we became the hindrance, there was a high chance we'd be eliminated.

"Hey, Number 695-chan. Is your secret talk going to take much longer? Could you include me soon?"

"Y-yesh! I'm coming right now, Number 89 Ane-sama!"

Even so, when called by Dungeon Core Number 89, Rokuko looked happy… If I didn't have the absolute command authority over her as her Master, she'd definitely slip up. No, even unconsciously letting something slip was entirely possible.

"So, what happened to the bandits in the end?"

"U-umm…"

Rokuko glanced my way. She probably didn't know what was okay to say.

I answered for her.

"… Well, as you can see, they're gone now."

"The knight order cleaned them up nicely then. Good… so, how much DP did that turn into, I wonder? From the reports, I'd estimate around ten thousand?"

"Reports? … Excuse me, I don't know much about you, but what do you mean by that?"

"Ah, you're not a human from this world, right? … Let me start with introductions."

Dungeon Core Number 89 straightened her posture, placed a hand on her chest, and introduced herself in a dignified, clear voice.

"I am Dungeon Core Number 89… My Master called me Haku. Since humans prefer names over numbers, you may call me Haku. I operate the [White Labyrinth] in the capital of the Raverio Empire… I am the elder sister of Dungeon Core Number 695. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

Dungeon Core Number 89 smiled. Since she said Haku was fine, I'll call her Haku-san.

"… How courteous of you. I am Masuda Keima. Please call me Kehma. Though it may be presumptuous of me, I serve as the Dungeon Master of your younger sister's dungeon, [Ordinary Cave]. I look forward to working with you."

"My, how well-mannered. I'm impressed."

"D-do I need to introduce myself too?! As Dungeon Core Number 695!"

"You don't need to… oh, right, come to think of it, adventurers are coming, we need to prepare countermeasures."

"Oh, about that… could this perhaps be your source of information?"

Haku-san pulled out the investigation request form for [Ordinary Cave] from her chest.

"… That's…"

"I happen to also have the standing of an A-Rank adventurer, so I made use of it. When I received the report about [Ordinary Cave] from my country's knight order, I simply couldn't sit still."

"… I was told it required at least two people, though."

"There's no way two F-Ranks could beat one A-Rank. Well, this one here… she is Chloe, a Succubus, and is also registered as an A-Rank adventurer. The two of us accepted the request as a pair."

When introduced, Chloe gave a smooth bow. Her butler attire really suited her.

So she was a beauty in men's clothing after all. There are monsters like that too, huh.

However, isn't that chest rather unfortunate for a Succubus…? I'd be more convinced if Haku-san were the Succubus. A pure-type Succubus. Wouldn't that be more believable than a pure-type AV actress, at least in a fantasy world?

"So for a while… about half a month, you'll be fine, Kehma-san."

Haku-san smiled as if to say I was in the palm of her hand… Indeed, it didn't seem like any intruders would be coming immediately. Excluding the two in front of me.

"By the way, Kehma-san. May I ask you something directly?"

"What is it?"

"Are you one of God's Vanguard?"

God's Vanguard… um, I wonder. When I came to this world, God did say something to me, but I'm not really a vanguard per se…

"I did meet with this so-called god, but… I wasn't told anything like that in particular."

"I see. Excuse me, I was using lie-detection magic. It appears you're telling the truth… I've been worried ever since I heard from Number 695-chan that you were a summoned person from another world."

"… Sorry, but what exactly is God's Vanguard?"

"A person summoned from another world who destroys dungeons according to the will of the gods… The one I defeated said that [Dungeons are existences that obstruct the circulation of mana]. They're also called Heroes here."

Ah, I might actually be one of them then. I just have zero motivation for it though.

"Now then… I'd like to speak with Kehma-san alone for a bit. Would that be alright? Ah, Rokuko-chan, would you wait with Chloe?"

"Y-yes!"

"Understood, Ojou-sama."

Haku-san led me away, leaving Rokuko and the others behind. I left Niku with them too.

… This feels very dangerous. I noticed when Haku-san stood up, but this woman's legs are incredibly beautiful. Crap, even though I know it's dangerous, my eyes keep following her legs and I end up following her. Glimpsing the lines of her legs through the thin fabric of her skirt… this is bad. I want to see directly inside that skirt. I want her to take off her shoes so I can admire them at leisure.

"… Now then…"

Once we were far enough away, Haku-san turned toward me. Just that alone made me think she was beautiful, and I could understand why Rokuko admired her.

And then, she spoke.

"Would you kindly resign as Dungeon Master?"

"That would be a problem!"

The bedding in this world was terribly poor quality. It was absolutely unacceptable.

I have no intention of quitting as Dungeon Master until I get my hands on the [Futon], and even better bedding beyond that.

"Or rather, what are you doing to my precious Number 695-chan? How dare you defile that child. If you won't resign as her Master, then relinquish your absolute command authority and take your own life immediately."

So it would still mean quitting as Dungeon Master in the end, wouldn't it?

"… I don't quite understand what you mean… well, I'd be fine relinquishing the absolute command authority, but taking my own life is a bit…"

"Oh my. How admirable of you. But would you really relinquish it?"

Yes, I actually had some thoughts about the absolute command authority and wanted to relinquish it.

I saw it in a dream, but if I said "Only put out five Goblins, don't do anything else," she wouldn't be able to do anything even if it came to a situation where her Core was about to be destroyed. So I wanted her to at least be able to judge situations herself and defend herself to some degree.

"Surely you've been ordering Number 695-chan to do indecent things? And then ordering her to forget any inconvenient memories… kuh, doing whatever you please! This is why I can't stand humans!"

"Wait, that's completely baseless!"

"Hmph, is it really? A species that orders her with things like [Come to love me little by little] or [Marry me], doing whatever they please, and only realizes what they've done after she dies… humans are untrustworthy. Even though I made sure to teach Rokuko-chan about this…"

Ah, so something like that happened to her… The one who said those things probably didn't even realize what they were doing.

"… Forcing people isn't my thing, so let's just hurry up and relinquish it."

"Very well, then right in front of me… mm, wait a moment. So that means without the absolute command authority, it becomes your preference…? What are you planning to do to Rokuko-chan?!"

"Your imagination is way too wild!"

This is beyond the level of baseless accusations.

"Fine, whatever… Let me confirm one thing with you. Haku-san. Are you Rokuko's enemy?"

"I don't understand what you're saying. I don't see how I could possibly be an enemy to Rokuko-chan."

… So that's how you'll play it.

"… Why did you teach Rokuko strategies like those?"

"Like those? I taught her various things, but which strategies do you mean?"

I asked, confirming each point one by one.

"Then, why did you have her deploy Goblins?"

"Because among the monsters this dungeon can summon, they're the most efficient. Even if she summoned strong monsters, she wouldn't be able to cover the upkeep costs."

That's certainly true. Their efficiency is good.

"Why summon as many as DP allows all at once?"

"Numbers alone are a threat in themselves. Besides, no Core would hold back DP when a crisis approaches the Core."

That's certainly true. Normally you don't hold back and die with reserves left.

"What about saying to deploy monsters rather than build rooms?"

"Even if you build rooms, that alone won't defeat intruders, will it? It's true that you need monsters to finish them off."

That's certainly true. No matter how many rooms you have, you can't defeat anyone without weapons.

"Then why didn't you teach her about traps?"

"Because they become useless once they're figured out. It's a small dungeon, so there's a limit to how many can be installed. Anything reusable would be expensive."

That's certainly… well, about right.

Those were indeed correct pieces of advice given the premises of this dungeon.

However, they were also advice that would start to fall apart the moment those premises disappeared.

"I understand the methods you arranged from the dungeon's perspective. Then, how did you manage to make it appear like a [Safe and Harmless Dungeon] from the human perspective?"

Yes. These conditions required it to be a [Dungeon Managed by People].

Otherwise, it would just be a cave with a Dungeon Core in it that would end the moment the Goblins were wiped out and the Core destroyed.

"My, you understand quite well… It's simple. Both the Empire and the Adventurer Guild are things I created."

I'd vaguely suspected it, but she really was a big shot.

Oh, I mean in ways beyond just being a Dungeon Core.