Preparations to Study Abroad

After summoning the mimic bear—the mimic panda—I decided to summon a monster for dungeon management once again.

I considered the candidates as Rokuko opened and closed the chest with the panda in it… please stop, Rokuko, you're going to scare the thing. I get how him coming out and going back in every time you open it would be addicting though.

"We've gotta get someone who'd be good at straight up managing the dungeon, huh."

"Rei's been good for it so far, but now she has her role as the Beddhist Saintess to serve."

"I'm a little hesitant about leaving it to a newcomer so suddenly, so maybe they should be Rei's subordinate…"

Which is why I was looking through the catalog.

"Let's look at ones related to oni… I wonder if [Ogres] are an intelligent type…"

"Sounds questionable, but isn't that normal for the [Oni] types?"

"A [Devil] might be good too then. They should be pretty smart. They'd be pretty bad without it."

"It'd be an issue if they turn out like Core Number 564 though! Oh, wow they have so many customization options."

"What do you think about [Sage Rabbit]? It's gotta be Mikan's influence… maybe they'll be smart though?"

"There's the possibility they'll just be wise for a rabbit…"

And as a result of many similar topics brought up and discussed—

"So we're going with a [Fairy], it looks like…"

"Yeah…"

Size doesn't matter for managing the dungeon. In face, those who can't take the place of a boss will be less likely to commit suicide by going out on the front lines. There won't be any issues as long as it is intelligent since it won't be heading out there.

With that in mind, we'd searched for something as cheap and smart as possible and came to the conclusion that a [Fairy] would be best.

How are they related to vampires, you ask? Let's see… yeah, they have wings and stuff… It's besides the point. Yeah.

But let's pass on us doing the summoning now.

"They'll be Rei's subordinate, so let's give her the DP to do the summoning."

"I get the feeling they'll be more likely to listen to her that way, yeah! Not sure why, though… We'll have to make sure she doesn't use it on enhancement, though."

I'll give Rei enough to get three of them and leave her to take care of the summoning and their education… Yeah. Let's do that.

Should I hand over DP to Rei after…? No, there are even more customizations for [Fairies] than for [Vampires], so maybe it'd be more efficient to just do it myself?

There were some options we couldn't understand along with the usual height, gender, and with or without wings ones. A lot of them.

… It'll be using [Create Golem] and the like, so they'll have to have some magical talent, yeah.

"Well, it's possible that our study trip finishes without her doing the summoning because there are too many options."

"Yeah, we should make sure she does it before we leave. We also have to do the naming. Menu authority stuff, too."

"Ah, right. Can't forget that. They'll be for dungeon management, after all."

She couldn't (at least for now) grant privileges to others, so it was something that Rokuko or I had to do.

 

I called Rei to the Master Room and explained various things.

"I'll have my own subordinates… reporting to me…?"

"Yeah. They'll be for managing the dungeon. We'll have you perform the summon of the [Fairies] before we leave for our trip."

"Sir! Understood!"

Rei gave a salute. Rokuko passed her the DP with a handshake.

As they were 15,000 DP per, she gave 45,000 DP in all.

"There's enough for three of them. There are many customization options for [Fairies], so adjust them based on your judgement for what would be best to manage the dungeon."

"What a great responsibility! Leave it to me!"

Rei looked delighted.

Well, yeah. I'll leave it to you. We've gotta get other things ready before we leave.

 

＊ ＊ ＊

 

The following day, fairies were flying around the dungeon's Master Room.

Red, blue, green, yellow… and one's much bigger than others. Wait, there's more than three… isn't there like ten? The heck?

"… Yeah, aren't there too many?"

"So many…"

"Master! Rokuko-sama! I've been waiting for you!"

Rei welcomed us with a smile.

"Could you explain to us what's going on? We should have only given you enough for three."

"Oh, yes. What you see is a single large fairy that will act as a command tower for the rest of the small fairies that act as its arms and legs!"

"So you're saying you spent 15,000 DP on a Great Fairy and the remaining 30,000 DP on the rest…? Was it a set of three for 10,000 DP each or something?"

"Nope! These fairies were originally just one!"

"Hohoh?"

According to what I'm told, there was an option called [Division] that let them separate.

"I figured that this was a great deal compared to having to use scrolls on each and every one!"

"I see. That's a great idea. Good job, Rei."

"Haha! Thank you very much for the compliment!"

Rei's eyes shined when I gave her praise. If she had a dog tail like Niku, it'd absolutely would have been wagging.

"Ah, doing that put me 5,000 DP over, but it's okay since I used my savings to make up for it!"

"… No, I don't want you using your salary on that. I'll pay it since it was a dungeon expense. Come here."

"No no no, I just did it of my own accord!"

"You don't have to feel bad about it or anything. Besides, you saved us scrolls, so it's cheaper in the end… Rokuko, do it."

"Okaaaay~"

Rokuko locked Rei into a binding hold with her arms behind her back and bit her ear to forcibly give her the DP.

"Hnyah—!"

"This is only happening because you wouldn't just take it quietly! Nom nom nom!"

DP transferring feels like a low-frequency massage, like electricity is flowing… it's not the kind of thing that's easy to get used to. I'd usually just do it by hand, though.

"There we go, exactly 5,000 DP!"

"Kuh… thank you! Even though I'd just done it of my own accord…"

"You saved us scrolls, so it's a net positive for us. I'll give you a reward, too. Is there anything you want? Nothing too expensive of course."

"Really!? A-Are you sure!?"

Well, I'd be fine with anything up to around 10,000 DP.

"Then I would love to also have the honor of becoming Master's body pillow… oh, no! Sorry, I got carried away! I want to have one of Master's old jerseys…!"

"Eh—"

"If that's all, I've been holding on to Kehma's old ones. I'll give you one."

"Eh—"

"Haha! Thanks so much!"

"Sorry, hold up. What?"

I signaled for Rei and Rokuko to stop.

What did she mean by being my body pillow being an honor? Has Niku been bragging about it or something…?

"Being able to serve at Master's side when he is at his most defenseless. Is that not a job that can only be given to those most who are trusted the most?"

Oh, well, when you put it that way… it does feel something like that. Huh.

But what's up with my jersey then?

"It'd be to make a cuddle pillowimitation of course. Rehearsals are necessary, right?"

Ah, yeah. With her saying it so straight faced like that, it doesn't sound so weird.

But then what's with Rokuko keeping my jerseys? Weren't you throwing those away?

"… I exercise my right to remain silent."

"Uh huh."

What a strange thing to remain silent on. Oookay. Moving on.

"Alright, now to give them all menu privileges. Rei, you'll have to teach them what they need to know and give them names. They'll be your subordinates, after all."

"S-Sir! Leave it to me!"

Good, looks like she's up for it.

"Oh, well, in truth, I've already thought of the name. But I put a lot of thought into it! Could we use it?"

"Hmm? You work fast, what's their names? Tell me."

"Of course! It is [Eco Re Alpha Phantom Queen of Fairies Famrade Troll Killer Hob Gob Mezzaluna Quintet Cell Division Netero Palzesse Doriano Doreano Polka]!"

"… Those are the names for all of them, right?"

"Nope, just one."

"Yeah, rejected! Too long!"

Too long is too long.

"Geh… I-It did feel a bit long to me as well."

"… Rei, you stayed up all night on that, didn't you?"

"Geh! S-Sorry! For me to perform such sacrilege as the Beddhist Saintess…!"

Ah, yeah. Stuff like that can happen when you don't get enough sleep. No helping it, then.

"Really, you're just like Kehma when he doesn't get enough sleep."

"… I wonder if her wanting my jersey is similar to you then, Rokuko?"

"Yeah, stop! This conversation is over!"

Backing out now, huh? Sure.

"Rei, we can't give them menu privileges without them having a name, so hurry up and decide on them… Oh, make sure to ask me before you make your final decision, alright?"

"O-Okay."

And so things started to wrap up. Once the fairies' names were decided on, the dungeon would be fine with us gone.

Looks like we're nearly ready to leave.