Let's Do Something About the Bandits

Two days have passed since I was summoned.

One way or another, my DP is now at 179… no, it just hit 180 DP. That's enough to summon nine goblins.

By the way, I figured out why the Dungeon Core hasn't been destroyed. It was being used as a hot water bottle.

The Dungeon Core gives off a faint glow and is slightly warm.

It turns out the bandit boss made the room with the Dungeon Core his bedroom, and he's been sleeping with his feet propped up on it. When I said I wanted to see what was happening outside, the entire wall displayed a close-up of his filthy soles. I have to say, that was pretty off-putting.

Yo, Dungeon Core-san, getting your heart used as a footrest.

"W-well, you know? As long as these guys are here, I can earn DP, right? It's a win-win, isn't it? Hmph."

The blonde loli Dungeon Core was on the verge of tears after learning her heart was being rolled around under some smelly feet. She's actually starting to look a bit cute to me.

"Alright, time to actually do something…"

"Summon! Summon goblins and kill them all! Or wait, a Lizardman for 150 DP would work too! I'll never forgive that boss guy, I'll stab him over and over!"

"Are you stupid? We'd just get wiped out if we tried that."

Looks like having her heart treated as nothing more than a space heater was quite humiliating after all.

"There are eight of them. We're completely outmatched. Besides, if you hadn't summoned that goblin in the first place, we could've saved on food costs and had a bit more DP saved up."

"Hmm, maintenance costs, huh. I didn't know about that… Hey, wait a minute! You spent DP on that [Futon] thing too!"

Also, I found out you can view anywhere inside the dungeon besides just from the Dungeon Core itself. It's one of the menu functions.

Rokuko didn't know about it, by the way. Well, I guess you wouldn't need that feature if you only have one room.

"So, what are you going to do?"

"Ah, about that… hey, how does writing work here? Can you write, Rokuko? And can those bandits read?"

"Well… yeah, I can write. The bandits can probably read too, right? I saw them reading a book from their loot before, so at least simple stuff."

"I see. Then let me dictate something and you write it down."

"Okay～."

 

＊ ＊ ＊

 

"Boss! Wake up, boss!"

"Ngh…?"

When the bandit boss woke up inside the cave, there was a box.

Had something like this been here yesterday? No, it hadn't. He would have noticed it by now if it had.

"The hell is this? Where'd it come from?"

"Wasn't us, boss. And Rodriguez on watch duty says nobody came in neither."

"So what, you're saying this thing just popped outta nowhere inside this cave?"

"I… guess so?"

He examined the box but couldn't find any traps. Carefully opening it, he found a steel helmet inside.

This was a fine piece of equipment. Brand new, too.

"Heh, not bad. Could sell this for a good price. Or maybe I'll just keep it for myself."

"Boss, there's somethin' written on the bottom of the box."

"Hm? What's this… letters? Hey! Brakin, you can read, right? Read it!"

"Sure thing! Uh, let's see…"

He showed the box to his literate subordinate and had him read it.

The contents were extraordinary.

"I am dunjun cor. Thank you for defeet goblins. This is prezent. Takes time but if you hav bodees I can giv mor."

"Dungeon Core…? Hey, was this place a dungeon?"

"Well, no, we'd heard this was just an [Ordinary Cave]."

"Ah, hold on, boss! When I was an adventurer, I heard there was a dungeon called [Ordinary Cave]!"

"Is that true, Johnny!?"

The bandit boss had a sudden realization.

That stone sticking out of the ground, the one that glowed faintly and felt so pleasantly warm when he rested his feet on it. Could that have been the Dungeon Core?

He'd never heard of being able to communicate with Dungeon Cores before, but here was a letter from one. To dismiss it as someone's prank… they had a lookout posted and nobody came in, plus there was this brand new steel helmet that none of them could have prepared.

And according to the letter, this helmet was thanks for defeating the goblins.

That was probably referring to the goblins that had been near the Dungeon Core when they first arrived at the cave. For a bandit boss, five goblins were nothing but small fry. And just for taking out those weaklings, he got this steel helmet.

"No way, seriously…? Looks like my luck's finally turning around…!"

Dungeon stories were famous. There was a dungeon called the [White Labyrinth] in the imperial capital.

Actually, the story goes that the imperial capital was built specifically because the dungeon was there.

Dungeons had monsters, but they were also places that spawned all kinds of treasures like magic weapons and armor. And this was a dungeon. Yet there hadn't been any monsters here. Well, except for those five goblins when they first came. And now there was treasure. This steel helmet.

"Seems like this dungeon has taken a liking to me."

The bandit boss grinned.

A dungeon that produces treasure for whoever it likes… that was essentially the same as having infinite wealth.

"If you hav bodees I can giv mor."

Come to think of it, the goblin corpses had disappeared without anyone noticing. He'd assumed one of his men had disposed of them, but…

In other words, that's how it was.

The box that had held the helmet had also vanished before they noticed.

 

＊ ＊ ＊

 

"Aaaaaaaaaaaargh!! Who?! Why?! Why did we have to thank someone like him?!"

The blonde loli was thrashing about in frustration.

[Pen and Ink] cost 5 DP, [Wooden Box] cost 5 DP, and [High-Quality Steel Helmet] cost 170 DP.

With that, our DP was completely gone. Down to 0 DP.

Every last bit of our DP went into a [Present] for the bandit boss.

"Why?! Wouldn't summoning goblins and attacking them have been way more productive?!"

"And then get slaughtered when they fight back? Hahaha, no thanks. I don't want to die yet. I want to sleep."

"B-but still, this is… you traitor!"

"This buys us time for now. We'll massacre them eventually, so calm down."

"Huh?"

Rokuko made a dumb expression, apparently shocked to hear the word "massacre" come out of my mouth.

"Why? You're human, so didn't you give them tribute to help your own kind?"

"Huh? I just want my bed to be safe. So why would I leave dangerous people like bandits hanging around?"

"But… w-well, shouldn't you feel some hesitation about killing your own species?"

"Don't care. I want to sleep. Besides, it's not like I'll be doing the killing directly… Anyway, nothing left to do today, so I'm going to sleep. Alright, good night."

I pulled the futon over myself and got into sleeping position.

"W-w-wait! Explain a little more!"

"Fine, fine… I'll explain. Tomorrow. Good night."

"D-don't fall asleep! …!"

As I drifted off, Rokuko's voice faded away.

Looks like the order from the first day is still in effect. Good night.