While at the Village

After gathering information, including interrogating (torturing) Toy's assassins, the source of our attackers was roughly identified.

Well, Misha mentioned it, but they were from the Holy Kingdom as expected. Moreover, they seemed to be from the nobility. I still didn't know why a noble from another country was trying to assassinate me though.

"Holy Kingdom… Maybe I need to go there… but I feel like I've been leaving the dungeon and going out too much lately. I don't want to move from here. I want to laze around at home and never go out."

"I think you're lazing around quite a bit though Kehma?"

"… Well, it's also safe now that Haku-san has sent guards, so I think it's okay to take action later."

"Are you sure you don't just want to be lazy?"

I don't deny it.

That's when I heard a knock on the door of my room.

"Kehma-sama, do you have a moment?"

It was Toy.

"What do you need?"

"Yes, I just remembered that I have some good news for you, Kehma-sama."

"Hmm, that sounds suspicious? Well, I'll hear you out, so you can come in."

"Thank you. Excuse me."

Saying that, Toy entered my room with a suspicious smile on her face.

"Are you relaxing with Rokuko-sama? Should I come back later?"

"No, it's fine, go ahead."

I urged Toy, who was looking at me and Rokuko with a lewd smile, to hurry up and get on with the story.

"Yes, well then… I heard that you were interested in the Holy Kingdom, but you didn't want to leave the village. I assumed that you were in a situation where you didn't want to go anywhere."

Yes, well… we were just talking about that. Was she listening? My room should be quite soundproof since I sleep here. Or can she read my mind?

"I can't read minds. It's just a guess. I figured it was about time you started wondering about it. I am excellent, so I can easily guess my Master's thoughts, unlike a useless dog."

Toy smiled and swung her tail proudly… It's not like she could really read minds, right? She promised to answer our questions honestly, didn't she? Right?

"So, there is a way to go out without leaving this base village, do you know it? Maybe the wise Kehma-sama and Rokuko-sama already know."

"… Going out without going out, that's a contradiction. What do you mean?"

"It's simple. You just need to possess someone else and go out."

Toy spoke with an unwavering smile.

"Possessing someone else, huh… So, I go out using someone else's body, while my own body stays in the village, and my consciousness goes outside. Is that what you mean?"

"Yes! As expected, Kehma-sama, your conjecture is correct. It is desirable to have a healthy body without free will. Fortunately, there are plenty of such candidates without human rights in the hidden prison of this village."

So she meant taking over the consciousness of the assassins who targeted me?

"That's creepy. Why do I have to borrow the bodies of those who tried to take my life?"

"Of course, I had anticipated that as well. As you are a Dungeon Master, Kehma-sama, it would be sufficient to prepare a monster capable of humanization."

Moreover, it was even more convenient than taking over the assassins, as I could let the monster take care of my body while I was awake on this side. Plus, the [Possession] function of the dungeon ensured my safety.

Humanization was essential because monsters that closely resembled humans, like Rei and the others, might be exposed at the Holy Kingdom's border, according to Toy.

"Why didn't you mention that idea from the beginning?"

"If we used the assassins, we could take advantage of their connections to enter the Holy Kingdom. Well, if it makes you feel uncomfortable, we can scrap that idea."

Hmm, there's indeed a merit to that…

"Then, if Toy possesses one of the assassins and Kehma and I possess dungeon monsters, there should be no problem. With Toy guiding us using their connections, can't we can enter the Holy Kingdom more safely?"

"Oh, as expected of the renowned genius Rokuko, known as a once-in-a-hundred-years prodigy. Adopting a combined plan is a truly brilliant idea."

"You don't say?"

Rokuko, flattered, smirked proudly.

Wait, was Rokuko planning to come along as well? Well, that's fine. It looked like we'd be able to ensure our safety. While Rokuko and I were possessing them, it would be foolproof to let our bodies rest in the Core Room.

"Then, Toy, you should choose a body for yourself. Kehma and I will prepare the monsters."

"Yes, I understand. Excuse me, then."

With a theatrical bow, Toy left the room.

"… Wait, so we're actually going? Hey, Rokuko."

"What's the problem? Kehma, you wanted to go too, right?"

"But still, adopting Toy's idea feels like we might fall into a trap."

"It's fine since we're using the dungeon's [Possession] function."

Won't there be a problem with [Possession] if we're away from the dungeon? Will it be okay?

I thought about it and decided to try possessing one of the rats roaming free in the forest, then saw if I could go out of the dungeon's territory as is—oh, it worked just fine.

Moreover, after releasing the [Possession] outside the dungeon's territory, I could possess it again. I don't know the effective range, but it seems like a good opportunity to find out.

…

I realized that the Succubi of the Beddhist Church could become puppets of Leona at any time. This could be dangerous…

"… I think the Succubi are also on Dolche's watch list, so it should be fine, probably."

"Ah… well, yeah. Haku-san wouldn't have overlooked it."

Deciding to confirm later just in case, Rokuko and I set out to prepare monsters capable of [Humanization].

Since the Holy Kingdom was a human supremacist society, it would be best to have monsters that still looked like humans even if [Humanization] was undone. The closer their body was to a human's, the lower the cost of [Humanization]… So, considering that, our budget would be—

"How about we splurge at about 300,000 DP per?"

"… You've taken into account the cost of [Humanization], right?"

We had quite a bit of savings, so it should be fine to indulge in that amount. After all, it was the bodies Rokuko and I would be using, so it's acceptable.

… Thinking about it, we'd come a long way in terms of stable earnings. We were close to the milestone of 10 million DP in savings; actually, if I converted our gold coins to 10,000 DP each, we'd already surpassed it by a large margin. There was also the share we'd been squeezing from Wataru.

Rokuko and I opened the catalog and began selecting candidates for the monsters we would [Possess].