Hang in There, Narikin...!! I'm Rooting for You...!!

Back in the Master Room, I filled Narikin in on deemed marriage.

Including the possibility that the Saintess was aiming to use it to force a marriage by default.

"Deemed married… Now that you mention it, such a system did exist… I had completely forgotten about it."

"Watch yourself, Narikin. Make sure you either clear the dungeon in under a month or pull back temporarily."

"Yes, sir! Understood!"

Narikin knew the system existed, but since it almost never came into play, it had completely slipped his mind.

Since I'd been completely hands-off this time, I had no idea how long the dungeon would actually take to clear. Rokuko had put real effort into building it, so I figured it'd take quite a while…

"So, Rokuko. Can you either lower the dungeon's difficulty or give Narikin some strategy info?"

"Huh? No way."

"… Hm? Sorry, didn't catch that?"

"I said no. I worked hard on this dungeon, so I want them to clear it properly."

… Yeah, of course she'd say that.

"They have to destroy this dungeon after clearing it, right? If the difficulty gets lowered or spoilers get out, all my setups go to waste! Absolutely not! I won't be satisfied unless they break through head-on!"

Of course she'd say that.

"I get how you feel. I really do, okay? But if things stay like this, Narikin is going to end up married to Saintess Alka."

"So what if he gets married? Doesn't affect me. I'll just tell my dungeon monster 'do your best in married life, Narikin.' That's all."

She's right. It wouldn't inconvenience Rokuko one bit.

… Yeah, well. To Rokuko the Dungeon Core, Narikin is just one monster. If push came to shove, she could cut him loose and replace him as many times as she wanted.

With enough DP, "plenty of replacements for you" is a literal, physical reality when you're a Dungeon Core.

And thanks to Karisoto District, DP was pouring in hand over fist. Assembling one or two Living Armors capable of [Humanization] would be trivial, and even ten would be a cakewalk.

In fact, she'd added several Silkies as subordinates under Kinue-san to help manage Karisoto District…

"You're overreacting. It's not like he'll die."

"… True, he won't die right away, but…"

He's a dungeon monster, remember? If Saintess Alka sticks to him as his wife, she'll find out sooner or later and he'll be killed.

The number of nights I could sleep peacefully would definitely dwindle.

Well, nothing for it. Time to use my Master authority to—

"Kehma. If you use your Master authority to lower the difficulty or peek at the dungeon to feed him information, I won't forgive you."

"Guh!"

"If you're going to help, keep your advice to what Narikin can see. Got it!"

Damn, she preemptively shut me down.

"… N-Narikin. So that's how it is. You'll have to clear the dungeon head-on. There's only so much I can do, but I'll back you up as best I can…!"

"Y-yes."

"Oh, and Kehma? If you break the rules, I'll get serious."

"Wait. Serious how?"

Rokuko said "I'll give you a little preview" and opened up the communication menu.

"Soto, do you have a moment?"

"What is it, Mama?"

"Could your boyfriend enhance our dragons? Through alchemy or something, maybe?"

"He won't work without proper compensation!"

"By the way, did you know? Garbage that piles up near dungeons gets dumped inside. Including tons of worn-out socks."

"Helping Mama is such a wholesome, childlike thing to do!"

"Wait. Wait! That's way too underhanded, so wait!!"

What a terrifyingly extreme way to 'get serious'!?

"Once Narikin's dungeon clear is done, I'd like you to have him do that enhancement, okay?"

"Okay～!"

"Depending on how things go, it could happen sooner… What do you think, Kehma?"

"Got it. I won't use Master authority, and I won't peek at the dungeon outside of the head-on clear!"

"Good. That's a promise, Kehma. No spoiling monsters that haven't shown up yet, alright?"

Rokuko flashed an adorable smile.

… If she truly went all-out, she'd probably drag Haku-san into it too.

"… Narikin. Don't expect much support from me."

"Y-yes… Well, even if I end up deemed married to the Saintess, it won't kill me, as Rokuko-sama says. I'll give it my best at my own pace…"

"Right. Get some rest so you're not dragging tomorrow."

"As you wish. Good night."

Yeah. How do I put this… well.

Hang in there, Narikin…!! I'm rooting for you…!!

"Passing items to Narikin through [Storage] is fine, right?"

"If it's something outrageous, I'll be upset. Like an Orichalcum sword. Broadcasting equipment and stuff Narikin would naturally have on hand are fine."

So if he suddenly needs a rope during the clear, I can supply it. That's what she meant.

A sluggish pace wouldn't be fun for the broadcast or for Rokuko anyway.

In any case, it goes without saying that Narikin's dungeon clear speed picked up starting the very next day.

"We're dashing to the next area, Saintess Alka!"

"Huh? Let's walk so we don't run into any monsters."

"No way! We're pushing forward. You guys are fine with that too, right, viewers!?"

… Hang in there, Narikin…!