Information Gathering (Eavesdropping)

"Alright, gotta do the [Dogeza] today too."

"Kehma really does have it rough, huh? Having to do the [Dogeza] every single day… and for twelve hours at that. And since Niku's tied up as a hug pillow the whole time, I end up having to pick up the slack, you know?"

"Hm? You don't want to work either, Rokuko? But the golems handle most of the chores, so you just need to serve the food, right?"

"… I honestly didn't expect the golems to be this reliable."

For the inn's miscellaneous chores, we had clay golems fitted with specially-made shoes and gloves, set to follow Rokuko and Ichika's orders.

That said, there really wasn't much to do. It should just be serving food. Troublesome adventurers get pushed off onto the Guild, and cleaning and laundry I handle all at once with [Purify].

"Since Niku has [Storage], I could just toss the food in there and not even need to be around."

"… No, Niku's a hug pillow, so it'd be weird for her to work in the dining room in the first place. Right?"

"Yes! I am a hug pillow!"

Her dog ears and tail wiggled happily as she gave that excellent response. She really didn't want to work that badly, huh. As expected of my hug pillow.

When I pinched her pleasantly soft dog ears and rubbed them in a kneading motion, she closed her eyes and trembled slightly.

"Mumumu… Then you need to praise me properly too!"

"Hm? I'm always truly grateful to you, you know. I'm only here because of you, Rokuko."

Thanks to becoming a Dungeon Master, I've been getting even more sleep than when I was in Japan.

I don't have any complaints about food either since I can exchange DP for it.

"I'll be counting on you from here on too, Rokuko."

"O-of course you will! Hmph, well, I'm perfectly fine even without rest after all!"

Rokuko left in high spirits.

… Being fine without rest, huh. That's really incredible. I definitely couldn't endure that.

 

＊ ＊ ＊

 

"Man, he was a pretty good guy, wasn't he!"

"Yeah. If only he wasn't part of the traitor's faction, I'd have nothing to complain about…"

The Dungeon Master of [Flame Cavern], the red dragon Redra. And Dungeon Core Number 112, Ontentoo.

The two were getting excited talking about their recently appeared neighbor.

"He even gave me a new name, Ontentoo."

"Hmm, well, the [112] I gave you is the better name though!"

"Haha, apparently it's hard for humans to say. Well, the name I got from Redra is more important to me."

"You sure know how to make a girl happy! You really are my wonderful Danna-sama, [112]!"

Since Redra called Ontentoo [112] in dragon language, unless you'd learned dragon language or had some kind of translation skill, it would probably just sound like roaring.

It was a pronunciation difficult for humans, but Redra could speak it fluently even in her humanized form.

"But still, this crystal statue is all sparkly and so cool, hehehe."

"Yeah, all my hard work paid off."

Watching Redra go all goofy-faced over getting the treasure she'd been after, Ontentoo let out a small, satisfied puff of flame.

"… Ah right, we've got a dungeon battle to do. Gotta put out signs of the [Transition Period]."

[Transition Period] was something he'd been taught by other dungeon cores before. It was a convenient thing that let you drive out humans who would get in the way during a dungeon battle, and made it so humans wouldn't find it suspicious even if the dungeon's structure completely changed afterward. That was how Ontentoo understood it.

Adding more traps, somewhat narrowing the passages, increasing the number of monsters, and making monsters that weren't normally seen appear were all signs of a [Transition Period]. That too was extremely convenient before a dungeon battle.

… That said, the fact that this information originally came from the "traitor" Dungeon Core Number 89 hadn't even entered his mind. He was simply impressed that someone had come up with such a clever trick.

"Now then, time to add more traps and monsters."

"Hey hey, [112]! I'm gonna get my turn too, right?!"

"… … … … Yeah, you definitely will."

"What was with that pause…"

Ontentoo wanted to avoid having Redra appear as a monster.

After all, she was the Dungeon Master, and his beloved wife. That said, if she herself said she "wanted to rampage," he wasn't unwilling to grant that wish. In fact, Redra was [Flame Cavern]'s greatest fighting force and its boss. There was no reason not to use her.

"… I'll make a boss room on the fifth floor, so wait for them there. If you get beaten, we lose, you know?"

"I just have to not let those small fry through, right? Simple enough, I like it!"

Kakaka! Redra laughed cheerfully. In her expression, there wasn't a single trace of imagining herself losing.

"Kukuku, looking forward to it. But that Kehma guy, his face definitely said he's got some kind of plan… Well, at worst, even if we lose, they shouldn't be able to reach the fiftieth floor. I can't exactly give away half the mountain, after all."

 

＊ ＊ ＊

 

And so, I had been watching everything that happened in [Flame Cavern] through the crystal statue golem.

"I see, a boss room on the fifth floor… And fifty floors total, huh. The crystal golem's marker is around that area too."

"Mmm, I wonder how they're adding traps. Since Number 112 is just moving through the menu, I can't really tell. Can't peek at menus after all."

As for menus, we know that only the owner can see them unless they choose to show someone else. I wasn't expecting much from that to begin with, so this was about what I expected.

Ah, by the way, this footage is a recording. I was actually sleeping when this exchange happened. Or rather, I was out cold from the [Dogeza]. Lying face up, then face down, then splitting the difference and lying on my side… I was quite busy, you see. Very busy.

"… Kehma, can you beat a dragon if you fight normally?"

"Well, I've never fought a dragon before, so I can't say for sure. I do have a plan though."

Even if I can manage the dungeon itself with the countermeasures I've been slowly preparing lately, the dragon is honestly a complete unknown. A natural-born red dragon has to be strong, right?

Well, our victory is already guaranteed, so let's take it easy.

Since there's no renovation needed on our end this time, the preparations are nice and simple. Proposing a defensive battle was definitely the right call.