Rei's Consultation

After finishing the naming ceremony, something occurred to me.

Since I have absolute command authority, loyalty shouldn't really matter, right?

… No, even with absolute command authority, there should be a big difference in performance between someone brimming with self-motivation and someone who isn't. Probably. I think.

That armor was a real pain to put on and take off, though. Full plate is not something you want to wear.

Anyway, let's check on how the dungeon is doing today.

By the way, regarding our dungeon, it's not as if nobody has died here. That kind of peaceful scenario doesn't apply. Actually, as befitting a dungeon, a number of E-Rank adventurers have died. Careless rookies sometimes stumble into traps and die just like that.

Even so, if you're properly careful, it's still at a level where you won't die, so in a way it's the perfect dungeon as a rite of passage for newcomers. That's our [Cave of Desires] for you. A beginner's dungeon.

And the magic sword test room set up in the labyrinth area is showing signs of activity.

Due to popular demand, I added three more rooms, and even today, adventurers who heard there are "guaranteed magic swords" in this dungeon came and got themselves locked up.

… It seems this latest batch didn't hear about the [Greed Trap] that the Guild publicizes. I could just leave them be, right? Though, maybe I'll save them if they're about to die and sell them a favor.

But someone dumb enough to not even pick up the basic information at the Guild, like "you can get out by returning the magic sword to the pedestal," probably won't offer much return…

Oh, he's shouting things like "I'm Drasan, third son of the Leech family! There's no way I'd die in a place like this, do something!" An aristocrat, huh. There might be returns, but saving him seems like it'd lead to trouble. Pass.

Dungeons are fundamentally enter-at-your-own-risk. Without a rescue request from the Guild, I'll just leave him.

His companions who look like followers are getting irritated by his arrogant attitude, so there might be causes of death other than starvation.

This is a dungeon, after all. Nobody dying here would be strange. Bodies get consumed by the dungeon without a trace. "Couldn't be saved from an instant-death trap," or "Was holding off a monster and got eaten by another while I looked away," there are endless excuses to be had.

Furthermore, it's a sealed room with no other witnesses, and everyone is armed. Yep, I'm looking forward to the DP.

The customer is god. At our place, they're mainly the dearly departed. Rest in peace.

Oh, but right now there are other adventurers besides him exploring the labyrinth area, so word might reach them.

I'll secretly block off the route to this test room. Fufufu, they're saying things like "Rescue should come soon," but it won't be coming for a while, you know? Setting the aristocrat himself aside, his followers' DP is pretty appetizing.

While I was observing the dungeon like watching an ant farm, Rei came over with a serious expression. Apparently she wanted to discuss something.

"… I want to be useful to the dungeon! I'll do anything, please give me work!"

Seriously? When did she become such a corporate drone… no, since it's a dungeon, a dungeon drone? When did she turn into such a dungeon drone? … It must be the effect of the naming ceremony!

Well, honestly, just working as the inn's receptionist is plenty helpful…

"I want to do things that benefit the dungeon too, like Kinue and Nerune… For Master's sake!"

"… Well, you're helpful enough just being a receptionist, you know?"

"You don't need to be considerate, Master. I'm undoubtedly a defective vampire. I even almost make mistakes counting copper coins sometimes…"

Hey, don't mess that up. Maybe I should automate that part too. Like a register… Wait, come to think of it, I already built a coin-dispensing mechanism for the slot machine. I could make something similar…

But work for Rei, huh. Or rather, a vampire that can't use offensive power or special abilities: who does that benefit? I made her myself, so I shouldn't complain, but I hadn't thought of any work for her besides inn employee at all… Any good ideas?

When I averted my gaze slightly downward from Rei's serious stare, the dungeon map was still displayed.

… Come to think of it, a person's own attack power has nothing to do with controlling dungeon monsters.

During Dungeon Battles, I've been remotely commanding golems to move, but Rei could do that too, right?

Or rather, can Rei not access the menu?

I feel like there should be something like authority delegation in the menu. She's a dungeon monster, after all. Without that, you couldn't entrust a sub-dungeon to a subordinate if you think about it logically…

"Master, as I thought, there's nothing I can do…"

"Ah, sorry, sorry. I was just thinking about work."

I searched the menu… Oh, there it is. Well look at that, it was right there all along.

Let's see, grant authority. Selectable targets are [Gobsuke], [Feni], [Rei], [Kinue], and [Nerune]… Wait, why is Gobsuke there?! The others are white but only Gobsuke is greyed out!

Could it be that you can't remove named monsters from this list? Uwaa. I should stop casually naming things. I don't like it when things get cluttered like this.

Since Niku and Ichika, being slaves, aren't on the list, I guess some kind of dungeon connection is needed after all.

"Alright, help me with a little experiment."

"Y-yes! Since I'm a vampire, I'm somewhat tougher than humans, so there's no problem at all even if you're rough with me!"

With her consent, let's try granting Rei menu display authority for now.

On top of that, there seem to be detailed options like specifying the effective range. I'll set the range to the dungeon and inn, and… DP usage restrictions? Wait, what, there's something like this too? Hold on, hold on, does this mean I don't have to personally bring out food anymore?

Uwaa, I should have looked into this more thoroughly. Well, it's possible that a condition like needing five or more named monsters existed before now.

Anyway, permission, permission. I'll limit the usable amount and the range of items that can be DP-converted, and grant permission!

Having menu access means she's essentially a manager. They were originally summoned as manager candidates anyway… If it goes well with Rei, I'll grant the same to Kinue and Nerune later.

"Alright, try showing me if you can bring it up."

"Huh?! W-what should I bring out… b-breasts?! Breast milk?!"

"Wait. The menu. Menu."

Why'd she suddenly start talking about breasts?

"S-sorry. Master was staring at my chest while pointing and poking…"

… Now that she mentions it, the menu was in invisible mode. Crap, I'm just a total pervert from her perspective.

Hm? But conversely… if I say I'm looking at the menu, could I get away with staring at legs? Ah, no, visually I'd just be a guy staring at legs. Let's not.

"Menu, it appeared! I see, I can set visibility for the other party… You were looking at the menu while it was invisible!"

"That's right."

So in the end, she was able to bring up the menu. With this, I can leave dungeon monitoring and issuing orders to monsters in her hands. She's originally from a race skilled at combat, so she'll probably do well.

"So, I'd like you to help with the dungeon."

I continued experimenting and confirmed that I could revoke and re-grant the authority.

She seemed incredibly happy to help, but there had been a chance that I wouldn't be able to re-grant the authority after revoking it… It's fine. Even if I hadn't been able to re-grant it and she'd gone back to being just a useless person, I wouldn't have abandoned her.