“All right, everyone, good work!”
Celia gathered the monsters in the heart of the dungeon.
They had successfully concluded this operation, and the Sale Kingdom had fallen into their hands. This was the follow-up meeting.
She began first with praise and encouragement for the monsters.
“Mr. Goblin Lord, you guarded the dungeon well while we were away. You did very well.”
The Goblin Lord nodded.
With the higher-grade monsters gone, a hole had opened in the dungeon’s defensive forces.
To fill it, the entire goblin scout unit, centered around the Goblin Lord, had gone on alert.
Of course, there had been no intruders—not in the dungeon, nor even in the nearby forest.
Even so, by guarding the dungeon alone, the Goblin Lord had carried out his duty perfectly.
Celia’s praise continued.
Necros had played a role in raising Irena’s recognition during this mission by turning some people into skeletons.
The half-vampire Dhampir, their newest member, and the young Hydra had driven the humans into the outskirts of the royal capital. Despite working together for the first time, they had done well.
In addition, the monsters dispatched to the Sale Kingdom—skeleton knights, hobgoblins, zombies, and others—had threatened people, destroyed buildings, and spread terror.
“And as for Mr. Death Knight…”
The Death Knight had returned to his original form.
As a consequence of his temporary evolution, the Death Knight was currently afflicted with an inability to act.
“Originally, Master wished for you to remain quiet, Mr. Death Knight. However, since the result turned out well, I will not hold you responsible for this matter.”
Under normal circumstances, he should have been punished.
He had been told to stay quiet, yet the Death Knight had acted on his own and nearly escalated the situation.
But in the end, things had concluded favorably.
Thus, Celia decided not to ask for punishment.
That meant, in other words, that the matter would not be included in the report to Master.
At Celia’s words, the immobilized Death Knight smiled brightly.
“Instead, you will be responsible for supervising the human you brought back, Mr. Death Knight.”
There was one human he had brought from the kingdom: Count Beerton.
Count Beerton was put to work on fortification construction in place of the Death Knight, who could not move.
With a pickaxe in one hand.
Once that discussion was more or less wrapped up, they moved on to the next agenda item.
“The greatest change that has occurred for us is that a portion of our restrictions has been lifted.”
This operation had expanded their range of activity.
Previously, due to the restriction, they could go no farther than the forest around the dungeon at best. But now, things were different.
“It seems we can travel to the Sale Kingdom without much difficulty.”
As soon as Celia sensed that the restriction had been lifted, she immediately confirmed it.
The result was that they could make a round trip to the Sale Kingdom without issue.
“And so, the number of tasks we must handle has increased.”
Celia continued speaking.
“From now on, in addition to managing the dungeon, we must also manage the kingdom.”
In short, there were more places to manage.
Naturally, that meant they would need more hands as well.
However, since they could not neglect any one place, they now had to distribute their forces appropriately.
“First, Mr. Dhampir.”
The first person Celia called on was Dhampir.
“Head to the Adventurers’ Guild in the Sale Kingdom.”
Dhampir was a half-vampire.
As a mixed-blood between human and vampire, his appearance was close to that of a human. Unless someone examined him closely, there was little risk of him being discovered.
“Raise your recognition as an adventurer and blend in among the humans.”
Dhampir bowed his head at Celia’s command.
As it happened, the banshees had already spread throughout various parts of the continent.
To begin with, as long as banshees could manipulate other humans, they had no restriction on their range of activity.
Using that fact, Celia had previously scattered the banshees across several regions.
The seeds sown in that way would one day sprout and bloom.
Planting one more seed called Dhampir this time followed the same principle.
He was no different from a chess piece that would one day be useful.
“Next is Mr. Necros.”
At Celia’s designation, Necros, the guardian of the first floor, nodded.
“I apologize, Mr. Necros, but from now on, please take on affairs in the kingdom as well.”
“Clack?”
For the time being, there was no issue with the dungeon’s defense.
In such a situation, there was no need for even Necros to insist on guarding the dungeon.
“What I need you to do, Mr. Necros, is establish an underground organization in the kingdom. No, rather than establish one, it would be closer to managing one.”
Managing an underground organization.
The Sale Kingdom was currently in chaos, as a large number of nobles had been executed or imprisoned.
Thanks to that, the interests the nobles had held, as well as the order of the underworld, had been left floating in the air.
“When I asked Count Beerton, whom we abducted this time, it seems there are covert organizations hidden within the Sale Kingdom as well. They are said to be expanding their influence mainly by operating things such as human trafficking, narcotics, gambling dens, and fighting arenas.”
Underground organizations could only become a destabilizing factor for the kingdom.
But it would be burdensome to simply eliminate them outright.
After all, new organizations would enter the vacancies left behind.
In that case, Celia thought it would be better to manage them directly.
Only when something was in one’s hand could it truly be safe.
“Please manage the organization, Mr. Necros.”
However, Necros looked indifferent.
Rather than doing such troublesome work, he would rather remain in the dungeon and—
“The profits generated by the organization will be managed at your discretion, Mr. Necros. I, Celia, will guarantee this.”
As expected, Necros decided that going to the Sale Kingdom was better than remaining in the dungeon.
Great status always came with great responsibility.
Necros nodded at Celia’s command.
“Now, let us continue on to the next item. Above all, we must send monsters to the Sale Kingdom…”
The meeting continued in the heart of the dungeon.
* * *
The special mission ended faster than I had expected.
I had thought it would take at least a few months for Princess Irena to become queen.
After all, becoming the ruler of a nation shouldn’t have been that easy.
But not long after I dispatched the dungeon monsters, the situation was resolved.
“It was definitely the right call to attach Maru to the princess.”
She had become queen now, but in the first place, the objective of this mission had been to make the princess the ruler.
Because of that, it had been necessary to raise the princess’s recognition, and the strategy of throwing the Sale Kingdom into chaos had hit the mark.
Thanks to that, Princess Irena had been able to accomplish a great deal.
After reading the report Celia sent, it seemed that Queen Irena’s recognition had risen tremendously due to this incident.
Then the king of the Sale Kingdom announced that he would step down to take responsibility for the situation. Conversely, Princess Irena, whose prestige had risen, immediately ascended as the new queen.
“It’s certainly convenient when everyone does such a good job.”
Since everyone moved with one heart and one mind, matters were being resolved easily.
I touched my smartphone with a satisfied smile.
In particular, a major change occurred once this mission ended.
The range of activity for the dungeon monsters had expanded all the way to the Sale Kingdom.
On top of that, I had gained the absolute loyalty of Irena, who had become queen.
“At this point, isn’t the Sale Kingdom practically in my hands?”
Now the monsters I owned could freely operate as far as the Sale Kingdom.
Celia would undoubtedly try to seize the kingdom’s interests.
To begin with, the queen herself was on our side, so there would be no one to raise complaints.
This much was enough.
“While I’m at it, I should have them manage the mountain range in earnest too.”
The management I meant here was closer to control.
It would be easy if they used the Sale Kingdom to manage the mountain range.
Of course, completely controlling it would have the opposite effect.
They just needed to loosen things up to a suitable degree while preventing adventurers from coming near my dungeon.
Then the number of intruders would naturally decrease, and the dungeon’s safety would be secured as well.
I immediately issued an order to Celia.
If it was Celia, she would surely grasp my meaning, so I entrusted it to her with confidence.
“Perfect.”
If this were a game, it felt like I had only just finished the tutorial, but I couldn’t help the smile that burst out.
After wrapping things up roughly, I turned off my smartphone screen.
It was about time to eat.
“Maru, make me some food.”
As I left my room, I spoke to Maru.
“Clack!”
Maru nodded and headed to the kitchen. Beside him, the skeleton soldier Coco assisted.
It was an absolutely perfect harmony.
As I watched with a satisfied smile, I heard a voice from beside me.
“Um, that…”
The owner of the voice was Ciel.
Ciel was the elf I had brought back through the auction held by the Demon Realm Trading Company.
But she was so taciturn that I had been worried about communication. Still, ever since she accidentally infused magic power into the gargoyle, she had started to open her mouth little by little.
“Um… M-Master?”
I had never ordered Ciel to call me Master. It was just a title Ciel used on her own.
“Yeah, what is it?”
Of course, the fact that Ciel had spoken first was a big gain in itself, so instead of correcting the title, I answered carefully.
“Um, someone… is coming…”
“?”
Someone was coming to the house?
How did Ciel know that?
“…The wind spirit… I contracted… told me…”
The wind spirit she contracted told her?
I was curious how it had told her, but that wasn’t the important thing right now.
“Are you sure they’re coming here?”
The place I lived in was a villa.
That meant the other party’s destination might not be here.
“This place… is right…!”
“How many are there?”
“Th-That is… there are quite a few…”
So it wasn’t just one or two people.
If what Ciel said was true, the important question was who was coming here and why.
‘The Association?’
No, that was unlikely.
The Association usually notified hunters to visit them directly.
‘They aren’t intruders, are they?’
Even if they were intruders, I was different from before.
There was five-star Maru.
And the gargoyle, which had become five-star after receiving Ciel’s magic power.
Unless they were extraordinary hunters, it would be difficult for them to even enter the house.
‘I don’t even know if they’re intruders yet, so let’s calm down for now.’
Thinking of the father and son who had tried to get rid of me last time had made me needlessly sensitive.
For now, I calmed myself and waited quietly.
And a short while later.
Ding-dong—
The doorbell rang.
“Are you inside, by any chance?”
It was a man’s voice.
What Ciel said had been true.
“Who is it?”
I answered the other party.
For now, it was important to know who they were.
Fortunately, the other party answered my question right away.
“We’re from the Firebird Guild.”
The Firebird Guild?
A completely unexpected party had appeared.
Why had the Firebird Guild come to me?
‘Surely they’re not here about the monster wave?’
The monster wave Azmo had caused last time.
At the time, the dungeon where the monster wave had broken out was one managed by the Firebird Guild.
The problem was that I had moved that dungeon after the monster wave ended.
Since the dungeon where the monster wave had started disappeared, the government thoroughly tore into the Firebird Guild.
The media kept reporting on the Firebird Guild, and people pointed fingers at them.
They had even been branded as traitors who had tried to ruin the nation.
Since I was the cause of the dungeon’s disappearance, I felt pointlessly guilty.
Surely they hadn’t come to get revenge on me?
‘But they shouldn’t have been able to find any connection to me.’
I could be sure of this much, if nothing else.
Then why had they come to my house?
As all sorts of thoughts passed through my head, another voice spoke this time.
“Mr. Lee Kanghyeon, it’s me.”
It was a woman’s voice.
“I’m Jeong Yerin. Do you perhaps remember me?”
Jeong Yerin?
It was a name I had heard before.
And the voice I heard also felt familiar, as though I had heard it sometime.
Unfortunately, though, I couldn’t remember who she was.
“We met at a café last time…”
When I remained silent, the other party mentioned the specific place, the café.
‘A café…’
Only then did I remember who the other party was.
After returning to Earth, I had gone to a café exactly once.
More importantly, how could I forget someone that peculiar?
She was the woman who had suddenly approached me back then and handed me a Firebird Guild business card.
Then she had thanked me and suddenly left.
In short, she was a strange woman.
I thought about just ignoring her, but then opened the front door.
After all, Maru and the gargoyle were currently in my house. Even if the other party tried something foolish, I just had to stop them.
For all practical purposes, this place was a home no different from a dungeon.
* * *
“I see.”
After the meeting ended, Celia, who had been handling her duties, nodded.
A moment ago, Master had issued an order.
“He is telling us to manage the mountain range through the kingdom.”
However, Celia did not take the order at face value.
There was no way the great one would simply order them to manage the mountain range.
The true meaning must be hidden within the command.
This was a test.
“Managing the mountain range…”
It definitely did not mean simply managing the mountain range.
“Could he perhaps mean for us to hide the dungeon?”
She soon shook her head. That could not be it either.
If they hid the dungeon, there would be no intruders.
If there were no intruders, that was no different from having no sacrifices to offer to Master.
That was absolutely unacceptable.
“This will not do. Bring me a map.”
Celia instructed the skeleton knight serving as her attendant to bring her a map of the continent.
“Clack!”
It was a map for adventurers obtained through Queen Irena.
It was a map that even marked the Demon Realm, something low-ranking adventurers could not obtain.
“Hmm…”
Celia gazed at the map and fell into thought.
There was undoubtedly a profound meaning behind it.
After staring at the mountain range for a long while, she soon obtained a flash of insight.
“Ah!”
Currently, there were a total of three nations on the continent adjacent to the mountain range.
Among them, excluding the Sale Kingdom, only the Free City Alliance and the Kaln Empire remained.
And the nation closest to the Sale Kingdom was the Free City Alliance.
“So that is what he meant by managing the mountain range!”
This was a signal to prepare.
To prepare to conquer the Free City Alliance, which was close to the Sale Kingdom.
“I am certain that is what he meant.”
Having once again grasped the will of her great master today, Celia could not hide her satisfaction.