- One Who Desires a Contract with a Demon
- Princess Irena of the Seil Kingdom has requested a helping hand. Dispatch dungeon monsters and aid Princess Irena.
- Reward: Increased affection from Princess Irena
A special mission that had appeared only a few days ago.
- You have provided great assistance to Princess Irena!
- Special mission successfully completed!
- As a reward, Princess Irena’s affection increases.
A notification appeared, announcing that the special mission had ended in success.
“Oh.”
As expected of Celia.
This time, too, it had been a resounding success without even needing to look.
Now that I’d made the acquaintance of the princess of the Seil Kingdom, it would surely be of great help someday.
“I guess it’s about time I drew one, huh?”
It was good that the mission had been carried out perfectly.
But along with that, one concern had also arisen.
‘I’ve been working Celia too hard.’
If the [Eldorad] game I was playing right now had been an ordinary game, I would have raised my forces centered around Celia without much hesitation.
But this was no ordinary game.
No, before being a game, it was undeniably reality.
“I need to raise the others too.”
Celia was strong.
But that didn’t mean I could rely on Celia for everything.
What if she was away on other business when I needed her?
That would be quite a serious blow.
“I guess it would be best to draw another lieutenant after all.”
Right now, I had a 5-star Death Knight and a Goblin Lord.
And not long ago, while carrying out an additional mission, I had also evolved the Lich into a 5-star Arch Lich.
Of course, evolving the Lich had cost no small amount of money, but it wasn’t my money anyway.
It was money I had taken after turning the tables on Ji Taehun and Ji Seongmin, the father and son who had tried to harm me.
In the process, Ji Taehun had met his end, and Ji Seongmin was currently in Azmo’s dungeon, but what could I do?
They had to pay the price for trying to attack me.
In any case, that wasn’t the issue right now.
Even if I currently had three 5-star monsters, they were different in nature from lieutenants, and the work they did was different as well.
From the beginning, they were beings far removed from dungeon management.
I looked at the dungeon where the Death Knight and Arch Lich were.
[Temptation of Illusions]
- Administrator: Azmo (★★★★)
- Lieutenant: Vacant
It was the dungeon where Azmo was the administrator.
Ever since I dispatched the Death Knight and Lich there last time, the two of them had remained in Azmo’s dungeon.
“It’s an Arch Lich now, though….”
A dungeon that had not one, but two 5-star forces.
I deliberately did not return them to the original dungeon.
Azmo’s dungeon was currently in far too weak a state.
I knew that dungeons existed on Earth, but judging by the current dungeon’s forces, it felt like a sandcastle.
On top of that, since I didn’t know its exact location and had no way of knowing it, I intended to keep them here for the time being as a kind of insurance.
“Let’s leave these guys here for now.”
The original dungeon had enough forces that it wouldn’t need them immediately.
I went straight into the shop window.
The lieutenant draw I had first used at the beginning of the game.
After a very long time, I clicked on that draw again.
- You can set an additional lieutenant to manage a dungeon.
- Set a lieutenant through the draw. (Available lieutenants: Nest of the Evil God 0/1, Temptation of Illusions 0/1)
- Select 10 lieutenant candidate monsters (10,000 gems)
- You may select only one desired lieutenant candidate.
- Your selection cannot be undone, so please choose carefully.
Unlike last time, when it had been free, this time it required a whopping 10,000 gems.
It wasn’t even a ten-pull, but a selection draw.
Once I confirmed one, that draw would be over.
“Shall I start right away?”
I had already swallowed up the money left behind by Ji Seongmin.
With that money, I bought a large number of gems.
Then I immediately began the “lieutenant draw.”
“Wow!”
The first one to appear was a 5-star.
My luck was good right from the start.
But when I saw who had appeared, my expression soon crumpled.
“Ah….”
Name: Blood Devourer, Baalcherit (★★★★★)
Traits: A high-ranking demon descended from vampire royalty. She handles blood well, and over time has offset all the weaknesses of vampires.
- Would you like to set her as the lieutenant of the dungeon “Nest of the Evil God”?
- [Yes] [No]
I remembered.
How, when a 5-star had first appeared, I had happily chosen this one.
It was true that 5-stars were rare, but this draw had traps in it.
“I never imagined she would refuse.”
My joy at a 5-star appearing had been short-lived. I had already been turned down by this vampire named Baalcherit once before.
So my deliberation did not last long.
“I refuse.”
I selected “No.”
Then I immediately tapped the screen and moved on to the next draw.
The second one to appear was a monster with the appearance of a bat.
Name: Blood-Sucking Bat, Worth (★)
Traits: A bat. It likes darkness and flies around sucking the blood of its targets.
- Would you like to set it as the lieutenant of the dungeon “Nest of the Evil God”?
- [Yes] [No]
“Uh….”
At this point, one question occurred to me.
Both Baalcherit, who had appeared first, and Celia, who was currently the chief administrator of my dungeon, were intelligent beings.
I didn’t know about Baalcherit, but Celia was an outstanding talent, which was why she had been able to manage the dungeon and successfully carry out missions until now.
But the second lieutenant candidate was a bat.
“Can this guy really do the duties of a lieutenant well?”
Honestly, wouldn’t it be impossible?
This time, too, I chose to refuse.
Then I immediately tapped the next draw.
Wisp (★)
Hellhound (★★)
Mimic (★)
Mini Stone Golem (★★), and so on….
The results came out up to the ninth draw.
None of them were ones I liked, so I refused them all.
“Draws really are brutal.”
And finally, the tenth lieutenant candidate appeared.
“…….”
On the screen, a creature that looked like a worm was wriggling around.
“What is this…?”
Name: Small Baby Wyrm, Kkomuri (★)
Traits: A juvenile wyrm. It crawls around underground.
- Would you like to set it as the lieutenant of the dungeon “Nest of the Evil God”?
- [Yes] [No]
“…….”
Its name was Kkomuri?
It was even only one star.
The description was even more miserable.
No, was this really right?
A thing that looked like an earthworm could really serve as a lieutenant?
It made the bat that had appeared second look like a goddess by comparison.
“This is absolutely a refusal.”
And I was about to select “No.”
- Would you like to select [No]?
- If you do not select any lieutenant, the price of the lieutenant draw will increase by 2 times.
“?”
I always think this, but if this were an ordinary game, I would have quit long ago.
* * *
After finishing her contract with Princess Irena of the Seil Kingdom, Celia spent her days busily.
She dressed the skeleton knights in the knight armor of the Seil Kingdom that Irena had sent.
Then she had them infiltrate the Seil Kingdom.
The shadows spied within the kingdom and reported back frequently, serving as support for Irena.
Celia checked and organized the materials they brought.
She had so little time for work that she found herself thinking it would be nice if she had ten bodies.
Even so, Celia continued with her duties.
Because this was her master’s will.
She could not dare go against the will of that noble being.
As she continued working with that thought in mind—
She felt her master’s aura.
Celia turned her head toward the direction where she sensed her master’s presence.
And then.
Thud—
Something fell in front of Celia.
Wriggle, wriggle—
A small larva that looked like some kind of earthworm was wriggling on Celia’s desk.
Celia placed the creature on her palm.
“…….”
Celia could tell.
This had been sent by her master.
Wriggle, wriggle—
The larva still wriggled on her palm.
It was truly small.
Insignificant.
But it was a being bestowed by her master.
“…There must surely be some meaning behind this, yes?”
From what she had experienced of her master until now, this had to be a message intended to convey something.
“Look upon humans as earthworms…?”
Hmm.
Celia pondered for a moment.
It was surely the profound will of her noble master, yet with her ignorance, she could not understand it at all.
“As expected, this Celia still has a long way to go before she can follow Master’s insight….”
* * *
Since long ago, the northern part of the Eldorad Continent had been a place not permitted to humans.
A truly unknown land, where no one knew what dungeons or monsters existed—the Demon Realm.
Fortunately, in order to reach the Demon Realm, one had to cross a vast mountain range, so the mountains naturally served as a boundary.
The country that benefited most from this terrain was, first and foremost, the Seil Kingdom. Although it was a country close to the Demon Realm, thanks to the vast mountain range, it did not have to worry greatly about monster waves.
In particular, the Free City Alliance and the Kalleun Empire, which could be called neighbors of the Seil Kingdom, also benefited handsomely.
Even if something were to happen in the Demon Realm, the mountain range and the Seil Kingdom would draw attention first.
And even if that failed, at the very least they would buy time.
To them, the Seil Kingdom was practically serving as a breakwater.
However, they, too, had their own concerns.
They simply did not have to worry about the Demon Realm; dungeons and monsters appeared at random, after all.
The 5-star vampire dungeon located in the Kalleun Empire was a prime example.
It was Baalcherit’s force.
With her terrifying power, Baalcherit rapidly expanded her scale in an instant.
She absorbed nearby dungeons or incorporated them into her own faction.
Thanks to that, not only the Kalleun Empire but even the Free City Alliance grew wary of Baalcherit.
But the humans did not even dare think of touching her, and Baalcherit entered a peaceful period.
When she thought this peace would continue for some time—no, perhaps for a very long time—
The Order moved.
“How did it come to this…!”
Baalcherit sat upon the throne of her dungeon.
Right now, she was clutching her head with an expression of despair.
“Those bastards of the White Order….”
For her, who had been enjoying a peaceful period for some time, the current situation was truly irritating.
It was because of the White Order.
The White Order had covertly deployed holy knights and was gnawing away at her forces.
If they had attacked Baalcherit herself from the beginning, she would have dealt with them quickly, but they moved cunningly.
They adopted a strategy of subjugating the subordinate dungeons around her and削ing down her forces.
“Those rat-like bastards. What the hell are they scheming?!”
Of course, Baalcherit herself had moved personally to stop them.
But her opponent moved swiftly and cleverly.
All she could do was chase after their tails.
As this situation repeated several times, Baalcherit gradually grew exhausted as well.
If she followed her heart, she wanted to storm directly into the Order’s headquarters, but that was beyond her power.
If the distance between her and the Order had been close, it might have been different.
No—perhaps it might have been possible if they were still as they had been in the past, but not anymore.
They, too, had accumulated tremendous power, so if she moved rashly, there was a high chance she would fail to recover even her initial losses.
Baalcherit pondered.
“…Is there no one who will help noble me?”
An ally who would help her.
And at that very moment—
【…….】
The empty air she was looking at began to distort.
A familiar aura appeared.
An aura she could never forget.
“…Don’t tell me.”
It was the insolent one who had once told her, a descendant of royalty, to become a slave.
It was unmistakably that one’s aura.
A being who was on the same level as her, or perhaps even higher.
Baalcherit cautiously opened her mouth.
“Perhaps.”
The other party’s aura grew even more powerful.
She knew for certain.
The other party was an existence far above her.
Now was the time to put aside her pride.
“Could you help me—”
【Refused】
“?”
Leaving behind that single word, the other party disappeared.
As though they had never existed at all.
“Nooooo!”
Baalcherit’s expression collapsed.