Celia had returned after completing her mission on Earth.
She immediately went back to work.
“To think work piled up this much just because I was gone for a little while…”
In fact, Celia’s desk was covered with related documents.
Most of them were letters sent by Princess Irena of the Seil Kingdom, or information sent by the shadows she had attached to Irena.
There were also occasional documents from the Demon Realm Trading Company.
She first examined the letters Irena had sent.
Their contents were simple.
The first said that the White Order’s visit to the Seil Kingdom was imminent.
“Princess Irena should handle this well on her own.”
She was not in a position to quibble over this matter.
This was the sort of work best left to someone skilled at it from the beginning, so she intended to delegate all authority to Irena.
Celia moved on to the next letter.
It, too, was a letter from Princess Irena.
“I see.”
The contents of the next letter were as follows.
As soon as the matter with the Order was over, she planned to hand over the mountain range’s development rights to the nobles.
This, too, was a measure she had put forth in accordance with Celia’s orders.
However, another problem had arisen here.
Before Celia had gone to Earth to carry out Master’s command, she had once ordered Irena to do something.
To completely prohibit entry into the mountain range.
Up to that point, it had been fine, but the letter said that some nobles had become suspicious of it and had secretly sent adventurers into the mountain range.
“Hmm.”
Princess Irena said she would immediately find those involved and punish them severely, but Celia did not feel there was any particular need to do so.
“Mr. Shadow. Tell her to leave this matter alone.”
During her trip to Earth, Celia had thought about many things.
Battle was something fought not alone, but by many.
There was no meaning in becoming strong by oneself.
Hadn’t this time been the same?
The dungeon’s defenses were still so imperfect that Celia herself had had to make every preparation before leaving her post.
If that aspect had been perfect, there would have been no need to order the mountain range sealed off in the first place.
That was why she decided to turn the fact that the nobles had sent adventurers into an opportunity instead.
“This would be a good chance to gauge our forces.”
There were four dungeons under Celia.
The four dungeons were positioned to the east, west, south, and north of the dungeon Celia currently managed, forming a surrounding structure.
Since they were not exactly close to one another, each dungeon needed to have at least a minimum level of defense.
That made it all the more important to grasp the fighting power of those dungeons.
Since the Arch Lich was just then going on an inspection, this part would soon be understood.
If they fell short of the standard Celia had in mind, she intended to formally propose the matter of annexation to Master.
Perhaps they would have to expand the current operational range of the goblin scout unit as well.
“For now, let’s wait and see.”
Celia opened the next document.
It had been sent by the Death Knight.
Celia immediately moved on to the next document.
“This time, Mr. Goblin Lord sent it?”
This document had been written by the Goblin Lord.
Though calling it a document was a bit generous, since the handwriting crawled across the page like worms and was not easy to decipher.
There were a few words she could just barely make out.
“Mana gun… royal guard…?”
Mana gun.
This was something she knew well, having heard about it from the Goblin Lord.
The Goblin Lord had said he had learned of it during his trip to Earth.
In accordance with her orders, the Goblin Lord had fought the Hunters in order to secure an escape route.
In the process, he had said he had obtained several more weapons called mana guns.
“Hmm.”
Celia worked her mind and guessed at the words.
It seemed the Goblin Lord was likely proposing that they use the additionally acquired mana guns to form a goblin guard unit.
“Well, it’s a commendable thought to strengthen our forces, so I’ll permit it.”
In this way, the dungeon’s fighting power was continuing to grow stronger.
On top of that, they were under the protection of their great Master, so there was nothing to fear.
Celia smiled and continued on with her work.
* * *
The Arch Lich and the skeletons were walking through the forest.
Their race was undead.
They did not tire, nor did they need to eat anything.
Because of that, not long after they set out, they arrived at the first dungeon.
[Red-Haired Tribe]
The master of that dungeon was an orc named Skol.
He had been the first to surrender to Master, and for that merit, he was serving as a margrave.
In truth, his abilities were also fairly decent.
The Arch Lich nodded and entered the dungeon.
“Chwiik! I’ve been waiting! Sir Lich.”
The orc Skol, whose red hair fluttered.
“Ah, seeing as your aura has grown even more powerful, chwiik, I suppose I should call you Sir Arch Lich now!”
Skol welcomed the Arch Lich enthusiastically.
The Arch Lich likewise looked at Skol and nodded.
- Slow on information. This is grounds for a deduction.
He was indeed a cold-headed inspector.
“I, as chieftain, prepared a feast for Sir Arch Lich!”
The Arch Lich nodded.
Then he added one sentence behind the note he had just written.
- Slow on information. This is grounds for a deduction, but his firmness in pursuing the aesthetics of slowness in a rapidly changing dungeon is grounds for praise.
The Arch Lich recorded the dungeon as he followed behind Skol.
Skol showed the Arch Lich every corner of the dungeon and explained.
Like orcs who worshiped strength, weapons densely covered the walls.
Some orcs were maintaining their weapons.
“This is the training ground of our warriors!”
Skol pointed to one place with pride.
It was a training ground.
Most of the orcs were spending their time training with vigorous shouts.
They were bare-handed, but their enormous builds were intimidating.
There were even some who held weapons and sparred with one another.
If others saw them, they would think they were not sparring, but charging at each other with the intent to kill.
Contrary to such concerns, Skol explained calmly.
“Chwiik, we always worship strength! That’s why we train a lot. We work hard for the Ruler!”
Skol raised his hand as if filled with confidence.
They were orcs who trained as if in real combat in order to gain strength.
- Fighting power is good. Their efforts for Master are grounds for praise.
No one could deny this part.
That was how much effort Skol was putting into strengthening the dungeon’s forces.
The Arch Lich also praised this point.
Then the Arch Lich’s gaze turned toward another area.
There, goblins rather than orcs were living together.
“Ah, those are goblins!”
Skol continued speaking with a “chwiik.”
“It does not make sense for orcs and goblins to live in the same place! So we separated the locations at least!”
As Skol had said, the area where the orcs lived and the area where the goblins lived were divided exactly in half.
Of course, from Skol’s perspective, he did not like it, but it was the Ruler’s will, so he took what comfort he could in this.
The Arch Lich nodded.
“As expected! Sir Arch Lich understands!”
Skol cried out in emotion.
- Though he is the master who manages the dungeon, rather than harmony, he separates them from one another and—
“This is a gift for Sir Arch Lich!”
At that moment, Skol handed something to the Arch Lich as he was writing.
“It’s an artifact called a fountain pen, which I obtained from adventurers!”
At a glance, it was a writing instrument that looked luxurious.
On top of that, it was said to write smoothly even without dipping it in ink.
The Arch Lich carefully accepted the item from Skol.
He immediately tried writing in his notebook.
The smooth flow of the ink made it quite to his liking.
- Though he is the master of the dungeon, rather than harmony, he separates them from one another and attempts division of labor. A good attitude.
In truth, wasn’t Skol saying so right now?
“So I use the goblins as a scouting team according to their traits!”
Assigning roles according to the traits of each race was also the role of a dungeon’s master.
Skol’s dungeon had no problems, not only in terms of fighting power but in various other aspects as well.
Rather, it was doing well.
The Arch Lich nodded and made his final evaluation of that dungeon.
- Red-Haired Tribe Dungeon, no problems.
It was absolutely not an evaluation colored by his personal feelings.
The Arch Lich left the dungeon just like that.
The inspection of the first dungeon was over.
The skeleton on his left was holding a thick notebook, and the skeleton on his right was holding not a quill, but the fountain pen Skol had gifted him.
The skeleton behind him no longer carried a bottle filled with ink.
Because he had the fountain pen Skol had given him, ink was unnecessary.
Instead, it held the “small tokens of sincerity” Skol had packed for him.
“Clack!”
The Arch Lich led the skeletons and immediately set off for the next dungeon.
* * *
A group of several adventurers was climbing the mountain range.
“But are we really allowed to do this?”
One member of the group raised a question.
The woman who raised the question was named Nariel.
She was lightly armed from head to toe and had a large hat pulled low over her head.
She carried a bow on her back, and to anyone’s eyes, she looked like an ordinary adventurer.
And thanks to her agile abilities, she also served as the group’s guide.
Another member answered Nariel’s question.
“It’ll be fine. In the end, it’s a request from a noble lord, isn’t it?”
They all belonged to the Adventurers’ Guild in the Seil Kingdom.
Because of that, even as adventurers, they were often swayed by the policies of the Seil Kingdom.
It was the same now.
At present, the Seil Kingdom was scheduled to receive a visit from the White Order.
Since it was not a visit being made under pleasant circumstances, the Adventurers’ Guild within the kingdom was quietly keeping its head down.
A representative example was that they had stopped accepting dungeon requests in the mountain range.
In addition to that, not long ago, the royal family had even prohibited entry into the mountain range.
In truth, climbing the mountain range now was something that ought to be avoided.
But despite that situation, they were climbing the mountain range.
And that was not all.
They had even accepted a request to scout and subjugate the dungeons in the mountain range.
Of course, it was not an official request.
Nor was it made through the Adventurers’ Guild.
Even so, the reason they could do this was that a noble had separately designated it as a secret request.
And it was not a noble from some other country, but a noble of the Seil Kingdom who had taken the lead in this matter.
Accepting this request meant rebellion against the royal family, and at the same time, disobedience toward the Adventurers’ Guild.
But the amount the other party offered was far too enormous to refuse.
Of course, the fact that the other party was a noble also played a part, but it was the huge sum of money that moved their hearts.
The contents of the request were even simple.
They were only asked to scout the mountain range and check whether there were any unusual matters.
The dungeon scouting and subjugation request was also in a similar vein.
“To think a noble of the Seil Kingdom would entrust us with a request like this…”
The adventurers who accepted the request also expressed their doubts.
It was strange for a noble to act even while defying the royal family’s orders.
“What if a civil war breaks out like this?”
“Come on, surely not. Would something like that really happen? If so, they wouldn’t have given us a dungeon request.”
Everyone put forward their own thoughts on the current situation.
But they had already accepted the request.
No fool would refuse such a huge sum of money.
In any case, wasn’t it something they only needed to finish in secret?
Right now, the kingdom and even the Adventurers’ Guild were restricting entry into the mountain range.
If they slipped in and came back out quickly and secretly, there should be no chance of being discovered.
That was why they were climbing the mountain range without thinking too deeply about it.
Nariel, too, was walking silently at the front.
However, her expression was far from good.
“Nariel, is something wrong? You look really unwell.”
One of the members approached Nariel’s side.
It was Isrin, who used ice-type magic.
“Miss Isrin…”
Isrin placed a hand on Nariel’s forehead.
“Eek.”
Nariel jumped in fright when someone else’s hand touched her forehead.
“You don’t seem to have a fever. What’s wrong?”
“I-It’s just… I have a bad feeling…”
Nariel trailed off as she spoke her feelings.
Since her predictions were sometimes correct, no one took it lightly.
However, they had no intention of giving up the request.
They had already received the entire advance payment for the request.
Even just the advance payment was an astonishing amount; how much money would come in once they completed the request?
It was a situation where they might earn the largest sum of money in their lives.
They did not want to give up this request simply because of one reason—that she had a bad feeling.
Rather, if they gave up, they would have to pay a penalty.
They would have to repay several times the amount they had received, and they could not even imagine that sum.
That was why, instead, they tried to reassure Nariel.
“It’s fine. You must just be in a bit poor condition today.”
“Yeah, if you’re too tired, should we rest a little?”
They called Nariel’s name in gentle voices.
Outwardly, they were kind.
But inside them dwelled black desire.
Nariel had enough sense to know that much.
The only thing she had to do now was simply nod.
“No, I’m fine.”
Nariel even forced a smile.
And she could do nothing but continue walking forward.
After all, she knew it too.
The fact that it was far too late to turn back now.