Feeding The Dungeon

I read Farlbule’s diary—the one he had written after becoming a Hell Lich—in one of the small dungeon’s rooms.

Beside me, Liricia’s beautiful face twisted in pain.

“Well, he was doing human experimentation for his own selfish reasons, so taking him down was the right call.”

“I do feel sympathy for the sad circumstances he faced, but what he did was just far too grotesque…”

“You’re kind, Liricia. As expected of an angel.”

“Am I really? I’m not even sure myself… In any case, we should report what we found here, along with the diary, to the Adventurer Guild.”

“Yeah… that’s what people normally do.”

“Eh?—No way…”

Liricia stepped back a bit, frowning in distaste.

I nodded to confirm her suspicion.

“It would be a shame to waste a Dungeon Core that obeys us. How about we live here? No rent.”

Back when I was a hero, I would have reported this to the kingdom or the guild immediately.

But I had already been fired. If something was useful, I would use it myself.

As expected, Liricia rushed up to me, white habit swishing.

“Eeeeeeh!? What are you saying, Master!? Hiding what happened here and deciding to live in this place means being together with those poor victims forever! We have to lay them to rest!”

“We will. I’ll still report to the guild. But I’m keeping this dungeon’s existence to myself.”

“Uuh… I don’t like that. No matter how much you wish it, Master. Or rather—yes, that’s it. The very fact that I can argue this much against my Master, even as a slave, means it is for your sake as well. Living in a room where corpses were kept, or where the undead stayed, would not be good for your health. You could get sick or cursed.”

“You’re right. In that case, we can just remodel the rooms.”

“Eh? Is that even possible?”

“For starters, I can’t imagine these big bookshelves and beds in here ever fitting through that narrow passage. Doesn’t that mean the Dungeon Core created them?”

“Oh my! Really?”

“We’ll know if we ask.”

We left the room and stood in front of the round orb.

“Can you remodel this dungeon? Add things like rooms, a living room, a kitchen, a bath?”

『It is possible. Issue any command.』

“See? It says it can. What do you think, Liricia?”

“Mm… but—there’s no sunlight here.”

“Got it. Then we’ll just use it as a passageway. It’ll shorten the travel time from the Royal Capital to the depths of the forest.”

“I see. That might be good.”

“In that case… Dungeon Core. Can you reroute the passages?”

『It is possible. Issue any command. Insufficient mana. Possible.』

“It’s kind of broken… Are you okay—here.”

I placed my hand on it and poured in Serâge.

Then, with a pe-kooon sort of different chime, the orb lit up.

『Mana acquired: 100%. Dungeon level has increased. You may now create a new floor. Create one?』

“We don’t need that right now. You should repair your own half-broken self instead.”

『It is possible. It is not possible. Insufficient materials. Mana is sufficient.』

“What kind of materials?”

『Monsters. Living creatures. Flesh. Any solid matter.』

“Ah, of course—you usually drag living creatures into the dungeon and kill them… Oh, we still have a huge amount of Wyvern meat.”

『There is enough. Materials desired. Enough enough enough. Anything is possible. Materials material material… e-e-enough.』

“This is bad… It’s about to really break.”

“W-what should we do, Master!?”

“We hurry back! Or we might get buried alive!”

“Yes!”

Liricia and I raced back down the passage.

The pale blue light made it very bright.

On the way in, the passage had felt long, but running it took only a few minutes before we were back at the log cabin.

Outside, the sun had not yet fully set.

“Good, let’s grab the Wyvern meat while we’re at it. I hope we’re in time.”

“I’ll help!”

We hauled the Wyvern meat we had dumped in the nearby forest and tossed it into the dungeon.

The light flickered, and the meat was drawn down under the floor.

It started to feel oddly fun—like feeding a pet.

We ended up throwing in all of it.

The glow from the dungeon behind the wardrobe stabilized.

“…Did that fix it?”

“I wish we could have at least carried out the books and medicines in there beforehand.”

Suddenly, a voice echoed out from the dungeon—a clear, high voice, like that of a boy or girl.

“Everything is fine. I am fully repaired now, Master.”

“Oh. Good. Let’s go check.”

“Yes.”

We walked back along the narrow passage again.

White light shone down from the ceiling, making it easy to walk.

The passage I had thought narrow didn’t bother me as much anymore.

“Having proper lighting really makes it feel clean.”

“It is not just that. The atmosphere has changed greatly. It is filled with holy power—almost as if it were snuggling up to you, Master.”

Liricia walked beside me, silver hair swaying as she looked around.

I had never had anything snuggle up to me, so I couldn’t say.

“Huh. Maybe because it’s running on my Serâge?”

“That is probably it. …To think you even purified the Dungeon Core itself—truly amazing, Master.”

Liricia happily clung to my arm.

“Well, in that case, you don’t mind us using the Dungeon Core anymore, right?”

“Not at all! …Also, I’m sorry for going against you earlier, Master. I simply could not imagine you would accomplish something this incredible…”

“No, no, I rely on you, Liricia. Keep giving me sensible opinions.”

“Thank you, Master!”

Liricia pressed even closer. The large breasts squished against me were endlessly soft.

We reached the hall in about a minute.

The orb that had been black was now pure white, with blue lines of light running across its surface.

“Doesn’t it feel like the distance got shorter?”

The white orb glowed blue as it spoke.

“I shortened it, Master. If it is just a passage, shorter is better.”

“Oh, you can communicate properly now. Your wording is still a little odd, though. —And you’re sure about me being your master?”

“The previous master never fixed me, even when I said it was possible. He was a bad man with no sense of responsibility. So now you are my Master, Master.”

“I see. Then, about rerouting the passage…”

“I can do that. What would you like?”

“First, I want to find out exactly where the room on the Royal Capital side connects. After that, I want to link the dungeon to a room in an inn.”

“It has to connect to the ground. Basement or first floor—otherwise it is difficult.”

“Got it. Makes sense.”

Then, from the surface of the white orb, a rectangular slab slid out. Its surface gleamed like tiles.

“This is a sub-core. If you carry it, you can give instructions from outside as well, kind of like that?”

“Very handy. Got it—also, I want to move the people who were experimented on to somewhere in the Royal Capital. I’ll handle that through this sub-core.”

“Understood.”

“Do you still have enough mana? You used some just now, right?”

“Current mana: ninety-two percent! After nations fall, the mountains still remain~”

“Here you go.”

I touched the orb’s surface and poured in Serâge.

Next to the front panel, I saw the number 92 displayed, and with a series of beep-beep-beep sounds, the number climbed.

When I stopped it at 100, the core spoke.

“I will make it so the main unit’s mana level can also be checked from the sub-core.”

“Got it. We’ll be back. Come on, Liricia.”

“Yes, Master!”

Liricia and I walked down the white passage leading to the Royal Capital.

In barely a minute, we arrived at the door.

…This really was convenient, I thought to myself.