Garden Expansion And Guildmaster Rubel

Morning in the forest.

Bright sunlight poured down around the mansion.

After clearing that poison-like closed-type dungeon, I was out in the mansion garden.

Beside me was the pegasus mother, Milene.

“Now then. Sacred beasts will probably keep increasing, so I want you—Milene, as a sacred beast—to tell me what kind of environment would be comfortable for you going forward.”

By the way, since we were in a forest, I had selected a forest-type field dungeon for Kou’s dungeon expansion.

Milene, the white horse, turned her long neck, looked over the mansion and the surrounding woods, and then said,

“Let me think… I’d be happy if there were a spring.”

“A spring, got it. Anything else? Would you prefer staying in the house rather than a stable?”

“We actually feel more at ease in a stable. Some sacred beasts might prefer a cave-like dwelling, too. And we don’t know what kinds of sacred beasts will gather, so having various foods—like fruit trees or nuts—would be nice.”

“I see. I had an idea too. I wanted fields.”

“Yes, that should be fine.”

I took out the handheld device and called.

“Kou, next to the mansion we probably need a stable and a watering place, and a bath-like place to rinse off too. And in the garden: a spring, a rocky cave, fields, and fruit trees. Can you do it?”

‘Aye, yes. I’ll place things roughly first, so please tell me if you want adjustments.’

“Do it.”

The garden lit up.

A fine stable with white walls and a triangular roof rose beside the house. Inside, it was partitioned with boards and laid with straw.

Right in front of the stable, a roofed watering place appeared. It had large, medium, and small heights, so it could accommodate sacred beasts from big to small.

A deep bathing space where a pegasus could soak up to the shoulders also appeared, with a thin waterfall running down from above.

The wall and moat around the house expanded, and the watering place in front of the entrance disappeared.

Instead, a paved path extended straight from the entrance and continued to the gate.

Fields spread out on both sides of the path, and fruit trees grew there.

A spring with a fountain formed a little farther out from the stable.

In a corner of the fields, a hut made by stacking large rocks was built.

I asked Milene beside me,

“What do you think? Is something like this okay?”

“Yes… though I think it would be good to have a slightly larger tree where birds can perch.”

“Like branches spreading out sideways… hmm. That’ll be for later. A giant tree taller than the forest canopy would stand out.”

“I see. Expanding after more of the others arrive won’t be too late. More importantly—being able to prepare an environment in an instant… as expected of you, Alec-sama.”

“It’s thanks to my companions. I’ll be counting on you too from here on, Milene.”

Just then, from the forest, the white foal Ciel came running.

Spreading his wings, he drifted lightly over the wall and landed in the field.

“Whoa! Mom, there’s an apple tree! Can I eat this?”

The fruit trees already had red fruit on them. I didn’t know how it worked, but for a dungeon it was probably easy.

Milene looked up at me with big eyes.

“May we have some?”

“Yeah, go ahead. Though if you eat everything, that’s a problem. Leave about half of the fields and fruit trees.”

“Understood—half, Ciel.”

“Okaaay, Mom, Alec-san!”

The apple tree was twice a person’s height, but Ciel fluttered his wings and hovered, chomping apples straight off the branches with crisp bites. Pretty skillful.

“It’s good! Super juicy and refreshing, and somehow it feels sacred too—so good!”

“Oh my… that’s wonderful, Ciel. You should thank Alec-san.”

“Okaaay—Alec-san, thank you!”

Ciel thanked me with narrowed eyes, still eating.

I nodded back, then spoke through the handheld device.

“The garden and stable seem fine like this. Thanks, Kou.”

‘No problem~. I’m happy I can serve as a field dungeon too!’

“Also, about what we’ll grow in the fields—”

‘Yes! Watering, fertilizer, sowing, harvesting~ Leave it all to me~. I can even make seeds from ingredients, yes.’

“That’s impressive. —Then I want you to grow medicinal herbs.”

‘Medicinal herbs?’

“I’ve had Liricia and Teti go into the forest every day to gather them, but if we can harvest them in the garden, it’ll make quest requests easier—that’s what I’ve been thinking for a while. We’re heading into the rainy season through summer, and it’ll be rough.”

‘As expected of Master, your thinking is bold!’

Milene beside me widened her eyes too.

“Growing herbs that only grow in forests… in forest fields. That idea is amazing.”

“Thanks, Kou. And Milene too. Alright—let’s do that.”

‘Okaaay.’

I ended the call.

“Milene, I’m counting on you too. Keep an eye on whether the facilities are fine as-is, and whether the pond placement is safe so the child won’t fall in. Patrol for me.”

“Of course. Truly, I’m glad you made us such a splendid home.”

Milene spread her white wings with a whoosh and bowed deeply and gracefully. I could feel the gratitude was sincere.

I told her not to worry about it, and returned to the mansion.

After making the garden livable for sacred beasts, I decided to do my daily routine.

I took Liricia with me to the Adventurer Guild.

The Adventurer Guild had regained a few more people.

Because field damage from animals had increased, it seemed emergency high-paying requests had increased too.

Apparently Edgar’s team was doing great work, by the way.

Liricia went to the counter to take a request, and I checked the board to gauge the current situation.

“More wolf extermination requests… no bears yet, it seems. They’ve even posted requests to search for wolf dens. Could be in the forest.”

If it wasn’t in the forest, it would be a pain—so I’d investigate first and maybe take it tomorrow.

While I was thinking that, there was a jingle behind me.

I turned around, and Guildmaster Rubel was there.

Her red twin-tails writhed like a storm, and she stood with arms crossed, glaring at me with a sour look.

“What is it, Rubel? Something happen again?”

“Yeah. There’s something I want to ask you, Alec.”

“What? I haven’t done anything.”

At my words, Rubel snorted.

“Recently, someone has been clearing undead-type dungeons one after another. Was that you, Alec?”

“Who knows? I don’t know anything about it.”

I dodged the question, sensing trouble.

Rubel’s brow furrowed even deeper as she glared.

“Don’t you think it’s strange to clear dungeons and never come sell the cores?”

“Who knows? Maybe they’ll sell them in a batch later. It’s easier to manage than walking around with a fortune.”

There was no way I could admit, I’m a dungeon master and used them for a magic bag and dungeon expansion—absolutely no way.

But Rubel’s suspicion didn’t ease at all.

“Hm. Fine. Let’s say that’s what’s happening.”

“But isn’t it good? Dangerous undead dungeons disappearing. And undead dungeons barely give materials anyway, right?”

“True. You could call them unpopular dungeons… But one of them was an S-rank dungeon that was off-limits. The fact that it was cleared is too strange.”

“An undead S-rank dungeon!? There was something that dangerous?”

“Yeah. As you know, Turn Undead works on undead regardless of their strength. So undead types are considered weaker and rated one rank lower, but—”

“Huh? That’s how it worked?”

“You were a former hero and you didn’t know that?”

“Well… if you just hit them head-on, they usually went down…”

When I scratched my head and tried to justify myself, Rubel laughed, exasperated.

“That’s an absurd kind of strength. Holy Wave monster, as expected. —Normally, when you cast Turn Undead, if the undead is weaker than the caster, it ascends on the spot, and if it’s stronger, it still gets stunned for a few seconds. So if you bring two clerics or priests and have them alternate casts, you can clear any undead.”

“Oh. Then even that S-rank—”

“That particular dungeon spawned a dragon zombie that Turn Undead didn’t work on. Holy water and holy swords didn’t work, and neither did other holy magic. It was too dangerous, so we made it off-limits… but then…”

“R-right… that’s dangerous. I’ll have to be careful too.”

Cold sweat slid down my back.

—I knew it. I knew that dragon zombie that holy power didn’t work on!

Rubel glared at me.

“Careful or not, I already told you it was defeated by someone.”

“Rubel, if you’d beaten that dragon zombie, you could’ve become SS-rank without traveling the world.”

When I forced the topic away, Rubel jingled her accessories and shrugged.

“No parts would remain. If it’s a zombie, my flames burn everything to ash, so I can’t prove the kill. —And the fact that holy power didn’t work bothered me. It could’ve been a noble dragon. That’s why we made it off-limits and watched… but…”

Rubel stepped closer and looked up at me from below.

I leaned back and took a step away.

Right then, Liricia returned.

“What’s going on, Rubel-san? Master?”

“No, it’s nothing. Just unrelated talk—alright, let’s go gather medicinal herbs.”

I took Liricia’s hand and headed for the Adventurer Guild entrance.

Liricia hurriedly turned back, her silver hair swaying.

“Yes, see you again, Rubel-san.”

Behind us, Rubel was still watching me suspiciously.

—Seriously, it was a good thing I chose a closed-type dungeon this morning.

I might’ve gotten suspected even more.

I swore to myself that for a while, I’d only target closed-type dungeons.