That’s troubling.
Shall I take her away by force?”
“No!”
The little girl screamed while clinging to me.
Elincia has no mercy even for children.
Since I am a state guest, she won’t forgive anyone who gives me trouble.
“You don’t have to go that far… in any case, I can’t take you with me because I’m travelling, okay?”
“Ah…”
The little girl got dispirited when she heard she couldn’t go with me.
It seems she realizes she would be a burden for me while travelling.
“Uh… but I want to stay with you… I don’t want to not be able to meet with you…”
She looks really pitiful.
Elincia, who was listening to our exchange, proposed a solution.
“How about making her your slave?”
“Oh, don’t we have to return her to the orphanage?”
“It’s within my authority to decide.
Rather, considering the hassle of finding a new home for all the children from the shut down orphanage, it might be a good idea to make her Jin-san’s slave instead.”
After all, Elincia is pretty extreme.
In the first place, her main concern is people misusing the dungeon, and not the death of some orphan children.
In her mind, the orphans don’t contribute much to the country.
“And I don’t think it’s a bad thing for the girl, or for you, Jin-san.
You already have slave maids maintaining your mansion in the capital, right?”
“Who told you that!?”
It shouldn’t be public knowledge.
Maria gave Elincia a cautious look.
“When I passed by your mansion once I saw one of the girls you bought at the village where we first met, cleaning the place while dressed in maid clothes.
She was addressing the other maids as her equals, so I assumed they must all be slaves.
Perhaps it’s something you didn’t want other people to know?”
No… I’m actually quite impressed, both by your memory and deduction.
“No, it’s not really a secret…”
“Still, I’ll keep it to myself, just in case.”
As always, she is very caring (only for influential people though).
Plus, she already got a warning from Maria.
“Back to the topic, for Jin-san, the benefit is that you will gain another servant.
Fortunately, the girl’s looks are reasonably good, so it’s a win-win situation, right?”
“Hmm…”
Certainly, the little girl’s looks aren’t half bad.
At the moment she’s pretty tattered and all scratched up, but after tidying up she would look quite decent.
And it’s never a bad thing to get a pretty girl as a slave.
I understand the benefits, but the bigger problem is what the little girl wants to do.
I don’t like the idea of enslaving someone who I don’t want or have no reason to (I’m not saying I never would).
In the case of Cynthia and the others, I enslaved them because it was already decided that they would become slaves.
In the case of Fiyu, the reason was to harass Duke Garfield, plus even if I didn’t, she would still end up a slave.
And in the case with the Silverwolf Lord, I made a snap decision to enslave the women to, so to speak, keep their mouths shut.
Big or small, there was always a reason to do so, but this time around that’s not really the case.
She does have some unusual skills, but being cute and having interesting skills aren’t enough of a reason to forcefully enslave someone.
Therefore, in this case, the benefits to me are not what’s important.
The only thing that matters are the intentions of the little girl.
I’ll copy her rare skill as a thank you for saving her…
“The benefit for the girl is that she can keep her relationship with you.
If she works as a maid in your mansion, she will be able to see you from time to time.
And when she grows up, she may be able to travel together with you.”
“I’ll become a slave! I’ll work as a maid!”
Hearing Elincia’s explanation, the little girl declared with all her might.
This is the first time I’ve heard such a clear declaration of being willing to become a slave.
Did Elincia’s words really appeal to you that much?
Still, it’s not something you should decide on in a spur of a moment, so let’s confirm it once more.
“Are you sure? There’s no guarantee that I won’t treat you badly.”
“I’m sure it’s still better than the director!”
I don’t know what the orphanage director did exactly, but it’s surely better than that.
What kind of person enjoys slowly beating children to death… (I mean, if you’re going to kill someone, you should at least do it quickly).
“Looking at the other maids it’s clearly not something you should worry about.”
Elincia muttered.
Certainly, the slave maids eat three meals a day, and are all healthy beautiful girls (the breast size differs from person to person).
“We aren’t always in the mansion, you know.”
“It’s better than not being able to see you at all!”
If she returns to the orphanage, we’ll probably never meet again.
The little girl’s eyes are serious.
…I’m actually starting to like her.
Hmm, it can’t really be helped after you said that much.
I’ll make you a slave as you wish.
…If you only cut out that line, I totally sound like a villain.
“Fine.
As you wish.”
“Un!”
The little girl willingly rolled up her clothes.
I quickly established the slave contract and the little girl became my slave. (ED: Making someone into a slave involved using skill to place a slave crest on their back)
“Done, now you are my slave.”
“Un!”
She kept smiling all the while.
“Then, please excuse me.
I still have a bunch of things to take care of…”
“See you later.”
“Goodbye.”
“Yes, Jin-san, Maria-san, till we meet again.”
With these words, Elincia made her exit.
My impression of her is really always being on the move.
“Well then, let’s go back to my mansion, Zion.”
“What!? How do you know my name?”
The little girl, Zion, tilted her head.
I guess it’s strange for me to know her name without her telling me (hint: status).
“Am I wrong?”
“No, you’re not wrong, but how?”
“Amazing, right?”
“Un!”
I shouldn’t answer a question with another question.
Well, at least she’s been successfully deceived.
…then again, I no longer have any need to deceive her.
“Then, I’ll take you to my mansion now.”
“Un.”
I set up a temporary Portal in a back alley and headed to Kastal’s mansion with Zion in tow.
“What!? What was that?”
She said while looking around curiously.
I’m sure she’s pretty surprised by the sudden change in scenery.
“It’s just something I can do.
Amazing, right?”
“Un!”
Still, I can’t keep answering all of her questions with “Amazing, right?”
“Welcome back Jin-sama, Maria-san.
And you are?”
“Oh, a new maid trainee.”
When we returned to the mansion, Lusia greeted us, so I explained briefly what had happened.
“I understand.
I will take care of her.
Still, it’s not easy being a maid, Zion.”
“I’ll work hard!”
“There are many maids serving master.
You’ll have many rivals.”
“I’ll do my best!!”
“Good luck!”
“I’ll put my all into this!!!”
I left the super-motivated Zion in Lusia’s care.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After parting with Zion, we returned to the dungeon’s hidden area.
I left Carro with the task of establishing an orphanage(-like thing), so I came back to check up on her.
“Thank you for your hard work, Jin-sama.”
“Un, and how’s the orphanage coming along?”
“It’s going well, Pyon.
I’ve decided to use a good-sized house and the children have already moved in, Pyon.”
The map showed that one of the houses on the 51st floor had 22 children and some maids inside.
…Did the number increase again?
“Yes, there were another two, Pyon.”
“Well, since I’ve already decided to take them in, it doesn’t really matter how many there are.”
Fortunately, we’re not short on staff (with an ever-growing number of maids) and there’s a lot of space on the floors 51 through 60, so there shouldn’t be any problems even if there’s a hundred or even two hundred children.
Nor, for that matter, is there a problem with food, as some of the maids have already taken advantage of the abundant land on the dungeon’s 52nd floor, and started a farm there.
I’ve mentioned before that the maids have started to grow rice and miso, but in fact these projects are being carried out inside the dungeon.
Soon after I became a dungeon master, I was approached by some maids who heard about the 51st floor and beyond.
As I’m interested in home-grown rice, I didn’t hesitate to give them permission, and as a result, they ended up being more involved in the dungeon’s development than me, the dungeon master.
By the way, I’ve said before that I wasn’t willing to eat food that came from the dungeon, but once I became the dungeon master, I’ve confirmed that there’s no problem, so I’m OK with it now.
…though I still won’t eat monsters. (ED: I think that’s what he meant, it’s マッシュー masshuu in the raw)
“And all the children have agreed to become slaves, so all that remains is for Jin-sama to establish the contract, Pyon.”
“They all agreed?”
I need to enslave all the orphans as an insurance policy, so even if they didn’t accept, I would have had to force them anyway.
Otherwise, had they rebelled, I wouldn’t be able to just let them go.
I’m not running the orphanage as a charity either.
It’s just a relief measure that’s intended to raise future recruits.
I’m not going to raise someone who doesn’t have any potential.
“Yes.
Their previous environments seem to have been pretty harsh, Pyon.
They all immediately decided that they would rather be slaves than go back to that life, Pyon.”
“I see…”
Aside from the state-owned ones, it seems that there are many cases where an orphanage can’t afford to feed all its residents.
And even if some of these kids didn’t come from an orphanage, seeing how their parents abandoned them, I doubt that their situation was much better than that.
With such an abundance of orphaned kids, it even got to the point where even getting a chance to become someone’s slave is actually considered a rare opportunity by them.
As a result, whenever a new child was rescued, the first thing to do was usually to feed them, as they were all severely malnourished.
As such, I had the maids be in charge of feeding them.
…That’s not the reason why they so readily agreed, right?
I went to the orphanage with Carro and Coral to perform on the children.
“It’s Carro-sama!”
“And Coral-sama!”
When we arrived at the house, ten children who had been playing in the garden flocked to Carro and Coral.
I thought they’d be heartbroken after getting abandoned, but they seem very energetic instead.
Hearing their voices, four more children came outside.
They all act at ease around the two, especially with Coral whom they had particularly bonded with.
A: They have recovered a lot in the past few days.
The ones who have just been taken in are still hiding inside the house though.
It would indeed be impossible for them to behave so cheerfully when they have just been abandoned.
Well, the fact that the others have recovered so much in just a few days is also quite amazing…
“Who is this guy?”
“I’ve never seen him before.”
The children all looked at me with curiosity.
Then, the three maids who were playing with the children came up to me.
“””Welcome, master!”””
The children looked at the maids, who bowed deeply, and looked surprised.
They must have realised that I was the superior of the girls who took them in.
“W-welcome…”
“U, um, um…”
The children got all flustered.
Some of them tried to say hello, but they didn’t seem to know how to do it properly, so they ended up fumbling with their words.
“Say ‘Hello Jin-sama’”.
“Hello Jin-sama”x14
One of the maids helped them out and they all followed her lead.
It made quite a difference.
After that, we all went inside and I placed the slave crests one by one.
As Carro had said, everyone seemed to agree and the process went smoothly.
Unfortunately, none of the children had any unusual skills…
With everyone enslaved, the next step was to feed them.
I summoned Mio to cook for us.
I wanted to make an impression, so I even included a dish made with harpy eggs.
“As was the case with Claude and his friends, it looks like food works best on children.”
“Hm, they sure don’t dislike people who give them treats.”
“Precisely, with more child believe… I mean, never mind.”
As I was talking with Mio, Maria also made a remark, but then stopped halfway through.
Nearby, all the children, including the one who hid inside, are chewing on their rice bowls with tears in their eyes.
Of course, I won’t feed them like this all the time.
This time, to celebrate the establishment of the orphanage, I gave them a special high quality meal.
To be honest, it doesn’t even cost me that much.
It’s a bit like fishing: you’re catching larger fish using smaller ones as bait.
It’s an investment in the future.
I want to let them taste the food they’ll be able to eat if they grow up to be of use to me.
It’s really effective, no matter how you look at it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After the meal, we decided to head back to the mansion.
The power of the food was so great that all the children in the orphanage saw us off when we left.
It really broke the ice.
In addition, the maids in charge of the orphanage also have the skill, so while they may not be as good as Mio, they are sure to win the hearts of the children.
I was also told they’ve all been taught the “100 best dishes for children” by Mio.
Though Mio later told me that half of them were pretty much just rehashed versions of other recipes…
“Jin-sama, are you sure we don’t have to pick up Tiramisu and the others?”
“Ah, I forgot…”
As Maria reminded me, I had Tiramisu and the other monster girls tour the secret floors of the dungeon.
It’s already getting late, so I should probably pick them up on the way.
Looking at the map, they are currently in a square on the 52nd floor.
“So, what are you guys doing?
The first thing I saw when I arrived were the three monster girls lying on the ground, battered and bruised, lying there motionless (except for the mucus covering their bodies shaking a bit).
It was obviously Tamo-san’s.
“I give up! We’re totally outmatched!”
“My attacks don’t work at all… ”
“It can even fly… faster than this mistress…”
Apparently the three of them challenged Tamo-san for some reason, and got one-sidedly defeated with no means to deal with it.
Tamo-san has been a subordinate of mine for quite some time now, all the while taking full advantage of my skill, and getting the skill points from all the monsters that only it can use thanks to its skill.
Honestly, it should have grown pretty strong by now.
Also, Tamo-san’s status isn’t lowered, like that of my other followers.
There are two main reasons for that.
The first one being that Tamo-san doesn’t use any martial styles.
While my other subordinates can benefit from fighting with their statuses lowered to be able to polish their technique, essentially gaining strength that isn’t reflected in either skill or body level, the same can’t be done by Tamo-san who has no human form.
The second reason is that Tamo-san often acts as a handyman.
With a ridiculous number of things it can do with its , it helps everyone with odd things, and even acts as a guard from time to time.
I always have one copy attached to Sakura just in case.
As such, there’s just no point in lowering its status.
What’s the use of a trump card that can’t use its full power when it’s needed.
That’s why the difference in stats between the three monster girls, who have just joined, and Tamo-san is way too big.
Even if they took it on together, I don’t think they could win.
Now that I think about it, I haven’t checked Tamo-san’s status in a while.
Let’s see…
Tamo
LV50
Skills:
Martial Arts:
Magic:
Techniques:
Body: < Self-Destruct LV10>
Other: .
Monsters that can be mimicked:
Man-Eater, Silverwolf Lord, Bright Falcon, etc.
(Since there are over 100, the rest is omitted.)
Basically, it doesn’t seem to mimic monsters that use martial arts or magic skills, and most of its skills are physical ones.
It absorbed the magic stones of various monsters, which gave it their skills, so it became ridiculously strong before I knew It.
The number of monsters it can mimic is also huge, with some whose names I haven’t even seen before.
Probably monsters that my subordinates defeated.
In addition, there are a number of split bodies, so even at this moment there are seven more Tamo-san’s the same as this one.
If I wanted to, I might be able to bring down a whole country with just an army of Tamo-sans.
I’m confident that we could at least defeat the Kastal Queendom and the Estia Kingdom.
“Hii, please stop that! (Sakuya)”
“Please give us a pass… (Cattleya)”
This was the reaction of the two when I told them about it later (during dinner).
It’s not like I would actually do something like that.
…A Slime Kingdom? That’s actually not half bad.
“What made you decide to fight Tamo-san?’
“We wanted to test our strength to find out where we stand among your subordinates.”
Maple answers my question.
Is that another monster thing, like with the territory earlier.
Wanting to establish a clear hierarchy.
“That’s why we really wanted to challenge Tamo-san.”
“We wanted to challenge the strong ones, so we started off with Tamo-san, but the result was…”
Chocolate said regretfully.
The reason why I sensed some respect for Tamo-san in her response was probably because she accepted it as her superior.
To begin with, Dora is actually the strongest among my monster followers in terms of status, though if the two of them fought, Tamo-san might actually come out victorious.
After all, Dora is still a child, so there’s a big disparity.
“I thought we could at least challenge it if it was three against one, but it was a complete defeat.”
“The only thing I can say is that it was way too strong.
It’s almost as strong as the main party.
There was nothing I could do…”
“If I knew it was so strong, I wouldn’t have challenged it at all I only did it because Maple and Chocolate asked me to… ”
Tiramisu was lying flat on the table.
Being a former human reincarnated in a monster body, it seems like she isn’t affected by monster instincts like the other two.
She apparently only fought because the other two asked her for help.
“But the only other monster followers are Midori and Mira, and Mio’s Potechi… and none of them are fighting types.”
Midori is a crafting type and Mira is a maid.
It’s not that the two can’t fight, but neither of them like to do so.
As for Mira, she’s a former village girl.
Potechi? I don’t know about him.
“That’s right.
There was no one else to challenge.”
“Master, could we please increase the number of fighting type monster followers?
“Isn’t that what our position is gonna be from now on ”
“I see, I guess that wouldn’t be bad.”
Some things can only be done by humans, while others can only be done by monsters.
Still, we already have quite a good variety with several monsters that can turn into humans, a former human who was turned into a monster, and a former human who was reincarnated as a monster, so the distinction between them seems a bit ambiguous.
“Master, I have a request…”
“What is it?”
“Well, the next time you go to subdue an evil monster, could you let us fight it?”
“I’d also like to ask for that, I need to wipe away that pitiful image from yesterday.”
“Tira-chan will also prove that she’s useful ”
“I see, I guess we’re going back to subjugating monsters starting tomorrow.”
We did plan to have 7 days of free activities, but it’s not we had any concrete plans, so I decided to indulge the monster girls and go after another evil monster.
“By the way, did you learn any new skills?”
I asked Sakura who also joined us for dinner.
She chose to spend most of her free time reading books in the library.
At the same time, she is trying to learn some new skills on her own accord.
“I tried a lot of things, but I couldn’t learn anything except …It’s hard to gain skills based solely on what you’ve heard about them.”
“Well, that’s a shame.”
It’s true.
That’s why it’s only Maria who acquires new skills.
“Because I’m really not that talented… and I already knew how to read fast…”
She didn’t say what other skills she is aiming for, but the was definitely her top priority, and something she could already do, so the other ones are probably of the “if I can” variety. It’s not really something to feel sorry about.
“Master can’t learn skills at all.”
“Mio, don’t you know the saying ‘gossiping begets evil’? Do you want to spend a night in the dungeon’s graveyard area?” (ED: It’s a proverb that also exists in my home language, but I can’t think of an English equivalent.
If you know one, let me know in the comments)
I gave a one-hit-kill to Mio who talked about unnecessary things.
“I am terribly sorry.”
Mio hastily prostrated on the ground.
It would have been enough to apologize, you know.
“As punishment, I’m taking away one of your side dishes.”
“Uh, Yes, please have a ‘Mio-chan’s special croquette mk.II’…”
Mio passed me one of her croquettes.
They are luxury items made with harpy eggs, so it was quite a blow to her.
“So, back to the topic… It’s not really a skill, but I’ve experimented a bit more with creating magic spells… In the process, I created a new one…”
“Oh, isn’t this the first one you’ve made on your own? What kind of spell is it?”
All of the magic spells that Sakura has created so far have been made at my request, so it’s definitely a first for her.
By the way, there are ten original spells she has created so far. (ED: It’s ‘nine’ in the raws for some reason)
Ankh: Revives the dead.
Connect: Translates other languages, including monster language.
Disarm: Disarms nearby traps.
Energy Pill: Converts MP into pills with high nutritional value.
Portal: Can be placed to create a sub-dimensional shortcut between two places.
Restore: Restores missing body parts, but does not recover HP.
Room: Creates a room in subspace.
Summon: Summons a subordinate.
Vacuum: Collects magic stones and valuable items from the surrounding area.
Warp: Teleports to an area in sight.
(ED: I redid some of the names, since the limb restoring spell was called “Revival”, while the reviving spell was called “Ankh”, etc.)
The reason why there are so many movement-related ones is because they are very useful.
The rest are recovery magic and utility ones that we created on the spot.
So, what kind of magic did Sakura create?
“The magic that I created is called ‘Boost’…”
[Boost]
After activation, increases the effect of the next magic spell used.
Works on attack, recovery, and auxiliary magic.
“I can’t create offensive magic… so, thinking about how I can assist others in casting magic, I came up with this idea… turns out, I can create magic that is related to attacking, as long as it doesn’t have any offensive power on its own… ”
“How effective is it?”
“It’s a flat increase of 1.2 times… it’s just a test, so it’s not too complicated and doesn’t consume much MP… is what I made…”
In turn-based games it was a common tactic to use support skills to increase the power of the following attacks.
I didn’t really think about it, since I could get the same effect by just using more MP, but it may prove useful depending on the situation.
Since Sakura’s unique skill’s effects can’t be confirmed with System Window, she has no other choice but to try different things herself, but, as she gets used to trying things out on her own, the range of spells she can create should naturally increase.
“In the future, if you come up with a new idea, don’t be shy to try it out.”
“Yes, I’ll keep trying new things…”
Sakura seems much more positive than when we first came to this world.
“So, tomorrow, can I come along with Jin-kun? I’m getting a bit lonely reading books on my own… Before, I was always happiest when I was alone with my books, so I never really thought of this…”
Sakura quietly added something sad at the end.
If you have found happiness outside of reading books, that’s certainly a good thing.
It’s good to stay positive.
However, it seems that your past traumas are still surfacing from time to time.
“You’re always welcome to come along, but we were going to fight another evil monster tomorrow.
Are you ok with that?”
“As long as it’s not too evil…”
The Immortal King, who destroyed a village and turned its inhabitants into undead, and the Silverwolf Lord, who regularly attacked people and kidnapped and raped women, were pretty hard on Sakura, who has a normal teenage girl’s sensibilities.
“Maple, are there any like that?”
“Hmm, that’s a tough one… I can think of two off the top of my head.”
“Really, what are they like?”
The knowledgeable Maple, who can accommodate our random requests is a great help.
Still, she doesn’t let it get to her head.
“One of them is a Golden Fox.
It doesn’t often kill people directly, but it’s very good at deceiving people, and makes people suffer indirectly.
In other words, it shouldn’t be too graphic.”
In a way, negative emotions like cowardice and deceitfulness are almost a template for a fox.
Though, being someone who’s favorite animal is a fox, it’s a bit sad to say for me…
To be honest, I wouldn’t want to kill one if I could help it.
Since this time it’s all about letting Tiramisu and the monster girls fight, let’s choose one I don’t mind getting rid of.
…Let’s see what the other one is like.
“What’s the other one?
“The other one is a Giant Man-Eater.
It devours everything.
There shouldn’t be any bodies, since it eats everything that comes close…”
“I see…”
It’s the reappearance of the Man-Eater.
Honestly, not what I was expecting.
*************************************************************************************************************
Side Story – Orphans (This is complementary to the main storyline)
Concerned that the number of orphans will increase due to the dungeon, Azuma used the King at the time, to spread information that one shouldn’t enter floors with monsters with levels higher than their own.
However, after Azuma’s death, the situation changed when the 20th floor was broken through, and the king at that time, who was dazzled by the mineral resources of the 21th floor, encouraged people to proceed to the newly discovered section.
ED Reminder: Azuma’s dungeon was divided into 10-floor areas, with the first one being cave-like, the second one being jungle-like with many rare plants and herbs and the third one being volcano-like with various rare ores that could be mined.
As a consequence, more and more people acted recklessly, and the death toll doubled.
The result was an increase in the number of orphans, the very thing that Azuma tried to prevent.
He didn’t expect the descendants of the man he had entrusted with becoming the King would do such a foolish thing.
Then again, it’s not like you can really blame him for not being able to foresee this.
That’s troubling.
Shall I take her away by force?”
“No!”
The little girl screamed while clinging to me.
Elincia has no mercy even for children.
Since I am a state guest, she won’t forgive anyone who gives me trouble.
“You don’t have to go that far… in any case, I can’t take you with me because I’m travelling, okay?”
“Ah…”
The little girl got dispirited when she heard she couldn’t go with me.
It seems she realizes she would be a burden for me while travelling.
“Uh… but I want to stay with you… I don’t want to not be able to meet with you…”
She looks really pitiful.
Elincia, who was listening to our exchange, proposed a solution.
“How about making her your slave?”
“Oh, don’t we have to return her to the orphanage?”
“It’s within my authority to decide.
Rather, considering the hassle of finding a new home for all the children from the shut down orphanage, it might be a good idea to make her Jin-san’s slave instead.”
After all, Elincia is pretty extreme.
In the first place, her main concern is people misusing the dungeon, and not the death of some orphan children.
In her mind, the orphans don’t contribute much to the country.
“And I don’t think it’s a bad thing for the girl, or for you, Jin-san.
You already have slave maids maintaining your mansion in the capital, right?”
“Who told you that!?”
It shouldn’t be public knowledge.
Maria gave Elincia a cautious look.
“When I passed by your mansion once I saw one of the girls you bought at the village where we first met, cleaning the place while dressed in maid clothes.
She was addressing the other maids as her equals, so I assumed they must all be slaves.
Perhaps it’s something you didn’t want other people to know?”
No… I’m actually quite impressed, both by your memory and deduction.
“No, it’s not really a secret…”
“Still, I’ll keep it to myself, just in case.”
As always, she is very caring (only for influential people though).
Plus, she already got a warning from Maria.
“Back to the topic, for Jin-san, the benefit is that you will gain another servant.
Fortunately, the girl’s looks are reasonably good, so it’s a win-win situation, right?”
“Hmm…”
Certainly, the little girl’s looks aren’t half bad.
At the moment she’s pretty tattered and all scratched up, but after tidying up she would look quite decent.
And it’s never a bad thing to get a pretty girl as a slave.
I understand the benefits, but the bigger problem is what the little girl wants to do.
I don’t like the idea of enslaving someone who I don’t want or have no reason to (I’m not saying I never would).
In the case of Cynthia and the others, I enslaved them because it was already decided that they would become slaves.
In the case of Fiyu, the reason was to harass Duke Garfield, plus even if I didn’t, she would still end up a slave.
And in the case with the Silverwolf Lord, I made a snap decision to enslave the women to, so to speak, keep their mouths shut.
Big or small, there was always a reason to do so, but this time around that’s not really the case.
She does have some unusual skills, but being cute and having interesting skills aren’t enough of a reason to forcefully enslave someone.
Therefore, in this case, the benefits to me are not what’s important.
The only thing that matters are the intentions of the little girl.
I’ll copy her rare skill as a thank you for saving her…
“The benefit for the girl is that she can keep her relationship with you.
If she works as a maid in your mansion, she will be able to see you from time to time.
And when she grows up, she may be able to travel together with you.”
“I’ll become a slave! I’ll work as a maid!”
Hearing Elincia’s explanation, the little girl declared with all her might.
This is the first time I’ve heard such a clear declaration of being willing to become a slave.
Did Elincia’s words really appeal to you that much?
Still, it’s not something you should decide on in a spur of a moment, so let’s confirm it once more.
“Are you sure? There’s no guarantee that I won’t treat you badly.”
“I’m sure it’s still better than the director!”
I don’t know what the orphanage director did exactly, but it’s surely better than that.
What kind of person enjoys slowly beating children to death… (I mean, if you’re going to kill someone, you should at least do it quickly).
“Looking at the other maids it’s clearly not something you should worry about.”
Elincia muttered.
Certainly, the slave maids eat three meals a day, and are all healthy beautiful girls (the breast size differs from person to person).
“We aren’t always in the mansion, you know.”
“It’s better than not being able to see you at all!”
If she returns to the orphanage, we’ll probably never meet again.
The little girl’s eyes are serious.
…I’m actually starting to like her.
Hmm, it can’t really be helped after you said that much.
I’ll make you a slave as you wish.
…If you only cut out that line, I totally sound like a villain.
“Fine.
As you wish.”
“Un!”
The little girl willingly rolled up her clothes.
I quickly established the slave contract and the little girl became my slave. (ED: Making someone into a slave involved using skill to place a slave crest on their back)
“Done, now you are my slave.”
“Un!”
She kept smiling all the while.
“Then, please excuse me.
I still have a bunch of things to take care of…”
“See you later.”
“Goodbye.”
“Yes, Jin-san, Maria-san, till we meet again.”
With these words, Elincia made her exit.
My impression of her is really always being on the move.
“Well then, let’s go back to my mansion, Zion.”
“What!? How do you know my name?”
The little girl, Zion, tilted her head.
I guess it’s strange for me to know her name without her telling me (hint: status).
“Am I wrong?”
“No, you’re not wrong, but how?”
“Amazing, right?”
“Un!”
I shouldn’t answer a question with another question.
Well, at least she’s been successfully deceived.
…then again, I no longer have any need to deceive her.
“Then, I’ll take you to my mansion now.”
“Un.”
I set up a temporary Portal in a back alley and headed to Kastal’s mansion with Zion in tow.
“What!? What was that?”
She said while looking around curiously.
I’m sure she’s pretty surprised by the sudden change in scenery.
“It’s just something I can do.
Amazing, right?”
“Un!”
Still, I can’t keep answering all of her questions with “Amazing, right?”
“Welcome back Jin-sama, Maria-san.
And you are?”
“Oh, a new maid trainee.”
When we returned to the mansion, Lusia greeted us, so I explained briefly what had happened.
“I understand.
I will take care of her.
Still, it’s not easy being a maid, Zion.”
“I’ll work hard!”
“There are many maids serving master.
You’ll have many rivals.”
“I’ll do my best!!”
“Good luck!”
“I’ll put my all into this!!!”
I left the super-motivated Zion in Lusia’s care.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After parting with Zion, we returned to the dungeon’s hidden area.
I left Carro with the task of establishing an orphanage(-like thing), so I came back to check up on her.
“Thank you for your hard work, Jin-sama.”
“Un, and how’s the orphanage coming along?”
“It’s going well, Pyon.
I’ve decided to use a good-sized house and the children have already moved in, Pyon.”
The map showed that one of the houses on the 51st floor had 22 children and some maids inside.
…Did the number increase again?
“Yes, there were another two, Pyon.”
“Well, since I’ve already decided to take them in, it doesn’t really matter how many there are.”
Fortunately, we’re not short on staff (with an ever-growing number of maids) and there’s a lot of space on the floors 51 through 60, so there shouldn’t be any problems even if there’s a hundred or even two hundred children.
Nor, for that matter, is there a problem with food, as some of the maids have already taken advantage of the abundant land on the dungeon’s 52nd floor, and started a farm there.
I’ve mentioned before that the maids have started to grow rice and miso, but in fact these projects are being carried out inside the dungeon.
Soon after I became a dungeon master, I was approached by some maids who heard about the 51st floor and beyond.
As I’m interested in home-grown rice, I didn’t hesitate to give them permission, and as a result, they ended up being more involved in the dungeon’s development than me, the dungeon master.
By the way, I’ve said before that I wasn’t willing to eat food that came from the dungeon, but once I became the dungeon master, I’ve confirmed that there’s no problem, so I’m OK with it now.
…though I still won’t eat monsters. (ED: I think that’s what he meant, it’s マッシュー masshuu in the raw)
“And all the children have agreed to become slaves, so all that remains is for Jin-sama to establish the contract, Pyon.”
“They all agreed?”
I need to enslave all the orphans as an insurance policy, so even if they didn’t accept, I would have had to force them anyway.
Otherwise, had they rebelled, I wouldn’t be able to just let them go.
I’m not running the orphanage as a charity either.
It’s just a relief measure that’s intended to raise future recruits.
I’m not going to raise someone who doesn’t have any potential.
“Yes.
Their previous environments seem to have been pretty harsh, Pyon.
They all immediately decided that they would rather be slaves than go back to that life, Pyon.”
“I see…”
Aside from the state-owned ones, it seems that there are many cases where an orphanage can’t afford to feed all its residents.
And even if some of these kids didn’t come from an orphanage, seeing how their parents abandoned them, I doubt that their situation was much better than that.
With such an abundance of orphaned kids, it even got to the point where even getting a chance to become someone’s slave is actually considered a rare opportunity by them.
As a result, whenever a new child was rescued, the first thing to do was usually to feed them, as they were all severely malnourished.
As such, I had the maids be in charge of feeding them.
…That’s not the reason why they so readily agreed, right?
I went to the orphanage with Carro and Coral to perform on the children.
“It’s Carro-sama!”
“And Coral-sama!”
When we arrived at the house, ten children who had been playing in the garden flocked to Carro and Coral.
I thought they’d be heartbroken after getting abandoned, but they seem very energetic instead.
Hearing their voices, four more children came outside.
They all act at ease around the two, especially with Coral whom they had particularly bonded with.
A: They have recovered a lot in the past few days.
The ones who have just been taken in are still hiding inside the house though.
It would indeed be impossible for them to behave so cheerfully when they have just been abandoned.
Well, the fact that the others have recovered so much in just a few days is also quite amazing…
“Who is this guy?”
“I’ve never seen him before.”
The children all looked at me with curiosity.
Then, the three maids who were playing with the children came up to me.
“””Welcome, master!”””
The children looked at the maids, who bowed deeply, and looked surprised.
They must have realised that I was the superior of the girls who took them in.
“W-welcome…”
“U, um, um…”
The children got all flustered.
Some of them tried to say hello, but they didn’t seem to know how to do it properly, so they ended up fumbling with their words.
“Say ‘Hello Jin-sama’”.
“Hello Jin-sama”x14
One of the maids helped them out and they all followed her lead.
It made quite a difference.
After that, we all went inside and I placed the slave crests one by one.
As Carro had said, everyone seemed to agree and the process went smoothly.
Unfortunately, none of the children had any unusual skills…
With everyone enslaved, the next step was to feed them.
I summoned Mio to cook for us.
I wanted to make an impression, so I even included a dish made with harpy eggs.
“As was the case with Claude and his friends, it looks like food works best on children.”
“Hm, they sure don’t dislike people who give them treats.”
“Precisely, with more child believe… I mean, never mind.”
As I was talking with Mio, Maria also made a remark, but then stopped halfway through.
Nearby, all the children, including the one who hid inside, are chewing on their rice bowls with tears in their eyes.
Of course, I won’t feed them like this all the time.
This time, to celebrate the establishment of the orphanage, I gave them a special high quality meal.
To be honest, it doesn’t even cost me that much.
It’s a bit like fishing: you’re catching larger fish using smaller ones as bait.
It’s an investment in the future.
I want to let them taste the food they’ll be able to eat if they grow up to be of use to me.
It’s really effective, no matter how you look at it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After the meal, we decided to head back to the mansion.
The power of the food was so great that all the children in the orphanage saw us off when we left.
It really broke the ice.
In addition, the maids in charge of the orphanage also have the skill, so while they may not be as good as Mio, they are sure to win the hearts of the children.
I was also told they’ve all been taught the “100 best dishes for children” by Mio.
Though Mio later told me that half of them were pretty much just rehashed versions of other recipes…
“Jin-sama, are you sure we don’t have to pick up Tiramisu and the others?”
“Ah, I forgot…”
As Maria reminded me, I had Tiramisu and the other monster girls tour the secret floors of the dungeon.
It’s already getting late, so I should probably pick them up on the way.
Looking at the map, they are currently in a square on the 52nd floor.
“So, what are you guys doing?
The first thing I saw when I arrived were the three monster girls lying on the ground, battered and bruised, lying there motionless (except for the mucus covering their bodies shaking a bit).
It was obviously Tamo-san’s.
“I give up! We’re totally outmatched!”
“My attacks don’t work at all… ”
“It can even fly… faster than this mistress…”
Apparently the three of them challenged Tamo-san for some reason, and got one-sidedly defeated with no means to deal with it.
Tamo-san has been a subordinate of mine for quite some time now, all the while taking full advantage of my skill, and getting the skill points from all the monsters that only it can use thanks to its skill.
Honestly, it should have grown pretty strong by now.
Also, Tamo-san’s status isn’t lowered, like that of my other followers.
There are two main reasons for that.
The first one being that Tamo-san doesn’t use any martial styles.
While my other subordinates can benefit from fighting with their statuses lowered to be able to polish their technique, essentially gaining strength that isn’t reflected in either skill or body level, the same can’t be done by Tamo-san who has no human form.
The second reason is that Tamo-san often acts as a handyman.
With a ridiculous number of things it can do with its , it helps everyone with odd things, and even acts as a guard from time to time.
I always have one copy attached to Sakura just in case.
As such, there’s just no point in lowering its status.
What’s the use of a trump card that can’t use its full power when it’s needed.
That’s why the difference in stats between the three monster girls, who have just joined, and Tamo-san is way too big.
Even if they took it on together, I don’t think they could win.
Now that I think about it, I haven’t checked Tamo-san’s status in a while.
Let’s see…
Tamo
LV50
Skills:
Martial Arts:
Magic:
Techniques:
Body: < Self-Destruct LV10>
Other: .
Monsters that can be mimicked:
Man-Eater, Silverwolf Lord, Bright Falcon, etc.
(Since there are over 100, the rest is omitted.)
Basically, it doesn’t seem to mimic monsters that use martial arts or magic skills, and most of its skills are physical ones.
It absorbed the magic stones of various monsters, which gave it their skills, so it became ridiculously strong before I knew It.
The number of monsters it can mimic is also huge, with some whose names I haven’t even seen before.
Probably monsters that my subordinates defeated.
In addition, there are a number of split bodies, so even at this moment there are seven more Tamo-san’s the same as this one.
If I wanted to, I might be able to bring down a whole country with just an army of Tamo-sans.
I’m confident that we could at least defeat the Kastal Queendom and the Estia Kingdom.
“Hii, please stop that! (Sakuya)”
“Please give us a pass… (Cattleya)”
This was the reaction of the two when I told them about it later (during dinner).
It’s not like I would actually do something like that.
…A Slime Kingdom? That’s actually not half bad.
“What made you decide to fight Tamo-san?’
“We wanted to test our strength to find out where we stand among your subordinates.”
Maple answers my question.
Is that another monster thing, like with the territory earlier.
Wanting to establish a clear hierarchy.
“That’s why we really wanted to challenge Tamo-san.”
“We wanted to challenge the strong ones, so we started off with Tamo-san, but the result was…”
Chocolate said regretfully.
The reason why I sensed some respect for Tamo-san in her response was probably because she accepted it as her superior.
To begin with, Dora is actually the strongest among my monster followers in terms of status, though if the two of them fought, Tamo-san might actually come out victorious.
After all, Dora is still a child, so there’s a big disparity.
“I thought we could at least challenge it if it was three against one, but it was a complete defeat.”
“The only thing I can say is that it was way too strong.
It’s almost as strong as the main party.
There was nothing I could do…”
“If I knew it was so strong, I wouldn’t have challenged it at all I only did it because Maple and Chocolate asked me to… ”
Tiramisu was lying flat on the table.
Being a former human reincarnated in a monster body, it seems like she isn’t affected by monster instincts like the other two.
She apparently only fought because the other two asked her for help.
“But the only other monster followers are Midori and Mira, and Mio’s Potechi… and none of them are fighting types.”
Midori is a crafting type and Mira is a maid.
It’s not that the two can’t fight, but neither of them like to do so.
As for Mira, she’s a former village girl.
Potechi? I don’t know about him.
“That’s right.
There was no one else to challenge.”
“Master, could we please increase the number of fighting type monster followers?
“Isn’t that what our position is gonna be from now on ”
“I see, I guess that wouldn’t be bad.”
Some things can only be done by humans, while others can only be done by monsters.
Still, we already have quite a good variety with several monsters that can turn into humans, a former human who was turned into a monster, and a former human who was reincarnated as a monster, so the distinction between them seems a bit ambiguous.
“Master, I have a request…”
“What is it?”
“Well, the next time you go to subdue an evil monster, could you let us fight it?”
“I’d also like to ask for that, I need to wipe away that pitiful image from yesterday.”
“Tira-chan will also prove that she’s useful ”
“I see, I guess we’re going back to subjugating monsters starting tomorrow.”
We did plan to have 7 days of free activities, but it’s not we had any concrete plans, so I decided to indulge the monster girls and go after another evil monster.
“By the way, did you learn any new skills?”
I asked Sakura who also joined us for dinner.
She chose to spend most of her free time reading books in the library.
At the same time, she is trying to learn some new skills on her own accord.
“I tried a lot of things, but I couldn’t learn anything except …It’s hard to gain skills based solely on what you’ve heard about them.”
“Well, that’s a shame.”
It’s true.
That’s why it’s only Maria who acquires new skills.
“Because I’m really not that talented… and I already knew how to read fast…”
She didn’t say what other skills she is aiming for, but the was definitely her top priority, and something she could already do, so the other ones are probably of the “if I can” variety. It’s not really something to feel sorry about.
“Master can’t learn skills at all.”
“Mio, don’t you know the saying ‘gossiping begets evil’? Do you want to spend a night in the dungeon’s graveyard area?” (ED: It’s a proverb that also exists in my home language, but I can’t think of an English equivalent.
If you know one, let me know in the comments)
I gave a one-hit-kill to Mio who talked about unnecessary things.
“I am terribly sorry.”
Mio hastily prostrated on the ground.
It would have been enough to apologize, you know.
“As punishment, I’m taking away one of your side dishes.”
“Uh, Yes, please have a ‘Mio-chan’s special croquette mk.II’…”
Mio passed me one of her croquettes.
They are luxury items made with harpy eggs, so it was quite a blow to her.
“So, back to the topic… It’s not really a skill, but I’ve experimented a bit more with creating magic spells… In the process, I created a new one…”
“Oh, isn’t this the first one you’ve made on your own? What kind of spell is it?”
All of the magic spells that Sakura has created so far have been made at my request, so it’s definitely a first for her.
By the way, there are ten original spells she has created so far. (ED: It’s ‘nine’ in the raws for some reason)
Ankh: Revives the dead.
Connect: Translates other languages, including monster language.
Disarm: Disarms nearby traps.
Energy Pill: Converts MP into pills with high nutritional value.
Portal: Can be placed to create a sub-dimensional shortcut between two places.
Restore: Restores missing body parts, but does not recover HP.
Room: Creates a room in subspace.
Summon: Summons a subordinate.
Vacuum: Collects magic stones and valuable items from the surrounding area.
Warp: Teleports to an area in sight.
(ED: I redid some of the names, since the limb restoring spell was called “Revival”, while the reviving spell was called “Ankh”, etc.)
The reason why there are so many movement-related ones is because they are very useful.
The rest are recovery magic and utility ones that we created on the spot.
So, what kind of magic did Sakura create?
“The magic that I created is called ‘Boost’…”
[Boost]
After activation, increases the effect of the next magic spell used.
Works on attack, recovery, and auxiliary magic.
“I can’t create offensive magic… so, thinking about how I can assist others in casting magic, I came up with this idea… turns out, I can create magic that is related to attacking, as long as it doesn’t have any offensive power on its own… ”
“How effective is it?”
“It’s a flat increase of 1.2 times… it’s just a test, so it’s not too complicated and doesn’t consume much MP… is what I made…”
In turn-based games it was a common tactic to use support skills to increase the power of the following attacks.
I didn’t really think about it, since I could get the same effect by just using more MP, but it may prove useful depending on the situation.
Since Sakura’s unique skill’s effects can’t be confirmed with System Window, she has no other choice but to try different things herself, but, as she gets used to trying things out on her own, the range of spells she can create should naturally increase.
“In the future, if you come up with a new idea, don’t be shy to try it out.”
“Yes, I’ll keep trying new things…”
Sakura seems much more positive than when we first came to this world.
“So, tomorrow, can I come along with Jin-kun? I’m getting a bit lonely reading books on my own… Before, I was always happiest when I was alone with my books, so I never really thought of this…”
Sakura quietly added something sad at the end.
If you have found happiness outside of reading books, that’s certainly a good thing.
It’s good to stay positive.
However, it seems that your past traumas are still surfacing from time to time.
“You’re always welcome to come along, but we were going to fight another evil monster tomorrow.
Are you ok with that?”
“As long as it’s not too evil…”
The Immortal King, who destroyed a village and turned its inhabitants into undead, and the Silverwolf Lord, who regularly attacked people and kidnapped and raped women, were pretty hard on Sakura, who has a normal teenage girl’s sensibilities.
“Maple, are there any like that?”
“Hmm, that’s a tough one… I can think of two off the top of my head.”
“Really, what are they like?”
The knowledgeable Maple, who can accommodate our random requests is a great help.
Still, she doesn’t let it get to her head.
“One of them is a Golden Fox.
It doesn’t often kill people directly, but it’s very good at deceiving people, and makes people suffer indirectly.
In other words, it shouldn’t be too graphic.”
In a way, negative emotions like cowardice and deceitfulness are almost a template for a fox.
Though, being someone who’s favorite animal is a fox, it’s a bit sad to say for me…
To be honest, I wouldn’t want to kill one if I could help it.
Since this time it’s all about letting Tiramisu and the monster girls fight, let’s choose one I don’t mind getting rid of.
…Let’s see what the other one is like.
“What’s the other one?
“The other one is a Giant Man-Eater.
It devours everything.
There shouldn’t be any bodies, since it eats everything that comes close…”
“I see…”
It’s the reappearance of the Man-Eater.
Honestly, not what I was expecting.
*************************************************************************************************************
Side Story – Orphans (This is complementary to the main storyline)
Concerned that the number of orphans will increase due to the dungeon, Azuma used the King at the time, to spread information that one shouldn’t enter floors with monsters with levels higher than their own.
However, after Azuma’s death, the situation changed when the 20th floor was broken through, and the king at that time, who was dazzled by the mineral resources of the 21th floor, encouraged people to proceed to the newly discovered section.
ED Reminder: Azuma’s dungeon was divided into 10-floor areas, with the first one being cave-like, the second one being jungle-like with many rare plants and herbs and the third one being volcano-like with various rare ores that could be mined.
As a consequence, more and more people acted recklessly, and the death toll doubled.
The result was an increase in the number of orphans, the very thing that Azuma tried to prevent.
He didn’t expect the descendants of the man he had entrusted with becoming the King would do such a foolish thing.
Then again, it’s not like you can really blame him for not being able to foresee this.
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