“That should be fine for now, right?”
“Yes. Well done. I’ll pat your head.”
Lady Fiona — am I being mistaken for a pet?
I leaned my head toward her anyway, and was duly patted as promised.
“That went pretty well~ I didn’t expect those same soldiers to come back.”
“Yeah, and this time they got to actually clear it.”
The same soldiers who’d nearly been wiped out last time made it through to the boss and finished the job.
That should lower the chances of this auxiliary dungeon getting flagged as unreasonably dangerous.
“The chest dropped something silver-looking — a sword? That’s not a threat, right?”
“Silver swords are used by adventurers and soldiers alike, but they wouldn’t be considered a threatening weapon.”
“Thanks. Primila really does know everything.”
“You’re too kind.”
Same as always — a Heavenly King you can rely on.
Honestly wasted assisting someone like me.
“I was about to answer that too~…”
Lady Fiona’s mood has taken a small dip.
“Thank you very much. As expected of Lady Fiona.”
“As long as you understand.”
Oh, that works.
I’d thought that was a pretty lazy compliment even as I said it, but apparently Lady Fiona was satisfied.
“You really are good at handling the Demon Lord~”
“I’m as surprised as you are…”
Is she just… easy?
No — don’t let that fool me. Those stats are absurd. Easy or not, getting on the wrong side of her is a death sentence. Keep that in mind.
And Primila and Pilukaya could finish me in one move if they felt like it.
Everyone here is a good demon — that’s no excuse for getting careless.
“By the way… there was a human mixed in with the soldiers this time who clearly wasn’t one of them~”
“Right. The soldiers were calling him Kunimatsu-sama. I checked his status — definitely a reincarnate.”
Kunimatsu Yukio — Mana: 30 / Strength: 39 / Technique: 23 / Fortitude: 37 / Agility: 29
And considerably strong.
Without the mutual-buffing, the Goblin King’s group wouldn’t even be a fair fight against him.
Which means I’d be even less of one.
Unlike the ones from before, this is clearly a reincarnate who’s been properly leveling up.
He mentioned Appraisal. Watching him move through the dungeon, he was frequently relaying information about each room’s contents to the soldiers.
So that’s Kunimatsu’s strength — the skill he was given by the goddess.
I can read the stats of creatures in my dungeon too, but someone with a dedicated Appraisal skill is almost certainly doing it with far greater precision.
“Should I have had him taken out…”
I don’t know anything about the original game, but reincarnates being unpredictable is certain.
The ones who charged in without preparation to kill me — those I can handle. But someone careful, with actual game knowledge? That’s a different level of threat.
There could be people in that group who’ve cleared the game.
“You’ll be fine. If it comes to it, I’ll protect you.”
Lady Fiona said it with conviction, but if anything, that’s what worries me.
If someone has cleared the game, their target would be Lady Fiona.
And they’d know how to defeat her.
What strategy even works against a Demon Lord with stats like that — but there has to be a way, if the game was completable.
“I’ll protect you too, Lady Fiona.”
So let me be the one to protect her.
Renovate the dungeon further, fill it with more monsters and traps, make it so that no one can reach her.
If the reincarnates are this world’s irregulars, then I’m an irregular to the reincarnates.
Not arrogance — just logic. The most troublesome thing for reincarnates who’ve already studied Lady Fiona in-game will be me, the one they never knew existed.
“I — I’m counting on you!”
“Yes… I’ll work on getting stronger.”
“Yes! Become stronger than me someday!”
“I really don’t think that’s going to happen…”
That level of expectation is a bit much, but I’ll do my best.
What matters most for that is my own stats.
Kunimatsu’s stats are probably still climbing. Meanwhile, I don’t know anything about this game’s progression, and going outside to grind is too dangerous.
…Creating my own monsters and defeating them is technically an option, but the exp from beating allied units is always low in games.
Also, that would just be cruel. Not doing that.
“I could always give you some combat training~?”
“I don’t think that’s the direction I’m supposed to grow in…”
When I say raise my stats, I don’t mean becoming personally stronger in a fighting sense.
The target is mana. Mana is all I need.
I’d funnel every point from other stats into mana if I could, but that’s not how it works.
“So what’s your plan? I mean, the underground demon realm is basically in your hands — strengthening this place is the same as strengthening you.”
“It seems like I do get stronger from it anyway. For now the plan is to renovate, gain experience, and grow through that.”
“It’s a different kind of strength from how we developed — less combat reps, more craftsman.”
“The more intruders struggle here, the more I grow. So reinforcing the dungeon really is the most direct path.”
I noticed it when Kunimatsu’s group came through — my stats went up while they were moving through the dungeon.
I hadn’t used any skills, and Kunimatsu’s group left without a single casualty.
Which means the most likely explanation is that my monsters engaging with intruders in combat generates something like experience for me.
“Is that right. As expected of Rei. And of me.”
“My liege had nothing to do with this.”
“I did, though. Entrusting the dungeon to Rei — that decision was correct. That’s my contribution.”
“…You pushed it onto him, and it happened to work out.”
“Working out is what matters. And on that note, I am now going to accumulate power. Yes — storing up power for the battle ahead.”
I’m better off having this place left in my hands, so I’ll keep quiet.
Primila, apparently, cannot.
“My liege. In that case, let us leave the dungeon matters to Rei-sama and Pilukaya-sama.”
“Leave it to me.”
“…Go easy on him.”
“On who?”
Lady Fiona looked at me with genuine puzzlement — my response made no sense as a reply to Primila.
“Now then — if you’ll join me in the other room, my liege.”
“Wh — for what?”
“I’d like to hear about these preparations you’re making for the battle ahead. The specifics of what you have in mind.”
“…R-Rei~”
I’m sorry, Lady Fiona. Please don’t call my name.
I turned away with perhaps too little subtlety, because she looked visibly wounded.
◇
“The Demon Lord’s really become something interesting, hasn’t she~”
“Was she different before?”
“Completely. She was a proper Demon Lord.”
“…That phrasing implies she’s not proper anymore.”
“Oh come on. I’m saying she became interesting, that’s a compliment. Besides… she always seemed like she was pushing herself before. I think now is better.”
Hm. The old Lady Fiona must have had it rough.
Now though — with the Heroes temporarily defeated, maybe she finally has room to breathe.
All the more reason to keep this peace intact. The dungeon needs to be better.
More mana. For me, and for the dungeon both.
Which brought me to a proposal for Pilukaya.
“Hey, Pilukaya.”
“Yeah, what’s up~?”
“I want to try building a dungeon near the beast-kin village too.”