“Welcome~…”
“You’re an odd one, old man… running an inn in a place like this. Can you actually turn a profit?”
“I heard a dungeon opened up recently… beast-kin like yourselves aren’t like those timid humans — I figured you’d keep coming back and challenging it.”
“Ha! Old man gets it! Not bad for a human!”
“So make use of the place. Long-term stays get a discount~”
Between that woman and this human man — an unusual pair of merchants to find out here.
But having both an inn and a shop nearby is genuinely convenient.
There’d been talk that enough information had been gathered to make the dungeon’s defeat just a matter of time — but cracks were forming in that story. The information one particular beast-kin had been sharing so confidently didn’t match the actual dungeon, and the current theory was that he’d been exaggerating how far he’d gotten.
Disgraceful. Lying just to look brave.
“Clearing this place is still a ways off — nice to be able to handle everything without leaving.”
“Monster drops sell fine, and if you’re lucky the chest items fetch something too.”
They talked like old hands. The dungeon alone had become enough to sustain them — barely, but with somewhere to sleep on top of it, they’d probably spend more time here than in the village before long.
“Only thing is that woman won’t do buybacks. Annoying.”
“Yeah, she’s got no connections for that — you still have to go to town when you want to sell. Inconvenient.”
That’s just how it is. Call it a change of scenery.
It wasn’t as if they were demons who could stay underground indefinitely — too long without daylight would wear on anyone.
Talking themselves into it like that, the men let the exhaustion of a day’s exploration catch up with them and drifted off to sleep in the safety of the inn.
◇
“Looks like all the guests are out~ Should I go ahead and kill them~?”
“No, no, no — nobody would use an inn with a policy like that. We need to manage the intruder balance. Rigma, please just run a normal inn.”
“Yeah yeah, got it. Still, the right-hand man’s got a tough job. Can’t kill them, can’t let them go — that’s a lot to think about.”
“I’m not a right-hand man.”
“Yes he is! Rei is mine and I want him nearby, so he is my aide!”
If Lady Fiona makes it official, things are going to get complicated down the line. Please stop.
…But I couldn’t quite say that. She said it with such unguarded delight that correcting her felt wrong.
“Glad to see you two getting on so well~”
That came out tired more than anything else. Just his natural register, probably.
Rigma seemed to be done for the evening — he’d retreated to a private room in the inn to rest.
I hoped he wouldn’t accidentally revert to slime form in there. Though knowing him, he’d probably manage.
“The inn’s doing well. Between Tokitou’s shop and Rei-sama’s experience gains, the finances are in good shape.”
If Primila, who handles the money, was saying so — the beast-kin were spending more than a little.
Though I’m starting to lose track of whether the goal here is to provide a comfortable experience and make money, or to run a brutal dungeon and farm experience. Both, I suppose — comfortable at the entrance, deadly beyond it.
“Does my liege actually intend to restore the Demon Lord’s Army?”
“Of course. Just watch — I will pull a resurrection elixir, in volume.”
“…Pull?”
Rigma hadn’t yet witnessed the gacha in action and looked genuinely puzzled.
Reviving the remaining Heavenly Kings is the priority. If the heroes have grown stronger since last time, Lady Fiona will end up fighting directly if the full four aren’t assembled.
“I mean, whatever works. But if everyone’s going to be living in the underground demon realm again, having facilities for us rather than intruders would make a lot of sense.”
“I agree. Humans and beast-kin and elves love to mock demons for being underground — like we’ve been banished here or something. Let’s make our demon realm so comfortable they choke on the envy!”
Lady Fiona’s delivery was unexpectedly heated. But Rigma’s point is valid regardless.
Only five of us right now — but at her height, Lady Fiona must have commanded a significant number of demons.
She’s known for running things in a humane way, and layering actual amenities on top of that could only help with morale and loyalty.
“So let’s build—”
“Whoa, whoa, hold on — there’s only a handful of us right now. Building anything for us alone just creates extra upkeep.”
“Oh, Rei’s actually eager. Guess I’ll work up a rare burst of motivation too.”
The energy in his voice already contradicted the claim, but Rigma asked me to build an inn for our side.
My mana was close to full anyway, and spending some would raise my proficiency. Staying fully topped off constantly meant the excess recovery went to waste.
Create Inn: Mana Cost 15
I built one near the throne room.
Close to where Lady Fiona spends her time — which was intentional, for a few reasons.
Intruders who’ve nearly reached the Demon Lord tend to get tunnel vision and stop noticing anything else. Walling it off and keeping it hidden should work.
If Lady Fiona ever ended up in trouble, reinforcements could reach her quickly — not me, I’m useless in a fight, but Primila or Pilukaya.
And more than anything — Lady Fiona alone in the throne room had seemed lonely. Having other demons nearby seemed better.
“Oh — impressive.”
“What are you going to do about it, Rigma-san? There’s no maids or butlers right now.”
“I’ll handle the basics myself.”
“You know this is as far from where you work as it’s possible to get, right? If you’d mentioned it earlier I would have built it closer.”
Entrance to deepest floor — going back and forth is going to be a hassle.
I was thinking that when I noticed Rigma’s feet had reverted to slime.
What? Did he wear himself out?
I assumed he’d run out of energy to maintain the form, but that wasn’t it.
The liquid at his feet rose, and another figure in Rigma’s exact human likeness stepped out from it.
“For now, I’ll leave it to an instance.”
“Ah. Right.”
Between Pilukaya and now Rigma — is splitting off instances just standard for Heavenly Kings?
Surely Primila didn’t have the same ability.
“Is something the matter?”
Primila had noticed me looking and tilted her head.
“Just wondering — can all the Heavenly Kings make instances?”
“Unfortunately, no. I cannot. If I could, I would keep watch over my liege at all hours…”
“You say ‘watch’ like I’m being monitored — I’m the Demon Lord, I outrank you!”
The frustration was real, but the reason wasn’t quite what I’d expected.
With two Heavenly Kings who could now split off instances, my personal escort was somewhat redundant — though saying that out loud would probably annoy Primila, and Lady Fiona’s objection to being monitored suggested she’d have feelings about it too.
Best to leave that one alone.
Anyway — the demons now had their own lodgings.
That’s how it should be. The dungeon skill should be used for our own comfort, not just for intruders.
As the numbers grow, that’s a direction worth pursuing.
…That said, the menu has no sense of timing.
The Dungeon Master always does this.
Create Farm: Mana Cost 10
The possibilities for a comfortable underground demon realm do keep expanding, I’ll give it that.