Chapter 56
For now, on that day, we ate magic stones together and went to sleep.
The others must have been tired from surveying potential dungeon sites.
No one voiced their opinions.
And then, the next day.
We started preparing in earnest for the production of the dungeon.
It’s an inspection of the new residential area.
I’ve already seen the videos sent by Ann and the others, but I want to see it with my own eyes.
The comfort of living is important.
Last time, I just dug a hole and made do, but this time, let’s do proper research before creating it.
We headed to the middle layer with Elibel.
It’s been a while since I visited Elibel’s ruins.
Well, even the walls and ceilings are in shambles.
Well, I guess it’s amazing that it still retains its original form after being hit by that breath attack.
There are visible traces of repairs here and there.
「I worked tirelessly to fix it….. Huu～～～」
Berg said with a tired tone.
Oh, come to think of it, I remember he’s the only one who didn’t sleep and went somewhere.
Could it be that he stayed up all night repairing?
「Huhu… it’s been a while since I felt like this… …The way Miss Elibel treated people when she was alive was even more terrifying… I thought I would die from overwork countless times… Huhu… Huhuhu…」
Seems like he just pulled an all-nighter.
…You must be exhausted.
No wonder your mood is all messed up.
You even have dark circles under your eyes.
A golem with dark circles…
Well, I guess that makes sense. Berg is more like a golem homunculus, similar to Una and the others, after all.
Looks like he was worked to the bone.
It’s like a full-on black company.
He seemed sleepy during the discussion as well.
『By the way….?』
I look around me.
…What is this presence?
There seems to be a strange magical energy emanating from various places.
It’s not the presence of the golems.
I don’t sense any hostility, though…
Elibel guides us towards the teleportation gate.
「Oh, that’s right, Earth. For now, these are the new laborers.」
Saying that, Elibel snaps her bony fingers.
In the next moment, a large number of skeletons emerge from the ground.
！？
Next, a large number of blue fireballs come out from the walls.
G-g-ghosts!!
『Gahh!!!』
I instinctively step back.
Elibel looks at me with an exasperated expression.
「…Why is the Earth Dragon surprised by a mere Wraith…?」
『Eh….?』
Upon being told that, I look at the blue fireballs.
Ah, she’s right.
These are the Wraiths mentioned in Elibel’s documents.
They are undead of the lowest rank.
To be frank, they are weak.
By the way, Skeletons are Upper Lower-class.
They are also weak.
Just like how I feel about Elibel, real skeletons feel so creepy.
In other words, Wraiths are scary. You can vaguely see something resembling a face within the blue fireballs.
Scary.
『W-Where are they coming from?』
Skeletons and Wraiths keep appearing one after another.
I estimate there are nearly a hundred Skeletons.
But when it comes to Wraiths, there are more than a thousand.
Blue fireballs filling the ceiling as far as the eye can see.
Their eerie light illuminates all of us at once.
「These are the casualties from the recent battle. From the Borhelic Kingdom. Most of the corpses disappeared due to the Breath, but not all of them. We processed the remaining bodies into skeletons. Berg worked hard to skin the flesh off for me.」
Elibel casually says as if it’s nothing.
I glance at Berg, who is laughing strangely and saying, 「I did my best, hohoho.」
You must be exhausted.
「And also, even though there are no bodies, it seems their souls remained. The number of Wraiths has become quite substantial. There are probably around six thousand of them. This dungeon, despite being in ruins, has a high concentration of magical energy, so it seems they transformed into monsters quite quickly. It’s a great deal that you can create two beings, a Skeleton and a Wraith, from a single corpse, don’t you think?」
『………………』
Hey, is that really okay, former human?
Don’t you have any sense of ethics as a human being?
Well, I guess it’s hypocritical of me to say that after releasing the Breath.
Perhaps sensing my gaze, Elibel speaks up.
「Just so you know, lecturing me about good and evil or ethics won’t do any good. It’s just an obstacle to my research. I believe in using anything that’s useful. It doesn’t matter if it’s a human or a monster.」
『I don’t particularly care about that.』
I look at the horde of Skeletons and Wraiths once again.
If it weren’t for Elibel’s hypnosis treatment, I would have probably gone insane by now.
After all, I killed so many humans.
Perhaps due to the side effects of the drug, I feel depressed, but I don’t feel overwhelmed by guilt or anything like that.
To be honest, it’s a relief.
「All of them will obey my orders as the Arc Skeleton. They will be useful as labor force for the dungeon from now on.」
『I see. But they’re not really reliable as a fighting force, are they?』
Wraiths and Skeletons are both weak monsters.
They’re slightly stronger than regular Killer Ants or Slimes.
You can’t expect much from them in terms of combat power.
「That’s not a problem. …I’ll let you work on that later.」
『Eh, did you say something?』
Her ending was a bit hard to catch.
「It’s nothing. Well, for now, let’s go ahead and inspect the new potential dungeon location.」
『Yeah.』
I look at the large army of Skeletons and Wraiths once again.
They will later become a major force, along with antlings, as an undead army within the dungeon, but that’s a story for another time.
And then, we arrived at the teleportation gate.
『For now, I think this will be the first potential location.』
I sent a video of the place I want to go to Elibel via memory transmission.
It’s a footage of the limestone cave ruins sent by Tres and Pururu.
I want to see this place first.
There are several other locations, but let’s start with this one.
「Okay, then let’s go. I believe Tres and Pururun are already there. They should have gone ahead. Earth, infuse magical power into the teleportation gate.」
『Alright.』
I infuse magic into the teleportation gate.
Soon, the gate begins to glow.
Alright, let’s go for the inspection, to the potential new home.
The light from the teleportation gate envelops us, and we are teleported to a new land.
…By the way, does Elibel call Pururu “Pururun”?
…It’s a cute way to address her.
In the midst of the teleportation, I pondered such trivial matters.
The teleportation is complete.
The light subsides, and the surrounding scenery becomes visible.
Oh, it’s surprisingly bright.
The cave illuminated by the light magic stones is a breathtaking sight, comparable to the Eld Desert.
Wow, this could easily be registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Oh, Tress and Pururu are over there, a bit further away.
They’re still as adorable as ever.
Lovely.
「Ah, Dad.」
「Puruu~」
It seems like they noticed us too.
They approach us.
「This place is really spacious! But it’s quiet, and there don’t seem to be any monsters.」
「Puruu~」
Oh, is that so?
Indeed, I activate my magic sense, but I can’t detect any fluctuations in magical or spiritual energy.
『Hey, Elibel, speaking of which, where exactly are we?』
I suddenly realized that I hadn’t asked about the location.
「This is the underground of the Add Mountain Range, located to the north of the Faud Continent. It used to be a cave, but I blocked the exit to turn it into a dungeon.」
Ah, I see. That’s why there aren’t any other creatures here.
It’s not bad.
Let’s dig a bit and see.
Oh, I found a magic stone.
Crunch, crunch, crunch… gulp.
…Hmmm, it’s okay.
It’s not bad, but it’s not delicious either. Just an ordinary magic stone.
I sense a few more magic stones around, but they’re probably similar.
It’s quite inferior compared to the ones from the Eld Desert.
I guess that land really is special.
「Well, it’s not bad for now, right? Shall we move on to the next one?」
『Yeah, sure.』
There are still many potential locations.
We can take a look at all of them before deciding.
「Alright, Tres, since we have to go, let’s say goodbye with a hug! Come on, jump into big sis’ arms! Well, there’s no bosom because I’m just bones, but still! Come on!」
Elibel stretches out her arms.
「NO!」
「Pu!」
「No way?!?」
However, Tres and Pururu refuse the offer and quickly head deeper into the cave.
Their rejection is also quite adorable.
Elibel falls on all fours, feeling down.
「Why don’t she love me…?」
Well, didn’t you see this coming?
Learn from it, will you?
How many times do you think you’ve been rejected?
Ignoring Elibel, who is feeling down, I infuse magical power into the teleportation gate again to head to the next potential location.
Hey, Elibel, hurry up and come over.
Still on all fours, Elibel murmurs to herself.
「…Tress-chan is amazing too, so cute.」
“Guhehe.” A creepy giggle can be heard.
Correction: She wasn’t feeling down at all.
She’s unshakable.
Anyway, I drag Elibel along, and we head to the next location for inspection.
The next place is the Great Forest, where Ann is.