“Is this good for now?”
“Yes, you did very well. I’ll give you a pat on the head.”
Lady Fiona, are you mistaking me for some kind of pet?
Well, I leaned my head toward her, and as she had declared, she patted me.
“Things went pretty well this time. Who would’ve thought the soldiers from last time would come back?”
“Yeah, thanks to that, we managed to clear it properly this time.”
The soldiers we nearly wiped out last time managed to defeat the boss properly this time.
With this, the simplified dungeon will likely no longer be considered overly dangerous.
“A silver-looking sword came out of the treasure chest. That’s not particularly dangerous, right?”
“Indeed, silver swords are favored by adventurers and soldiers alike, but they’re not a threatening weapon per se.”
“Thanks. As expected of Primilla, you know so much.”
“I’m honored.”
As always, the Four Heavenly Kings are incredibly reliable.
It feels like a waste for her to be assisting someone like me.
“I was about to answer that question too, you know~…”
Lady Fiona seems upset…
“Thank you, Lady Fiona. As expected of you.”
“As long as you understand.”
Oh, that worked.
I thought I was just giving her a generic compliment, but it seems that satisfied her.
“You’re really good at handling the Demon Lord, aren’t you~?”
“It’s unexpected for me too…”
Could it be that she’s actually easy to deal with?
No, don’t be fooled. This person has absurd stats. Even if she’s easy to please, upsetting her means flirting with death.
For that matter, even Primilla or Pilkaya could take me out in an instant if they wanted to.
Just because they’re good demons, I shouldn’t get carried away.
“By the way, someone who obviously wasn’t a soldier was mixed in this time, wasn’t there?”
“Yeah, the soldiers called him Kunimatsu-sama. I checked his stats—he’s definitely a reincarnator.”
Kunimatsu Yukio
- Magic: 30
- Strength: 39
- Technique: 23
- Endurance: 37
- Agility: 29
And pretty strong, too.
Without mutual reinforcement, even the Goblin Kings wouldn’t stand a chance against him.
In other words, neither would I.
Unlike the ones from last time, this reincarnator seems to have properly leveled up.
They kept saying something about appraisal. After entering the dungeon, he was frequently seen relaying the room conditions to the soldiers.
That must be Kunimatsu’s strength—the power granted by the goddess.
I can assess the stats of creatures within the dungeon, but his appraisal skill is likely far more precise than mine.
“Should I have taken him out?”
I know nothing of the original game, but it’s certain that reincarnators are unpredictable elements.
If they’re reckless enough to come after me unprepared, that’s one thing. But careful ones with knowledge of the game are terrifying.
Some of them probably even cleared the game.
“Don’t worry. If it comes to that, I’ll protect you.”
Lady Fiona reassured me with determination, but honestly, that’s what worries me.
If there are people who have cleared the game, their target would be Lady Fiona.
And they would surely know some method to defeat her.
How one would fight someone with such absurd stats as the Demon Lord, I can’t imagine. But since it’s a game, there must be a way to win.
“I’ll protect you too, Lady Fiona.”
So, I’ll defend her.
I’ll renovate the dungeon even more, fortify it with monsters and traps, and ensure no one can reach her.
If reincarnators are irregularities in this world, then I, in turn, am an irregularity to them.
Not out of arrogance, but because I’m the most troublesome thing for them.
Unlike Lady Fiona, who they’ve already studied in the game, I’m someone they could never have predicted.
“I-I’m counting on you!”
“Uh, okay… I’ll do my best to get stronger.”
“Yes! Someday, surpass me in strength!”
“That’s impossible…”
“It’s a bit overwhelming to be relied on so much, but I’ll do my best to give it my all.
What’s critical here is my own stats.
Kunimatsu’s stats are probably increasing as he grows stronger. But I don’t know much about this game, and going outside to grind levels is risky.
…I could create monsters myself and defeat them as a method, but the experience points you get from defeating allied units in games are usually pretty low.
Besides, it feels kind of cruel, so I’ll avoid that.
‘If you want, I could help train you~?’
‘No, I don’t think getting stronger that way is possible for me…’
Raising my stats doesn’t mean I’m aiming to become physically stronger.
The goal is, of course, to enhance my magic power. Honestly, as long as I have magic, I don’t need anything else.
If I could funnel every bit of stat growth into magic, I would, but that’s probably impossible.
‘So, what will you do? Well, considering the Demon Lord has entrusted the Subterranean Demon Realm to you, strengthening it could also count as strengthening you, right?’
‘Apparently, I get stronger through that process as well. For now, I’ll focus on renovations, gain experience, and grow stronger that way.’
‘It’s not the kind of strength we get through combat experience like us, huh? More like the growth of a craftsman or something.’
‘When intruders struggle in this dungeon, it seems I get stronger. In the end, the best approach is to keep improving the dungeon.’
I realized this during Kunimatsu’s incursion.
When they advanced through the dungeon, my stats increased.
I didn’t use any skills, and Kunimatsu’s group escaped unharmed.
So, it seems likely that I gain something like experience points even from battles between the monsters I create and intruders.
‘I see. As expected of you, Rey. And of course, me.’
‘The Demon Lord didn’t do anything in particular.’
‘No, this proves my decision to entrust the dungeon to you was the right one.’
‘…Isn’t it more like it happened to work out by chance?’
‘If it worked out, that’s all that matters. So, I’ll continue to gather my strength. Yes, to prepare for the coming battles.’
Honestly, I prefer being entrusted with this place, so I don’t argue.
But Primilla doesn’t seem to let it slide.
‘Lady Demon Lord, let’s leave the dungeon management to Rey and Pilkaya.’
‘Leave it to me.’
‘…Go easy on him, though.’
‘What do you mean by that?’
Fiona tilted her head in confusion, as my response was strange for Primilla’s suggestion.
‘In that case, let’s move to another room to discuss without disturbing them.’
‘Eh? W-what are we discussing?’
‘I’d like to hear what preparations you have in mind for these so-called coming battles, Demon Lord.’
‘…R-Rey~!’
Sorry, Lady Fiona. Please don’t call my name.
Perhaps because I blatantly avoided her gaze, she looked visibly hurt.
◇
‘Lady Demon Lord has really become an interesting demon, hasn’t she~?’
‘Was she not like this before?’
‘Not at all. She used to be a proper Demon Lord.’
‘…That statement could be taken as implying she’s not proper now.’
‘Oh, come on. I meant it as a compliment—she’s become more entertaining. Besides… she seemed like she was forcing herself before. I think she’s better off now.’
Hmm. Sounds like things were tough for Lady Fiona in the past.
Maybe now, after defeating the heroes, she’s found some peace of mind.
To ensure this tranquility isn’t disrupted, I need to build an even better dungeon.
I need more magic power…
For myself and for the dungeon.
With that in mind, I decided to propose an idea to Pilkaya.
‘Hey, Pilkaya.’
‘Hmm? What’s up~?’
‘I want to try creating a dungeon near the Beastmen’s village.’ “
