“In other words, replenishing the goods in the store will ultimately strengthen Rey.”
“Is that so? You’re not suggesting you’ll use the magic of the newly restocked throne, are you?”
“I’m just saying, you know? From now on, I’ll keep infusing magic into the treasure chests for various reasons, but you understand that this is a good thing, right?”
“Well… I understand that, but please don’t pour magic into them recklessly.”
“Of course not!”
It was rare for Primilla to be out-argued or persuaded, but this time, since Lady Fiona’s reasoning was also correct, it couldn’t be helped.
However, she seemed like a completely different person compared to just a moment ago. I wonder which one is truly Lady Fiona’s essence.
“By the way, if we can grow stronger through business, maybe it wouldn’t hurt to sell more expensive items…”
“That’s true. Even if we get raided, if the business succeeds, the net income should still be positive, right?”
I had been worried about making things too advantageous for the intruders, but maybe I could start thinking about it more casually. If there’s an option to accept being raided, it could turn into a passive-income dungeon like the goblin dungeon.
While I was thinking about both the dungeon and business, Lady Fiona came in carrying a large load.
What’s that? It’s in an unusually large bag, but what on earth has she brought?
“How about this! With this, the store will be fully stocked and Rey will be satisfied!”
“Oh, these are all from the gacha pulls, huh.”
“Gacha?”
Pilkaya tilted her head, but I didn’t mind. It didn’t have much significance anyway.
So, this was Lady Fiona’s haul from her efforts so far. The fact that it was in such a large bundle probably means that there are no magical storage items in this world.
“Anyway, there’s a lot of it. Did you get things like equipment, items, and daily necessities too?”
“I’ve noticed. When the treasure chest is bigger, it’s usually a dud. It ends up being the type of result where things like food and daily necessities appear in large quantities to make up for it.”
I see. Since the quality is low for the magic infused, at least they try to make up for it in quantity. So, with food and daily necessities, I can get a lot at once, and there’s a ton of it.
This means we won’t have to worry about starving, and regular restocking for the store shouldn’t be an issue either.
“…My lord. This won’t do. And this too.”
“Wha—what!? I’m just trying to make effective use of resources!”
Immediately, Primilla started pointing out some equipment and accessories.
They must hold some kind of power, considering this is a game world.
“I can’t sell equipment that nullifies poison or significantly reduces fire damage. The traps in the dungeon that Rey-sama worked so hard to set would become useless.”
“Oh, that’s a problem.”
“Ugh…”
“The antidote potions have great demand, so they seem like a good idea. The more we sell, the more beastmen will try the maze area, right?”
“Exactly!”
Lady Fiona seemed to be feeling all sorts of emotions.
But Primilla and Pilkaya both had valid points. While it would be bad if something was made completely ineffective, selling consumables might not be such a bad idea.
We could make the beastmen feel safe by giving them antidote potions and having them take on the maze… maybe after that, we could try attacking with something other than poison?
Currently, many beastmen are bringing back information from the dungeon. If that’s the case, it might be interesting to mess with their gathered information. Perhaps one day, we could completely alter a dungeon they’ve successfully cleared and turn it into something unrecognizable.
“Ugh… You look like you’re thinking of something bad.”
“No, I was just thinking of something interesting.”
“That’s just fun for you, right?”
Well, it wouldn’t be fun for the intruders, but it should be fun for those watching.
“Did you get antidote potions too?”
“Y-yes! I’ve brought in quite a few!”
“Then give me ten.”
At first, no one chose the cowardly decision of retreating.
It was just a dungeon created by a mere failed Demon King. If they ran away from something like that, they weren’t warriors.
However, after many beastmen challenged it and some even retreated in shame, their perception began to change.
This dungeon was no different from the one the Demon King created at the height of his power.
In the past, it was simply a testing ground where strong monsters appeared.
But now, what is it like? It has become even more deadly, filled with malice, and a more cunning hunting ground than before.
Yes, a hunting ground. Without realizing it, they had become the prey instead of the hunters.
They could not allow this to continue. Therefore, they had to conquer this ridiculous dungeon.
“I’ve finally got a good grasp of the maze.”
“Yeah, in the end, it’s the easiest to break through here.”
The path with oil was no longer viable. Even races that could ignore rough footing couldn’t make it through the path, which would turn into a sea of fire in an instant.
At first, they were able to break through as the fire and oil ran out after multiple explorers were burned.
But the traps in this dungeon were insidious—after a brief interval, they would reset.
So they tried throwing something in to trigger the traps, but for some reason, the traps wouldn’t activate unless they themselves passed through.
Choosing that path was now a suicidal act, leaving only one path as a real option.
After defeating some monsters, they reached a fork in the road with three paths.
One led to a dead-end with treasure, which they collected, but the quality of the items was low, likely because it had been frequently looted.
In the worst case, the treasure chest hadn’t even respawned in time.
One path was guarded by gargoyles, but somehow, the number of gargoyles had increased to three.
Though it might be manageable with a group, overcoming it would be difficult since the opponent had grown in number.
Thus, it was the maze.
While wandering through the maze, they were attacked by poisonous mists and basilisks.
Just walking through drained their concentration, and many died from poison after tiring themselves out in the maze.
Not only the village, but even the nearby towns had run out of antidote potions.
This was inevitable.
Continuing while poisoned was, without a doubt, a suicidal act.
“I wonder where that guy got the antidote potions from.”
“Who knows? Maybe he bought up all the antidote potions around here?”
“Even so, the price is cheaper than others.”
“…True. Maybe he has connections with an apothecary.”
Well, they weren’t particularly interested in that person.
If that person had bought up all the antidote potions and was selling them at a high price, they would be pissed, but if not, they didn’t care.
In fact, if that person was selling necessary supplies right at the dungeon entrance, it was a help to them.
That rabbit, for the first time, was actually useful to the beastmen, the men laughed.
“Well, the maze map is coming together, and we’ve got a general idea of where the traps and lizards are. Today, let’s break through this place.”
Saying that, the men advanced deeper into the dungeon, but they didn’t have a perfect grasp of the maze after all.
They were forced to retreat when they were ambushed by a basilisk.
“Damn… that bastard’s speed. It’s infuriating.”
“Yeah… fortunately, there’s still antidote potions…”
“Hey… what happened?”
When one of the men asked, his tongue suddenly became sluggish, and soon he couldn’t move his body.
The antidote potions were right in front of them, but they couldn’t use them, and the poison spread throughout their bodies.
Ah… now that he thought about it, among the black lizards, there had been one with a yellowish hue.
A Yellow Basilisk. An offshoot of the basilisk that paralyzes rather than poisons its prey.
In his fading consciousness, the man remembered the monster.
