I gathered the monsters inside the dungeon. It was to make an important announcement.
“Listen up, everyone. Some of you might be unable to suppress your instinct to fight and want to battle, right?”
The monsters began to stir. As expected, there were those who were drawn to this topic.
To some extent, all monsters have a natural instinct for conflict.
Until now, they satisfied that instinct by attacking human villages.
However, I’ve prohibited such attacks. Because of that, their pent-up instincts must be driving them crazy.
Right now, without any outlet for that energy, it’s a potentially dangerous situation.
If this frustration isn’t dealt with, it might eventually backfire on me.
Fearing a possible rebellion, I came up with a plan to satisfy the monsters’ fighting instincts.
“Some of you might have found attacking human villages fun in the past. But I’ve already taught you that such behavior is unacceptable.”
It sounded a bit preachy, but that’s fine. This is an important matter.
It’s something I can’t emphasize enough, no matter how many times I repeat it.
“That said, I do understand your desire to fight. So today, I’ve brought good news for all of you.”
After teasing them a little, it was time to get to the main point.
If I dragged this out too much, it would end up as long-winded as a principal’s speech.
“I’m going to build an arena. In this arena, you’ll be able to fight each other under a set of rules.”
The monsters went silent for a moment.
Aside from combat training, I had strictly forbidden monsters from fighting each other.
“Wait, are you saying we’ll be allowed to fight if this arena is built?”
One of the monsters sought clarification.
“That’s right. Of course, it won’t be a no-holds-barred deathmatch. It’ll be in the form of matches, but you’ll be able to fully satisfy your desire to fight.”
Some of the more bloodthirsty monsters became visibly excited.
“Naturally, an arena wouldn’t be complete without spectators. You’re free to watch even if you don’t want to fight yourself. Enjoy the battles to your heart’s content.”
With that, most of the monsters erupted in excitement.
Even monsters who weren’t keen on fighting might find their blood boiling when watching others fight.
Up until now, this dungeon had little in the way of entertainment apart from food.
This arena was not only meant to satisfy the monsters’ fighting instincts but also to serve as a source of entertainment.
While you can live without entertainment, it’s something that adds color to life.
And that’s probably true for monsters as well, not just humans.
“I’ll be devoting resources to the construction of the arena for a while. I’ll have less time to deal with other things, so keep that in mind.”
And so, my plans to build the arena began.
If it were a facility already existing in the game, I could use DP (Dungeon Points) to construct it. But since the arena was my own idea, it wasn’t part of the game.
In other words, I’d have to build it myself.
If I’m making an arena, I’ll at least need a proper ring for battles.
As for the materials for the ring… those leftover rocks from the quarry should work.
Without delay, I headed to the quarry.
“Lord Evilham, what brings you to the quarry?”
A goblin working at the quarry noticed me and called out.
“I came to collect some spare stones. I’d like you to move these discarded rocks to my crafting room.”
“These stones? What are you planning to use them for…?”
They were essentially useless stones, byproducts of the excavation work.
They’d been piling up and getting in the way, so I’d been meaning to figure out what to do with them at some point.
“Well, you’ll understand its purpose soon enough.”
I worked together with the goblins to transport the pile of scrap stones to the crafting room.
Alright, now the real work begins.
I gathered the scrap stones and started crafting. As I worked, the stones grew larger and were shaped into clean, square blocks.
“Alright!”
I couldn’t help but let out a satisfied exclamation at the result. This was a fine piece of work. I’ll make a lot of these and use them for the arena ring.
I calculated the size of the stones based on the planned dimensions of the arena. From here on, I just need to craft the stones according to those measurements.
Since the dimensions had to be precise, I had to focus intently while crafting. It took a significant amount of concentration, leaving me mentally drained.
I spent the entire day crafting stones for the arena ring. Even so, I didn’t produce enough for the number I had planned.
I was completely exhausted. Any more work today, and I’d collapse. Time to rest for now.
“Good morning, Lord Evilham.”
The next day, as I woke up and was heading to the crafting room, I ran into Littleham.
“Ah, Littleham, just the person I needed. The strongest creature in this dungeon is the Killer Beetle, right?”
“Yes, that’s what I recall as well.”
“Good. Can you summon about five Killer Beetles to come to my crafting room?”
“Understood.”
With that task delegated to Littleham, I got back to work.
I resumed crafting stones for the ring from the scrap pile. After finishing two more, the Killer Beetles began arriving at my crafting room one by one.
“You summoned us, Lord Evilham?”
“Yes, do you see the neatly shaped square stones stacked over there? I want you to transport them to this location.”
I pointed to a spot on the dungeon map. It was an empty area with no facilities yet.
“This spot? Understood.”
The Killer Beetles carried the stones to the designated location as instructed.
This was why I crafted the stones in separate, manageable pieces. If I had made a giant ring all at once, no one would have been able to move it.
Besides, making something too large to fit through the crafting room’s doorway would be pointless.
Transporting the materials piece by piece to the location and assembling them on-site was the smarter approach.
While the Killer Beetles carried the stones, I continued crafting more.
After a few hours of work…
“Alright, this is the last one!”
I finally finished crafting the required number of stones. Now, all that remained was to arrange them into a proper ring.
I headed to the arena site, where the Killer Beetles had delivered the stones.
“Killer Beetles, can I ask you to help with one more task? Please place these stones in the positions I indicate.”
From here, I took on the role of the supervisor, guiding them as we worked.
“Take your time and don’t overdo it. Safety first!”
Thus, the construction of the arena ring began.
“This stone goes here. Push it a bit closer… Move it about three centimeters to the right. Yes, that’s perfect.”
Directing the Killer Beetles, I managed to complete the ring.
“Alright! It’s perfect! The ring is complete!”
The arena ring, crafted from neatly shaped stones, was finally finished.
“Wow! We’ll be able to fight here soon!”
The Killer Beetles were visibly excited as they gazed at the ring.
“Yes, that’s right. Soon, this arena will be open. When it’s ready, you’re free to fight or just watch others.”
“Yay!”
The ring was complete, but my work wasn’t done yet.
“Next, I need to build the spectator stands. For that… I’ll need to craft more stones. I’ll need stone seats, too.”
It didn’t seem like there were enough stones left in the crafting room for this.
Which meant I’d have to collect more stones from the quarry.
Using up the leftover stones at the quarry was a good thing for me, but still…
There’s just so much to do.
But there’s no choice. I’m the only one with the crafting ability.
That means I have to push through and get it done.
Just a bit more until the arena that everyone will enjoy is complete.
One last push. Let’s do this!
