LDM 526 – Preparing for a dungeon battle (1)

A meeting with the dungeon executives in the master room.

Me, Rokuko, plus Niku Ichika, Rei, Kinue, Neruneh, and Soto were gathered here. We wasted no time setting up a round table while Eleca, the dungeon management fairy who works in the master room kindly served us some tea.

By the way, Narikin is also a member of the executive, but since he is in the Holy Kingdom, he can’t participate.

The current agenda for the executive meeting was, as a matter of course, the upcoming dungeon battle that Haku had requested from us.

“─…and that’s what Haku asked me to do. What kind of preparations do you think we need to make?”

“Well, isn’t it up to the Master to decide?”

The one who reacted to my words was Rei, a Beddhist Saint with zero attack power.

“I want Rei and the others to have some experience in dungeon battles, while it’s true if I use [possess] to Narikin, I can travel anywhere while staying in the village. But should I be absent from this place, there is a chance that all of you will be forcibly dragged into it without my aid.”

“I see, so you want us to be prepared just in case.”

Also, if Rei and her team can get used to dungeon battles, I can send them to one if Haku asks me again in the future. And this time battle would happens not in our main base, the [Cave of Desire], but in the sub-dungeon, the [White Beach], so even if they lose, I could always retake it.

…Wait…, IF, if we lose [White Beach], wouldn’t it significantly reduce the sudden visit from Haku & Co.?

“I’ll help a bit, but I want Rei and the others to do most of it. And ideally, I’d like to be able to leave all future dungeon battles to you all.”

“Master…! To think that you value us that highly! This Rei will vow to struggle and live up to Master’s expectations!”

“I’ll do the same. Master, I look forward to your continued support.”

“I, too, will do my best for you, Master!”

Kinue and Neruneh followed Rei’s vow. As a dungeon master, I’m very happy to see your motivation and loyalty, but ‘struggle’ is not a desirable result on the front lines. Don’t forget that.

Then Soto tugged on my sleeve a bit.

“By the way, Papa. Am I going to participate?”

“Hmm? Haku didn’t ask you to.”

“But I think I can at least help out! You see, my [Storage] Dungeon is useful in many ways, isn’t it?”

Certainly, her [Storage] dungeon is powerful.

If Soto is dealing with someone who doesn’t have the God attribute, she can forcefully stop their time as soon as they enter her dungeon. With that power, Soto can probably overwhelm any small fry there is.

However, if the opponent is a dungeon, core on demi-god level, it will prepare something to deal with that kind of situation; in the first place, it’s rare to see dungeon core being reckless (Demon King Faction is an exception).

And this time, it’s an invasion battle. There will be little benefit to putting the other party in storage because we need to go on the offensive from there on and destroy Core number 10. That’s why it’s hard to expect Soto to be our main force since she’s just a newborn dungeon under our protection.

Another reason why I was reluctant also because Soto’s dungeon ability is something I have kept hidden from Haku as well.

“Ummm—Soto power is too convenient, I want to keep you as my trump card. Then how about this? I will let Niku [posses] the Kobold and participate in this battle.”

“mm-mmmm, oh well, I understand. Anyway, this count as my help, right?”

“Yup, so it decided. Thank you.”

I pat Soto’s head, and she smiled while Niku nodded with full enthusiasm.

“Then Papa, I will have socks as my reward. Can you give it to me now?”

“Yup, I knew you were aiming for a reward. Ichika, take off your socks and give them to her.”

“What, right now? *sigh* I can’t help it. Here you go, Soto-sama.”

“Yaay! Ichika-nee’s maid white knee socks!”

I requested Ichika, who was waiting behind me as a maid, to give Soto a fresh pair of her socks.

Geez, just who this perverted girl takes after… eh? It’s me?

“Rei. The dungeon battle will be held in the [White Beach]. Please make the preparation there, also, Haku is going to drop a million DP as an expense, so make sure you bookkeep it.”

“….bookkeeping?”

Rei looks troubled by this. Oh right, I forgot that they’re still struggling with four basic arithmetic operations. I guess I’ll make a calculator golem for this…

“You’ll be allowed to use 500,000 DP for preparation and the rest for the actual event. For now, I’ll leave you with 500,000 DP to use, so let me know if you need more. Our main objective this time is to invade the opponent’s dungeon, so we don’t need to renovate the dungeon much.”

“I see, I understand. So the problem is what monster we should prepare.”

“Yeah, but–“

I was about to say, “Save some of that for the maneuvers you’ll use with the rats,” but stopped myself. In any case, if you have at least 10,000 DP, a lot of rats can be produced. And considering the cost of the food, it was a good idea to use it on D-Day and treat it like supplies.

“But–?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

“Wait, Kehma, let me explain it to her. Rei… don’t strengthen yourself to fight on the front lines, okay? You’re an executive, act like one and fight by controlling monsters.”

That’s what Rokuko said to link my words that I had withdrawn.

But she’s right. I remember that Rei once abused the DP I gave her to summon subordinates and strengthen herself instead.

“hahh… I got it.”

So you almost did again if Rokuko didn’t say that…