We left the dungeon after talking with Marcho.
Accompanying me was Kuina, my [Monster of the Covenant], along with the other two candidates, Elder Dwarf and Ancient Elf. Gryphon was with us, too.
Wight was left behind to attend to some important tasks I had a.s.signed to him together with the Dwarf Smiths, and the Skeletons.
Marcho had taught us about a place that satisfied the condition of being near both a large town and a popular dungeon.
The four of us wore human clothes Marcho bought from a human town. I didn’t know much about this world’s clothing but the ones we wore felt like clothes of considerable quality.
It would seem Demon Lords with too much free time would sometimes go visit human towns and thus had human clothes prepared.
The clothes we wore were just at right size too. I and Ancient Elf wore clothes for people on the middle of their teens while the other two wore clothes for people on the first half of their teens.
The clothes’ sizes definitely weren’t for Marcho though. My clothes weren’t even for a girl and that bothered me a little.
“Oto-san, the wind feels nice!”
“Master’s back, so big. So comforting.”
“Yeah, it does feel so nice.”
At the moment, I was riding on the Gryphon as it flew.
There was still some distance away from our destination.
I was gripping on the Gryphon’s bridle while Kuina was sitting in-between me and the Gryphon. Meanwhile, Elder Dwarf was clinging to me from behind.
It smelled nice and felt soft and warm.
Being sandwiched by my beloved girls definitely was wonderful. It was the best.
“Yeah, I bet it feels good there.”
“Come on now, you know I also want you to be here with us but Gryphon could only carry a maximum of three people.”
Flying next to us was Ancient Elf.
She was able to control the wind and thus make herself fly. Her speed was nothing to write-off either; she could overtake the Gryphon as it flew at its top speed, all while humming a tune.
She—when performing some long distance sniping with her anti-materiel rifle while flying in the sky at full speed—arguably boasted the highest combat prowess among my monsters.
“I know but… Ei! ♪”
Just when I thought she flew higher, I felt something against the back of both my head and body. Yes, it was her ample bosoms that pressed against me.
“There should be no problem if we’re like this. Kuina-chan has taken the front while El-chan has taken the back so this’ll be my place. Fufufu, a privilege only for me who’s flying.”
Careful not to burden the Griffon, she flew as she pressed her body on mine.
It was dangerous so I wanted to scold her, I really did, but I also wanted to enjoy that soft and warm feeling.
“Oto-san, you’re making a weird face.”
“Master’s so dirty.”
The coldness in their voices somehow snapped me back.
That was dangerous. A little bit more and I might not have been able to snap out of it.
“Ancient Elf, this is dangerous so let go. If you want to cling on to me like this, you may do so as much as you want once we’re on the ground.”
“I’m sorry, my master. I’ll have my fun later, then.”
“Uhh, foolish Oto-san.”
Kuina glared at me with scornful eyes. Maybe she thought I’ll be taken away from her.
Ancient Elf then spoke as she giggled and laughed at Kuina.
“If you let me hug you, I’ll stop being so near master. What do you say?”
“Ugggghhhh, uggghhhhh. Do what you want with me, Elf-chan, just get away from Oto-san.”
It would seem her desire to monopolize me won over her wariness of Ancient Elf.
Ancient Elf laughed, thoroughly enjoying Kuina’s response. I guess she really liked Kuina a lot.
Being like this, we covered a great deal of distance.
“We’re gonna arrive soon.”
“Oto-san, why are we purposefully visiting a human town?”
“Because it’s important for us to know how we can lure the humans into a Demon Lord’s dungeon. In order to do so, we have to know in much detail what kind of creatures humans are. It won’t be easy and the first steps are always the hardest. Not to mention, I’m trying to build a town with lots humans living in it so it’s that much harder.”
“That sounds so exciting, Oto-san!”
Kuina looked at me with sparkling eyes as her fox ears twitched.
She seemed more than interested so I decided to continue talking about it some more.
“Do you know what this is?”
I took out a transparent and round object.
“Hmm, no, I don’t but maybe El-chan does.”
“Is that perhaps the heart of a dungeon? The thing a dungeon is built around?”
“That’s right.”
I smiled at the answer. What I held was the one given to me on the [Evening Party]: a crystal.
“If I hold it tightly and then utter some words of power, a dungeon can be built.”
As I said so, the eyes of both Elder Dwarf and Ancient Elf sparkled as well.
“We can have a new home!”
“Master, I want the dungeon to have a mine please.”
“A fertile field for me too.”
My monsters conveyed each of their requests.
So far, their requests seemed achievable.
“Deciding the kind of dungeon ours is going to be might be important but since we can’t move it once it’s built, I wanted us to first have a look at the place then decide. So we’ll be doing some reconnaissance. If it looks like I can proceed with my plans, I’ll build it there.”
The outside appearance of a dungeon could be anything that the Demon Lord fancied and the rooms and floors inside were connected via different dimensions so the terrain, the vastness and such of the dungeon didn’t matter; the only thing that really mattered was where the dungeon would be located.
To be near a lot of humans was indispensable to my dungeon and so I decided on making use of an already popular dungeon. Popular dungeons were essential resources for humans; many of them would even go back and forth between such a dungeon and a large town. I thought that if I perhaps built my town in-between them, there would then be a demand for food and lodgings.
All the parts that could be accessed on the first floor of my dungeon shall be the town I’ll build.
I then talked to my monsters as I gathered my thoughts.
“In order for the dungeon to have farmlands, we first need to prepare fertile lands. With the help of Ancient Elf’s abilities, doing so will be easy and something like an abundant harvest could even be promised every year.”
“That makes me happy, master. We elves are creatures who are most comfortable when surrounded by trees and gra.s.s.”
My intention was to rent out the plots of land made fertile by Ancient Elf’s abilities to farmers who didn’t own their own land for almost no price at all.
If I did that, they would stay in my town for a long while and thus become my reliable source of DP.
Should that not entice them enough, building my town within reasonable distance of the first town probably would.
Besides them, I also planned to entice merchants aiming for the customers heading to the popular dungeon and, of course, inn managers.
“And then, Elder Dwarf, don’t worry, I’ll surely make a mine. It’s needed not only to attract more humans but also for the advancement of your research and the improvement of our forces.”
“That makes me happy as well, master. I’ll make a lot of strong and amazing weapons. Please look forward to it.”
“Strong weapons are great and all but please also consider making some weapons we can sell to the humans.”
“I’ll leave that task to the Dwarf Smiths. Those two are more than capable to handle that.”
The mines would attract a fair number of humans. And so too would the selling of the high-quality dwarven-made arms that no human could replicate. It would certainly be popular, especially so when sold near a popular dungeon.
Between the abilities of the two races—of the elves presiding over nature and of the dwarves ruling over smithing—the success of my new town was all but certain.
And those were just some examples; there were still many more methods I could employ in order to gather the humans.
A dungeon built by a novice Demon Lord with little DP would be unable to gather enough people and thus not earn much. And when looking from the human’s side of things, changing their hunting grounds from an already popular dungeon made no sense.
The methods I had thought of were probably the most efficient way I could gather a good amount of DP.
“Uuhh, El-chan and Elf-chan are too sly. Kuina also wants to have a job.”
“Don’t worry Kuina, for you will be the key to our defense. No matter how much of an amazing city we build or how much humans we can gather, it would all mean nothing if the crystal is broken so I will be relying on your abilities, Kuina.”
“Understood, Oto-san! Kuina will protect not just Oto-san but the town and everyone in it as well!”
The lower floors where the crystal would be enshrined would be a h.e.l.lish dungeon with nothing but defense in mind. Just taking a single step in it would result in one’s immediate death.
Moreover, I intended to hide all the routes leading to the lowest floor as much as I could.
In the first place, the structure of the dungeon would completely change depending upon whether it was open for the public or at a state of war with another Demon Lord.
I couldn’t do a compromise between the two so I decided to abandon the thought of opening the dungeon to the public at the start.
That being said though, eventually, after we earned some DP and increased our fighting strength, the news of a dungeon found underneath the town shall be spread. And from being a mere stop-over, it would probably become a full-blown dungeon town and s.n.a.t.c.h away all of the popular dungeon’s visitors in the end.
“Oto-san’s thinking of a lot of difficult stuff.”
“It’s ‘cause I can’t let anything bad happen to you girls. This crystal, you see, if ever it breaks, everyone will be gone. In order to prevent that, I have to think up of various measures.”
The Creator reminded me of that when he gave me the crystal.
Even though another crystal would be resupplied to us upon our independence, all the monsters that had vanished would remain gone, never to return again.
It was then my duty to protect all the monsters I had created.
Whether they be Demon Lords waging a [War] against me or the humans, I won’t let anyone take my children away. To that end, I was willing to do anything.
“We believe in you, Oto-san. Ah! I could see it! It’s such a big town!”
“I’m surprised they made such a big town.”
Kuina and Elder Dwarf were surprised.
Their surprise was justified though.
The place we were going to, the town of Eclaba, was a wealthy town with over a hundred thousand citizens.
As I observed their surprise, I guided the Gryphon to a descent.
We finally reached the town. Although this will also be a reconnaissance mission, we will be enjoying ourselves to the fullest.