The negotiations with [Time] Demon Lord Dantalian had safely concluded.
I was now allowed to build my dungeon, or rather, my city between Eclaba and his dungeon.
There were two reasons why I easily gave up my [Creation] medal during the negotiations: I expected that his high pride and his relationship with Marcho would prevent him from ever disclosing the medal’s secrets to anyone.
Another reason was that he was a Demon Lord that, just like Marcho, would soon be gone and thus, the likelihood of him being my enemy was exceedingly low. The old Demon Lords were forbidden to attack us new Demon Lords for a year and within that year, the [Time] Demon Lord would perish.
Taking those into consideration, it was then better for me to get a powerful medal as I tried to make him feel like he owed me a favor.
We flew on the back of the Griffon and finally arrived at the place where my city was going to be built. It was a nice and open s.p.a.ce.
I went to the trouble of getting the [Time] Demon Lord’s consent but such a thing wasn’t necessary to obtain from the humans since the site had no ruler aside from the myriad of monsters. However, that was bound to change as my town gained fame and profits.
And if, in exchange of their consent, they demanded a tax in the form of gold and the harvested crops, and the said tax wasn’t too outrageously high, I was prepared to pay them. If they go over the line, however, then I was also prepared to take the appropriate measures.
“Oto-san, we’re looking forward to the dungeon!”
“Yes, we are, master. We can finally have our own home and do whatever we wish.”
“Yeah, I’m thrilled!”
Each of the girls expressed their excitement.
“Well, we can’t forever be freeloaders at Marcho’s, now can we?”
I held the crystal that will be my dungeon’s core tightly. It was slightly covered with the sweat in my hand. Once I had established my dungeon, I would forever be unable to move it somewhere else. And for that, I was nervous.
As I was like that, a crow, the size of a large dog, watched me. Officially, it was a monster I received as a gift from the [Time] Demon Lord.
After we exchanged medals, he verified the [Creation] medal’s abilities and said thus:
“It’s certainly just as you bragged about. No, it’s more than that. Hmm, at this rate, I would be gaining too much from our deal. And one-sidedly benefitting from a negotiation is something my honor would not allow. So, take this convenient monster as my gift. It’s B rank and can use transfer magic. Having transfer is, after all, necessary to dungeon management. I think that it’s exactly what a newcomer such as yourself would need.”
There was no denying that it was indeed a convenient monster. Demon Lords possessed a privilege that allowed them to move anywhere they wanted to as long as it was within their own dungeon and they did so alone, without any of their subordinates. Should they want to bring with them their subordinates, it was then necessary for those followers to temporarily enter the Demon Lord’s [Storage].
The method mentioned above couldn’t be applied to monsters like the Golems that Elder Dwarf made or to the undead monsters that Wight reanimated. And those monsters’ usefulness was truly different depending on whether or not I had a monster that could use transfer magic.
The crow was especially helpful given my present circ.u.mstance in which I had to move the Golems from Marcho’s dungeon. All of this on top of the fact that, at the moment, I couldn’t make a monster that could use transfer magic with the medals I had at hand made it great if not for the jet-black crow constantly watching me.
“No doubt about it, it’s observing me.”
I whispered so to myself.
Although it was a monster made by the [Time] Demon Lord, it was now under my control. It would follow my every command with absolute obedience and would be unable to intentionally hurt me.
Conversely though, that was all it was going to do for me. There was a dozen loopholes to the statement above. One such case was that it would leak out information about me to Dantalian and that was something I had to be prepared for.
Really, just what you’d expect from an old Demon Lord, they were too wary. I decided to let him watch rather than conceal my activities so that I might convince him that I meant him no harm. On the other hand, not doing so carried great risks. Of course, I intended to hide the things he didn’t have to see.
“Now then, shall we begin?”
I ended my contemplation and began the building of my city.
I currently had 30,000 DP and unless I used it wisely, all of it would vanish right away.
As an absolute necessity, I needed to use 10,000DP for [Add Floor]. A floor could only have three rooms and when trying to have more than three, an additional floor needed to be added first. And, since the city would be placed above ground and the dungeon would be built below it, an additional floor could not be forgone.
Furthermore, I also needed to reserve 1,000 DP for [Floor Swap] which was to be used at the start of a [War].
Let me first state rules that were given to us new Demon Lords by the Creator:
- In the event one is willing to start a [War], the Creator as well as the enemy Demon Lord must first be notified. No new Demon Lord may refuse to partic.i.p.ate.
- The [War] will begin, at the shortest, 48 hours from the declaration of [War].
- Until the start of the [War], new Demon Lords are forbidden to engage in military conflicts against their fellow Demon Lords. This rule doesn’t apply when the other party is within one’s own dungeon.
- At the start of the [War], the entrances of the partic.i.p.ating dungeons will be linked by a white s.p.a.ce and until the conclusion of the [War], all creatures except for humans and monsters will be moved to a room where time is stopped.
- The conditions for victory are: the enemy Demon Lord’s surrender, their crystal’s destruction, or their subjugation. Until any of those conditions are satisfied, the [War] will continue. At the time of one’s surrender, their crystal shall be destroyed.
Those were the rules given to us. It was mostly the same as the demonstration I partic.i.p.ated in.
At first glance, the rules would seem coherent but they lent themselves to various loopholes.
First off, nowhere was it stated that one may not partic.i.p.ate in simultaneous [Wars]. In other words, several Demon Lords may declare war against a single Demon Lord at exactly the same time.
Furthermore, although one might be lead to believe that all military actions are forbidden until the start of the [War], the rule was only limited to those that might bring harm to the enemy. It was then not against the rules to have a large host of monsters stay hidden within the enemy’s dungeon until the start of the [War].
Moreover, the rules did not put any limitations on fights occurring on within one’s own dungeon. Even when not at [War], if one managed to coerce another Demon Lord into their own dungeon, one was then allowed to fight the said Demon Lord.
I digressed but the reason I stated all this was because my tactics involved the use [Floor Swap] to move my city underground at the start of the fighting. Although I could just simply relocate the humans to a safer location, after all the hardships I went through to establish my city, I just couldn’t let ruin befall it. And so, I concluded that I needed to preserve 1000DP at all times in order to use [Floor Swap].
“[Build]”
I uttered the word of power and the crystal shone.
A pedestal that could support the crystal manifested and the crystal then enshrined itself on the pedestal. Stone walls then surrounded us. This was now the innermost part of my dungeon.
Upon being connected to crystal, the surrounding rooms would be projected.
“First of all, I’ll choose the entrance to be [Transparent] and the first room to be a plain. Elder Dwarf, Ancient Elf, I’ll leave the specific configurations to you. You can configure anything as you see fit except for the room’s size which shall be set to the maximum.”
The entrance which shall represent the dungeon’s appearance on the outside was set to be [Transparent] for 100DP. That meant that it would project the first room’s appearance just as it was to the outside. The vital first room was then set to be a plain covered with plants and densely populated by trees. It would also be a suitable living environment for humans with water flowing beneath it. As to be expected though, such a plain was more expensive than a stone corridor. I needed to spend 3000DP on one.
“Leave it to us, master. We’ll definitely make a land that’s comfortable to live in.”
“Look forward to it master, ok? From the geology and the water flowing in the land to the feng-shui and magical energies that flowed in it too, it’ll be perfect. A land as supreme as my master’s town!”
The engineering specialist and the nature specialist then stood before the crystal and tweaked every configuration with frightening vigor.
Anything that came to mind at the time of construction of a Demon Lord’s dungeon could be thoroughly and finely configured. And the land made with every ounce of the wisdom of the best of the dwarves and the best of the elves could be nothing but the best.
At around the 30 minute mark, the setup was complete and I proceeded with the purchase.
The scenery that could be seen from the crystal room was the very definition of nature itself.
The second room onward was completely located at a different dimension and could only be accessed through the first room but since my dungeon’s entrance was set to be [Transparent], it then made the first room accessible from any point of contact it had with the world. Any and all inconsistencies the first room might cause by its presence in the world would be fixed by the world itself so that none might notice.
An ordinary Demon Lord would never choose something like [Transparent] to be their dungeon’s entrance since they wouldn’t be able to completely limit the means others might trespa.s.s on their territory and thus making the dungeon hard to defend. However, my dungeon was a city and this was the best option for it.
“The two of you did your best. With this, we’ll be able to invite the humans.”
The two were able to accomplish their task without incident. I then decided to pat their heads.
They narrowed their eyes as though they were pleased.
“Master, we’ve only prepared the land. When the Golems and the Dwarf Smiths get here, I would like to ready the farmlands and build the houses. We also have to build walls to cover the city. And then, we’ll tackle the waterworks. If I could borrow Ancient Elf’s abilities, we should be able to finish all these tasks in about a week.”
Elder Dwarf and the Dwarf Smiths possessed earth magic and knowledge about public works while the dozens of Golems could function as the heavy equipment. And if they had the nature-magic-expert Ancient Elf’s a.s.sistance, it was more than possible for them to form my city in a week’s time.
They had configured the land under the a.s.sumption that they would accomplish those things.
Just when I thought Ancient Elf was making a troubled face, she hesitantly spoke.
“Master, I would like to ask you for a favor. You made the size of the land be set to the maximum which is 10 Km by 10 Km. To continually give an elf’s blessing to the whole of the city and to also control the weather is a little too much for one person.”
“Would having an a.s.sistant help?”
“Yes. If we had the High Elves which are two ranks below me, nature would always be on our side.”
I considered it for a moment.
High Elves were B rank monsters and were also quite the nature magic user.
I saw no harm in employing them especially if it helped the city’s domestic affairs.
“Alright. I’ll make them later. Can I leave their training to you, Ancient Elf?”
“Yes, of course! I’ll instruct them well! I’ll make sure they won’t just be friends of friends of nature but also fantastic snipers.”
“That sounds promising.”
Ancient Elf looked proud and delighted as she nodded her head.
But then, Kuina had a jealous look on her face.
“El-chan and now Elf-chan too, you’re both so sneaky! Kuina has always wanted to have a follower and yet…”
I smiled wryly at her. I got where she was coming from.
Elder Dwarf had the Dwarf Smiths.
And now, Ancient Elf would have the High Elves under her command.
I thought it was reasonable for her to want a follower of her own.
“I’ll think about it. After all, Mythological Foxes that could use [Transform] would be convenient to have in negotiating with the humans.”
Although this was a world where demi-humans were accepted, there were still many humans that would discriminate. I had, right from the beginning, already thought of creating Mythological Foxes who were intelligent and could look completely like humans.
“Yay ♪! Kuina will also now have followers! Oto-san, thank you! I love you!”
Kuina ran and hugged me tight so I hugged her back.
She swung her fox tail, happy from the bottom of her heart.
“Next, should I buy a [Mine]?”
Elder Dwarf furiously and repeatedly nodded her head.
As far as she was concerned, the mine was the most important aspect of my dungeon.
And so, I added a [Mine] area to the first floor. I only needed to set its size so it was quickly added to the dungeon.
The ores that could be mined from it was related to the Demon Lord’s level. The quality of the ores than could be mined here was significantly lower than the ones that could be gotten from Marcho’s dungeon but the fact those ores were important resources didn’t change. I guessed that at my current level, mithril would show up once in a while.
Afterwards, I used [Add Floor] and built a room on the new floor. It was the same straightforward stone room I used on my fight against [Wind] Demon Lord Stolas. For the moment, I only built one room.
By building this one room, the crystal room would automatically be relocated next to the straightforward stone room where it would be the innermost room of the dungeon.
I expected that after taking some kind of counter-measure against my heavy machine guns, hostile Demon Lords were bound to declare [War] on me.
I had no intention to make all three rooms on the floor be like the straightforward stone room guarded by the Mithril Golems.
That was probably enough for today.
The 30,000 DP I had quickly diminished.
100 DP for the [Transparent] entrance;
3,000 DP for the [Plain] in the first room;
2,400 DP for two High Elves;
Another 2,400 DP for two Mythological Foxes;
10,000 DP for [Add Floor];
1,000 DP for the stone room guarded by the Mithril Golems;
5,000 DP for the [Mine];
All in all, I used up a total of 23,900 DP.
If I factored in the 1,000 DP I would use for [Floor Swap], that left me with only 5,100 DP. Considering that I still had to build 2 rooms on the second floor to guard the crystal and one more room on the first floor to help my city, the 5,100 DP left was certainly not enough. I had to quickly earn some DP.
“Well then, everyone. This will be all for today. For the moment, let’s go back to Marcho’s Dungeon and bring along Wight and the others.”
“Alright, Oto-san! Let’s go pack and move here!”
There was still a lot of work to be done but at last, my city was built.
From tomorrow onwards, I shall devote myself on developing my city. And then, we’ll finally invite some humans.