Chapter 20: There are things that even an earth dragon doesn"t eat.
『I"m going to be a dungeon master. 』
As I returned to the upper floor, I declared so.
Through telepathic communication.
In front of me is a Killer Ant tilting its head.
The monster who became my subordinate the other day.
It is Ann.
A slightly bigger than any normal Killer Ant.
『What? Really? 』
Ann looks puzzled.
Curse me, I can converse with an ant.
『Yes, it"s true. So Ann, I want you to be the floor boss of these floors. 』
『Whaaaaaat?! 』
Ann is probably really surprised right now.
Or rather, her ant children have been flocking at me for a while now.
It doesn"t hurt but why are they biting me?
I really want to crush them with my foot but I will be patient about it.
『Jiryuu-sama, what are you saying?! 』
『Like I said, the upper floors are yours now. Simply put, I want you to work as the floor boss and manage the first until the fifth floor. 』
Mainly as a decoy.
A meat shield.
A scapegoat.
As my tank, it"ll be worrying if she dies.
Ouch, that hurts a bit.
I said don"t bite me. Seriously, I will step on you, ant children.
『M-me…..? I can"t do it, your gracious…..』
『No, you can do it. 』
With that, I took out the gem- I mean, the magic stones.
『Mm magic stones?! There"s so much of it! Is this… 』
Ann is shocked.
I found them by chance when I was eating the mural. They were behind the secret door inside the ruins.
Well, after I ate the colorful ball, I knew all of the other hidden places.
It"s like a hidden safe. There"s a lot of magic stone inside.
Moreover, from what I know, their purity is very high.
What"s more, some of the magic stones even have an interesting "effect".
They were artificial magic stones made by Elibel.
『You can eat them. 』
『Eh? I can?! 』
『Yeah, I don"t mind. 』
Ann is shocked.
She probably is.
Thanks to the knowledge from the ruins, I finally know the rarity value of the magic stone.
It seems to be quite precious in this world.
They are traded at a high price both by the human and the demon.
There"s also some magic stones that can even buy an entire country.
Well, it"s the value of that time. I"m not sure if it"s still worth the same.
Anyway, the magic stones in front of us are considerably valuable.
Surprisingly, she also wants to save some for me.
Well, to me it"s just a snack.
I can get a lot of it.
『…….I, I understand! Thank you very much! 』
Ann slowly begins to eat the magic stone.
Good, just like that.
Eat, eat.
Actually, I slip one special magic stone into her mix.
A "special" magic stone with Elibel stamp on it.
If my a.s.sumption is correct…….
『 Amazing! I"ve never eaten a magic stone with such purity before! Ah, I did when I first received a magic stone from Jiryuu-sama, but still, this is amazing! I can"t describe how amazing it is, it"s seriously amazing! 』
………..You"re actually bad at this food review.
Well, I shouldn"t say that to others when I"m pretty much the same.
Ann swallowed the last one.
It"s a white and round magic stone about the size of a fist.
Oh, isn"t that it?
That"s the magic stone I mentioned before.
At next moment, Ann began to shine.
It"s as bright as ever.
『Uoooooooooh! What is happening!! 』
Ann was taken aback by it.
But, I"d already antic.i.p.ated this kind of development.
As expected, everything"s written is true.
After the light ceases, a single ant appeared.
No doubt she is Ann.
However, her figure is different.
Her gray body color is now jet black with bigger mandible as well as three pairs of thicker legs which makes her almost double in size. Further, her swollen abdomen has now shaped up and became much slender.
There"s still pulsing lumps on her abdomen like before but I can also feel magic emanating from it which not present until now.
But what"s more surprising is her upper body and arms. That"s right, she now has a pair of arms in additions to her six legs and an upper part that was added to her lower body.
The upper form is completely that of an ant which makes it inhuman as the insect characteristic is more prominent. If anything, it"s like a naked mannequin attached inside the hard sh.e.l.l of an insect.
Blurgh, gross!
But, it"s a success.
A great success.
『What, what just happened to me……? This body is? 』
Ann herself seems perplexed by the changes in her physical.
『Ann, you"ve evolved. You"re no longer a Killer Ant, you are now an Imperial Ant. 』
『Imperial Ant………?』
Imperial Ant.
It"s described as an extinct species in the monster picture book.
There"s no doubt. A jet black body with three pairs of legs and a pair of arm.
Moreover, as far as I can see, based on the change in her magic, Ann didn"t just evolve into any Imperial Ant Queen but a rare species known as the High-Queen.
I"m quite happy even though it"s not what I expected.
Since there"s information on the Imperial Ant and the Killer Ant in the monster picture book from before, I"ll make do with it.
The Imperial Ant.
Out of all the monster I"m searching for, this species qualified the most.
Now then, what is my purpose for doing this? It"s because of the knowledge I gain from the ruins the other day.
It"s about me and my dungeon.
Places build by monsters are all called dungeons.
Well, if it"s just that it is fine.
I build my own home, so I don"t particularly mind what others say.
The problem is another one.
The thing is, a dungeon made by a monster will unconsciously attract adventurers and other monsters.
It appears that the dungeon itself releases fine magic that attracts other creatures.
To be honest, it"s nothing but trouble.
Although conversely, it was used to lure prey like game and monster.
Which almost similar to an insect-eating plant that lures their prey by giving off a sweet scent.
Most of the dungeon is the latter.
A guy like me is out of ordinary.
Also, I discovered something about myself, in other words, information on earth dragons.
Something that can"t be overlooked.
An extinct species. Considered by the human as the highest grade material. Every part of the body is useful for making an elixir, magic tool and weapon. Earth dragon parts are traded at a high price since none were believed to have survived.
If a still alive earth dragon was found, it will immediately be subjugated for material.
That"s what it said.
Don"t. Be. Ridiculous!
What kind of stupid information is that!
Immediately capture the moment discovered, why?!
Why is it so?!
It can"t be true!!
Knowing what will happen to me, I can"t relax at all.
Well, I mean.
What I"m doing now is akin to self-defense.
For the sake of my peaceful life, I want Ann to work harder.
And that"s why I"m beefing her up.
The artificial magic stone that I got from Elibel"s ruins which I use just now is called an "evolution magic stone".
It"s a magic stone that has a tremendous effect of forcibly evolving monsters.
However, it isn"t near completion. Even by eating it, the success rate for evolution is less than ten percent.
And failure means death.
It"s very risky.
Even though it can make me stronger, I don"t want to eat it.
I will lose everything if I die.
And so, I got Ann to do that.
*gobble gobble* As the ant children are biting at my feet.
Un, the bet was a success.
Thank goodness it works.
『Well, Ann, you"ll be busy from now on. 』
『Yes! 』
Ann cheerfully replied.
Now, let"s get to work.
For my peace of mind.
Author"s note: This trash!