“It’s time to make the big announcement!” Ramiris shouted, and then she went over the Dungeon’s current situation and latest news.
Let’s start from the bottom up. Ramiris, keeping her promise to Milim, had carefully raised the four element-infused dragons, all of them successfully evolving into Dragon Lords—the result of being constantly bombarded by Veldora’s magicules. Thus we now had a Fire Dragon Lord, an Ice Dragon Lord, a Wind Dragon Lord, and an Earth Dragon Lord deep down. I can’t say I was too excited about knowing that, but those were the facts.
And that wasn’t all. The full rundown:
Floor 90 guardian: “Nine-Head” Kumara
Floor 80 guardian: “Insect Kaiser” Zegion
Floor 79 boss: “Insect Queen” Apito
Floor 70 guardian: “Immortal King” Adalmann
Floor 70 advance guard: “Death Paladin” Alberto
That, plus a bonus—Bovix and Equix as our Floor 50 guardians. They, sad to say, weren’t really Dungeon Marvels. Instead, they had inducted Beretta, the manager who made all of this work.
“Personally, I would love to palm off—ahem!—I mean, award this great honor to someone else…” Beretta carefully eyed Treyni and Ifrit—now known as Charys.
“Oh dear, I’m afraid I have the extremely important job of taking care of Lady Ramiris,” Treyni replied with a beautiful smile.
“Yes, and I am Sir Veldora’s only confidant. His care occupies all my attention.” Charys was pretty used and abused by Veldora, I felt, but I guess he liked it. Either way, neither were interested in any more work. Reminds me of a certain butler I know, I thought as I sighed.
“Sounds like you got a tough job, Beretta.”
“Oh, you sympathize, Sir Rimuru?!”
I nodded back, reminding myself just how much of a bond we shared.
As I did, I went over a few other things. First off, who exactly did the Ten Dungeon Marvels answer to? The Dungeon was a facility run by all of us, as both a hobby and a moneymaking venture. Much of it ran on Ramiris’s powers, and it’d never function correctly without Veldora’s energy. When considering this, I’d think Ramiris, as general manager, would also assume Ten Marvels leadership, but…
“Well, along those lines, I conducted interviews with everyone and adjusted things to their requests!”
Ramiris laid it all out for me. First, Beretta served Ramiris—no change there. The four Dragon Lords were also under Ramiris’s authority; they had a contract drawn up and everything, and since Dragon Lords are sentient, they were allowed to execute it.
Kumara had become good friends with the children and enjoyed life here a great deal, so I guess her gratitude for me has gone pretty wild. She had publicly declared that she was my pet, leaving Ranga in the dust. Zegion and Apito also took a liking to me, saying they’ll treat me as their lord. Adalmann, well, I was a god to him. This had rubbed off on Alberto, and his loyalty was now with me, through his boss. So those five were mine, so to speak.
Bovix and Equix, I figured, would be better off under Ramiris—they were more hired by the Dungeon than anything else. They appreciated it, I was told, but voiced a desire to serve under me instead. Which… Well, they’re both species who believe in power over anything else, so I bet with Ramiris, they totally judged that book by its cover.
“No, they didn’t! You named those two guys, remember? That’s more valuable to ’em than any salary they get, so they insisted!”
Ah. That kinda thing, huh? That makes me feel happy, actually. I’ll have to drop a few kind words next time I see them.
And so as I was watching those three imperial intruders earlier, I actually had a front-row seat to some pretty startling changes in the Dungeon. “Stunned into silence” is about the right way to put it, but really, it’s great to see our guardians get stronger. Still, all these unanticipated evolutions made me a little anxious—a bad habit for someone as timid as myself.
But enough of that. With the Ten Dungeon Marvels in place, an imperial attack would be nothing to worry about. I did inform them, however, to try to go a little easy on our challengers from the general public. Otherwise, I thought, it’d be pretty much impossible for your average dude to make it anywhere in there. Why would they want to take on a labyrinth with not one but several demon lord–class enemies inside?
I wanted to be sure Floor 100 was never breached, at minimum, but Veldora could see to that himself. As for the other floors? I’d like to let people hack their way down to Floor 80, at least. We took all this time building it, so I’d kinda like people to look at it. But we could think about that during peacetime.
After getting a rundown on the labyrinth’s current status, I went around to each floor guardian. I wanted to get a close look at them all, checking how they’d grown and evolved. The results were beyond my imagination. With this much fighting force, I couldn’t see how we could possibly lose to the Empire in here.
Then, a few days later, I finally got to experiment on our completed forest monitoring system.
We were seated in our Strategic Military Control Battle Command Center, or the Control Center for short. I talked over the name with Veldora and the gang, and we let our imaginations go wild…but now, I kinda regretted making it so long. I probably debated over it with the wrong people. Benimaru strictly called it the Control Center, so not too many people actually knew the entire name.
This was built next to Veldora’s personal chamber on Floor 100, and we set up a passageway to our normal strategy room as well. If we quarantined the surface city inside the labyrinth, this would serve as Tempest’s headquarters. In case of war, we were all set…but of course, I’d prefer if we never had to use it.
The results of our magic monitoring system were quite impressive. We had multiple large screens set up, the same sort we used for the battle tournament, and each one showed a different scene. Whether it was the Forest of Jura, our trade routes with the Dwarven Kingdom, or any other important site, we now had all the visuals we could care to monitor. We could even observe the sea routes in the Kingdom of Farminus, or the peaks of the Canaat Mountains, without any issue.
It operated in a really simple way. Using the physical magic Megiddo that I invented, the system subtly altered and reshaped a large, lens-shaped body of water suspended in the stratosphere, projecting an expanded image of a given target point. Reflecting this image let us transmit its data, like a video. Consulting with Moss, I figured out how to use my own replications, deployed across our territory, as magic invokers. They were connected to me via Dominate Space, producing a data link that was perfectly synced up at all points. These replications were super-tiny in size and had no self-consciousness, so they wouldn’t consume energy unless I turned my attention to them. Transporting them over to a given surveillance point was nontrivial, but Soei, Moss, and the rest of their team put in a great effort.
Overall, it was a great system that operated at a low cost. I named this physical magic Argos, the Eye of God.
The output we were currently seeing on-screen was in high resolution, following some Raphael-provided image processing. This let us keep abreast of things from our nice, warm Control Center. This was some really amazing magic. Everyone else was jazzed about it, too—especially Diablo, but I won’t go into that.
With this monitoring system complete, I now realized that it provided another key perk. It made it possible to position a Megiddo spell at any point in the images we saw in the Control Center. I tried it out myself, and the results were amazing—I didn’t think it’d actually work, so I just lobbed a shot out at Gobta’s feet while he was training in our town’s main square. He leaped straight up in surprise, and I don’t think I’ll forget the face he made for a while to come. (I did yell at him—“You let your guard down, dumbass!”—but I didn’t think he was really at fault.)
My Megiddo spell had also improved. It had already been optimized once by the Great Sage, but it looked like Raphael wasn’t quite satisfied. After some more scrupulous enhancements, it had developed a system where I could keep multiple lens “satellites” in the air at once. Paired with Argos, we could even keep Megiddo activated during the nighttime—it wasn’t quite as powerful, but we could successfully reflect light between satellites to collect images.
Honestly speaking, I was kinda wondering whether we weren’t devoting our efforts to the wrong things. We used a high-level spirit to actually generate these lenses, so they’d stay up as long as I kept their magicule supply intact. Raphael handled all the tricky calculations, so everything was super-easy to control—and since it didn’t consume anything during daytime hours, we could run it even harder, taking in more light and heat energy and launching Megiddo shots like heat rays.
The sheer scope of these improvements blew my mind. At this rate, I could wipe out a human army without even having to lift a finger.
Upon confirming our experiment’s success, I returned to my office. Not long after, showing impeccable timing, Shuna came in and said I had a visitor.
I may not look it, but I entertain a lot of guests—really, that’s the majority of my work. Beyond that, there’s magic development, brainstorming fun new products, and assigning the right people to the right jobs. That and labyrinth administration, helping Mollie out with stuff… A lot. All work needs an aspect of play to it, after all. But anyway, handling visitors is the most important part of my job, and I try to take it seriously.
The reception room Shuna guided me to already contained Shinji’s trio, waiting nervously for me. They were officially going to accept asylum in Tempest, and over the past few days, I’d been grilling them for all their info. This was entirely on a volunteer basis, of course, not an interrogation—they were just being interviewed in different rooms. I let them use their free time however they wanted, so I was sure they’d have time to work out their future plans—and that was what they were there to tell me about that day.
“So have you decided what you’ll be doing?”
Shinji’s band had trouble deciding whether to find an outfit in Tempest to work for or become freelance adventurers instead. If they kept up adventuring, they could tackle the labyrinth and continue being pretty popular, wealthy figures—but on the other hand, now that they knew the limits of their strength down there, there wasn’t much potential for growth. Our Demon Colossus was stationed on Floor 60, but it seemed likely Shinji’s party would have serious trouble against it—and even if they beat that guy, Adalmann’s terrible trio was just ten floors down.
It was a dead end no matter how you sliced it, and I could understand if they didn’t want to bang their heads against that wall the rest of their lives. Seeing that wall for themselves pretty much tanked their motivation for the job. It was good money, for sure, but wouldn’t it turn into a boring rut after a while?
And really, Adalmann and his friends had grown way stronger than I planned for. It wasn’t even funny. I never thought they’d grow—or evolve, I suppose—that much, and there wasn’t much I could do about that. But whatever. Let’s just forget about it—and let’s not worry about what the Dungeon’s other challengers would think, either.
So would they find jobs elsewhere in Tempest? I’d be assigning them a spot based on their talents, and it’d still provide a guaranteed, stable life for them. But with war against the Empire coming up, I was sure they were worried about getting swept up in that somehow. I had no interest in forcing them, but I couldn’t guarantee they’d never get involved, either. Better keep from saying too much. I’d just wait to see their decision.
“Right, so after the three of us discussed it, Sir Rimuru, we decided that we want you to let us work here in Tempest. We heard about how Lord Gadora would be serving you, and so we’re hoping we can live and work here as well.”
Shinji looked nervous. The other two solemnly nodded; I guessed they were all on the same page.
“All right. In that case, welcome home.”
“Thank you very much!”
“We’ll do our best here!”
“…I’ll work hard for you, sir.”
And thus Tempest’s population increased by three.
Next came jobs.
“So I’m gonna have old man Gadora work as a manager on Floor 60,” I explained. “He’ll research the Demon Colossus, and at some point in the future, I plan to have him possess it.”
That old geezer had a serious thirst for knowledge, and he was super-enthusiastic about the idea. The moment he set his eyes upon the Demon Colossus, he almost started doing a dance right on the spot. Right then he was in the hands of Adalmann, but maybe I could let him be the guardian of Floor 60 later on.
“Now, you guys don’t want to join the war, right?” I asked the trio.
“Um, right,” replied Shinji, looking a bit reticent. “We know some people on the other side, so if possible…”
In that case, instead of hiring them on in my government, I felt it was better to assign them research work in the labyrinth. So I decided to introduce them to Ramiris.
Bounding our way through the Dungeon, we reached Ramiris’s laboratory shortly.
“Hey, Ramiris, you think you can find jobs for these guys in your lab?”
“Ah, Rimuru! You mean the kids from before?”
“Right, yeah.”
Ramiris had been looking for personal assistants, but it was hard to find anyone qualified. I couldn’t let researchers from other nations become Ramiris’s playthings, but the less intelligent monsters wouldn’t be able to keep up with her pie-in-the-sky ideas. She had Deeno, yeah, but he wasn’t enough to put my mind at ease. But now we had Shinji’s trio, and I couldn’t think of a better fit.
“Whoo-hoo! My name’s Ramiris. You guys interested in becoming my new assistants?”
“Umm…” Shinji didn’t know how to react. I’m not sure he realized who Ramiris was.
“Oh, fantastic! Look, Shinji! A real fairy!” Marc shouted excitedly. Maybe it was his first time seeing one? I don’t know how much time he had spent in this world, but if a fairy made him this worked up, he must’ve been a pretty purehearted guy.
“So you see, I’m looking for some capable assistants. I’ll pay you for it, too. Whaddaya think? We got some major personnel shortages around here, and Rimuru said that fully educated otherworlders are totally the time-saving solution!”
You didn’t have to say all that, Ramiris. It’s true, though—they’ve got technical skills, flexible minds, and can jump right into the world. I really hoped they’d be interested in taking this on.
“…Well, I’ll do it. Research seems a lot more peaceful.”
Zhen’s certainly honest. And I guess he was the tipping point for Shinji.
“In that case, by all means!”
Ramiris happily flitted around in the air, sticking out her (nonexistent) chest proudly.
“Hmph! Looks like you guys got a lot of potential. Well, all right! Passing grades for all of you! But you’re gonna have to follow all my orders, okay?!”
The way she can change her attitude on a moment’s notice always surprised me. Where was all the awkwardness from before? It was certainly in character for her, at least.
Leaving the dumbfounded Shinji and his friends in the dust, Ramiris quickly began laying out her offer. Their salary would be three gold coins a month, thirty-six per year, along with bonuses. Of course, Ramiris tended to pay her staff based on her own whims—kind of like myself—so I wouldn’t rely too much on that bonus. It sounded like Ramiris was offering them room and board, though. I was sure she expected them to use my own dining hall, but I didn’t mind that.
So Shinji and his group had their immigration arrangements settled in short order.
A few more days passed. The gang quickly got used to their new workplaces; now they were serving as Ramiris’s right hands in the lab.
I saw no problems there, but now Gadora was a concern. I hadn’t had any contact with him since he left for the Empire. He was a stubborn old man, I knew, so I figured he was all right…but I was starting to get worried. I really wished he’d drop me a line.
That thought was lingering as I held a briefing with Benimaru in the Control Center. Video data from my Argos system was on the large monitor. Every viewpoint was clear. I wanted to collect data from within the Empire as well, but for now, I was satisfied with video from our military borders. From those feeds, we could see large numbers of soldiers gathered, keeping a careful watch over the area. Tensions were always high over there.
“No moves today, it looks like.”
“Not at all, no. But isn’t this magic so useful, Sir Rimuru? This must’ve been what you were spending so much time researching lately, isn’t it?”
We were all alone today, so Benimaru was less formal than usual. I preferred keeping it casual like this, actually, but Benimaru was back to his usual stodgy, stuffy self whenever other people showed up. Not around Soei or Diablo, though. We all had a “partners in crime” thing going that I liked, and sometimes we’d all head over to Englesia to go drinking together.
“Exactly! And the most wonderful thing about this magic is the innovation behind the idea. It offers tremendous effects at a low energy cost. Its usefulness speaks for itself, and the complexity of the calculations behind it ensures nothing goes to waste, like a fine work of art. And that’s why—”
“Enooooough!! Once you start bragging, you never stop, so can you do that when I’m not around, maybe?”
This always happens when I let my guard down a little. Diablo immediately starts extolling my praises—it drives me up the wall. Yes, my magic’s really great and all, but it’s really Raphael doing all the hard work. I don’t see it as my own skill set, so I couldn’t help but feel a bit awkward.
“He’s right, Diablo. Restrain yourself a little, or you’ll cause trouble for Sir Rimuru.”
“Nonsense. How can you say that, Benimaru? That’s hardly the case, is it, Sir Rimuru?”
“No, Benimaru’s right. It’s always Rimuru this, Rimuru that with you. You need to tone it down!”
I had to make myself clear with Diablo. It made him collapse on the floor, a shocked look on his face, but that was no big deal.
When I heard Diablo was a Primal Demon or some kinda freaky thing like that, I wasn’t sure what I was gonna do…but if you think about it, he’s always been a weirdo from the start. Even Guy had trouble dealing with him. Try to take him seriously, and you’ll just make a fool of yourself. Now that I knew that, I was done messing around.
“Heh…heh-heh-heh-heh… Yes, Sir Rimuru. Well done. Dealing such emotional damage to me so easily…”
“I’m telling you to stop that!”
You see? He never learns. Going a little hard on him is the perfect way to balance it.
But our wholesome little moment came to an end after a sudden report from Ramiris.
(Rimuru, someone just teleported directly into the labyrinth! Based on its signature, I think it’s that old man you befriended!)
(Got it. I’ll head right over to Floor 70.)
I stood up. That alone made Benimaru and Diablo realize something happened—I appreciated that. So I gave them a quick rundown.
“Well, Gadora’s back, but it sounds like something’s up with him. I’m gonna go check it out.”
“Absolutely,” Benimaru replied. “I will stay on alert here, then.”
“I’ll escort you, Sir Rimuru.”
“Thanks.”
It was times like these when I could rely on Diablo. If only he always acted like that…but no need to dwell on it. Diablo was a talent but subject to just the worst swings in behavior. It saddened me a bit as we headed for Gadora’s personal chamber.