Birth of an A-Rank Masochist Summon

Just because I had a soul on hand didn't mean I should rush straight into making a summon.

The number of summons mattered, but so did their ranks.

And the ones I already had needed to mesh well together.

Failing that, I needed a dungeon where I could push a summon to its absolute limits.

I settled on that last use case and started creating.

I didn't just sit around as guild master, you know.

It had been a decent guild, so the intelligence network was solid. Knowing which dungeons needed which people in the right places was Guild Master 101. I'd been handling that work right up until the day they kicked me out.

Among those files was one dungeon with such a twisted specialty that I'd once considered recruiting a very particular kind of guild member—or just farming it out to mercenaries.

It's stayed unconquered for a long time, hasn't it?

A dungeon where one person had to become a living sacrifice and endure agony for an extended stretch before anyone else could even touch the boss.

Who in their right mind would enjoy suffering like that?

But a summon who liked pain? That was a different story.

The longer a dungeon went uncleared, the more the rewards piled up. The absurd amount of jewels and gold bars that had dropped from this one were proof of that stockpile.

Jewels and gold, at least, wouldn't raise flags as "suspicious items." I already knew a few quiet places that bought that sort of thing.

I had more leftover materials than expected. Drawing on my old figure-making skills, I packed and adjusted the right parts.

This one needs to be tough… maybe I should add some high-hardness gems?

I reinforced the joints and bone structure with extra materials.

The status window popped up alongside the new summon's silhouette—a knight in gleaming golden armor with long, generous blonde hair.

Luna, already bigger in the chest department than most, had been glaring daggers at me for a while, looking tense.

Please ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠don't tell me this one also has a habit of hugging me in her sleep…

Either way, once I got going the work picked up speed. Fewer materials than Luna had taken, but the result still looked excellent.

Grrrrrk—

I'd lost track of time focusing. Luna's stomach growled loud enough to announce her hunger. She fixed me with the most pitiful stare, and I…

"Want to eat first?"

"Slurp… No… Master's work comes first. I am a loyal wolf! Hunger is nothing…"

Grrrrrrrk—

Her mouth said one thing; her stomach told the truth.

"It's fine. We'll order delivery. Morning—what sounds good?"

"Awooo~ I'll eat whatever Master eats. Master's food is delicious."

"Yeah? Then I'll order what I want. Ah—new summon's coming out, so we should order for three."

Luna's eyebrows shot up.

"Awoooooo! Just Master and me, a private meal…"

"Good food is better shared. You'll be eating with your future beast-human teammates anyway, right?"

"That's fine!"

Her wolf ears perked straight up.

"We beast-humans never doubt fair sharing among ourselves. Food and Master both get divided fairly!"

"Hm? I'm getting divided fairly too?"

"When we sleep we all have to hug you together, but everyone likes different parts."

"……"

I almost reset the entire work-in-progress out of pure shock.

Besides Luna, three more beast-humans were still waiting. Four of them crawling into one bed and wrapping themselves around me…?

That was something I'd have to think about carefully.

Anyway, I ordered breakfast and got back to it. When I told Luna to wash up and wait, she obediently padded into the bathroom.

The thought of future sleep arrangements with more beast-humans like her made me waver a little, but—

In the end, I finished it.

She had the solid, reliable look of a female knight—something like a Joan of Arc—except the eye-catching upper body was both her selling point and her problem.

I decided to create my second summon right away.

Flash!

The moment I accepted, brilliant gold light flooded the room, as flashy as hitting the jackpot in a gacha game.

"Awooo! Master, what is this light?!"

Luna rushed out wrapped in a long towel.

"Nothing. I just finished making a summon."

"Ah… So you are my Guide?"

A voice like a goddess drifted out of the golden radiance. The light gradually dimmed, and a presence settled on the bed.

I turned my head. On the mattress lay the silhouette of a woman in a provocatively languid pose.

A low-grade soul. No idea how low, but this time it had become A-rank.

Honestly, even A-rank put someone in the top few percent of all hunters. The hunter who'd ranked just below me in the guild that expelled me had been A-rank.

Looking at it this way, I still couldn't fully grasp how broken my ability was—or how bright the future looked.

This new summon called me "Guide."

At some point Luna, now back in her tight black bodysuit, had sidled up and casually linked her arm through mine.

"I protect Master."

She must have felt competitive the moment she saw the newcomer's generous figure; a low, rumbling growl vibrated in her throat.

The golden light finally faded completely.

"……"

Long blonde hair, blue eyes, and an expression that was blank and serious at once. The woman reclining seductively on the bed was nothing like the image I'd expected.

Goddess of Protection. The title would have suited her perfectly. I'd imagined something a little… baser for a pain-loving summon, but—

"Heh… Blehhh…♡"

Right then the blank mask shattered. She stuck her tongue out, a faint flush coloring her cheeks as her whole expression changed.

"Kyaaaang! How dare you try to seduce Master! I can make that face too! Blehhh…"

"No! Don't start competing in weird places!"

"Blehhh… Hwehhh…"

"And stop drooling! That's my bed!"

Just as I was thinking something was seriously off with this summon, the golden knight tucked her tongue back in and returned to her blank expression.

Even in golden armor, there was no hiding the massive presence of her chest. She looked up at me and parted her lips.

"Guide. What is my name? I would like a name given by my Guide."

"Kyaang! Master, can I name her? Let's call her Idiot! Idiot! Or Pervert! The creepy kind of pervert!"

"Haa… haa… That kind of name… isn't so bad… Aheung…"

"……"

The blonde knight's face flushed red as her breathing turned ragged. That was no teasing and no act. She was dead serious.

Even though she was A-rank, Luna—the S-rank—felt the pressure. She clamped her arms around me and trembled.

"So, Guide whom I must protect… my name is… Idiot? Pervert? Something even worse is welcome. Fufu…♡"

Yeah. Looking at her now, I'd made her exactly right.

A personality that craved pain not just in body but in mind. A summon born to be a tank.

Her quirks were pure masochist, yet on ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the surface she looked like a goddess who could protect anything.

Not that I had any intention of naming her Idiot or Pervert.

"Hmm… Iris! Let's go with Iris."

"Awoong! You gave her a cool name like mine, Master!"

"Hnnngh~ Guide. I see you don't intend to use me and throw me away. Well… that wouldn't be so bad either. Uhuhu…!"

Second summon created.

Even though I'd made her myself, I had to admit she was excellent. And any uneasy feeling about her slightly unhinged personality lasted only a moment—because a skill had just unlocked that solved one of the biggest worries I'd been carrying.

Just like that, I had one more summon. Breakfast was no longer for two but for three, and then we would get to work for the day.

Conveniently, I had also obtained a skill that made my summons look like ordinary humans to everyone else. Even Luna the beast-human could walk around outside without drawing a single suspicious glance.

For that reason, we planned to clear a dungeon today.

The whole world was currently in an uproar trying to identify the EX-rank ability user. I wanted to go with them and watch how they handled a dungeon run myself.

But if I stuck my neck out at the wrong moment and got exposed, that would be a disaster. So I ordered the two of them to conquer the dungeon on their own.

The dungeon in question required one side to suffer agonizing torture before attacks on the boss would even land—a truly deranged specialty. Whoever designed it, I wanted to meet them just to ask why.

"Haa… A dungeon with a wolf… Guide, you'll have to punish this body yourself as a reward later, all right?"

"Hmph! Who said I'd leave any of the glory to you? Fine! You take the punishment. I'll take the reward!"

Their first meeting hadn't been friendly, and they bickered constantly, but both of them obeyed my orders without fail. They left immediately to conquer the dungeon.

I trusted them. I'd given them more than enough intel. An S-rank and an A-rank summon would clear this place without trouble.

Once they conquered it, the usual "EX-rank Creator this and that" status windows would start popping up again, so I was better off staying glued to my corner of the room.

First priority: sell the gold ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and jewels and get out of this studio apartment. Three people made a one-room unit feel cramped. Something with living space and an office under one roof—like a real guild building—would be ideal.

Starting from scratch, sure. But I was confident.

Then my phone started ringing.

Who would call me at this hour?

The screen showed an A-rank hunter—my older sister, the fourth of the five children including me.

Not a single good memory. Every chance she got, she had used me as a stepping stone and a comparison target…

But now that I was an EX-rank ability user, I answered with a completely relaxed expression.

A completely shameless voice crackled through the speaker—the kind of voice that made my blood pressure spike just by existing.

Obviously bragging and mocking me. She'd been like this since we were kids, and she still was.

But maybe it was because I really was EX-rank now—I had nothing particular to say. Her climbing all over me felt downright laughable.

"……"

The Dungeon of Pain's Sacrifice that had just come out of her mouth was the exact dungeon I had ordered my two summons to conquer.

And she planned to make contact with the EX-rank ability user? That was me, of course.

Somehow both of her tasks had overlapped with mine. I had no idea how that had happened.

But…! There was no way I was letting this opportunity slip.

A perfect plan for giving this woman a thorough education was already forming in my head.