The Dungeon is Getting Crowded

"Phew!"

The sluggish movements of my subordinates had finally been resolved. I felt a wave of relief, and Ryun had regained her own mobility as well. "All ghouls, assemble!"

Harsus and the eight ghouls took their positions in front of me. I opened the door to the barracks and pointed inside the wooden structure. "Ugh, it reeks of sweat."

Personal beds? There was no such thing. It was just a copy of the barracks I had envisioned—two long, narrow bunks stretching from left to right. Just looking at them was disgusting.

Kieek.

However, the ghouls were delighted by it. They seemed quite pleased to have a place of their own to rest, and one by one, they filed inside to claim their spots.

'Is that bastard climbing up with muddy feet?'

The Ghoul (★☆) was the first to scramble onto the bunk and sprawl out. Even the High Ghoul hadn't claimed a spot yet, but for a mere Ghoul to seize the best spot—the very innermost one—was a sight that was hard to believe even with my own eyes.

"Harsus, make sure you manage that one well."

Kkeureureuk.

Harsus bowed his head, looking at a loss for what to do. Still, his earnest desire to look after his own squad was touching, so I decided to let the Ghoul (★☆)'s behavior slide just this once.

'Because he's exceptional among the ghouls.'

Since he was the only one of the six ghouls capable of evolution, he might secretly feel that he was special. 'I can just decide not to evolve him, that's all.'

Harsus was doing such a great job that there was no need to nitpick, but if there were guys who made me not want to evolve them even if they could, it might be better to exclude them from the priority list for evolution.

"Focus."

I stomped my foot to gather the ghouls' attention. "Harsus will handle your seating arrangements, but there is one thing you need to do from now on." I pointed outside the barracks. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠"Now that your bodies are warmed up, go get more timber."

Expanding the barracks was essential for gacha. Kieek. The Ghoul (★☆) shrieked and started acting up. Should I really just kill him? The moment I clenched my fist several times—

WHACK!

Harsus swung his long arm and smacked the back of the Ghoul's head. The Ghoul's skull rolled on the floor. Kkeureureuk.

"...Well, he didn't die."

Let's not interfere with the internal affairs of the squad. Harsus had a much higher level, so he would sort things out on his own. In the morning, I ordered the ghoul squad to collect timber.

"Ryun, try repeating after me. Gacha!"

"Gat-cha...?"

"Yeah. Let's go."

It was time for summoning. With a pious heart, I joined hands with Ryun and stood before the summoning circle. What would I summon? I had already decided.

'Increase the Harpies.'

Using a Monster Summoning Ticket might summon a new type of monster, but I decided to save the one ticket I had. 'I should ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠save it for after I level up the summoning facility.'

One of the conditions for leveling up, "3 or more ★★ entities," had already been met, and the number of monsters was more than enough. Since I just needed to fill the daily summoning quota anyway, I could just increase the capacity and summon to my heart's content.

Two Harpies. It was a summon that cost 60 Lowest-Grade Magic Stones, but it was better to have several Harpies. 'They can hang from the ceiling like bats and launch surprise attacks, and if their star count increases, I can use them for farming.'

Seeing them go to fetch water yesterday made me feel ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a little sorry for them. I stood before the summoning circle to summon the Harpies.

"Phew..." I summoned twice in a row. Based on the summoning probabilities, a 4-star wouldn't appear, but at least I wouldn't keep getting only ★s. Once by my hand, and once by Ryun's.

"Did a Harpy Queen pop out?!"

Harpy (★☆) has been summoned.

Harpy (★☆☆) has been summoned.

"......."

The dungeon's capacity was 25/26. The Harpies landed on the floor demurely. I was grateful that they weren't just ★s, but I had secretly hoped for a higher-tier entity. 'That kind of future wasn't in the cards for me.'

"Ha, haha, ha."

The number of summons was only 22 so far, but shouldn't I have hit a single-digit probability by now? Was I asking for too much from 20 pulls? 'Where does that kind of logic come from? The more you get, the better.'

Rather than stressing over whether to grind up the ★-tier guys, it was much better to happily worry about how to level them up and evolve them.

"Harpies, assemble..."

I felt weak calling the Harpies. Fortunately, their hair colors were all different, making them easy to distinguish. "You are the leader." I put an armband on the Harpy. The Harpy (★) looked puzzled by the armband.

"Me...?"

"Yeah, you."

Unless it was a very special case, I had to treat them based on their experience at least. Unless a higher-tier Harpy appeared, they were all just 1-star Harpies for now.

"Sob, I'll work hard, I...!"

But the Harpy seemed grateful for even that, her eyes welling up with tears as she steeled her resolve. To commemorate the creation of the Harpy squad—even if it was only three of them—I gave them an order.

"Alright, go fetch some water."

In the morning, the Harpy squad began filling another storage tank with water.

Daily quests were important. Yesterday, I had filled the summoning quota with a Monster Summoning Ticket, but fortunately, summons via magic stones also counted. 'That makes two.'

Once the facility was expanded, I would do a gacha pull to celebrate. Now, there was only one thing left for me to do.

"Chup, slurp, haa."

Ryun had finished her slightly late breakfast properly, and I lifted her up onto my shoulder. "Ryun."

"Yes."

"It's time for you to become a High Elf."

"......?"

I'd only know if I tried evolving her myself. I took Ryun and Lime with me, left the cavern, and entered the sub-dungeon. Ryun's level was 14. If I raised it by just one more, the evolution would be complete.

At that time, the led by ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Village Chief were busy searching for traces of the missing people.

'Damn it, this is useless.'

One person was looking for an escape route rather than traces, but with twenty adults determined to scour the forest, they managed to find even the smallest signs.

"Isn't this the blood shed by the witch's pigeon?"

A hunter with a keen eye pointed to the dark red blood that had dripped and dried on the ground. The direction happened to be toward the village, and there were pigeon footprints in the vicinity.

"Well, I don't know. Isn't it just the footprint of a bird that got hunted somewhere and bled?" The Village Chief shook his head, pointing at the footprints. It must not be the footprints of the carrier pigeon Mei had sent.

'If it is, then I'll have to go all the way to where the pigeon was released!'

Since the bird hadn't walked, it must have flown, and if it had walked because it was exhausted from some incident, the trail would lead back to that point.

"That's right! Let's follow it!"

And that was something the others, not just the Village Chief, could easily notice. Everyone living in the slash-and-burn village made a living through hunting, and their eyes were quite sharp.

Crunch, crunch.

The Village Chief eventually followed the pigeon's footprints according to the opinions of the other 19 people. The trail ended shortly after.

"This is..."

"Looks like it crashed here?"

The starting point of the footprints was full of pigeon feathers and bloodstains. It looked like it had tumbled down while flying, and the hunters scanned the traces.

"Let's go that way."

"The bird might have flown in a straight line toward the village."

"Hey, how could that be? It probably just buried its head and arrived here by chance." The Village Chief grumbled again. Jack's father, who was standing at the front with a bow, confronted the Village Chief with an angry face.

"Village Chief, do you even have the will to save them? You've been throwing cold water on us since earlier, and honestly, even if that's the case..."

"...My friend."

"Ahem. I apologize. Anyway, don't be like that. According to my gut, this direction is certain."

Jack's father turned his body and moved forward. There were no eternal secrets in a small slash-and-burn village with fewer than 50 people, and naturally, there were those who knew about the relationship between the Village Chief and Mei, or even more scandalous secrets.

'I hope they all die after meeting some monsters.'

"Everyone, get down!"

The hunters at the front quickly lowered their bodies. Those following them also scrambled to hide in the bushes.

"......What is that?"

The Village Chief doubted his eyes. Corpses were swinging their claws wildly at a tree, then scratching and cutting the tree into appropriate sizes, and began carrying the massive logs somewhere in the middle of it all.

Kkeureureuk?

A red-skinned corpse scanned the surroundings. The Village Chief held his breath, and fortunately, the corpse didn't notice the Village Chief and the rescue team.

Kkeureureuk.

The corpses each hoisted a log onto their shoulders and disappeared somewhere. Their movements, fast but with a steady stride, were clearly systematic, as if they were following someone's orders.

"Crazy."

"Village Chief...?"

The Village Chief tried to calm his trembling heart and stroked his chest. 'It's a dungeon.'

The monsters were the kind that would only pop out of a dungeon. 'If I conquer it, I can get a fortune.'

In reality, he didn't know how it would turn out, but at least that was the Village Chief's common sense.

"Village Chief...? I'm uneasy, shouldn't we at least inform the Baron...?"

"Let's track them carefully. If we follow those guys, their base will surely appear. And the children will be there."

And there would be the gold and silver treasures that would turn the Village Chief's life around. After the monsters left, the Village Chief and the rescue team carefully followed their footprints.