Sowing Seeds (1)

New races are always welcome. New ranks are always welcome. I clapped my hands in applause and shouted toward the stone statue being born amidst the rainbow-colored light, "Happy birthday!"

A bat-like face, solid muscular build, and demonic wings. Aside from the fact that its body was made of rock, it was a proper dungeon gargoyle. At the same time, a Monster Summoning Ticket popped out. Since I got another one through the daily reward, it felt like I’d summoned it for free.

It was a 2-star from birth, and a 4-star—the maximum I could pull from a Level 2 Summoning Facility. In reality, I had beaten the 1% odds to pull the best possible combat force from my current summoning table.

'It’s a shame it’s not a female-type monster.'

It was disappointing in many ways. I couldn't just keep increasing the number of harpies forever, and Mei was living inside Lime’s chest. 'At this rate, this place is going to become a harpy nest.' Perhaps the hollow would become the harpies' main base. Like bats hanging from the ceiling, ready to ambush anyone who entered.

'I should refrain from summoning more monsters until I expand my forces.'

Using Monster Summoning Tickets or Magic Stone Summoning could summon Estu again. While I was happy enough to feast my eyes on ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her, Estu appearing meant that some kind of error had occurred again. 'It would be troublesome if those guys from the 72 dungeons came invading for no reason.'

Estu or Baal might just brush off the fact that this was Baal’s old dungeon, but the others beneath them would surely hear the news and keep a greedy eye on my dungeon. 'It’s still too early, before the foundation is even set.'

My benchmark was Forneus’s dungeon. To reach at least that level, I needed nearly five hundred subordinates, and there needed to be at least ten beings like me. 'Ryun, Lime, Harsus, and the Gargoyle.' I would focus on training my core members intensively while mass-producing harpies to increase my combat power.

'I’m going to save my Monster Summoning Scrolls until the Summoning Facility reaches Level 5.'

The day 5-star monsters hit the probability table and the odds rise to 5%, it will be a happy gacha party. Whether it will be an explosion of joy or a total disaster remains to be seen.

"Next up!"

I brought out the shell-less egg. It was the egg Mei had laid, her legacy, and a completely new type of egg. 'But wait, it was between a human and an orc, so can it even be summoned?' It was a combination considered taboo in Forneus’s dungeon, yet it was possible to deliver it to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Demon King’s Castle? I felt a sense of déjà vu. 'Orcs and humans, sure. But half-orcs?' Doesn't that mean others have already committed this act several times? I felt a chill for no reason. I’d only know once I cracked it open.

I immediately attempted the summoning. Vwooom. The egg in the center of the summoning circle rocked back and forth. Purple mist began to rise from the circle, growing thicker and thicker.

'2-star?' No. The flow of magic power was too intense for a 2-star. Could it be that, by a miraculous chance, a 4-star was being reborn?

Vwooom. As the magic power seeped into the egg, it began to grow. It grew larger than an ostrich egg, then larger than a gym ball, and before I knew it, it was the size of a refrigerator.

'I’ve never seen an effect like this.'

Crack, crack. Fissures appeared on the surface. The sides split open, and purple mist flowed out from within.

"...Hmm."

Inside, a girl who looked like Mei was smiling at me, naked amidst the slime. "...Papa?"

The girl’s eyes sparkled green. I reached out toward her, and she grabbed my hand, pulling herself out of the egg that had grown like a cocoon.

"Wow."

Ryun was astonished by the girl’s immense size. Her height was much the same as Ryun’s, but perhaps due to her mother’s influence, her chest size was no joke.

"Hehe."

The girl’s laugh resembled Mei’s. At least I was relieved that there wasn't a single feature that resembled me. "From today, you are 'Meari'."

"Yes!"

My luck with the odds was good today. Perhaps because I met Estu, I had beaten the 5% chance again, and a human was born instead of an orc or half-orc. 'I thought an orc would come out.' To think a human subordinate would be born in this way. However, I couldn't bring myself to speak because of the strange emotion that had sprouted in my heart. 'I’ll never be able to see her as a child.' She’s a daughter, but she doesn't feel like one. It’s hard to express this feeling, but it felt more like a sticky dungeon subordinate.

"...Anyway, congratulations. Both to you, Meari, and to the Gargoyle."

Even though it was becoming evening, there was still much to do. I went to check their information—

"......."

The evolution method I had been so desperately craving had finally appeared.

...Somehow, the moment I decided to start saving, I ended up with two Monster Summoning Scrolls.

Thanks to the High Ghouls' hard work, lumber was supplied in large quantities, but I couldn't build more barracks to increase the headcount.

"Tsk."

I had finally hit a wall. Monsters were piling up, but the methods to increase the maximum capacity were extremely limited. There were currently two ways to break through this deadlock. 'Either expand the basement or the upper floors, or offer monsters as sacrifices.' The former required using slimes to dig new paths. There could be other monsters throughout the cliff, or there could be dimensional gates connecting to other dungeons. 'Still, at least the first basement or second floor above ground should be safe.' Tomorrow, the slimes would have to dig hard. It seemed like the basement would be better than the surface.

'Or, I could raise the dungeon's rank.'

My current dungeon rank was E. Previously, I didn't know how to raise it, but thanks to meeting Estu, the holes that had appeared here and there in the system were starting to be filled one by one.

'The Reinforcement Facility was definitely something I could open at D-Rank.'

The Altar of Sacrifice. A facility with a name that sounded like it was made to grind up subordinates was, unfortunately, a D-Rank facility. 'And the incubation-related facilities were also D-Rank.'Hatchery, Incubator. Both were unknown facilities that I couldn't build right now.

To raise it to D-Rank, I needed to drastically increase the danger level. 'So far, there have only been 25 dungeon intruders.' A dungeon that killed or captured 25 people. Among them were ★ and ★★★, but it seemed that didn't matter much.

'So it only went up by 1 because I only caught guys weaker than me.'

Thanks to Estu, I felt a bit relieved that such helpful text was sent my way. I wanted to know specifically how many guys higher-ranked than me I needed to catch to get a bonus, but unfortunately, the system didn't allow that. 'Still, it’ll let me know if they appear in person later, right?' Surely, when the conditions are met, it will pop out like a ghost again. There would be bungling 4-stars like Eila, too.

'By tomorrow, I should be able to harvest the fruit from Eila.'

What kind of child would be born from Eila? A human? An orc? Or maybe something 5-star? 'Better to stop expecting anything.' For the time being, I’ll just focus on raising the dungeon rank and my own evolution.

'Current capacity is 37. 41 until maximum capacity.'

Even though there were 4 spots left and I had plenty of summoning attempts left for today, I had no intention of filling those 4 empty spots with monsters through summoning. My children. Until I build the Altar of Sacrifice to dispose of monsters, I will fill the remaining capacity with the children I will give birth to, starting with Meari. The eggs the harpies lay? They will be piled up one by one next to the storage.

"......Is it weird if I eat that?"

If I eat it, how would the harpies react?

"Lime."

Kkeureureuk. Lime poked her head out from the ceiling. She seemed to have realized that it was more comfortable to move through the ceiling after receiving orders than to drop down one by one.

"Go and bring a harpy. The squad leader."

Lime disappeared into the ceiling with very relaxed movements. A moment later, a harpy with a bulging belly ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠flew down with difficulty and landed in front ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of me. "Did you call?"

"Should I have gone instead?"

"Ah, no. It’s fine. Hnnng...!"

It didn't look fine at all. The harpy’s body swayed violently back and forth, and her wings trembled. I grabbed the harpy’s waist, and she buried her face in my chest, gasping for breath.

"Hiiik!"

Thud. An egg created by the stud hunters spilled out from under the harpy. Thanks to the fairly hard shell, there wasn't a single scratch, and although the surface was smooth, it had the same luster as one that would hatch another harpy.

"Ah...."

The harpy seemed used to laying eggs now, as she wasn't shedding tears and drool. She just lowered her feathers as if wrapping something precious.

"Harpy."

"Yes."

"Is it weird if we eat that?"

"......."

The harpy looked up at me with a blank face. I was the one who brought it up, but I suddenly felt incredibly sorry.

"Uh.... That, harpy eggs shouldn't be eaten, right? Isn't that so?"

"......That’s up to the master."

The harpy pouted her lips bluntly, then lifted the egg with her feathers and offered it to me.

"Everything in this dungeon belongs to the master. This egg, the humans who sowed the seeds to lay this egg, and even I, who laid this egg."

"That may be true, but."

"And originally, harpy eggs are eaten a lot. I understand that much. We lay them for the next generation, but for other races, eggs or even us can be food."

"......."

In good conscience, I could eat slime fluid, but eating a harpy was a bit much.

"I’m actually the one who finds it strange. From the master’s perspective, aren't we like sparrows?"

"Saying it like that makes the emotional burden less."

"Hehe. I’m grateful you feel burdened. Some crazy guys display the eggs and break them just to relieve stress. If you aren't going to hatch them, you should at least eat them. Tsk."

"......."

It seems the common sense of demons and monsters is on a different dimension from my own concepts as a former human.

"So master, are you hungry? Do you want to eat it?"

"...Hmm."

Thinking that this was food made from another guy’s semen made the prey feel a certain way, but when the harpy offered me a warm egg she had just laid, I felt something strange.

"Can I really eat it?"

"Why are you asking for my permission?"

The harpy tilted her head as if she genuinely couldn't understand. I wondered if the harpy’s common sense was broken, so I called Ryun.

"Ryun. The situation is like this, what do you think?"

"Hmm.... Wouldn't it be fine?"

Ryun also shrugged her shoulders and didn't think much of it. "If it were eating our own kind, we’d be reluctant, right?"

"That’s true. Even if you are the master, if you told me to eat the children I gave birth to, I might have to seriously consider banging my head against the wall."

"I’m not that much of a piece of trash."

Where would you find a crazy person who feeds eggs to a chicken?

"Then what will you do? Are you going to eat it? Or should we put it in our barracks?"

"Have you laid many now?"

"Hmm.... The daughters are working hard, but the humans are really struggling. Including this one, about 9 have been collected. It doesn't seem like what the master wants, though."

It meant they were all Harpy★. Since there was a 94% chance of only getting a 1-star, there was no way another egg would come out unless I beat the 6% chance like the only Harpy Angel.

"Then we just need to lay new eggs."

However, there is a way to make them lay 2-stars. I grabbed the harpy’s armpits and moved her to the bed.

"Oh my?"

The harpy’s eyes widened in surprise. I lay flat on the bed.

"Get on top. And Ryun, come over here."

"Yes!"

Ryun had no resistance to a 3P. The harpy also had no qualms about doing it with multiple people, having already done so with other humans.

Squish. The harpy climbed on top of me and moved her waist. At the same time, I gently tickled the back of Ryun, who was sitting on top of me, with my tongue. It was time for sowing.