Chapter 100
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 100
Chapter Title: Fooled
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[Employee Dispatch] time has ended.
After sending Dray and Lil out via the [Employee Dispatch] function, five hours passed before the two safely returned to the ruins.
Of course, they brought back seeds to sell to the lesser demons, but they also grabbed some daily necessities and weapons suitable for the elves while they were at it. Dray even used her ability to treat some plants as part of her own body to bring back the sacred tree connected to Lil.
The only problem was...
"...Dray? Are you okay?"
"Ugh... No..."
Ever since returning from the elves' dungeon, Dray's complexion had been horribly dark. I even tried offering her some sweet treats she usually loved, but even she refused food.
"What happened?"
"Ah, well..."
I had no choice but to grill Lil, who had gone with her, but even Lil seemed clueless about what had gone down. Still, she explained everything in detail.
"...Dungeon Core?"
"Yeah. You know about them, right, Master? Dungeon Cores. They're honestly super gross-looking, aren't they? But the sacred tree did something, and now it's all pretty."
"......"
I'd never heard a description of what a Dungeon Core looked like. Even Erzsebet, who had supposedly smashed one herself, said her memories were fuzzy on it.
Anyway... Dray suddenly approached the Dungeon Core, did something there, and that made the fleshy mass covering it disappear?
'...So the thing in the [Sub Quest] was...'
While Dray and Lil were out, I'd checked the [Sub Quest] whose progress had suddenly ticked up.
This confirmed it. The 'contaminated ■■■■' mentioned in this [Sub Quest] was a Dungeon Core. Were those broken four letters 'Dungeon Core'?
"Did anything happen to Rene?"
"No? The dungeon's functions are fine. Actually..."
The Dungeon Core had transformed into something like a clean gem, but the dungeon's functions and Rene's abilities as Dungeon Master were completely intact.
More than that, whenever she'd drawn power from the Dungeon Core before, it felt stuffy and repulsive, like injecting something incompatible into herself. Now, a far more natural and comfortable power flowed in.
"Mom asked if the sacred tree had maybe blessed it... Ah! Master. Is your core in a similar situation? Is yours pretty too?"
"...Just go do what needs doing first. Don't you need to transplant that sacred tree?"
"Oh, right!"
I deftly changed the subject on Lil's sudden question about my Dungeon Core. As if I'd have something like that.
Still, the [Sub Quest] target being a Dungeon Core...
'Something feels off. Didn't Erzsebet say she smashed the Dungeon Core last time? But the progress went up this time without Dray even breaking it... So it's not just about destroying Dungeon Cores?'
I wanted to ask Dray what she'd done, but she didn't even know herself and just whined like she'd eaten something bad. For Dray, who'd sucked Desmond dry without batting an eye, to react like this... what the hell had she picked up and eaten?
"Sigh. Whatever."
My head hurt, but I set aside the worries. If the [Sub Quest] really targeted other dungeons' cores, it was basically impossible to clear anyway.
Dungeon Cores are the most vital possession for any Dungeon Master. To make progress, you'd have to access it, smash it or take some measure to turn it into that clean gem—and do it for every dungeon out there.
No way that's feasible, and I had no more business tangling with other dungeons anyway. Best to just forget it and move on...
"Master."
"Hm? What is it."
"Messengers have arrived from the other southern dungeons."
"...Huh?"
The heart of the continent. The capital 'Yukra' of the Holy Empire Yukram.
In a conference room gathered high priests, knights, even the rare 4-star-or-higher heroes, and the top brass of the Holy Empire, the upper echelons were hearing reports from across the continent.
"What's the current situation?"
"Yes. We've received successful dungeon conquest reports from our dispatched personnel in the west, north, and east."
Though the previous emperor's policies had delayed dungeon assaults for ages, humans hadn't just sat idle during that time.
They'd systematically trained knights, mages, and heroes, building strength, and periodically sent scouting parties to map dungeon locations and forces scattered across the continent.
And now, as the Holy Empire finally broke its long silence and stirred, it declared war on the demons and began indiscriminately attacking scattered demon forces continent-wide. At the same time, it dispatched elite troops to conquer select dungeons they'd scouted.
And as desired, reports came in of conquering one dungeon each in the north, west, and east... but...
"...What about the south?"
"That's..."
The one exception: no success report from the southern forces. It could just be delayed... but...
"...The 'Temple of Return' activated recently."
Just yesterday, the 'Temple of Return' in the capital had activated again. Normally, it wouldn't trigger so soon after the last, but with the long peace shattered, it wasn't odd if a dispatched hero had died... but...
"Identity confirmed?"
"Yes. It appears to be... the commander of the southern heroes, Sir Grichul..."
"...Damn it!!"
-Bang!
The upper echelons, hearing the magic tower's report after painstakingly restoring the wretched corpse that teleported in—looking as brutal as the previous Fallen Knight's, bloated with water like a drowning victim—couldn't help slamming the desk.
Again. The south again.
After conquering the massive demon capital in the south that had built the largest force there, the demons in the south had weakened to the point they barely needed attention. To the extent that even the weakest dungeon could be cleared by just 1-2 star heroes.
Yet recently, heroes started dying in the southern city of Delron, then even the disciple of Radiance and the Iron Wall hero fell there—not enough? Now the entire southern dungeon assault team was wiped out...
"And not even in a dungeon...!"
If they'd failed a dungeon assault and died inside, it'd make sense. They'd scouted steadily and watched demon movements, but if demons holed up in dungeons building power, unexpected hurdles could arise.
But the last position report from the southern assault team—scheduled for periodic check-ins before contact cut off—was quite far from the dungeon they were assigned to conquer.
"Bring the map!"
The command hurriedly fetched a southern map, cross-referencing the position signal time with the Temple of Return activation to predict their path. And they realized one fact.
"This place..."
"Where the Fallen Knight fell..."
The point where the southern team's contact severed. Not far from there was the site of that newborn dungeon where the Fallen Knight had been dispatched.
Coincidence? Lately, every piece of bad news from the south seemed tied to that newborn dungeon.
Of course, unrelated news like southern dungeons banding into an alliance or elves— who hid during the demon capital conquest—being sighted again...
"Your Excellency. The Delron temple branch is requesting communication right now."
"The south...? Connect it immediately!"
The group eyed the suspicious spot on the map dubiously when word came of an incoming southern transmission. They paused the meeting to connect.
Sir Grichul's death was confirmed by the Temple of Return, but the rest of the force's status was unknown. Maybe survivors calling in...
-Flash!
"It's...!"
The temple brass's hopeful faces all hardened as the communication orb connected.
The scrying orb showing the southern temple branch displayed only an archbishop with a gravely dark expression and one tear-streaked hero beside him in a ragged state.
'That one...'
'Among the southern dungeon assault force...!'
And the shocking follow-up news.
The dispatched southern force—not randos, but handpicked elites for dungeon conquests—had been completely annihilated by a single demon.
As the brass fell silent hearing the report, the hero added one last detail.
"Before Sir Grichul fell, he said we need to investigate the site of the dungeon where the Fallen Knight recently perished."
"......."
Right as they suspected that newborn dungeon site and planned to probe it, the force was ambushed and wiped. The grim-faced brass urgently summoned the heroes who'd gone south with the Fallen Knight before.
The very ones who'd reported successfully conquering that newborn dungeon. But...
"Y-Your Excellency! All those heroes from back then...!"
"What do you mean by that!"
The squire sent to fetch the still-recovering heroes for the truth returned pale-faced.
"Suicide!? What nonsense is that! All of them!?"
The command Lilith had implanted in the charmed surviving heroes upon their return to the capital: Submit a false report of dungeon conquest success. And...
'If it seems like it'll be exposed, commit suicide.'
Mentally broken and puppeted into absolute obedience, they ended their lives without hesitation when the time came.
Hearing they'd all died, the brass felt like they'd been clubbed over the head. They ground their teeth in collective fury.
And the angriest among them pulled out a scrying orb and contacted somewhere.
"...Inform Sir Lumen of this."
At that moment, in the south of the continent.
"...Why have you come?"
Eugene faced the arriving messengers with a slightly awkward expression. Unaware of it, they bowed their heads and spoke.
"We pledge our loyalty to you."
Not one, but three. Three Dungeon Masters' messengers groveling, begging to become his subordinates.