Chapter 46
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: Dungeon Merchant (2)
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After letting the Red Demon Tribe into the ruins, I put off cleaning for a while and focused on sprucing up the interior.
Not just for me, but I cleared out spaces to build livable homes for the Red Demon Tribe and my kin. I also gathered advance knowledge on the farming techniques they mentioned, along with info on other plants. Since farming would require massive amounts of water, I filled the temporary reservoir—dug out by Dryad and walled in with roots—by running the [High-Pressure Cleaner] full blast all day long.
I couldn't keep trekking over to Dryad every time to supply water, so I set it up for her to suck it up directly with her roots whenever needed. Whether it was because Dryad was native to this garden or because she was an [Employee] too, moving her roots like that didn't raise the pollution level at all.
"Dryad. Want some fertilizer?"
-Slap!
"...No need to actually hit me."
I'd figured I'd share some farming fertilizer with my dutiful Dryad, but she smacked me away, clearly repulsed. Well... she was constantly feeding on the energy wafting from Desmond anyway, so maybe she didn't need extra?
"Hmm. We've got people with farming knowledge now... but it'd be nice to have more manpower."
Thanks to the Red Demon Tribe, farming was off to a smooth start. The problem was that Dryad's abilities had it progressing at a pace utterly unlike anything they'd known. Crops sown just yesterday were already sprouting and shooting up visibly before our eyes.
We could hold out for now, but considering future harvests and reseeding, five Red Demon Tribesmen felt like it'd be short on hands. Farming know-how wasn't even necessary anymore—just raw labor would make things perfect. Hmm...
"Dungeon Master, sir."
"What is it?"
Right as I was mulling it over, one of my kin approached. I eyed him warily, suspecting another issue, but he'd come after getting word from the kin guarding the entrance.
"A Dungeon Merchant has arrived."
"Hmm. Dungeon Merchant..."
...What the heck was that?
Fortunately, Phantom—who seemed to know plenty about dungeons—explained what a Dungeon Merchant was.
A group formed by the 'Gord' race, who traversed the entire continent with bizarre abilities, hauling vast quantities of goods and trading with dungeons. Some speculated they were part of yet another dungeon themselves, but their true nature remained an enigma.
"Kyakat! Greetings, Dungeon Master! I'm Kench, owner of the Dungeon Merchant Guild!"
With Phantom's guidance, I met the man who'd introduced himself as the Dungeon Merchant. A golden-skinned fellow who boldly claimed to be the 'owner' of the Dungeon Merchant Guild, no less.
'Golden Goblin...?'
So this was the 'Gord' race? Golden skin, ugly mug, pint-sized... Wasn't that just a Golden Goblin?
"Nice to meet you."
I shook Kench's hand with a touch of tension. The rumors about this place being a dungeon must've spread pretty far for even this guy to show up.
But the issue was, I wasn't really a Dungeon Master or anything. If I had to pick a label for myself... Janitor? Yeah, that about fit. Veteran merchants who'd dealt with countless dungeons might sniff that out, so I stayed on guard.
"Kyakat! This dungeon's master is a man of manners. Excellent!"
Thankfully, he didn't seem to notice anything off. Even after the handshake, Kench kept hailing me as the proper Dungeon Master and singing my praises.
Then Kench clapped at the empty air. The space behind him warped strangely, and soon green figures came swarming out.
"A humble gift for the Dungeon Master setting up shop in a new dungeon."
"These are?"
Small green creatures resembling Kench, about ten in number. As I scanned them, Kench rubbed his hands together and explained.
"Goblins! We've slapped subjugation magic on 'em—super easy to handle! Ugly, dumb brutes, but perfect as meat shields or laborers!"
"Goblins?"
"Yes! Tamed monsters are one of our flagship products! Zero risk of betrayal! Loyal only to their master! Use 'em to block intruders or send 'em topside to hunt humans!"
He handed them over as a 'gift' to foster good business relations. Their necks bore strange engravings. To test if the subjugation magic was legit, I issued a few orders, and the goblins obeyed faithfully.
"Thanks."
"Kak! Even with Dungeon Core powers, you need workers to fix up the place! Slaves are ideal for that! If you're curious about us Dungeon Merchants..."
"I'll hear the rest from my agent."
"Got it!"
After handing over the 'gift,' Kench started pitching their services and future deals, so I shoved Phantom forward as my proxy.
I had no info on Dungeon Merchants and no clue about the going rates for their wares, so it made sense to let Phantom handle it.
'Goblins would be perfect for farm labor.'
He'd brushed them off as no big deal, but these goblins from Kench looked like they'd fill our exact labor gap in the ruins. It was almost enough to make me suspect he'd scouted our needs beforehand.
"Kak! Back when dungeons and humans were constantly at war, monster troops and weapons flew off the shelves! Sales tanked once those cowardly humans started holing up, didn't they?"
From what Kench said about Dungeon Merchants while chatting, business had soured after humans announced their 'dungeon maintenance' policy. To them, it seemed humans weren't managing dungeons—they were just hiding from them.
"What do you take as payment for trades?"
"We take it all, no discrimination! Human currency's fine, barter works too! Dungeons usually trade special produce from environments crafted by Dungeon Core authority. Oh, back when humans raided dungeons nonstop, human trafficking boomed! Great as toys or workers!"
"........."
I desperately schooled my expression while Kench casually pitched 'human trafficking.' I'd already gotten my hands bloody and was slowly adapting to this world, but stuff like that still hit hard every time.
Hmm. They took just about anything, huh...
"You take stuff like this?"
I pulled out one of the Heroes' Holy Relics I hadn't disassembled yet—a wing-shaped one I'd been pondering over—and made the offer.
"This...! A Holy Relic. So the rumors of you slaying multiple Heroes are true!"
Kench stared at the proffered relic, his face lighting up with genuine shock. Damn rumors were already flying? True, but still...
"And this has to be... Luna's, the Hero dubbed the next Saint candidate. Heard she traveled with the Hero called 'Disciple of Radiance'... Hoo..."
"...You know about that too?"
"'Information' is one of our wares. But... looks like we got the good intel this time."
He seemed to piece together the situation just from the relic, and his gaze toward me warmed even more. In return, he gifted me a tidbit of info.
"Word is, the humans' capital's in an uproar. A famous Hero returned to the Temple of Return... as a corpse."
...Temple of Return?
I had no clue what that meant exactly, but Kench's words conjured a vivid memory. Chris dying to that sudden skeleton and vanishing on the spot. Her [Janitor's Clothes] bindings had disappeared too...
"But... Disciple of Radiance?"
"Yes, indeed. Surely the Dungeon Master knows of the five 5-star Heroes out of humans' six, right?"
...No clue. I'd ask the kin or Red Demon Tribe later.
Thankfully, Kench filled me in on 'Radiance.' One of the six 5-star Heroes—a legendary figure who'd conquered a dungeon once called the 'Demon Realm' with overwhelming power.
Chris the 3-star had been tough enough even with luck on my side... How insanely strong was a 5-star?
"Puhaha! Humans are in total chaos! With 'Radiance's Disciple' dead! Massive panic. This is a great sign!"
Kench crowed that this could reignite the dungeon-human wars. His business would boom again when that happened.
"Heh heh heh... Can't just treat you like a regular new customer. Gotta make you a VIP of the Dungeon Merchant Guild..."
"...Hold on. So what’s that 'Radiance' Hero doing now?"
"Hmm. Like I said, 'info' is our stock in trade... but you just gave us good news, so I'll spill."
Kench paused, as if sorting through his mental files, then summed it up bluntly.
"Going berserk, they say."
"........."
Such a damn.