Chapter 76
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 76
Chapter Title: Racist
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"You're not surprised?"
I asked the dungeon merchant who had appeared after I used my summon token, eyeing how unfazed he was by the sight of the dungeon publicly known to humans as having been conquered—the Demon God's Ruins.
"Heh. You haven't forgotten that we deal in information too, have you? We'd already grasped the fact that your dungeon safely repelled a 4-star hero."
"........."
What the hell are these guys? There can't be many who know about that yet... How the heck did they find out?
"How exactly do you get your information?"
"Trade secret. Heh heh..."
It felt a bit shady, but I couldn't afford not to use the dungeon merchant. I flipped through the catalog he offered and started purchasing the items I'd discussed beforehand with Pantem, Alfred, and the rest of the ruins' crew.
A few useful traps for the trap sections, various plants to better utilize the elves' abilities, and some magic artifacts.
"...Expensive."
"Magic artifacts always are. One bit of advice: humans make better ones. Heh heh."
My hand trembled at the prices when buying the magic artifacts, but I gritted my teeth and bought them. With no proper mages in the ruins right now, I had no choice but to cover the necessary magic elements with artifacts.
I need a mage...
I couldn't keep shelling out for expensive artifacts every time. I asked if there were any magic users in the dungeon merchant's sales list.
"Hmm. We do trade in a small number of slaves besides monsters. Some of them know magic."
"Then..."
"But brace yourself for the price. Skilled specialists like that don't come cheap."
I checked the catalog out of curiosity after hearing that, but... slammed it shut. Buying a mage from the dungeon merchant was basically impossible.
They were too damn expensive—even emptying my pockets wouldn't cover it.
"Show me the monsters."
"Oh? Buying new monsters already? One piece of advice: when purchasing monsters, consider their compatibility with the ones already in your dungeon. The internal environment matters too..."
"I know that much. Just bring 'em out."
Alfred had already briefed me on the monsters the dungeon merchant sold, so I'd decided what to buy.
"First, 50 goblins."
"Quite the bold purchase. Even if they're the cheapest monsters, 50 is impressive!"
I needed to replenish the goblins, most of whom had died in the recent bug attack. With the elves joining us, I planned to expand the fields for crops, so I bought a good number of cheap, disposable laborers like goblins.
On top of that, I grabbed a few more golems to replace the broken ones. I'd already bought [Robot Vacuums] matching the golem count, so I aimed to keep at least 30 golems running if possible.
"Then 10 kobolds and 10 evil eyes, plus 5 forest worms and..."
"Buying a lot! And all such fine choices..."
"20 slimes too."
"...Pardon?"
The dungeon merchant, who had been smoothly jotting down my rapid-fire monster list, let out a flustered voice.
"Y-yes... Slimes. Got it."
He hastily corrected himself, but his eyes clearly screamed, 'You're buying these?' Slimes were the weakest of the weaklings, at the absolute bottom of the food chain.
Well, they're cheap anyway.
When I announced the slime purchase, the ruins' crew reacted much like the merchant but obediently accepted their dungeon master (sort of)'s decision. They were the lowest-grade monsters, so 20 didn't cost much.
Why buy slimes? Simple reason.
They seem handy for cleaning.
True to their bottom-feeder status, slimes scavenged rotten meat left from hunts by other monsters or animals, scraped moss off floors, and devoured all sorts of filth without discrimination.
They even used their weak acidic secretions to erase traces of their meals, avoiding detection by predators.
Perfect for cleaning, right?
Sometimes while cleaning the ruins, I'd hit tiny cracks low on walls or grout between tiles—too annoying to bother with, and they barely gave points anyway. Planting slimes there would let them handle the grime automatically.
If they proved useless, they'd make decent toilet fillers. The Red Demons had built toilets, but compared to modern flush ones... they were pretty gross inside.
Shortly after the dungeon merchant left, a bunch of new monsters arrived at the ruins.
"With this many monsters, we should have enough to properly fill out the dungeon."
I left the monster assignments to my kin. No point in me meddling when I didn't know much about them—it'd just mess things up. For now, I temporarily stuck the slimes in areas where the [Robot Vacuums] were still cleaning.
-Squish... squish...
I'd test the slimes' usefulness properly later... Cleaning was nice, but right now, other priorities came first.
I pushed the slimes from my mind and approached the elves.
"Tell me more about the alliance. I heard about the 'Nest of the Void' yesterday... You must know something about the other two dungeons too, right?"
I pressed the elves for the rest of the alliance info I hadn't heard fully yesterday. The rogue demons who'd joined wouldn't be a big issue now, so I just wanted details on the three core dungeons... but for some reason, they'd hesitated a ton yesterday.
"...Very well. Let's start with the 'Beast's Field.' It's one of the three central dungeons in the alliance and takes the simplest form."
The elves, still glancing warily at me, finally brought up the other dungeons they hadn't mentioned yesterday.
"The master of Beast's Field is a werewolf named Tabula."
"Werewolf..."
One of the demon races I'd asked my kin about out of curiosity. Beings with beast traits, like 'beastmen' in fiction, existed here as 'werebeasts.'
They varied by beast type—werewolf, weretiger, etc.—but all shared superior physical prowess and keen senses.
"Not just Tabula—most of Beast's Field's residents are werebeasts. Fitting their image, their combat style is known for being brutally straightforward."
Melee combat leveraging their innate superior physiques. A warrior chosen by a dungeon core yet relying solely on natural strength, without special powers.
"They fight purely with their bodies, so their abilities are the simplest. But no demon from the south can match the raw power of those bodies."
"How does that compare to Fallen?"
"The Iron Wall Hero... His defense is unmatched due to his traits, but in pure physical ability, Tabula has the edge."
So, a straightforward musclehead powerhouse? Threatening, but simple—easy to counter. Next.
"What about the other dungeon?"
"...W-well..."
They breezed through the easy-to-grasp Beast's Field, but dragged their feet on the last one.
"You've been hemming and hawing since yesterday. Why keep stopping mid-sentence?"
There are two surefire ways to piss someone off: one is trailing off like this.
"Sorry. We just... worried hearing about the other dungeon might upset you..."
"This stalling is more upsetting. Spit it out."
"Yes... The third dungeon is called the 'Garden of Curses.'"
"Curses?"
The name felt ominous right off the bat. I instinctively frowned, and the elves continued slowly.
"The dungeon master's race is unknown. They conceal any identifying traits meticulously... but their abilities are well-known."
"Curses, obviously."
"Yes."
From what I'd seen, dungeons were named after their masters' powers. Forest dwellers like elves ruled the Cradle of the Forest; werewolves, Beast's Field...
Who names them? The masters themselves?
"From personal curses to wide-area ones in large battles, permanent ones, or short-duration but devastating ones... They're an unrivaled specialist in curses—nobody can touch them. That's the master of the Garden of Curses."
"Hmm..."
Curses, huh... Desmond tried cursing me in the basement last time. Something like that?
That one hadn't even stuck, so curses didn't seem like a big deal...
"So? No need to worry about offending me over that."
"I-it's... a well-known rumor in the south."
The elves glanced at my face... no, my black hair above it, then spoke in trembling voices.
"The master of the Garden of Curses is notoriously racist against mixed-bloods."
"...Huh?"
The Garden of Curses' master—identity and race unknown.
Not even their appearance was public, but their hatred of mixed-bloods was known to most southern demons.
"In the past, they visited unaffiliated lesser demons living near the dungeon."
Weak demons scattered without a dungeon home. The dungeon master approached them with one demand.
"Hand over the mixed-bloods living among you."
In exchange, they permitted residence nearby. The demons, outcasts themselves, gladly handed over the mixed-bloods for a settlement.
Without knowing what the master intended.
"The moment those demons handed over the mixed-bloods they rooted out..."
Right before their eyes, the dungeon master cursed the mixed-bloods horrifically, reducing them all to gruesome deaths.
"Filthy mixed-bloods."
Spewing slurs of loathing.
They still occasionally demanded mixed-bloods from other demons or even other southern dungeons, offering minor concessions, then cursing the handed-over ones to death on the spot. Famous for it.
So, in short...
The elves' summary was simple.
The dungeon's master is a fucking racist?
"...Mixed-blood?"
"Yeah. Doesn't that pique your interest?"
A communication crystal obtained via the dungeon merchant.
Beyond it, Fly Queen Belze feigned casual ease, omitting her losses and only mentioning the powerful mixed-blood demon in the new dungeon's location.
"...Yes. Quite intriguing."
The figure opposite fell right for Belze's ploy, eyes blazing with undisguised hatred.