Chapter 38
Chapter 38
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: Celia's Judgment (1)
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Beren Bloodworth knelt there.
His current state was utterly pathetic, hardly resembling the leader of the Red Fang Mercenary Group.
His eyes were swollen and bruised, blood trickled from his nose.
His front teeth were already knocked out, drool spilling from his mouth.
Celia smiled contentedly at the sight.
Not because Beren looked so wretched, but because she approved of how they had captured him.
"Indeed, everyone has carried out their assigned duties admirably, in line with their positions."
In this process, each had been given tasks suited to their roles, and they had all performed them splendidly—a fact that made Celia want to praise them.
First, Skoll, holder of the frontier lord position.
As the master of a dungeon and chieftain of an orc tribe, he had subdued the enemy with excellence.
She rated him as having faithfully completed the mission befitting his station.
Next was the inspector lich.
He too had reliably fulfilled the duties matching his role as inspector.
He had spotted the intruders first and dragged those Skoll subdued all the way here.
And that wasn't all. He had even shown meticulousness in recording evaluations of the others based on the situation.
"Hmm."
Celia pondered briefly as she reviewed the lich's records of the enemies.
Then, soon enough.
"Since the results are good, no deductions for anyone."
The Death Knight brightened at her words.
The lich's records noted negligence in duty and unauthorized departure from the dungeon—up until moments ago, the Death Knight had been getting chewed out by Celia for it.
With no deductions, the Death Knight felt relieved.
In this warm and congenial atmosphere.
A group of goblins appeared.
Lightly armed, they marched in orderly formation and halted before Celia.
The hobgoblin leading the goblin group saluted toward Celia.
"Administrator! All preparations complete!"
They were the new unit Celia had formed.
The reconnaissance team.
His Great One had laid out the grand design; filling in the finer details fell to Celia.
And the first piece of that puzzle was this goblin reconnaissance team.
The lich did patrols, but strictly speaking, his purpose leaned more toward surveilling the others than pure reconnaissance.
Just in case—though unlikely—Celia had formed a separate reconnaissance team out of concern for security gaps.
It wasn't difficult.
She armed the goblins lightly for unrestricted mobility and set them to scout the dungeon's surroundings.
Goblins were nimble for their small stature, their green skin providing natural camouflage in the forest.
With their numbers, they were ideal for rotating shifts.
But she hadn't simply thrown goblins together haphazardly.
They needed structure. First, she divided the reconnaissance team into three squads for shift rotations.
She appointed three-star hobgoblins as squad leaders for each.
Finally, she assigned a goblin lord to command the entire goblin reconnaissance team.
It was the obvious choice, really.
And now.
The first squad, newly formed and heading out on their inaugural patrol, had arrived.
Celia addressed the hobgoblin squad leader about to depart on the first reconnaissance.
"From now on, report only to the goblin lord and carry out your missions."
The hobgoblin saluted again at Celia's words and marched out of the dungeon.
The reconnaissance team's operations were now officially underway.
'The scouting around the dungeon is sorted now. No more issues there.'
Like this, Celia intended to do whatever it took to achieve her master's goals.
The lich trailed after the departing reconnaissance team, heading out together, but she paid it no mind.
The lich was doing well, and above all, Celia had her own tasks to handle.
"Now, it's time for judgment."
The moment of verdict for the intruders before her had arrived.
And the one to deliver that righteous judgment was none other than...
The being granted the position of chief administrator by His Great One, tasked with diplomacy and enforcing discipline within the dungeon to maintain order—Celia herself would render the final verdict.
Celia gazed at each of the prostrated figures on the floor.
"To dare invade the domain of His Exalted One. Normally, you'd all deserve death, but I'll grant you a special chance."
A chance?
At her words, the despairing captives lifted their heads.
From the moment they were captured, they had assumed their end was near.
They had expected immediate execution, but her statement sparked hope of survival.
Their captor was surely the dungeon's master.
Or not quite—judging by her earlier reference to "His Great One," she wasn't the top, but clearly someone of high standing.
Their fate would hinge on her words.
All harbored the same thought, clinging to hope.
"You are hereby sentenced to lifetime labor."
Celia passed judgment on the intruders.
Lifetime labor.
They would clearly be treated like slaves.
Yet they all sighed in relief at her declaration.
Survival came first.
Only by living could they plan for the future.
Anyway, all of them were already scheming to escape at the first opportunity.
Lifetime work? Surely gaps would appear.
If they seized the chance and fled, it wouldn't be so hopeless.
Some sang of hope because they had families to feed.
Celia, having delivered the verdict, turned to the Death Knight and spoke.
"Death Knight. As the captain of the knights guarding the dungeon, administer their punishment."
The Death Knight nodded at Celia's command.
Then he drew the sword from his belt.
A clear ring echoed as the blade slid from its sheath.
"Wha...?"
Beren panicked for a moment.
Why draw the sword all of a sudden?
But his thoughts ended there.
What followed happened in an instant.
Stab—
The Death Knight thrust the freshly drawn sword straight into Beren's heart.
Beren's heart was pierced through.
"Kuh."
Beren let out a short cry and met his end.
The others, witnessing this, fell into panic and screamed.
You said you'd spare us!
You said you'd give us a chance!
But no one heeded their cries.
It was a silent clamor.
As they wailed, a faint change began.
"Grrr..."
A guttural, phlegmy sound came from somewhere.
The screamers fell silent at the odd noise.
What was that?
Where was it coming from?
And soon, they realized the source—and what change was unfolding.
Beren, whose heart had clearly been pierced, was rising while making that strange noise.
"......"
All fell silent.
Those who had once served Beren as captain were aghast.
This was no longer the captain they knew.
There stood only a ghoul in Beren's form.
Beren Bloodworth, sentenced to death and reborn into a new life as a ghoul.
It was the Death Knight's skill effect.
Celia smiled brightly at his transformation.
"Oh my, a plain old ghoul this time."
Those killed by the Death Knight were reborn as ghouls.
In truth, the ones so far had been abnormally strong; this was the norm.
This ghoul was a perfectly ordinary two-star.
Of course, since they weren't meant for combat from the start, Celia was satisfied.
"Well, should be fine for labor."
Celia turned her gaze to the rest.
"Now we can cultivate our workforce."
Ghouls were undead.
Undead needed no rest. No sleep, naturally.
Not even food, allowing total devotion to work.
Durability aside—they'd mass-produce more ghouls anyway.
They were cost-effective slave laborers, armed to the teeth with efficiency.
At Celia's words, the survivors screamed and thrashed.
"I don't wanna die like this!"
One tried to flee, but this was deep in the dungeon.
He was cut down the moment he stood by the Death Knight's swinging sword.
And like Beren, he rose as a ghoul shortly after.
"This can't be! I have a family to feed! Please... I beg you, show mercy."
One mercenary began pleading desperately.
But that was his problem, not something for Celia to concern herself with.
Besides, if he cared for his family, he never should have come here.
Dungeon subjugation was always a gamble with death.
A deed undertaken with mortality in mind.
The Death Knight's sword moved again.
"Ahh, Goddess, please save me."
Even amid screams, despair, and sorrow, one offered a prayer.
But no goddess was here to answer.
Instead, the Death Knight cleaved the praying man down.
The outcome differed, but he was freed from despair and pain.
And reborn as a ghoul, he found salvation.
A new life born with death.
This dungeon would be a site of salvation.
The Death Knight's sword danced ceaselessly.
All screamed and turned into ghouls.
From now on, they would handle every menial task in dungeon operations.
Unless a second death claimed them, they would offer eternal loyalty to His Great One.
That was how they would atone for their transgressions. Such was their fate.
"Grrr."
"Grhh..."
All were reborn anew.
Like their former captain Beren, they became part of the dungeon.
Celia watched the scene fondly, then lifted her head.
"Another guest has arrived?"
Someone had entered the dungeon's domain.
Celia had sensed a group's presence from earlier.
She had left them be since they lingered at a distance, but now that they had intruded directly into her master's territory, she couldn't ignore them.
Her actions would depend on their intent.
"Alright, everyone, wrap up and prepare to greet our guests."
Gullon returned, leveraging his merchant guild credentials.
Of course, inwardly he wanted to surrender immediately, but the shadowy figures behind him made him beat around the bush.
An awkward smile was included.
"Anything else the dungeon needs lately?"
"Haha, the weather's been really nice these days, hasn't it?"
This was hardly the first weather-related chit-chat.
As the pointless conversation dragged on, Celia, unwilling to waste more time, spoke up.
"Enough. Let's get to the point. No more meaningless talk."
Gullon pondered her words briefly.
Then he glanced back.
The shadows stood still.
Seeing his chance, Gullon swallowed hard and committed to action.
He rushed toward Celia before dropping to his knees on the floor.
"Please, spare my life! The guild is trying to destroy me and this dungeon!"
Gullon raised his voice as he spoke.
And shot another glance behind him.
'That's weird.'
His actions screamed betrayal of the guild and allegiance to this dungeon.
Yet contrary to his fears, the shadows made no move.
They just stood there, utterly motionless.
"Huh?"
Something was off.
As Gullon tilted his head in confusion, Celia's voice rang out.
"Bringing me such a gift—whoever they are, I'm grateful."
At the same time, the shadows bowed toward Celia.
"Wha...?"
Gullon couldn't comprehend the situation.
Didn't it look like the shadows were pledging loyalty to Celia?