It's Dangerous Outside the Dungeon, Master

* * *

"Is there no possibility that they were really lovers?"

"The dissolute noble lady and the dissolute noble young master? That's too idealistic."

"I wasn't serious."

Maria asked the question out of a desire to check just in case, but what came back was Elena's cynicism.

To this, Maria just nodded.

Having had a lot of contact with nobles, she too knew that they weren't as noble or great as they appeared.

[Do what you do best and let me know. Then, I'll evaluate him.]

Unlike Libertas.

'Come to think of it, she readily agreed to this matter too.'

Originally, Talhan or his subordinate should have come here.

But those in charge of 'information' were busy intensively checking whether human countries or other surrounding dungeons had noticed the signs before and after the war.

Because of this, Maria had left the dungeon in advance before the war started there, and came this way.

[I'll go.]

It was something she volunteered for.

After all, she wasn't much help in terms of combat power, so she thought it was right to be helpful in troublesome and annoying tasks.

Honestly, she was afraid of being rejected out of concern for her betrayal or escape, but.

[Go ahead.]

Libertas simply agreed.

As if she hadn't even thought about such things.

'It was quite enjoyable. But...'

Thus, a walking trip after a long time, leaving the cave shaped like a mansion.

The sword hanging at her waist. The free wind. Her legs, though slightly weakened, still firmly supporting her.

All of it felt very good.

'Now I have to go back.'

However, she was going to return.

'She'll be waiting.'

Because that place was now her home.

She didn't know why she came to think so, but at some point, she felt that she had to be by Libertas's side.

Once emotion arose, it wasn't difficult to attach reasons to it.

There were several reasons she could give, but the main one was one.

[Have a safe trip.]

Libertas was someone who gave her the 'desire to rely on', something she had rarely received while living fiercely.

"Is the Lady in good health?"

"Yes. I heard the war ended without much damage."

"I see. Of course, she wouldn't get hurt."

So she had to return.

Her master would be waiting for her possessed one to return.

[Stay healthy.]

And if she didn't, she would be sad.

'Definitely...'

Because there was one question she had to ask.

* * *

When I first perceived the world through magic power, the world surprised me by showing its hidden appearance.

The sight of magic power filling the whole world and dancing in its own way everywhere was like being immersed in a place full of blue flowers and water.

And the world I saw this time was also surprising in another sense.

"'There is a god in everything'..."

A saying from Japanese polytheistic belief.

I was now realizing that saying.

"It's a saying from the Hwa country of the Western Continent."

"You know it."

"Of course. It was one of the phrases I focused on to develop this sense. Hmm. Though that ultimately failed."

"I see..."

Nodding vaguely at Mur's words, I tried to remember all the sights in my eyes.

The sight was that fantastic.

The sight of spirits roaming in all objects, in everything.

The sight of another world overlapping with reality.

-Woo?

"Hello."

Among them, a brown little one was sticking its head out of the ground and staring at me warily.

As if not forgetting its essence even while being suppressed by the dungeon's energy, it's a little earth spirit nurturing the ground in this dungeon cave.

"Come here."

-Woo!

As my hand approached, it cowered in fear.

But soon stretched out its body again. Its eyes were filled with wariness, fear, and curiosity.

I instinctively drew up my magic power and tainted the spirit.

-Woowoo...!

"You seem fine now."

The spirit clinging to my finger had darkened a bit more than before, but it was in a state that looked much more comfortable than before.

Creating land that is hostile to humans but friendly to demons.

What humans call 'corrupted', but demons just call 'another aspect'.

That kind of spirit.

-Awuawu.

It seemed that way to me too.

The essence hadn't changed.

The spirit still nurtures and fertilizes the land.

Just the goal had changed.

The demonization of this place will be easier and faster.

-Heueu...

After that, when I changed my vision by instinctive judgment, another aspect of the spiritual world began to appear in my eyes.

-Kureuruk...!

-Me... memememememe!

All sorts of ghosts constantly circling among the skeletons and around me.

What they harbored was resentment and curses, but it wasn't so eerie or scary.

Because those emotions are ultimately the source of my power.

-Curse...!

-Kihihit!

But while souls directly killed by me might be fine, it seems necessary to properly subdue those who died by indirect orders.

It doesn't seem to be having a very good influence on my summons.

It's fine now, but it's clear that problems will arise in the long term.

"「Come here.」"

A single word infused with magic power.

With that one word, the air in the dungeon changed completely.

Swaaak...!

All air currents gather at a single point.

Into the black sphere beginning to form at the tip of my finger.

-Uh, uh, uwaak...!

-No more...!

The sphere of souls created by gathering all the evil spirits in the dungeon was tempered with deep grudges that could immediately kill many people and hatred that could quickly corrupt several individuals.

And that soon meant it was like an elixir for a necromancer.

"Excellent...!"

Mur's pupils, which were praising me while her eyes sparkled, and at the same time directing a subtle gaze of greed towards this sphere, prove it.

Of course, if I gave this to her, I could gain temporary goodwill, but...

For now, I have my own problems to deal with.

-Kyaaak!!

All that resentment, hatred, anger, and malice being digested into me with screams.

It could easily kill and twist dozens of people, but it couldn't affect me in the slightest.

It's an unpleasant fact.

Even if I hadn't been a Dungeon Lord or necromancer, it would have been the same, as the knowledge in my head affirms.

'It means I'm that abnormal.'

But I don't have the mindset to be newly depressed about it.

I'm not stupid enough to dig the ground while repeating facts I'm already used to.

『Attribute - ...Magic Power 74(◀ 71)...』

『Characteristic - ...Specialization: Soul Magic...』

New attributes and characteristics were added.

The magic power was as expected, but the soul magic was a bit unexpected.

This is magic used by succubi to turn souls into ghosts.

With this, I will be able to summon and control ghosts much more smoothly from now on.

If I could bring in their 「Possession」 as well, it would be easier to seduce living people, but...

'I don't feel like it.'

The representative feature of Possession is the pattern that appears on the abdomen.

Even in the case of Scarlet or Mary, although they are ordinary succubi who can't use this magic, the pattern itself appears in a form that can never be erased.

I felt 'nobility' recoiling, and I didn't like it much either.

"The newly seen world is wonderful."

"I'm glad if you're satisfied."

Mur seemed a bit regretful for a moment, but she seemed to have shaken off that emotion quickly.

Meeting my smile, she bowed deeply once, then withdrew her magic power from me.

"Is this how you're trying to get me used to the sense?"

The 'vision' remained for a while, but gradually dispersed.

However, that sense still remained with me, so it seemed that with a few more practices, the 'new vision' would be sufficiently established.

The senior necromancer also expressed the same opinion to me.

"Today was close to a preview, but it seems you've already mastered the sense of handling souls much more precisely. You're truly an excellent student."

"Thank you. You're an excellent teacher too."

When I returned praise for praise, she smiled a bitter smile.

It was a smile that made it easy to guess what she was thinking.

A bit of jealousy and admiration.

"This seems to be more due to the student's overflowing talent rather than the teacher's skill."

"If someone who has the talent to understand and insight what their student lacks isn't an excellent teacher, who would be?"

When I said that once again, she bit her lip slightly and smiled.

"I'll see you tomorrow."

Saying so, she bowed deeply.

Although she seemed to be thinking a lot no matter how you looked at it, I just nodded saying okay.

I didn't have any personal greed for her yet. We hadn't had enough conversations yet.

* * *

Gremit, the fortress defending the north of the royal capital Hairashi.

Hailey, the wife of Baron Shum who governs that Gremit, was living a much more energetic and fulfilling life these days than before.

This was partly because she was doing more work than before, and partly because she had found new value in life.

But the center of all that fulfillment was instead of serving the lowly human king or 'fakes' who reign in the underworld claiming to be kings.

It was that she had come to serve a 'true queen'.

"Parties have been frequent lately, wife."

Her husband, Baron Shum, couldn't help but notice his wife's mood.

Frowning, he was both worried and suspicious about the fact that his wife's extravagance had intensified lately.

Although the head couple of the Shum baronial family had been increasing their wealth by cooperating with black merchants, that wealth was at a level understandable as a baronial family.

But these days, Hailey was showing off and almost scattering her wealth while forming connections with people from all walks of life in the noble political world.

He couldn't help but worry about others' suspicions.

'Where did all those gold coins come from?'

Without even touching the baronial family's wealth.

Gerald was worried these days that Hailey might have touched something she shouldn't have.

By coincidence, that guess was close to the truth.

The difference was that it wasn't that she touched it, but that it was placed on her hands.

"It's understandable that you're worried. But it's okay, Gerry. All of this has meaning."

"Shouldn't I, your husband, know what that meaning is?"

"Well, that's true..."

Hailey's complexion darkened slightly.

Although serving a true master was a great and joyous secret.

It still didn't feel good to betray the faith of her husband, who had been a good life partner and with whom she had a good relationship until now.

"So, Gerry."

"Hmm?"

But, that was until now.

Because recently, happy news had come down from her master.

"How about going on a family outing after a long time?"

"Suddenly? Is this related to the matter between us now?"

"Yes. That's right. Actually..."

As his wife whispered lowering her voice, the husband leaned in to listen.

Soon, he couldn't hide the smile that naturally formed due to his wife's voice.

"A great ancient dragon might visit our tower."

"Is that true?"

"Yes. Our family will ride on that dragon's back."

Those words Hailey said usually meant metaphorically that a very good marriage prospect had come up for their children.

It also meant that the status of the other family was so high that even if it was a son, he would have to enter as a son-in-law...

But forming a connection with such a high family itself was an incredible fortune for an ordinary baronial family.

"This is great news...! Then, this outing is?"

"Yes. We're going to meet the dragon."

"Ah. It seems we need to prepare a lot."

"We don't need that. Everything is prepared, they said we just need to come ourselves."

"How can they be so considerate!"

Gerald, smiling like that, couldn't guess at all.

In fact, what Hailey was talking about was that she would offer their children to the Dungeon Lord to prove their loyalty and completely subordinate the family to the dungeon.

They had been on good terms for too long to suspect that.

"We'll leave tomorrow. The sooner the better for good things, right!"

"Our minds are in sync! Actually, I've already made all the preparations!"

"As expected of you, wife!"

It was natural, since even Hailey herself was really thinking of this as just a more intensified version of 'finding a marriage prospect'.

'If we can receive more of Master's grace...'

She was hoping that her children would catch her master's eye and receive greater blessings.

If that happens and they can get closer in the future...

'...We might even become something like the Black Merchant Guild.'

...that's what she was thinking.

It was two days before two of the three Dungeon Lords died, after the dungeon war ended.