It’s Dangerous Outside the Dungeon, Master

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– 1 –

In the heart of Libertus was a woman known as the Blue Succubus.

In fact, Mari Maris Mare, a child born out of wedlock to Mammon, one of the Seven Grand Dukes of the Demon World, and also a low-tier employee at the Mammon Trading Company, thought with a racing heart.

“This person is different from the ones I’ve met before.”

‘She’s incredibly beautiful…!’

Even if all the beauties from the Demon World and the surface were gathered, finding someone to rival the beauty of the woman before me would be difficult.

“Ah, a, ah, hello… I… I’m Mari. Mari Maris Mare… a regular employee…”

“Nice to meet you, Mari. Scarlett is a manager, but are you my contact person?”

“Ah, no… the contact person is indeed Manager Scarlett, but… something came up…”

“I see? That’s unexpected. Anyway, got it.”

After squinting for a moment while seated, Lady Libertus stood up and approached slowly.

Mari gasped once more in admiration.

While seated, she had a rather languid, cold, and delicate impression, but now, she exuded sheer elegance.

Her footsteps were nearly silent, and her posture was impeccable, overflowing with dignity and nobility like a stream of water cascading over her skin.

Although she was clearly on the shorter side, it felt as if she were the largest entity in the world.

And what about the small smile gracing her lips in that moment?

Her previously cold expression bloomed instantly, becoming cute and innocent, enhanced by the changing expressions before my eyes, even as a Succubus, it felt like I would be captivated.

‘No! The very fact that I’m having these thoughts means I’m already enchanted…!’

I could finally understand why Scarlett had been so concerned about this dungeon lately.

The overwhelming beauty washed away any hint of jealousy I had harbored before coming here.

While I would normally be jealous of mere beauties, the sheer majesty of this one left me with nothing but awe.

Anyone would have been spellbound by such beauty.

Even if she were to encounter a human who considered her an enemy, if that enemy were foolish, they would surely have to cease their hostility, if only for a moment.

Of course, I could not be certain, as I lacked experience as a Dungeon Lord.

‘Coming here myself seems to have been a good decision…!’

Mari felt she had made the right choice to suppress her curiosity.

I might feel guilty for causing trouble for my senior after deliberately creating a scene with a vendor, but had I not met her now, I would have continued to be jealous of whoever was drawing Scarlett’s attention.

While I still felt a tinge of jealousy, it was overshadowed by her overwhelming beauty.

‘She’s too poisonous. A lethal hazard…!’

‘A girl who I quite like has come.’

Meanwhile, Rita found the blue-haired Succubus, who spoke in an overly sluggish manner and appeared to be utterly useless, rather appealing.

If possible, she wished this one were her contact instead of Scarlett.

Of course, this was not because of a personal preference; it was simply that she seemed more convenient to use.

The more flabby the trading partner, the higher the chance of gaining profit.

If Rita had realized that this girl, out of her own like or curiosity, continuously clung to her senior while subtly causing trouble, her thoughts might have changed, but the Rita now was unaware of that.

“Mari?”

“Y-yes?!”

In an instant, as she imagined ten years into the future with Lady Libertus, dreaming of the happiness and conflicts likely to arise in a same-sex marriage in the Demon World, Mari barely regained her senses at her call.

Had she gone even a bit further, she might have kneeled right there to propose, which would have been quite the spectacle, so it was truly unfortunate.

“It seems you were almost lost in thought. Were you up all night or something?”

“Ah, no! I, I was… but it’s fine!”

“…? Alright. Don’t overdo it.”

The momentum of her fantasy still lingered, making even the simple polite words of comfort she spoke sound like a proposal.

Whether or not Lady Libertus was aware of Mari’s thoughts, she was simply moving for the sake of the transaction.

– 2 –

The blue-haired Succubus who introduced herself as Mari Maris Mare had a slightly hunched posture, giving her a somewhat gloomy air.

One might wonder how someone with such an impression could possibly charm others…

‘Amazing… this is the most…’

It was indeed quite something.

Due to her hunched posture, it flowed slightly downward, enough to cover over half of her abdomen.

One might even doubt if she was painfully hunched like that. Of course, doing so would be a recipe for disc problems, so that couldn’t be it.

…But do Succubi even get herniated discs? That was a lingering question.

‘How does she get to be that big, I wonder?’

Her ample and worn-out outfit (even so, her belly and the tattoo there were visible) and its bagginess did nothing to conceal her impressive bust, which drew an unwelcome amount of attention.

Had it not been for the ‘nobility,’ it might have been quite troublesome.

“Here, here it is…”

After presenting the souls of adventurers and checking Mari’s calculator, I frowned upon seeing the amount written there, which was, just as expected, quite small.

“It’s less than before.”

“Umm, it might have been due to it being an initial investment…”

“That means the investment is already over?”

“Um, I’ll go back and check…”

“Then what about the souls we just traded?”

“U-um…”

Mari was, just as expected, a rather clumsy trader.

I didn’t know if Scarlett simply hadn’t trained her properly or if this girl lacked talent, but thinking of her as a trading partner was a bit frustrating.

Yet, ironically, it was somewhat satisfying.

After contacting someone, she returned with an answer after a bit of time.

“Uh, then… this amount?”

The number written there was increased by a multiple compared to what Scarlett had suggested at the beginning.

“I didn’t expect that much… thank you. Please let them know I won’t forget this goodwill.”

“Ah, yes…”

“So, who did you contact?”

“Ah, um, I’m sorry… you don’t have the authority yet…”

“Really? I see. Understood.”

She must have contacted someone higher than Scarlett.

From what I gathered, her immediate superior was Scarlett, and contacting someone above her was rather complicated within the Mammon Trading Company.

“Is it an architect… you’re referring to?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

The real trading began after exchanging the typical adventurers’ souls stored in the Core for goods, and then purchasing several necessary pieces of equipment with that currency.

The first were individuals with architectural skills.

“I’m planning to design a new trap for the dungeon, but it seems I cannot properly implement it with my imagination alone. I would like one deeply versed in that field to be introduced, and I also need engineers to lend me a hand.”

“Dungeon designer and… Elder Gremlins, you mean?”

“Yes, exactly.”

The Gremlins of the Demon World and the ‘Demon’ type summoned first from the dungeon are different.

While surface Gremlins are beasts known for their heightened belligerence, actively teasing and devouring enemies, the Gremlins of the Demon World are a race equipped with knowledge and skills in engineering.

It seems the surface Gremlins were inspired by the ‘mischievous monsters’ of modern fantasy, while the Demon World Gremlins took from the folklore image of ‘fairies that break machines.’

Thus, the dungeon’s are called ‘Lesser Gremlins,’ while the Demon World’s are referred to as ‘Elder Gremlins.’

“B-but… they like human precious metals…”

“Don’t worry; there’s plenty of gold. Just choose who wants it.”

“Ah, understood…”

My dungeon was near a relatively peaceful area, so there were many bandits and passing adventurers who did not fear the dungeon, living among them as nomadic people taking on wandering adventurers.

All the gold I had came from them. The spoils obtained during the process of robbing them of ‘everything’ they owned.

Converting it into Demon World currency for expanding the dungeon wasn’t very efficient due to the high exchange rate, so this way was more profitable.

“Next, we need special materials for class upgrades and a ‘Dungeon-Associated Mercenary Contract’ with humans.”

“There are plenty of materials… are you referring to the mercenary contracts…?”

“Indeed.”

Until now, all those who entered into contracts with me in human form were merely in a ‘Minor Contract’ state.

Changing a human into a Demon race required a contract issued with the Demon Lord’s seal. Otherwise, the Dungeon Core wouldn’t recognize ‘this human is associated with the dungeon.’

Even if it’s not strictly necessary, it could be used as a contract from a Dungeon Lord, but that would still require periodic renewals, and the maintenance costs for keeping a mercenary would increase as well.

There’s a reason for the distinctions between Minor Contracts and Major Contracts.

What else could be done? I’d have to spend some money.

“How many do you need…?”

“Four. It wouldn’t hurt to have some extra as well.”

“Wow, w-wow… already that many humans…! But you’re not selling them, right…?”

“Seems like a waste. I’ll need them for myself.”

“Y-you truly are a Lady… remarkable…”

“Don’t flatter me. What’s the big deal?”

There was enough currency left over from selling the souls of adventurers and human bandits, so there was no issue buying the contracts. The contracts themselves weren’t even priced that high.

It’s the value of the mercenaries mentioned therein that determines the price.

In that respect, the contract Mari later presented was going to be quite expensive.

“And next…”

“Uh, um…”

“Hmm? What is it?”

“Actually, I have something to propose…!”

“A proposal?”

“Yes.”

Such proposals occasionally came from the trading company in ‘Mill Don 1’ as well.

Requests for connections within the trading company, asking mercenaries or mercenary groups with no skills but needing results to use some brand of products from the Demon World and share the actual usage videos.

It was essentially no different from promotional requests on Earth, hence a somewhat puzzling task.

『Demon Lord Candidate ‘Libertus’ Dungeon Lv.3』

『Alias – None』

『Continental Reputation – 5 (Ensure it is ‘not known’)』

『Demon World Reputation – 28 (A newbie who survived long enough to be fresh)』

How could there possibly be room for such a promotion in my current dungeon?

That line of thought grew stronger while looking at the contract the blue-haired Succubus presented.

Reading the contract was no issue.

‘Nobility’ granted knowledge of languages, and ‘Alpha Tester’ made a message window pop up above the contract in characters I recognized.

The status window was even displaying information regarding the other party not mentioned in the contract, giving me a little lift regarding potential gains ahead.

Yet, understanding the contract proved difficult.

『Occupation and Rank – Werewolf Berserker』

『Title/Entity Name – ‘Furious’ ‘Bloodhowl’』

『Attributes – Strength 38 Agility 16 Durability 30 Magic 27 Resistance 32』

An outstanding individual with high stats well above typical, reaching intermediate level.

…No matter how one looked at it, this was not something that could casually be tossed out as just a promotional item for a beginner dungeon—why was this contract being shown to me?

“Why are you sending this mercenary to our dungeon?”

“That is… um…”

Then, what Mari scratched her head and awkwardly said made even less sense.

“T-That mercenary wants to come here…?”

I suppressed the emotions I wanted to show her. My annoyance at the thought of ‘If you don’t know, who does?’ and my suspicion of ‘Are you trying to deceive me?’

Mari’s eyes were rolling around as if she herself did not understand.

Once again, I looked at the letters appearing above the contract.

There was one more item that was even more perplexing than this situation.

『Trait – … a member of the Necropolis』

‘Why is this…?’