It’s Dangerous Outside the Dungeon, Master

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– 1 –

Chirp chirp.

After Libertus left the dungeon, her dungeon was met with an even quieter silence than before.

Occasionally, adventurers would come by, but without any active “advertising,” those who stumbled into the dungeon were either drifters or wanderers, easily handled by Mire and the remaining forces.

Thus, any sort of “unexpected event” that someone might have desired was absolutely not going to happen.

“Damn it…”

Maria was extremely frustrated.

She had been forced to accept a contract due to Daniel accepting the curse for her, but naturally, that didn’t mean it would make her favor Libertus.

From the beginning, the conditions Libertus placed on her were simply twofold.

[“‘Try to live as best as you can,’ and ‘Don’t do anything that would interfere with the dungeon’s events.’ If you just adhere to these two, you can do whatever you want.”]

In other words, she wouldn’t mind if she had to flee in order to survive when trouble arose in the dungeon, and in some cases, even escape would be permissible.

‘As long as I don’t interfere, or if my feelings for Daniel become useless to each other… I guess. But how can I be sure of that monster’s thoughts?’

Naturally, normal escapes were not permitted.

As long as there was a promise with Daniel, it would mean diverting the dungeon’s personnel to bring her back.

Because of this, she found herself in a situation where she couldn’t do anything. However, that didn’t mean she was doing absolutely nothing.

The first thing was self-discipline, practiced daily to keep her body from rusting, and…

“What in the world am I doing…”

Cleaning within the dungeon.

It was a chore given by Libertus. It wasn’t as if she intended to turn Maria into a good-for-nothing.

‘Why am I wearing this outfit, and why am I doing this…’

Dressed in a maid outfit of unknown origin, she was doing something she had hardly ever done in her life.

Of course, the cleaning areas in the dungeon weren’t places like traps or corridors that adventurers often visited, but rather the rooms where the summons usually waited or Libertus’s living quarters.

Even at that, she couldn’t touch the private spaces of the Dungeon Lord, the rooms with the core, or the storage room due to a lack of trust, so in reality, the space Maria was in charge of was merely the rooms of the summons…

“This is way too big!”

Still, considering that she was managing it alone, it was sufficiently vast.

This dungeon provided personal rooms as soon as an intellect or even just fragments of intelligence were discovered among the summons.

At least rooms designed for four to two people, if not for just one.

“What does a Skeleton even need a room for? And why does it get so dirty every day?”

Currently, there were over thirty entities that had received rooms in this dungeon.

Moreover, most of the skeletons, who had been thieves in their past lives, often lacked any concept of tidiness, so even if she cleaned every day, something would always emerge.

It truly was too much work for one person to manage alone, despite those in charge not realizing it.

Now that Libertus had gone out, the cleaning area was somewhat reduced, but for her, who invested all spare time into personal training, it was still precious time wasted.

That being said, she couldn’t choose to just abandon this task and focus solely on her training.

It was due to the suggestion Libertus had given her.

[“The more you do, the more I will provide Daniel with a forceful reward. You must not forget that his path to strength solely depends on me and the dungeon. Maria.”]

Kneeling before her and lifting her chin, that was what Libertus engraved into her.

Maria was well aware that Daniel, who would be active for Libertus’s dungeon, could be in danger at any moment, and she, as a mercenary, understood too well that strength was directly linked to survival.

So the tasks entrusted to her had to be fulfilled.

Despite knowing the opponent’s intentions, she had to give it her all, perfectly.

‘I’m sure this is all aimed at preventing any other thoughts.’

Maria’s guess was not wrong. In fact, the reason Libertus had her working was exactly that.

Sometimes, an appropriate level of labor weakened the intensity of emotions.

Hatred and resentment could grow infinitely with appropriate fuel, like a cancer cell. Ordinary labor provided an immune system to kill this cancer.

‘This will never break me…’

Of course, only up to a certain point.

Maria’s hatred was not small enough to die from this level of labor.

The time she could spend focusing on her own resentments was extremely limited, mostly occurring while washing herself in the morning or before sleeping, and during the forced time for self-training. Yet,

That was still enough.

‘Absolutely.’

Her hatred grew with time. Slowly, but surely, without breaking her.

– Clack.

“It’s fine. After all, you can’t do anything right now anyway.”

And what Libertus desired was, in fact, precisely that.

– Snap.

“Right now, the only motivator for her to seek survival, aside from Daniel, is hatred. Even if that hatred ends up breaking her heart…”

What sustained Maria’s current life was Daniel’s will and emotions, combined with the hatred and resentment gained through her sister’s death.

The emotions of others and her own negative feelings.

“Since we made a promise, I have to make sure it’s adjusted so as not to break.”

“A promise is important…”

“Indeed. Xue.”

This was something utterly insufficient for sustaining a person, but having both was much more stable than breaking one.

Even if, unfortunately, it turned out that “out of sight, out of mind” applied to her feelings for Daniel, that hatred could keep Maria’s breath going until she found another support.

Of course, when that time came, Libertus would also have to reconsider Maria’s usefulness.

– Clack.

“As you said, someday he will try to stab me… Then shouldn’t I properly confront him at least once?”

– Snap!

“If that happens… I won’t let it go…”

Grinding her teeth in anger were Evangeline and Lin Xue.

Watching the two, Libertus wore what appeared to be a harmless smile. Paired with her gentle impression, her face looked devoid of any danger.

“Of course, I’m not saying I’ll just accept it or willingly die. Evangeline. Xue. I wouldn’t do such a thing with you two around.”

As she said, she was never someone who would choose to lose everyone while keeping her precious ones. After all, she had already once cast away “everything” of her own accord.

But precisely because she was that way, she felt a sense of responsibility as a being that had taken away ‘everything’ from others.

“That’s merely courtesy. No one risks their life out of courtesy. So don’t worry.”

Thus, Libertus was looking forward to Maria rising properly.

Whether as a result she completely surrendered to her, or simply began living a new life.

‘Someone steeped in resentment is easy to manipulate. It’s less extreme, but just like my… ‘former’ mother.’

Of course, every situation would have to unfold within her control.

She had no intention of letting any immeasurable threats arise the moment things spiraled out of her grasp.

‘Whatever it is, having a series of experiences that evoke positive feelings is essential to dilute unconditional hatred. … Just like I did. I wonder how long you can maintain that feeling toward me.’

The hatred of loss could be covered by a desire for achievement over what one currently possesses.

What was chipping away at the “maximum” of Maria’s hatred was the small sense of achievement in helping Daniel. And Libertus planned to gradually increase the tasks Maria could undertake in such a manner.

‘Is this how other Dungeon Lords operate as well? Giving rooms to their summons? That can’t be true. Those monsters…’

However, what Libertus could not know was that as Maria gradually learned about her, she was defining her as “something different” from the existing monsters.

What kind of situation that would bring about, no one knew.

Not even Maria herself.

– 2 –

It took three days to reach the campsite of the Copgerin extermination troops after leaving the dungeon.

Arriving at the foot of the mountain that housed that dungeon, there was already a military base formed by the troops that had departed from Copgerin, and the extermination forces inside were quite busy.

“Ugh… lowly scum.”

“Excuse me, but do you know where my camp is…?”

“Stop drinking with the mercenaries over there and head back to the designated barracks! We need to organize the troops!”

To be precise, one should say they were mercilessly showing off their hastily formed troops.

Soldiers were with soldiers, adventurers together with adventurers, and mercenaries among themselves.

An unintegrated army spread out before her eyes.

‘The military soldiers aren’t even unified.’

Even knights and soldiers who seemed to be part of the regular army were holding their flags, inscribed with the symbols of their respective territories, tightly grouped together, making one wonder how this army could come together at all.

In fact, this sight of the army could only be assumed to be the norm for this continent and era.

‘Regular soldiers are essentially the king’s vassals, so it can’t be helped.’

There were many dungeons in the world, and there still are. Who knows where another might spring up.

Thus, every lord and king’s army couldn’t be an army belonging to the country; they had to be personal soldiers.

‘To protect their territories, self-defense is essential.’

In fact, even the members of the troops were utilized significantly from adventurers or mercenaries rather than trained career soldiers or conscripted troops, focusing much more on individual capabilities than medieval times.

So they were nearly a military force defined only by their equipment and insignia.

In the end, in this world, the nation was just a union of lords sharing a common direction, the king represented the lords, and the military was a coalition of personal soldiers.

So perhaps that’s why loyalty, as seen from the knights or servants, is greatly valued as a virtue, but that alone won’t stitch this fragmented army into one.

“Where do you all come from… Ah, you’re from Solemio?”

As she pondered over the army’s state and the military institution of this era, a man approached from the central barracks after a considerable wait.

His muscular and sturdy physique was that of a knight, with a sword at his waist, yet he was holding a document and a pen in his hand, an oddly familiar sight that shouldn’t match.

He looked thoroughly exhausted.

“Are you the administrator?”

“Yes. That’s correct. I’m Sir Elias. Young lady.”

“But the armor…”

“Ah, I’m both a knight and an administrator. We’re short on administrative personnel.”

As expected.

It doesn’t usually happen to dispatch a military force, yet there would be no resources to additionally dispatch an administrator for an urgently gathered army.

Perhaps that’s why, upon seeing the documents given to the man by Talhan, a gleam of light shone in the knight’s eyes.

It was a document related to supplies that I had organized.

“This… is incredibly well organized. Did you perhaps do this?”

“No, it’s done by the person I serve…”

“Oh, so not the head honcho, huh?”

“Yes. I’m a bodyguard.”

“Indeed. I was wondering why you were dressed as an unarmed person.”

“Do you have business with me?”

The assassin’s outfit superficially looks no different from that of a simple fighter, making his question entirely understandable.

At that moment, when I removed my hood to show my face, the knight’s gaze shifted from Talhan to me.

“Then, this is…?”

“Yes. This is Miss Angelita, whom I serve.”

“Remarkable… a beauty. It’s an honor to meet you, Miss.”

“Nice to meet you. Sir.”

The knight, who had been scratching his cheek awkwardly for a moment, soon stepped forward as if he had made a decision and spoke to me.

“Forgive me for the impertinence of asking on our first meeting, but may I make a suggestion? Or rather, consider it a request for help.”

“Sounds good. I’ll hear you out.”

As I nodded favorably, the knight’s expression brightened even more, and he finally presented his proposal.

“I’d like you to help us with the administrative tasks of our Copgerin troops. As you can see, we’re currently exceedingly busy. Ah, of course, you’ll need to be monitored to ensure you don’t access any confidential materials…”

“Hmm… I don’t mind if you offer appropriate compensation.”

“Really? Thank you!”

Pretending to think for a moment, I immediately gave my answer, and the knight lowered his head with a bright smile. I reciprocated by bowing my head, and he hurried off to get a contract.

‘Just as planned.’

Thus, I became affiliated with the supply corps of the extermination troops.

Now, two paths lay before me. Paths I could choose based on the situation.

Whichever way, it was bound to be manageable.