Either way, this dungeon was my new home. Never mind the fact that the core, the heart of the dungeon, was here too, so it wasn’t like I could escape even if I wanted to. At the end of the day, I’d say I did a damn good job handling her. All’s well that ends well or whatever.
Now, let me get back to what she’d said so far. She mentioned that this room was a lot more “refined” than others she’d seen. Isn’t that nice, my lovely dungeon? Complimented by a dragon. And a Supreme Dragon, no less!
“Oh, hey, so what happened to that idiot demon?”
“He insisted on challenging me, and I obliged by burning his castle to ash.”
Yeah, okay, that tracks. As if a clown like that had a chance in hell of winning any kind of fight with a supreme being like her. My fault for asking a dumb question, but I needed to know! I guessed my curiosity showed on my face, because she kept talking without me having to ask more potentially stupid questions.
“Though it is clear to me that you are nothing like him or the others. Indeed, you are a rarity amongst demons. Power means everything to a great many of them, and their way of life is shaped by that value. Thus, naturally, not only do they relish in fighting each other, but they endlessly challenge other races as well. In sum, demons are exceedingly belligerent, vexing insects.”
“Ahh, I getcha. Demons are basically meatheads, right?”
I didn’t have any reason to doubt her, so it turned out being a demon was basically part of being in a shit show. Why’d I have to end up as part of a race that didn’t get along with any of the others? Couldn’t a guy catch a break?
“What is a ‘meathead’?”
“They think with their muscles instead of their brains. You could also call them hotheaded idiots.”
“What an interesting term. It perfectly captures their existence. Yes, they have indeed been ‘meatheads’ for the better part of a thousand years now.”
“You’ve been alive that long?”
“Indeed. I have long since forgotten my precise age, but humans speak of me as a dragon of legend.”
With those words and a proud look on her face, she confidently folded her arms in front of her flat chest. Too bad the massive difference in lifespan and power between us still hadn’t sunk in, though. Part of that was probably because of her childlike personality, which completely contradicted all that arrogance. Plus, she loved sweets, so you couldn’t blame me for being baffled.
“Anyway, dragon, here’s what you wanted.”
I passed her a chocolate bar I’d bought from the DP Catalog.
“Long have I waited for this morsel! Mmm! Such a lush sweetness!” Based on the sounds she was making, she wasn’t trying to hide her enjoyment at all. “And one more thing: my name is not ‘dragon.’ It is Lefisios. You may use it.”
The dragon—no, Lefisios—slowly savored each bite of chocolate while she talked, using both hands to carefully break up the bar one small piece at a time. The complete opposite of devouring it in one go like she had earlier.
“Okay, but it’s kinda long, so I’ll go with Lefi instead. And you can call me Yuki. That’s my name.”
“‘L-Lefi’?”
“What? You don’t like it?”
“Th-That is not the case. However...you are the first to have given me a name such as that.”
“Ahh, yeah, I think I get it.”
A thousand-year-old ancient dragon who was basically a legend among humans wouldn’t usually be called something like “Lefi.” It would take some massive balls to get friendly with her, much less give her a nickname. I’d guess the reason I could treat her normally was because she felt like a younger cousin, a kid just hitting her growth spurt. Which was kinda hilarious considering how majestic she’d seemed when we first met.
“In any case, I have no objections. Now then, I have another matter to discuss. I shall reside here henceforth.”
Lefi said that so ridiculously casually that it was almost like she hadn’t just dropped a huge bomb on me.
“Say what now?”
“My current nest no longer suits me. As I am beginning to find it inconvenient, I have been considering a search for a new home. But this dungeon seems quite comfortable, and thus I shall make it my new abode.”
“W-Wait! Just stop for a sec! You can’t just decide that without asking me first!”
“Then you refuse?”
“Hold on, will you? I mean, c’mon, it isn’t that easy to—”
“Then you refuse...”
Lefi snuggled in close and looked up at me with sad, teary eyes. I felt like I’d kicked a puppy.
“It’s...fine.”
“Excellent answer!”
With that, she whirled around and jumped away from me with a cackle. The crocodile tears also disappeared as quickly as they’d come. Obviously in a great mood, she went back to eating her chocolate bar. I couldn’t help but laugh at how easily she’d just played me.
I might have been tricked into letting her stay, but it really wasn’t a bad deal. Even if she looked like a little girl now, the reality was extremely different. She was essentially an apex predator, seen as an exalted being far superior to any other. If someone like her wanted to stay here, then who was I to complain? With her around, the dungeon’s safety was all but guaranteed.
Yeah, that’s it. For sure. I’d analyzed the situation from every single angle and came to this conclusion strategically. I didn’t automatically say “yes” because Lefi gave me puppy-dog eyes and I thought it was adorable. No way was I that much of a sucker. I was the king of my own castle, okay? Let’s just leave it, damn.
And that, folks, was how I ended up with a supreme dragon freeloading in my dungeon.
✦ ✦ ✦
The next day, I stood in the cave, just outside the door to the throne room.
“All right, let’s do this!”
I opened the menu and tapped the Dungeon category. The reason I’d come out here was because I wanted to look into what I’d been putting off: testing the dungeon’s features. I was reborn as its lord in order to take care of it, but I hadn’t used any of its functions yet.
Now a part of the weird dungeon family, Lefi the mooch slept the day away in the throne room. She wouldn’t get off my case last night about wanting her own futon, so I gave in and bought her one. Surprisingly enough, she took an immediate liking to it. Didn’t take her long to pass out once she got in it, and boy did she sleep like a rock. I kinda wanted to poke her to see what would happen, but figured I should “let sleeping dragons lie” or whatever that saying is.
The first feature I wanted to try was expansion. It asked me to set a range, so I chose this cave.
“Damn, that’s cool.”
This was one of the dungeon’s powers, huh? I couldn’t see any physical changes, but I’d definitely felt the atmosphere shift. Before, all I’d felt was the natural coldness of the cave, but that had quickly transformed into warmth and calmness. The sudden change made it easy to understand how strong the dungeon’s magic was, even if it was a pretty small expansion.
I decided to double-check my map and yup, the cave was part of the dungeon’s territory now.
Sweet! I couldn’t wait to expand the dungeon even more. Now, let’s see about leveling the dungeon up... Hmm, not enough DP. I’ll have to do that later, then.
Speaking of DP, I got a pretty nice surprise when I saw the number earlier this morning. And I was pretty sure it had to do with how the dungeon views Lefi. Specifically, it considers her an invader instead of my subordinate. When I’d gone to bed last night, I had less than 500 DP. But then this morning, I had over 2,000. That was a massive increase, and it only took one night!
When she’d first decided to live with me in the dungeon, I wasn’t sure how things would work out. Spoilers: it wasn’t bad at all. Hell, it was literally the best-case scenario, and I’d never even considered it! I’d known I was going to have to entertain her as long as she stuck around, and I’d been ready to do that no matter how little I wanted to, but for DP gains like these she could expect service with a big ol’ smile.
“Okay, I’ll try summoning next.”
To be honest, I had the feeling that I probably didn’t need anyone or anything else with Her Majesty The Conqueror of Dragonkind by my side, but I also couldn’t resist the temptation, so I opened the monster catalog in the Dungeon section and scrolled through it. Since this was my first attempt, I decided that the best option was whatever cost the least DP. I skimmed through the long list of monster names, then tapped on the one at the very bottom.
The moment I did, particles of light appeared and started to swirl around, then combined. When the light disappeared, it left behind a transparent blue ball—a slime.
✦ ✦ ✦
