Reincarnated as a Dungeon Master, I Became Unstoppable by Doting on My Monsters—My Gorgeous Monsters Have Started to Conquer the World on Their Own! - Chapter 9: The First Intruder

From morning that day, the monsters were unusually quiet for some reason. During this time, Biondetta, who was on watch duty, informed me that the intruder counter displayed on the Core had been activated.

“Saryu. Can you catch the scent?”

Saryu, who had transformed into a particularly fine-toothed badger monster called a Corocotta, shook her head from side to side. Meaning she didn’t recognize the scent.

“Has a human finally arrived?”

I dressed in the prepared fur clothing. Well, there’s a high possibility it might not be a human after all.

“Everyone, follow the plan we discussed.”

After giving instructions to the monsters, I ran down the long corridor. This dungeon has a slight slope, making it ideal for a zombie attack similar to the one used when confronted by the magic ox in the past. To prepare for enemies with long-range attacks, I’ve left straight lines where I can maintain my running pace, but I have also added more corners. Ambushing from these corners should provide a significant advantage.

Surprisingly, Clarymond stopped the breath of the magic ox that designed this dungeon. She seems to love strategy, and when I taught her about tactics and strategies from Earth’s wars, she happily came up with various ideas.

“Hello?”

I called out as I approached. Suddenly appearing might lead to an attack, especially since I was dressed in animal fur, giving off an utterly wild appearance.

“My name’s Wito. Uhm, may I ask why you’re here?”

Wito is a pseudonym derived from the name Yuuto. In a world with magic, it seems dangerous to share your real name, so I came up with this one. Okay, it’s not like I wanted to fit into the otherworldly atmosphere!

“Thank you for your politeness. My name is Jacqueline Spoonbender. I live in a nearby town and heard that a new dungeon appeared nearby. I was curious about who the dungeon master might be… May I have a look inside?”

When the woman bowed, her raven-black, glossy hair cascaded gracefully. At first, I thought someone coming to destroy the dungeon would be a robust man, but standing before me was a woman in her early 20s in a wheelchair. Wait, is she Japanese? If she is Japanese, she’s so beautiful that seeing her on TV wouldn’t be odd. Do all people from other worlds look this stunning? Even though her facial features are more Western, there’s a certain youthfulness about her, and her faint smile gives off a distinctly Japanese vibe.

How did she cross this forest, teeming with supernatural creatures in a wheelchair? She might have some magical power, but asking directly wouldn’t be prudent.

For now, I maintain a smile, matching her pace. I once read in a book that there isn’t a culture on Earth where a smile doesn’t signify friendliness. Given how similar our facial structures are, it’s likely the same in this other world.

Here’s my plan: First, the best outcome would be to obtain information and send her on her way. Second, I’d still like her to leave even if she doesn’t share any information. I honestly don’t have the resolve to kill someone. I’ve even used DP (Dungeon Points) to learn the language and put a warning at the entrance. I’m not thick-skinned enough to say it’s their fault if they get killed after ignoring that warning. However, I can’t invite someone I can’t befriend to the innermost parts of the dungeon, so if there’s going to be hostility, it’s better to deal with it sooner.

“Oh, is that so? Please, come in. Oh, let me help you with the wheelchair. The slope must have been quite challenging, right?”

So, the approach I should take in this case is to “pretend to be a super-friendly fool to get closer, either become friends quickly or let my guard down and get killed.” If I get killed, I can then switch to a combat stance.

To be honest, at that moment, I believed that if I went with that strategy, I would be killed immediately. I was almost sure that she was a skilled warrior. The entire situation seemed suspicious. Knowing it was a dungeon, why would anyone venture in with a wheelchair? There was even the possibility that she didn’t need the wheelchair. Maybe once she gets behind me, she will attack. I needed to ensure that she did not overlook her weapon. Those were my thoughts.

But contrary to my expectations, Spoonbender-san didn’t show any signs of caution towards me. Could that be? My mind was filled with question marks. Was it just because dungeons are associated with dangerous organizations, but the other world is peaceful? However, dungeons are fundamentally facilities designed to kill people. Maybe there’s some trick where a dungeon master doesn’t need to kill, and they coexist? But would one be this defenseless? Various questions swirled in my mind.

“I became a dungeon master suddenly, and there’s so much I don’t understand.”

I initially planned to extract information if she appeared friendly, but if I delved into dungeon strategies, it might cause unnecessary worry if she genuinely was a social force. In the end, our conversation became just small talk.

As we exchanged trivial conversations, we had reached the dungeon’s center before I realized it. I was wondering whether I should let her into the core room. In hindsight, I regretted not having prepared a guest room. That would have been a more suitable place to converse and send her back. I thought that telling her I’d tidy up a bit just before reaching the core room would keep her away from the Core.

While thinking about this and maintaining the conversation, Spoonbender-san murmured,

“You’re wondering when I’ll try to kill you, right?”

To be honest, I was caught off guard. I had positioned myself for an easy attack, or rather, to be easily attacked, but at that moment, I deeply regretted it. I was curious about the expression on Spoonbender-san’s face.

Even as I hurriedly denied it, her words didn’t stop.

“I think it’s a good strategy. Wito-sama, given the shape of the dungeon, you probably plan to kill and push deeper multiple times, but the early stages are inefficient and far from the core room. If you’re going to kill me, it’s better to extract information while making small talk.”

“You know, Wito-sama. You’re terrible at pretending to be a fool. If you’re trying to play an idiot who doesn’t even bring a weapon in this situation, you should act more desperate, confronting me about your circumstances.”

“Moreover, the behavior of pushing someone’s wheelchair in a dim corridor and the warning at the entrance contradict each other. However, I do appreciate the mindset of wanting to make intruders responsible too.”

Even as she stripped away all my defenses, all I could think about was how to get rid of her without killing her.

“…Please, let me go. I’ve never killed anyone.”

In the end, all I could do was to beg properly.

“I’m sorry, but I cannot allow that.”

Hearing her refusal, I finally resolved to kill to protect my monsters. Following that, I was caught in a loop of resurrecting and being attacked, but at some point, I felt my consciousness fading and let her through.

However, the hypnosis countermeasure I had prepared came into effect. It was a trick I devised from my strategy to defeat the demon hound; it only worked once per person.

“… I’ll… hold on to this… It wasn’t easy… against a unique monster… I won’t… do anything…”

I could hear something. If I could listen to it immediately after resurrecting from the Core, my monsters would have been defeated. I hope they didn’t suffer too much.

But the real problem was that Ms. Spoonbender had touched the Core. If she kept pouring her power into it, I and the thirteen monsters would die.

But somehow, I didn’t feel like she was the wrong person. After talking for about 30 minutes, I understood. She wasn’t here for material gains like money or experience points. She was seeking something far more critical. Something as important to her as my monsters are to me…

Still, I had to protect what was important to me. I decided to take all of Ms. Spoonbender’s anger, and, with my eyes wide open, I stabbed her.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t want to kill you. But if the Core is destroyed, everyone will die.”

As I pierced her flesh, I felt a sickening sensation but tried not to throw up. Yet, she didn’t seem fazed at all.

“It’s a pity. If you’d stabbed my lower half, you might have succeeded.”

Looking at her torn blouse, there wasn’t a single drop of blood.

“Wito-sama, you did catch me off-guard at the very end, but in the end, I won the deception game. You must be tired. I apologize, but please rest for a bit.”

Hearing her soothing voice, I finally realized things hadn’t gone wrong and felt relieved that I hadn’t become a murderer.