Chapter 9 The Villains Preparation: Talks with the MercenaryCommander

AH HAH HAH HAH! Seriously. I was so surprised when I heard that boy Elliot had become a dungeon master you know!

Dont laugh, Gramps Gustav. Its not like I want to be one or anything

More hearty laughter.

I feel like I havent heard laughter for a long time, but this old man laughs after just drinking every time he comes.

Besides, there were things I need.

The man sit facing me in the first floor of my home slash inn that had already stopped business. He was an acquaintance from when mother was still alive.

Its hard to say if hes a good or bad person, but mother said he at least keeps to contract and honor.

Also, Gustavs number one strong point wasnt his strength, but his insight in collecting information and seeing through the situation.

One month was enough for what happened in the village to became a rumor.

I dont chase down those who ran away, and at least if they noticed this place I would help them.

It was a bother, but zombies decrease when theyre killed. I was only recycling dead bodies into new zombies.

In fact, for a short time Id give them props that so many uninvited guests would come this far.

For now, Gustav seemed to have come here because he was worried about me.

With a small number of mercenaries, he came to the inn, armed, and when I came out to see them what he said was

.. what? Why areyoulooking so lively?

I thought about hiding the truth but he knew of my position in the village.

To add to that, if I could gain the cooperation of Gustav, who knew well about people related to the underworld business in this area.

Information. That is the thing that I, holing myself in this dungeon, could not obtain.

Therefore, this is what happened after I honestly told him everything (besides the part about being the king of the Demon World and stuff).

Anyway, its about time the Church notices this place you know. It would be some time before they make a move but I think youd better get ready to run

I cant deny the possibility but theres no way that this place doesnt became the hot topic in the Church

The door behind me opened, and Astarte in a nun outfit and Dahlia in maid clothes appeared.

Dahlia was carrying more booze and snacks.

Like I said, Im opposed to offering this place as an escape route for common criminals

What Gustav proposed after listening to the story was whether or not I could make this mining village overflowing with zombies where nobody would come or more accurately, whether I could use this inn that could offer a safe route without zombies and several days of lodging to hurried merchants and criminals at large as a stopping point.

Even though this was a frontier mining village, there were roads just a few days to other towns through the forest out of the village.

If one could cross the mountains, its not impossible to go over the border and smuggle oneself to the next country.

In particular, since normal people wont come because of monsters and the local dungeon master could accommodate safe passage, it was very effective or so Gustav argued.

After the incident, there was no need for me to flee right away, but living as a Demon aside, I didnt have the strength and finances to live in an unknown land with just the three of us.

Still, it seemed to be a little more than human magicians, but I still didnt have enough power, assets, and forces to set up shop at some unknown place somewhere. Vacating out the dungeon and moving was still a lot of pain.

In order to raise my magic power, I need to sleep with women or do it like most Demons, rule some land with lots of magic power and supply mine from there.

As for assets, I need to earn money somehow, so travelling would be difficult since I wont have a source of income.

TN: just like ours and oil

Force is where Im weakest at. I need to raise my magic power to strengthen myself, summon or create monsters as a fighting force, or use my assets to hire adventurers or mercenaries.

Which is why I thought I should first go on board with Gustavs proposal and gather a little bit of money.

Skipping straight to the conclusion, within the initial month of taking only those with Gustavs introduction as guests, I greatly overtook the entire previous years total income.

It was entirely possible that the previous years income was too low, but nevertheless, by selling magic tools I could gain a typical farmers income. And theres also this.

That said, I was able to accomplish this only because Gustavs judgement was there to act as my guardian.

Also, Astarte covered for me for small acts of violence.

It wasnt the kind of place I wanted, but theres a limit to how lucky I could be with my position I was fully aware of the fact.

After all, I couldnt do all that much on my own.

Well, that is that. First, heres gramps share

With that much, a farm family of four could live a year without starving.

Listen to this Gustav. Total magic power aside, Master Elliott is definitely reliable with technique!

Astarte joined the conversation about my growth in high spirits as if it were about herself.

After the incident, I began dungeon building using the mines that had gone abandoned.

I understood well why magicians of old hid themselves in dungeons.

Because if they were outside, there would be some damage if some mistake occured.