Side Chapter — Meanwhile at the [Cave of Greed]

Rei was entrusted with the dungeon while Keima and the others were gone. But in reality, the only difference was that with a few people gone they were just a bit busier than normal.

You might wonder if Gozou not being around to keep the adventurers in order would cause problems, but Wozma the vice chief was taking care of that. Or really, the celebratory mood inspired by Gozou and Keima reaching B-Rank was still going strong, and nobody was enough of a jerk to go out of their way to cause problems. The continued fervor made Rei want to celebrate the widespread fame and popularity of her Master.

All the monster girls were used to the town being busy and celebratory thanks to the lasting impact of the Dragon incident. The fact that the Silkies could split infinite times to keep working was one big reason for the work staying manageable. Not to mention that Elulu the ghost could keep the dungeon itself running twenty-four seven since she didn’t need sleep.

So yeah, they were busy, but the three core monster girls—Rei, Neruneh, and Kinue—had more than enough time to take plenty of breaks.

“...Sigh. Yet another day of no problems, even though Master, Rokuko, Niku, and Ichika are all gone...”

“Isn’t that a good thiiing?”

Within the employee break room, Rei had her feet shoved underneath the kotatsu with her squishy cheek pressed against the wooden top. Neruneh had been there since before her, and was drinking some of Kinue’s green tea while casually fiddling with multicolored balls.

The kotatsu didn’t have its heat on, but it was still comfy. A thin sheet was perfect for the weather they were in.

“Neruneh, what is that?”

“Aaah, it’s a magic tool I bought from a part timer in the baaar. Her little sister is an alchemist, or something like thaaat.” She rolled around the colorful balls that looked to be about three centimeters in diameter. Each one was apparently a different magic tool.

“This one shoots out firebaaalls, and this one makes drinking wateeer.”

“And this one? Oooh, goodness, it’s shaking so much!”

“That’s for massageees. Oh, this one’s kind of amazing, it tastes sweet when you lick iiit. There sure are some genius alchemists all over the plaaace.”

Interesting use of a magic tool, Rei thought, but she gave a disinterested reply in return. At most she thought about how they could probably sell it to the Succubi in the church.

“Siiiigh... The adventurers are fine. The town is doing fine. Even the Succubi in the church aren’t causing problems...”

“What’s the probleeem? I’m making a lot of progress in my reseaaarch.”

“...It’s good that no problems are happening, but perhaps my issue is that without any problems to solve, there are no opportunities to show my true worth. What do you think, Kinue?”

“Solving problems does leave a stronger impression, but I think the sign of true talent is not letting any problems happen in the first place. I think Master feels the same way, and that’s why he’s leaving you in charge.”

“Ngggh, but I wanna show off for Master... Yin and Yang! Light and Darkness...!” Rei mumbled to herself. In reality, Keima did value Rei highly. His entrusting her with so much DP to strengthen the dungeon was proof of that. No issues happening at all was definitely preferable for him. Though it was hard to deny that he wasn’t appreciative of her for solving the problems he kept bringing up himself.

“Heya, I’m back for a second. What’s going on?” And there the man himself popped into the room. Keima gulped down the cup of tea Kinue casually offered him, giving back only the teacup.

“M-Master?! Wait, er, why are you back so soon? It still should be a long time before it’s time for you to come back.”

“I’m just popping in for a second. I’ve gotta get back to the imperial capital pretty soon.”

“Oh, I see. You can come back from the capital fast using the [Ivory Beach].”

Keima nodded. “I just learned {Teleport} too, so it should be easier for me to get back here than before. Though I’ll have to make some massage chairs to finish the trade with Haku. Which reminds me, Haku is forcing me to help with someone else’s Dungeon Battle. Eugh, it sucks. I don’t wanna work.”

It seemed that Keima was negotiating trades with Haku, an extremely high level dungeon. Rei and Kinue felt a powerful sense of respect well up inside their chests. Meanwhile, Neruneh’s eyes were gleaming at the word {Teleport}.

“M-Master...! Is that {Teleport}, um, is it...!”

“...Er, yeah, it’s the Space-Time spell. But I won’t teach it to you. You’ll drain yourself of mana for sure if you try casting it. I can feel my own mana stores get drained hard from it, so I’m pretty sure with your current amount of mana you’d just die if you tried using it.”

“N-Ngh...! No waaay...” Neruneh slumped over in despair. Keima gave her a sad nod, then turned back to Rei.

“So, any problems?”

“No! Not at all!”

“...Rei was actually whining about having nothing to do, and that she was hoping that some problems happeeeen.”

“Wha! H-Hey, Neruneh! Why would you say that?!”

Keima gave an amused smile at their exchange. “That so? Perfect. There’s nothing better than having nothing to do. Keep up the good work, Rei.”

“R-Right! Absolutely!” Rei got out from the kotatsu to stand up and give a salute.

“Kinue, keep on giving them the support they need. I’m sure the inn’s busy, but I know you can do it.”

“Yes, Master. As you wish.” Kinue gave a maid’s bow.

“Oh, Neruneh. Here’s an idea I had for a magic tool on the road. It might be pretty useful.”

“Ooooh... This will add a big load to my research scheduuule! It might take a long time to finiiish.”

“Well, no rush. And feel free to say it’s impossible if you can’t do it.”

Neruneh seemed happy, having received the most wonderful present she could ask for.

“Hm? Wait, what’re those balls?” Keima asked after noticing the colorful balls on the kotatsu.

“Oooh, these are Magic Tools I bought for my own reseaaarch. They were a good deaaal.”

“I’ll cover that if you’re using them for research. Feel free to take some gold coins out of the safe... or actually, go ahead and take these hundred golds as a research grant.” Keima took out a bag full of gold coins and handed it to Neruneh. He received a hundred golds from Wataru every month, but they were still worth the equivalent of a hundred million yen in Japanese money.

“Are you suuure? This will help so muuuch.”

“Just say something if you run out. All I ask is that you get some results to show for it.”

“Okaaay!” Neruneh gave an enthusiastic reply.

“Alright, I’m gonna go check out the dungeon for a sec, then I’m gone. Sheesh, I wish I didn’t have to work... I’ll go check up on the Silkies and Elulu too,” Keima said before vanishing like the wind.

“Let’s keep the dungeon problem-free, Kinue!”

“...You certainly are an innocent girl, Rei. Though, well, that’s one of your good points.”

“Haaah, and now I’m the only one who’s busy... I need to train to get my mana capacity uuup. Another month of spending all my money on mana potiooons... Anyway, I’m off to my laaab.”

“Neruneh. Do you want sandwiches for lunch? Or maybe rice balls?”

“Rice balls... or actually, a sandwich pleaaase. Use whatever ingredients you want, as long as it’s hoooot.”

And so, the monster girls left at the dungeon all had boosted enthusiasm. But none of them except Neruneh had anything new to do, so their enthusiasm ended up fading pointlessly into the ether.