Chapter 2—Rokuko’s Perspective

When the light faded, Mikan and Rokuko were in a great stone hall. It was built regally with ornate carvings in the walls, like a high-class ballroom. This year’s theme seemed to be about castles.

But did there exist a ballroom massive enough for Dragons to easily fly around, and was there a castle capable of containing it? Rokuko hadn’t seen one outside of this gathering spot. Though perhaps she would find that a Core had made one somewhere, if she looked hard enough.

The participants of the gathering were as chaotic a bunch as ever. As far as Rokuko could see, there were Dragons, Pegasi, Unicorns, Ogres, Snakes, Frogs, Slugs... Not to mention a bunch of other things either in human form or not.

Still, Core 5, the Dragon King, managed to stick out despite the crowd. He was massive himself, and this time he was eating a chunk of meat almost as big as his body. What animal could produce meat the size of the Dragon King...?

In any case, Rokuko decided to move to the corner as soon as possible to avoid any attention. Last gathering had been outside, but this time it was inside. What did that mean? Walls. And walls brought peace to Rokuko’s heart. Corners were divine.

“I’m gonna go to a corner, Core 629,” Rokuko said, heading to one.

“Okie. I’ve got friends, so I’m gonna go say hello.” In contrast, Mikan went to go meet his friends... only to freeze after turning around. He went back to Rokuko. “Wait... I changed factioooons!” Mikan’s ears slumped. Of all factions he had joined Haku’s, the one known to have betrayed the Dungeon Cores. His former Core friends probably wouldn’t want to do anything with him. He instinctively stomped his feet.

After a minute, he recovered. “Alright! Rokuko, could you introduce me to the other cores in Haku’s faction?”

“...Sorry, I don’t really know any.”

“Um.”

“Everyone in Haku’s faction is keeping their allegiance a secret, so... Why don’t you do the same? Just meet your friends like normal and don’t say anything.”

That was certainly one way for him to meet his friends. However—

“Wouldn’t that basically make me a spy?!”

—It would basically make him a spy. Hiding one’s true affiliations and infiltrating another faction was the definition of spying. Ah, so that’s why Haku’s called a Traitor, Mikan thought to himself with a nod.

“I can’t do that to my friends... And like, I don’t know which of them might be in Haku’s faction too! It’s scary.”

“Very good point. That’s my sister’s devilish plotting for you,” Rokuko said with some proud nodding and a smile.

Incidentally, Rokuko standing out so much made it easier for the other Cores to hide. Although it was indeed impossible to hide Rokuko from the others, it took a cold heart for Haku to use even her cute little sister as a pawn in her political game. Within that coldness rested the key to breaking into the ranking’s Top Ten—or so Mikan concluded, anyway.

“Why don’t you just announce you’re in Haku’s faction too then, Mikan? You won’t be a spy if you announce it first.”

“Oooh! You’re smart, Rokuko. That’s right! Our friendships won’t crumble over some dumb faction politics! Probably...!”

“You don’t seem convinced.”

“...Will you comfort me if they hate me?”

“I’m not really confident I’d be good at that. Maybe you should give up.”

“Guuuh... I don’t feel so good about this...”

In reality, most of Mikan’s friends were pretty timid. They’d shriek and run away in shock the second he mentioned being in the Traitor faction. Not to mention, most of his friends were in the Beast King faction. He became their enemy the second he changed factions. It would be pretty hard for them to stay friends like that.

“I-I just have to explain...! I’m sure they’ll understand if I tell them what happened! I think!”

“What will you do if you explain, and then they ask you to never talk to them again?”

“Eeeeek... R-Rokuko, you’re being mean! My tiny widdle heart is about to burst.”

“Well, what’s done is done. I’m gonna go to the corner. You should go see your friends.”

“O-Okay...” Mikan hopped away from Rokuko.

As she watched him from afar, Core 112—Ittetsu—came sliding over. “Heyaaa, Rokuko. Been a while... What’re you lookin’ at?”

“Oh, hi there, Core 112. It’s nothing, really. Just that over there.”

“Nmm? The rabbit, huh? Core 629. You friends or somethin’?”

“Kinda. A lot’s happened.”

Mikan was talking to his friends—a squirrel about as tall as a child, and a normal old cat. They both gave shocked expressions (although it was hard to tell since they were animals) after he said something, and after a second they quietly walked away from him. Mikan walked back to Rokuko, looking depressed.

“It didn’t go so well...”

“My sympathy?”

“I dunno what fuckin’ happened, but cheer up, huh?”

“Right... Wait, Dungeon Core Number 112?! U-Um, I’ll, er, cheer up, don’tkillmeplease?!”

“Core 629, you’re talking weird.”

“Gahaha! I dunno what happened, but anything’s fine if you’ve got guts!” Ittetsu said while rubbing Mikan’s head with his tail. It was a bit heavy, but Mikan seemed to like it.

“R-Right! Thanks a ton!”

“Yeah. Alright, I’m off to pay respects to Dungeon Core Number 5. See ya later, Rokuko.”

“Uh-huh. Laters.” Rokuko gave a lazy wave goodbye as Ittetsu stomped off.

Mikan turned stiffly to Rokuko, his fear not having faded yet. “Wh-Why did Dungeon Core Number 112 come over here?! And you both seemed so friendly!”

“Well, I mean... This is a gathering of Cores, remember?”

“That’s not what I’m talking about! Why was he hanging out with you like you’re old friends?! Didn’t you have a Dungeon Battle?!”

“He was probably just passing by. Besides, what does the Dungeon Battle have to do with anything?” Rokuko asked with a tilt of her head. “I’m friends with Core 112’s Dungeon Master. And Keima’s friends with Core 112, so yeah, he and I are friends too.”

“Wow... But why? Are you saying Dungeon Battles lead to friendships?”

“Ummm, probably not, no.” Rokuko envisioned the three idiots from the triple threat match. That was a Dungeon Battle, but she definitely wasn’t their friend. She would rather be friends with her self-proclaimed rival Core 666.

“Nmm, anyway, I’ll go see my friends who aren’t from the Beast King faction. I don’t wanna let Dungeon Core Number 112’s encouragement go to waste!”

“Bye bye. I’m actually going to the corner this time,” Rokuko said before watching Mikan hop away again. His friend this time was a Roper... a tentacle monster thing?

Wow, he sure has a lot of different friends, Rokuko thought, impressed by Mikan’s ability to make friends with all sorts of Cores. And this time, although the Roper looked taken aback at first, their friendship surpassed the blood of the covenant. They were squishing and fluffing it up in a bro hug in no time. It may have looked like the Roper was eating Mikan, but it was actually... beautiful friendship. Yeah, that’s what it was.

“Uh-huh. Good for you, Core 629.” Rokuko decided that he would be fine on his own now, and this time for sure took a step toward her corner.

But then she noticed a Core gracefully walking toward her, high heels clipping the floor but her body remaining firmly upright. She was a standout Core among the 600 batch, and had already unlocked human morphing. Her long crimson hair said all you needed to know about her personality. She wore an invincible smile, and carried herself in a dangerous way that told anyone nearby they could get cut down by her true Magic Blade self if they let their guard down.

“There you are, Rokuko. It’s been too long. How have you been?”

“Aidy! I’ve been doing super good. How are you?”

“Oh, quite good.”

Core 666. The star child of the Demon King faction. She called herself Aidy, and she was one of Rokuko’s few ‘friends.’ The red Valkyrie battle dress she wore suited the castle setting of the gathering well.

But despite the faction Aidy was in being an opposing one to hers—which is to say, any other faction at all—Rokuko greeted her with a smile. One that lacked the shadows and deceit that always lurked in Haku’s when she smiled at Core 6.

“Did you just arrive, Rokuko?”

“Uh-huh. Did you get here earlier, Aidy?”

“I came with Grandfather, so yes.”

Grandfather was Core 6, the top of the Demon King faction. Which meant Cores were summoned in the order of their number? That was the first time Rokuko had heard that.

“Which reminds me, we just got a letter from Haku. Are you involved in this, Rokuko?”

“Er. Nnm...” Rokuko briefly thought about whether she should answer Aidy. The letter she mentioned was most likely about the Dungeon Battle. Keima had asked for her to send it. Which meant... depending on the circumstances, it might be better for Rokuko to not mention her involvement. Things could get problematic if Aidy challenged her to another duel or some such. They would likely never win if Aidy joined the enemy to fight against them.

“Sorry, not ringing a bell.”

“I see. Shall we duel, then?”

Rokuko tilted her head in confusion. Had she misspoke somehow?

“...Why would we duel?”

“Hm? Now that is a silly question. What do friends do if not duel each other?”

“Maybe in the Demon King faction. We don’t do that here.”

“Fascinating. Let us duel, then.”

“...I’m trying to say that where I’m from, we don’t duel our friends.” So Rokuko said, but she had spent so much of her life alone that if you asked her what friends did do together, she’d flounder and fail to think of even a single answer. I-I’m friends with Redra and stuff now! she protested on the inside. But wait... Now that I think about it, didn’t I have a Dungeon Battle with Redra too? And she’s always asking me for another fight, saying she’ll win this time. Ummm. Rokuko kept these thoughts to herself.

“Where I am from, friends do duel each other. Our opinions are evenly split, which means differing culture is no valid excuse for refusing me.”

“I mean, be a little considerate here. I’m a pacifist.”

“That’s true. Shall we duel, then? If you win, I shall adapt to your culture, and if I win, you shall adapt to mine. A simple solution if I have ever seen one.”

“That’s just ending with us dueling anyway,” Rokuko said with narrowed eyes and a frown. But Aidy just widened her confident smile, as if she was speaking completely from the heart.

“I’ll just warn you now, Aidy. This sword is decorative!”

“Oh yes, I forgot about that. I can prepare a usable sword for you myself.”

“...Er, I mean, I’m trying to say I don’t know how to use swords.”

“Truly? Then we must duel even sooner. Only through real battle will you learn the ways of the blade.”

“You’re going to bring it back to duels no matter what I say, huh?” Rokuko said while scratching her head. That was when Mikan came back from deepening his bond with his tentacle fellow. Aaaand, he really shouldn’t have. Rokuko’s instincts screamed danger as he happily hopped his way to her.

“Heeey, Rokuko! I did it! I did have a true friend after all! Thanks for pushing me to try, Rokuko!” Mikan wagged his ears happily.

“Um, Core 629? I-I’m kind of in the middle of something.” Rokuko glanced at Aidy then back to Mikan, sweating. Aidy was in the Demon King faction, and Mikan was about to fight a Dungeon Battle with the Demon King faction. Nothing good could happen from those two meeting.

“My my, Core 629. You certainly seem to be on good terms with my Rokuko.”

“Wha? G-Gah! Core 666?! I just noticed you! What, are you spying on your enemy?!” Mikan jerked in fear, then hid behind Rokuko’s back and popped out his head to gnash his teeth at her.

“Spying on my enemy, hm? I suppose I could. After all, Core 629, I hear that you’ve joined Haku’s faction.”

“H-How do you know that?!”

“I also read the letter delivered to Grandfather. Very bold of you to challenge a Demon King faction Core to a duel. And Core 564 at that. To be honest, I don’t believe you have a chance of winning whatsoever.”

“H-Hmph! I’ve got strong helpers on my side! I’m not gonna go down without a fight! In fact, he’s the one that’s gonna go down!” Mikan airboxed behind Rokuko.

“Oh, strong helpers, you say? Within Haku’s faction?” Aidy asked with a glance at Rokuko, making her smile twitch.

“I-I have nothing to do with this, so.”

“What?! D-Don’t say that, please... Aren’t we friends by now, Rokuko?”

“Ngh!” Rokuko was weak to comments like that. After all, Rokuko had been all alone until Keima came along. And Mikan had been fairly nice to her even back then, too. She couldn’t tell him they weren’t friends.

“...R-Right. Core 629 and I are friends. We’re in the same faction, so!”

“Factions don’t have anything to do with it! Even if something happens to me and I end up changing faction again, we’ll always be friends, Rokuko!”

“Fascinating. It’s like witnessing a worm thinking a bird is its friend. Rokuko is my arch enemy, I will have you know. What right do you have to befriend her?”

“Siiigh. Listen closely, Core 666. You’ve got the wrong idea. There aren’t any rules stopping people from being friends. Anyone can be friends!” Mikan declared from behind Rokuko. Stop it, Core 629! This is surely just a cultural misunderstanding. No doubt you have to earn the right to be someone’s friend in the Demon King faction, Rokuko thought while feeling sharp pain in her stomach. Did having friends always hurt so much...?

“I see. Very well then, Core 629. I shall challenge you to a duel.”

“...E-Er, my schedule’s full already. I need to focus on my upcoming Dungeon Battle. Sorry, it’s really too bad. A real shame,” Mikan said while averting eye contact. It was clear as day he was just using that as an excuse, and would never agree to a duel if he could help it.

“A full schedule... Core 564, I suppose. That won’t be an issue. I shall lend you a hand as well so that we can hurry and get Core 564 out of the way. Once we have mopped the floor with him, I shall challenge you to a duel.”

“Er?”

“Um, what?”

Rokuko and Mikan both rapidly blinked in confusion. What had Aidy just said?

“It is not so complicated. I shall challenge you to a duel once we have mopped the floor with Core 564.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about! Er, well, it kinda is, but I mean... You’re going to help?”

“Oh, yes. Your goal is to crush Core 564, no? I shall help.” They hadn’t misheard. Aidy repeated herself clearly, with no room for misunderstandings.

“Nah, nah, nah, but why?! He’s part of your own faction!”

“It is quite simple, really. Haku described the details of the event in her letter, and Grandfather of course replied that he had no need for a fool that would mistake the faction with which he was picking a fight. I am perfectly free to crush him with my own two hands.”

“Whaaat...”

To be fair, that was actually reasonable of them. It was true that Mikan’s dungeon was in a suspicious location, but picking fights with a faction unopposed to your own was not acceptable. That alone would be worthy of punishment, but in this case the one he picked a fight with actually did end up joining the opposition. Not to mention, this meant that Core 564 had given a false report when he said he had picked a fight with a Core from Haku’s faction. Even if he hadn’t done so intentionally, and even though Mikan had in fact switched over, it didn’t even need to be said that it served as the final straw for Core 6.

“It was decided right before the gathering that Core 564 would only be forgiven if he destroyed Core 629 or put him under his control. I suppose he is getting informed of this now.”

Mikan let out a tiny squeak. Put in another way, she was saying Core 564 would be going all out to kill him. He would need all the help he could get. But at the same time, he didn’t have the authority to ask for help from Aidy, a member of a rival faction.

“...Could you talk to Haku about it?”

“I could. But I imagine Grandfather will say something himself, so consider it done.”

“Hrm. So, why do you wanna help me anyway, Core 666? I couldn’t tell from all that why you’d want to.”

“Oh, my reasoning is simple.” Aidy continued with a giggle. “This is my opportunity to beat down Core 564 and crush him with impunity. Fighting a 500 batch Core will be quite exhilarating, I’m sure.”

“.........”

Both Mikan and Rokuko believed her completely, since her reasoning was nothing if not emblematic of the bloodthirsty Demon King faction. Aidy was a battle junkie that wanted all the fights she could get with strong opponents.

“Not to mention, you are receiving help from none other than my archenemy Rokuko. I would like to experience fighting by her side as well, just for the fun of it.”

Ah, right, she saw through me. Rokuko averted her eyes.

# Keima’s Perspective

When Rokuko got back, she casually told me that Aidy had joined the fight on our side.

“She’ll be coming to visit tomorrow, I’m pretty sure.”

“Alrighty then.” Hm. Can’t say I expected Aidy from the Demon King faction to be joining us. There’s a lot of things I can’t do freely with her around... though, I guess I was hiding most of my trump cards from Haku in the first place. This shouldn’t change much. Except my understanding that this was a proxy war between the Demon King faction and Haku’s faction.

“That’s the thing. It was settled, like, super fast. So much so that Core 8—oh, that’s the Beast King, head of the Beast King faction and number ten in the DP rankings—actually bowed his head to Haku and asked her to take care of Core 629. It caused a big fuss.”

“Huh. The Beast King’s faction is the one Mikan used to belong to, right?”

“Uh-huh! I can’t believe Dungeon Core Number 8 would bow his head to me like that! I was so moved!” Mikan wiggled his orange fluff tail out of happiness. So fluffy.

Now this is interesting. The top of an organization bowed his head for an underling that had to split. Not a bad move; it cost him nothing but will have earned him a lot of loyalty. As far as I can tell, he wasn’t being sniveling about it. He was just showing that he cared about his faction members. Not to mention, he set the stage for Mikan coming back to his faction once all this was done. Mikan would basically be a spy in that case, coming back with info on Haku. I don’t know if he planned all this out or just did it with his animal instincts as Beast King, but he’s not someone I can let my guard down around. I should avoid ever making an enemy of him. Though I doubt anyone would want to make enemies with someone strong enough to get in the top ten of the DP rankings.

“...So, I think Aidy joining us as an ally is kinda complicating things, Keima. What do you think? Will it mess up your plans?”

“Huh? Oh, nah. I didn’t expect this, but it won’t cause any problems on my end. Really, it solved the problem of how we should approach our offensive strategy.”

“Wait, really?”

I had been putting off thinking about our offensive strategy since we didn’t know enough about Core 564 to make any solid plans, but that would be solved entirely by leaving it to Aidy. A reserved backup plan for use in the event of her failure should suffice.

“Yep. It’ll be totally fine as long as Aidy doesn’t betray us and attack Core 629.”

“Okay then. That means we should have Aidy go fully on the offensive without letting her participate in the defensive. I don’t think she’ll betray us after announcing her intentions to Father, but it’s possible she switches straight into attack mode after the battle is over. That leaves us with no choice but to send her out on the attack,” Rokuko said, casually outlining the plans I had for Aidy before I could say them. Man, Rokuko sure has gotten smarter, huh? Very nice.

“Before this my plan was to maneuver Wataru into attacking them. But I imagine there’d be no way to do that without spilling some dungeon secrets. Like how the Dungeon Battles work, or something.”

“Uh-huh. Aidy joining us is actually kind of a big boon.”

“Yeah, we’ve only got Niku and Ichika as fighters on our side. Maybe we should just leave literally all of it to Aidy.” Not to mention, though I did ask Haku to lend us Wataru on the day of the dungeon battle, her response was kinda noncommittal. I needed to make plans in case she couldn’t lend him to us.

It was then that Mikan, formerly ignored, jumped into the conversation. “Keima, Keima! What should I be doing?”

“Your job is to keep on being sweet to the adventurers that come to the dungeon.” Without much else for him to do, I asked Mikan to deal with customers in the rabbit dungeon.

Regarding that dungeon, by the way, I had gone back with the party while Rokuko was at the gathering and spread news that it was a dungeon where you could love rabbits. Our report could be summarized as: The dungeon had some mysteries, but it didn’t seem dangerous.

At the moment, Ichigo and the rabbits alongside Niku and Ichika were controlling the white rabbits to show the second exploration party a cute and fluffy good time. Misha had hand-picked them, so things were progressing smoothly.

“Okie dokie. I’ll charm them like a Succubus!”

“And this time we’re gonna do it. The ambush training.”

“R-Right. I should’ve mentioned the gathering sooner! I thought for sure Rokuko had already said something.”

Yeah, that’s the kinda thing a Dungeon Master and Core should stay on top of themselves. I can’t blame Mikan for thinking I knew.

“Give me at least a week of notice next year, alright?”

“Oh, right, sure. I will if I don’t forget by then.”

Welp, guess I’ll have to figure it out myself next year. I let out a sigh. “So, did anything else happen at the gathering?”

“Ohhh, right. You remember the Dungeon Eaters that showed up in our dungeon before, right? Father gave everyone a warning about them. Apparently they’ve taken down some Cores.”

Whoa. Those Dungeon Eaters are showing up in other dungeons too, huh?

“Also, I got a lot of attention this year thanks to the Dungeon Battle I did with Haku last year. Oh, and our ranking went up! We’re at 180 now. Aidy’s 173, so we should pass her by next year. Or rather, we definitely will. We’re a great team, aren’t we?” Rokuko puffed out her chest with pride. I wasn’t entirely sure just how worthy of celebration moving up the ranks was, but I could imagine it was more exciting than I thought it was.

“Nice, that’s good news. Where was Mikan?”

“I was in 290th place! That’s ten whole spots up from last year.”

Huh, I guess that means Rokuko and I passed him in just a year... Guess I can’t brag too much. We’ve earned a ton of DP through Ittetsu and Haku.

“What rank did Core 564 get?” I asked.

“Rank 167. I checked his DP and saw he had millions.”

“Seems like he’s gonna be one tough cookie...”

“I wouldn’t expect anything less from a 500 batch core in the Demon King faction. But Core 6 has basically given him a death sentence, and Aidy taunted the heck out of him. Like, a ton. He got so mad his human morphing broke apart and he went back to his Baphomet form.”

“Oh, Baphomet, huh?” Now that’s good to know. We can make more specialized plans now that we know his true identity. But what was a Baphomet, again? Pretty sure it’s a goat-headed demon. I wonder what its weak points are. Can’t think of any right now. Maybe Haku or even Aidy has an idea.

“Also, did you manage to get any special victory conditions?”

“Nope. Whoever touches the other’s Core first wins. Though Aidy was saying she might slip and crush his by accident.”

“Yeah, that seems like an Aidy move.”

“...Either way, it’s basically a three-on-one now. I’m starting to feel kinda bad for Core 564. Though it’s technically balanced with three 600 batch Cores against a 500 batch Core.”

True. There’s about a one hundred year gap between each batch of one hundred Cores or so. It’s hard to say whether that makes this three-on-one balanced, though, and I guess having a Dungeon Master or not changes things further. The idiot trio from the triple threat match was considered one team just because they didn’t have a Dungeon Master, after all, and they were all part of the 600 batch.

“Guess I should ask Aidy if Core 564 has a Dungeon Master or not.”

“Aidy probably knows. Core 6 likes her more than anyone else in the Demon King faction, I think.”

Yeah, I’m sure Aidy’s gonna have a ton of good info for us. I’ll focus on the defensive line until she gets here.

＊ ＊ ＊

Haku called me over. Her business was, put simply, informing me that she couldn’t lend me Wataru.

“Errr. Did something happen?”

“There’s some trouble brewing in the country of Daide. I’m afraid I must send him there.” Prior to this, we had planned for her to send Wataru my way on the day of the dungeon battle. We would never lose with a Hero like him defending our dungeon, but it seemed things wouldn’t be going so easily for me.

“I predict that this is something that only Wataru can handle,” Haku said before explaining that to survive the trouble in Daide and emerge unscathed one would need {Ultra Good Fortune} at all times. I had no idea how bad things were over there, but if borrowing Wataru wasn’t an option, I just had to face the facts.

“...Can I borrow some other firepower, then?”

“Well. We can discuss that, but I do not truly have much to offer you.”

“That so? I would think that—”

“They’re my direct subordinates.”

Ah, right. If Haku lent a direct subordinate, then that would be her directly interfering with the Dungeon Battle. I could imagine that there would be more than a few problems with that. Though I feel like it should be kind of a non-issue now that an actual member of the Demon King’s faction is helping us. Maybe it doesn’t matter since Aidy is friends with Rokuko?

“...Is Wataru not a direct subordinate?”

“He’s not one of my monsters, so no.”

Ah. That’s what she meant.

“In that case, could you lend... the Knight’s Order or some such?”

“But of course. That’s the plan,” she replied. There would be no problem at all with her lending me the human platoons of the Knight’s Order with no monsters mixed in. “The strongest force I can lend you this time is, let’s see... The emperor’s own Imperial Guards.”

Whoa, now they seem like they’ll be strong!

“As they are the personal guards of the imperial family, I will have to send one of the emperor’s family along with them.”

“Oh, the imperial family, huh?”

“Emmymephy should suffice for this. We could claim we are sending her to investigate the new dungeon, but I would prefer a more significant and noble goal for a member of the imperial family to be heading to the dungeon. Do you have any ideas?” Haku asked with a smile.

...Alright, I get it. She’s telling me to do something entertaining for her.

“Alright, well, guess I don’t have much of a choice. I’ll go forward with the project I set up in case we couldn’t borrow Wataru. We have to basically gamble on it going well, but it should give you the noble goal you’re looking for.”

“Oh my. So you did have a plan after all. I wonder what this project of yours is?”

“The ideal way to get a bunch of people in one place. If I were to give it a name, well... How about...”

Project Strawberry.

The project which one day would become a legend began on that day.

＊ ＊ ＊

I went back to Mikan’s dungeon and immediately called Ichigo to the back.

“U-Umm. Y-You wanted to see me?” Ichigo cowered and trembled as she stood before me, Mikan, and Rokuko. Her rabbit ears were limp. But still, I tossed her a question.

“Ichigo. Are you prepared to do anything for this dungeon?”

“Bwuh?! Um, o-of courshe!” Despite biting her tongue at the end, her resolve was fast and true. That was exactly the kind of response I wanted to hear.

“Alright then. Project Strawberry begins now. Ichigo, you’re gonna be the star of this project.”

“Wha? Project...? Star?” Ichigo blinked in surprise with a question mark popping over her head. She wasn’t following, but her fate was already sealed.

“Go, go, Ichigo! The fate of our dungeon rests on you!”

“Good luck! I believe in you!”

Mikan and Rokuko were thorough in their fervent support, confusing Ichigo further.

“U-Um! What do I actually need to do...?”

“Well, Ichigo! Umm... We want you to, um... Ermmm...” Mikan glanced at me, so I answered for him.

“We want you to become an idol.”

“An... idol?”

“Yep. An idol.”

Idols. They were women beloved by many and naturals at getting others to fall for them. Some were singers, some were dancers, some were models. Some had more standard jobs, while others were reporters and voice actors. Though in this world they were more like popular fighters in arenas, popular theater actors, or like, popes and members of the imperial families.

“Th-That sounds amazing! C-Could I r-really become one of them?”

“You can... and you know what? You will.” I gave a meaningful grin. “The world I’m from, or rather, Japan was filled to the brim with idols. I was born in what some call the Warring Idols Period.”

“W-Warring Idols...”

“They fought each day, honing their skills and overcoming rivalries in neverending bloodbaths. And me? I know all about their idol techniques.” Indeed. This was the classic cheat skill of simply remembering stuff from your former world. It was basically cultural warfare.

“Our goal will be to hold a concert one month from now—a live show. A member of the Laverio imperial family will be invited.”

“Eeek?!”

Indeed. The imperial princess Emmymephy would be visiting the rabbit dungeon to both investigate it and attend an idol concert. That was the crux of my plan.

...All things said and done, though, I didn’t mind if the concert failed. Investigating the dungeon would be more than enough to justify Emmymephy’s presence. All I wanted to do was use the opportunity to get as many people here as possible and profit off it.

“You said you’d do anything for the dungeon, right? Good luck, Ichigo!”

“I-I did say that! I did, but! A-Aww... I-I’ll do my best!”

“From now on, you can call me ‘producer.’”

“R-Right! Producer!”

“Oh, and Mikan? Prepare some backup dancer rabbits for her.”

“Rogeeer!”

And so, Ichigo took her first step toward idolhood. Now... Time for lessons!

＊ ＊ ＊

All that said, Ichigo’s idol debut was still a long way off. For now she would be working as an adventurer, selling vegetable snacks for the rabbits at the [Rabbit Rest Spot]. The second exploration party had finished its investigation, leading to the [Rabbit Rest Spot] being safely opened as a semi-restricted dungeon. There were a decent number of adventurers checking it out now.

“V-Veggie stiiicks! Does anyone want veggie stiiicks?”

Of course, this was also serving as training for her to get used to talking in front of people while overcoming her embarrassment. It was killing two birds with one stone.

As for the adventurers, our customers...

“Ngggh, they’re so friggin’ cute...!”

“Yeah... Paradise was right under our noses all along. A fluffy paradise.”

“Man oh man! I never woulda thought that rabbits were this amazing! I’m never gonna eat rabbit meat again!”

“Idiot, these rabbits are nothing like normal rabbits. Just look at how clean and fluffy their fur is. Ahhhh, oh man, you guys wanna eat some veggie snacks from my hands...?”

They were all head over heels for the rabbits. They cared more about cute fluffiness than cute girls, which helped Ichigo do her work without much issue.

“Ichigo, could I get some veggie sticks?”

“C-Certainly! Six coppers per cup! Thank you for your business!”

And the veggie sticks for the rabbits were selling very well. I wanted to believe that some of those sales had to do with Ichigo’s own charm and allure.

“Wait, six coppers for that little? Isn’t this kinda expensive?”

“Shut it, idiot. The rabbits’ll eat it right out of your hands, y’know? They’ll even sit on your lap. Think about it.”

“Man, that’s cheap!”

“A-Also, all the profit from these snacks is planned to go to funding systems to protect the rabbits! O-Oh, and we’ll buy back empty cups for one copper, so!”

“Ah, so it’s practically just five coppers a cup, huh? I’ll take three, then.”

Not to mention, the rabbits loved the vegetable sticks Ichigo sold. That was important since they didn’t seem to eat much of the vegetables the adventurers brought in themselves. Rumor was they had something like catnip for rabbits in them, and that the five copper price had something to do with it. The sticks sold like nothing else.

...To spill the beans, those controlling the rabbits determined from the special cups which vegetables were sold by Ichigo and ate only those. The rabbits didn’t have room in their stomachs for any other vegetables, so outside of particularly hungry rabbits (those controlled by Ichika), they didn’t even bother looking at them.

Ichigo retrieved and reused the sold cups. Thanks to the one copper payment, so far there was a one hundred percent rate of people returning cups. We could think of some special countermeasures if people tried putting brought-in vegetables into the cups. The rabbits weren’t wild, after all. They were intelligent and doing as they were told.

So yeah, the business had a shady side to it, but nobody was suffering for it. Really, there was a lot of good will involved. And it was important for Ichigo’s training, too.

“One stick cup.”

“Oh, Rinnew! Thanks again!”

The strong adventurers that loved cute things Tokoi had been speaking of appeared in the [Rabbit Rest Spot] in no time at all. Rinnew, an intimidating-looking woman, was one such adventurer. Once she got a cup of stick vegetables from Ichigo, she immediately began feeding the white rabbit on her shoulder.

“Haaaah, so friggin’ cuuuute! This place is just too good.” Rinnew, watching the rabbit munch happily on the vegetables, melted in such a joyous expression it was hard to imagine she was the same person that marched down the dungeon steps with an almost demonic glare.

“Wow, you’re Rinnew, right? I didn’t know you liked it here too!” a passing female adventurer said.

“Of friggin’ course I do, this place is somethin’ else... Fluffy fluffy.” Rinnew gently rubbed her cheek against the rabbit on her shoulder. The rabbit didn’t mind that at all, and in fact rubbed its own fluffy body back against her.

“Aaahaaah... I thought for sure Tokoi had lost his damn mind when he started talking about a rabbit fund, but right now I’d easily dump five golds into it.”

“So you really like them, then?”

“’Course I do! Ahaah, too cute. I wanna take this little guy home with me...”

“E-Excuse me, no taking the rabbits out of the dungeon! Th-They live here, a-and they want to stay!” Ichigo warned, having heard Rinnew’s murmur.

“Huh? Aaah, right. I wouldn’t wanna rip him away from his friends and stuff.”

The rabbit hopped off Rinnew’s shoulder onto a nearby shrub. Close by was another rabbit. Two flawless white fluffballs... It was heaven on the eyes.

“Hey, you. Your name’s Ichigo, right?”

“Th-That’s right! I’m Ichigo!” Ichigo bobbed her head in a bow. Rinnew whispered into her rabbit ears.

“S-So... Is it true that rabbit beastkin can talk to rabbits?”

“Well, I can with the rabbits here.”

“Oooh... H-Hey, can you tell me what that one’s saying?” Rinnew asked with beaming eyes, leaning closer.

“Ummm... Okay, got it. He says you’re nice and he loves you. He wants you to rub him more, and he doesn’t mind if you rub his belly a bit. Oh, and right now he’s really full,” she said, and the rabbit showed his belly as if to back her up. It looked a little swollen from all the food.

“Oooh, for real? I can rub his belly... Ahahaaah, whoa, this is legit. So cuuuuuute, ahaaah. So so so cute... So cute.”

Rinnew immediately started her belly rubbing. Nobody could blame her vocabulary for crumbling to nothing. Seriously, nobody could. When you well and truly believed something was cute, you lost the ability to say any other word.

“I’ve never seen Rinnew like this... Rabbits are something else,” said an adventurer who knew Rinnew, shocked by how different she was from normal. Normally, Rinnew was sharp and hard, more manly than even most men. Seriously.

“Rabbits certainly are cute.”

“Aaah... I just want to live here already.”

There were a surprising amount of adventurers who said the same thing as Rinnew. That just went to show how in love they were with the rabbits.

“Maybe you should just build a town here?” Ichigo suggested.

“...Nah, it’d be a bit much to build a town in a dungeon with nothing but rabbits. It’s good for camping, or well, there’s enough people camping there’s basically a base of camps, but...” Rinnew trailed off, thinking over Ichigo’s joke with a serious expression.

“Aaah... Rinnew, Tokoi was talking about how convenient it’d be if there were food stands here.”

That was an idea that Kegirl (Keima) had guided Tokoi toward. (There was Ichigo selling vegetable sticks, but there wasn’t any food marketed for adventurers.)

“Sounds good to me. What do you think, rabbits...? Wait, I can’t understand them. Ichigo, could you explain so the rabbits understand?”

“Oh, certainly. Mmm... Okay, they’re fine with it. But since this is a dungeon, an employee will need to be with it at all times so it doesn’t get swallowed up.”

“No problem. We can have the food storage buildings and everything outside the dungeon, with some stands closer by with a bunch of girls carrying boxes walking around like arena snack sellers.”

“Oooh! Another great idea, Rinnew!” the adventurer explained. You could tell how serious and skilled she was by how she immediately thought of practical solutions to problems.

And that was when their lovely conversation was interrupted by shrill warning bells. The sounds echoed, and then the faint green light that covered the room and marked it as a Safe Zone... disappeared.

“Wh-What the?! What’s this noise?!”

“Hey, the Safe Zone effect is gone!”

A stir broke out among the adventurers. That was to be expected—the safe zone had disappeared. Rinnew switched modes in her head and was launching orders in no time.

“Everyone, get your weapons! Stand on guard!”

“Rinnew! The rabbits are frightened! Keep your voice down!”

Rinnew glanced down and saw the rabbits quaking with their hands over their heads. “F-Forgive me.”

“U-Um, they’re not scared of you! It’s not your shouting... it’s the, um, the monsters about to come for them!” Ichigo translated the rabbit’s words, and the adventurers got even more on guard. A few seconds later, moving statues—Gargoyles—started marching into the room from a hallway leading deeper into the dungeon. There were three of them. If they were normal Gargoyles, any of the adventurers there could handle all of them easily.

“Ichigo, are those the enemies?”

“...Y-Yes, those are the enemies! Please defeat them!”

“Alright then. Let’s go, lads! Protect the rabbits!”

“HEAR HEAR!” The adventurers were bloodthirsty and ready to kill. It was hard to imagine they had just been doting on the rabbits. Though then again, it was precisely because they were doting on the rabbits that they would show no mercy to the enemy Gargoyles.

To summarize the results: They handled it without issue. They blocked the magic attacks aimed at the rabbits with their shields, blocked the axe swings with swings of their own, and defeated them with their sword skills. It was a bit of a letdown after how much they had pumped themselves up, but once the Gargoyles were gone the Safe Zone effect returned.

“What was that all about... Whoa?!”

“Whoa, whoa?! What’s with you guys?”

The previously cowering rabbits were now rubbing their bodies against Rinnew as hard as they could.

“...Oh, oh! Th-They’re so friggin’ fluffy!”

“Rinnew! You’re smiling so hard!”

“Don’t look! O-Oh, d-don’t you guys wanna touch the rabbits? Uwoooh, s-so cuuuute!”

The rabbits, probably due to the enemies being destroyed, were overjoyed. And there came three new rabbits working together to carry over a box. Inside were three potions. Ichigo took the box from the rabbits and nodded while talking to them.

“...It sounds like this is their way of saying thanks.”

“Haha, isn’t that nice of them! Alrighty. I finally get what kinda dungeon this is.”

“‘What kind of dungeon this is?’ What do you mean, Rinnew?”

The sign in front of the dungeon’s entrance. The rabbits. The enemies. The reward potions. It wasn’t too hard to connect the dots and see the rules of the dungeon.

“I’m pretty sure this is a dungeon where you get rewarded with items for protecting the rabbits. There might be some other rule we don’t know about that explains why there weren’t any attacks before this. Maybe they only happen once every so many days, maybe there needs to be enough people inside.”

“Neat! That sounds good. Nothing better than fighting to protect cute rabbits and getting rewarded for it.”

“R-Right?! Th-This sure is a good dungeon! Yes!”

“Yeah. I’ll have to investigate a bit more, but I’m pretty sure that’s how this dungeon works.”

Ichigo beamed a smile and nodded hard at Rinnew’s conclusions.

＊ ＊ ＊

Some distance away from the [Rabbit Rest Spot] was the [Rabbit Paradise]. Today Ichigo was having a dance lesson there. She moved on her feet with fancy footwork to match the beat of my clapping.

“One, two, one, two,” I said.

“One, two, one, two!” she shouted back. As one would expect from a War Rabbit, she was skilled at that kind of bouncing movement and learned the dance in no time. Her training was going well, thanks in part to some secret techniques I was using to help.

“Alright, good work. Let’s have a five minute break.”

“Th-Thank you, producer.” Ichigo slumped to the ground where she stood. I went ahead and gave her a towel and a sports drink. She wiped away her sweat while chugging the drink down. “Fwaaah, so good...”

“At this rate it’s looking like you’ll be able to sing and dance about three different songs when the time comes.”

“Three songs... I’ll do my best!”

By the way, I was getting Kosaki the Succubus ring to help me write the songs, lyrics and all. She could read my heart while possessing me and determine the true appeal of idol songs from Japan, which was a major boon. Not to mention that she could make full use of her Succubus talents on top of that to absolutely load the songs with charm. Considering Succubi were all about charming people, in a certain sense making music was second nature to them. Kosaki was a strong ally to have here.

“Um, producer. Can you demonstrate the song to me again?”

“.........” I fell silent at Ichigo’s request.

“Producer?”

“R-Right. Yeah, sure.”

When it came to the music itself, Golems could play the instruments as much as she needed, but I had to sing the songs. Same for the dancing, since Clay Golems were too large to be of any use. Though I could make an Idol Golem if I busted out the full extent of my {Create Golem} skills and fused a Recorder Golem with a Mannequin Golem, thereby creating a Golem that could both sing and dance, though I had no confidence in the face.

“...Not really a huge fan of doing this, though.”

“Please, producer! I want to get this as right as possible!” Ichigo looked straight at me with wide, honest eyes. Alright, alright.

I went ahead and called forth her teacher, Kosaki. But Kosaki had no body. How did I do that then? Indeed, through possession. I gave her permission to possess me.

“And thus returns Succuma! Okay, time for more lessons, girlfriend!” Kosaki took control of my body, moving my limbs and mouth without any input from me.

“Kyaaah! Succumaaaa!”

“Let’s make you into a wonderful idol! Hip, hip, hooraaaay!”

“Hip, hip, hooraaay!”

And so, the Succubus charmed the absolute hell out of Ichigo. That was the secret technique I hinted at earlier. She listened to everything I said while in a charmed state. And since she studied in an absurd frenzy while charmed, she learned unnaturally fast. Ichigo was about as smart as you probably thought she was, which is to say not at all, but thanks to {Charm} she was learning the songs that I (Kosaki) made without any issue at all.

Succubi could even alter memories with the power of {Charm}. Teaching a song was easy, of course—we could even force the knowledge of how to do the dance into her mind, all the way down to when and how to smile. Considering Succubi instinctively knew exactly how to maximize cuteness, well, they were probably the best idol trainers you could ask for.

Huh? Why don’t I just be the idol? Hell no! It isn’t my Dungeon Battle this time! But seriously, if I didn’t have to lend my body for this, it would be an entirely different story. Seriously. She needs to possess me to help Ichigo unlock her full potential. She needs my talent to teach the Golems songs. She needs me since I’m about the same height as Ichigo and will be the best. If not for all that, I’d leave this to Niku, but alas...

“I will now sing the song. Listen please! This one’s ‘A Loving Rabbit’s Always Straightforward’!”

“Kyaaah! Succumaaa! Produceeer!”

Kosaki the Succubus ring moved my body and made me dance while singing a cute song.

“I want these feelings to reach you you yooou!”

“You you yooou!”

“I’m a rabbit in love!”

“A rabbit!”

Ichigo was having the time of her life while interjecting lines. Don’t tell me she just wanted to see Succuma... Actually, that’s fine. Becoming obsessed with an idol is the fastest way to learn to appreciate them. In other words, Ichigo is studying idols intensely right now with all her body and soul.

“Producer, take my hand!”

“...Tada!” I said with a smile.

“Aaaahn! So wonderful!”

Well that’s that, then. Next up is Ichigo, once she wipes up that nosebleed. Go forth, rabbit girl. Your experienced teacher Succuma will be watching.

＊ ＊ ＊

Preparations for both the Dungeon Battle and the idol concert were going smoothly. And then Core 666—Aidy—finally arrived at our dungeon.

“I have arrived. Treat me as a guest of honor,” she said with her flat chest puffed out smugly. Who died and made her a rich girl... Oh, right, she is basically a rich girl in the Demon King faction. Riiight. Anyway, I don’t see her Master anywhere... I guess he’s holding down the home fort for her.

“Thanks for coming, Aidy.”

“Ahaha, but of course. Good to see you again, Rokuko. Although... why is this not the dungeon whose location Core 564 revealed after some interrogation?”

Apparently, Aidy had first gone to Mikan’s original dungeon, which was presently an empty shell with nobody in it. Yeah, we’ve moved pretty much everyone over to the [Rabbit Rest Spot]. Oh, and while we’re on the subject, I’ve heard that the Guild has registered this dungeon as the [White Rabbit Garden]. There’s your useless fact of the day.

“What do you expect prey to do when a carnivore finds their nest? Do you think they sit around and wait to be eaten? Nah. They run away.”

“A logical answer. I would expect nothing less from Rokuko’s Master,” Aidy said, nodding in understanding.

“Though, well, the real reason is everyone just finds it a lot more fun to be here instead,” Rokuko noted.

“Aha. That’s quite like you, Rokuko.” Aidy gave a cackle that very much made her sound like a Core from the Demon King faction. The cackle was kind of weird, honestly. It was right in the middle between being pure evil and being kinda girlish, with no way of telling which it really was. I probably shouldn’t read too deep into it...

“So, what do you need me to do?” she asked.

“...Well, for now, could I ask you to tell us about Core 564? I hear he’s a demon-type Core. A Baphomet, to be precise.”

“I’ve never been given a simpler job. I shall tell you all that I or anyone else knows about Core 564.”

Now that’s what I like to hear! And so, Aidy went ahead and indeed told me everything she knew about Core 564. Here are the details!

• He can morph into human form.
• His true form is a Baphomet, a demon-type monster.
• Despite being a demon, he can’t disappear into shadows or hide within them.
• He is a physical being that is thus vulnerable to physical attacks.
• He has strengthened his body to some degree, and Mikan would undoubtedly lose in a one-on-one fight.
• Rokuko might be able to last longer... Actually, no, I take that back.
• It would be hard even for me (Aidy) to beat him in a one-on-one fight. Give me your assistance.
• His dungeon is demon themed. To my knowledge he has no Master.
• To my understanding he uses Gargoyles, as well as Lesser Demons and Succubi.
• His dungeon administrators include at least one Greater Demon, if I remember correctly.
• His armies during the Dungeon Battle will likely consist of Skeletons and Gargoyles.

“Huh, that’s a neat coincidence. Our armies will probably consist of my Gargoyles and your Skeletons, Aidy.”

“One can summon as many monsters as they like if they have easy access to mana. Truly, there is nothing better for forming armies.”

“Agreed. The best part is how you can summon an army without spending any DP at all.”

Pretty much every Core in the Demon King faction knew the {Summon Skeleton} skill as a matter of course. Core 6 enjoyed warfare strategies built around leading legions of demons, which tended to involve massive floods of Skeletons. He apparently used a summoning skill one step above {Summon Skeleton} for his own purposes, and thanks to that {Summon Skeleton} was a popular basic skill for those in the Demon Faction to learn. “...Should you really be talking about the Great Demon King battle strategies like this?”

“Just how many years do you think Grandfather and Haku have been at war? Both she and everyone else have known of Grandfather’s proclivities for centuries by now.”

Yeah, that makes sense. This is all basic stuff, anyway. The only way to beat strength by numbers is with numbers of your own, or by having strong enough soldiers to overcome the number gap. Treating that like top-secret military strategies would just get you laughed at.

“Just wondering, are you also playing around by wearing a toy crown?”

“This is a princess tiara given to me by Grandfather himself. Do not treat it like one of those fakes.”

“Ah. Right.”

Either way, Aidy seemed pretty well-informed about all this. She really was Granddaddy’s little girl.

“So, I ask again. What do I need to do?”

...For now, I decided it was best to have Aidy summon Skeletons for the adventurers to beat. They seemed pretty well-suited for the role.

“It’s all to help us win the Dungeon Battle, Aidy. We could really use your help here,” Rokuko said.

“Hm. So you want me to put on a show for wild humans, then? You think of the most interesting things. Very well, then. I shall deign to help,” Aidy said, assenting casually, no doubt thanks to Rokuko’s additional prompting.

And so, with that done, Skeletons were thrown into the mix of monsters attacking the rabbits as we prepared for the Dungeon Battle.

“Oh, and while you’re here, could I ask you to buy a [Summon Skeleton Scroll] for me? I’m sure you can buy it a lot cheaper than I could. In return, I’ll buy a [Create Golem Scroll] for you.”

“...I suppose I don’t mind. Consider the deal made.”

“Perfect. This is basically the definition of a fair deal. Truly, deals are fruitful and wonderful things.”

“I do not particularly specialize in magic, you know. I believe the deal is not particularly fair with that in mind, no?”

While we were at it, we also got scrolls for Mikan so he could prepare monsters even if Aidy and I were both away somewhere. Though, by scrolls I mean exclusively a Skeleton scroll.

And let me say that it was pretty cute to see Aidy ruffling Mikan’s orange rabbit fur to get his DP.

＊ ＊ ＊

“You are quite skilled with the blade, dog.”

“Thank... you... very... much...! Haaah...!”

The air was filled with the smacking sound of hard wood hitting hard wood, just as it had been ever since Aidy and Niku started their training duel. Camping out in the back end of a dark cave just dulled the body. Thus, they were dueling in the wide grassy plains near the dungeon instead, while Rokuko, Ichika, Mikan, and I watched from a short distance away.

“Man, I wish you let me bet on which of them is gonna win,” Ichika groaned.

“Not gonna happen.”

“Tch.”

“What’s the problem with gambling, Keima? Let’s see... I’ll bet three melon rolls on Aidy winning!” Rokuko declared. But it was a bit late for that. Anyone could tell just by looking at the state of the fight that Niku had little chance of winning.

At the start Niku leapt around the field and speedily sliced away with her dual-wielded knives while Aidy defended with a two-handed greatsword. But over time Aidy moved to the offensive herself, and at this point it was all Niku could do to block Aidy’s greatsword, which she was swinging around in one hand. And Niku’s our strongest one-on-one fighter. I want to think this is just Aidy being crazy strong, but...

“Did Aidy fight like that back in our Dungeon Battle?”

“I think so?” Rokuko replied.

“Nah, dudes, she’s using a different form this time. Probably swapped from a form for groups to a form for individuals. Basically, unlike us, she’s actually studied a proper style of swordplay, and one with a form for one-on-one combat at that.”

Thanks for the lesson, Ichika. Very interesting. So to sum that up, this is the difference between someone who has rigorously studied proper swordplay and an adventurer with a rough, self-taught style.

“Hey, Aidy. Are you studying swordplay or somethiiing?”

“Oh yes, Rokuko. I am trained in the Demon King style of swordplay. In fact, I’m an assistant instructor.”

Rokuko called out to Aidy while she fought, and Aidy casually answered while swinging her sword around. Today I learned there’s a Demon King style of swordplay.

“What’s an assistant instructooor? Are you strooong? Are you a big deaaal?”

“I suppose it means I’m strong enough to train maggots into meatshields,” Aidy said before lifting up her greatsword with both hands and swinging down as hard as she could. The force of the impact snapped Niku’s two knives in half at the same time. The battle was over.

“Now then, how about you grovel on the floor and lick my shoes? It is the loser’s duty to plead for the victor’s mercy,” Aidy taunted.

“......” Niku glanced my way. Yeah, that’s her asking for my permission to lick Aidy’s shoes. As a beastkin she’s taking her loss pretty seriously. I’m just gonna go ahead and stop her.

“Drop it, Aidy. This is just a mock duel. She’d get sick if she licked your shoes every time she lost.”

“My, my, Rokuko’s Master. You certainly are the kind one. Is that why this dog is a defanged pet that can at best give harmless love bites? What, are you saying you will lick my feet in her stead?”

“I would honestly love to, but Rokuko’s right here, so, y’know...”

“...Ah, yes. It would be quite shameless for me to indulge in such behavior in front of my arch enemy. I let old habits get the best of me here,” Aidy said while covering her mouth with a hand and cackling, perhaps to hide her embarrassment. I honestly might have nodded if Rokuko weren’t watching. Oh, but she would’ve taken her shoes off first, okay?

“You’re pretty strong, Aidy. Oh, and Keima. I won the bet! You owe me three melon rolls!” Rokuko stuck her hand out proudly.

“Just to be clear, nobody bet against you, so you didn’t actually win anything. I don’t mind tossing some melon rolls your way, though.” I gave her three melon rolls. They were handmade by Kinue and part of the stash I kept in {Storage}. They had been put away right after being baked, so the incredibly tasty scent of melon rolls filled the air as soon as I took them out. Time stopping in {Storage} never ceases to be amazing. I think I’ll eat one too.

“Thanks, Keima! You can have one, Aidy, since we’re friends. These rolls are my favorite food, they’re sooo good.”

“Oh my, thank you. Hm... Would you mind poisoning it first?”

“No way! What are you even saying? Friends don’t poison each other.”

“That’s too bad. If you had declared war on me here I could have launched right into a fun duel... Nm, these are good.”

Rokuko and Aidy nommed away at their melon rolls. Honestly, they do look like normal friends right now. Funny that they’re actually like the princesses of two warring factions. With one of them being extremely violent.

“If I had Grandfather try one of these, he might invade your dungeon to find more, Rokuko.”

“Wh-What? Don’t let him eat any, then! Promise me, as my friend!”

“Of course. I consider this a reward of sorts for clawing my way to the position of your arch enemy. If only Haku would give Grandfather something of this sort, nom... Nmm, truly delicious.”

I’m not sure I could successfully escape from the Great Demon King’s invasion, so, uh, yeah, please don’t.

Niku wiped away her sweat beside me. I went ahead and got a hamburger for her.

“How was it, Niku?”

“...She’s strong. I fought as hard as I could, but... I couldn’t even land a single hit on her.”

“Fear not, little dog, I imagine you have a bright future ahead of you. At the very least, you are much better than the maggots I am used to. Though, since Demon King style demands a body that doesn’t need to breathe, you would end up as an assistant instructor at best.”

Whaddaya mean bodies that don’t need to breathe... Ooooh, right. Dungeon Cores don’t breathe air. Okay, makes sense that the Great Demon King would invent a style like that.

“Speaking of, Rokuko. Would you like to train in Demon King style? We can have duels every day then.”

“I-I think I’ll pass.”

Yeah, it’d be bad for my heart to see Rokuko fight and end up on the verge of death every day.

“Besides, hasn’t Haku or someone on our side invented a swordplay style by now? You should learn that instead, Rokuko.”

“Oh yes, she certainly did,” Aidy replied. “The Empire uses the imperial style of swordplay. I look forward to our different styles clashing in battle, Rokuko.”

“Nononono, my rapier is just ornamental, okay?! I’m not going to learn it!”

“...What hope does a Dungeon Core have if they can’t defend themselves? When all else fails, you will have only your own body to rely on,” Aidy said with a slight tilt of her head. I thought she was joking, but she seemed legitimately confused. This must be some culture shock. In which case, since Core 564 is part of the Demon King faction’s culture too, he might feel the same way.

“Hey. Does Core 564 use Demon King style too?”

“Indeed. He is an assistant instructor, just like myself. Are you looking forward to fighting him now?”

Yeah, leaving the offensive line to Aidy will be for the best. I don’t wanna get involved in this kinda stuff if I don’t have to. Also, I’ll need to really shore up our defenses... It’s more than possible that he’ll come charging in with his Dungeon Core in hand like Aidy did.

“...By the way, how skilled is your Dungeon Master, Aidy?”

“As skilled as me. A little better, even. But he is still a human, so he remains an assistant instructor. And while we’re on the topic, don’t consider him part of your available forces. Grandfather is training him in preparation of the upcoming Dance Party.” So basically, he was being trained by the Great Demon King, the founder of Demon King style himself, Core 6. But man, if Aidy’s stronger than Niku and he’s a bit stronger than Aidy, the Dungeon Masters in the Demon King faction must be as battle-hardened as the Cores are... I imagine they have to be if they want to survive over there. Pretty sure the Dance Party that Aidy just referred to is a battle tournament.

“Aidy, if you’re an instructor or whatever, go teach Niku that Demon King style.”

“Rokuko, in what way would that ever benefit me?”

“If Niku gets stronger, you can have more fun with your mock duels.”

“Oh, that’s delightful.”

Rokuko deftly led Aidy into teaching Niku Demon King style. But y’know, I get the feeling that a style of swordplay based on bodies that don’t need to breathe won’t really be a good fit for her. Be gentle, okay? Oh, and we need to attack the adventurers in the rabbit dungeon soon. Think I’ll control some Gargoyles this time.

＊ ＊ ＊

Within the [Rabbit Rest Spot], adventurers had just fought back some invading Gargoyles and earned a reward from the rabbits, along with some fluffy thanks. While they were distracted, a rectangular stage was built in a corner of the plaza. It had enough surface area for someone to walk on it.

“U-Um! Attention, everyone!” came a cry. It was Ichigo, the red-haired rabbit-eared adventurer, standing on the stage. But her clothes weren’t that of an adventurer. It was a short, frilly dress covered with flashy decorations. She was dressed entirely like a dancer or songstress in the lead role of a theater play. Which made sense, considering the stage she was standing on.

The adventurers all looked at Ichigo, wondering what the heck was going on.

“Th-The rabbits wanted to thank you f-for a-always looking after them! A-And, t-today, we had an idea!”

A closer look revealed that some rabbits with their ears perked up were also on the stage.

“I dunno, it’s more like the rabbits are always looking after us, y’know?”

“E-E-Even so! They want to thank you! S-So, I’m going to sing on this stage!” Ichigo said into a voice-amplifying magic tool, her legs quaking with utter terror. The rabbits rubbed their bodies against her legs to ask if she was okay, and she nodded in reply.

“Wait, you’re going to sing, Ichigo?”

“Yes! I practiced with all the rabbits! Right, everyone?”

The rabbits nodded eagerly, somehow understanding her. None of the adventurers found that weird, though, since Ichigo had always been talking with the rabbits.

“Huh. So you and the rabbits are gonna put on a show for us?”

“Oh, Rinnew! Th-That’s right! The rabbits are going to dance, too!”

Rinnew, one of the experienced adventurers that was a regular at the [Rabbit Rest Spot], walked over with a dark grin (though she was trying to give a bright smile).

“...Alright, I’m gonna watch right here! I’m in the front row! Everyone else, get behind me!” she said, standing at the front and center of the stage.

“Aw man! We wanna watch up close too, Rinnew!”

“Then stand beside me. Just don’t get in my way! Got it?”

That settled that. The adventurers interested in the show gathered by the stage, which eventually ended up being pretty much all of them.

“Okay then! I will now sing! ‘A Loving Rabbit’s Always Straightforward’!”

From that moment on, the stage was like something out of a dream.

“I want these feelings to reach you you yooou! I’m a rabbit in love!” Music echoed off the stage from nowhere. Ichigo nimbly danced across the stage while the rabbits jumped and ran to the beat.

“Why are our ears so big? To hear everything you say! Even our big big jumps are all to get to you fasteeer! Our whole bodiiies! My whole bodyyy! Is all to make this love come true!”

Ichigo and the rabbits danced with their ears perking up and flopping in perfect unison. Every step and bounce was made in perfect coordination.

“Moonlit nights aren’t enooough! I’m heading right forward no matter where you gooo! I won’t hold baaack!” Ichigo thrust out a hand, and a rabbit bounced onto it before running up her arm and hopping onto her head. It then jumped off and did an acrobatic pirouette in the air before rejoining the rest of the fluffy, cute rabbits hopping in a circle around Ichigo.

“I want these feelings to reach you right right right noooow! I’m a rabbit in love!” The melody repeated over and over, leaving a deep impression. Ichigo’s song wormed its way into their heads. And then, it was over.

“Th-Thank you for listening!” Ichigo and the rabbits bowed their heads. Seeing that, Rinnew snapped back to her senses and started clapping. The other adventurers followed in tune, clapping madly.

“Th-Th-Th-Thank you very much! Thank you very much!” Ichigo bobbed her head up and down.

“That was incredible!”

“The rabbits were so cute!”

“It was all so cute and fluffy and cute and fluffy!”

Words of praise filled the air. It was only natural that the cuteness-loving adventurers that regularly visited the [Rabbit Rest Spot] would love the cute rabbits dancing on the stage. The performance was a huge, beloved success.

“Hey, I wanna see that again one day. Are you gonna keep doing this?” somebody asked. Hearing that, Ichigo asked the rabbit what they thought. And their answer?

“Umm... Okay, they’ll do it again the day after tomorrow! Apparently! I’ll do my best too!”

“HELL YEAAAH!” came the cheers. And so, Ichigo’s debut show ended successfully.

＊ ＊ ＊

“I must ask, Rokuko’s Master. What in the world were those rabbits doing?” Aidy asked in the hidden back of the dungeon, having finished watching Ichigo’s performance.

“Dancing. They’re part of Ichigo’s idol live show.”

“Idol? Live show?”

I gave a simple explanation of both terms, saying that idols were basically dancers while live shows were their performances. I would have expected the auto-translator to do that for me, but I guess she actually heard the words themselves. It never ceases to confuse me.

“Ah, so they’re like an acrobatics exhibit in a circus.”

“Yeah, more or less.” Right, a circus. That makes Ichigo look kind of like a rabbit whisperer then. Or... I guess in this world, she would just be called a tamer?

“Aidy, do you wanna give it a try too?” Rokuko asked.

“...Well, I cannot deny being somewhat interested.” Aidy shut her eyes and gave a nod. Wait... Aidy, becoming an idol? I guess that could work. She’s got the looks for it and everything. Too bad our plan demands she be elsewhere.

“I would like to make my Master perform like that. It should end up as quite the entertaining show.”

“Oh, that’s what you meant?” I feel like Aidy’s Dungeon Master was a guy... Well, I guess male idols do exist too.

“Where might I be able to acquire clothes of that kind?”

“...Oh, that’s what you meant?” Let’s not force the guy to cross-dress, alright? I know how much that can hurt.

“In any case, what is your goal with this farce anyway?”

“The plan’s to get a lot of people in one place.” We would be holding live shows every other day leading up to the Dungeon Battle. Then we would leak news that she would be performing a new song on the day of the Dungeon Battle. The result? A bunch of fans ready to fight when the day comes. Thus was Project Strawberry in its entirety.

“So you will use these people... or pawns, I should say, as defenders? Will they be capable enough?”

“Hey, there’s strength in numbers. And even the DP we get from them staying here is pretty nice. Not to mention the money.”

By money I was referring to our plans to sell light magic tools that resembled glow sticks. I had already asked Neruneh to mass produce them. She had simplified the design of the magic circle, and Golems would make the tools themselves while all Neruneh had to do was activate them with magic. The resulting magic tool would shine for three to four hours with just a single trash Goblin-tier magic crystal.

“There’s no way to reuse them?”

“Yeah. That way they have to buy more.” We recover the used magic tools and recycle them on our own, with it being up to the customers whether to carry the glow sticks home as a souvenir or toss them into a marked trash can. Maybe we can sell photos too? Nah, I’m not even sure if photography exists in this world.

“I asked Core 219 about this, but there are apparently, like, woodcut block portraits for people,” Rokuko said.

Core 219 was the Dungeon Core of Tsia’s dungeon, and something of a drama queen. Though in reality, she was an expert theatergoer that actually wrote professional screenplays. Her opinion was worth considering.

“Guess I’ll try making some of those, then.”

And so, we hashed out more plans to make money from idols. Maybe I’ll give out a free handshake ticket to anyone who buys a glowstick.

As an aside, I tried making some woodcut art, but I was so lacking in artistic talent that the whole idea was scrapped. Too bad.

＊ ＊ ＊

One thing led to another, and it was finally the day before the Dungeon Battle. In retrospect we really had been given an enormous amount of time to prepare, and the results were far better than I’d expected, mainly with respect to Ichigo’s idol activities.

I’m not sure about the details, but Ichigo was apparently growing in fame throughout the imperial capital as a new, exceptionally talented songstress. I visited the place recently and was pretty shocked when I heard some minstrels singing one of Ichigo’s songs. And by some I mean quite a lot of them. Haku was definitely getting involved here somehow. Not that I minded, really. The plan was getting so huge that our front company for DP laundering turned into a real deal talent business, but Haku had given her permission for it.

Honestly, I appreciated that I could use {Teleport} now, but I was so busy that at times I almost wish I didn’t have it, so being unable to use it didn’t hurt so much.

Anyway, we were all taking part in a pre-Dungeon Battle motivational party hosted by Haku, which seemed to be a tradition at this point. Since Mikan and his squad were the main players this time, she was catering his [Rabbit Paradise] instead of throwing it at her villa. For that reason Aidy and naturally Mikan’s squad were here too.

Incidentally, since Haku was basically our sponsor, she was treating this like the eve of a festival. She was chugging sparkling wine (provided by me) and looking exceptionally pleased.

“To reiterate, I really don’t care whether you win or lose,” she said. She really had done more than enough to help her subordinate Mikan out. So much so it almost felt like she had gone too far for him, since he had just come for her to help out of nowhere when he got in trouble.

With that in mind, Haku probably was being completely serious when she said she didn’t care whether we won or lost. Her only stake in this was the 100,000 DP she’d donated to us. Which, of course, was absolutely nothing to her.

Oh, and by the way, we still have 70,000 of that left. I spent 10,000 of it on the [Create Golem Scroll] I bought for Aidy’s [Summon Skeleton Scroll]. At this rate, all the rest is going straight into our pocket as a reward. Whether we win or lose, that is.

And by the way, all the DP spent on Ichigo’s idol activities came from Mikan’s pocket, but since she was earning him back far more than he invested, he didn’t mind that at all.

“Tell me, Rokuko,” Aidy began. “Are you truly not fighting in this Dungeon Battle? If you abstain, I will get to keep the enemy all to myself.”

“I’m not. And also, it’s going to be really hard to keep them all to yourself. It’s a Dungeon Battle, so.”

“Very true. You may clean up all the scraps that I miss. We can say that whoever kills more will be the victor.”

“You really love competition, don’t you? Well, sorry, but I’m not playing. My style is more sitting back and watching things from afar. I’m the grand general!”

“Rokuko, do you not know that generals give orders on the frontline? That is just common sense.”

“No, that’s just you being narrow minded. Soon it’ll be trendy for generals to sit back and give orders from safety!”

“...You sometimes use words I do not understand very well, Rokuko. Are they from another world?”

“Yup!”

I was used to Aidy and Rokuko’s weird conversations by now. Really, I had spent so much time with Aidy while preparing for the Dungeon Battle that I had a pretty solid grasp on her character. To sum her up in a single word: She was a musclehead. But she wasn’t a bad person. Really, she wasn’t a bad person at all. She was just addicted to fighting and dueling.

“Heeey, Keima? You eating this stuff too?” Mikan the orange rabbit hopped over to me.

“Huh? Oh, hey, Mikan. Yeah, I’m eating. What about you?”

“Uh-huh! ’Course I am. Tomorrow’s finally the Dungeon Battle. I’m gonna eat a ton and fight hard! Here, have some salad.” Mikan used his hind feet to dexterously pick up tongs and put salad on my plate. It was carrot dense salad. No onions, since rabbits were eating it too.

“There’s some meat over there if you want! This salad is mainly for us rabbits.”

Yeah. Haku deftly accommodating everyone doesn’t even surprise me.

“Heeey!” Mikan yelled. “That’s soup, watch out! Don’t play inside it!”

“Awww, what?”

“It’s not a yellow pool?”

“I was just about to fish out the stuff inside.”

I’m glad that Mikan’s rabbits are joining in on the fun, but playing with the food is kinda gross. Hmm. Maybe they’re kinda lacking in intelligence... Eh, whatever.

Elsewhere in the party was Niku nomming on food, and Ichika tearing through the whole feast like a whirlwind. Unlike last time she had the powerful weapon known as {Storage} with her, and could bring home more than enough food for later.

“By the way, where’s Ichigo?”

“She’s resting to prepare for tomorrow’s live show. I’m gonna bring her some food later!” Mikan said while using {Storage} himself to secure food for Ichigo.

“Master Core, this too!”

“And thiiis!”

“These are super tasty!”

“Quit it, you three! Don’t just toss food inside... I mean, not that it matters.”

{Storage} had about as much space as a closet inside it, so Mikan could put more food into it than he could eat himself. There would be more than enough room for both him and Ichigo to eat later.

“Hello there, Keima.”

Oh crap, it’s Haku. Her smile is as terrifying as ever. Quiver quiver. I’m no bad Dungeon Master, I pwomise!

“What brings you my way, Haku?”

“Ahaha. There’s no need for you to be so on guard, is there? I would just like to know what you think your chances of victory are tomorrow.”

“Hmm, I dunno. I’d say about fifty percent since I haven’t met our opponent personally.”

“Oh my. I thought for sure you would be more bold and say you have a ninety percent chance of victory.”

“Hahaha, you overestimate me.” Maybe things would be different if I could borrow Wataru for this. Though I’d still probably give a reserved seventy percent.

But in return, I was getting the Imperial Guards that would be sent to protect Emmymephy. They weren’t Haku’s direct subordinates, but they were elite soldiers trained thoroughly by Sally. I couldn’t ask for much more than them.

Indeed. The live show for a new song we were holding during tomorrow’s Dungeon Battle would be the first concert that a member of the imperial family would be attending. At that point it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Ichigo was the top idol in the entire Empire... Though it was less impressive when you considered it was all a sham. We asked Haku to send Emmymephy our way, after all.

That said, I’ve seen one of the tough-faced members of the Imperial Guard is actually a regular at the [Rabbit Rest Spot]. And on top of that, they’re a big fan of Ichigo. They mumbled something about an urge to protect welling inside of them when some rabbits rubbed their bodies against them, so I was sure I could count on them to fight hard to protect the dungeon tomorrow.

“Well, ideally I could just throw Wataru at him, but either way I should be able to accomplish our original goal of landing a blow on them. Don’t worry.”

“Ahaha. Even so, I believe in you succeeding, Keima. Go ahead and win if you can, especially since Core 666 came all this way to help. I’m sure you’ve thought of all sorts of gimmicks to surprise me, no? I’m looking forward to... and have been looking forward to... seeing what ideas you cook up here.”

Hey, don’t expect too much. I didn’t really think of any super special gimmicks this time, so yeah.

“Well, I won’t lose on purpose. Though I am trying out some risky strategies here while I have the chance.”

“Ahahaha. I would expect nothing less from you, Keima. Let’s see... If you win, I will give you a special reward. How does information about the divine bedding sound? Of course, I will prepare information you don’t already know.”

“Thanks, but I don’t plan on losing either way.” Now that’s a little motivating. Let’s take this a little more seriously. Not that I’m going to do literally anything differently.

“Haku! I want a reward too if Keima wins!”

“Oh my. In that case, I might demand something as well.”

Rokuko and Aidy butted in after hearing something about a reward. Now that’s what I call greedy.

“Hm... Well, I suppose I can find something for you two. If you win, that is.”

“Yay! Let’s win, Keima!”

“Ahaha. In what world would you lose with me by your side? Any loss would be due to poor instructions. Use me well, Rokuko’s master.”

Good grief. I guess I should just appreciate that they’re enthusiastic... But wait. Somehow, I’ve got a bad feeling about Haku’s reward. Hopefully I’m just imagining things.

# Core 564’s Perspective

Things sure turned into a real mess. Why do I have to gamble my future on a mere dungeon battle? All I did was enter the fringe of Empire territory as a member of the Demon King faction. I was on my way to the imperial capital, the massive human farm owned by the traitor given the name Haku by father, when I fell into a pitfall. Indeed, a pitfall in the middle of a grassy plain. There I found Core 629, a rabbit-type Dungeon Core.

Think about it. A complete weakling, making a pitfall in territory so close to the Demon Realm? He had to be a member of the Traitor faction. They had attacked me first by planting the pitfall along my path. It was a declaration of war.

Naturally, I could tell just by looking at Core 629 that he was an irrelevant bottom feeder, but if he was a member of the Traitor faction he needed to be taken care of. It probably wouldn’t be fun for me to just crush a bug like him, but either way I decided to destroy his whole dungeon. That said, I would need to say something to the Traitor at some point. Perhaps if I said so soon, she would be able to train the dungeon into something more worth my time. Which reminded me that the Core gathering was coming up soon.

I’ll let him have one final supper. I can finish him off after that. Enjoy suffering, trash.

...Thinking that way had apparently been a mistake. Core 6 called me over at the gathering.

It seemed that the Core wasn’t a member of the Traitor faction after all. But since he ended up joining them, what difference did it make? I didn’t get it. All we had to do was crush him. And when I said that, Core 6 let out a sigh that sounded a bit tired. If he was tired, I would hope that he recovered his strength at the gathering.

Or so I thought, before Core 6 suddenly dropped the hammer on me. He said I had no future if I didn’t win this Dungeon Battle! It was shocking to hear Core 6 say that directly, but on second thought, I was dealing not only with a weak rabbit-type Core, but one from the 600 batch. There was a world of difference between him and a 500 batch Baphomet-type such as myself. I would never lose.

Truly, someone pathetic enough to lose to a weakling like that had no future in the dog-eat-dog world of the Demon King faction. All Core 6 had done was tell me the truth.

But there, the princess—as Core 666 was known, since she was so doted upon by Core 6—got involved. The princess proposed to Core 6 that she help the weakling, and Core 6 gave her permission to do so.

“Don’t tell me you expect to lose to her,” Core 6 said, and I could do nothing but shake my head. Anything else would be admitting my defeat.

...Perhaps this was an excuse to have us of the Demon King faction fight each other and grow stronger. By staking my future on the battle, he forced me to put my all into this, and thereby would give the princess an opportunity to fight me at my best. I could see Core 6’s hand guiding things in the favor of his granddaughter’s future.

However. However! The princess was a genius even within the Demon King faction, and was well-known as a walking disaster of impressive strength. I was a century her senior, and already she was an assistant instructor in swordplay just as I was. My chances of victory would go from one hundred percent to seventy percent with her involvement. I could no longer afford to let my guard down.

Not to mention, in the unlikely chance of me failing, my future would close before my eyes. This was a fight I stood absolutely nothing to gain from! Oh well. It is of no consequence.

I just have to win. Even with the princess as an opponent, all I had to do was dominate her and make her my own. Hm? In that sense, she could be my reward for victory. I could have my way with that cheeky princess. Yes, that has to be the idea here! After all, I’m a skilled demon-type Core! I would have to think that Core 6 would stop me after having a night’s fun, but regardless. Ahaha! I could do as I wish with the princess. Not bad. I’ve grown tired of sleeping with the Succubi under my command.

With that in mind, I could work up motivation even for this tedious good-for-nothing Dungeon Battle. Motivation for what came after, anyway.

“Master 564, how do you feel about the Dungeon Battle?” asked my subordinate in bed, a Succubus. She was my right hand woman, one I especially liked and had poured a decent amount of DP into strengthening. Though, lately she had been getting enough incurable wounds that I was just about done with her. “Is Core 666 not our only opponent?”

“Heh, well. We can’t let our guard down. But our other opponent is some stupid animal. All I have to do is smash my {Summon Skeleton} against Core 666’s. Hm... You know, won’t it be easy to make the animal betray her if you {Charm} him?”

“Ahaha, that sounds entertaining. {Charm} works well on animals since they’re so unintelligent.”

Indeed. {Charm} didn’t work well on spawned monsters since they were weak-minded, but most monsters were very weak to it. They were unintelligent and lived based on instinct.

I am a Baphomet, a demon that ruled over {Charm}, so a mere animal would pose no threat to me. I didn’t even need to consider the rabbit-type Core or any of its monsters to be a threat.

“Do you think Core 89’s reinforcements will be defeated by {Charm} as well?”

“...Ah, good on you for remembering that. I had almost forgotten. Apparently she will be sending the infamous forever bottom ranker Core 695 to help. It’s a shame that she won’t be fighting on the battlefield, since she isn’t a member of the Demon King faction.”

I would have crushed her to make an example if she had appeared on the front lines. Since she is a human-type Core that doesn’t need to morph, I could violate her in human form for as long as I wished without worrying about it falling apart... Hm? I just felt a chill. That’s no good. It would be no joke if I lost due to feeling sick the day of the battle. I launched a {Fireball} into the oven to heat up the room a bit.

I was an expert at small details like that, which made me an excellent Core. It only made sense that Core 6 would give me such a superb reward.

“...A talentless human-type Core has no monsters for me to fear. I imagine a Minotaur will be the best she can do.”

“It would be oh so amusing if she sent out waves of Goblins and Orcs.”

“Gahaha! That would be hilarious!” And it was completely possible too! If she did that, we would be able to win without sending out a single monster of our own. After all, both Goblins and Orcs were like avatars of pure lust. They would never be able to resist {Charm}. We would even be able to count them as allies from the start.

“Though I should say, with Core 89 involved, she might send adventurers to help as well.”

“Interesting. But even they...”

“Yes, even they are bait for {Charms}.”

They weren’t as degenerate as Goblins, but humans were still animals dominated by lust. They crumbled in moments when presented with delusions that made their lusts a reality—in other words, {Charms}. Though they would be able to put up a fight if they were all equipped with anti-charm magic items and had high mental fortitude.

But resistance items were expensive, and the mental resistance of humans was easier to blow away than the flame of a candle. Not all of them would be able to fight. In short, it would be just as foolish to consider them part of the enemy forces at all.

“So to sum things up, my victory is all but secured. I need only to plan around defeating the princess... rather, Core 666. If I am to lose, it will be by her hand.”

“Of course, Master 564. And perhaps the best plan against Core 666 could be found in a bed like this?”

“Heh. I’ve heard of a Beddhist church growing in size among the humans. Their teachings include not doing today what can be done tomorrow. A wise saying, don’t you think?”

“Ahaha. I see even humans can be clever at times.”

And so I laid back down to rest for the Dungeon Battle... when suddenly it happened. I had the most genius idea I had ever had.

“Of course! I just need forces to defeat Core 666!”

“In other words... you will hire mercenaries?”

“Heh, that’s not a bad idea. But no. I need only excellent recovery items, and strong weapons on top of that.” Indeed! If my and Core 666’s forces are equally powerful, then my victory will be secured if I just make my forces even stronger! Perfect! I am a genius!

“In that case, I believe I know the perfect person.”

“What?” It was strange for a Succubus born from my dungeon to know someone I didn’t. Still, strange things can happen. “Are they strong? Do they have excellent potions, or otherwise strong weapons?”

“They have knowledge of very strong, very splendid medicine, and they own incredibly strong weaponry!”

Fantastic! That is the most convenient news I’ve ever heard! It’s as if fate had guided them to me so that I might make the princess mine!

“Furthermore, this person has a weakness for events that seem entertaining. I imagine that they will help for free, if I use my {Charm} a little.”

And they will help for free? That is the kind of attitude I like to see!

“Very well! I will use them in battle! Call them over! Make sure they arrive before the Dungeon Battle!”

“As you wish, Master 564.”

Still, it was best to plan on them not making it in time. Ah! I will strengthen my retained Greater Demons to use in battle. Yes, what a perfect idea! I am incredible! I have all but won the Dungeon Battle already! Now I need only think of how I shall punish Core 666 afterwards! Gahaha... Bwahaha! BWAHAHAHAHAAA!