Bonus Short Stories

Popular Minstrel Songs at the Bar

It was a day like any other. I dropped by the bar to give Wozma a message, and once there I noticed a wide-open empty space that was plenty big enough to hold a table and chairs. Wasn’t often you saw that in a busy bar.

“What’s up with the empty space?” I asked.

“Aah, that will serve as a stage later. We have minstrels visiting the town at the moment.”

“Minstrels, huh? Neat.”

Minstrels in this world were like newspapers, though they were a lot less reliable, and served to spread all sorts of news. There was always a huge time lag between the happening of an event and their telling of it, and their word could hardly be trusted since they would exaggerate events to their liking. Still, they were a valuable information source. You could even use them for controlling the flow of information, as we had done when making Ichigo’s songs popular in the imperial capital.

“What songs are they singing?”

“The most popular song at the moment is He Who Conquers Dragons.”

“Oh...?” I’ve got a bad feeling about this.

“Yes, it refers to you.”

“C’mon.”

There were basically no “likeness rights” or “intellectual property” in this world, so there was no way to stop this kind of thing. Minstrels were just filthy, filthy plagiarizers after all.

“...Think we could ban that song in this town?”

“I understand your embarrassment, but would there be any point in stopping them after so long?”

Ngh. I can’t argue with that.

“I suggest you welcome it, if I may. The more fame you have to your name the more people will gather here, and the more the town will grow.”

“I don’t actually want the town to grow any more than it already has, y’know.”

“Well, it will continue to grow whether you do anything or not, I imagine.”

So what, it’s going to grow whether the minstrels are singing or not? Bleh, whatever. Not like I could stop them even if I wanted to. They have their own lives to worry about, anyway... Which reminds me, I’ve never actually taken the time to really listen to a minstrel before. I’m curious, both to hear what they’re like, and to see how the auto-translator functions with them.

“Could you let me know when the minstrels drop by?” I asked.

“What are you planning to do to them?”

“Just curious what the song about me is like. I’ll listen in from afar.”

“Ah. Very well, I will send one of my waitresses to get you.”

And that was that.

＊ ＊ ＊

The waitress came, so I went to the bar.

“Ah, there you are, town chief. They are about to begin,” Wozma said. I saw a minstrel with a lute sitting in a chair where the empty space had been. He was a slender dude with a clearly handsome face. He strummed the strings of his lute. Time to see how he was.

“Oooh, ooooh! The black-haired legend that conquered a dragon as lustrous as heee♪! His heart and soul were the pinnacle of beautttty♪! Aaah, aaah, nobody can compaaaare! Even a Hero would kneel before the dragon conqueror so faaaair♪!”

He sang so quickly it hurt my head. I couldn’t tell if the auto-translator was squishing the words together to make a direct translation work, or whether he just sang that fast to begin with, but it didn’t matter. Even the lyrics hurt my head. To make matters worse, the drunks that were listening were throwing out cheers and roars of approval. They simply didn’t know that the legend in question had promptly lost spectacularly in the Demon Realm. And then got enslaved. Your hero lived as a slave, you hear that?!

“He climbed Tsia’s mountain of fiiire♪! He delved deep into the deadly [Flame Caveeerns]♪! The legend faced the dragon with his allies, aaaaand! A new legend was BOOOORN!” The minstrel leaped out of the chair and set his foot onto it, strumming his lute like an electric guitar. The bar regulars were getting pretty into his high-energy performance.

“This form of dancing recently came into style at the imperial capital,” Wozma noted.

“Seriously?” The rabbit dungeon’s influence was already reaching all the way here. The minstrel continued singing while stomping on the chair rhythmically.

“His blade is too fast for one to seeee♪! His mana overflows, and so did the red monsters fleeee♪!”

I didn’t use a sword, and we’re the ones who avoided the monsters, not the other way around.

“But deep within the dungeons, his allies feel defeateeed♪! The legend faced the Dragon with his black guard dog well-feeeed...” His tone dropped on the sorrowful note. But none of my allies collapsed... Oh, I guess Wataru did? And I guess the guard dog is Niku. “Behind the door was a crimson Dragooon♪! The legend lifted his burning-red weapon high in the aiiir♪! He faced the Dragooon! ROOOOAR!” Red weapon...? Oh, the spicy paste or whatever. I guess I did have that. “AND SO! After a deadly battleeee, the Dragon hung his head before the legeeeend! Aaaah... I could not compare to your splendor! I shall now serve in your command! The dragon was thus conquereeeed, and the peak of the mountain exploded with fiiiire! The shining light gave his allies the strength to riiiise! And they all returned safely aliiive! And that hero’s naaame? KEEEEEIMA! GOOOOOOOREN!”

As he shouted my name, he strummed hard on the lute, like he was playing the world’s most metal guitar solo. The drunken bar-goers all roared with approval, clapping up a storm and shouting “Bravo!”

“That felt both closer and further from the truth than I expected...”

“Well, Gozou and Ichika did talk around town about the events extensively.”

“Aaah. Yeah, okay, that makes sense.”

I was actually kind of impressed they properly hid Ittetsu’s involvement and made everything come together... and the song was surprisingly fun, too. If pseudo-rock like this was catching on, it might be important to bring the rabbit dungeon up to speed before idol culture is old news. And so I tossed a silver coin to show my approval.

“Ah! Town chief!”

“The man himself’s here!”

“What?!” cried the minstrel, a beaming smile on his face. “The legend himself?! Please do introduce m—” he began, then froze when he saw me. “That is not at all how I imagined... er, excuse me! I just beautified you in my mind, it’s fine now! I am honored to meet you!”

What a rude guy! I get it, but c’mon!

All Is Quiet In the Laverio Empire’s Fortune Telling Office!

A government worker brought a document to Princess Emmymephy of the Laverio Empire.

“Princess Mephy, a new fortune has been told.”

“Another one, for me? What is it this time?” Emmymephy sighed in exasperation. The document... the prediction had been made by the imperial fortune telling office, a secret branch of the Laverio Empire. They were an essential office that predicted much of the future, and there was no doubt that their efforts had saved countless imperial lives. Thus, it was not rare for even the imperial princess to have her movements tied down by the predictions. Naturally, the imperial office only made predictions regarding official imperial affairs, but since those were closely linked to the imperial family, they were often the subject of predictions.

(Incidentally, predictions could be intentionally broken, but the backlash from that would greatly lower the accuracy of future predictions for some time. In order to avoid said backlash, the empire would usually work to trace the events of the prediction in as safe a way as possible, and only break them when it was absolutely necessary.)

“Eeerm, once again I am honored to stand before your imperial visage, and...”

“I say, drop the greeting. You already told me what you were here for. Move on.”

“I suppose that is correct. Ahem, let me see here... This prediction is an unusual one, in that it is multiple choice.”

“Multiple choice...”

That meant the prediction would have something like “At this rate, X will happen, but if you do this, then Y will happen.” It ultimately allowed one to choose an outcome from among several. If Keima or Wataru were here, they would no doubt make a reference to choice popups in video games.

Emmymephy let out a sigh of relief. There would be no backlash no matter which choice they made, and they tended to be much safer.

“It’s been too long. I say, the last one was when I was only five.”

“And that one was just based on whether you drank milk before bed. In the end you chose to not drink and avoid peeing the bed, but... be careful, princess. It is possible that if you had chosen to drink milk on that fateful night, your chest might not have become the flattest board in all the empire. The prophecies have influence in ways we cannot foretell.”

“Silence! Enough small talk! Just get on with it!” Emmymephy barked at the rude official. He shook his head with exasperation and read the prediction.

“Ahem... ‘I speak of a month. You may choose to visit and enjoy the music of a rabbit minstrel. If so, this year’s harvest will surely be plentiful. You may choose to travel to poor villages in an unmarked carriage. If so, a village will surely be saved. There is only one path.’”

“Very well. I will give up on visiting Ichigo’s live shows for a month. Do as the prediction says and prepare an unmarked carriage,” Emmymephy said with a sigh.

“Are you sure?”

“Of course.”

“There is only one path” was the traditional line marking the end of a multiple choice fortune, and it in turn meant that the second she went to one of Ichigo’s live shows, a village would be doomed. As the imperial princess, Emmymephy could not allow that to happen to her own people.

“On the other hand, the bountiful harvest will probably happen regardless of what I do. It didn’t say there would be a poor harvest if I traveled through the villages, no? I say, I shall save the town, and I will pray for a bountiful harvest too.”

“A wonderful approach!”

And so, Emmymephy departed on a journey to visit the poor towns of the empire.

Subsequently.

“Ngh! Emmymephy going on a trip for a month means that we, her guards, will be missing Ichigo’s live shows as well...!”

“I admire Princess Mephy’s aspirations! I understand that we will get to see Ichigo a month from now! But it’s Princess Mephy who is in more pain than anyone right now!”

“I wonder if we can just repeat the phalanx formation until it feels like we’re at one of the shows, even if we aren’t...”

“Look out! A bandit attack!”

“LET’S BLOW THIS STEAM OFF ON THEM!”

The guards hit the bandits with such incredibly fervent blows they were almost killed instantly!

“Wh-What the hell is with these guys?! They’re monsters! GAAAAH!”

“Keep it up, men! Let’s all go to Ichigo’s shows next month together!”

“YEAAAAAH!”

And so, during their travels, the motivated guards took down any bandits they saw, tore apart any monster nest they came across, healed any sick villager they found, joined celebrations with their honed wotagei, and just solved a ton of different problems. When all was said and done, nobody knew which town they had saved in particular, but there was no doubt a town had indeed been saved.

“Alright! Let’s charge straight into our first live show in a month! Let’s go!”

“YEAAAAH!”

After so much blue-balling, it was safe to say their first live show back home was orgasmic.

＊ ＊ ＊

Meanwhile.

“Mm, I didn’t get as much DP as I wanted. I guess I’ll put off my plan to expand the fields above my dungeon. For now, I’ll focus on working on the inside of the dungeon!” a rabbit-type Dungeon Core exclaimed while rolling around in his bed.

Indeed, the harvest hadn’t exactly turned out bad without those fields, so Emmymephy’s decision had been the correct one. Truly, she was a wise princess.

A Peaceful Day in Aidy’s World (Demon Realm Edition)

It was a peaceful morning like any other, with everyone waking up to a nice Goblin raid.

“Whew, that was some nice morning exercise, as usual.”

“Yup, yup.”

The townsfolk chatted as they chopped up the Goblin corpses. Goblins were of the Earth element, so spreading their corpses across the forest would provide nice fertilization. They would also be bait to draw in other monsters, including more Goblins. There were nothing but good things about a Goblin raid.

It was the children’s job to spread out the chopped-up Goblins.

“Oh! Heck yeah, a Wolf got caught in the trap!”

“Let ’im go, and then the first of us to kill ’im wins!”

“Heeey! No fair!”

The kids playing in the forest had their grinning faces covered in the blood of their enemies. Just like always. However, a shadow crept upon them as they played.

“GRAAAH! Are you lot really settin’ traps again?!” roared their dad. He was mad at them for setting traps in the forest without permission.

“Eep! Sorry, dad! Ow!”

“Sniff! Ngh!”

“I tried to stop them! Ow!”

The kids were all knocked on the head. Their feet sunk into the ground a little from the force, but that was normal.

“I’m always tellin’ you, hunt for your prey yourselves! Don’t get lazy!”

“Sorrryyyy,” the kids chanted together, rubbing their heads. Whether they actually felt sorry or not was not a hard thing to guess.

After seeing the kids race further into the forest, their father let out a heavy sigh. They would surely shame him in the future by being too lazy to hunt for prey. He could only hope that he was managing to teach them that setting traps to enjoy only the fun part of a fight would never build character.

“Only a dumb as rocks Wolf would get caught in one of their traps. Where’s the fun in fighting a small fry...?”

“Hey, hey, don’t be so hard on them. You used to set traps yourself when you were their age, remember?”

“Ngh... Well, you’re not wrong...”

The father scratched his head as his friend pointed out his dark history.

“It just means they’re still young enough to have fun fighting prey that weak. It’s cute, y’know?”

“...Yeah. I just gotta wonder what their mother would say,” the father said, looking up wistfully at the sky as he thought of his now-deceased wife.

“She’d probably call you a candy-ass and tell you to train ’em up so you can fight them to the death, right?”

“Gahaha, yup!”

He had killed his wife in a duel. It had been the most intense duel of his life, and even now his heart ached at the memory of it. What a good day that had been.

“Daaaad! We found an Oooorc!”

“We beat it! I broke an arm, though!”

“Ahahaha! I wanna see more blood!”

The father sauntered over. “Whoa, this is a big one! Alright, let me teach you how to butcher it.”

Incidentally, the father and his friend had killed a Minotaur while engaging in their peaceful talk. Dinner would be plentiful that night.

“Wow, meat udon!”

“Yup. You all get first dibs on the Orc’s guts and heart. Do your best to steal from each other.”

“YAAAY! Let’s eat!” The kids started punching each other in the faces. The winner would get the tastiest guts and the heart. Blood sprayed everyone in the perfect image of a friendly family dinner. Incidentally, the winner was the kid who broke his arm. Getting hurt made one stronger and less afraid of pain.

That night, the kids slept soundly, having worked hard all day. It was the adult’s time.

“Hopefully there’s a night raid.”

“Yeah, we worked our assess off to steal guard duty tonight. I’m gonna be pissed if nothing comes.”

Indeed, it was a heart-thumping night, where a monster raid could happen at any time! How many monsters would come? What would they be? The guards held up their magic stones, until eventually a shadow came rushing their way at high speeds!

“Oh! A Hippogriff! Heck yeah, that’s a biggun! Hey... Wait! Don’t go rushing off on your own!”

“Bwahaha! A Hippogriiiiff!”

“Gaah, you got the first hit! EVERYOOONE! A Hippogriff is heeere!”

The second guard ran around, yelling to wake everyone up, then joined the fight second. He landed a blow to the heart, accidentally killing it early. He should have let it live for longer to enjoy the fight.

“Sheesh, this is why being half-decent isn’t good enough. You gotta get actually good!”

“Sorry, sorry! I’ll do better next time!”

“Alright, you’re forgiven! I mean, the next one’s already here!”

“Whoa, a Death Owl! Lucky us, we get to fight the assassins of the night! Wait, you’re running off again?!”

Thus went on a fun, busy night.

Then the sun rose, and it was time for morning again...

＊ ＊ ＊

“...There! Is that not what a peaceful town day is like?!” Aidy exclaimed.

“Not the kind of peaceful days we know,” I replied. To be honest, the “peaceful days” Aidy spoke of sounded more like a nightmare hellscape following an apocalypse than anything. Being woken up to monster raids, fighting all day, beating the crap out of your family for food, then suffering raids throughout the night as well... Seriously, that was hell. How could the Demon Realm survive like that? It just didn’t make sense.

“Also, what was that about using magic stones as torches?”

“Oh. It’s simple, really. The monsters are attracted to the mana within the keystones, so swinging them around at night serves as excellent bait.”

So despite being on night watch, they’re actually drawing the enemies to them?! That’s the Demon Realm for you, folks! Let’s never learn from them!

“A-And what about the wife who died...? The husband killed her...?”

“Hm? I would say that in almost all marriages, one of the two will be dead by the time their oldest child turns five. It is just difficult to control oneself for that long, you see; it just happens by accident. Though naturally we of the nobility contain ourselves.”

“Demon Realm culture is terrifying!”

“Aww... But it’s so much fun. Incidentally, we of the nobility are expected to ensure the monster population in our land grows without ever allowing them to be entirely exterminated.”

It was on that day that I firmly resolved to never live in a Demon Realm town, no matter what happened.

Misha on the Run

“Misha, would you care to duel?”

“Please spare meow already....”

Ever since Misha had toured Goren’s dungeon with Aidy, she had been challenging her to a duel at seemingly every opportunity. Misha’s mistake had been accepting the first couple duels, thinking that she owed that much to Rokuko’s friends. Little had she known that Aidy... or any Demon Realm citizen, really, was incapable of showing restraint around those stronger than them once they got a taste of their strength. Especially when there were no societal barriers or status interfering with matters.

Aidy was at least obeying Rokuko’s rule that she had to follow imperial culture and only engage in a duel after getting permission, which spared Misha from being attacked from behind. She appreciated that. However, a small blessing was all it was.

Perhaps due to having absolutely nothing else to do, Aidy honed in on Misha whenever she napped and challenged her to a duel. It didn’t matter how many times she refused! Over and over and over and over! Did she have nothing but duels on her mind?! No! Nothing! She was a quintessential Demon Realmer!

“...Wait, is she just asking Rokuko where I am?”

If Rokuko used her map function, she could locate Misha in an instant if she was within her dungeon’s territory. If she was sharing that information with Aidy, then nowhere in Goren was safe for Misha. That was no good at all. She wouldn’t get a wink of sleep.

Thus, Misha decided to both nap and do guard duty outside Goren in the forest. Keima would understand how she felt, for sure. She would repay him by letting any flirting he did in the meantime fly uncontested.

Misha spread out threads of mana to detect any invaders, then leaned back to nap and/or daydream.

“There you are. Shall we duel, Misha?”

“Nghbwhaah?!”

Misha’s daydreaming was interrupted by Aidy approaching and calling her name. But how?! They were outside of the town! Outside of Rokuko’s dungeon territory!

“Hm? I asked Rokuko and she told me.”

“For real? Meowsers...”

Whether Rokuko had some trick up her sleeve or just had territory that extended far beyond the town, she knew exactly where Misha was. She needed to get even further next time.

“Shall we duel? Or shall we simply engage in battle instead?”

“No, and aren’t those the same anyway?”

“Oh my, shall we do both, then?”

Demon Realm people never understand! Misha fled on the spot. Luckily, she was fast enough to escape safely.

That said, the same problem happened over and over, such that eventually she would need to go insanely far from the town to be safe. It was an option to simply establish a one duel a day routine with Aidy, which would probably be easier, but that would make the princess of a rival faction stronger by the day. Misha hated the thought of that, and thus, she focused her efforts on simply fleeing.

“Surely I’ll be safe here,” Misha said with a sigh, only to hear some rustling grass. She shot her head in that direction and... saw a mouse. Whew.

Suddenly, she recalled that Rokuko’s inn held these things called rat races. She also recalled that during that fateful Dungeon Battle, she had swarmed the dungeon with rats and choked a Minotaur with one.

“I-It’s you! You’re Rokuko’s spy!”

Misha instantly activated her {Life Detection} and {Presence Distinction} skills. She detected all sorts of life around her, and distinguished many of them as rats hiding in the shadows. On top of that... There was a Dungeon Core rushing right this way. It was Aidy!

“DUEL ME, MISHAAAAA!”

“N-NEVEEEER!”

Misha fled from Aidy. She had to assume that the entire forest was in the palm of Rokuko’s hand. She would need to find somewhere else to hide.

Perhaps the Demon Realm custom of winners enslaving losers was a vital tool for avoiding situations such as this.

＊ ＊ ＊

Thus, Misha searched for a place to nap that was absolutely not in Rokuko’s territory, and could not be reached by rats.

“Now that I know their tricks, this is too easy.”

Misha went all the way to the top of Mount Tsia. Another step and she would be in Core 112’s [Flame Caverns], so there was no chance of it being in Rokuko’s territory, and the hot ground inside would burn the feet of any rats that approached. The question was what Core 112 would say, but given that he was a friend of Keima’s, he would probably understand.

“I’ve come from Goren to naaaap! Please lend me a spoooot!”

Being so open about her intentions must have been a good idea, since no monsters attacked her, and she managed to safely nap in a comfortable, if a bit hot, area in the dungeon. Thus Misha found a safe spot to nap... Oyasuminasai. Zzz.

Incidentally, a few days before Aidy returned, Keima told her a much simpler solution—gamble the right to challenge her to a duel in a duel, then win that duel. It worked, and from then on she was able to quietly nap in town as she pleased. On one hand, Misha respected Keima’s wisdom and mastery of Demon Realm culture, but she really really wished he had just told her that sooner.

The Melancholy of Cid Pavella

“My head hurts.” Cid looked at the report in his hand and sighed. The sky was clear, but his heart was clouded and heavy as a stone—all due to this report.

“An organization hired to assassinate the High Priestess of Beddhism is hiding out in Pavella’s slums of all places? Aah, what a pain.”

Cid took the report the Adventurer’s Guild had given... or rather, forced upon him, and went to investigate things himself. All he learned was that there was no escaping the reality of the situation.

“The Bloody Kraken, huh...? This reminds me that Tsia managed to wipe the Last Commune out and clean their slums up in one fell stroke... Whew, am I jealous.”

Naturally, he had heard the details from Bonodore Tsia, the archduke of Tsia. He had hoped to handle the Bloody Kraken in the same way, but it turned out that Bonodore had simply asked Keima Goren for help.

...Cid already owed Keima Goren a debt that would take countless years to repay. He couldn’t rely on him again. How shameless would he have to be to ask him to eliminate the enemies targeting his own people, that were hiding out in Cid’s land? You would have to be... well, you’d have to be as pitiful as Count Lodol, the former town chief of Dragg.

Or so he thought...

“Are there any villains on death row or monsters that need to be exterminated here? What about Pavella?”

Never had he imagined that Keima Goren would come to him asking for enemies to fight. To think he would be forced to make his debt even greater... Or no, wait. This could be flipped around. As far as Cid could tell, it seemed like Keima and his companions were gearing up to solve the problem on their own terms anyway.

Cid thought that far in a single instant. He held back his urge to vomit in disgust at himself and told Keima everything he knew, making no attempt to hide anything. It didn’t seem like Keima was going to push the point, thanks largely to the Demon Realm princess, perhaps. All Cid could do now was pray that they settled things as cleanly as they had in Tsia.

＊ ＊ ＊

And so, almost everyone in the Bloody Kraken ended up dead or missing.

Most of those missing had apparently been killed so brutally they didn’t even leave a corpse behind, although some had managed to flee the fighting. Cid didn’t expect they would go that far, even though he did give them largely free reign to do so. Anyway... From what he could tell, they spared anyone who didn’t attack them head-on, and they hadn’t destroyed the slums in general. They had technically settled matters cleanly.

All in all, things would have gone a lot worse had Pavella’s troops been deployed, and it would have taken longer too. The fact they accomplished all of that in a single day went beyond “incredible” and into outright “legendary.” At the very least, the Bloody Kraken had been ground so finely into the dirt it would never, ever revive.

Had they gone so far because the Bloody Kraken had targeted the High Priest of Beddhism? Or was it a threat to Cid, saying that they would do that to all of Pavella if necessary? He could only pray it was the former.

Keima visited the chief residence of Dragg a few days later. This time, he made an appointment.

“Thanks for the help back there, Cid.”

“I’m the one who should be thanking you really.”

“Nah, nah. I mean, I was gonna die soon at the rate things were going.”

“You were...? I didn’t know. I see, that explains that... So that is why you went as far as you did?” Cid asked cautiously while accepting the Golem beets Keima had brought with him.

“Yeah, pretty much.”

It seemed that the Bloody Kraken had been attempting to assassinate Keima Goren as well. It only made sense he would be so brutal, with his life on the line like that. Cid sighed in relief, glad to know the circumstances behind it all.

Incidentally, Keima had actually meant that Aidy would have killed him, but all in all it was close enough. Cid and Keima weren’t quite on the same page, but they were reading from the same book.

“Mind if I ask how you took down the Bloody Kraken, so I can reference your strategies for next time? I won’t push the subject if you want to keep your methods a secret. It must have been something really special to get results like that in a single day.”

“Hm? Oh, nah, I didn’t do anything that special. I’ll tell you.”

Cid’s cheek twitched when Keima said that he hadn’t done anything special, considering that ultimately he had destroyed a slum-controlling organization in only a single day. Keima, meanwhile, had answered honestly—he mostly just watched Aidy’s slaughter.

When Keima finished explaining the quite problematic methods they had used (using the Demon Realm princess as bait and killing anyone who came to kidnap or kill her), Cid cradled his head and concluded that Keima surely did have something out for Pavella after all. If not for his noble pride, he would have slammed his forehead against the table.

The Worries of a New Dungeon Master

Cut to the back room of the rabbit dungeon. Rinnew, having been forced into the Dungeon Master position by Keima, had been brought up to speed.

“This is actually a dungeon, and now you’re its Master!” Mikan concluded.

“I see... So, all this Dungeon Master business is a pretty big secret, huh?” Rinnew asked.

“Yup! It sure is!” Mikan exclaimed, bouncing happily with flapping ears. That warmed Rinnew’s heart. It wasn’t good that Dungeon Masters died when their dungeon was destroyed, but... considering she was dedicating her life to the rabbits anyway, it wasn’t a big issue to her.

“So, what, the [Ivory Labyrinth] has a Dungeon Core and Dungeon Master too?”

“Yuppers. I dunno about a Master, but the Core is Haku.”

“Haku...? Wait... Are you telling me it’s that Haku? The White-Winged Goddess of the Dungeon Busters?”

“Hmm? Oh yeah, I think adventurers call her that. She’s also called the Ivory Goddess and the First Queen or something too!”

Rinnew was at a loss for words. Haku was such a big deal that everyone in the capital, no, the entire empire knew who she was. That was also the first time that Rinnew realized all of those Hakus were the same person. They were all so important she thought they couldn’t possibly be the same person, and that powerful people just had a tradition of adopting the name Haku.

“She’s the leader of the Dungeon Core faction I’m in.”

“I-I dunno what to say... Is she gonna kill me for hearing about all this stuff?”

“Nah, we’re on the same team now!”

Well, if she was the leader of the faction, they probably wouldn’t meet very often, if at all. Rinnew calmed herself down.

“Keima’s my boss, and she’s his boss! I’ll introduce you to her later.”

Rinnew barely held herself back from vomiting blood.

It was then that the door to the break room opened and a demon poked his head in.

“It’s time for my break. Serve me a drink!”

“Ah.”

“LOOK OUT, KING! HYAAAH!”

Protect the rabbits! With a heart strong enough to resist a Succubus’s charms, Rinnew leapt forward and reacted with immense speed. She charged the goat-headed demon with Mikan at her back, and...

“Oops. Careful now.”

That wasn’t enough to compensate for the vast difference in skill level between them. Rinnew had no idea what had happened, but she was flipped through the air, and the next thing she knew, he was stepping on her head.

“Ngh! Run, my ki—”

“Hey, Core 564! Quit it! Rinnew is my Dungeon Master, okay?!”

“Oooh, you finally worked up the courage to ask, hm? That was a long journey!” he exclaimed while swiftly removing his foot from Rinnew’s head.

“Wh-What the heck...?

“Er, how are you feeling, Rinnew? I had him lead that huge raid from earlier, and you see, the thing is...” Mikan explained the circumstances. “So yeah. This guy is actually on our side too.”

“Indeed, Rinnew or whatever your name is... Oh, and do not expect me to apologize. You attacked me first, and I merely flipped you onto the ground!”

“Apologize, Core 564! You could’ve been more peaceful about it!”

“Nghahahaha?! F-F-F-Forgive meee!”

The sight of the goat-headed demon Core 564 trembling and apologizing at Mikan’s orders certainly showed which of them was the top dog.

“So you beat a huge raid event... that is, the Dungeon Battle, and now he works for you?”

“Yup! That’s about it.”

“So that was what that fight was all about... Sigh.”

“Also, that event was really popular, so we’re in the middle of preparing another raid from him!” Mikan said, taking the opportunity to reveal his future plots... or plans, rather.

“I just... You know, I don’t really know how to take this.”

“You’ll get used to it! Oh, want to pat my head?” Mikan stuck out his head, which Rinnew patted. It put her at ease.

“Well, at the end of the day, I guess we were all dancing in your palm.”

“You mean the wotagei stuff?”

“That too.”

She had just heard his explanation about it, but she really never expected wotagei to be just buildup to organized fighting. That explained why the phalanx had been so easy to use in combat scenarios.

“Keima thought all that up!”

“He must be some kind of genius. Is he actually a demon, too?”

“No, he’s a human! Just like you! I think? Maybe?”

Rinnew got a fuzzy feeling from the sight of the orange rabbit tilting his head to the side.

“Well, regardless, he is more of a demon than I am! Yet again I was worked to the bone today... Mmm! Barley tea is as good as ever!” Core 564 exclaimed while chugging the tea he had made. That settled it. He had to be on their side, she just felt it.

“What can I say... This really is the underground side of the world,” Rinnew muttered, thinking back to what Keima had said.

Thank You For Buying Volume 14!

“So yeah, Redra. Seems like Keima wants to turn our fuckin’ exploits or whatever into a book,” Ittetsu said.

“A book?! Aaah, that’s kinda embarrassing, but sure! He’s just gotta make us look cool and awesome!”

“Er, he’s probably talkin’ about the Dungeon Battle, y’know.”

Redra thought back to that Dungeon Battle and her role in it. Ah, yes, it was all coming back to her... All the bad memories...

“H-Hold on a second! I wasn’t... aaah, I don’t even want to remember it...”

“Hey, don’t sweat it. You’ll look plenty fuckin’ cool. Your Dragon form speaks for its fuckin’ self, believe me.”

“Y-You’re right! I’m cool, awesome, cute, and the perfect wife all on my own! Yeah, I don’t gotta worry about a thing!”

“That’s the spirit. You’re my wife, and the best fuckin’ wife in the world. I’m gonna go tell Keima you gave the go-ahead.” Ittetsu turned, and let out a sigh of relief.

“Heeey, Keima! I got the fuckin’ approval.”

“Whoa, really? Consider me surprised.”

“Hey, all I had to do was keep quiet on the details,” Ittetsu said, then leaned forward and whispered awkwardly like he had something to hide, even though nobody else was there. “So you’re gonna make a picture album of Redra now?”

“Yup, probably next month. It’s made of paper and you’re paying for it, so take care not to accidentally burn it.”

“Yeah, I’ll manage somehow. Don’t sweat it. Man, I can’t wait to see a book full of Redra!” Ittetsu cackled to himself. Keima just shook his head.

Indeed, this was a request from Ittetsu. Keima hadn’t been planning to make a book of Redra at all, but in a conversation with Ittetsu the topic of photo albums came up. Ittetsu ended up asking if Keima could make a photo album of Redra for him.

“Are you not recording Redra on the monitor and saving footage of her?”

“Of course fuckin’ not! That’d spill the beans that I’m always staring at her!”

And there you have it. It seemed like Redra would laugh and let him do it if he just asked, since she would definitely appreciate him boring holes into her with his eyes, but anyway.

“Alright. I’ll take the footage we have from the Dungeon Battle and all the other stuff Rokuko recorded and print out pictures to put in a book.”

“Yeah! I’ll pay what I told ya!”

Ittetsu was pretty excited. Apparently even with Redra home all the time, he wanted all he could get of her. Dragons had a penchant for being hoarders, and in Keima’s opinion it looked like as a Salamander, Ittetsu was the same way.

Incidentally, not long after the book was delivered, Redra remembered the talk and asked Ittetsu how the book turned out, when she ended up finding out about the album. In the end, she let him keep it, despite saying something like “Y-You big idiot! If you just asked, I’d show you my body any time!” It can stay between you and me that her letting him keep it depended on him making a photo album of himself and giving it to her.