Side Chapter — Rokuko’s Ring and Haku Laverio

Heya, it’s me, Rokuko. I, the Dungeon Core of this dungeon, am sitting at the receptionist desk myself. It’s been a loooong time since I got to do this, since I had to hide from the High Priestess for my own safety. Geez, Keima sure is a worry wart. But that also means he really does care about me, so... I’m okay with it.

Anyway, I’m here sitting at the desk kicking up my feet, when suddenly Haku comes in! Chloe’s right behind her, like always.

“Haku! It’s been so long!”

“Ahaha. Hello, my cute little Rokuko. Is the grand suite free? I would like to stay the night there.”

“It’s free! Ah, do you want the same food as usual?”

“Certainly. Would you like to eat with us, Rokuko? It’s my treat.” Keima’s asleep, but it’s been so long since Haku’s visited that I need to give this my all. Ummm, Keima used his {Purification} on the grand suite after the High Priestess left, so it should be okay.

Suddenly, Haku looks at the box on the receptionist counter and blinks in confusion.

“...And what might this box be? I don’t believe it was here the last time I visited.”

“Huh? Oh, this? Eheheh.. This is called a register!”

“Oh my, and what kind of box is that?”

“Ummm, let’s see... Suite room, two people, one night! Food, three A-Rank meals!” The register reacts to my words and spins like a slot machine to display the price. Sixty-five gold coins. That’s probably right. It’s... It’s right, definitely.

“So, it calculates the price for us, and when we put money into it, the keys and food tickets come out on their own.”

“My goodness! That seems quite convenient. Does it ever make erroneous calculations?”

“It’s more reliable than people, for sure.”

“...I would like one of these myself. I believe with the help of registers like this one, I would be able to get much more work done much faster.” Haku stares at the register with a sharp, serious look in her eyes. She looks like a totally competent, awesome Dungeon Core. So cool!

“Mmm, I’ll ask Keima if he won’t mind me giving it to you.”

“Oh my. Can’t you decide that on your own? And where is that Keima, anyway? I can’t believe he’s forcing you to work on your own like this.”

“Keima just worked really hard and wants to sleep until tomorrow, so I don’t want to wake him up if I don’t have to.” Sorry, Haku, but I really want to let Keima rest. Umm, and he did say he’d wake up tomorrow, so it should be fine. He’ll... He’ll wake up in time. D-Definitely.

“Ohhh? Well, if you say so, Rokuko. In any case, it’s been a veeery long time since I’ve visited, hasn’t it? Let’s have a long talk about all that’s happened.”

“I’d love to!” I take sixty-five gold coins from Chloe and put them into the register, whereupon three shiny, golden A-Rank meal tickets and the grand suite key come out. I take those and head to the grand suite with Haku. Oh, and of course, I had someone cover my shift.

“...Now. I’ve been wondering this since I got here, but is that ring on your finger the one that Keima gave you?”

“Ehhh?! Um, Haku, er... D-Did you know about it?”

“...Wataru the Hero told me about it. He really did something he shouldn’t have this time...” Oh, okay. That Hero of Debt told her. I guess that makes sense, he’s the one who told me about rings in the first place. It’s not weird that he’d report it to Haku.

“In any case, this is quite a fashionable ring. Moreso than I’d expect from Keima. It suits you well, Rokuko... Mmm? Is it just me, or is something off about this ring?”

“Wha? Something off? Where?”

“...I thought it was a gemstone ring, but there’s a golden ring inside of it. I’ve never seen a ring like this before. It must have been very expensive.”

“Ahaha, well, that’s ’cause we’re partners!”

“I see, and that he put so much passion into making this ring for you can only mean one thing... Ahaha. It seems we will need to discuss this matter quite thoroughly.” I don’t know why, but I get the feeling I can see a dark aura radiating off Haku. It’s probably just my imagination.

“So, from what material did he make this ring, I wonder?”

“Ummm, he said rubies and orichalcum.”

“Oh my, rubies and orichalcum... This is an orichalcum ring? One coated in rubies...? Hold on just a second. A ring like that would cost at least ten million DP, if not significantly more.”

“He did say it was expensive, but... Is it really that much?”

“Can you see orichalcum rings in your Catalog? Well, even if we assume you luckily managed to find some in this mountain, it would still be quite expensive.” At her prompting, I open up my DP Catalog and search for an [Orichalcum Ring]. Ummm, let’s see... Treasure, rings, orichalcum... 1,000,000 DP?

“Um, it says 1,000,000 DP...”

“Naturally. The method for smelting orichalcum is a dwarf secret, and it takes even those dwarves at least a year to forge an orichalcum sword. A ring would be easier, but even so, the DP price reflects what an undertaking it’d be.”

“Ooooh...” When the heck did Keima make this ring for me, and how? Oh, wait, the raw orichalcum itself only costs about 10,000 DP. Our town blacksmith is a dwarf, so he probably asked him for help... actually, wait, this is Keima we’re talking about. He definitely just used {Create Golem}. Same goes for the ruby, surely. Mmm... But I guess I shouldn’t tell Haku this.

“Um, by the way, there’s a dwarf blacksmith in our town. He might have asked him for help.”

“...Even if he did, I have no idea how he could have given it this ruby coating.” Okay, I knew that wouldn’t get past her. Ngggh... I want to tell her, but I can’t. I’m sure Haku knowing wouldn’t be a big deal, but Keima really made it clear I should never, ever tell anyone about his {Create Golem}.

“I’ll give you 100,000,000 DP if you let me have that ring.”

“...Ah! N-No, Haku, don’t say that. This isn’t the kind of thing I can just give away.” That was close, my heart wavered for a second. Who can blame me? I could summon an Ancient Dragon with 100,000,000 DP! It’s just, like, I know Keima could craft another one of these rings really easily. I couldn’t make Haku pay 100,000,000 DP for something so inexpensive.

“.........It seems I must purge that man.”

“Um, Haku? I, um... You’re thinking out loud.”

“Oh my, I’m sorry. Ahahaha.” Haku gives me a peaceful smile. Why’s she so mad...? Oh, maybe because she thinks we wasted DP on this ring. Though it would cost way more than we have to buy it normally.

After that, we talked about the High Priestess, Rin, and the recreation building. Apparently, the effects of {Treaty} differed depending on who used it.

After that, I took a bath with her, ate dinner with her, and slept in the same bed as her to show her a warm welcome to our inn. And then, right after I invited her to my room in the chief residence, Keima woke up and came for a visit.

He immediately started grovelling before her as if it was the most natural, normal thing in the world to do.

...Well, that sure is some nice form! He gets full points for looking pathetic yet heroic! Oh, by the way, he apparently got her to forgive him by agreeing to provide her with registers. I don’t really understand what happened, but that’s my Keima for you!