Extra Episode — The Lazy Dungeon Master’s Gifted, Talented Subordinates

Keima sent a letter saying that he wouldn’t be returning for some time, due to accepting the archduke’s quest. The letter sent a stir throughout all those involved with the [Cave of Greed]. An emergency meeting was immediately held among hotel staff.

“Master is absent. This is an unprecedented situation,” said Rei solemnly, as the chairwoman of the meeting.

“Indeed. Even when he went to the imperial capital for the last Dungeon Battle, he still returned to the dungeon daily.” Kinue, the de facto manager of the inn, provided historical context.

“The inn and church are both larger than they were befooore, but now he might be gone for a whole moooonth...” Neruneh, head of research, stated the problem clearly.

“...I see. It is quite worrying for the town chief to be absent for so long, now that I think about it.” Suilla, leader of the Succubi, nodded absentmindedly. Rei knew that as she was a newcomer among them, she didn’t understand the full gravity of the situation. “So, what problems specifically will occur without the town chief around?”

“I...” Rei fell silent at Suilla’s question. “.........”

“.........E-Er, Rei?”

“W-Without Master here, um, Master isn’t here!” One could hardly blame Suilla for being unimpressed. But she soon understood the difference in their positions.

“You were all born from this dungeon. Perhaps there will be a mana related problem if your Dungeon Master is absent?”

“Thaaat’s, probably not the caaaase.” Neruneh immediately answered Suilla’s question.

“Perhaps an issue with your lives in general, then...?”

“I don’t believe so.” Kinue shot the idea down immediately.

“Will there be any issues with your work, then? Luckily, we of the church can continue our operations just fine even without the pope; that is, the town chief.”

“...The dungeon is fine without Master.”

“The inn is fine too.”

“There’s a mountain of research that I have to do alreaaady, so him being gooone, is kinda gooood? Since he won’t give me moooore?”

The answers she was getting confused Suilla to no end.

“It seems to me that there is no problem whatsoever with the town chief being absent. Am I wrong?”

“...Um. Will there be any problems with the Silky triplets or Michiru? The little ones?” Rei broadened the meeting to cover those who weren’t present.

“Michiru is more sad about Kuro being absent than the town chief, I believe. She will be fine.”

“The Silkies will be fine as long as they have the inn to clean.”

But there were no problems there either.

“...Ah! He isn’t just the Dungeon Master, he’s the Town Chief. He has work to do as the chief! How will it get done?!”

“Calm down, Rei. His current excursion is the most important job he’s ever had as town chief. With vice chief Wozma staying behind, the town will continue operating just fine.” Again, no problems.

“...Um. Could it be that Master’s absence will not cause any problems at all?”

“As far as I can tell, that seems to be the case,” answered Kinue in Rei’s stead, the latter having fallen deep into troubled thought. The meeting had been called with utter certainty that disaster had struck, but all for naught.

“Oh, what’re you all doing here?” said Rokuko as she entered the room.

“Ah, um, Rokuko...” Rei told Rokuko about the meeting’s goal and their discussion so far.

“Why didn’t you call me for this?”

“I-I called all those who I could with my authority.”

“I get it. I’m too high up for you to summon over. But thanks to that, you held a pointless meeting.” Rei shrunk down weakly at Rokuko just flat out calling her meeting pointless. “Listen, Rei. Do you think Keima would ever just leave the dungeon for weeks without planning ahead first?”

“Ah...!” The truth came raining down on Rei like an avalanche. If Keima was the excellent Master that Rei considered him to be, it was only natural that he would plan ahead. Keima was a skilled enough master that of course he would design his dungeon such that it could operate without him for days, weeks, or even months. Rei finally realized that was exactly why he always entrusted his work to others, why he delegated, why he trained everyone to be independent. Though generally she knew he just abandoned his work so he could sleep.

“So basically, you don’t need to worry. And I mean, I’m still here. Are you saying you can’t trust me to run my own dungeon?”

“N-No, not at all! I would never think that, Rokuko!”

“Indeed. After all, we just determined that there are no problems right now.”

“That’s our Master for yoooou.”

“Indeed, the town chief is certainly an intelligent fellow.”

“Okay. Then we’re done here. Go back to your jobs, everyone.” Rokuko started shooing them away, so the gathered individuals all obediently stood up and returned to their workplaces.

“Dude, why the heck didn’t they call me?” Ichika popped out from seemingly nowhere.

“I mean, you were here before all of them, and you’re kind of like their teacher.”

“You gotta tell them to get me in on the next meeting, cause like, ouch. Feels pretty bad to be left out, not gonna lie!”

“I know the feeling. We’re all on the same team here, too. Like, Suilla? What? Why’d they call her but not us? That’s just messed up.”

Ichika and Rokuko gave each other a firm handshake for some reason.