Chapter 204: Reopening and Dungeon Front Marketplace

The next morning —

All the members of the Ernol family were gathered together in my mansion.

“This meal is truly delicious.”

“Tina’s food is so yummy~!”

The only difference was the presence of Kikyou — Youko’s mother — and the Wind Spirit King Sylph.

Kikyou had also become part of my family, so she’d be joining us during mealtimes from here on.

When I went to pick Leaffa up yesterday, Sylph decided to follow us to the mansion.

Sylph said he wanted to visit my mansion to play, and I also have something that I wanted everyone to see today, so I requested him to stay for a while to become part of the audience.

“Fufu, thank you very much. Sylph-sama, would you like to have some more?”

“Yess, please!”

Sylph’s appetite was amazing even though it was still so early in the morning.

“Is everyone free today?”

“Yes. I don’t have any particular plans for today. Did something happen, Halt-sama?”

I wanted to show everyone the dungeon that I prepared yesterday.

“I renovated the Dungeon Ruins, so I wanted to do something like a soft opening.”

“Oh, so it’s done? Halt’s amazing!!”

Hakua was the previous Master of the Dungeon Ruins, so I already explained to her previously about my renovation plans.

“Yup. I adjusted the difficulty levels so that ordinary adventurers can also try it, and I also tried a more complex structure.”

The Dungeon Ruins was originally intended for the nurturing of heroes, and the overall structure was quite simple, allowing the heroes to do Levelling at their own pace.

I converted it into a labyrinth just like the ordinary dungeons, and I also added more floors.

I also added synthetic monsters and installed treasure boxes.

“How do you plan to do that soft opening, meow?”

“I wanted to request a few people to challenge the Dungeon I organized. Merdie’s one of those candidates; can you do it?”

“Seems fun, meow! I’m going to capture Halt’s dungeon, meow!!”

“Who are the other candidates?”

“Actually, I already asked two other people who are not part of the Ernol Family to give it a go. Ideally, a four-member party will challenge it, so I want someone who can be the healer…”

“Would you like me to do it?” (Ryuka)

“You can also leave it to me!” (Seira)

Two of the most powerful healers of this world — Ryuka the Dragon Shrine Maiden and Seira the Saintess volunteered.

“I’m also fine with that!”

“If it’s healing, then this concubine also knows a thing or two about it.”

Sylph and Kikyou also offered to take up the role of healer.

But I already have someone I would like to entrust the role to.

“Then, this time I’m leaving it to Seira, if it’s okay with you?”

“Understood!”

And so, the members who would be the first challengers of my dungeon were finally decided.

──＊＊＊──

I teleported everyone to Vestier.

Two familiar people were waiting for us at the entrance gate of the Kingdom.

“It’s been a while, Halt-sameow.”

“We have been waiting for you.”

It was the cat beastkin Sally and dog beastkin Lilia.

Sally and I fought against each other during the Martial God’s Warrior Tournament held previously in this kingdom. I recognized how powerful she was, so I invited her to join me when I established my clan later on.

Lilia was Sally’s friend and she was working at the capital’s checkpoint.

Both of them were dressed for battle.

I wanted these two beastkin to participate in challenging my dungeon as support members to my family.

Yesterday, I contacted Sally through the magical communication stone and asked her if she was w interested in challenging my dungeon.

Lilia was also there, so I also tried asking whether she wanted to join Sally.

Both of them were surprised when I contacted them out of the blue, but they immediately agreed to participate in challenging the dungeon.

“Thanks, both of you, we’ll be in your care for today.”

“Yes, meow!”

“We will do our best!”

Afterward, I introduced Seira, Kikyou and the others that they still haven’t met yet, then I explained my plan once again.

I had become the owner of the kingdom of the beastkin.

Vestier was mine.

It was my own kingdom, so I wanted to protect all the residents here from the menace of demons and warlocks.

However, there was no way I could stay here all the time.

Yeah, I could immediately teleport if there was a danger, but there was also a chance that I wouldn’t make it on time.

The beastkins were considered to be a strong race in this world, but the only beastkin who could defeat the warlock single handedly was Leo, the king of the beastkin who lifted the ban of using magic.

That was why I wanted to train more beastkin who could fight against warlocks.

Nevertheless, it was pretty hard to train a person until he reached that level.

They wouldn’t reach Leo’s level no matter how hard they tried to defeat monsters found in ordinary woods.

Unless they possessed a special skill, they had to find a more efficient way to raise their levels.

And that was where this dungeon came into play. I thought that maybe I could use this dungeon which was originally intended for heroes.

I would open level 1 to 10 of the dungeon and let the ordinary adventurers attempt it.

The dungeon originally had underground levels, but now I added 10 more — level 11 to 20.

These additional floors were intended for strengthening my companions.

As long as they completed the program that I created, they would rise to the level that could defeat the warlocks while by the time they conquered the dungeon.

“Okay, let’s get moving, then!”

I took my wives, Sally and Lilia and we teleported to the Dungeon Ruins.

──＊＊＊──

“Eh!?”

“W-what? W-why —”

Tina and the rest of my wives froze on the spot.

We teleported to the magical circle that I installed right in front of the dungeon, but they seemed utterly shocked when they saw the things that I prepared there.

“Isn’t it amazing? I worked pretty hard to organize this, after all!”

I established a weapon store, armor store, tool shop, food stalls and inns, too.

It was hastily done, so the buildings were just made out of walls and a roof.

The product line-up was still lacking, but it was somehow starting to take shape.

I wanted to invite merchants and establish a market place in front of the dungeon.

Although the interior was important in order to attract adventurers to the dungeon, it was also important to create an environment that would support them.

That was what I learned from the light novels I read in my past life, so I tried applying it here.

“I want to make a small town here, one that could become a support system for the adventurers. It was still incomplete in a lot of places, but —”

“Ah, M-Master…”

“Hm? Youko, what happened?”

“I already know that you can establish a town near the dungeon entrance. I also understand Master’s plan of imitating that. But —”

Youko strode towards the shopkeeper in the nearby tool shop.

“Why are all the shopkeepers like this!?”

She then pulled the clothes of the shopkeeper of the weapons store and dragged him outside the shop.

— He was… someone who looked exactly like me.