It's Dangerous Outside the Dungeon, Master

* * *

“I’m curious what your choice will be.”

[An unparalleled ‘blessing’ has flowed to one who doesn’t deserve it.]

Sonia remembered the first words Libertas said when she learned of her constitution.

Blessing.

It was a word that presented a new perspective to her, who had only thought of this constitution as a curse all her life.

[If you had grown your power with awareness of this ability, you would have become the most skilled mage among young people your age by now. But you missed that opportunity.]

Sonia couldn’t shake off the memory of that touch from her mind, as she stretched out her small hand, remembering the hand that patted her kneeling head.

That touch contains something like an unusually strong ‘interest’.

[…But that’s not because of you, Sonia. An unprepared child. And an utterly wretched environment. How could all of that be your responsibility?]

Libertas, saying those words, was still calm and noble, but Sonia could somehow sense a bitter, subdued feeling while looking at her appearance.

This conversation further strengthened Sonia’s judgment about her.

The judgment about Libertas being ‘human-like’, and what kind of event needs to happen for a Dungeon Lord to become human-like.

And the judgment about what she herself needed to do.

To put that into practice…

“I… want to keep this power as it is. Master.”

“An excellent choice.”

Libertas smiled a rare smile upon hearing the answer.

As if that was the correct answer.

Like an older sister or mother looking after a child.

* * *

A contract with the demon realm.

More precisely, the conditions and price of the contract.

This was my means to obtain the characteristic from Sonia.

A Dungeon Lord mediating contracts between humans and the demon realm could receive a certain price from human contractors. Simply put, it could be seen as a ‘fee’.

One might ask what fee is charged for forcibly making humans contract with the demon realm and even owning those humans…

‘That’s not my concern.’

It’s originally that kind of system.

And in this world now, there might be those who voluntarily contract for power and authority.

No, there probably are. Like that Alexis.

“But… you haven’t used this method until now, have you? With senior Leonis or sir Daniel…”

“Is there any need to take away the power optimized for them? When I intend to use them importantly.”

“But…”

“Even if they find a way to break the contract and point their blade at me, I’ll just thoroughly crush that blade too.”

I didn’t hide the smile that naturally arose.

That’s how satisfying Sonia’s choice was. I don’t know what she wants to do, but at least I liked her attitude of not just waiting to sink.

『Attributes – Health 2 Technique 6 Durability 4 Magic Power 32 Resistance 8』

『Attributes – Health 7 Technique 11 Durability 16 Magic Power 34 Resistance 27』

Before entering into the formal contract, I checked Sonia’s status once again.

The first thing noticeable is the dramatic growth in ‘Durability’ and ‘Resistance’ in just 2 months. This wasn’t just due to the natural recovery power her body had regained.

It was achievable because Sacrifice Enhancement applies to humans contracted with me as well.

Humans contracted with the demon realm have their original growth potential hindered, but in exchange, they become bodies that can accept the demon realm’s magic power.

‘Was it about 30? They ate quite a lot.’

To build up the resistance to magic power she needed like this, a total of about 30 orcs were sacrificed. The efficiency of Sacrifice Enhancement decreases when used on humans.

Although it wasn’t a completely unprofitable investment since all the residual magic power in the corpses was used for the dungeon, it was still an investment, as it would have brought greater growth if used entirely for the dungeon.

And now, it’s time to see the fruits of that investment.

“「Soul Contract, Imprint」.”

Sonia’s personal information and soul pattern are elaborately drawn on the contract.

While Maria’s was like quietly boiling flames, and Daniel’s or Leonis’s were cold, Sonia’s was a blue pattern reminiscent of spring colors.

The content stating that the contractor will belong to the demon realm, the Demon King will guarantee it, and the termination of the contract will only be when finding another contractor to renew or facing death is written.

Below such a contract, additional special terms that weren’t in other contracts were written in the demon realm language.

『…Contractor Sonia pays the characteristic 「Magic Overadaptation」 to contract presider Libertas. Part of it while alive, all of it upon the contractor’s death. And…』

『…This contract is guaranteed by the ‘Demon King’.』

“From now on, you become a servant of the Demon King, not a creation of the goddess. Are you prepared?”

“…Yes.”

Sonia nodding at the final question.

Her expression still exuded an ephemeral atmosphere, but her eyes contained the firm will unique to someone who had found something to do.

Whether she’ll sharpen that will into a blade to stab me or raise it high as a flag to achieve something, I don’t know.

Even if I heard an explanation from her, whether to believe it is another matter.

‘It’s a world where even the closest family hurts and abandons each other.’

It will take a very long time to build trust with her.

The faith I’m relying on now is just a seed or sprout. I’ll do my best, hoping it yields good results.

My best will be different from that of humans though.

“Then, prepare to pay respects.”

“To whom…?”

“The Demon King.”

If the main body came out, Sonia would certainly faint and her soul would be damaged, but there was no need to worry about that.

Because what happened when I executed a contract for the first time is really rare.

Still, I couldn’t be careless.

The Demon King is absolute.

Where his avatar is, and where his power reaches. It was right to consider that he had it in sight, just not focusing particularly.

“「Contract Established」.”

Bang!!

In front of me, slowly rising from my seat, and Sonia bewildered, not knowing what’s going on, the Demon King’s hand rises through a crack in the ground and grabs the soul floating above the contract.

-Grrrr…

Unlike before, its form being clearly translucent, and the presence flowing from it being extremely weak.

Both meant that the owner of this arm was not present here, but.

“Huh…!”

Whether the pressure was too great for the current Sonia to endure even with just that, she tried to fall backward rather than kneel or bow.

Although her attributes themselves would have had much less ‘Durability’ or ‘Resistance’ than I had at my first contract, I wonder if there’s another reason for this difference.

Because I’m a Dungeon Lord, or for an even more fundamental reason.

Anyway.

Swish…!

“Th-Thank you…”

“It’s alright. Just bow your waist.”

Hugging her waist just before falling backwards and infusing strength, spreading it throughout her body, Sonia’s consciousness that was about to faint woke up and barely managed to pay respects successfully.

In ‘MilDun 1’, a stack was assigned here, implementing an event where debuffs would stack on the dungeon if the number of times ‘not paying respects’ accumulated.

Not knowing what would happen if that became reality, it would be good to pay respects with each contract unless it’s too urgent.

-The contract is completed. From now on, you human child Sonia have become a servant of the great demon. I look forward to the upcoming ritual.

“What ritual?”

Well.

Although I’ve heard about it often, what this means hasn’t been known since before. But if I were to estimate its meaning roughly…

“Simply put, it probably means they want to see how many people you can kill.”

“That… is…”

“It’s just a ceremonial talk, so don’t worry about it.”

I actually tried things like shoving humans contracted like this into a corner and not using them for a long time, and I know that no problems occurred even after that, so it’s fine.

More importantly, the characteristic.

『Characteristic – … Magic: Soul-absorbing Plant, Magic Overadaptation』

『Characteristic – Necromancy, … Specialization: Fire Magic, Advanced Specialization: Curse, Magic Overadaptation』

Sonia’s heroic-grade characteristic Magic Overadaptation was divided into two branches. The high-grade remaining with her, and the rare-grade that came to me.

Turning my gaze from the characteristic information that appeared, Sonia was stroking her stomach as if finding it strange.

With an expression much more comfortable than just a moment ago.

“How do you feel?”

“…I always felt bloated and my stomach was boiling, but that’s gone. My magic power… is also following my words much better. Really…”

This characteristic can provide 2 magic power per year at high grade and 5 at rare grade. Although significantly less than the 12 of heroic grade, it’s still an overflowingly good characteristic even now.

Since the amount of magic power that grew automatically when she was young was much less than it is now, this is also a characteristic with a promising future.

“I didn’t get rid of it. That blessing still remains inside you. From now on, you’ll be able to grow into a more powerful mage than your peers.”

“You’re the only one in my entire life who has spoken so well of this as a blessing, Master. And… it feels like you’ve really turned it into a true blessing.”

“If you’ve come to think of it that way, that’s really glad to hear.”

Sonia’s eyes looking up at me are still endlessly complex with various emotions swirling.

What I feel is still hatred. And…

Compassion from an unknown source.

Just because we’re connected by a soul contract doesn’t mean I can freely flip over that heart. I might be able to glimpse fragments of it when feeling intense emotions like now.

But Sonia quickly calmed even that down, so it was impossible to fully understand the emotions’ source.

‘Although I’m curious about what she’s thinking…’

I detached my mind from those flowing thoughts and conveyed words I needed to tell Sonia.

“From today, you may enter the ‘library’.”

“The library…?”

The newly created ‘library’ was where all the books purchased from humans and the Mammon Guild were gathered.

Most of those are naturally related to various magic and sorcery of this world.

It won’t be systematic since I just piled them up indiscriminately, but I think the amount of knowledge won’t be small.

“However, it would be better not to think about carelessly learning what’s in there.”

“Learn?”

“Of course you should learn. But when I’m not around, look for things that might be helpful. When I can supervise directly like today, I’ll help you learn it.”

“Could it be… magic?”

Sonia looked up with slightly timid eyes, as if she understood the situation.

To that unspoken question of whether she understood correctly, I nodded.

“Of course. What did you think it was?”

“When I was in the guild, magic was always divided into ranks and disclosed… I didn’t think I could see everything like this…”

“I see. Here, you can look at whatever you want to see. It’s fine to find out whatever you want to know. I’ll let you know if it will be helpful to you now.”

Although it’s a title obtained half-forcibly, I am now her ‘master’.

I had been preparing all along to play a role befitting that title. Actually accumulating capacity and knowledge.

“Then let’s go. I’ll show you where the library is.”

“Ah… Yes!”

“The entrance on the outer corridor side would be more convenient, right? Let’s go that way.”

On the way moving together with Sonia like that.

Tap!

-…er.

I turned my gaze towards the presence I had known about in advance.

Far away, at the end of the corridor, reddish-brown hair was seen and then disappeared.

That familiar color was certainly Maria’s.