S-Class Dungeon’s Mistress - Chapter 6

“In the long run, the biggest problem is accessibility. How do you generate revenue from dungeons?”

“Get a monthly rent or rob the adventurer who came.”

“Yes, the most lucrative thing is that the adventurer dies in this dungeon. The more adventurers you kill, the higher your dungeon level will be, and you will receive a bounty from the Devil’s Castle.”

Adelaide nodded her head. It was something she had heard too.

A few hundred years ago, the adventurers, who faced the demon realm, accomplished a great achievement. It was the development of a technology that can separate the human soul.

They entered the world with only a part of their soul, and rushed to the Demon King’s Castle to capture the Demon King and receive the reward. Thus, even if they died, they were able to resurrect in a designated place as they would lose only a part of their soul.

In other words, as long as they do not exhaust their souls, they won’t die, almost to a state of being close to invincibility.

The Demon King was not bothered by the brave men who rushed in without knowing that they were wasting their lives. Fortunately, however, the soul separation technology was originally designed to attack the Demon Realm, so it did not apply in the human world.

In other words, the weakness of the soul separation technology was that if an adventurer dies in the human world, he cannot be revived. So they invaded the human world and tried to kill all the adventurers, but unfortunately, the demon race, who were born with strong individualistic tendencies, were not good at cooperation.

It was the revitalization of the dungeon that was devised as the next best solution.

In the Demon Realm, many treasures and precious materials were placed in the dungeons, and the adventurers got attracted to it as bait. After all, the main reason for coming to the Demon Realm was for money, so the adventurers easily changed their goals.

The adventurers, who were only heading to the Demon King’s Castle, turned to numerous dungeons with relatively easy difficulty and savory rewards. The dungeon master received a bounty in return for killing the adventurers, and the Demon King solved the problem. The era of great dungeons started.

“But there are no adventurers in our dungeon. Even the Master knows why…”

“No adventurer will go this far. There is only one portal.”

The closest to the human world and the most accessible place for the adventurers due to the open Magi was the Mediar region of eastern Dathanos. Various convenient facilities have already been established, and there was also a separate area where humans live, so most adventurers enter there.

“Yes, that’s right. So, in order to call in adventurers, we need to install an additional portal.”

Adelaide groaned in pain. How much does the portal installation cost?

‘I think my head’s going to pop out because it’s too much.’

“In the Mediar region?”

“It would probably be profitable to do that. But we should consider this later. The cost of installing the portal is high, and it would be a big deal if there were no affiliated demons who belonged to the dungeon.”

At this rate, Adelaide and Lisianthus will have to deal with the adventurers alone. If that happens, the dungeon will be destroyed immediately without a fight.

She shuddered at the dreaded imagination of only gaining debt and losing the only dungeon she had.

“Then, we should increase the number of demons under us. We’ll need it later when we’re dealing with an adventurer…”

“You’re smart. Additionally, it also helps you level up your dungeon. The condition for becoming an F-4 class is to have at least one demon registered to the dungeon.”

‘Wow, that’s easy! When you level up, you get money! Let’s hurry up and recruit.’

Adelaide stopped laughing and her face hardened. One thing popped up in her mind.

“But we don’t have a room, and I can’t tell you to stay in the bathroom… How do we increase the rooms?”

The large room on the left was already being used by Adelaide, and the storage room on the right was where Lisianthus stayed. The bathroom was small enough to be filled with just one bathtub. There was not a single room for another person, and there’s not enough space for demons to roam around.

“You must purchase magic stones for dungeon expansion or raise the dungeon level.”

“How much is a magic stone……?”

“The smallest one is 1 Alma.”

Bang!

Adelaide smacked her head on the table. What kind of contradiction was it that you run a dungeon to earn 1 Alma, but you need 1 Alma to expand it?

The face of the Debt Management Bureau approaching her, was in front of her eyes.

“You won’t be ashamed of a one-armed owner, right? Lisian, you wouldn’t be that loyal, right?”

Lisianthus smirked at her mumbling with her lips on the table. It was interesting to see that she was already thinking of giving up her arm, when five minutes ago, she bragged that she would raise the dungeon to S-level.

“Don’t worry Master, here, take it.”

Adelaide only turned her head slightly, with her head still on the table. But as soon as she saw something shining in his hand, her body flashed and rose. She stood up so abruptly that her chair slipped backwards and fell.

A blue stone with the pattern of the Demon King on it. It was the first time she saw it, but she knew it intuitively. It was a magic stone for dungeon expansion.

“This…!”

“I bought it because I thought I’d expand the field a little later. I’m glad I could use it for my master like this.”

Adelaide was again appalled by his ridiculous spending. Spending that large amount of money on another person’s dungeon. It’s enough to say that the dungeon is his life itself.

‘Well, he has the money to buy an artificial sun and the magic stone for expansion, but he doesn’t have the money to pay the rent. Huh?’

‘Aren’t you lying because you don’t want to pay the rent?’ Adelaide’s eyes were blinded by renewed suspicion..

But she soon cleared the doubts from her mind. She doubted him for offering this expensive magic stone to herself. She shouldn’t do such a bad thing.

‘Wait, can’t you just sell this and pay off the interest for one month?’

As if reading her thoughts like this, Lisianthus put a faint smile on his lips and said.

“For your information, it is impossible to trade it as second-hand as it is exclusively sold in the Demon King’s Castle.”

“H-huh? Selling what Lisian gave me? Why would you say that?”

“Just in case.”

‘I’m sure he’s got mind-reading powers.’ Adelaide thought, cooling the sweat running down her back.

The effect of the 1 Alma Dungeon Expansion Magic Stone was excellent.

‘Wow, two rooms have been added.’

It can be said that it was a very large expansion work in Greenville Dungeon, where there were only two other rooms that could be used, except for the bathroom and living room.

In addition, the space used as the living room has grown considerably. Five people could sit around the table.

“Later, when it gets bigger, we can transport inside the dungeon as well through a portal, right?”

“Yes, I think so. Perhaps using one more magic stone will create a portal. Then we will be able to separate the living space and the combat space.”

“Haah… I want to make a trap room soon…”

Adelaide, with a hazy expression on her face, imagined setting up a bunch of fancy trap rooms. Knowing the cost of one trap room, Lisianthus simply smiled quietly.

“To do that, you have to move fast! Lisian, I’m going!”

“Would you be okay if we don’t go together?”

Adelaide answered, waving her index finger back and forth. She had a very confident face.

“Yes! Lisian should just stay and rest. You had a hard time cooking and cleaning today.”

“If there is a dangerous situation, please call me.”

“Don’t worry.”

The problem was that there was no basis for that confidence, but..

“Then, I’ll go pick up a new tenant!”

Adelaide quickly stepped into the portal.

“Which level of demon should I get?”

The steps were very light. She had been doing well for a few days, and there was a bright smile on her face, which had already turned pale. From the look on her face, you’d think that she’d already gotten a number of tenants.

‘Would it be possible to get a higher level demon…?’

The number of distributions by level of demons was in the form of a pyramid.

There are so many low-level demons that you’d find one just by looking at the streets, mid-level demons are easy to find, but high-level demons are difficult to meet.

The only higher demon that Adelaide had ever met was Maximilian, the leader of the Morpheus Association. Oh, and the lawyer Jamie, who had her inherit a huge debt without a proper explanation, must also be a high-level demon, so there were two in total.

Above them was a demon called the ‘Devil’, but that’s out of the question in the first place. Even if they live for hundreds of years, it was difficult to meet them even once.

“It would be better to find a strong one among the mid-level demons.”

Adelaide nodded her head softly with a determination, as by any stretch of the imagination, it seemed impossible to invite a high-level demon like Maximilian to a small F-class dungeon. Still, it would be worth a try if it were a mid-level demon.

The dungeon owner herself was a mid-level demon (though she is weak enough to be defeated by a low-level demon), and the dungeon manager Lisianthus seems to be a mid-level demon as well (though his powers were very domestic), so it was natural that the next one would also be a mid-level demon.

Even the Greenville dungeons have great advantages that no other dungeons have. That is, special accommodation is provided.

Although many dungeons provide room and boarding, the dishes prepared by Adelaide’s best chef, Lisianthus, are by no means common.

And while there were only a few rooms, all the spaces are cute and cozy thanks to the interior sense of Lisianthus. There’s even an artificial sun, so it’s special.

‘Under these conditions, I can pick and choose! Should I conduct an interview?’

Thanks to the use of the dungeon expansion magic stone, the rooms have increased by two, so they should be able to get two more people. In particular, one of the rooms is quite large, so it may fit several people at once. Adelaide smiled satisfactorily at this hopeful thought.

She reached her destination thanks to the quick moving ladybug. With the help of Lisianthus, no time was wasted because candidates were selected in advance.

“What is it, a Succubus?”

“Succubus? Are you from Belial? Or Esperanza?”

“Oh, how pretty!”

When they saw Adelaide descending from the sky riding a ladybug, some of the mid-level demons began to chatter. Since most of the succubi only resided in Belial, her existence seemed interesting.

What was strange for them was the same with Adelaide. It was because they were a race she had never seen in Belial.

The race is called Durahan, a demon in the form of a knight, wearing iron armor and riding a horse. Its biggest feature was that it doesn’t have a head.

‘Where do I look?’

She was so curious, but now wasn’t the right time to bring it up, so Adelaide held in her curiosity.

She hurriedly got off the ladybug’s back and paid for it.

“Wait a minute, I’ll be back soon.”

Upon requesting this, the ladybug charged a separate waiting fee. She reluctantly handed another coin.

As if satisfied, the ladybug said, “Quick-quick”.

As a result, Adelaide, who cleared her throat, opened her mouth with a loud voice.

“Hello everyone! My name is Adelaide, the owner of a dungeon nearby!”

It had been a long time since she had raised her voice like this, so it was very awkward. However, she continued her words while maintaining an imposing look like a pro dungeon master.

I’m here to recruit new demons! It would be very favorable to you. From high-quality meals prepared by the chef himself, comfortable accommodation with a separate bathroom, and an artificial sun provided so that you can get sun without leaving the dungeon! We offer all of these for just 10 Hellas a month!!

In an instant, there was a commotion all around. It was natural. This sales statement, which only summarized the strengths of Greenville Dungeon, was fascinating even for Adelaide. When you hear it, it seems like a dungeon that was at least C-class, but if the monthly rent was 10 Hellas, it was no different.

Adelaide was ashamed that all of these advantages were in fact achieved by Lisianthus, and vowed to repay him with good results.

“We will only hire one person! If you are interested, please sign the contract here.”

A thick contract fluttered in her hand. It was a contract with as much useless information as possible, hiding the dungeon’s shortcomings behind it. Made in reference to her own past, when she was deceived by Jamie.