Perfect Dungeon

Building a dungeon with Olga.

This room is based on the Niteka design—a trap room that physically flings intruders out into the world when triggered.

I tested it myself once, just to make sure it actually worked, then returned to the dungeon—well and truly a dungeon now, the lair of Lira.

"Looks like it's coming together."

"Yes."

Olga nods, her young Eternal Slave face brimming with satisfaction.

"Maintenance is all that's left... Olga, come by occasionally to fix things. You can do it with Svetlana, if you like."

"Understood, sir. But, master..."

"Yes?"

"Master, you built this dungeon to protect her, right?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"Then you should give her a slave card too, sir."

The young Olga says this.

A slave card—something like a sub-card for DORECA.

There are some limits, but with this, you can use the same crafting ability as me.

"Sure, handing it over would be easier. You could maintain it yourself—add on, expand, build up whatever you want."

Yes

"But that’s out of the question."

"Why, now?"

"That's a special card handed only to slaves."

"Only slaves?"

"Only slaves,"

"Just Oliga and the others?"

That's the gist of it.

Nodding, I do.

—Charged ten thousand units of magic.

Oliga gasped, "Jean..."

Even at her young age, she wore the face of a grown servant, utterly undone by emotion.

I said it again.

Only my slaves get this. I didn’t give it to the Mias either.

Oliga's eyes flew open, bobbing up and down in agreement.

In truth, I can't give it to Rirya.

Just like its name suggests—Slave Card—it can only be handed over to someone who’s an Eternal Slave and mine, and only to slaves themselves.

It’s a physical limitation.

But regardless of that, even if I could hand it over, I have no intention of doing so.

Even if I could, I’m not giving power to anyone outside of slaves.

Only to these brave little creatures who truly look up to me—my special ones.

☆

“Lira.”

“Ah! Messenger-sama!”

“No, leave it. Just like that.”

Returning with Oliga, we came back to Lira’s place.

She started to rise when she saw me, but stopped mid-motion, hand still raised—still warming the egg.

“The dungeon’s mostly finished. Here’s the map.”

Handing over a rolled-up sheet of paper.

Special paper coded with DORECA.

“Details on each room, and explanations for anything you’ll need. Read it at your leisure when you have time.”

“Thank you so much!”

"Frankly, I’d say this dungeon’s become quite the challenge. Honestly, it’s not worth the effort to clear it. I even built in a way to exit midway. Unless you’re some kind of masochist, you won’t waste time stubbornly pushing through."

"Yes!"

"I’ll be back for maintenance and updates."

"...Um, are you leaving already?"

"Yeah."

I nod.

"Even I’ve stayed away from the kingdom too long. Gotta get back before things get messy."

"I see..."

Lirya’s shoulders slump.

"Cheer up. I’ll be back. Next time, bring the kid—"

I was about to say "show me the face," when—

"Oh!"

Lirya gasps.

"What is it?"

"Um... it looks like a frog."

"A frog? Me?"

"No, this one."

She points at the egg.

A frog—hatching.

The egg’s hatching!

Yes. Something’s changed in the egg she’s been warming all along.

After a little shiver, it cracked—crack, crack, splitting open.

It burst open, and out came a small—very young snake-woman.

A soft, plump little body, smooth scales gleaming.

Adorable… no, just plain cute.

She looked around, first at me.

"Mom?"

"Can talk already? No."

"Then… Mom?"

This time, she turned to Oliga.

"Oliga's a slave, that's all."

Oliga answered immediately—firm, a little sharp.

The little snake-girl finally faced Rirya.

"Mom?"

"Yeah."

"Mom!"

She called again, leaping into Rirya’s arms.

Rirya held her child close, stroking her with tender affection.

"Yeah, I’m your mom."

"Mom!"

They hugged, tangled in play, mother and daughter.

Boom!

A distant thunderclap rolled in.

"Kyaa… w-what?!"

Rirya clutched her child tightly, flustered.

"An invader, right? That was the sound of the ceiling collapsing."

"The ceiling?"

Rirya stared, stunned.

She waited a moment. No second trap triggered.

"Ah, right. If a trap fails and gets disarmed—Oliga."

"Be right back."

Oliga shot out from the queen’s chamber.

A little while later, the paper Rirya had just handed her began to glow.

"Wha—?!"

"Oliga just disarmed something. If a trap’s disabled without warning—like this—only the one who disarmed it knows. Shouldn’t happen, but if it keeps glowing, get to cover."

"Amazing… you can do something like that?"

"Thought of everything. Now I can raise my child in peace."

"Thank you so much! Um, messenger-sama…"

"What?"

Lira had that look—like she wanted something, all wide-eyed and pleading.

After fidgeting for a bit, she finally whispered, voice barely above a breath.

“Can I… get more eggs from you, messenger-sama?”

“Ah, sure.”

Lira’s face flushed bright red, and she threw herself at me.

I spent the whole night with her.

The next day, I confirmed ten eggs had been laid, then left—deep underground, leaving Lira’s nest behind.

I’d come back to see the new queen, I decided, heart full of quiet resolve.