novelThe Owner's Office
| ← Ch.051 | Ch.053 → |
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Edited By: Sebas Tian
In the southern region of the demon world, there hasn't been an owner in over 1, 000 years.
After Mammon, the King of Greed, disappeared, the House of Mammon quickly fell and they lost most of their dungeons and territories.
The kings that were hiding under the King of Greed were eating a lion's corpse greedily.
The empty southern region was like that corpse.
For the ones that either had no value, were difficult to devour or couldn't be devoured, they combined it together.
Corpses were stacked on the field.
A foul smell spread due to the wind and the sound of crows cawing filled the night sky.
Large beasts were sitting in the middle of the field and it was questionable whether they could be called wolves. And a man was standing in front of those wolves.
They were wearing black armor that covered their body. The color of their hair was as dark as their armor and it was so long that it started dancing in the wind. They had a short mustache on their thin face, but it was messy.
The demon, Embrio.
That was their name.
The battle ended yesterday afternoon. The dungeon wasn't the only place where battles took place in the demon world. In order to stop them from gaining more power, the owners nearby teamed up and Embrio attacked them by boldly ambushing them.
The battle lasted all day and in the end, Embrio won.
There were four owners that teamed up.
Among the four, two of them lost their lives here. The other two ran away to their dungeons. They probably increased their defenses or reached out to the owners in the south to gather new alliances. Embrio might be attacking the other owners in order to gain a little bit more power.
It didn't matter which side it was.
If he wanted to, he could barge into their dungeons and cut their heads off. But he didn't do that.
If his power grew too fast, then it would catch the attention of the "kings."
An owner that was a bit stronger.
The one that appeared a few times in the empty southern lands during the past 1, 000 years and they were like the darkness within the empty southern lands.
Being recognized at their current level was enough.
If the "King of Violence" started making a move, they wouldn't be able to handle it. If she started moving, then the "King of Gluttony" would abandon Embrio without any hesitation.
The first thing was to create chaos in the empty southern region.
To break the peace like when pebbles are thrown on top of a still lake.
A different smell was mixed into the dry wind.
The wolves that were peacefully lying on the ground started raising their heads one by one. There were some that started growling and there were others that quietly put their guards up.
Embrio felt a presence too. But instead of turning around, they started counting. After the young wolves' growling became louder, they slowly turned around as if they realized it after hearing the sound.
"The king has recognized the victory. It's an undeserved honor, so be thankful about it."
The rough and gloomy voice could be heard from the ground. They were the only contact to the King of Gluttony and they have never shown themselves before.
Embrio bowed his head towards the surface of the ground. He showed his respect through a restrained movement.
The ground didn't answer. But he felt a stare that felt like he was being pierced with swords.
"Embrio. Stay devoted to your role."
With a deep warning, the presence disappeared. After some time had passed, Embrio was able to fix his posture.
A follower of the King of Gluttony.
They were a very good supervisor.
They didn't like Embrio and didn't try to hide it.
A direct and arrogant person isn't able to see the things that are right under them. Their suspicion and hasty judgement towards Embrio became the shadow beneath their feet.
The King of Gluttony was thinking about putting the empty southern region into his hands by using Embrio.
They started off as a low-rank starving demon and after climbing the ladder, they became the King of Gluttony. They were cautious and persistent and they were probably working on several other plans that Embrio didn't know about.
Will they be able to use him?
Embrio turned around again and looked towards the south. The wolves were like his friends and brothers and they also looked in the same direction.
The empty southern region was abandoned.
But it was also a useless region that no one claimed.
And if they were to unify this land?
A dry wind blew.
The wind that was filled with the smell of blood was headed towards the south.
&
Strike while the iron is hot was a saying that popped into Yong-Ho's head often.
After finishing the meeting with the key figures of the dungeon, Yong-Ho immediately suggested that they find Kaiwan's office.
The spirits assumed that the earliest they would leave would be tomorrow morning, so they were surprised.
But Yong-Ho had his reasons.
First, he didn't want to delay the dungeon rearrangement time.
It was better to rearrange the dungeon as soon as possible. If searching for the office is delayed by a day, then the rearrangement would be delayed by a day as well.
It was probable that no one knew that Yong-Ho had defeated Foras. But that didn't mean he could put his guard down. He didn't know how the other owners would move if they found out. It was better to increase the dungeon's defense as soon as possible.
Second, he didn't need a lot of time to search for it.
It was more of an assumption rather than a confirmation, but Yong-Ho thought of something.
Through the dream, he was somewhat able to check the location of the office. Kaiwan was very fond of the gold mine and placed the office near it.
The group of Crazy Ants that took over the gold mine were wiped out. Thanks to the group of Crazy Ants, he didn't see any other dungeon monsters, other than the Slimes. There was a high possibility that the area near the office has been taken over.
Of course, everything was an assumption. But Yong-Ho really believed in those assumptions.
Rikum agreed with Yong-Ho without any hesitation.
Even though they were acknowledged as a key member, they didn't really know about the House of Mammon's situation. And it's only been a day since they changed from prisoners to employed spirits, so it wasn't easy for them to go against Yong-Ho.
Skull said their name like always and Catalina's expression told him that she was going to follow him without questioning him.
Eligor was the only one who was able to decline Yong-Ho's suggestion, but after looking at Yong-Ho, he ended up agreeing.
"Please don't overdo it."
Since the last agenda on the list was confirmed, the meeting was over. Yong-Ho headed towards the gold mine and Catalina was the only one that accompanied him. Skull was going to follow, but Eligor gave an excuse and dragged Skull with him. And Eligor randomly winked towards Yong-Ho.
"Even though the Crazy Ant colony has been wiped out, there's still a small amount of Slimes left."
"It may be unexpected, but please be careful."
While listening to Lucia's voice, Yong-Ho recalled the Slime.
What kind of difference was there between the spirit Slime that was sold at the dungeon shop and the Slime that invaded near the gold mine?
Salamander was a dungeon monster that he registered as a spirit, so if he did the same thing to Slime, how useful would they be?
'I could create a falling trap and fill the hole with Slimes... '
Even though they all looked the same, the strength of the acidity and battle methods differed immensely depending on the race.
Most owners would gather a bunch of Slimes and after the battle, they would use the Slimes to either clean up the corpses or trash.
As he was imagining about different things while walking, he arrived at the gold mine fairly quickly.
The sleepy Catalina bit her lips a few times to stay awake and Yong-Ho concentrated to remember the sight he saw in his dream.
It was a sight that would've made Eligor release a deep sigh, but both of them were somewhat doing the best they could in the task that they were given.
The gold mine was as big as the throne room and it was quiet. Like Lucia mentioned, a few Slimes were wondering around in different places, but they didn't look hostile.
Yong-Ho looked both ways while standing in the entrance and then walked towards the left wall.
This was the unknown territory.
But Yong-Ho had the best guide that was acknowledged by all.
The power of Greed, which was one of the Seven Deadly Sins.
Greed responded to Yong-Ho's will. In order to fulfill his desire, they started sniffing after the item that had value.
The invisible power stretched out in all directions with Yong-Ho as the center.
A part of it wrapped around Catalina and another part headed towards the gold mine.
But what Yong-Ho wanted right now was different.
Yong-Ho concentrated. He recalled Kaiwan's face and her office.
Greed's energy gathered into one after it split off into different directions. Like a compass, it guided Yong-Ho.
After carefully walking while placing his hand on the wall, Yong-Ho stopped. Without saying a word, Lucia sensed Yong-Ho's will. A place that wasn't blocked. Lucia found an inactivated room and activated it to create a path.
Yong-Ho maintained his concentration. Catalina breathed as quietly as she could and followed behind him.
Another room was activated.
Yong-Ho and Catalina both stopped.
A crest of a wolf swallowing a moon.
The same crest that was in the armory appeared on the door in front of them.
It was shabby and dirty. Unlike the armory, he could feel how much time had passed just from looking at the door.
After taking a deep breath, Yong-Ho signaled Catalina with his eyes. They each grabbed a handle and after opening it at the same time, they hid their bodies towards the wall.
Nothing happened. He was worried that there would be a dungeon monster inside, but it must've been a baseless worry.
After exchanging eye contact with each other again, they entered the office. Lucia spoke.
"I'll begin the activation process for the office. Please wait a moment."
Since it wasn't a big room, it was activated pretty quickly. Yong-Ho's room was big enough to place a small table and a straw bed, but this room looked two times, no, three times bigger than this.
Just like the door, the dust in the room showed how much time had passed. On top of that, it didn't smell good. The Crazy Ants or the Slime must've infiltrated the office because things were damaged in different areas of the room.
Yong-Ho briefly looked around the entire room.
It had almost the same layout as the dream. There were more documents than books on the shelves and on the desk.
"Oh."
Catalina released a sound. When Yong-Ho turned around, he saw Catalina holding up an old teddy bear that was placed on the corner of the desk.
"Oh... do you think it belonged to Kaiwan?"
It was a cute teddy bear that wasn't too different from the ones in the human world.
Yong-Ho recalled Kaiwan for a moment.
Her vicious eyes reminded him of a black jaguar or a snake.
It was more fitting to say that it belonged to the owner from two generations ago. But when he thought about it, Kaiwan had a childhood too. If he assumed that it was a teddy bear that she liked when she was younger, then it wouldn't be weird at all.
When thinking about how she hugged the owner from two generations ago, treasuring a doll like this seemed natural.
"There's a lot of documents in the study."
"If you're going to move it, then I recommend calling the other spirits."
Yong-Ho shook his head.
Kaiwan's office was located outside of the gold mine room. Since he already decided to exclude the gold mine during the rearrangement, leaving the office as is was the best.
Yong-Ho closed his eyes and instead of following Greed's lead again, he followed his memories. He approached the dusty desk and opened the drawer that Kaiwan hastily hid the item in.
A thick, leather cover that didn't have any shape and a bracelet that had a small amount of mana greeted Yong-Ho.
It was the item he saw in his dream.
It could be a recorded report of the various inheritance that Kaiwan left along with the arena.
It was Kaiwan's journal.
&
As soon as it was morning, the spirits moved around busily under Eligor's command. Before the rearrangement, they had to move the various household items into the gold mine.
It was sad to say, but since the House of Mammon's dungeon didn't have a lot of items, it didn't take a lot of time.
Rearranging the entire dungeon was an extremely dangerous task.
The dungeon becomes powerless during the process. Even after the rearrangement process, the traps go missing, so it was still dangerous.
Like always, the dungeon shop's delivery man arrived right on time.
After handing over the war carriage and the valuable items, Yong-Ho received a box that contained various materials and spirits. Instead of heading towards the gold mine room, he turned his back towards the dungeon entrance and met Eligor.
"I'll be back."
"I wish you good luck, sir."
It's been three days since he took down Foras.
Now was the only time he could rearrange the dungeon without gaining attention from others, but now was also the only time where Yong-Ho could go outside of the dungeon and inspect other areas.
Foras's successor didn't have the power to attack the House of Mammon.
The other owners were more likely to target Foras's dungeon rather than the House of Mammon since it was closer.
On top of that, if the owner knew about Yong-Ho and Foras's dungeon battle, then they're even more likely to target Foras's dungeon.
To the owners, the House of Mammon was considered a mysterious opponent and since Foras's dungeon lost their owner, they were powerless.
Sitri said it before.
He needed to know the method of obtaining information outside of the dungeon shop.
He couldn't just stay inside the dungeon.
He himself had to look at the empty southern region himself, know what the demon world was like, and what the current situation was.
"I'll protect you with my life."
"Skulllll!"
Eligor couldn't get rid of his anxiety, so Catalina stood in front of him and spoke.
With the fist that was holding the hammer, Skull tapped on his chest as if he was saying to leave it to him. Rikum, who had the role of the guide, told Eligor not to worry too much.
"Let's hide the fact that I'm an owner and say that I'm a wandering demon. That'll make it a lot more comfortable and safe. And I'm pretty strong now, aren't I?"
Aamon was placed on his waist like a sword and after tapping on them, Yong-Ho started bluffing, which made Eligor smile warmly.
"I'll be waiting for you."
"When you come back, you'll be surprised by how much the dungeon has changed."
"You have to register the Princess Ant as a spirit and you have to analyze Kaiwan's journal as well, so please hurry back."
"Got it? Hurry."
Yong-Ho answered both Eligor and Lucia with a smile.
And during that time, the Orcs must've heard something from the Goblins because they became even more obedient and showed their respect towards Yong-Ho and expected great things from him.
Since the Goblins didn't know exactly what the Power of Evolution was, they must've interpreted as a blessing that allows you to become stronger.
After talking with all the spirits, Yong-Ho left the dungeon with Catalina, Skull and Rikum.
"It's this way."
They brought out the four horses that were left after selling the rest to the dungeon shop.
Rikum and Skull took the lead while Yong-Ho and Catalina followed behind them.
Out of the many free cities that existed within the empty region.
They headed towards Nuremberg because that's where the pub was located.
~The Owner's Office~ End.
| ← Ch. 051 | Ch. 053 → |