novelKaiwan's Journal #1
| ← Ch.060 | Ch.062 → |
Edited By: Sebas Tian
While Yong-Ho was in the free city, the House of Mammon was going through major reorganization, so the passageways and the facilities changed a lot.
That's why, while they were walking towards the prison, Eligor was busy explaining the new layout.
"This is a single path that has the dungeon's first defense facility. Since we were so focused on making the length of the winding road longer, we missed the fact that the walls between the passageway became weak. To fix that, we fixed the thickness of the walls between the roads so that an entire room is almost able to fit in."
Since most of the inactivated rooms were completely empty, it's natural for it to be weak against Wall Break.
After he turned the corner on the newly reorganized passageway, he noticed that the walls between the passageway were stronger than before. As they filled the inactivated rooms, they created strong walls.
But that didn't mean they filled every room. In order to use the same tactics they used before in the activated rooms, they didn't fill some of inactivated rooms.
Unless the enemy had the ability to see through walls, it would be impossible for them to tell the difference between filled rooms and empty rooms.
'I feel like someone like that will appear later on though. '
Magic existed within the demon world. See Through magic would be useful and it probably did exist.
But that was something he could think about later. And even if someone did have that magic, it would be difficult for them to break through a wall that was over 100 meters thick.
"We're planning on installing the traps that you purchased from the dungeon shop in the passageway. We also created a guard post in a corner so that those that are on guard duty can rest."
Since they were near a corner, Eligor opened a door that was attached to the wall. It was a small room that could fit two, maybe three guards. There was a makeshift bed and some chairs.
The Orcs that were already in the room stood up from their seat and showed their respect to Yong-Ho. They were armed with the weapons that they didn't sell to the dungeon shop.
Before, there were three corners and now, there was only one corner. Even though the passageway was shorter than before, they didn't have to worry about the walls breaking like before.
As they walked down the path, a large room that was probably the size of five rooms appeared.
Eligor spoke again.
"It's the first interception area that you requested for. It will be empty and while the enemy is delayed on the passageway, the spirits will be placed here."
The interception area wasn't just a large room. It was still incomplete since it was created based on the dungeon's defense, but there were traps installed within the room. It felt like they created a small castle inside the room.
Eligor pointed at the magic circle that was installed in the center of the fortress.
"Since the Treant is the only spirit that tends to remain in one spot, that's where they'll be standing. And you might also know this, but... the Treant is currently returning."
Since the Treant's movement was slow, despite the group looking thoroughly at the passageway, they still haven't reached the group.
Catalina smiled awkwardly and Skull stood on top of the magic circle with their arms spread out. It was as if they were trying to act like the Treant.
After passing the first interception room, an intersection appeared.
A dungeon was an "unknown space" for the enemy. Because of that, having a slightly winding road can confuse the enemy and it can even lead them to split up.
If they made the dungeon an actual maze, then it'll make it difficult for them to live there, but creating a winding road will increase the dungeon's defense.
Eligor was standing in the middle of the intersection and pointed both left and right.
"With you in the center, the right leads to the warehouse. The warehouse is located on both sides of the passageway. It's filled with wood and stone, which will be useless to the attackers."
Yong-Ho just nodded his head. He did ask Eligor to fill it with items that the enemy would find useless and it seemed like Eligor took care of it.
"The road on the left is just a long passage. We can install something new later... For the spirits that are part of the intercepting group, I created a room where they'll be able to drink water and also use the restroom."
It meant that the real road that leads to the inner part of the dungeon was just a straight passage.
'Hm, I did order it, but I feel a bit nervous. '
When people are confronted by a situation they have no information on, they usually have the same reaction each time.
If they were to choose between one and two, they would usually choose one or if they were at an intersection, they would usually go straight.
If our purpose was to confuse the enemy, even if we have to twist the path more, shouldn't one of the paths connect with the real path?
'Well, it can be fixed later. '
Instead of looking at both sides, he walked forward. Even though he should've thoroughly looked through the dungeon, he had to go to the prison.
As he moved ahead, the second interception room appeared. The size was similar to the previous one, but it seemed more like a vacant lot.
"As of right now, the second interception room is the final defense line. We're thinking about adding more defense mechanisms based on your orders, sir."
They planned this dungeon reorganization for a long time. Since there'll be a lot more fighting spirits later on, so it was only right to create a lot of interception rooms like this.
When they passed the room, their living spaces finally appeared. The spirit's dormitory and storage were located on the left and right side of the intersection.
They created two dormitories because of the spirits that will join later on, but it was also made to separate the Orcs and the Goblins' resting area.
There's nothing more important than sleeping well. Also, the dormitory had to be a place where the spirits could comfortably rest after working hard all day.
Even though he hasn't seen the Orcs bother the Goblins, the two races had different personalities and tasks. It was better to provide separate spaces before there were any issues.
Near the storage, the restroom, a drinking fountain and a cafeteria for the spirits were located.
'I should hire a cook too. '
Even though he instructed them to build it, the cafeteria and the kitchen were pretty big. Out of all the spirits in the House of Mammon, about a dozen spirits actually had "meals."
He couldn't just let Eligor prepare food for that many spirits. Yong-Ho felt the need to hire a professional cook sometime soon.
'So that's why there's a lot of employees at a mansion. '
Yong-Ho recalled the British films that showed the lives of 19th century nobles and nodded his head.
Even though there wasn't much, Eligor was happy just looking at the large kitchen and when they moved on, he continued guiding Yong-Ho.
When they passed the second intersection, there was a third interception room that hasn't been installed yet and empty spaces that would be used later on.
After stopping at a crossroad, Eligor spoke.
"If you continue down this path, a passageway that's connected to the throne room will appear. It's a crossroad and it won't just appear like before. If you go to a different crossroad, a passageway that connects to the armory, gold mine, a storage for the gold and a bathhouse will appear."
Catalina, who was quiet all this time, became excited when she heard bathhouse. He knew how she was feeling just from looking at the way her tail wagged.
Instead of Eligor guiding him to it, he just explained it because Yong-Ho had to visit the prison.
Following Eligor, Yong-Ho entered the passageway where the prison and torture room was located.
When they entered, Eligor's face became lively. Since it was a newly built prison, the usual heavy and dirty smell wasn't there. Yong-Ho took a deep breath as if the air was different here.
Like the other facilities, the prison was also big as well.
They split the one prison into four rooms. They placed all the rooms on one side of the wall so that the prisoners couldn't see each other and the torture room was located across from them. It was Eligor's dream palace.
Eligor opened the door to the first cell.
Inside the clean cell, a hairy Dwarf was lying on the ground. Yong-Ho looked at them from the entrance and then turned his attention to Eligor.
"I thought you said you didn't torture them."
"I swear on Master Mammon that I didn't. They were like that from the start."
Yong-Ho looked at the Dwarf again.
Besides the fact that they didn't have any energy, their eyes looked as dead as a fish. They didn't move even when someone walked into the room and that seemed unusual.
"They're not... dead, are they?"
"They're not. They must've given up because they were filled with despair. If possible, I recommend returning them."
Eligor whispered.
Yong-Ho didn't answer right away and started organizing his thoughts.
Most of the spirits that he purchased from the dungeon shop were simple.
The Goblins liked Yong-Ho and the House of Mammon because he evolved them, gave them food and a place to sleep. For the Treant, having a place to plant their roots was enough.
The Golems were inanimate from the beginning and even though Yong-Ho didn't know what Skull was thinking, they seemed happy.
Even though Eligor and Catalina were spirits, they were originally a part of the House of Mammon and they were proud of that.
The newly recruited Orcs were free spirits, not servants. Even though they were kind of forced to join because they lost the battle, they weren't dissatisfied with the current situation.
But the Dwarf inside the cell was different.
According to the information that he read at the time of purchase, that Dwarf wasn't even born in the demon world. Like Yong-Ho, they were born in a different world and after losing a dungeon battle with a demon king, they became their servant.
Yong-Ho used his imagination.
The warriors they fought along with all died.
After barely surviving, they were thrown into an unfamiliar world and because they became a servant, they were sold to different places.
It was a really depressing thought. There were probably people that would just follow along, but like Eligor stated, they probably gave up and became disabled.
'But. '
He wasn't going to give up right away.
On top of that, in the list of spirits that Sitri personally picked out, the word, "Recommended" was written on top of that Dwarf.
Of course there was no guarantee that Sitri helped without expecting anything back from the House of Mammon. But when he thought about their relationship, she probably wasn't recommending a useless, disabled spirit just to get rid of them.
Yong-Ho walked inside of the prison. Catalina changed to her fighting stance in case something unexpected happened and even though Skull was dragging themself along, they didn't leave Yong-Ho's side.
Even though Yong-Ho walked closer to them, the Dwarf didn't move at all. Yong-Ho activated the Power of Evolution. The information displayed before and after registering was different.
[Name: Bugrim]
[Race: Dwarf (M)]
[Class: Not a demon]
[Individual Trait]
[Simple-Minded / Diligent / Suspicious]
[Individual Skill]
[Stamina / Mana / Talent]
[Development Rate: 0/100]
[Mana# - ] - Damaged# Upon development, a greater development rate is required
[Talent Level 5# ★★★ (3)]
Before registering, part of the stats and level didn't show, so Yong-Ho just blinked his eyes.
It was high. They had potential and most of their stats were already well-developed.
Bugrim, the Dwarf, had outstanding skills.
'Their talent is level five?'
It was a level he's never seen before. Even Yong-Ho's mana was level four.
Just from their stats, it was obvious why Sitri recommended them.
'Now the question is, what do I need to do to motivate them?'
Yong-Ho looked at the stats again. He looked between the "damaged" mana and the mana that was showing under Individual Skill.
Yong-Ho tried to recall the dungeon shop's short introduction he read when he purchased Bugrim.
"A Dwarf from another world."
"They were part of the party that invaded the demon king, Aiduson's dungeon. The dungeon was connected to the other world."
"All of the members were killed."
"Aiduson gave this product to the dungeon shop and according to their description, the Dwarves that exist in their hometown are very skilled at creating weapons. They're more skilled than the Dwarves in this world."
"The Dwarves that were from the same world confirmed this product."
Compared to their skill, they were sold at a pretty low price.
They became a disabled servant after the dungeon fight.
Dead eyes.
The same race confirmed that they could create magic weapons.
Yong-Ho lowered himself. He spoke as he looked at Bugrim.
"You're unable to use your mana. I don't think it's completely impossible to heal you."
It was more like he was talking to himself.
But within that moment, Bugrim's eyes started shaking. Expectation was filled within their dead eyes, even if it was a little bit.
Yong-Ho looked at Bugrim again.
This time, Bugrim turned their head and looked at Yong-Ho.
~Kaiwan's Journal #1~ End.
| ← Ch. 060 | Ch. 062 → |