I headed to the lowest floor where Veldora resided and set about furnishing the interior.
I pulled a complete set of furnishings from my stomach and arranged them inside the block-partitioned rooms.
Since I was going for ambiance, I couldn't very well put them on display outside.
I replicated the things Veldora was fond of and set them up for him.
Once I finished decorating the room, I had him release Demon Aura from the center of the hundredth floor.
Veldora carefully released his aura, successfully unleashing it without causing an explosion.
The inner walls of this room were made of ore.
Not that it mattered—they'd be bathed in so many Magicules they'd transform into
It was also a cost-cutting measure.
Incidentally, this labyrinth's first floor was a 250-meter square.
It was spacious enough to rival the Tokyo Dome, but it grew narrower with each descending floor.
The design was meant to facilitate the dispersal of Demon Aura.
Veldora's room was a 100-meter square.
Pretty spacious, but it would feel cramped once Veldora returned to his original size.
I decided to expand it if any issues came up and kept an eye on things.
For the record, the Underground Labyrinth fell under
The Demon Aura rose as planned, ascending through each floor.
Since we hadn't partitioned the space with walls yet, it filled the open area unimpeded. Success.
Now all that remained was to wait for monsters to spawn.
Once Veldora reverted to human form, I moved on to the next phase.
First, a check of the traps.
· Poison Arrows — Poison-coated arrows that fly in from seemingly nowhere.
· Poison Swamp — A swamp that looks poisonous because it is. Step in and you'll take poison damage plus status ailments.
· Spinning Floor — Disorients your sense of direction. You'll come to appreciate the importance of mapping!
· Moving Floor — Floor panels that start racing on their own. Genuinely terrifying.
· Severing Wires — Pass through without noticing and your head falls right off. Particularly vicious when combined with a Moving Floor.
· Pit Trap — More than the fall damage, what waits at the bottom is what's truly scary.
· Fake Treasure Chest — Yay, a treasure chest? Sorry, it's me!
· Exploding Treasure Chest — Yay, a treasure chest! You explode.
· Monster Room — Hello there! Finally, I get to eat!
· Sealed Room — Light a fire inside, and…
· Dark Floor — Bringing a torch is just common sense, right? Don't have one? I'll sell you one at a premium!
· Low Ceiling Floor — I really don't want to run into a monster while crawling on all fours…
· Terrain Effect Floor — What the heck is this?! Why is there a volcano inside a labyrinth?!
I rattled off traps as they came to mind.
Almost all of them were possible, I was told.
The Terrain Effect Floor, however, would be tough to install. Yeah, a volcano was a bit much.
Ideally, I'd wanted entire floors with effects like scorching heat, freezing cold, or blizzard storms—each one functioning as a natural disaster trap—but…
"No way, absolutely not! There's no way I could maintain that kind of energy!"
Ramiris shut that down immediately, as expected.
Fair enough—I was asking for too much.
Just as I was about to give up on the idea, a familiar voice spoke up. One from someone who shouldn't have been there.
"Should I go capture a"
Fire Dragon "or an"
Ice Dragon "that's living somewhere and bring it back?"
I turned around and caught sight of silver twin tails.
"Huh…? Why are you here, Milim…?"
The hundredth floor underground.
That is to say, on the freshly built lowest level of the Underground Labyrinth, the beautiful Demon Lord girl stood there with a serene smile.
"Hmph. I had a feeling something interesting was going on. Excluding me from the fun—that takes some nerve."
She tossed her nonexistent chest out and struck a proud pose.
As always, she was dressed head to toe in black, but the Dragon Knuckles on both her hands glinted with a dull, menacing light.
Well, she had a nose for this sort of scheme, after all.
There was truly no hiding anything from Milim.
Besides, reasoning with Milim was pointless from the start.
Even if she showed up here, it wasn't all that surprising.
Milim and Veldora had stared each other down for a moment before shaking hands and becoming instant friends.
If these two started fighting, it would be catastrophic.
I was relieved they got along.
"Sorry about that. I didn't mean to exclude you. I was planning to invite you once things were ready."
"Oh really? But participating from the planning stage seems way more fun!"
"Yeah, I guess it does. So, is your country going to be okay?"
She was a Demon Lord too.
On top of that, she'd absorbed the territories of two former Demon Lords—
Was it really okay for her to be wandering around like me? (Wait, me? I'm fine. Everyone's competent back home; it's better if I stay out of their way.)
When I asked, she averted her gaze.
"Well, yeah. See, I'm so capable and all…
This absolutely has nothing to do with me hating studying and running away!"
Got it.
Frey or someone had probably compiled a summary of the nation's current situation and handed it to Milim to study.
And she'd gotten fed up with it and bolted. That was the real story.
"No way! I'm absolutely joining too!"
She cut me off before I could say a word.
Sharp instincts as always.
Whatever—she wasn't the one who'd get yelled at. I was.
More importantly though.
"Fine, you'll be the one getting yelled at, so let's put that aside for now.
About what you said earlier—capturing dragons and bringing them back. Can you really do that?"
"Ugh… So I will get yelled at, huh? Well… I suppose there's nothing to be done.
They say adventure always comes with danger, after all.
I can capture dragons, yes. Want me to go do it?"
"Oh, you'd do that? What kinds are there?"
Milim, still dreading the scolding but looking like a kid who'd skipped homework to go play.
Well, it couldn't be helped. She'd chosen this path herself.
After a moment's deliberation, Milim cheerfully pivoted to explaining the dragons.
Veldora didn't seem interested in dragons at all.
Ramiris was getting in Milim's face—"What are you even doing here?!"—and getting grabbed for her trouble.
According to Milim, there were four species of dragon: Fire Dragon , Ice Dragon, Wind Dragon, and Earth Dragon.
There were apparently mutant variants and specially evolved individuals too, but as species, it came down to those four.
She couldn't capture a Dragon King, she said, but any adult dragon that wasn't a King was fair game.
With that, we could now bring to bear influences comparable to terrain effects.
I decided to place the dragons on the lower floors.
I hadn't really thought about the power levels, but in truth, a single dragon was A-rank.
A six-person party of Holy Knights could barely manage to take one down.
And if it was an elemental dragon, the difficulty only went up—something I only learned afterward. Not that I let that stop me from deciding placement.
The strength ranking went Fire > Ice > Wind > Earth.
This applied to young dragons; with old dragons, the rankings would shift. In truth, whichever dragon could use its abilities most skillfully won.
If it came down to brute force, though, this was the order.
So I set them up like this: Floor 99: Inferno Cell. The final gate, wrapped in searing flames. Heat-resistant equipment mandatory. What waits beyond!?
Floor 98: Glacial Cell. Stop moving and you die. Can you endure it with cold-resistant gear?
Floor 97: Thunder Cell. Lightning rains down from the heavens. Whether you break through is a matter of luck!
Floor 96: Annihilation Cell. Earthquakes of savage violence mock those who've made it this far. Know the fury of dragons!
I designated them as ultra-high-difficulty terrain effect floors.
The dragons could also feed on the Magicules Veldora released, so they'd live there without issue.
I didn't need to micromanage these floors. I'd just let Milim's captured dragons build their dens and be done with it.
As for the floors in multiples of ten, I'd set those up as safe zones.
Well, provided the adventurers could get past the boss room at the top of each staircase first.
We could have them deposit the "Magic Crystals," drop items, and equipment they'd acquired there, or sell Recovery Potions and similar goods at a premium.
Setting up a place to eat might also be nice, though more people would probably prefer to step outside and rest.
That depended on the situation, though.
The first floor would be easy enough for beginners to tackle safely.
I'd also widen the corridors in the maze section so people wouldn't get too lost.
That said, at 250 meters square, it was still pretty vast. The kind of floor where you'd walk forever and come away with nothing.
From the second floor onward, no more coddling.
That was where all the traps came into play.
Still, "no coddling" didn't mean I'd go all-out before the tenth floor. I kept it accessible so people could push through without too much trouble.
If the difficulty was too extreme, no repeat visitors would come back. That was unacceptable.
And so, the four of us deliberated back and forth, setting up each floor one by one.
After about three days, the rough layout was finally complete.
We exchanged satisfied nods, savoring the sense of accomplishment of a job well done, and left the labyrinth behind.
※Incidentally, it goes without saying that the next time we visited, it was overrun with monsters.
Milim set off on her dragon-capturing journey.
With monsters, exterminating them would be the end of it, but dragons were different.
The captured dragons would be added to Ramiris's forces.
Here was the astonishing thing: within a labyrinth created by the skill Labyrinth Creation, Ramiris's subordinates became immortal.
Ramiris herself would vanish if killed, but her subordinates could revive from designated record points.
The subordinates were limited to those bound by covenant or recognized by her, but there was no denying it was a terrifying ability.
This was the primary reason I'd wanted
Even if Ramiris herself wasn't much of a threat, her forces within the labyrinth were invincible.
Without subordinates, though, the ability had been completely meaningless for her.
Beretta, for his part, had been busy serving tea and acting as an attendant without a single complaint.
Really, if Beretta wished for it, serving Ramiris might not be a bad thing for him.
"But now, for the first time, I finally have real subordinates!"
Ramiris was overcome with emotion.
She must have been incredibly lonely being on her own. I looked over at Beretta.
"Hey, Beretta. Would you like to become Ramiris's true"
servant ?"
I'd been thinking about this for a while. If Beretta wanted it, I'd transfer his allegiance.
If he was reluctant, I'd bring him back under my wing and find Ramiris a new subordinate instead.
Beretta answered without hesitation: "If that is permissible, then I would like to swear my loyalty and become Lady Ramiris's"
servant ."
Good for you, Ramiris. Turns out you were more popular than you thought.
I nodded.
"Very well. Beretta, from this day forward, you shall serve Ramiris!"
I made that declaration, released the Master Key , and transferred ownership to Ramiris.
She stammered in confusion, unable to keep up with what was happening, but I paid her no mind.
"Ha ha! Thank you for everything until now. I will never forget the debt of being born into this world."
"Yeah, don't worry about me. From now on, protect Ramiris with everything you've got."
"Ha ha! I would give this life and more, without fail!"
I'd trust him on that. With Beretta, I could rest easy.
The transfer went smoothly. From now on, I held only the Vice Master authority.
Unless something happened to Ramiris, all commands to Beretta would go through her.
Ramiris, finally grasping the situation, exploded with joy.
She must have been over the moon. Way too hyper about it.
But this was for the best.
Controlling the dragons released into the labyrinth would prove inconvenient with just Ramiris alone.
Having Beretta there would solve that problem.
He'd served her before, after all—he wouldn't accept anything less than the position of First Attendant.
Veldora and I watched the frolicking Ramiris with a mixture of exasperation and fond amusement.
With the formal master-servant relationship established, Beretta became immortal within this labyrinth.
There was the caveat that he could only revive from the respawn point I'd designated, but he could now come back without limit.
If you considered an army in terms of defense, Ramiris's ability was terrifying.
It had simply been buried all this time because the user was Ramiris.
Not that I was planning to tell anyone, but with the right application, one could build an enormous force.
Even now, the mere fact that Beretta could revive multiple times was a threat.
Add in a few of the dragons Milim would capture, and before long, she might become a force to be reckoned with.
But then again—she was still Ramiris. I was sure it would be fine.
After all, this lovable fairy was just a lonely little thing at heart.
The Revival Bracelet, a resurrection item, also granted Ramiris the authority to resurrect its holder through her pre-set recognition.
It was useless outside the labyrinth, naturally.
I'd need to explain that thoroughly—otherwise someone was bound to misunderstand.
And so, with small details being confirmed one by one, the labyrinth steadily took shape.
"What exactly is this Sealed Room? Can something like this really be a trap?"
When Ramiris asked me that, I replied: "If you step into a room with no air all of a sudden, you'll collapse from asphyxiation. Worst case, instant death.
You have to be cautious before entering any room. That's the golden rule.
Check the room for poison, measure the air density. If you can't do that, you won't make it deep regardless.
In the worst case, you'd at least need to ventilate with a wind-type spell."
But she didn't seem to grasp it.
"I mean, I get that it's a vicious trap.
You… I've thought this for a while now, but you're terrifying.
Still, I'm impressed. I never would've thought of something like this…"
Ramiris gazed at the array of set traps and sighed in admiration.
A perfectly honest reaction, I suppose. In her previous world, anyone who'd been a gamer would've been familiar with these traps.
But trying to clear them in real life was a whole different story.
There were very few people who, like us, didn't need to breathe and were immune to poison.
I thought to myself: this really is shaping up to be one hell of a labyrinth.
The completed labyrinth was more than just "vicious" could describe.
(Well, of course it's vicious when you add monster placements on top of all those nasty traps.)
I could've sworn I heard a voice say that, but naturally, it was just my imagination.
However, the reality of it all would become apparent a little further down the road.
Once I'd gotten the labyrinth construction to a certain point, I headed back to town.
From here, Veldora and Ramiris could handle things on their own. They'd been watching me set traps with great interest, after all.
They'd asked several times if they could try, but I'd turned them down. Up through the tenth floor, joke traps would be a disaster.
Crush their spirits too early and the "customers"—adventurers—would never come back.
So I explained that, and in exchange for setting the difficulty to a clearable level, I left one floor apiece to each of them.
They might make something completely absurd, but since it was floors 95 and 94, it didn't matter too much.
Floors 91 through 93 I left open. Milim would probably want a shot at those too. We could fill those in later.
With that, I left things in their hands. They seemed to be having fun, which was all that mattered.
When I returned to town, Myourmile had already arrived.
He must have scrambled to prepare—he'd gotten here even sooner than I expected.
I provided the mansion I'd prepared in advance and had
I thanked Myourmile and dove straight into a meeting.
I explained the planned location for the arena, the staging town we'd set up nearby, and the plan to attract adventurers to the newly built Underground Labyrinth.
Rigurd and Myourmile were stunned by the proposal and listened with rapt attention.
Rigurd focused on how to handle the influx of people that would surely follow.
Myourmile threw himself into planning the martial tournament and the opening of the Underground Labyrinth.
Each of them let their minds run wild, calculating what was needed and what had to be prepared.
Then they each convened meetings with their respective teams.
I informed Rigurd that Myourmile's official position would be head of the Commerce Division.
I also asked him to take on the role of Public Relations head simultaneously.
Rigurd nodded and took responsibility for identifying available personnel and relaying the assignments to those who'd serve in each department.
And so, preparations moved forward steadily.
Myourmile was accepted by the residents of the Monster Country without a hitch.
All it took was my introduction and a round of self-introductions.
The smoothness was almost startling.
But seeing how Myourmile worked afterward, there never would've been complaints anyway.
He took command of his assigned subordinates in the blink of an eye.
He brought those who'd followed him along and divided up responsibilities among them.
Watching an entire organization materialize in no time flat was oddly exhilarating.
He was running both departments at once and yet positively brimming with energy.
For each of the nations he'd be inviting, he reached out to key figures beyond my own personal contacts.
Nobles and wealthy merchants from each city received invitations through Myourmile's network.
Work was progressing at a breakneck pace with the polish of a seasoned professional.
Even the other event—the tournament—pricing, rules, everything was falling into place.
The event management was being pushed forward with a force that belied it being his first time running one.
It seemed my choice of personnel had been correct.
Of all the ideas I'd had this time, hiring Myourmile was probably the best one.
Without his ability, this plan likely would have failed.
There was no way we could have handled things with this level of efficiency on our own.
I'd been fortunate to meet the right person at the right time.
For his part, Myourmile seemed captivated by the town's food, environment, and overall comfort.
"This… This can't be! This is more advanced than the royal capital!"
It had become something of a catchphrase for him.
I was glad he liked it.
But Myourmile's reaction was, more than anything, a guarantee that our plan would succeed.
He understood that better than anyone.
"Lord Rimuru, a plan of this caliber has no room for failure. With a foundation this well-built, anyone could lead it to success!"
He'd said it with such excitement.
"Anyone" was probably an overstatement, but it was nice to hear regardless.
And the preparations continued, and unfamiliar faces began appearing around town.
An unprecedented, passionate season was on the horizon!
That season would arrive any day now!