This night, Acropolis had a different atmosphere. Usually, the night was quiet, except in some places. However, tonight was different. There were countless Adventurers and Players roaming about the city. They seemed angry as they passed the main street several times.
Well, they were provoked, after all. And the one that provoked them was an Aqua Slime. An hour ago, an Aqua Slime appeared magically in front of the Adventure Guild. She laughed and mocked the Adventurers.
“Muahahaha! Foolish human! It is I, the Great Slimerin! I am here to inform you that I have taken over the control of your Dungeon! If you don’t want me to have control over your Dungeon, you should send your best Adventurers to conquer it! But if you can’t even catch me tonight, you don’t have a qualification to conquer my Dungeon! Muahahaha!”
After saying that, Slimerin played a bit with the Adventurers before she returned to the Dungeon through the teleportation gate. And now, the city was in chaos because of that. The Adventurers were looking for Slimerin angrily. They also involved some Knights on duty, as some Knights heard Slimerin’s proclamation as well.
It seemed the Dungeon would be lively in the near future. Whether that was good or bad for us, I didn’t know. Anyway, I had enough DP points to redecorate the Dungeon a bit so it made the invaders lose their wills to reach the thirtieth floor. Yes, even I lost my motivation when I thought about that floor. I started creating the Mirror Maze on the twenty-first floor. Even though I could pass through it, I really didn’t want to go to that maze. Well, if you only needed to follow the right side or the left side of the wall, it would be simple, but if you had to fight within it… would you still know which one was the right side and which one was the left side?
It cost me a good 300 DP just to redecorate that floor. I hadn’t even summoned the monsters yet. Seriously, if the Adventurers managed to reach that floor, I would ask Slimerin to harass them for sure. For example, appearing in the mirror so the Adventurers would attack the mirror instead of her.
Well, that was the idea. Anyway, I was prepared to receive my guests, no matter how many of them would come. As for Slimerin, she was sulking in the corner of the Dungeon because I forced her to act like that. By the way, I was the one who talked, so shouldn’t I be the embarrassed one? She sure was weird sometimes.
Anyway, I was waiting for the next morning to come.
…
The next morning. I yawned incessantly. I was too excited to sleep last night. Last night, it was not only the Adventure Guild that was on chaos, but it seemed the Alchemist Guild and the school was on chaos too. The Alchemist Guild was in chaos because of the letter I left for them, while the school was in chaos because of that same letter. After all, one of its students could take a person from a perfectly locked room without any trace at all, so the school sent the investigation unit to see the crime scene.
As for me, I meant, Fey, they sent some people too, but since I was hiding in the Dungeon that night, they couldn’t find me. By the way, the ones who knew my identity as both Fey and Faye besides me and Slimerin were the principal and the iron lady. The others didn’t know about it at all. So, when I went to school as usual to study, the iron lady called me to the principal room.
It was the third time I entered this room, apparently. The principal was not an old man with a long white beard and half-moon glasses, no. Actually, the principal was a girl and she looked around my age. Only several teachers knew about it, but the principal was a Goddess. Yep, she was a Goddess.
Unlike the silly Goddess, however, this Goddess that became a principal in this school was, well, didn't really care about justice or evil? Or rather than didn't care, she only cared about one thing. Anyway, she was not like the silly Goddess that looked at other existences as if they were all evil. How could I put it… well, she was almost similar to a scientist that forgot everything else except her experiments.
Even though I said that she was like a scientist, she was actually the Goddess of Magic. And like me, she lost her power and became a chibi version of herself. However, she was taller than me, and her every movement showed that she was born in a rich family.
“So, what did you do yesterday?” The Goddess of Magic, Magie, asked while looking out the window. The Iron Lady was not with us, she only brought me here and left after the principal asked her to leave.
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
“…what did I do… well, not much, I think?” I didn’t know how to reply to her.
Magie sighed and turned around to face me. “Fey, listen. In the Alchemist Guild, you open up a teleportation gate to the Dungeon, right? Don’t think that I don’t know about it, I’m the Goddess of Magic after all. So, I notice the peculiar Magic of your teleportation gate. And from that, I know that you are the new Dungeon Master in that Dungeon. As for the Aqua Slime, it must be this little girl here, right? So, you are Slimerin? Did your Master force you to do the embarrassing things you did last night? Hm, yes? Well, it seems everything is true then.”
Honestly, Slimerin and I didn’t say anything at all. But Magie had a kind of Magic Eyes that could detect the movement of Mana inside our body. So, even when we didn’t say anything, our Mana would react to her question and by looking at the reaction of the Mana, she could guess the truth. It was really a cheating ability.
“No, I don’t need to see your Mana to see what you are thinking right now.” Magie suddenly said that while facing me.
“…why did everyone can know what I’m thinking?” I muttered softly more to myself.
Magie seemed that she didn’t hear me though. “So, what is exactly the thing you want to do by doing that?”
I scratched my head, confused about where to start. Well, I should start from the beginning. “You see, the Alchemist Guild kidnapped me yesterday, so I had to escape and I used that Dungeon Magic to escape. It’s not my fault, alright? As for what Slimerin did last night… I want to promote my Dungeon. So, I asked her to invite the Adventurers to come to my Dungeon. Don’t worry, my Dungeon is not dangerous! I guarantee it!”
Magie sighed once again. “I want to see you as an evil being, but it seems you are just an idiot, huh? Is that the way you invite the Adventurers? Let’s not talk about how you invite the Adventurers first. Let’s talk about the Alchemist Guild. Do you know how much they are pressuring me to give you to them? Do you know the reason why they did it?”
What a rude thing to say. Why did she have to say evil being and idiot in one sentence? I couldn’t choose both options. As for the reason why the Alchemist Guild tried to capture me, I was not an idiot so I knew the reason why.
“Is it because I sell the potions at extremely low prices and it caused them to take a lot of loses, right?” I said, quite confidently.
Unfortunately, Magie shook her head. “That is just a minor thing. They don’t really care about it. What they care about is the fact that you can make better potions than them. They didn’t want you! What they want are your recipes! And they will do whatever it takes to get your recipes, understand?”
My recipes, huh?
I nodded in understanding.
“So, what do you plan to do?”
Magie asked again, but this time, I tilted my head, confused about her question. “What do you mean what I plan to do? I want to laze about in my Dungeon, of course. What else would I do?”
Well, I also planned to gather enough money to buy all the slaves from the slave market before destroying that slave market, but I wouldn’t tell her about it.
“I mean about the Alchemist Guild!” She snapped.
“Hm? Ah, Alchemist Guild, huh? What do you mean what I plan to do with it? I mean, I will sell my potions as usual at the Adventure Guild. If they can make better potions, they should do it, right? If they kidnap me, I would escape again and again.”
Ah, speaking of which, I should set a shop in the Dungeon and let the children run it. Yep, it would be tiring, conquering Dungeon without rest, so I should make a rest area. Perhaps after beating the Boss, huh? Or before beating the boss? The Adventurers could restock their potions if I put a shop before the boss fight, right?
“So, you won’t yield to the pressure?” Magie asked me. I looked at her again and stopped thinking about my Dungeon. I thought that she was the one who was pressured though, not me. I wasn’t pressured at all.
“Well, fine then, just do what you want to do. As long as you don’t disturb the balance of power in this Empire. By the way, don’t you want to sell the recipes to the Alchemist Guild?” Magie asked.
“Mm, actually, that is what I want to do. Well, not now, later, after I can guarantee my production force. I plan to sell the recipes for the Orange Potions and other lower-grade potions to the Alchemist Guild, naturally, with a high price, and after that, I start producing better potions with a slight increase in prices.” I said what I thought involuntarily. Well, it was not a bad plan, I believed Magie could understand it.
“…you sure you are not an Evil God? Or are you a God of Commerce?” Magie murmured something that I didn’t want to hear, so I ignored her.
“Master, your selective hearing is awesome.” Slimerin praised me, but I felt like it was a mocking so I flicked my finger at her. Well, it didn’t hurt any of us though, as my finger went through her aqua body easily.
“Anyway, I’ll tell the Alchemist Guild that the students are free to do what they want, as long as they don’t do crimes. Wait, you didn’t do any crimes yet, right?” Magie asked with suspicious tones.
How rude. I never did a crime in my whole life. The one who killed the Players was Slimerin, so I was innocent. Yet, I got EXP I needed to level up. Yep, I was innocent.
“Good. Anyway, stay low, alright?” Magie warned me.
“I think I’m always staying low-profile though. Oh, by the way, do I need another disguise? Slimerin can change my appearances easily, right? Mm, however, my name is the problem… Fanarie… Fey… Faye… how about Fairy?” I spoke without thinking much.
“…are you sure you want to be a Fairy that much?” Magie looked at me. Her expression was an expression of a tired one. She must be quite busy with her works, huh?
“…no, Fairy is a forever child creature. I didn't want to be so small forever.” I refused and thought of another idea. “How about Fae?”
“You know that Fae or Faeries are the evil versions of Fairies, don’t you? Also, they are forever child just like Fairies.” Magie commented.
“Tsk. How about Fey?” I asked again.
“That is just another word for Fairy! Why are you so fixated with your name! And you already use that name already, you forever child girl! Also, who said that you need another disguise?” Magie snapped again.
Well, I just thought that it would be a nice idea to change my appearances once in a while. Especially when you had a convenient Magic like [Disguise].
Well, more importantly, since I got to meet the Goddess of Magic, I should ask her about it. “Do you have a method to undo the Slave Crest without the Master’s permission?”
Magie looked at me with her sapphire eyes. It seemed she contemplated her answer for an instant, but in the end, she shook her head. “If Slave Crest could be easily undone, it wouldn’t be used all over the world like now, would it?”