It’s Dangerous Outside the Dungeon, Master

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– 1 –

“How do you feel?”

“I’m happy… because I’ve become a closer servant to you, Master!”

“Your sincerity is even more evident now.”

“Ah…!”

Hailey and her family became ‘Grendel’ after completing the Contract of Demonization.

Yet, even after becoming demons, they could still enjoy their noble lifestyles.

“Your appearance is unchanged, yet you’ve grown so strong…”

“Father, does this mean I can go to the Academy too?”

“Of course you can…! Rosi, you can too!”

“Wow…!!”

Grendel is a type of Green Skin monster that hides among the humans entering the Dungeon, causing chaos when the time for battle arrives.

In other words, it is one of the species capable of perfect mimicry of humans.

If a necromancer has a Cerebrum Skull, the Green Skin Dungeon Lord has this Grendel.

“Be cautious of our adversaries and avoid losing consciousness.”

“Yes…! I’ll do my best!”

With a body more powerful and efficient in magic than an ordinary human, they should be able to lead a richer life.

“If only they were careful about a few things.”

Grendel can perfectly mimic a human in appearance and can even produce red blood.

However, they are still distinctly ‘Green Skin.’

Their chameleon-like skin and blood merely allow them to take on a human guise; their original skin is green, and their blood is dark red.

So, losing consciousness and reverting to their true form would be a significant problem.

“There are also hidden issues…”

Cannibalistic Trait and Belligerence.

These two are typical characteristics of the Green Skin.

Both traits are antisocial in nature, which made their acquaintances a bit worried, but it was also true that they knew there was no need for concern.

When they saw the knights of Solemio who had already succeeded in demonization, Belligerence merely seemed rough due to blending with human personalities, and many were unaware of the existence of Cannibalistic Traits.

Unless, of course, in very rare cases where the two traits matched perfectly.

“I’m glad everyone likes it.”

Some might say that if they were going to become monsters, it would have been better to do so from the beginning.

In response to this question, I would say that the emotions of someone who has experienced demonization are greatly influenced by feelings they had before.

“Your happiness is my happiness.”

“I will do my best from now on.”

“I apologize for the outburst…!”

“I’m happy to serve a beautiful Master!”

Those who originally liked me end up liking me even more after turning into monsters.

The child before me was proof of that feeling.

“I’ve become prettier! Super pretty Master!”

The child’s appearance, beaming with unrestrained joy as she looked at me, sparkled. It was as if the cuteness from before had become even more pronounced.

The appearance of a deceptive entity tends to change to bait enemies into confusion.

Thanks to that, the family of House of Shum currently looked slightly ‘cooler’ than before, based on human aesthetic standards, and this would become even stronger over time.

“Rosi!”

“It’s fine. This is natural for children.”

I embraced the child, Rosemary, who stretched her arms toward me in friendliness.

Since I wasn’t that tall, it wasn’t a particularly natural scene, but I had no trouble lifting her.

It was more the child’s parents who seemed uncomfortable.

“M-Master…”

“Huh…”

Thinking it was sacrilegious, Hailey’s face turned completely pale. Gerald next to her was no different.

To their shocked faces, I gently reassured them.

“It’s just right for a child to have a hard time distinguishing between loyalty and affection. Let her be a little spoiled.”

“But…”

“Rosemary, you must grow wonderfully.”

Kiss.

“Yes!!”

Children should remain childlike.

They’ll learn as they grow.

Even when I assured them, they still didn’t seem completely reassured, so I pecked the child’s cheek, and only then did her face break into a bright smile.

The whole family.

“While the Academy is great, if you want her to learn something, it would be better to send her to me. I’ll find a suitable school or a private tutor for her.”

“If you could do that, it would be a lifetime honor…!”

“It’s something I should do, so don’t treat it as an honor. Your future is mine too, so I’m just taking care of what’s mine.”

I had no idea what might happen if I sent them to a human Academy.

It would be better to keep them under my supervision.

“It might be good to establish a few schools for those under my rule in the city that has become my territory.”

A school is a good place to cultivate loyalty, so it would be even better to gather all the children in my territory and raise them together.

Of course, it’s not that I want to raise someone like that mustached Yugen.

At most, it might be a prodigy school. Sometimes I might create talents that don’t exist to attach to them, but that’s a different matter.

Regardless, for the future of ‘my land’, and hence ‘my country’, this is one of the things I must take care of.

And additionally.

“Then…”

This school might also be able to fill the emptiness in my heart a little more.

– 2 –

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Teacher Mur.”

“It’s alright. It was quite impressive, Lady Libertus.”

Mur’s words were sincere.

This was a sight that any other demon would find hard to see in person.

“The process of a Dungeon Lord dominating humans.”

At least, she had never seen it in her lifetime.

The last time a Dungeon Lord rampaged safely across the continent was over 150 years ago.

Since then, those many established Dungeon Lords had all died in attacks from the combined forces of the entire continent.

Now only the areas ruled by six magical realms remained above ground, while the others were either dominated by humans or were hiding.

“However…”

Now before her eyes, there stood a Dungeon Lord.

Perhaps this one might accomplish something greater than all the countless Dungeon Lords who have perished.

No wonder.

“Good job, Grace.”

“Ah, no, not at all, Lady…”

“Go inside and rest. We’ll see each other in a little while.”

“Yes…”

She had already succeeded in grasping a human, or rather, a half-elf Cleric in her hands.

“How did you come to meet her?”

“Her? Are you talking about Hailey, or Grace?”

Come to think of it, this Dungeon Lord was addressing humans by name from the very beginning, unlike ordinary Dungeon Lords or demons who just called humans ‘human’ or ‘male human.’

As if showing some respect.

“It’s intriguing.”

This was a difference that Mur recognized only now, having heard it from the start.

There were many outstanding beings around this Dungeon Lord.

Including the unusually high-magic-level child mage who always stayed close to her.

“It’s Grace.”

“Well, we haven’t built enough trust between us yet to talk that far.”

“Ah…”

Mur was surprised that she had fleeting thoughts of rejection.

“My, oh my.”

She subconsciously felt it.

Standing beside this Dungeon Lord would be fulfilling both her identity and her curiosity.

“No way.”

But it might also be a suicidal act.

She was already affiliated with the Duke of Sloth, Belphegor, and Libertus’s position was incredibly precarious.

“There are plenty of Dukes on the continent already.”

Dukes of the magical realms are naturally the successors of the Demon Lord.

They wouldn’t want the presence of a junior who might chase after them, and if they found out about such existence, they would do anything to break the stairs that would bring them up.

Or tear that existence apart altogether.

In either case, there would be no benefit for Mur.

Yet still.

“That’s quite unfortunate.”

“Yeah. It’s regrettable.”

Mur couldn’t shake this feeling that suddenly came to her mind.

While desperately shaking her head, an image of herself bowing down to this small woman was already sketched within her heart.

– 3 –

Four worlds related to magic.

Among them, the Spirit Realm, one of the three worlds excluding the Material World of humans and the Demon World.

Thanks to Mur’s assistance, I was able to come to understand one thing about it through several encounters.

The Spirit Realm is a four-dimensional world composed of four coordinates: time, ‘existence’, ‘transcendence’, and ‘spirituality.’

“You understand it properly.”

“Indeed.”

“Yes. It differs slightly from existing theories, but the understanding of the magician themselves is more important, so let’s move on.”

The time in the Spirit Realm uses a timeline similar to the Material World but does not necessarily correspond to a 1:1 ratio.

In other words, to prevent wasting time, one must clearly recognize the coordinates of their own world.

“Thanks to you, so far. Thank you.”

“Not at all.”

I had been able to move back and forth between the Spirit Realm and the present world without deviating from the flow of my original world entirely due to Mur’s help.

Having help from a senior or teacher is incredibly important.

“This is a world that cannot be separated from the Material Realm.”

The curious thing about the Spirit Realm is that while it is dependent, it is independent to the extent that it cannot be accessed through ordinary means.

“Hmm.”

The remaining three coordinates cannot be separated from each other as if they form a three-dimensional structure.

Among them, the ‘existence’ coordinate indicates that all entities in the Spirit Realm are connected to entities in the Material Realm.

All the spirits or specters of the Spirit Realm.

In other words, souls cannot be separated from beings in the Material Realm, whether they be sentient beings or sometimes an object or a natural composition.

“Our souls are in the Spirit Realm of the Demon World. Therefore, when connecting the beings of the continent to the Demon World, the rituals to move those beings are necessary.”

“I understand.”

Thus, the name of one coordinate is ‘existence.’

It is the coordinate that determines where the soul is attached.

“All living beings belong to the Spirit Realm… is that it?”

“It’s an interesting fact. Our existence isn’t confined to here.”

“I see.”

The other coordinates, ‘transcendence’ and ‘spirituality’, exist together with this ‘existence.’

‘Spirituality’ is simple.

It is the coordinate distinction based on which aspect of the Spirit Realm the observer sees… in other words, whether they see a spirit or a specter.

But ‘transcendence’ is somewhat complex.

It is the coordinate indicating how well the soul that exists in the Material World maintains the ‘intersection of existence.’

“Of course, if a spirit summoner cannot maintain their existence in the elemental system and the Spirit Realm, they would lose their power.”

“That’s right. Therefore, some among mages study methods to attack that connection.”

“But even they would realize it could be a weakness.”

Most spirits are connected to the natural realm, and some contract spirits are linked to the spirit summoner.

That’s the difference between spirits of nature and the spirits of the summoners.

Also, the souls of the dead can affect the Material Realm by seeking other bodies, and the souls of the living occasionally detach from their bodies to travel.

The former is possession, and the latter is living spirit.

“Interesting.”

“Congratulations. You’ve reached quite a milestone.”

“Thanks to you.”

With this understanding of the Spirit Realm, when I perfected that sense.

『Spirit Keeper – Acquired quality through continuous attempts to communicate with evil spirits and spirits. You can now empathize with beings without physical forms. You can also share this sense with others.』

I received a new characteristic and a hint to fully acquire the Cleric.

While the Demon World and the continent are separate, their respective Spirit Realms are not.

Through observational experiences of both Spirit Realms, I quickly realized that both are parts of the Spirit Realm.

Though the distance is considerable on the ‘spirituality’ coordinate, the ‘existence’ coordinate is the same.

“If there’s a Spirit Realm in the Demon World and the Material World, it stands to reason that there would be some part of the Spirit Realm connected to the Celestial Realm as well.”

“That’s why the souls of clerics are often difficult to handle. They’re not easy to obtain, either.”

“Right…”

But the three Material Realms within the Spirit Realm are merely spaces interconnected within the Spirit Realm.

They’re just as far apart as each continent in the Material Realm.

There was a hint there.