It’s Dangerous Outside the Dungeon, Master

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– 1 –

“Please… please don’t do this…”

Just a moment ago, Grace, who was adorned in a pristine white outfit with simple accessories, was now huddled in a corner, tearfully trying to cover her body with nothing but her underwear. Shredded or broken clothing and accessories were scattered around her.

“Don’t worry. I have no intention of killing you.”

Approaching her, I lifted her chin with one hand to meet her gaze. The area around her tearful eyes was still scattered with disordered divine power. It looked beautiful, yet it gave me an unpleasant feeling.

“Yikes…!!”

As I frowned at her, Grace instinctively recoiled in fear.

“I’ll be obedient… so please just don’t hurt me…!”

I placed one hand on her abdomen while gently patting her head with the other.

“You’re okay. You’ll soon tire and fall asleep, and when you wake up, everything will change for you.”

“Th-that’s…!”

Really, she was quite a handful.

『Trait – Advanced Specialization: Detection Magic (Praise), Specialization: Defense Magic (Text), Defensive Coward, Materialism』

Just like those cowardly ones who always hesitate before diving into serious processes.

– 2 –

“Please… save me… uh…”

To cut to the chase, my attempt to dye the cleric with divine power was a failure. It wasn’t something to be disappointed about.

“I never expected it to work in one go anyway.”

Before conducting the process on Grace, I had deliberately conducted sufficient experiments. I thought dyeing a person would have a different level of difficulty compared to dyeing animals or artifacts nurtured with divine power.

“The recovery speed of divine power is surprising. She was merely a low-level priestess.”

The biggest problem I felt while attempting to dye her was the divine power surging from within her chest. As I persisted in the process while suppressing the repulsion between the divine and magical powers, the force kept charging endlessly, leaving me with no way to handle it.

“Not that there’s no success.”

What my eyes caught was the continuous white light flowing from Grace. The light that had once been a halo, signaling her as a cleric, had diminished slightly in brilliance.

It was as if her faith had lost its radiance.

While she gradually started to regain her original light, it didn’t mean all hope was lost.

“I have two potential solutions.”

One was to forcefully pack in immense power. Even if divine power was continuously surging from her faith, if I kept forcefully shoving power into her, eventually even the ‘white ink in the cup filled with black water’ would become black.

“However, that’s not my preference.”

Moreover, it was a method that would be tough to employ right now. I thought it might only be worth attempting against an advanced target when my power reached at least two levels above where it currently was.

Thus, the next method I conceived was:

“I need to corrupt that faith first.”

That was a method I could start right away. Considering it was a task I was doing alone without a guide, it would only be a matter of being completely in the dark.

It would take a long time and wasn’t something to do while still within human territory.

“Keep the cleric aside. I think I’ll need to see her later.”

Therefore,

“You’ve waited a long time, Amelia.”

I needed to create the setting.

“Release her.”

Turning my gaze back to Amelia Teramore, and gesturing to the knight standing beside her, she removed the cloth that had been covering Amelia’s mouth.

I could see translucent drool hanging.

“What… what have you done to her… and to us?”

Amelia was still glaring sharply.

She seemed like a small creature trying to appear larger. From the outset, she had shown no strong presence, yet there was no sign of her losing ground or backing down.

Had she possessed strong power, I might have thought of her as something resembling a honey badger instead of just a small creature.

“Wait a moment. You’re quite impatient.”

“What…?”

Before answering her question, I took a handkerchief given by the maid beside me and wiped away the drool hanging from her lips.

Her face, which had unconsciously tried to evade my touch, turned bright red.

She had been so cautious of me that she didn’t even realize something was clinging to her own face.

“Daisy…”

“Yes, my lady?”

Then, noticing the maid beside me taking the handkerchief again, her expression twisted again.

The maid standing next to me was the one always attending to Amelia, her dedicated handmaiden. Moments ago, she had been sharing some ‘story’ with me.

“Land. Power. People. Force. You nobility of humans have always believed it was rightfully yours while naturally seizing from others. But look. Whose hands are they in now?”

“That’s your doing…!”

The cleric had fallen, and the knight wielded a sword for me. Her dedicated maid served me.

The ‘power of the cleric,’ the ‘authority of the nobility,’ and the ‘trust between people,’ which had all acted as pillars in my heart, had now all lost their abilities. Her resistance was as fragile as a sandcastle.

“Were you asking what I did?”

“…”

“I showed you how useless what you took for granted truly is.”

“Ugh…!”

“And I made you realize that you too can be subjugated.”

The gaze of Amelia, who was glaring at me with her chin held in my hand, gradually turned to one of realization.

“You want this land and the people on it.”

“Astute.”

Wisdom and courage sparkled in her eyes. Her mother had wished for her to live a normal life as a noblewoman, but seeing her like this, her qualities decidedly leaned towards that of a lord.

Though she was somewhat lacking, that was even better for me.

“But it won’t work. I won’t cooperate this way…!”

“You won’t cooperate.”

“…?”

“You’ll simply obey.”

“That can’t be…!”

I smiled at her and pointed the dagger towards Grace’s neck.

“What are you doing?”

“It wouldn’t be hard to subdue you like this. After all, it’s a life you brought in to be killed, isn’t it?”

“Stop it…!”

“Oh? Then how about this.”

“Daisy…?”

As I twisted the dagger to point at the maid’s neck, she approached me as if she knew no fear, placing her neck over the tip of the dagger.

It was far too natural, and even Amelia didn’t quickly grasp the situation, but soon her face turned pale.

“Get a grip, Daisy! What are you doing right now?!”

“Huh? I’m just doing what a maid is supposed to do. My lady.”

“What’s your job?”

“To provide what my master wishes. Master.”

The maid’s nonchalant words trickled down her neck, the thin red line indicating something clearly. By the time Amelia realized what that red blood meant, I had withdrawn the blade and wiped the maid’s chin with the handkerchief.

It couldn’t be helped that the collar was already soaked in blood.

“What if the one here was your mother, or your little sister?”

“Then…!”

“You wouldn’t even have thought of resisting. Would you?”

The fire in Amelia’s gaze was gradually dwindling. I could clearly sense her intention to give up.

“The one supported by the people.”

From what I had observed over the past few days, Amelia was a lady supported by all the servants and knights within her stronghold as well as the lords outside.

“It’s not an easy thing, is it? For someone familiar with being a ruler to receive such support.”

Whether it was innate talent or honed performance, to achieve full control over this region, ultimately, the lord’s family needed to be removed, but to achieve immediate stability, having them within my grasp was the safest option.

Among them, it was convenient to have someone who could maintain the territory without needing to worry about them constantly.

Where would I find the time or ability to control each of those many puppets?

It was much quicker to obtain the puppeteer controlling those puppets.

“The fruit vendor who always greets you with morning salutations and offers you apples. The knight who taught you some self-defense. This maid who was always by your side. Their lives all hinge on you.”

The one I selected among the lord’s family was Amelia.

Her little sister was too lacking. The lord was too stable, and the wife was foolish.

“What… what are you planning to do?”

“It’s not what I’m doing—it’s what you’re doing.”

“Y-yes…?”

“If you sign a contract with me alone, I won’t need to touch the lives or hearts of these others.”

If being too clever was a problem, it would suffice to make it so she wouldn’t need to worry.

“Then… really…?”

“The contract is not possible!”

At the sudden voice, Amelia turned her gaze. The owner of that voice was the cleric, Grace.

Having fainted once, she had somehow regained consciousness and was listening to our conversation.

“With powerful magic and a contract… she’s not just a follower of demons; she’s the Dungeon Lord! If you contract with her, you’ll become one of them…!”

“Is that true…?”

Her voice was quite earnest and persuasive.

For someone who had once been a coward and a failure, it was commendable.

I smiled at Amelia’s question. Grace’s reasoning, based entirely on past cases, was one that could easily be countered.

“Bring Sonia and Maria.”

I called for the two while crossing my arms, and soon Xue brought them before the cleric and the noble.

“Take a good look, Grace. Do these two appear to be monsters or from the demon clan?”

“They’re… human, right? You’re controlling them through some vile means…!”

“Yes, they are human. It is correct that I control them… yes, that’s right, Maria.”

“… Do I really have to show it?”

Maria, who instantly understood the meaning of my words, looked at me with a somewhat hesitant gaze.

“Resisting…?”

Already, that alone seemed to shock Grace.

If Maria were truly under my complete control, showing such reluctance wouldn’t be normal; in fact, she shouldn’t be showing any signs of resistance at all.

“You really don’t have to do it if you don’t want to.”

“Wasn’t it…?”

Seeing me nonchalantly accept that denial made it even more plausible.

“Ah. I understand. Master.”

With a sigh, Maria approached Grace and Amelia and unbuttoned the front of her blouse.

“What are you doing?!”

“Stay still. You won’t escape from your master anyway. Now, look.”

What Maria revealed was a symbol etched near her collarbone, where her breast began.

A purple flower and a black skull. My mark as the Dungeon Lord.

“If you are a cleric, you will know this. It’s the mark of the contract. I am bound to my master. And as you can see, I am still human.”

When the Dungeon Lord and a human contract, the mark usually appeared in places not easily visible, but hers happened to be right there.

I’ll hold my tongue about why I chose to have Maria show it instead of Sonia.

“Is that enough? Master.”

“Yes. Come here.”

“Yes.”

I tidied up Maria’s clothing as she approached me. One button had been fastened incorrectly, and it was bothering me.

“Ah… thank you.”

“Thank you for your hard work. Take a rest.”

“… Please don’t torment me too much.”

Maria, who seemed to glare at me briefly, eventually let out all the words she had been holding back.

Considering her original personality, she had held back for a long time.

I wasn’t the type to tolerate such minor grievances.

“It’s persuasion, just as I did with you.”

“… Then go on with it.”

“I’ll step back, Master. Like my sister said… I hope you won’t torment her too much.”

“Okay, Sonia. Don’t worry.”

As I saw off Maria and Sonia, who were grumbling as they left the room, I turned to Grace, who was now staring at me with a completely bewildered expression.

It was an extremely rare sight to see a Dungeon Lord contract with a human while they remained human. The fact that such a contracted human could freely express their will would surely be shocking.

It was an occurrence that should not exist according to the common knowledge disseminated throughout the world.

“I think I’ve finished telling you what I needed to say. Make your decision. Will you let everyone die, or will you sacrifice only yourself? Of course, if you sign a contract with me, I won’t harm your family.”

“That’s… that’s too cowardly. Creating an environment where I have no choice but to decide like this…”

In the end, Grace fell silent after uttering only that statement.

She would know that pressing further would be akin to saying to Amelia, ‘You and your family must be sacrificed.’

With that, I concentrated my gaze on Amelia.

“What do you hope to achieve by going this far?”

She asked me one last question.

“Well, what I wish to obtain is quite simple.”

After a brief silence, the eyes of those looking at me began to widen gradually.

Perhaps they were imagining some world-shattering outcome.

I counted the seconds until they fully formed that imagination in their minds and spoke out my answer.

“Peace.”

“…?”

“What did you say…?”

It was the exact opposite answer of what they had likely anticipated.

‘I’ll dye the entire world, ultimately allowing my people to live in peace because of me.’

The commonality between that answer and what they imagined was that achieving it would require either destroying or possessing everything in this world.

That was all.

“You… what on earth…”

“I know it might be hard to believe, but it’s the truth.”

I looked at Amelia. She was still gazing at me with eyes filled with anxiety and fear.

“I really can do anything for that.”

With what I said, she wouldn’t be able to brush off her emotions towards me as a misunderstanding with laughter, nor would she be able to gain trust since, as someone who had once been human, she had already lost everything.

“… Alright. I’ll sign the contract.”

“Good. It’s wonderful that a good child like you has come into my hands.”

Thus, I intended to tame her. The materials were already in my hands.