Dungeon Defense (WN)

A peaceful period of time went by.

To be more exact, only my side had a peaceful time. Civil wars were still happening throughout the continent. Frankia, Brittany, Habsburg, Polish-Lithuania……. There was probably no place that was safe from the flames of war.

Hundreds of thousands of refugees came here to escape. People’s livelihoods had been so devastated that they were willing to walk their way all the way here due to some obscure rumor like ‘People say there’s a utopia somewhere below the Black Mountains’. Fortunately, my territory was rich enough to accept refugees.

“This land is ruled by a Demon Lord. Is that fine with you?”

“I heard that the taxes are low here and that there are no conscriptions.”

A dirty-looking village chief who had led his entire village here spoke.

“I also heard that Your Highness protects your people from monsters.”

“That is true.”

“Ooh, O Goddess. Bless this soul.”

The village chief got down and started to kiss the foot of the culprit who was the cause behind the wars that were happening throughout the continent.

“If that is truly the case, then it does not matter if Your Highness is a Demon Lord. O Great Being. 7 people starved to death just trying to get here. I beg of you, please accept me, my family, and my village people!”

I took them in magnanimously.

I equally distributed farmland to them and also applied a 30% tax.

After a year, the empty farmland became full. When I applied a 10% tax to the uncultivated land and distributed them, they were filled within half a year. The number of subjects under my rule soon surpassed the hundreds and reached 2,000.

Farming has always been good around the Black Mountain.

Numerous spirits would go through the land and forest, so it was unlikely for the farmlands to become unfertile and it would often rain as the clouds went over the mountain range. However, the fact that there were many spirits meant that there was a lot of mana……which, therefore, also meant that the area would be overflowing with monsters.

Monsters would appear at all times, so only humans who had tossed away their lives would be willing to settle near the Black Mountains.

I was protecting them from the monsters in this place.

Furthermore, the tax rate was also ridiculously low. I didn’t take any taxes from them even when they ground their wheat using a windmill. I didn’t collect taxes even when they opened a marketplace. There was no problem as long as they simply obeyed the law. This must surely seem like a Land of Happiness to many people.

We were now out of farmland to give out, so we could no longer accommodate any more refugees.

However, after 2 years of progress, the 5th floor of the dungeon was finally completed.

“It is time to open the Demon Lord Castle to adventurers!”

I was finally able to put my <Adventurer City Creation Plan> in motion.

Humans had continued to gather around the Black Mountains, but this also meant that the monsters were forcefully holding themselves back because of my orders. I may be a Demon Lord, but it was inevitable that the monsters would have their complaints.

I had accepted all of these monsters into my dungeon. In my dungeon that had an endless supply of mana. The monsters gladly moved into my dungeon without reserve.

At first, it was only goblins, but, other types of creatures like minotaurs, lizardmen, and dwarves……beings that were more demon-like than simple monsters gradually started to arrive.

I positioned the weak beings on the first floor while placing the stronger ones on the lower flowers. Of course, individuals who were able to raise their level despite being of a weak race were allowed to move down.

Thus, Dantalian’s Demon Lord Castle became a monster department store.

It should be fine to call this a new concept dungeon.

Normally, strong beings and weak beings would live mixed together in dungeons. The stronger executives were allowed to reside closer to the Demon Lords, but there were no Demon Lords who went out of their way to position only the weak ones at the entrance. It was obvious. Why would they want to let adventurers get accustomed to their Demon Lord Castles by placing the weak monsters at the front?

Sending in powerful monsters to wipe parties out when they were still new to the dungeon. This was the standard procedure.

However, my goal itself was different from the other Demon Lords.

“Demon Lords and adventurers are no longer enemies.”

Why should we annihilate parties? Adventurer parties are equipped with expensive equipment. They don’t trust others and live their lives as vagrants, so they always carry around their entire fortune. You could call them walking piles of gold.

“We are ‘business partners’.”

Adventurers are able to acquire meat and bones filled with mana by hunting the monsters in my dungeon. I get to take the equipment and money dropped by the adventurers who die while hunting. See? Isn’t this a win-win situation?

There is an excessive amount of mana in my dungeon, so the monsters breed like rabbits if you leave them alone. The adventurers will manage my monster population for me.

Adding to this, there will be many cases where monsters become stronger by eating adventurers. These monsters will be appointed as my royal guards. I am truly grateful to adventurers.

“There’s no more land to farm? Then pick up a spear instead of a hoe. Become an adventurer and hunt monsters! There are only weak goblins on the first floor anyway. Anyone should be able to survive.”

Elite troops like the goblin shamans were already moved to a lower floor. The first floor truly did only have the weakest monsters like goblins and slimes. The farmers of this world should be more than able to beat them if they worked together.

If you want to live, then go to the dungeon!

The refugees that came to my land started to take up weapons one by one. There were many among them who lowered their guards and died, but there were a lot more people who managed to start making a stable living. It only took people a bit of time to hop in the dungeon.

The giant cogwheel of the city’s economy started to gradually pick up in pace.

First, mages from throughout the continent and demon world arrived after hearing the rumors.

“O Great Being, it is an honor of the lifetime to be granted an audience.”

“There is no need for courtesy out of pretense. I am aware that mages are the type to convulse at the idea of decorum.”

The mage stroked his white beard.

“Dear me, dear me. As expected of Your Highness Dantalian whose fame is widely known. In that case, please allow me to get straight to the point. We of the Lusatia Mage Tower wish to establish a branch here in Your Highness’ land.”

“Fufu.”

I took a sip of my wine.

“Is your objective the materials gathered by the adventurers in my Demon Lord Castle?”

“Ooh, Your Highness has great insight. What could this humble one possibly hide? You are correct.”

“Is it for the sake of magic research?”

The mage smiled brightly like a child.

“That is correct! The meat and bones from monsters filled with mana are the greatest materials that can be used to temper one’s alchemy and magic skills. The monsters that are normally found eating grass on the plains cannot compare to the ones here……!”

He looked at me with pleading eyes.

“O Great Being, I heard that you benevolently allowed humans to step foot in your castle. However, the expenses required to transfer the materials from here to another city alone are going to be incredibly costly. How about it? Our Mage Tower will purchase the goods immediately.”

“I’ll allow it.”

I nodded my head.

I was the one who spread the rumors to the Mage Towers in the first place. There was nothing bad about having mages move into my territory. Well, it would probably be different for people like Barbatos who cringe at humans.

“However, mortal, this place is ruled solely by me, Dantalian. You mages cannot bask in an authority higher than that of a normal commoner. If you are planning to be treated like nobles, then give up now.”

“That is of no concern.”

The mage bowed without any hesitation.

“What is important to us is researching magic. In essence, the ranks and privileges mentioned in the mundane world do not matter to us at all.”

“Then let me ask you a question. I am a Demon Lord. You are a human. Does becoming a citizen of a Demon Lord not bother you?”

“O Great Being, that is a matter for the mundane world.”

The mage laughed.

“Very well, then. There are several other Mage Towers besides yours that have decided to come here.”

“I-Is that so? Hoo. I guess we will not be able to monopolize the materials……. No, I predicted this would probably happen.”

The old man became sullen. However, he perked up once I told him an additional piece of information.

“Aah. A Mage Tower from the demon world is among them.”

“The demon world……? R-Really!? From the demon world!?”

Demon mages were much stronger than human mages. It was only natural since demons were more skilled at controlling magic.

In terms of magic development, the demon world was naturally a level higher than the continent. It was because mages knew this that they would try to summon demons from the demon world in order to learn magic from them.

However, not only were the chances of summoning a demon who knew how to use magic incredibly slim, but even if they did, it was difficult to imagine a demon would be friendly to a human. To mages, demon mages were like a pie in the sky, a subject to admire.

“I-In that case, we will definitely move here! Please allow us to move here! It doesn’t matter how much taxes we have to pay! Your Highness, please be merciful!”

Their target of admiration was going to come as a whole Mage Tower and not as just a single person. The human mage was about to lose his mind.

I grinned.

“A 30% tax when you exchange monster goods. Adding to this, I will receive preferential treatment when it comes to purchasing your medicine and equipment.”

“Yes! No, that is practically nothing to us! Let us make a contract now!”

The old mage completely forgot about anything like maintaining his dignity as he breathed through his nose intensely.

Like this, a total of 12 Mage Towers ended up entering my territory. An unprecedented historical moment happened as a joint magic research branch between humans and demons was born.

If there’s a Mage Tower that specializes in alchemy, then there’s a Mage Tower that specializes in reinforcing metals. The Mage Towers carefully exchanged their magic systems, which they had independently developed, and inspired each other.

There were even some Mage Towers that received such a huge shock that they decided to move their entire headquarters here as well.

“They say that a unique effect appears if you add a concoction to a magic amplification spell and apply it to a weapon!”

“There might be a way to use powerful spells regardless of your Circle!”

“Don’t conserve your materials. We made our money to use it in a time like this. Develop without reserve!”

The mages started to research energetically.

Weapons and medicine that were developed during their research were sold to me. I had the funding to purchase all of their products. Of course, my wealth wasn’t infinite, so I did spend a sizable amount, but it didn’t matter.

I resold the magic tools that I bought like this and released them into the continent and demon world. The Keuncuska Firm took a huge brokerage fee in the middle, but I got an even bigger profit, so I didn’t care.

Monsters that became materials.

Adventurers that became producers.

Mages that became processors.

And a firm that sold the products.

With this 4-step process, I started to make a huge profit. Luxurious magic tools were something that was always in demand, so this had a bright future. For example, medicine that increased one’s lifespan by a tiny bit was sold for an exorbitant price to the rich people in the human world.

The profits from my territory were so huge that Ivar Lodbrok, the chief of Keuncuska, came looking for me quickly.

Ivar had his admittance refused by me last time. In other words, the profits were big enough to make him forget about the humiliation he went through.

“Your Highness, please allow our Keuncuska Firm to act as the sole broker for the products manufactured by the Mage Towers.”

“Naturally, as you and I have a special relationship, Chief Ivar Lodbrok, I have a desire to listen to any of your requests. It’s thanks to you that I am in my current position, are you not?”

Ivar’s face lit up once I gave him a positive answer.

“However, you have still chosen to visit me with your fake doll’s body. I am sure that I told you before that I will not trust you unless you visit me with your true body.”

“Pardon me……?”

“Visit me personally with your vampire body. If you do not, then I will never accept your contract.”

Ivar’s expression became sour.

***

TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter. Jeez, I still struggle with Ivar and my memory is terrible. I can’t even remember what I decided to do about Ivar’s pronouns. I think I was going to keep using male pronouns until we actually see Ivar’s female body appear in the story? Maybe? I don’t know.

Welp, either way, I’m going to be busy for a day because my old uni professor suddenly contacted me and asked me to translate a research paper for them. I’m not sure how well I can do those compared to novels since they’re two vastly different things. I’ll do my best, I guess.

See you guys in the next chapter.

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