Chapter 20: Merchant Maid
[ Enchantment Gacha: Allows the host to enchant a weapon, tool, or object with a random enchantment, from Rank G to Rank SSS, for a duration of 24 hours. Can be activated once every twenty-four hours. ]
Right. Just like my first skill, you could guess what this one does from the name alone.
Freya reread the description, rather pleased. Added to the boost her body and mind had just received, the day was shaping up to be a generous one.
Even if it’s clearly weaker than my first, it’ll always come in handy. And who knows what an SSS-rank enchantment might look like...
She was already picturing herself splitting a mountain in two with a single swing, parting the sea, maybe even bringing beings back to life. Her pragmatic side caught up with her very quickly.
It’s still a game of luck. I’d need to pull the right enchantment for the right situation at exactly the right time, when it only lasts 24 hours and I only get one pull a day. Far too many stars would have to align for that to be realistic.
She caught herself dreaming of stats, like in the novels she used to devour in her old life. A status screen where she could have pumped her luck stat at every level. She definitely wouldn’t have put a single point anywhere else. A completely garbage status on paper, and she’d have become absurdly strong through her skills alone.
Ah, if only...
She sighed, half amused, half serious, and got back to the matter at hand. Next up: the shop.
[ Inter-Dungeon Shop ]
Items for sale: 0
So it’s empty for now. Then again, Dungeon Lords who’d already reached Level 2 couldn’t exactly be common. Still, what a feature.
Because when she thought about it, she could acquire resources from the other side of the world through this shop. And conversely, sell her own to Dungeon Lords who had no access to them.
She thought of the mithrite.
Maybe the others don’t have any, after all? And the forge is a starter building... That could interest more than a few of them.
With that idea in mind, she headed to the Storage Vault, which proudly displayed its inventory.
[ Mithrite x37 ]
She started by taking one out, and tossed it into the Heart.
[ Absorbing 1 mithrite ore. ]
[ Calculating amount of mana harvested... ]
[ The Dungeon Heart has absorbed 13 mana points. ]
One mithrite is worth 13 mana?!
That was a serious amount. Especially multiplied by 37: enough for an immediate leap toward what came next. Her hand was already itching.
But once again, her rational side won out. Between her freshly built forge and the Inter-Dungeon Shop, she had more than one reason not to gobble it all up now.
So she returned to the shop, and pulled 20 pieces of mithrite from the vault.
How much do I sell them for apiece? 15? She ran the numbers. Sounds fair. Not too expensive for the buyer, and profitable for me given what the Heart pays. Now, add a margin for shipping and handling... Hmmm. Let’s say 20. Here we go!
"System, I’d like to list 20 lots of one mithrite each, at 20 mana apiece, please."
[ Items put up for sale will be held by the system for the duration of the listing, then moved to the shop’s unsold section where you may retrieve them in one month. Do you still wish to list x20 mithrite at 20 mana points apiece? ]
"Yes, please!"
The ores before her vanished, and in the shop appeared:
[ Inter-Dungeon Shop ]
Mithrite (x20) | Cost: 20 mana points apiece | (Seller: Maid)
Perfect! She admired her listing with the pride of a shopkeeper before her first storefront. Now let’s hope it sells.
Only one thing left to check. The last one, and not the least.
[ Dungeon Upgrades — Level 1 -> Level 2 — Cost: 200 mana ]
200 mana. So that’s my goal.
She knew it: this was her dungeon’s next big milestone. The one that would unlock the next tier of upgrades, meaning a higher passive mana rate per hour, new buildings, new summons.
She glanced at her reserve.
[ Mana: 15/1000 ]
Right. Just have to wait out the six or seven hours left in the day. I should be receiving my faction’s 1% of mana.
In the meantime, an urge came over her. The chat. It had been a while.
[ Dungeon Lord Chat ]
But for the first time, it was deserted. No messages. Nothing. She’d been looking forward to reading the others in real time, and it deflated her for a moment.
Then the conclusion presented itself: with the factions formed, everyone had to be talking on their own faction chat at this very moment.
So this one’s going to become a global chat, a server chat like in games. And the faction chats will be the guild chats, the ones that actually live.
Rather pleased with her comparison, she opened the other one.
[ Private Faction Chat ]
The contrast was immediate. Where the global chat lay dying, this one scrolled at full speed, dozens of messages a minute.
[ ShoeSize? ]: I’ll obviously be one of the 4!! — +25
They’re still talking about that?
[ F2PBTW ]: stay in your lane, pervert girl. — +48
So that’s that. Everyone knows ShoeSize? is a woman now.
[ CatLover ]: has anyone found external sources of mana yet? — +21
[ BlackFlame ]: still hunting chickens over here. — +18
Ah yes. Those chickens... Freya spared a sympathetic thought for the poor guy. Right. Let’s tell him, now that he’s part of my faction.
[ Maid ]: Be careful. The chickens you’re hunting turn into genuine abominations on full moon nights. — +38
[ BlackFlame ]: how do you know that?? — +16
[ Maid ]: I read it in a book. By the way, you’re located on the Western continent. Its southeastern part, more precisely. — +45
[ BlackFlame ]: thanks for the info, noted. — +32
[ ShoeSize? ]: And there she is, our Maid in all her glory. She rarely speaks, but when she does, you remember it. Aaaah, how I’d love to meet you in person, Maid... — +83
...
Is she not, without a doubt, Aria’s spiritual sister???
Freya didn’t reply, having absolutely no idea what to say to that. She simply let herself sink into the chat, reading the messages as they scrolled by, until one conversation stood out.
[ PizzaEnjoyer ]: what I miss most in this world? pizza. no contest. I’d give half my dungeon for a four-cheese. — +36
[ RamenLord ]: half your dungeon for bread with melted cheese on it. priorities. — +29
[ PizzaEnjoyer ]: says the guy called RamenLord. your grand cuisine is hot water with noodles in it. — +44
[ RamenLord ]: "hot water". A TONKOTSU BROTH. HOT WATER. say it again, I dare you. — +57
[ PizzaEnjoyer ]: hot. water. — +61
[ SnackGoblin ]: guys. you’re fighting over food that doesn’t even exist in this world. no pizza here, no ramen either. you both lost. — +94
Pff. Freya snorted alone in her chamber. So this is the level of debate in my great faction of conquerors.
She thought back to her own feast the night before, the roasted bird, the aroma, the girls’ laughter.
...I might be the best-off of all the Dungeon Lords, actually. A smug little smile escaped her. Hang in there, you two.
After a few minutes, another discussion caught her attention.
[ InsomnicalSuffering ]: it’s still so cool not having to sleep. — +31
[ IWantToSleep ]: for real. I used to spend my nights staring at the ceiling. here I do the same thing, just without the exhaustion. — +52
[ InsomnicalSuffering ]: we are seriously lacking entertainment here though... — +38
[ IWantToSleep ]: it’d be the dream life if I had any entertainment. — +47
[ InsomnicalSuffering ]: the dream life without the dreams, then. (technically true) — +76
[ AFKFarmer ]: imagine, we’re going to miss GBA VI — +95
Freya froze.
...GBA VI.
I had completely forgotten. And that one, she felt. Ten years of waiting. Ten years. And she was going to miss it on account of being reincarnated into another world.
Her gaze drifted to the still-warm forge, the foxes trotting about, the Heart pulsing softly.
...Well. I got an entire world in exchange. I think I’ll live.
"Are you busy, ma’am?"
Freya looked up. Aria stood at the entrance to the chamber, the two sisters behind her.
"No, nothing interesting." She closed the chat window, which indeed held nothing interesting. "Please, come in."
"Laïa wanted to show you something."
"I’m all eyes."
The little one stepped forward, back straight, cheeks already pink. She took a deep breath, furrowed her brow in concentration, and raised her hand.
A pink flame came to life in it.
Small, flickering, but very real, dancing in the hollow of her palm and tinting her face with a soft glow.
Freya’s jaw dropped.
WHAAAT?! She... she already has magic?! She stared at the flame, then at the kid, then at the flame again. I still don’t have a single spell, and I just got outpaced in a matter of hours by a teenager?!
Laïa was peeking up at her, watching for her reaction, the flame wavering in rhythm with her nerves. Freya swallowed what was left of her ego, rose, and laid a hand on the girl’s hair.
"That’s fantastic, Laïa." She ruffled it gently. "At this rate, you’ll be able to defend the whole dungeon by yourself soon."
The flame went out at once, replaced by an enormous smile and a shy little laugh. The kid was beaming.
Behind her, Naïa watched the scene, hands folded, expression serious.
She must be telling herself she has to prove her worth too. Freya considered her for a moment. That whole "I have to earn what I’m given" side of hers... it’s what makes her endearing. Even if it might eat away at her in the long run.
"Don’t overdo it, you two. Remember to get proper rest!" She thought back to the chat conversation and couldn’t help adding: "Enjoying a good night’s sleep is a privilege not everyone has!"
The two sisters exchanged a puzzled look, but nodded.
"Anyway." Freya stretched and turned to her servant. "Aria, I’m heading out to continue exploring the tunnel from the other day. Stay here, guard the Heart and the girls."
The change was immediate.
Aria’s smile faded. Not abruptly, no. It simply slid off her face, like a curtain being drawn, leaving only that smooth calm Freya was starting to know well.
"In that case, I will go."
"Aria..."
"That tunnel is unexplored. No one knows what lives below, or how deep it runs." Her voice remained even, perfectly level, and that was precisely what betrayed her worry. "There is no reason for you to risk yourself when I can take care of it."
"And I’m telling you it’ll be fine. I’m not going alone: I’m taking Kyū and Roku with me. I have the pen. And I even have a brand-new spell, mind you." Freya counted on her fingers, casual as could be. "I can enchant a weapon now. See? Ready for anything."
"A random enchantment. Lasting twenty-four hours." Aria hadn’t moved a millimeter. "Mistress."
Crap. She even has a skill for reading other people’s skills...
"It’s a very good random enchantment lasting twenty-four hours."
Freya walked past her and headed for the Storage Vault, determined not to let the discussion drag on. She pulled out a bandit’s sword, a simple blade, a little worn but solid, and weighed it in her hand.
Aria had followed her. Of course she had.
"The monsters on the surface, fine." The demon stood right behind her, and her voice had dropped a note. "But whatever sleeps beneath a dungeon, in tunnels even I don’t know... If anything were to happen to you down there, I—"
Freya turned around.
Aria fell silent, brow faintly knit, that tiny crease between her eyebrows which was, for her, the equivalent of a full-blown panic attack. The girls, hanging back, followed the exchange in silence, eyes darting from one to the other.
"I’m going." Freya smiled. "Thank you for worrying. But there’s no need."
And she rose onto her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to her lips.
Short. Light. Natural.
Aria froze on the spot, eyes wide. Behind them came a strangled squeak, Laïa clapping both hands over her mouth, and Naïa, crimson, abruptly turning her gaze to a suddenly fascinating wall.
"Right!" Freya propped the sword on her shoulder, spun on her heel, and called back over it: "Kyū! Roku! Let’s go!"
"KYU!"
The two little soldiers came barreling in at once, Kyū in the lead, fangs bared, his horn nubs pointed forward, growling with excitement at the prospect of a new expedition. Roku trotted behind, looking grumpy, true to himself.
And so she left the chamber, a bandit’s sword on her shoulder, two growling foxes at her heels, leaving behind a petrified demon, a giggling teenager, and a future steward still staring at her wall.
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