The captain was stunned for a split second, his eyes widened.

...what?

A monster wanted to enter a dungeon...for sightseeing?

The captain’s head spun, the sound of their conversation was transmitted to the other hunters and everyone sucked in the cold air.

"C-captain, w-what the hell is wrong with this monster??"

Which monster would go into a dungeon WITH humans??

Wait. In the first place, it was already strange that this monster wasn’t hostile to the captain.

No matter how human and intelligent a humanoid monster was, rumors said they were still cruel, even more cruel than regular monsters.

The expedition team, who had never met a humanoid monster before, immediately speculated.

"That must be a trap!"

"Captain, don’t agree!"

"Uh, but the captain is already held hostage...?"

The hunters clamped their mouths.

Right.

The captain was already brought to the monster’s nest...

He can’t escape!

The captain also thought the same thing and he could only nod tremblingly, still without a sound.

Lucien looked at the burly hunter with eyes full of pity.

He must be a mute.

To be a captain when he’s a mute— this guy must be strong!

Lucien’s inner soul was dancing a belly dance while outside, he flashed a polite smile, looking slightly pleased.

"Thank you for your generosity. When will you guys clean up the stray?"

The captain lowered his head even more, his head shaking left and right.

Hmmm, he doesn’t now?

Then...

Inner Lucien’s devil horns and tail popped out and Lucien opened his mouth.

"How about we do it now? The strays are quite disturbing."

...? Now?

The captain whipped his head up and almost looked at Lucien straight in the eye so he immediately closed his eyes, lips trembling.

"What? You don’t want to?" Lucien furrowed his eyebrows, his voice cooling down.

"Well, are your people not ready or something?"

"They’re just strays. Isn’t it easy to clean? Hm?"

A strange pressure slowly poured out of Lucien’s body, tapping the captain on the head.

Only then did the captain feel a much, much stronger aura from Lucien, one that had been concealed perfectly all this time.

"Huk!" The captain felt like rolling his eyes and faint but he gritted his teeth and nodded, his heart bleeding.

Sorry, everyone! He’s threatened!

The hunters who heard the cold voice also shuddered, tears dripping down their eyes.

"I’ll send my last will to my family. Everyone, you better do it while the signal is barely stable."

"I-I’m ordering a coffin..."

The hunters slumped at their own places, all groaning and shaking.

Unfortunately, the captain sold them out and Lucien’s face immediately brightened.

"Alright, so it’s decided! Call your people."

The captain nodded and didn’t speak but the hunters heard Lucien’s voice loud and clear.

They all grumbled, hugging the ruins and refusing to move.

"W-wahhhh! I don’t wanna die!"

"Fck. Fck. Fck. Can’t we just drop a nuclear bomb— "

The hunter’s words were cut off by Lucien’s voice.

"Ah, right. I’m quite in a hurry, you see. It’s almost time for breakfast. We better finish this before I eat."

Lucien meant that at 6 a.m breakfast time he would return so he had to get that E-rank dungeon core right away.

But for the hunters...

Breakfast= food

Food= them

Ba-thump.

Is this monster threatening them? If they didn’t move now, they would become his breakfast??

The hunters immediately bolted out faster than chased by fire, all sprinting towards the house with shaking legs.

"N-no breakfast! We are here!"

"Wuwuwuwu. Why do we have to meet this kind of bad luck?"

The hunters gathered in front of Lucien’s house in a short time.

And they immediately met the thumpers who were sneaking around Lucien’s house, trying to find a way to "pry open" the barrier.

The moment the hunters met the thumpers’ eyes...

They almost fainted.

Ahhhhh! Why are those things here??

The hunters were about to run away without a second thought when Lucien slowly came out of the barrier, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Spiders. Slimes. Clean up those strays."

Lucien’s voice echoed and the monsters in his yard immediately bolted out of the barrier, surrounding the foolish thumpers.

"Hisss!"

"Glurgggg!"

"Kiikkk!"

The monsters immediately descended into a brawl while Lucien calmly patted Mumu’s head, his smile gentle.

"Ah, you guys are here?"

The thirty-ish hunters froze.

Their eyes met Lucien’s amethyst eyes and everyone subconsciously looked down, legs shivering.

Fck. Fck. Fck.

That’s a humanoid monster?? It looks so human!!

I-is it an advanced humanoid monster...or an otherworldly humanoid race?

The hunters’ thoughts ran like a horse that couldn’t be pulled back.

Lucien only saw the hunters strangely respectful poses and he secretly sighed in relief.

Oh, thank God. His power display back then must have earned these people’s respect!

If he didn’t do that, these E-rank hunters would definitely look down at him.

Lucien was secretly pleased with his plan and he spoke in a much gentler voice, like speaking with a child— or a pet.

"Let’s go? My breakfast is still waiting."

It’s a threat.

That must be a threat!!

The hunters collectively thought and they nodded like a hen-pecked chicken, all moving towards the swirling gate with arms and legs raised together, looking like robots.

Oh wow, these people looked so neat and disciplined. As expected of the expedition team!

Lucien nodded, not thinking too much about the expedition team’s strange attitude.

Thump. Thump.

Along the way, thumpers came and tried to attack, but Lucien would snap his fingers and his army of eight potent slimes and two spiders would immediately rush to send those thumpers to their resting place.

On the left and right side of the road, countless thumpers fell, their bodies twitching weakly.

Lucien walked among the corpses with ease, hands on Mumu’s head.

The hunters behind him cowered even further, their hearts drumming fast.

Powerful.

Really powerful.

So why did this monster want to come with them to "clean" the worm dungeon?

To expand his territory? To eat all the worms?

The hunters’ minds conjured various conspiracy theories.

It wasn’t until Lucien left the 300 meters range and stopped right in front of the gate that his "pets" didn’t follow him anymore.

"I’m sorry my pets made such a ruckus. Rest assured, they won’t follow anymore."

Lucien patted Mumu’s head and spoke leisurely, his tone as if he was just sightseeing.

"You guys can clean up comfortably, don’t mind me."

Yes, don’t mind him, cause he won’t help to kill the worms in the dungeon!

The hunters automatically thought—

He’s looking down at us for not doing anything to the thumpers.

Even his pet did all the "cleaning".

Instead of feeling inferior, the hunters trembled in their boots, their faces pale.

He said clean comfortably and don’t mind him—

He’s warning us.

We have to be the ones cleaning the worms in the dungeon!

The hunters instantly straightened their backs and nodded, faces full of determination to die heroically.

"Good. Let’s go."

Lucien’s figure vanished into the swirling gate, followed by a group of pale-faced hunters.

As before, Lucien felt that dizzying sense, but he gritted his teeth and forced himself to land on two feet without swaying even the slightest.

His back looked incredibly leisurely.

However, the moment his feet touched the ground—

The system notification rang.

[Landlord Affinity (Passive Skill) is triggered!]

[Warning! Warning! The natives will be ten times more aggressive towards the landlord!]

True to the notification, Lucien hadn’t even adjusted his eyesight when the entire dungeon shook.

"Hisssss!!"

Countless cries echoed in the air, full of hostility.

Thump. Thump.

Hummmmm.

The thumping sound and the humming noise grew louder and louder—

Getting closer.