The merchant guilds of the Demon World and Dungeon Masters share a symbiotic relationship. The Previous Master always said so. In reality, the merchant guilds provided us with the necessary goods, and in return, we paid them by handing over equipment and items looted from adventurers.

But that changed as Radik’s situation deteriorated. He would grow anxious every time a guild member visited, and I could only watch his pitiful state from the sidelines. It felt as if our positions had been reversed.

So, when the demon named Paru arrived, I was worried sick.

"Heheheh. It seems some of the clauses here have been modified, yes?"

"W-What are you talking about? These contracts were brought directly from the guild!"

"Brought from the guild and then tampered with to boost your own performance, I presume. Look, the traces are right here. Heheheh."

"What did you do to the contract—" he gasped.

Now, it was the guild member who was sweating bullets. The goblin, dressed in a sharp suit like a gentleman, burned the paper in his hand and produced a new one. Taehyun, who had been watching leisurely, wore a victor’s smile, while Paru was drenched in cold sweat. That paper must have been the contract.

’Magic.’

Guarding the door, I immediately recognized it. It wasn’t just burning the contract; it was a technique to restore it to its original form. Judging by the flow of mana, it was a highly advanced spell.

Seizing the momentum, the goblin pointed at the clauses of the restored contract and placed a cigarette in his mouth.

"What do these look like to you? Heheheh."

Paru trembled, the color draining completely from his face.

---

Contrary to my worries, the transaction with the merchant guild was resolved peacefully. Or rather, should I even call it a transaction? To me, it looked like one-sided extortion, but regardless, the contract was finalized.

"I’m ruined," Paru sobbed. "I’m totally ruined."

Thinking back on it now, his retreating figure as he returned to the guild seemed rather pitiful. In the end, after striking a deal, Radik borrowed a certain amount of Gems and soldiers, incurring a debt to the Lapis Merchant Guild. Just thinking of the Previous Master, who suffered because he couldn’t pay off his debts to the guild... and now, we had another one.

A sigh escaped me, but Taehyun remained completely relaxed.

"Heheheh. I’ll be taking my leave now!"

"Yeah, good work. Now get lost."

As soon as the contract was concluded, the goblin who had personally handled the negotiations vanished into thin air. It was fascinating how his very existence was erased without a trace of mana, but having seen this phenomenon once before, I wasn’t too surprised. I asked about the goblin, and Taehyun, grumbling while fiddling with a card, gave a half-hearted reply.

"He’s a guy named Kinjo. I took him in a while back, and he’s an expert at negotiations. The problem is, his brain only works for this kind of stuff, so he’s also a great scammer."

"If this is perhaps because of the card game..."

"It’s not."

"I didn’t see any—"

"It’s absolutely not."

It seemed he couldn’t stand losing. After that, Taehyun kept pouting for a while. Suppressing my curiosity, I belatedly brought him a cup of strongly scented tea.

Taehyun fell silent.

I remained silent as well.

For some reason, the vibe was awkward.

---

Day 3.

It seemed the Gems and soldiers borrowed from the merchant guild hadn’t arrived yet. It would be a disaster if invaders attacked in this situation, but fortunately, nothing of the sort had happened. Of course, Taehyun looked bored and actually seemed to be waiting for enemies, but I certainly wasn’t.

’You’ve gotta be kidding me. Just die already, you monster!’

Suddenly, the memory of that time surfaced. If enemies appeared right now, the only soldier available to fight would be me, a homunculus. It was time for me to throw myself into battle with devotion for my new master.

And yet.

’I don’t want to.’

For some reason, I felt afraid. I gripped my arms and trembled. Just then, I felt a warm touch on my shoulder. I didn’t need to turn my head to know it was Taehyun.

"Don’t worry. It’s still the Dungeon Protection Period, so those adventurer punks won’t be able to come."

I was speechless.

"I know the system here inside out. Ah, I guess you wouldn’t know about this stuff?"

"I am aware of the Dungeon Master system."

Having assisted the Previous Master for decades, there was no way I wouldn’t know. A system designed solely for the Dungeon Master. It provided convenient dungeon management for anyone, but to me, it acted as a shackle instead.

As memories of the past suddenly came to mind, I unconsciously lowered my head. Perhaps because of that, Taehyun belatedly removed his hand from my shoulder, and by the time I snapped out of it, he had already stepped away.

"Arin, come to think of it, there seems to be a path leading down to the basement here. Could you guide me?"

"...Understood."

There definitely was a path leading to the basement. Because the Previous Master strictly controlled it, I had never gone inside myself, but I knew where the entrance was. I realized I had failed to inform him beforehand and reflected on my mistake.

And as a bonus, I also scolded myself for standing blankly in front of him just a moment ago.

’Let’s not waver. I am a homunculus, and my role is to assist the master.’

Steeling my resolve, my complicated thoughts cleared. From memory, the entrance to the basement was located in the middle of the existing corridor. I quickly guided him there and soon opened the hidden entrance, gesturing inside.

"It’s this way, Master."

"...It’s dangerous, so step back."

Suddenly, Taehyun’s eyes turned cold. As if he had discovered something, he kept staring down the stairs buried in darkness. I couldn’t adapt to the abruptly changed atmosphere, but I decided to step back for now.

And then.

A chorus of wails echoed out. In an instant, specters began to swarm out. It was a tremendous aura of evil spirits. Feeling suffocated just by breathing, I immediately lunged forward.

"Master, I’ll handle this!"

"No, it’s fine. Grai."

"It’s danger—"

Just as I was about to cast a spell, light seeped out from behind. Soon, the corridor was filled with a golden light, and my vision flashed white. It was so blindingly bright that I ended up closing my eyes, only belatedly realizing my mistake.

’What have I done!’

Taehyun was in a dangerous situation. And yet, I had shown an opening in front of the enemy. As a homunculus, it was grounds for disqualification.

Shaking off the surging sense of despair, I forced my eyes open. The first thing I saw was the specters turning into ash and scattering in the air. What had happened?

Blinking blankly, I turned my head.

"Summon, why did you only call for me now!"

Brilliantly shining golden hair. A knight in red armor wielding a massive greatsword had appeared right before my eyes.

---

After that commotion, going down the stairs was incredibly easy. Exterminating the initial swarm of specters played a part, but there was another true reason.

"Hmph, such low-level scum. To think you’d dare approach Summon!"

It was the knight named Grai, a handsome young man currently taking the lead and swinging his greatsword wildly. Appearing suddenly just like the goblin Kinjo had, he efficiently cleared the path, acting without even being ordered. And whenever Taehyun called, he would come running in a flash, his eyes sparkling.

"Summon, I have exterminated more evil spirits!"

"Yeah, good job. Go kill some more."

"Understood!" he roared.

It felt like watching a trainer handle a well-trained dog. I was bewildered at first, but after watching them for a while, I felt like I was subtly getting used to it.

It was while we were comfortably making our way down. Taehyun, who was beside me, casually struck up a conversation.

"You’ll have to be a little understanding. He might be a bit lacking upstairs, but he’s a good kid at heart."

"I haven’t even said any—"

"Sure, I admit he’s somewhat handsome, but look at him. He’s the type to just charge in without a single thought. Watch this."

Taehyun waved his hand into the pitch-black darkness. It seemed he was calling Grai.

However, Grai seemed to have already gone far down and was nowhere to be seen, leaving me tilting my head in confusion. At that moment, the stairs trembled slightly, and soon Grai came dashing right up to us.

"Did you call, Summon!"

"It’s nothing. Go back down."

"Understood!"

What had just happened? I was flabbergasted by what had transpired in mere seconds. Taehyun had called him with just a hand gesture.

Actually, it was even more fascinating that the knight noticed it without hearing a single sound.

"Fascinating, right?"

"...I didn’t see any flow of mana."

"It’s not magic or anything. It’s just that his stupidity has reached its absolute peak."

"I see."

It seemed that when stupidity reached its peak, such things were possible. I ended up nodding instinctively at his words.

Of course, I belatedly realized it was a joke, but I didn’t feel the need to apologize to Grai separately. After that, Taehyun told me a few things.

"I didn’t mention this, but I have experience managing a dungeon. Kinjo, who you saw yesterday, and that idiot over there are guys who were with me back then."

"Does that mean there are others as well?"

"Right. But because of a damn penalty, I can only summon one per day. What’s more, once I summon someone, I can’t summon them again. They even set a duration limit on the summons. Those bastards."

Only then did my accumulated curiosity unravel. If he had experienced it once before, his rapid adaptation to Radik made sense. It truly seemed the Previous Master had fulfilled his dying wish by offering his soul.

’If so, could Taehyun be a Noble of the Dimension?’

Outwardly, he looked like an ordinary adventurer. He didn’t particularly feel like a grand existence, but then again, I didn’t know anything about Nobles of the Dimension in the first place.

Up until now, he just seemed like a Dungeon Master with restrictions placed upon him. The fact that he was my new master remained unchanged.

"Summooooon!" 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

While Taehyun was muttering curses about someone, Grai came running back in a huff. Looking unusually flustered, he reported that he had exterminated all the evil spirits and that there was a suspicious hole at the bottom of the stairs. It seemed the Previous Master had been continuously doing something down here.

Harboring a creeping sense of anxiety, I continued down the stairs with Taehyun.

"...This is a bit serious."

A hole emitting a blue light, looking as if it had been torn open. Demonic Energy was spewing out from the bottomless Rift in the basement.