#1192 Flexible and Adaptable 

After all the twists and turns, the spirit fiasco finally wrapped up. 

Kaito, having realized just how huge a mess he caused, swore he’d never use chantless magic again. 
He even went as far as forming a magic oath with the spirits that inflicts divine punishment if he breaks his promise. 

Since this vow is bound to the Spirit King, the enforcement is dead serious. 

The Spirit King, having finished his business, returned to the Spirit Realm. But before leaving, he seemed grateful for all we’d done… 

“We spirits shall forge a special bond with you, Saint! If ever you need our aid, do not hesitate to call!!!” 

That was his parting message. 

“Buh-bye, Spiwit Kingggg!” 
“See you water, awwigator! Come back soon, big square coon!!!” 

Even the earth spirits are waving him off, all bright and bubbly. 

Seriously, you guys ended up uncovering a lot of the issues here.  
Go ahead and eat as much butter as you want. 

“Kyaaaaaaaah!!!”  
“B-B-B-Butter?! BUUUUTTER!!!”  
“So good, so dewiciousssss!!!” 

Yep, earth spirits go nuts for their favorite treat.  

I still feel like there’s something that’s bugging me, but I’ve got no way to investigate it further. All I could do was let relevant parties know about the situation. 

Then, I went back to my usual everyday life. 

*** 

Now that the spirit fiasco’s over, I figure it’s time to revisit the settlement. 

Winter’s right around the corner, so it’s cooling down a bit. 

Compared to the main farm, which is basically a giant snowy wasteland in winter, the climate around the settlement is a little milder. They can still keep working on developing the land, but since they plan to start full-scale farming next spring, there’s a bunch of prep work to be done. 

Because the place hasn’t started producing food yet, they’re still relying on relief supplies.  
Different nations, whether they’re the Demon Kingdom or Human Kingdom, have been sending shipments. My own farm’s been chipping in, too. 

The goal is that, by next year, they’ll be self-sufficient and won’t need to rely on outside help anymore. 

That said, the settlers aren’t exactly okay with staying on handouts, so they’re figuring out ways to secure their own food. 

They gather nuts from the nearby woods, pick edible wild plants and mushrooms...stuff like that. 

But by far the most popular option is dungeon diving. 

Alexander set up a demo dungeon here to promote the real one he owns.  
It’s just a smaller-scale version of his main dungeon, but a dungeon’s still a dungeon. 

Ore, plant materials, and monster parts that appear inside can all be turned into real profit. 

Whenever they’ve got a bit of downtime, the settlers head off to explore.  

They’re all physically and mentally tough enough to help with a frontier settlement, so roaming a monster-filled dungeon doesn’t faze them too much. 

They dive in, collect valuable materials, rinse and repeat. Thanks to Alexander’s test-run dungeon, the settlers’ QOL is climbing pretty quickly. 

There’s a good reason for that… 

“Wow, talk about a major makeover.” 

When I went inside the settlement’s dungeon, I was stunned by how different the interior looked. 

This is supposed to be a compact replica of Alexander’s main dungeon, set up purely for promo purposes.  
Wasn’t the whole point to copy the original layout, just on a smaller scale? 

But now…it’s completely different. 

I’ve been to Alexander’s real dungeon, so I can tell it’s nowhere close to what it’s supposed to be imitating. It’s like a whole other beast! 

What happened here?! 

“Hey, took you long enough. You kept saying you’d come check on things regularly, but you sure took your sweet time,” comes a voice.  

I turn to see Typhon, the dragon in charge of managing this dungeon. 

Right now, she’s in human form: a wild, feral-looking teenage girl. 

“You sure went and did a number on this place, huh...?” 
“Got a problem with that? You think you can complain to a mighty Proto-Geyser Dragon like me, puny human?” 

Yeah, I kinda do have a problem. 

This dungeon’s original purpose was to advertise Alexander’s main dungeon. If it doesn’t fulfill that, it’s not serving its function. 

Now look at it... It’s so far removed from the original.  
Alexander might file a complaint himself. 

“Um…why’d you overhaul it like this?” 

The first floor, where I’m standing now, looks like a dense forest.  
Honestly, I can barely tell it’s a dungeon. It might as well be part of the outside wilderness. I’m worried someone’s gonna wander in by mistake. 

Usually, dungeons follow either a mountain or a cave layout, but Typhon basically brute-forced this place into existence using her colossal mana.  
That means she can reshape it however she likes, at will. 

“Ha! You humans are so narrow-minded. There’s no way you’d grasp the grand design of a Proto-Geyser Dragon!” 

She’s sure putting on airs. 

“Think about it from the perspective of the people using this dungeon. The key to success is thinking like your customers. Offer them what they actually want, otherwise, what kind of merchant are you?!” 

You’re not a merchant.  
You’re a proud dragon—or, at the very least, a dungeon manager.  

There’s a fundamental difference between a dungeon manager fending off intruders and a shopkeeper wooing customers. 

“Listen up: almost everyone who sets foot in this dungeon is a settler. You know that, right?” 

Well…  
Around here, only settlers live nearby, so… 

“Typically, dungeon‐dwellers are adventurers, and what adventurers crave is instant riches and glittering treasure. So, you’d normally stock your halls with gold and gems. But the settlers around here would pick a hearty meal over treasure any day! It’s not hard to figure out!” 

… 
True enough, if you haul in a pile of gold, there’s nowhere local to cash it in.  
They’d far prefer vegetables and meat that nourish them, or firewood and warm gear to keep out the cold, than gold they can’t even chew. 

“That’s precisely why I made the first layer a forest. A forest is the wellspring of life. If you want to harvest food and furs efficiently, no terrain beats a woodland!!!” 

In other words, she’s 100% tailoring this place to the settlers’ needs.  

She’s ignoring the original concept of making a mini-copy of Alexander’s real dungeon. 

Of course, keeping supply and demand in balance means you’ve got to cater to your customers’ wishes…  
But to do that while flat-out ignoring the client’s actual requests...! 

“…But her passion is absolutely genuine.” 

Viel pokes into view.  
She looks a little worn around the edges. 

“Lately she crashes into my place every chance she gets, grilling me for dungeon-building know-how. I barely get a moment’s peace! Her motivation alone is enough to overwhelm anyone.” 
“Haaaa-ha-ha-ha-ha! Tremble before the Proto-Geyser Dragon’s insatiable curiosity! Now that I’ve taken the helm as administrator, there’s no way I’ll settle for anything half-baked!!!” 

But you need to meet the client’s wishes before worrying about ‘quality’… 

“It’s no use, Master. She’s all about prioritizing the locals’ livelihood, so it’s impossible to refuse her. Every time she pushes, I cave and end up taking the instructor’s role…” 

Well, if someone says they’re doing it ‘for the good of the world and the people,’ who could possibly turn them down?  
Veil really does have a solid character under all that. She can’t resist an appeal to compassion. 

“Hmhmhm! Veil’s got top-notch dungeon-crafting skills. Why wouldn’t I use what I can use? That’s the cleverness of a dragon!!!” 

I wonder why Typhon’s so determined to look out for these pioneers?  

Has she grown attached just from living nearby?  
Until recently, she treated every creature besides herself like trash, so what’s changed in her heart? 

Still, if a transcendent being like a dragon chooses to stand by the settlers, I’m grateful.  
It’s a comfort to know they’ve got that kind of backup if anything happens. 

And that’s exactly when…  
Something, truly something, happens.