It’s vast.
And not just vast, the scenery is good too.
As expected of a place called a prime location, its size and scenery are no joke.
Looking at it again, I might have underestimated the land that Evia gave me a little.
“…”
Standing captivated, I’m amazed by the magnificent view before me, no matter how many times I see it.
Grasslands spread across the rolling hills, with a small mountain behind us and a clear blue lakeside in front.
Without even looking around, there are no artificial structures, and the only human intervention I can think of is the magic stone circle where the teleportation circle to get here is installed.
That circle also uses natural materials so as not to spoil the landscape, making it look like a kind of ruin.
“Whoa! It’s big!”
“Or rather, it’s too big, isn’t it?”
“Of course. This is the land I prepared. Don’t compare it to ordinary land.”
I’ve seen many sights in various dungeons, but hearing that all the land here is mine didn’t feel real, but Kaido’s shout, Minami’s stunned murmur, and Evia’s resolute voice brought me back to reality.
Today, I decided to come see the land I received, bringing along Suella and her children, and Kaido and his friends who were bored, to see the new residential area in the company’s dungeon.
“It’s not that way.”
Deviating from the publicly accessible areas, Evia led the way and we passed through a gate with guards.
What appeared in the space beyond was the result of inserting a key with the coordinates into the teleportation circle and going through the troublesome process of security clearance with practiced ease.
“Beyond my imagination.”
“Wow, it’s amazing.”
“Is ‘amazing’ enough to describe it?”
“Who knows? At this point, I don’t even know the standard for the word ‘amazing’.”
Kitamiya, who could only laugh as if anything was possible, contrasted with Amelia, who was genuinely surprised.
Katsu could only question the scene before him.
Kitamiya couldn’t answer Katsu’s question and offered another vague smile.
“Evia.”
“What is it, Himik?”
While everyone else was marveling at the sight, the fallen angel and the demon stood side-by-side, and Himik spoke to Evia. Evia, without looking back, continued to face forward.
“How much of this belongs to the Master?”
And that question represented everyone present.
Although I, Suella, Memoria, and Himik had glanced at the land’s area, we had dismissed it as a joke due to its unreality.
“All of it.”
“…”
“As expected,” I said, turning to Suella, who was holding her child, with a laugh. She also laughed and nodded at Kaido’s reaction, as if it was only natural.
Memoria was much the same, shaking her head and giving up, unable to comprehend the immense reward.
Let’s be honest, who would have imagined it?
A vast, well-maintained land with a lakeside and a mountain, all-weather accessible.
“Whoa, it’s all of it? I wonder how many Tokyo Domes would fit?”
Kaido, unable to see from one end to the other, voiced the customary measurement. The size of Tokyo Dome is 47,000 square meters.
To put it simply, it’s a little larger than a square with sides of 200 meters.
Now, that square itself is an exceptionally large plot of land. The conditions are like a resort area, with a view of mountains and a lakeside.
This land is far beyond that.
Memoria, who was quick to grasp the value of this land and good with numbers, answered Kaido, who was staring blankly with his vocabulary depleted, as if his retro robot calculation system was overheating.
“Roughly, about eight hundred and fifty-six.”
“Eight hundred.”
“Fifty.”
“Six.”
“Units?”
Minami, Kitamiya, and Katsu repeated the numbers in order, stunned by the calmly stated figures. Amelia, who didn’t quite understand, simply tilted her head in wonder.
While I expressed it in square meters earlier, to convey the size of this land, we’d need to use square kilometers.
“About forty square kilometers. That’s the size of one of my dungeon’s zones. I heard it’s an entire floor in a prime residential area of Evia’s dungeon.”
It’s hard to grasp, but this site area is about the same as Koto Ward in Tokyo or Kamakura City in Kanagawa.
Yes, thinking about it calmly, it’s a bit too much land for one person to own.
“Ugh, wouldn’t managing such a large area be difficult?”
“No, it doesn’t seem to be that difficult.”
“?”
“Are you forgetting? This is inside a dungeon. It wouldn’t be strange to have a tool or two for managing such a large facility.”
“Ah.”
And so, while I thought a future of being overwhelmed by the vast land awaited, there was a surprisingly convenient item.
“Is that a tablet?”
“They just made it in this form for easier viewing. Though instructors like Evia seem to connect to the dungeon by feel.”
You could call it an introductory tool.
I took out something similar to a tablet PC for managing status. Minami and Kaido looked at my hand with interest.
By connecting my magic crest to it and launching the management software, I finished taking control of this space.
“Whoa! It became night!”
“Starlit sky.”
“It’s beautiful!”
And the dungeon’s structure came to mind, and I realized I was connected to the dungeon. With a slight operation on one of them, the change was instantaneous.
The clear sky, without an intervening sunset, turned into night, surprising those who didn’t know its function.
Watching Amelia frolic under the starry sky, I returned the sky to its clear state and showed the terminal to Kaido, smiling as I explained.
“Whoa, that’s convenient. Does that mean you can create all sorts of amazing things? Like, literally build Tokyo Domes?”
Kaido, impressed and covetous, looked at my terminal, as if it were a dream device.
I put away the terminal, avoiding Kaido’s gaze.
Unfortunately, it’s not that convenient.
“I wish I could. That would be nice.”
“?”
“You can’t?”
As you can see, it’s just a space rich in nature.
People tend to think they can do anything with the terminal connected to this dungeon, but that’s not the case.
“On paper, this space is mine, but fundamentally it’s Evia’s dungeon. I have almost no real authority. I’ve only been granted simple operational rights for this floor.”
I warned him that my capabilities were limited, but there were still surprisingly many things I could do.
Magic-element manufacturing rights.
In other words, I don’t have the right to manufacture magic elements by the dungeon’s core, the Dungeon Core, and I can’t do more than the supplied amount of magic elements.
Moreover, building structures like houses also requires knowledge.
Even creating materials requires precise knowledge of those materials.
To give a specific example, to create a diamond, you need to know about the purification process of its carbon crystalline structure. Building structures requires knowledge of how much of which material is needed, and the more complex and larger the structure, the more magic elements are required.
In addition, those rights are merely simple operational rights. Evia could revoke my rights at any time, stop the supply of magic elements, or even delete the entire floor.
This is just a precautionary measure.
I heard it’s to appeal to the superiors that I’m not secretly gathering forces to rebel.
While it sounds like there are many restrictions, there is surprisingly a lot of freedom.
“That said, I can make simple houses and fields quickly.”
Even so, frequently used materials like wood and bricks are registered in the dungeon’s recipes, and buildings can be generated according to those recipes without any knowledge.
It’s called a template, so to speak.
However, a space composed solely of templates is uninspired.
It could be argued that it depends on ingenuity and presentation, but if I want to create modern objects, it falls outside of those templates and requires considerable knowledge.
“But that’s not enough, so I’m currently studying those things in my spare time and trying to build connections.”
I explained this to Kaido and the others, and they were impressed by my actions in trying to create my ideal town, or rather, the best possible grounds I could envision.
However, that’s just the superficial reason.
Exchanging a glance with Evia so as not to be noticed by those around me, she gave a slight nod.
There’s something hidden behind this that I haven’t even told Suella and the others.
“Suitability for dungeon management?”
“That’s right.”
This is my second time here.
The first time was a few days ago when Evia guided me here to this land for the first time.
At that time, Evia explained something to me.
“This place is ostensibly being transferred to you as a reward, but its true purpose is to give you a place to confirm whether you can act in a manner worthy of managing a dungeon.”
“The real purpose, is it okay to say?”
Perhaps because we were alone, she stated it frankly, and I, finding it in character, accepted her words with a smile.
Instead of being discouraged by being told I was being tested, I had the composure to casually ask for the details, which showed my growth.
“It doesn’t matter. Either way, Jiro, you probably already noticed, didn’t you?”
“That there was something more to it, yes. I’m not so pure as to blindly accept such a vast plot of land and be told to use it as I please.”
And, most importantly, I’ve known since joining the company that they are not an organization that would be satisfied with merely giving land.
Evia’s reward was also a bit unusual.
Land, an inheritance that would last as long as the world didn’t collapse.
And yet, I felt a fabricated nature to the space within the dungeon.
Why not land on the Magician Continent? With such a high reward, even if a large space wasn’t possible, they could have prepared land with good security and location, enough to build a mansion.
Especially since my guardian is the president, in terms of trust, they are at the highest level.
Shrugging, I exposed my adult suspicion to Evia, who then, agreeing it made sense, offered a satisfied smile and didn’t pursue the matter further.
“So, you say you’re testing my dungeon management ability, but surely you’re not expecting me to build defensive facilities here, are you?”
Defensive facilities built from the perspective of a Dungeon Tester like me could, in a sense, be an ideal test environment, but I didn’t think Evia or the president would want that.
Furthermore, I didn’t think they would expect me to provide myself with military strength within my own dungeon at this stage.
“Ah, we don’t expect that much.”
Evia and I, as organizational members rather than individuals, denied my words.
Then, what would they use to test me? I prompted with my gaze.
“Next time, or rather, we’ve already made contact, but it’s been decided to hold preliminary meetings for establishing formal diplomatic relations with Japan. Jiro, prepare to set up a branch here as a bridgehead for that.”
“Set up a branch?”
“Yes.”
I knew she was in contact with my aunt, Kirie-san, but I never knew things had progressed this far.
However, it wasn’t an impossible story, so I suppressed my surprise and pondered Evia’s words. This company is certainly sufficient to greet the Japanese envoy.
However, are there any aspects inconvenient for the Demon Lord’s Army? What is the benefit of entrusting it to me, who has never hosted state receptions?
Unable to ask Evia, who merely narrowed her eyes as if telling me to think about it, I silently crossed my arms and pondered for several minutes.
“…Counter-espionage and proof of a stance that can cooperate with humans, and perhaps to check Isal?”
“Sixty points, but a passing grade.”
I presented all the contents I could think of, but it only reached a passing grade.
The spies weren’t just from the Isal side, but also towards this world.
The fact that they are responding in some facilities without fully disclosing the company’s facilities is probably due to information control.
Next, incorporating me into diplomacy is intended to appeal to the fact that Japanese people can harmonize with people from other worlds.
The final check is that if the name of the Demon Lord’s Army spreads within Japan, it will be easier to handle if they are summoned to another world in the future.
“…By the way, what about the remaining forty points?”
My interpretations were not wrong in those aspects, but I was told they were insufficient, and after racking my brain again, I gave up, raising both hands in surrender. “You hopeless fool,” she said softly, and then she told me the answer.
“If this operation goes well, it will spread the recognition that you are a talent who can bring profit to us. It’s a stepping stone for your advancement, you idiot.”
She lightly tapped my forehead with her finger, as if to say I should have realized that, and I could only offer a wry smile.
“Senpai? What’s wrong? Aren’t we going?”
“Ah, yes, I’m coming.”
As I was recalling my conversation with Evia, everyone had agreed to go to the lakeside, and the plan was to have a meal there.
Kaido seemed worried as I stood still on the hill, but seeing Minami and the others walking ahead, I told Kaido it was nothing and pondered the future.
Today’s Word:
Balancing what you want to do with what you have to do is difficult, but not impossible.
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*The first volume of the book is published by Hayakawa Bunko JA.
It was released on October 18, 2018.
The e-book version was released on October 31 of the same year.
The second volume was released on December 19.
The third volume was released on February 20, 2019.
The content has been revised and expanded from the content posted on Shousetsuka ni Narou, with the addition of an unpublished interlude.
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Thank you for your continued support of this work.
