-Hmm, so you’re saying you’re Ara’s aunt?
“Is that how it works?”
As soon as I mentioned my sister, that was the immediate response.
Since Ara is my daughter, I guess that makes her Ara’s aunt?
“Call me Lee Seon-ah.”
-Lee Seon-ah. Should I call you Lee Seon-ah from now on?
“No, you should call me ‘noona’ (older sister).”
-‘Noona’? Got it. If that’s what you want, I am Ras.
“It’s not what I want, it’s just that ‘noona’ is correct, Ras.”
Ras glanced at me cautiously.
His wide, bright eyes looked pitiful.
“Hey, Ras looks scared.”
“What? What did I do?”
-I-I am not afraid.
These kids were hilarious.
Anyway, since we arrived, I first took out some dog chews.
I gave Seon-ah a handful to help her get acquainted with the gnolls.
“Oh, good boys.”
As I expected, the affectionate gnolls quickly warmed up to Seon-ah. She also skillfully interacted with them, just like she’d handled the kids in my dungeon before.
-Oh, you know how to give a good pat. Very nice.
“Not ‘you’, it’s ‘noona’, Ras.”
-N-Noona.
“Right, ‘noona’.”
-Noona.
Ras, trying hard to maintain his dignity, made one last stand, but in the end, he couldn’t resist.
Then he turned his sparkling eyes back to me.
Oh, how adorable.
I just wanted to nibble him.
After enjoying the dog chew party, we started exploring the village.
Looking around, it seemed like there were fewer gnolls than before.
When I asked about it, Mammon quickly replied.
-The gnolls are currently working in the mines! Thanks to them, construction in the village is moving very fast!
Oh, they were doing all that without me even asking.
I spotted the construction site, where gnolls, goblins, and slugs were working together to build structures.
The gnolls, stronger than the goblins, were easily moving heavy materials, their tails spinning like propellers, which made me laugh.
“They can’t keep their tails still while working.”
-They’re excited. For us, who have always only dug the ground, it’s refreshing to have a new form of amusement.
It seemed they considered construction a type of play and were enjoying it.
Well, they used to say they had fun just digging, so these new experiences must feel novel to them.
-Woof!
The kids building the structures noticed us.
I told them to take a break and handed out some dog chews and snacks.
“How about it, Ras? Enjoying yourself?”
-It’s perfect. In fact, I am grateful.
Ras lowered his head in gratitude.
When he raised his head again, his eyes were shining.
-My subordinates and I used to live on just enough food to not starve. So to be able to fill our stomachs with delicious meals three times a day in such a beautiful place—we are deeply grateful.
“Hey, there’s no need to be so thankful. We’re all family now.”
As I patted Ras’ head, he closed his eyes and savored the moment.
His tail was wagging wildly from side to side.
-Lord! Me too!
-Hehe, me too…
“Of course, I’ll pet you too!”
-Squee!
-Growl!
Suddenly, the kids rushed into my arms.
They filled my embrace.
I smiled brightly, hugging them all and rubbing my face against theirs.
“Hiyahaha!”
Ara squirmed from the tickling.
Soon after, Seon-ah quietly took a picture of us.
“Is this what peace looks like?”
Hearing Seon-ah’s wistful voice, I gently patted the kids.
***
The Goblin and Gnoll village, nicknamed “Go-Noll Village,” was about 35% complete.
Actually, that percentage only applied to the buildings, and if you factored in the landscaping, there was still a long way to go.
When we went to the mine, we could see that the entrance had been widened significantly.
At the same time, we witnessed the incredible speed of the work and the massive amounts of resources being mined.
“Wow, they’re real professionals.”
The gnolls were hard at work mining stones.
While I felt I was stronger than them, their mining skills were unmatched.
Thanks to this, the goblins could fully focus on gem cutting and mineral crafting.
It was a perfect division of labor.
They were working together in their respective fields of expertise with great synergy.
The construction materials for the village were being gathered separately, and according to the story, Ras would carry all of it at once.
“All of this in one go?”
-We need to gather more.
The materials were already piled so high that one would need to look up at them, yet it was still not enough. Ras’s monstrous strength impressed me again.
“Ras can carry all of this?”
“You don’t know, but Ras is incredibly strong.”
Seon-ah looked at Ras with surprised eyes.
It was understandable—on the surface, Ras looked like nothing more than an adorable dog standing on two feet, wearing cute boots.
-I’m quite powerful, you know.
“Oh, our Ras is so impressive.”
When Seon-ah patted the cute Ras, he almost rolled over to expose his belly but quickly held back with a sheepish cough.
Such a cute little guy.
“Any issues so far?”
-Rather, all issues have been resolved!
-None at all. Everything is perfect.
Good, good.
I was quite pleased with the positive reactions from the kids, and then I remembered something important.
“What about the food situation?”
-We are currently expanding the village’s fields. It seems like we’ll be operating them together with the gnolls soon.
“Hmm, I’ll assign more slimes to help.”
-Thank you, great lord!
Speaking of food, I thought of Gwa.
Before tomorrow comes, I need to discuss with Mark2 about what to do with Gwa’s food, the Rapipi plant.
After saying goodbye to the kids, Seon-ah stayed behind, and I returned to the slime village.
“Mark2! Are you busy?”
Mark2 shook its body as if to say “no” and came over to me. Watching Mark2, I took out the Rapipi root from Bokkeum.
“Ungh, here we go!”
If it weren’t for Ara, I wouldn’t have dared try this.
The Rapipi was a massive, round-rooted plant.
Mark2 looked a bit startled when it saw the huge root.
“You know our new family member, Gwa, right? This is its food. Do you think you can grow it?”
Mark2 quivered.
“Oh, you seem pretty confident. You’re really a level 6 now!”
Mark2 quivered again enthusiastically, as if to say, “Leave it to me!”
Ever since it evolved into a higher species, the World Tree Slime, its confidence had soared.
I took Mark2, and with Ara, we set off to find a good spot to plant the Rapipi.
“Where would be a good place?”
We checked in on the peacefully sleeping Gwa and wandered around the empty lands near the village until Mark2 chose a spot.
“Here?”
Mark2 wiggled in agreement.
“Alright, let’s plant it here.”
We started digging the ground to plant the Rapipi root. In hindsight, I should’ve brought a few gnolls with us.
“One, two, heave-ho!”
Ara worked hard, digging quickly.
The root was so large that we had to dig both wide and deep, but together with Ara, we managed to make a huge hole.
“Is this enough?”
Mark2 wiggled.
“We need to dig more? Ugh, okay.”
With Mark2’s guidance, we created a space just right for planting the Rapipi.
In the end, we had to dig almost twice as deep as the original hole before we finally got the thumbs-up signal.
“Done! Great job, Ara!”
“It was a diligent task!”
Ara’s vocabulary is quite something.
I don’t know where she learned that, but it’s unique.
‘Father.’
I pushed aside the person who came to mind and pulled out the Rapipi root again.
After settling it nicely into the soil, we filled the hole back up.
“Phew, ah! Mark2, these are some seeds. Can you plant these too?”
Mark2 nodded confidently.
I’m glad I saved all the seeds that came from the fruit.
We planted the Rapipi seeds near the spot where we had planted the Rapipi root and marked the area to indicate that it was the Rapipi field.
Mark2 wiggled.
“You want to assign a few slimes to manage it? Got it.”
We assigned slimes to manage the Rapipi field as well. Since it wasn’t far from the village, it seemed like it would be easy to manage with regular visits.
“Whew, great work.”
“It was hard work indeed.”
Before we knew it, it was 9 PM.
It was time to wash up and go to bed.
We had a productive day.
Fortunately, thanks to the kids handling everything on their own, I only had to check things occasionally, and everything went smoothly.
‘Maybe I’ll check the jar before going to bed.’
It had been a week since I last checked the jar.
I wondered how much the soy sauce and soybean paste had fermented.
-Hehe.
Just in time, I saw a slime opening the lid for me. The way it carefully wiggled and opened each lid was adorable.
After helping it open the lid, I used a ladle to scoop a bit of the soy sauce.
“Oh.”
The color was starting to develop.
It wasn’t quite as dark as I expected, but it had a slightly sesame oil-like appearance.
Slurp.
I hesitantly took a sip…
“Ugh, salty.”
It was salty.
Wait, is this ready?
I should check with my mother when she comes. She said she’d come tomorrow with Father, so after finishing my schedule in the afternoon, I’ll bring them over.
“Kyu-seong, I’m all washed up.”
“Oh wow, our Ara can do it all by herself now.”
“I am mature!”
“That’s right. Our Ara is so grown-up.”
She rubbed her eyes sleepily as she spoke, making me want to laugh, but I held it in.
I lifted Ara up and cradled her in my arms, getting her ready for bed.
‘Ah, I still need to check the items Ras gave me from the Dungeon of Wrath…’
Other than the mana stones, everything else needed processing. Since things turned out this way, I’ll discuss it with the guild master when I meet them tomorrow.
I noticed today that the mining speed had dramatically increased, and the minerals were being extracted at a much higher rate than before.
It might be a good idea to combine the byproducts and turn them into equipment.
***
Austria.
Base of the Dungeon of Wrath.
Michael was ousted from his position as the French representative, and a new figure had taken his place.
Now, both the British and French representatives had changed.
Coincidentally, both of them had crossed paths with Kyu-seong and ended up falling from grace.
“Although there have been various issues lately, we must press ahead with preparations for the raid.”
“Fortunately, Kyu-seong agreed to continue providing support through item deliveries.”
“Honestly, I still don’t understand how he survived. If we could learn his methods, it would help with the dungeon raid.”
The time for the first raid team to enter was approaching.
This project was planned to span eight phases in total, with the first one set for next week.
‘It was supposed to be this week, but it got delayed.’
Damn Michael.
His constant desire to act on his own whims had caused trouble everywhere.
But after this recent incident, even the timing of the first raid had been postponed.
‘Perhaps it’s a blessing in disguise.’
Now that Michael had finally stepped down from his position as a representative.
“Four days until D-Day. Let’s focus on our preparations!”
“The key to this expedition is to safely explore the dungeon’s interior! Mapping the dungeon and estimating the location of the dungeon boss should be our priority!”
At that moment, one of the researchers raised their hand.
“What is it?”
“We still haven’t identified the type of dungeon boss. Isn’t it dangerous to make assumptions about its location and end up triggering an accident?”
“Hmm, you’re not wrong.”
After all, it’s the boss of a Level 9 dungeon, one of the Seven Deadly Sins.
It’s highly likely to be merciless, terrifying, and one of the most powerful monsters ever.
Moreover, judging by the types of monsters that have appeared, it’s estimated that the boss will be massive in size.
‘A colossal killing machine!’
When they saw the AI-generated image of the boss, it looked like a giant, bipedal reptile.
A boss monster that spews flames from its mouth, with sharp spikes covering its entire body.
Just imagining it was horrifying.
How many sacrifices would it take to finally bring down such a boss?
“We should revise the plan and make some new proposals.”
“Thank you for considering our input!”
And thus, Ras, the boss monster of the Dungeon of Wrath, unknowingly became an unimaginably terrifying creature in their minds.
Cliche Novel 