Episode 34: Not Enough Hands!

"Fiona. I'll work on the labyrinth, so I think I'll ask you to take care of the outside."
"Outside? "
"Me and these children can remodel the labyrinth, but we can't do the same outside, can we?　I want you to act as the lord's representative, Fiona."
"But, but I…… I don't have a clue, you know? "
"It'll be alright. I'll make you a to-do list."
"But……if you're not with me, Maho…… I won't really know what to do……"

　Fiona nervously grabbed the hem of my clothes.
　As an explorer, you're strong enough to defeat goblins and orcs with a single blow, yet in this regard, you remain just a pampered lord's daughter.
　She's so bold when it's just the two of us. Well, she said she didn't go to school, so she might be more ignorant than I imagined.
　No, maybe I should assume that's actually the case?　Well, there are only two of us, so maybe we should stay together. It probably won't make much difference anyway.

"I guess so. Fiona, I may have been a little impatient. Let's work together."
"That sounds great……I'm sorry, I'm useless……"
"No, you're not useless. It's just because I'm weird. I mean, Fiona, I'm a person from another world in this world, aren't I? "
"Th-That may be true……"

　There is no human being in this world who can replace me, a person who came from another world.
　There's no need to lie about that, and I think it's only natural that Fiona feels useless compared to me.

　And I'm at fault too. I lack the skill to verbalize what I'm trying to do and get other people to do it, so I have no choice but to try and fail on my own, while dragging Fiona along with me.
　If someone more knowledgeable about business had been called in, things might have been handled more smoothly, but there's no point in saying that now.

"Fiona. You know, I've been thinking. I don't know anything about other dungeons, right?"
"Uhmm…… yeah."
"So, I don't think we need to be bound by the common sense of dungeons. In short, this dungeon is essentially 『Fiona's household belongings』. In that case, it doesn't matter what we do. After all, you have the authority."
"Authority……? But yeah, I guess so. There shouldn't be any rules. The Labyrinth Administration Bureau didn't ask us for anything either."
"Right? I'm thinking maybe we should just set business hours."

　When I said that, Fiona looked puzzled.

"Business……hours? "
"Right. Because transfer monuments reduce travel time, there's less need to stay in the dungeon for a long time, right?　I would like to have time for maintenance, and I have to replenish the treasure chests every day."
"I think I understand what you mean, but…… Once you're inside, you won't know what time it is, so I don't think it's possible."
"Why not just give them watches? By the way, I think it would be interesting to make the watch a proof of our explorer's rank, and upgrade the watch's quality as the rank increases."

　It can be used as a substitute for a guild badge. It's obvious when you look at the clocks, but this world is the same as Earth, and for some reason, a day also seems to be 24 hours long.
　There are countless types of watches, so explorers can enjoy choosing one. After all, there are no watches in this world.
　If any problems arise, they can be swept under the rug with authority, and if the king shows up…… By that time, the Labyrinth City will have grown to a certain size, and we can just say that they came out of the labyrinth.
　Let's just put a watch in the treasure chests every now and then. The value of watches will probably go down, but I'm not really trying to make money off of them anyway.

"But Maho, does that mean the two of us have to replace the treasure chest ourselves……?"
"That's correct. It's okay to ask these children for help, but it's a little inconvenient to do so with their animal forms."

　Pochi, Tama, and Kaiser are strong, so they can probably set up treasure chests on the upper floors, but it's still difficult to set up treasure chests when they're in animal form. There's also the issue of transportation.

"Eventually, we'll have no choice but to get strong explorers involved on the management side."
"Explorers?　Wouldn't it be pretty bad if they found out? "
"Well, that's true, but as an organization grows, such risks inevitably increase……"

　Strong explorers are definitely a risk. It would be a hassle if we were threatened or something.
　That said, the premise is that you must be able to fight monsters in the first place, so weak explorers won't even be able to set up treasure chests.
　The only other option is for me to super power-up and take on the role of treasure chest keeper?　Hmmm～……

"Hey, master. Why don't you use that thing to call some minions? "

　While we were talking, Pochi said something I didn't understand.
　What is “that”?

"That's that, woof. Right? "
"Yeah, that's right. It goes whoosh, whoosh, round and around, calling a monster from somewhere, nyan."
"Gaah."

　I don't understand it at all, but it seems like there's a place where monsters can be summoned.

"That, I think it had a name……?　Yes. Ma-yika Rey, woof."
"I can see magic since I became like this, nyan. That Ma-yika Rey is still usable, nyan."
"Gaah."

　Ma-yika Rey?　Ah, magic array.
　The one where the doppelganger appeared……right?
　I didn't care about it at all after clearing that floor, but does that mean it can still be used?

"How do you know that? "
“I kind of understand, woof. I can see what the magic is trying to do, woof."
"That place is a magical place that can summon things, nyan."
"It seems like you can summon something in exchange for something of equivalent value, gaah."

　Hmm?
　I'm not sure what you mean by "equivalent value," but perhaps it refers to something like an offering.
　When it comes to things summoned from magic arrays, demons are the standard, so will I end up not only commanding these children who have turned into huge monsters, but also demons themselves……?

"Hmm?　Sounds interesting. Let's give it a try."
"M-Maho. Are you serious?　Won't you summon a monster and get attacked? "

　Fiona looks genuinely worried.
　It might be unacceptable from a religious perspective.

"Well, let's just start by calling out someone who looks weak to try it out. First of all, I don't even know if I can summon anything."

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