Chapter 114. Recruiting Villagers Resident #2
We needed the Necro Puppet Master.
By utilizing his mind control, one of his superpowers, it would be much easier to tame monsters.
Recalling that fact belatedly,
I returned to the hideout and brought the Puppet Master back to the desert.
For reference, I also brought Niara Nepensis.
I hadn’t planned on bringing her, but she was standing by the crystal ball’s house with a dejected expression, rolling a stone around by herself.
She looked so pitiful that I couldn’t just leave her behind.
［Hehe, thank you, son. As expected, you’re the only one for me, son.］
【Pururu】─Why did you bring that woman?
【Mysticism】─😠
We briefly surveyed the desert shelter.
Many robots from Omega and the Machine Factory.
And in addition to the shelter managers, there were Snake Head, Mummy Skeleton, Anubis Dragon, and even Lionheart.
I saw everyone who had arrived earlier, busily engaged in constructing the village.
【Yumi】─Everyone’s working hard.
【Rizenova】─Actually, most of the work is being done by the robots.
【Bubble Bubble】─Gauntlet, look, Snake Head is only pretending to work right now.
After checking Elise’s message,
I observed Snake Head’s behavior closely.
“…It’s true.”
He was really just pretending to work.
When two robots were carrying a long piece of material, with each robot holding one end, Snake Head would sneak into the middle, lightly place his hand on it, and move along with them.
［Oh dear! It’s so heavy!］
【Pururu】─Hahaha, what a bastard.
【Mysticism】─🤣🤣🤣
【Yumi】─Let’s give him a good scolding.
I averted my eyes.
I’ll just pretend I didn’t see that.
Dodging work skillfully is a kind of talent, too.
I passed Snake Head and approached Omega.
“Omega, how long will the construction take?”
［It won’t take long. If it goes well, it’ll be finished in 10 days. Huh.］
“10 days? Building that huge village will only take that long?”
［Huh. Surprised? My technology is the best in the dimension.］
It seemed that
I had been underestimating Omega’s technological abilities.
Even though it was Omega, I had expected it would take several months to build a village.
【Pururu】─Does that make sense? How can they finish construction in just 10 days?
【Mysticism】─Isn’t she bluffing? 😠
【Yumi】─Guys, you can’t compare Omega’s technology to Earth’s. With the skills of someone practically like a god, 10 days is already a long time.
【Pururu】─Makes sense.
【Mysticism】─🤔 I guess.
【Bubble Bubble】─If Omega is dispatched to Elemencia, national reconstruction would be quick, too.
【Rizenova】─Weren’t you not interested in national reconstruction, Bubble?
【Bubble Bubble】─I’m just busy with other tasks right now, so I can’t focus on it, but it’s not that I have no interest at all.
【Yumi】─For someone who’s busy, you never miss a day of watching the broadcast.
After chatting with Omega for a bit longer,
I moved out of the shelter with the monsters I had brought along.
It was time to start recruiting villagers.
［Let’s go!］
We decided to use the Giant Caterpillar as transportation.
The goal wasn’t to move quickly, but to explore the desert and find monsters.
“Bug, you can move slowly.”
［Let’s gooo!］
【Pururu】─Calling it a bug is mean.
So we climbed onto the Caterpillar’s back and began our journey across the desert.
***
As we crossed a sand dune,
【Mysticism】─Brother.
【Mysticism】─About the village construction… Can’t we just have Niara use her creation power to build it quickly?
Mysti sent a message.
While I was scanning the desert for monsters, I responded to her question.
“Niara could use her creation power to make a village, but there are limitations.”
【Mysticism】─🧐 What kind of limitations?
【Pururu】─Stop acting cute.
“To explain simply… Niara is great at creating things on a large scale, but she struggles with making detailed, complex structures. Of course, if she put in the effort, she could make a village similar to a blueprint. But the village Omega designed is packed with Omega’s unique technology. It would be impossible for Niara to replicate that technology.”
It would be a hollow village with no tech.
Like a massive, finely crafted model with nothing but an impressive appearance.
【Mysticism】─😮 So Niara Nopentis’s creation power isn’t all-powerful!
【Bubble Bubble】─Nopentis? Isn’t her full name Niara Nepensis?
【Pururu】─It’s Nopentis.
【Rizenova】─It’s definitely Nopentis.
【Bubble Bubble】─Really? I must have gotten her name wrong.
【Yumi】─Her name is definitely Nepensis…
After kindly explaining,
I went back to focusing on the monster search, but suddenly, I felt my scalp heating up.
It seemed like Solorb had quietly descended again.
I looked up and called out to Solorb.
“Solorb.”
［Oh, I’ll go back up…］
“No, I’m not going to scold you for coming down… Since you’re here, I wanted to ask you something.”
［…A question? Sure, go ahead. I welcome a question from Bastet’s friend.］
I was a bit surprised.
I had expected her to say she didn’t take questions.
This might be a chance.
I immediately asked Solorb the question.
“When I tried to tame Bastet before, Bastet said you didn’t care as long as no one tried to tame you. Do you still feel the same way?”
［Are you asking if my mind has changed?］
“Yeah. You’ve been watching me through Bastet this whole time, right? I wondered if maybe you’ve grown a bit closer to me and changed your mind.”
I asked hopefully.
I had felt several times that Solorb was quite friendly toward me, almost like my tamed monsters.
When I, just an ordinary explorer, asked her to go back up because her heat was bothering me, she would obediently float back up into the sky without complaint.
Especially, even though it was only for a short time,
I had taken good care of her child, Bastet Daong, in many ways, so I thought maybe she had started to open up to me a bit.
But, unfortunately…
［No, my mind hasn’t changed. I don’t serve under anyone.］
It seemed Solorb’s feelings hadn’t changed.
She answered so firmly that it shattered all my expectations.
“You’re not going to serve under me, huh.”
［I know your trait is to make others your friends. But even among friends, there’s always a hierarchy. Just like the relationship between Bastet Daong and me.］
“…That’s true. So, you’re saying you have no intention of being tamed by me?”
［Correct.］
“Well, that’s a shame.”
It seemed it was still too early.
I’d have to give up on taming Solorb today and try again another time.
There would be more opportunities in the future.
［……］
“……”
After the conversation ended, there was a bit of awkward silence.
As we kept moving forward quietly,
［Explorer.］
Solorb spoke again.
“What?”
［Is that it?］
“What do you mean?”
［Don’t you want to tame me? Are you going to give up after just one rejection?］
“You won’t get tamed just because I ask repeatedly.”
［That’s true. I intend to refuse again.］
【Pururu】─What the…?
【Mysticism】─🤔
I had no idea why she was acting like this.
Was she expecting me to persistently stick to her?
Or was she offended that I only made one half-hearted attempt to recruit someone of her stature?
As I pondered, Solorb spoke to me again.
［You’re awfully quiet. Aren’t you going to ask me again?］
“You said no.”
［……］
“Well.”
［Even though I have no intention of being tamed… If you sincerely and persistently begged me, I might consider thinking about it a little─］
Boom!
Cutting off Solorb’s words,
a monster suddenly leaped out from a sandstorm in front of us.
［Ahhh! I was so surprised!!!］
The Giant Caterpillar came to an abrupt stop in front of the rising sandstorm.
［I have arrived!］
【Pururu】─Oh! A new monster appeared!
【Mysticism】─😮
【Bubble Bubble】─Finally, we found one.
【Yumi】─It looks pretty strong, doesn’t it?
【Rizenova】─No matter how strong it is, it’s no match for Gauntlet.
The humanoid monster with glowing blue eyes controlled the sandstorm at will, glaring fiercely at us.
─［Explorer. Neo Hyeong-seok says that monster is from a species called Dune Strider. This isn’t from Min Hyeong-seok’s memory, but information obtained from another monster’s memory mixed in his body.］
Iris, who was stuck close to me, spoke with the voice of the Centaurides.
Dune Strider.
Its actual danger level was S-rank.
Its nerfed danger level was B-rank.
…Right?
For some reason, I suddenly felt like the danger level readings were fluctuating.
“Centaurides, do you have any information on that monster besides its name?”
─［Yes, I do. When it encounters a stronger being, it can temporarily exert power equal to that being.］
“That’s kind of like the power I got, except it’s temporary.”
─［Huh?］
“Nothing.”
Now I understood why I had felt strange earlier.
It must’ve been because it wasn’t a monster with a fixed maximum danger level like Poison Apple.
This one could potentially surpass its current danger level if the conditions were met.
The reason it wasn’t measured at a higher rank was probably because its ability worked differently than Poison Apple’s.
“By the way, could it match the strength of an SSS-rank monster if it met one?”
─［I’ve heard that’s not possible.］
Looks like SSS-rank was beyond its reach.
Still, even being able to match an SS-rank monster while being S-rank was already impressive.
“There aren’t any other abilities, right?”
─［No, that’s all.］
“Then it’s not too tricky. Strengthening its power is only temporary, after all.”
I glanced at the monsters around me.
As I was about to tell them to capture the Dune Strider,
the Dune Strider spoke.
［I tried to hold back, but I’m so annoyed that I can’t endure it anymore.］
Above the Dune Strider’s head,
a beam of intense sunlight shot straight down from the sky.
［How dare a worthless being interrupt me while I’m speaking?］
［Aghhh!!!］
【Pururu】─Damn.
【Mysticism】─😱😱😱
The creature instantly turned to ash and vanished.
■Dune Strider
─Actual Danger Level: S-rank.
─Current (Nerfed) Danger Level: B-rank.
─Ability: Temporary Equalization.