Chapter 175. Guests
I attached Ravager Hellcrown’s severed arm, confining him in the room along with Viridaura.
…No, actually, I just had them on standby.
Originally, I wanted to keep them together in the Building Creator’s room, but I decided against it since our Curi was frightened by Viridaura and Ravager Hellcrown’s appearance.
So, I also left Azeras and Iris in the room to keep an eye on Ravager Hellcrown.
Upon seeing Azeras for the first time, Ravager Hellcrown said,
“[That woman looks hideous. Seems she has a strange habit of carrying filth on her head.]”
“…What?”
Once again, he blurted out his inner thoughts.
Azeras frowned in disgust.
Fortunately, no trouble broke out.
Azeras simply brushed off Ravager’s remark, not making a big deal out of it.
【Pururu】─There he goes, running his mouth again.
【Hwang Mir】─We really need to sew his mouth shut.
【Mysticism】─🤐
【Luna-chan】─Now I understand why he got banished from hell.
【Yumi】─Isn’t Azeras upset? She doesn’t seem to react at all.
【Rizenova】─Since Ravager is now friends with Gauntlet, she seems to be holding back her anger.
【Bubble Bubble】─Yeah, Azeras isn’t the type to get mad over something like that.
After Azeras entered the room,
Ravager Hellcrown met Iris, who came in right afterward.
【Pururu】─Huh?
【Pururu】─Wait, I don’t think Iris would just let that kind of remark slide.
I immediately sensed danger.
If Ravager Hellcrown voiced his thoughts again, it’d be over.
Iris was extremely sensitive to comments about her appearance.
Just as I hurried to clamp Ravager’s mouth shut,
“[Oh. There’s a good-looking one here too.]”
【Pururu】─?
【Yumi】─Huh?
【Hwang Mir】─Eh?
【Mysticism】─🧐🧐
Ravager looked at Iris and let out an admiring remark.
It wasn’t just flattery; it was genuine admiration.
After all, he had once admitted that he couldn’t lie.
Ravager stared intently at Iris, blurting out his thoughts once more.
“[That’s an appearance to be a little jealous of. I’ll have to kill him someday.]”
Hearing that, Iris’s tentacles wavered.
Though she heard the part about killing him,
Perhaps because the compliment came first, she didn’t seem all that offended.
“[Understood. Feeling envious of beauty is natural.]”
“[My nose itches.]”
It seemed safe to leave these two alone in the room.
Next, I went to visit the guest, Queen Mellifera.
She was a humanoid monster known as the queen of honeybees.
“[You vile creatures dare try to lay your filthy, vulgar hands on me…!]”
【Pururu】─Feisty one, isn’t she?
【Hwang Mir】─Must be because she’s a queen.
【Pururu】─Haha, taming her will be fun.
【Mysticism】─😰 Something about how Pururu talks feels gross.
Queen Mellifera’s abilities were as follows:
The power to summon bees.
An ability to release potent pheromones, granting buffs to her summoned bees.
A windstorm attack using her wings.
The magic to create beehive structures.
She used the beehives as defensive strongholds, enhancing the combat power of nearby allies—namely, her bees.
Oh, but of course.
She couldn’t use any of these abilities here.
Since the hotel prohibited the use of force inside.
Thanks to that, there was no need to fight her, and taming her went smoothly.
Though, she was quite hostile, so it didn’t happen right away.
As promised,
I assigned the entry work to Artpega Unibicorn.
■ Queen Mellifera
─Actual Danger Level: S-rank.
─Current (Nerfed) Danger Level: B-rank.
─Abilities: Giant Bee Summoning, Bee Summoning, Royal Pheromones, Blessing of Honey, Windstorm, Beehive Fortress.
■ Giant Bee/Bee
【Bubble Bubble】─Seems like it’s just a regular image this time, not a moving one.
【Luna-chan】─Maybe it’s because Gauntlet didn’t react much earlier, so they just made it into a drawing?
【Rizenova】─What a pity.
【Yumi】─Seeing Merino tilting her head and tapping on the picture with her finger is cute. Haha.
By the way,
Queen Mellifera also had the ability to create honey for healing allies.
With her, the roster of healing monsters, along with Medical Angel, had grown.
Anyway.
I sent her to the same room where the other monsters were on standby.
Then, guided by Madam Rabbit once again, I moved on.
Finally, the last guest I went to meet was Pixel Golem.
A monster capable of disassembling its body into countless cube-shaped fragments, rapidly regenerating damaged parts even if mortally wounded, and launching its body’s cubes like projectiles.
Its nerfed danger level was A-rank,
But in reality, it had the power of an SS-rank.
“[So, you’re the infamous Assistant Explorer.]”
【Pururu】─Looks like he knows Geon too.
【Mysticism】─😮 Seems like the word has really gotten around.
【Yumi】─Looks like most monsters who stay at this hotel know about Geon.
【Bubble Bubble】─Probably because Snake Head’s been spreading it everywhere.
Pixel Golem offered no resistance.
Like Ravager Hellcrown, he readily accepted his situation.
“[Good timing. I was planning on coming to you eventually, anyway.]”
” Huh? You were planning to come to me?”
“[Indeed. Upon hearing that an explorer who chose the Assistant trait had appeared, I thought of asking you to tame me if given the chance. But since you came to me on your own, this actually works out well. Saves me the trouble of seeking you out.]”
“…Why did you want me to tame you?”
I asked while bringing Pixel Golem onto the elevator.
It was rare for a monster to ask to be tamed first.
Could it be that, like Omega, he wanted to study the abilities of an explorer?
As I pondered this, Pixel Golem’s response reached me.
“[For those of us living in the Ancient Labyrinth, there’s nothing disadvantageous about being tamed by an Assistant. In fact, it’s something beneficial.]”
Pixel Golem, standing in the elevator, slowly tilted his body toward me.
He looked me straight in the eye and continued speaking.
“[Being tamed simply means becoming friends with the explorer. It doesn’t involve any sort of forced control. Of course, there is a restriction on betrayal, but… from what I’ve seen, that’s hardly a disadvantage. After all, most of the ones who walk the path of the Assistant aren’t the kind to betray others. If you turn out to be a scoundrel, well, then it would just be my bad luck.]”
Pixel Golem’s gaze dimmed briefly, then brightened once more.
“[Moreover, once you’re tamed by an Assistant explorer, you no longer have to worry about falling under the control of Dominants. If you’ve been tamed even once by an Assistant, you’re immune to the Dominants’ grasp for life. It creates a kind of immunity.]”
In other words.
If one were tamed by an Assistant,
They’d be safeguarded from the fate of being manipulated by a Dominant in the future, making the benefits far outweigh any losses.
【Bubble Bubble】─Now that you mention it, being tamed does seem to have its advantages.
【Luna-chan】─So it’s about using the Assistant’s power to cancel out the Dominant’s power. o_O
【Yumi】─In other words, he plans to use Geon.
【Mysticism】─😮 That’s one way to do it!
【Pururu】─A pretty clever one, huh.
【Hwang Mir】─Seems like he’s surprisingly sharp for a monster with a look like that.
【Rizenova】─It’s not like Gauntlet will die, anyway.
In the distant past, quite a few had sought out Assistants to request taming in a similar way.
Pixel Golem added this tidbit.
“That it was common in the distant past… Does that mean it’s less common nowadays?”
“[Correct. Rumor has it that when an explorer who tamed them dies, the aftermath is unbearable. Some monsters have ended their lives in grief, and many have tried to resurrect their explorers. Although all attempts at resurrection have failed.]”
No wonder.
That explained why I hadn’t seen any monsters coming to me, asking to be tamed first.
“Hm… So, are you saying you’re confident you wouldn’t feel sad if I died?”
“[Of course. It’s not that I lack emotions, but I’ve never felt sadness before.]”
【Pururu】─It’s always those who say that who end up crying their eyes out later.
【Hwang Mir】─Totally true.
【Rizenova】─Not like Gauntlet’s going to die anyway.
As we continued chatting, we soon arrived at the room where the monsters were on standby.
Oh, and Pixel Golem’s entry work for the guidebook had already been completed by Artpega.
■ Pixel Golem
─Actual Danger Level: SS-rank.
─Current (Nerfed) Danger Level: A-rank.
─Abilities: Pixel Disassembly, Cube Storm, Cube Reconstruction.
Time passed.
I successfully tamed all the hotel guests.
To list the newly tamed monsters this time,
SS-rank, Building Creator.
S-rank, Madam Rabbit.
S-rank, Rabbit Beastman Staff.
SS-rank, Pixel Golem.
S-rank, Viridaura.
S-rank, Ravager Hellcrown.
S-rank, Queen Mellifera.
These were the ones, and the previously wild monsters who had been hotel guests were now behaving very differently after being tamed.
“[To be able to use this hotel for free for life… I’m glad I chose to be tamed…]”
【Hwang Mir】─Huh? Are those tears?
【Mysticism】─😶 Is that really something to be so happy about?
【Yumi】─Turns out he’s a sentimental monster, despite his looks.
Viridaura was moved to tears by the promise of lifetime free hotel use.
“[I take back what I said about killing you. But I haven’t given up on betrayal. Someday, when you’re not looking, I’ll secretly stick some nose gunk on your back. A small act of treachery, if you will. Hehehe.]”
【Pururu】─Idiot.
Ravager Hellcrown, who’d now abandoned any notion of a true betrayal.
“[Hm. It seems you must not die, after all, Explorer.]”
【Rizenova】─?
Though he once said he didn’t care whether I lived or died,
Pixel Golem immediately changed his tune after being tamed.
“[You said your name was Gauntlet… Gauntlet… I bestow upon you the highest honor. Tonight, dedicate yourself to serving me.]”
【Luna-chan】─Gasp!
【Bubble Bubble】─She’s insane.
Queen Mellifera, spouting nonsense, received a good smack from Artpega Unibicorn.
In just one day, the number of newly tamed monsters had drastically increased.