"Now this place has turned lively." - Garami

I voiced my amazement as I saw the caves-turned-forest, AKA Damavand-Matata, filled with various monsters wandering around while evading specific areas that my [Nightwatch] skill was putting neon signs on to tell the world of those areas' suspiciouness~.

Okay, that last part was a joke. I'm barely getting any reaction, but I know it's a trap placed there. That Karnel must have added some extra trap-concealing effect to this Territory, that slippery old golem~.

The key point here is that [Nightwatch] is warning me of traps practically on every vulnerable location in the caves. And if the potential invaders somehow get past the traps, we got tons of monsters (spawned or not) to fight back. Quite the nasty setup for someone as gentle as Karnel. 

Goblins are the most prominent monsters here, at least on the first floors. Well, they're cheap, smart enough to use the traps to their advantage, and they're even of the same race as Rald who supervises this place, so I'm not complaining

What did surprise me was that the "humanoid" Hobgoblin could be added. However, GM told me that the latest System update had changed the constitution of the humanoid goblins/monster goblins/dungeon goblins. According to her, all three variants had been collected into one evolution line.

However, there are still some goblins that act like monsters, and those that don't. Guess the former category could be described as bandits or barbarians instead of monsters.

Though, Hobs are the most the generic monster-line of Dungeons can summon. There is an evolution called "Goblin Leader" that an F-rank goblin can evolve into. And this leader goblin, or a Hob that has lots of goblin underlings, can again evolve into the D-ranked "Goblin Pack Leader". Rald is of this race. If a Hob would evolve into a pack leader, they would return to a normal gob's size though.

After that, the pack leader can evolve into a Goblin King. These guys can easily become 2 meters high and are blessed both with the power to lead other goblins, and are damn strong themselves. Normally, the difference between a leader-type goblin and a Hob would be that the leader-type has lower stats for its racial rank, yet the King triumphs in both aspects. I have big hopes for Rald to evolve into this.

Other monsters include sneaky spiders and slugs (fitting for these underground woods, I guess), some deer monsters I've never seen before, a few wolves that I could pin as Karnel's pet relatives, and some monkeys...that I am getting a BIG deja-vu from!

"Boss, welcome," said a goblin that appeared riding on a huge wolf...

"Oh, Rald. Hi." - Garami

"Boss, did you hesitate there for a sec, ~ssu?" - Rald

"Blame yourself for looking like any other old goblin." - Garami

I'm not wrong. All goblins have the same appearance up to E-rank, except for Hobgoblins and species that only share the name "goblin" and nothing else like the Raven Goblin. And after that, they will gain different body types depending on their evolution...except the Goblin Pack Leaders! Well, they are leadership-related goblins, so maybe they don't change so they can use the same strategy as Iron has for Damavand-Tomb?

Rald, being a Pack Leader himself, looks no different from the other goblins. He does have fancier equipment. A nice-looking jacket with fur-trimmings, a one-handed ax and a bow on his back, and a yellow bandana on the top of his head, but when you remove all that, you're left with a child-sized, green-skinned humanoid with a huge, round nose, like any other goblin. 

"Boss, you're heartless..." - Rald

Rald got dishearted over my apparent lack of interest in discerning him from the other goblins, but I have huge expectations for him. Pack Leaders are the only Goblin that can evolve into Goblin Kings in this post-updated world. 

"Anyway, where's Karnel? Shouldn't he be part of the welcome committee?" - Garami

"He's preparin' a gift, ~ssu. Asked me to greet you and tell he may turn up late, ~ssu." - Rald

A gift? That's kind of him. Wonder what it's gonna be...

"That's fine. But mind telling me where those monkeys came from?" - Garami

I was talking about the monkeys, AKA the gorillas and lemurs I could see here and there. There are the same species as those living on the treesea island in the Velantas region! And for some reason, we've even got the C-ranked gorilla boss on the monster list! That guy's a bonafide C-rank in Strength, so why are they here!? 

"Why're you askin' me about that, ssu~? Wasn't it you who made the Dungeon so it could be recruited, ssu~?" - Rald

"No, I didn't..., or did I?" - Garami

Since so many different variables connected to the gorilla boss were added to Damavand, did I get some special privilege to summon it? Looking at the Dungeon menu, I can see that the gorilla-boss' CP discount isn't as big as for, let's say, this Darkness/Light C-rank lemur. Maybe the gorilla will turn cheaper if I up STR to [C]? 

"And sorry to disturb you while you're thinkin', boss, but..., can we make that the dress code for the Dungeon, ssu~?" - Rald

What's that? Rald pointed at Mira as he spoke...

"As long as you don't even think of touching Mira-" - Garami

"I don't have a death wish, ssu~!! Please spare me, boss!!" - Rald

"What's going on?" - Mira

"Just wondering if that outfit should be the norm-, okay, maybe not." - Garami

Mira came, curious over Rald's outburst, but gave me a nasty look when I mentioned the playboy bunny suit that I was having her wear for ignoring me yesterday. Sheesh, she can't take a joke.

"Garami, outfits like these are enjoyable, but dirty-minded people would flock to Damavand if the girls are wearing clothes like these," said Mira as she turned around and showed out her outfit...*nosebleed*.

"...that doesn't mean we can't have some shops for us monsters with brains...*nosebleed*" - Rald 

"Wha-!? ...you, are you a genius?" - Mira

"Stop fooling around, you two. And if you want bunny girls, then I'll just prepare some nightclubs on the lower floors of the Dungeons." - Garami

"YIPPIEEEE!!" - Rald & Mira

You both...

"Ah, boss? When are we gonna start kickin' butts, ssu~?" - Rald

...guess it's time to give a brief explanation. 

I walked over to a tree stump and took out several colored glass spheres I've made with alchemy in my free time. I separated them into different groups and made a ring out of my threads to further separate one of the spheres. Then I placed a green sphere on the ground instead of on the stump, all to make the spheres represent the twelve towers related to the World Quest.

"I'm gonna explain Filyn's theories and plans regarding this Quest, so keep your ears sharp. First, why do you think the Demon King, the most likely culprit to have had this Quest started by asking the Calamity Nian for assistance?" - Garami

"Uhh..., because he wanted to be the new Overlord, ssu~?" - Rald

"Not likely. Solomar's military forces have taken heavy losses in the recent years, not to mention the failed attack on Damavand recently." - Mira

It did kill off the monsters from the races that didn't mesh with Damavand's traits well enough, but those guys weren't the strongest in our arsenal. 

"Now I get it. I was wondering why there were no guys like Mira there, ~suu," - Rald

"You mean sprites?" - Mira

"No, Dark Knights. The enemy only had normal Knights and all the other special ones except Mira's class, ssu~. I joined that battle, so I know what I'm talking about, ssu~." - Rald

"...? Anyway, it's true that Solomar lacks the military power to win this Quest in a normal fashion. That much is certain. Rather, it's precisely why they started the Quest." - Garami

"I'm not following you here..." - Mira

"What I'm saying is that Solomar's military power is so weak now that they are instead relying on the Overlord to do their dirty work for them." - Garami

Both of my audience looked at me like I had said that 1 + 1 equals 5, but I continued my explanation.

"What threatens Solomar, or rather, the Demon King himself, the most at this moment is not Filyn, nor the Overlord. It's Avalar. Specifically, the Champion of Agnir who works with that country. Solomar was practically turned into a vassal state in everything except the name. That's why the Demon King started this Quest. To get the Overlord to move, and its first target is Avalar." - Garami

"Wait, why're we assuming that the Overlord would travel clockwise across the continent? Couldn't it go toward the Invidia Marshland instead? That would destroy Solomar before the Overlord could even reach Avalar!" - Mira

"Because there's something that interests the Overlord in Avalar. There have been previous incidents where this big guy took a walk, and all the time it went for Avalar. Something that Blot considers the secret weapon of Avalar stopped it from crushing the country, but there's a high probability that it'll go for Avalar again. This is solely based on past events, but since we don't know much about that guy, it's all we have to go with." - Garami

"And if it is acting according to the Quest, then it may force itself past those barriers and attack Avalar...isn't that a good thing for us as well?" - Mira

"Not really. The next target would be Loitan, the dragon kingdom. And even if they could defeat the Overlord, they would take huge losses in doing so. Those wounds could make it possible for us to take over the kingdom after the fight, but Filyn rejected that idea. That place is the home of not only Flint but Armveil as well. And several other dwarven master-crafters who work for the draconic royalty." - Garami

"Meaning Filyn wants us to recruit the kingdom into Babel? At least partly?" - Mira

"That's one part, but Blot has also discovered some strange movements from Solomar. They're actively preparing to take the treasures related to the Quest." - Garami

"...? Why? Can't they just stay put until the Overlord tramples everythin' down, ssu~?" - Rald

"They probably seek to pacify, no, stop the Overlord's rampage by clearing the Quest. That's the whole reason the Overlord has to move around, so Blot deduces that it will return to its lair without a fight if the Quest gets cleared." - Garami

"...how's that bad? If the Demon King's just using this chance to destroy Avalar, then I won't blame them for that. Avalar's got the worst reputation ever-" - Mira

"And that itself is a horrible outcome for lady Filyn," said a hooded figure that came from the deeper parts of the Dungeon.

"Karnel, is that you?" - Mira

"Please excuse me for my delays...what is it that you are wearing?" - Karnel

"A punishment game." - Mira

"Ehh...okay? Anyway, Garami? I wanted to give this to you," said Karnel as he handed me a silver-colored...this flower's a damn winner. I'm not into flowers myself, but even I can see this thing is worth more than something.

"What's this?" asked Mira as she took a better look at the plant.

"Just a little thing I cultivated in one of the free fields. Garami is an alchemist, so I thought she could use it." - Karnel

True, it does look like it has alchemy potential. Let's take a closer look at it afterward.

"And what was that before-" - Mira

*RIIIIING!! RIIIIING!!*

Mira was about to ask something, but a sharp sound from the Dungeon Terminal stopped all conversations. This is...the invader alarm? I thought I had it turned on soundless for invaders without a certain amount of strength...not good.

The Territory attacked is...Damavand-Manor! Crap, this is bad! That's where we're keeping that ox-demon we captured!

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Skill List:

Title List:

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Kigal-Note/Magician Classes: Fortress Caster