My Dungeon Life: Rise of the Slave Harem

“Little… uh, zombie queen, we need to face and defeat him.” I explained in as polite a way as I could.

It was the next morning, and I was getting ready to make my next move. Until I got my dungeon built, I wouldn’t be able to learn much. Those pieces of lore had been interesting, but they were severely lacking, and a little kid definitely wouldn’t be able to help me find my girls. At my words, terror-filled her face, and she shook her head aggressively.

“Until he’s defeated, we’re not going to be able to expand at all.”

She looked up at me tearfully. As much as I hated to admit it, it was difficult to command her to do anything. She had such a helpless expression on her face that you just wanted to protect her. Were all monsters this difficult? Selena often acted the same way, but her manipulative tendencies seemed to sway me a lot less than this girl, even if they were a lot alike in different ways.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t afford to go after another boss. I have an advantage against… well… let’s just say I’m confident when facing your father. Even if I could find another boss, I would not be able to defeat them.”

That was the bitter truth of it. The Deep hosted some rather powerful mobs. Even playing to my strengths, could be a challenge. However, based on my ability to take on the zombie queen, I believed I’d be able to take on her father. I wouldn’t be trying to tame him and use him. Rather, it was the mana he was sitting on top of that I wanted. If I included the zombie queen in that battle, then the fight might not even be necessary. I had hoped that the king might still have some awareness and surrender because of his daughter. I wasn’t intending to tame him, but if it happened, I wouldn’t reject it.

Unfortunately, the zombie queen harbored some trauma and seemed afraid to approach him. It made this whole thing difficult. My words seemed to not convince her, as she still turned her head away in defiance.

“I will be going with or without you.” I finally declared. “You can come with me or stay behind.”

I ended the conversation with that, getting up and walking away. Her hand reached out as I walked away, but she didn’t say anything, and eventually curled up in a ball. I walked over to the Pait and Dav, who were outside of my soul world for a bit since we were currently in a safe place, protected by a literal horde of undead.

“We’re going?” Paid asked.

“You want to come?” I raised an eyebrow in surprise. “I figured you might want to stay behind where it is safe.”

He looked around, covering himself and shivering. “I told you before. In the best of times, I don’t like the underground. Being surrounded by the undead is not what I consider a good time. Besides, if you die, our chances of making it back to the surface are almost none. I might as well stay in that fancy place of yours. If I’m being honest, I had rather needed a vacation, and getting to relax in a warm cottage and read has been quite nice.”

Dav nodded. “I’ve been also quite happy getting to spend time alone with… ah… in a cottage.”

I had a feeling she was going to say spending time with Pait. He didn’t seem aware of it at all. Why was Pait so oblivious to her true feelings? Should I push them along a bit?

As I put them back in my soul world, I felt a tug on my shirt and glanced to the side to see the little girl there.

“What is it?”

She gave a single nod, not looking at me while holding my arm.

“You’re willing to go?”

She gave another nod, her cheeks turning red. I gave a breath of relief. It seems like she had changed her mind, although it was anyone’s guess why.