Vale cast a fleeting glance back at Toy, who'd accomplished her task and had nothing to do. She was sitting on the ground, inspecting the place while adjusting the loincloth she'd just tied around herself at Vale's behest.
For some reason, the goblin really wanted to roam around naked like her master outside, but Vale's dungeon was going to be a dignified existence! He couldn't have his vassals walking around in the nude!
Yeah… that was a joke.
Lust was never going to be something dignified, but at the very least, he didn't want to be constantly tempted to stare at the green mounds of flesh with their dark green peaks.
In any case, Toy had one of the loincloths around her waist, and another tied around her chest. It was a little nasty in his opinion, but Toy didn't seem to mind. However, the sight of the cloth did make Vale wonder how he was supposed to bathe or wash anything while in this cavern.
Technically, he was in the Core right now, not the dungeon, but still.
'Store'
Recruitment:
Champion: [20 Satisfaction]
Worker: [1 Aether]
Warrior: [10 Aether]
Archer: [15 Aether]
Mage: [100 Aether]
Random: [25 Aether]
Items:
N-Mystery box: [5 Aether]
C-Mystery box: [10 Aether]
R-Mystery box: [20 Aether]
???: [1000 Aether]
'Uhhhhh…'
Vale had initially opened the store to purchase workers, but couldn't help noticing the new items under 'items'…
Gatcha. There was now another gacha element other than the 'Random' recruitment, which he didn't quite understand. And… what was the '???'
Well, he'd worry about it when he was allowed to worry about it.
He was broke. And a broke person had broke problems. Looking at all the things he couldn't afford wasn't particularly helping with those problems.
So, he raised his gaze and focused intently on the Worker, imagining purchasing nine of them…
While he should probably save a few, it wouldn't harm him to have as many workers as possible, right?
His current concern was with preparing the dungeon for whatever was gonna happen in two hours. And to do that, he would use the blueprint function on this stone to reshape the layout.
So, he needed the workers to help with that, and the more the merrier.
[Would you like to purchase nine workers for 9 Aether? Y/N?]
"Yes…"
Above Toy and Vale, falling from above in a white void, nine red little creatures were plummeting toward them.
With the speed of their descent, it looked like they were going to die from the force of the fall, but instead, once they landed, they just bounced a little and got up like nothing happened.
'Is that how Salome appeared as well?'
Toy scampered away for a bit in surprise and hid behind the stone, peering her green head around at the imps.
Or at least Vale was going to call them imps, that's the vibe they were giving off.
The imps started clamoring around, making weird sounds as they flicked their heads side to side, inspecting each other.
"Baduh?"
"Baduh?"
"Baduh."
"Ba-duhhhhh."
"Baduh!"
The imps were tiny, only rising to the height of his shin, and held the appearance of nightmarish toddlers.
They had red skin that clung to their frail body, giving them a sort of malnourished look. They hunched a bit as they moved their bow-legged legs and had tiny red wings sprouting from their backs and a long, thin tail that was fashioned just like Salome's, but instead ended with a pointed spear and not a heart.
Also, their hands and feet were much more like claws; each fingernail ended in a hooked metal sort of thing. Their tiny faces seemed to wear a permanent toothy grin.
But, even though they all looked nearly identical, they seemed to possess different personalities and slightly different features.
Some had golden irises, while others had red or pure black. Some had scars, some were bigger, and others were smaller. There were a few other discrepancies, too.
The imps continued to clamor around while Toy continued shyly hiding behind the pile of rubble, which had just stopped growing. It seemed Salome was taking a short break.
"Ba-duhhhhh!"
'So…'
"What do I do with you guys?"
The moment he talked, the imps quieted down and stared at him intently.
'Do they understand me?'
"Follow me…"
Vale almost expected them not to listen, but was pleasantly surprised as the cohort bounded after him feverishly. Vale exited back into the main room, leaving Toy alone in the void.
He passed Salome as he walked, who began studying the imps momentarily before returning to mining, sweat beads still dripping down and covering every crevice of her body.
Once he stepped out into the main room, he summoned the map and began to theorize the layout.
Once he had a design in mind, he placed a vast majority of the blueprint for the small maze meant to make reaching the corridor they'd made take a little longer.
A holographic blue grid appeared from nowhere, and the little imps immediately rushed to work. All nine of them began sprinting into the Core and reappeared moments later, lugging a rock.
Once each imp placed a rock, the rock seemed to lock itself in place and fuse with the ones next to it, just like it had done when he'd built the small pillar.
As the imps worked, he summoned the Legion page.
♥︎♥︎♥︎
Champions:
[Salome]
♡♡♡
Workers: [9]
Warriors: [0]
Archers: [0]
Mages: [0]
♡♡♡
Affiliated:
[Toy]
♥︎♥︎♥︎
'So Toy is 'Affiliated'?'
'Also, her name is recognized as Toy?'
'Interesting…'
♥︎♥︎♥︎
Name: [---]
True Title: —
Worker Level: [0]
Loyalty: [100/100]
Traits: [Nascent Builder]
♥︎♥︎♥︎
'It worked!'
Vale had intently focused on one of the imps walking by and opened their status screen. What he saw intrigued him…
He pointed at the imp who'd just set down its stone in the blueprint.
"You, come here."
At the same time as he spoke, he heard the pitter of footsteps sound from behind him. He turned around just in time to catch Toy as she ran out of the corridor where the Core was and into the far wall of the alcove, away from the imps… hugging the wall.
"They're friendly…"
Vale called out to the terrified girl, but she didn't seem to listen.
A new voice called out.
"I'll calm her."
Salome walked over, sat next to Toy, and began talking to her.
Vale paid them no mind and looked back toward the imp he called over while the remaining eight continued to work on the walls.