The deepest part of the dungeon, Forneus's quarters.
Brug and I were on our knees with our hands bound in front of Forneus. Lounging seductively on her bed, Forneus sat straddling the naked chieftain's thigh with her legs crossed. Our chieftain, who looked so dignified in front of us, was nothing but a male prostitute here.
"What's this?"
Forneus spun the leftover barbecued boar we'd eaten in her hand. Juices and grease splattered everywhere, but Forneus didn't care at all.
"That's called barbecue—"
"Shut up, pig. Stop oinking. I wasn't asking you."
"...."
The moment I spoke, Forneus presented her ear to the chieftain. The chieftain hesitated but stuck out his tongue and licked Forneus's ear. Like he was licking it clean of something dirty.
I'm sorry, brother.
The chieftain was apologizing to me with his eyes. I got a bit choked up that the chieftain wasn't taking my side, but as the one responsible for our tribe, he had no choice but to grovel before Forneus. If the chieftain got on her bad side, the whole tribe would get on her bad side, and we could all be slaughtered or kicked out of the dungeon.
"Right. So let's hear what that fine orc has to say?"
"...This is called barbecue. You take a sharpened goblin bone, skewer chunks of boar meat on it, and grill it directly over a wood fire."
"Yeah? Hmm."
Forneus took a big bite of the boar with my teeth marks on it.
"Hehe."
Does Forneus know? That those teeth marks are mine, and that I was enjoying it until I thought of her and completely lost my appetite? Not knowing that, watching her chew and suck on the juices was pretty funny.
"What are you smiling about?"
Smack!
Forneus slapped the chieftain's face. The chieftain bowed his reddened face to Forneus, and my smile froze solid.
"A subordinate's responsibility naturally falls on their superior. Right?"
"...You speak the truth."
The chieftain calmly defended Forneus. Having spit out the boar meat, Forneus pointed the charred goblin bone at us and sneered.
"How dare you eat something this delicious among yourselves without even telling the dungeon's master. That's insolent. I should kill you right now."
"Lady Forneus...!"
The chieftain stood up, blocked our way, and knelt down. Forneus radiated killing intent toward the chieftain who didn't follow her orders, but stopped when she saw him kneel on his own.
"They haven't even had their coming-of-age ceremony yet! Please, with your generous heart as vast as your bosom, forgive these immature warriors!"
"Hmm, hmmm. Right. I am pretty generous."
Forneus tilted her head back, emphasizing her chest. Her sagging breasts were so huge I thought she had three heads. I almost laughed, but I'm not crazy enough to attract aggro when the chieftain is bowing like that.
"...."
I just kept my head down and stayed quiet. Brug caught on and bowed his head too, apologizing to Forneus.
"We have committed a grave sin. But we couldn't present something shabby to the dungeon's master, so we were researching how to offer it to you in the finest condition."
"Oh. So you're saying this isn't good enough."
Forneus tore off the meat clinging to the goblin bone like ribs and grinned. She usually ate stuff with no seasoning and the gamey smell still in it, so eating properly cooked barbecue must've blown her mind, but she completely ignored me—the one she found disgusting—treating me like I didn't exist.
"Really? Hehehe, then bring me something even more delicious than this before the coming-of-age ceremony. If you can't, the pig next to you will be thrown out of the dungeon that very day to become goblin food."
Damn it.
"Right. To make something tastier than boar, you'd need good ingredients, wouldn't you? How about that fat orc next to you? Hahahaha! I can butcher him for you!"
Of course Forneus didn't forget. I bit my lip where she couldn't see, but I couldn't get angry when Brug was clenching his fists and trembling.
"You kids are funny, aren't you? Hehe, come here. Depending on how well you perform tonight, I might change my mind about what to do with them."
"...Thank you."
We were released thanks to the chieftain's sacrifice. Brug looked ready to grab his weapon and pulverize Forneus any second, and I had to calm him down.
"Hey. I gotta go intercept the kingdom's army tomorrow. I'll write you the recipe, so just practice."
"...I'm sorry, brother."
Brug was furious but had no way to do anything about it.
All I could do was write up the recipe for grilled goblin with a crispy outside and juicy inside and hand it to Brug.
The only power I had was this one thing.
'Those kingdom army bastards coming into the dungeon tomorrow are screwed.'
It's misdirected, but I decided to take out this pent-up rage on the humans entering the dungeon.
***
In the Zodiac Kingdom, a dungeon entrance just had to open in the territory of Margrave Aries. Countless adventurers stepped up to conquer the dungeon, but it was Demon King Solomon's thirtieth dungeon.
The clear rate was only 24%. Even though it'd been just under three years since the dungeon opened, adventurers couldn't conquer it. The dungeon's master, the demon Forneus, never even showed her face, and every adventurer who entered was slaughtered and returned as a corpse.
Finally, Margrave Aries dispatched a massive subjugation force led by his eldest daughter, Knight Eila—five knights and two hundred elite soldiers.
"I will definitely conquer the dungeon, Father."
Eila Aries exuded confidence. Having earned her knighthood through her own abilities, Eila possessed the greatest strength in the entire territory, and during her days as a squire, she'd even explored dungeons ranked higher than 30.
"Please, come back alive."
The margrave had no doubt his daughter would be victorious, but he kept getting this nagging feeling that if he sent her away, he'd never see her again. His daughter clasped his hands tighter and comforted her worried father.
"Don't worry. I won't be reckless. If things get dangerous, I'll definitely bring everyone back alive."
"My daughter...."
A small boy standing next to the margrave approached the knight. The much taller blonde lady knight knelt on one knee before the boy, and only then were they at eye level.
"Don't worry, Your Highness. I'll definitely return alive."
"Y-you must return in two weeks...! That's when!"
"Yes, our engagement ceremony."
The lady knight bowed her head to the prince. Though she didn't kiss his hand, the fact that Eila—known for her sky-high pride—bowed her head was practically a vow to dedicate her life to the prince.
"Ah...."
The young prince blushed, and Eila stood up and mounted her horse. Everyone in the count's household had no doubt the subjugation force would win, and they were all excited about conquering the dungeon and returning in triumph.
"Let's go! Those monsters are no match for us!"
Eila's spirited shout showed confidence that pierced the sky, and her momentum seemed ready to lop off the demon Forneus's head any second.
And the moment they entered the dungeon, they sensed something was wrong.
Rok....
The dungeon entrance.
In the wide clearing, a single orc greeted the subjugation force of just over 200, breathing heavily. Unlike typical orcs, this one holding a blunt iron mace only had a protruding belly.
"Captain, what should we do?"
"It's a trap. Definitely a trap. Otherwise, there's no way something that hideous would be standing there alone."
Eila scolded her subordinate knight as she surveyed the cavern. He wore a leather vest on top, but his upper body was so huge it barely covered his nipples, and below, unable to find pants that fit, he'd wrapped burlap around himself to cover his front.
"What a disgusting dungeon. Why couldn't the adventurers return alive with something like that in front of them?"
Rok.
The orc just stood there, breathing heavily and continuously. Eila didn't let her guard down and thoroughly scanned the surroundings. After confirming there were no traps, she declared to her soldiers.
"Proud sons of Aries! Who will kill that arrogant orc! Whoever achieves this feat, I will personally reward!"
The soldiers didn't step forward. Since they were drafted into the subjugation force, they showed no sign of volunteering actively.
"Tch."
"I'll go."
"Oh, Sir Scouter. Please do."
To boost the soldiers' morale, a knight with his face hidden by a helmet pulled his reins and charged toward the orc.
"Just standing there, you idiot—"
Crunch.
Sir Scouter was pulverized in one hit. The orc who swung the iron mace grabbed the horse's neck and suffocated it, then threw Sir Scouter's crushed corpse backward.
Kyagyagyagyak.
Dozens of monsters hiding in the ceiling swarmed the subjugation force.
GRUUUNK!!
The orc used Sir Scouter's corpse as a signal and began the interception.