Wilona sat back and relaxed. The auditorium was large enough that it could fit over a thousand people and still have room for more, but it seems that only 5 people came from the nearby town. Phocles was one of them; the other 4 were this weird group that's clearly planning on betraying him. Wilona had seen enough gossiping to know that the guys who came with the man were talking behind his back.

  Will she try to influence this in any meaningful way whatsoever? Nope. She didn't get a quest, so she believed that it's not all that important, and chances are, the people who came with Phocles just want some products to sell since they're all a bunch of capitalists.

  Or merchants, as they liked to call themselves.

  Wilona wasn't really convinced of their status though. Like, she knew that they must be important within the town because they bring in food and stuff, but that was before the bandits preventing anyone else from coming were taken care of! Bandits that, by the way, these four were clearly in cahoots with!

  "Hello, Miss Witch," one of the merchants, Rivleam, said with a smile so oily it practically looked glossy. "I am happy for you to give us the opportunity to talk with the dungeon core. We never expected for Lower Reedham to be blessed with the presence of such an important entity and—"

  It was all flattery. Wilona had heard it before. She literally talked to guys over texts and most of them said the same fucking thing every single time, like they can't even have variations to their words or some shit? Wilona shook her head in disappointment. "No offense, but I don't want to listen to you talk like you have a stick up your ass. If you have something to say, say it."

  These people aren't her friends, she's not tolerating a single backhanded compliment from them. Raha, the leader of the group, cleared his throat. "Sorry for that, Miss Wilona. He's had a great upbringing before coming to Lower Reedham, thus he's confident when dealing with women."

  "Uh-huh." Wilona scoffed. That's not a proper reason for his bullshit at all. "'Great upbringing?' Really? So what if he was? Like, I went to a fucking school with a gym that's larger than this entire auditorium and a building that's half the size of this bog." She'd met people from all walks of life really. "And I've heard better pick-up lines from a fucking nerd than that dumbass you call a friend."

  Thankfully, no one else bothered her after her verbal spat with the other two, so the rest of the wait turned peaceful. Honestly, why were these old men trying to butter her up? How fucking creepy.

  The awkward silence couldn't have ended sooner, but alas, Rottie needed time to prepare, and that's why it took a while for him to come. He didn't come alone, naturally. He had an entire platoon of undead following after the crow he turned into his mouth.

  Most carried bows, around a dozen and a half had shields, and at least 10 glowed in an eerie light. Wilona learned that these particular zombies were mutated to become magically enhanced in a physical manner, which not only made them one hell of a fighter, but also slowed down their decomposition.

  The reason why the undead came here is obvious: it's to show that the dungeon core in this bog is not defenseless and that it has a literal army under its command. It's nothing compared to what a city can mobilize, obviously, but even if all the villages in Lower Reedham formed a coalition to fight against Rottie, they would have a hard time beating him and his army.

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  And that's assuming they even want to. Since dungeons can be useful, if it's possible, most people choose to work with them rather than attack them.

  And that's why the people before Wilona are here. She stood up and moved to the center of the stage. Everyone was now looking at her—doubly so when Rottie perched himself on her shoulder.

  "Alright, so," Wilona clapped once. She pointed at the crow. "This is Rottie. You will all want to talk to him if you want Lower Reedham to have a dungeon or whatever. I'm just here to be a witness and enforce whatever deal it is you're all going to make."

  Which—yep—her role shockingly exists, and not to mention physically valid. Why? Because contracts do happen between parties, but without an "enforcer" of that contract, it is basically pointless. Having one ensures that both parties will stick to their terms no matter what, because if they didn’t, then the enforcer will hunt them down until they either go back to following their part of the deal or they're dead.

  The stronger the enforcer, the better. Hence why Wilona was chosen for this role specifically—because Phocles and the four merchants assumed that she could fight Rottie and win. Well, she could have, but that was before the dungeon core took down several bandit camps and gorged himself with the souls of all those criminals. And not to mention, he also now had an actual army of undead monsters.

  Well, who cares? Wilona was going to stick with whatever makes these guys comfortable. "You can also start doing whatever it is you're going to do. I'm, like, gonna sit back and listen."

  "Yes, of course." Raha stepped forward. He seemed confident in what he was going to say, so points for that. "Dear dungeon, me and my allies have planned to give you an ample supply of fresh humans by spreading the word of your existence. With our help, you will be able to feast on souls daily. Our only desire in exchange for it is for you to champion someone of our choosing."

  "No," Rottie answered. The crow cawed. Did this man think he was born yesterday? He's not gonna champion some random person whose loyalty lies with other people.

  "No?" Raha was taken aback. "But we can help you!"

  "Wilona already has a plan for that," Rottie snickered, and it was better than what they were suggesting too. Really, they were gonna "spread the word" of his existence? Anyone can do that. He can make a champion and make them do that. The crow faced Phocles. "What about you? You want to talk to me about something, no?"

  "Y-yes." The leader of the town bowed—an action which made the four merchants visibly wince at the sight of it. "I am asking for your assistance with the village's protection and also the aid of some of your summons."

  Wait, that was it? Wilona looked at Phocles strangely. She had high hopes when he asked her to ask the dungeon for a meeting with him, but like, seriously? Does this guy have a habit of asking obvious shit? First him asking for the meeting, and now this?

  She would have made Rottie do that regardless!

  "Of course. And what do you have for me in exchange?" the dungeon core replied shamelessly. Wilona held herself back from looking at him like he's scum. Whatever. It wasn't her place to negotiate or call out anything. "I'm assuming that it must be important given that you're asking me for my own forces, correct?"

  "I... don't know. I can only promise you the loyalty of my people."

  "Which is intangible. And not to mention, you're, like, far from a good enough leader to make your people listen to you, my guy." Wilona couldn't take it anymore. This entire thing is so stupid. She glared at the old man. "What's the point of this? You don't have anything to give? Seriously?"

  "I'm sorry." Phocles looked down, ashamed.

  "As I was saying, I can promise you—"

  "Fuck off." Wilona snapped at Raha. Does this guy not get it? "I can also tell people about Rottie's existence, dipshit. Your offer isn't special."

  "Right." Raha glared at her for a moment. He hid it immediately, but Wilona caught it. "Do you have a proposition then, Witch?"

  "Uh, yeah." Wilona snapped her fingers to encourage her brain to give her an idea. "First off, how about we make it so that Phocles gives us a bit of authority within the town, and in exchange, we'll do what you asked us to do."

  "I can do that," nodded the old man. "I accept the deal."

  That must have been enough for Wilona to finish the quest because a book about potions suddenly fell from the sky. Wilona took it and hid it under her robe. She eyed the gathered people. They didn’t find that strange? Like, a book just fell from the skies!

  Whatever! She looked at the merchants. "You four, give us a discount on your wares and we'll let you set up shop around here in the future."

  "Why?" Raha asked in suspicion. "How's that beneficial?"

  "You'll see." Wilona grinned. "So do you want to take the deal or not?"

  In the end, she got the deal she wanted from the merchants.