Glancing at the Tips while keeping an eye on the visitors, he noticed the setup of their makeshift party of three. One old man, a young woman aswell as a child not older than twelve. None of them looked particularly strong. Scratching his chin he figured he might aswell go out and have a chat. Come to think of it, this would be the first time he actually spoke with someone knowledgable about the world.
Noticing that the youngster was digging through the gear of the previous adventurers and about to swallow a piece of bread, Gill became alarmed. If that brat died from such a reason and the other two called up some dastardly knight regiment, he wouldn't know where to put his face.
"Don't eat that!!" Gill roared from the core room, spreading his voice outside at the speed of sound. Once again, the entire mountain was shaking, sending dust scattering all over the place. The brat fell on his buttocks while the woman looked incredibly alarmed by the menacing voice. The old man on the other hand seemed to be deaf, as he didn't react at all.
Rushing out at top speed, Gill came to the portal between his dungeon layers, tidied up his sackcloth pants and stepped outside. Taking his time to walk outside, the party of three was staring at the dungeon gate. Noticing how the brat didn't take a bite just yet, Gill inwardly sighed out in relief. Facing the scrutiny of the three, he saw some vivid reactions.
The child was trembling on the ground, pale faced and afraid. The woman wasn't doing much better, also immensely intimidated. The old man on the other hand thought nothing of his appearance. Realizing that this senior had clearly seen much of the world, Gill walked up and did a minor bowing salute.
"Esteemed senior, what can I do for you this lovely day?" Gill asked with his chain clanging voice and menacing appearance. A two meter tall, red skinned, two horned demon with extraordinary muscles and golden eyes was lowering itself infront of the old man as if it was the right thing to do.
Noticing his prim and proper attitude, despite only having sackcloth to wear, the old man minutely nodded at his act. "Why shouldn't my grandson take a bite of the food from the presumably dead adventurers?" The old mans voice was soft, just like a friendly old neighbour next door. "It's not as if you need to eat. All you demons tend to desire would be souls, mana and riches."
Nodding towards the old man, Gill spoke up. "Indeed, that is the case. When I felt your presence I knew I had come about someone knowledgable." Casting a sidelong glance at the food in the brats hand, Gill continued, "But as things are, his intestines would rot within a minute or two should he take a bite. Since the senior is experienced, you can take it as my little prank for visitors of a lesser kind than your own."
The woman's already pale face turned ashen white. She rushed up to the kid and slapped the poisoned foodstuffs from his hands. Gill continued, "As you know esteemed senior, my demonkind, if known to the populace would be expunged extraordinarily quickly from this world." Throwing a wide grin at the woman, "I need to make sure that I go unnoticed by proper powers by culling the feeble at every chance encounter.. Don't want the news to spread too fast, you see."
The old man cast a glance towards the shivering woman that was hugging the child, he sighed. "I suppose it's fortunate you're a cunning demon and not one of the bloodthirsty ones. So, what can I do for you?" Looking towards the dungeon, the old man couldn't help but smirk. "Before we continue, I must mention that one of the five brats that came before us happened to be another one of my grandsons. What stops me from simply exterminating you on the spot?"
'Crap, this isn't some sort of news vendor!' Gill cursed in his mind, speaking up with a rueful smile, "I'm sorry about that, esteemed senior, I was recently summoned to this world and arrived with nothing to my name." Gesturing towards the dungeon, the five undead slowly walked outside to show themselves, mining gear and picks in hand. "Their bodies are still fully intact, albeit dead and now undead, I would be happy to return your grandson to you, should you wish it so."
The old man snorted, smiled and then clapped his hands while laughing as if he was immensely amused. "Hahaha! The clan already threw me and my branch of the family out. You killing that brat and working him literally to the bones is exactly what I want to see!" The old man looked like his age regressed ten years from the happy occurrence. "Nothing could be better, If you didn't kill them I would've done it myself. This truly is a marvelous day. Back on topic, what can I do for you - sincerely, this time?"
Beaming a brilliant tooth filled smile at the senior, Gill let out an inward sigh of relief. "As things are, I'm doing my utmost to not expose myself openly. The whole demonkind reputation bit, as you know." Opening up the dungeon menu that nobody but himself could see, Gill did a few random gestures in the air. After but a moment, a golden coin appeared in his hand. "You see, esteemed senior, I used to be a greed demon in my homeworld. Every day was filled with fighting for status and riches. Demon or human, who can say no to gold?"
Flipping the coin in his hand a few times, he showcased the mintage to the three. "As this world would have it, my traits remain wholly the same despite being so far from home." Presenting the coin to the old man, the senior picked it up to take a closer look. "This is my personal minting of gold from the dungeon. As is prim and proper in my world, it is a cursed currency. Literally." As the coin was passed to the woman, she acted like she touched a venomous serpent and threw it to the ground after hearing Gill's words.
"Ah, don't squander the gold." Gill picked up the coin and continued his explanation, "Each and every coin carries the curse of misfortune. If you hold a single coin, not much will change in your daily life." Gill did a few more air gestures and a few hundred coins fell to the ground. "Several hundred on the other hand, the ensuing events can't be called something as simple as mere misfortune."
"Why would you tell us all of this?" The old man couldn't wrack his head around the demons scheme. "Aren't you afraid we'll share this knowledge?"
"Ah, but that's where I hope you could assist me with my endeavour. A single cursed coin would leave you with a few more mosquito bites than usual during a day, or you might trip on a root. Slightly unfortunate, so to speak." Gill gestured towards the dungeon entrance, "It so happens I opened up a shop on my first dungeon layer. I hope to spread the currency throughout this county, the kingdom and then even further beyond through trade and mercantilism."
Gill then pointed at the old man. "That's where you come in. I wish for you to spread the news that a 'strange dungeon' has opened up in the deer forest." Gill then picked up a handful of coins and let them fall between his fingers. "I want you to share the news of this miraculous dungeon store that buys anything and everything - and only pays in pure gold coins!"
Flabbergasted by the demons wicked scheme, the woman spoke up for the first time. "And why in the Gods name would we work with a demon to spread misfortune?" She looked at the piled up gold and couldn't help but swallow some saliva. "Even greed has its limits. We don't get anything from this scheme, and from what I can tell, you won't either!" The old man by the side nodded in agreement.
Gesturing his hand to send the undead back to the mine, Gill continued, "Oho, no stakes in the pot?" He then did a few more air gestures and a sign showed up in front of the party. It was the dungeon menu showcasing that a party of 10 was on their way towards the dungeon. "This happens to be a report I received about a party that intends to subdue me. The only thing they know is that those five brats died in my dungeon." Gill tapped on the menu with his finger. "Since they're in such a rush, I assume they happen to be your so-called family. Of course, they won't succeed and will die either way."
Gill then waved his finger in a teasing gesture, "But what if I spare them and tell them about your plot through one of my trusted minions? It's not like they can ascertain the truth." He then snapped his finger and Chipper came running as if someone lit his back on fire. "I can have my fellow Chipper here be a stand-in as dungeon master. It's not like a dungeon run by a chipmunk could have any real strength or riches. Everything would fall into place and you'll get hunted across the lands." Gill smirked.
Completely outraged by the words being spouted by this demon, the woman shouted; "And you believe we'll stand for this!? Father, smite this demon back to where he came from! For the first time, I realize the Holy Church doesn't emphasize on the danger of demons nearly enough!" The old mans face was also scrunched up in anger. This demon seemed fluent enough earlier, why the change in attitude? It so happened that Gill just remembered that he was supposed to be the strongest within 100 kilometers of the dungeon at this point in time. Zero chance that this little party could match up to him.
Standing up from his seat near the abandoned campfire, the old man stretched, put on a pair of armored gauntlets and gestured for Gill to take him on. Throwing out a smirk, Gill walked up to the old man and tapped him on the shoulder. Instantly, the old man buckled to his knees. The hand seemed to carry the weight of a thousand mountains. He was a level 7 elite warrior for Gods sake! How could this newborn demon be so strong!?
Straining with all his might to raise himself from his kneeling position, the very earth beneath started to crack. He couldn't get up! Grabbing Gill's hand that was still on his shoulder, he tried to squeeze it to pulp. It felt like he was grabbing an iron rod forged by a blacksmith hundreds of times. Red faced and panting, the old man gave up. Noticing the seniors reluctance that things turned out this way, Gill sported a brilliant smile.