It didn't take long for us to return to the newly materialized forest outside my dungeon, and for the system to issue me a spirit contract for the lease. This meant that the were-beasts weren't my contracted spirit beasts, but in return for my allowing them to live in this little forest that somehow counted as my territory, they would pay me spirit stones or other stuff.
We hadn't agreed what sort of services they would provide, but left it to be flexible. If by some reason they weren't able to pay spirit stones monthly, then they could provide something that would be an equivalent exchange. So a month's worth of provisions in the form of food, like the spirit beasts they hunted or the fruits and berries they planted and harvested in the forest – though they would have to clear out the land and create a field. Even though the werewolves, weretigers, werelions and werebears were mostly carnivorous, their human forms tended toward omnivorous. Furthermore, it meant they would have a surplus of harvested crops because they rarely ate them anyway.
So much for having a balanced diet.
"You sure this would be fine?" Lionel Jonson asked after he read through the contents of the lease. "I thought you would…ask for more. We are living in your territory, after all. This doesn't feel like a fair trade. You're welcome to ask for an increase in the rent."
"Nah, it's fine. Also, bodyguard and militia services count as well, so if you fight alongside my army against an invader, you'll be exempt from paying rent, because that counts as your payment of rent. If that makes sense."
"Totally." Lionel nodded. "Since this is effectively our home now, we will definitely fight to defend it. We have nowhere else in the Celestial Labyrinth to live in, and quite frankly, this seems like a much more defensible area than whatever temporary bases we managed to come up with in the other regions."
"No problem." I saluted him. "I'll be counting on you then."
"We'll be the ones counting on you, my lord." He chuckled and stroked his short, grayish beard. "You know, rather than rent, it seems more like we're paying you taxes."
"Works for me. However you want to put it, I just hope you like your new home, and I want everyone to live peacefully and safely."
"Spoken like a true lord. Right, I heard that you've been promoted to the rank of Baron in the Celestial Labyrinth. You're a noble now, aren't you?"
I completely forgot about that. I had been promoted to the rank of baron shortly after I had defeated the Flood Dragon Dungeon, but that was more because I thought we were ripping off Dungeon Odyssey than because it actually mattered to the plot. Cough. I meant, it didn't really seem to have any real effect on my current dungeon life, so I didn't care about it.
"Do you know if this rank actually does anything?" I scratched my head.
"Oh, you can make any visitors pay a toll, though it seems like you've allowed free access to your bar. As long as they show no ill intent and only wish to visit the bar, visitors are forced to pay a toll when they visit your dungeon, or they will be barred from entry. Seems like we're exempted from that because we're technically your tenants."
"Excellent."
"And that extends to the forest you gave us. Seems like there's already a barrier set up, forcing people to pay a toll to go inside."
"I see. So that's something only permitted to nobles?"
"Correct. The higher your rank, the more expensive you can set your toll." Lionel nodded. "I believe other dungeons will probably try to visit and pay tribute to you, particularly the smaller dungeons who will seek an alliance."
"We haven't gotten any visitors. Right, Long Wang?"
I turned to my dragon butler, who had emerged from the Deep Sea Palace to oversee the new forest territory and welcome the were-beasts who were even now trickling into the recently materialized grounds. He nodded.
"At least none that we know of. But that's not weird because they wouldn't know where the position of our dungeon is. Unlike in Dungeon Odyssey, the merchants aren't allowed to sell the exact locations of the dungeons."
…why was he mentioning that manhwa?
"Apparently, we don't have to worry about invasions as well, so that's totally fine with me. We're self-sufficient, so we don't require any tribute."
"Seems like it." Lionel looked around and nodded. "Just from a glance and I can tell that your dungeon is a formidable fortress. Those are some very powerful defensive siege towers overlooking your gates, and you have set up a lot of protective and offensive spirit arrays. Any army that attacks will end up suffering massive casualties before they can even break down the gate."
"Sylvie and Silvia set most of them up, and so did Long Wang here." I gestured toward the fairy sisters and dragon butler who looked proud of themselves. "I really have to rely on everybody here. We work together to keep the place safe."
"I see. Excellent. I believe we can feel at ease living here then." Lionel bowed. He had seen how the spirit arrays, barriers and defensive siege towers had encompassed the forest that were to be the were-beasts' new home, and he was thoroughly impressed. "Once again, I am delighted to be working with you, my lord."
"You don't have to call me that…"
"I insist. You've provided us a home to stay in, and helped saved my people from the demonic cultivators. We will pledge our fealty to you, even if we aren't contracted to you. We will be part of the garrison here, and we'll make sure to pay our taxes."
"The were-beasts will be powerful additions to our population, my lord," Long Wang whispered to me. "It'll be a good idea to accept their loyalty."
"All right." I sighed and nodded. "We'll do that then."
"We'll be the First Legion," Lionel declared and brought his hand to his chest, fiercely saluting. "Like clay I shall mold them, and in the furnace of war forge them. They will be of…"
"Hey, hey! Don't do it!" I yelled. "Copyright warning! We don't want Games Workshop coming down hard on us even before this new story arc takes off!"
"Can I at least be appointed Primarch of the First Legion?"
"…so that's why you're named Lionel Jonson." I tried not to roll my eyes. "Look, I know you'll be receiving a new model and rules for the new edition that will be coming soon, or maybe even before that because you'll surely show up in the final Arks of Omen book, but can we not rip off Warhammer 40,000? Let's leave that as a side hobby and not allow it to interfere with reality."
"C'mon, my lord. I know you want to start a new Dark Angels army for 30K. You know you want to."
"Unfortunately, I don't have the money. I'm already an Imperial Knights player, I'm sticking to my Knights and other giant robots."
Lionel chuckled. "I'm sure. I'm guessing your loyalty already belongs to the Seventh Legion and to my brother, anyway."
"Your…brother?"
"Rogal…"
"Ahem," I cleared my throat. "All right, let's stop there."
"Well, you certainly have learned how to construct fortifications and defensive siege towers like he did. And you have an armada. Not exactly like the fleet that he has, but still…seems like you're closer to him, though with the amount of spirit arrays here, I would have thought you might be more similar to my other brother, Magnus…"
"Okay, enough! Let's stop the Warhammer 40,000 talk here. As a Knight player – and now a noble too, which is kind of fitting, considering that Knight pilots are nobility in the Imperium – I have ties to the Mechanicum…or Adeptus Mechanicus, depending on which era you're talking about. That's how I constructed my fortress. Anyway, why don't you and your people settle down in the forest here and make yourselves at home? Let me know if you need anything. And if you can't find me, contact Long Wang over here, and he'll let me know if it's something he needs me to decide on. Otherwise, I'm sure he can handle most of the daily affairs. Is that all right, Long Wang?"
"Consider it done, my lord." Long Wang lowered his head slightly. "That's my job as the steward of your dungeon. Leave the minutiae and mundane daily tasks to me. You should focus on your life on the surface, my lord."
"Thanks. I appreciate it."
After that strange conversation, I watched the were-beasts flood into the forest and began constructing a new home. I had offered to lend them the assistance of my Construction Crabs, but they had refused, telling me that they could build their own homes. They were mostly simple dens that were made of wood and some rock. They were actually pretty skilled, able of hardening the mud and earth into what appeared to be clay, and forming huge pseudo-caves.
"Impressive," I murmured, watching them from afar. They even built fences around their homes, though I had no idea what that was for.
The forest was separated from my own forest further inside the dungeon. It was located right behind the fortified walls and gate that led to my Deep Sea Palace, but the colossal palace cut it off from the other forest, which was enclosed within its own habitat. The ghost forest, or "Haunted Forest" as I took to calling it, was populated with my Phantom Stumps, Ghost Pumpkins, Mud Fishes, Twig Turtles, Round Owlets, Arrow Owls, Grove Turtles, Marsh Striders, Tree Revenants, Pumpkin Wraiths, Grim Owls, Swamp Stompers, Elder Tree Revenant and Terra Tortoises, as well as the Sylphs and Undines. Aside from the Mud Fishes and Twig Turtles and their respective evolutionary lines, almost all of the other spirit beasts living in there were of the ghost type. Don't ask me why. Even the Grim Owl was a ghost type spirit beast.
So with a second forest that was disconnected from my Haunted Forest, I decided to give it a name. Though Lionel beat me to it.
"Let's call it Caliban."
"…really?" I wasn't sure if that was a good idea. "Wouldn't we get into trouble with copyright? I mean, references are fine and all, but this is pretty on the nose, isn't it?"
"Then do you have a better idea, my liege?"
"Yeah, well…I was about to call it the Were-Forest."
Now that I actually said that out loud, I realized what a stupid name it was. Oh, well. I wasn't sure what else to name the forest. But certainly not Caliban, or I would get into trouble with Games Workshop's legal team. I mean, this was probably back during the Kirby era and the old management, but there was one time years ago when they sued a novelist for titling his book "Space Marine," only to lose the case.
"If I may…" Long Wang raised his hand. "We could simply name the forest Luna."
"Hey, that's a good name." My eyes widened. "Let's do that."
"A fitting name indeed." Lionel nodded in satisfaction. "There are myths that the transformations of were-beasts are tied to the lunar cycle, and that our powers are associated with the moon. I like that."
"Me too!" Tiger Woods called out from deeper inside the forest, having just completed the fabrication of his home alongside his wife, Tia.
"Yeah," Tia agreed. "That's a great idea."
"All right, let's do that then. You guys settle down and let me know if you need anything else. I'll be in the palace for a bit."
I waved my hand and returned to the palace. And just in time too, for I had sensed something approaching my dungeon. The spirit arrays that Sylvie and Silvia had set up had detected something, and Sylvie had discreetly signaled to me that she had something to report.
"Someone's visiting," she whispered. "And since they're being stopped by the barrier, it doesn't seem like they're here to dine in the bar."
"Yeah, I felt their presence too. Let's go."
To my surprise, when we reached the gates, I saw that the new delegation was being led by none other than Raquel. The elf knelt before me, her head bowed.
"During my scouting mission, I ran into this expeditionary force. They wish to speak to you, Master. Since they are offering terms of alliance, I thought it prudent to directly bring them back to you for a discussion."
She rose and approached me, dropping her voice to a whisper so that she wouldn't be overheard by our new guests.
"I originally wanted to return by myself first and inform you ahead of time, but their expeditionary force was too close to your dungeon. They would have found the place sooner rather than later, and so I thought it would be easier to just bring them here so that they won't try anything funny."
"Well done," I told her. "Thanks."
"So you're the new baron? The master of this dungeon?" One of the newcomers spoke up cockily, swaggering to the front and looking me up and down. "You don't look much, though."
I looked down on him, not sure how to respond to a shabbily dressed dwarf who was about half my height.