[OP: ]
You're my dear contractors so I will let you have it, nya!> He was being caressed by her smooth hands while saying those words with a cute, angry expression. It was actually a good deal for a manager so they really were fortunate to have such an amazing person like Raz. A blue transaction window opened before their eyes and Lucy sent it to El. She confirmed the purchase this time as our dear Lucy sighed with relief. The money they had spent throughout their time here was far more than any normal person familiar with the Worldline system could fathom. It was too much and genuinely absurd. Even at this moment, they paid for the reconstruction, and resource harvesting, as well as the dungeon manager and other utilities. They didn't sell the things and drop materials they collected from this first hunt and El just kept it with her. It really would have been nice if they had sold those things that were mostly useless to them. But El knew these things could come in handy in the future. They could use them in alchemy and magic engineering in their school or sell them to 'someone in need'. There was a possibility that these seemingly random things could come in handy so she didn't sell them this time. "Right, Raz. We would like the priority over the byproducts from the slimes. You can directly have the other resources sold to the manager for half the price." Her words surprised both of them. Lucy didn't know they were going to do something like this so he asked her through their special connection and when she explained the 'positive reinforcement' of their little Raz to him, he complimented her evil again. She definitely was dangerous. He recalled again why even the mention of her name was forbidden in some places of their past world. The little kitten was her own responsibility and she was scamming even this little thing. A bad girl, she was. With a sigh, Lucy thought. The ironic thing in this scenario was that the Shadow's owner, a prominent figure of the dark, actually fell for that obvious thing. She was only giving him a discount on the other things in this dungeon, nothing much. But the way it made this little pure white kitten happy was another moment to record. He was cute, and as she hugged him back and he blushed, the kitten seemed even cuter. Anyway, they finished their dealing and the dungeon will soon be ready for public use. "Right, Raz. Don't forget to spread the rumors about this place. If people don't come here, fight for the resources, and clear the dungeon on time, both of us will be at a loss, right?" Lucy knew just how important this dungeon was for them. And though their passive income would only be around 10,000 Oz after every clearing, the reset time of the dungeon was only a week. And there were a few good things that could appear in this dungeon so if they sell it to the manager for cheap, their profits would definitely be higher. One could also purchase things from the dungeon manager that the two of them could set or change any time so if they placed their 'failed' handmade potions of lower quality than the ones they would sell to Raz here, and the dumb people purchase it even at an absurd price, it would be their profit. Dungeon managers were usually like guards and merchant AIs that were either independent or were under some higher merchant, and in this case, the dungeon manager they got from Raz was a biiiiiiiiiiig orc covered in full body armor that looked suuuuuuuuper intimidating! He had a chilly gaze, almost blank and unmoving, which obviously seemed cute to El, but this manager was perfectly acceptable. He was simply an employee that would appear when the dungeon was cleared and deal with the resources and raid rewards the challengers get from the raid. They could sell or purchase things from him, and they would do it through a system interface so the manager was mostly only for the show. Well, that was how things worked there. And having an appropriate manager was actually important. A dungeon without a manager was only a fortress without a gate. It would all end if some crazy bastard tried destroying the dungeon for the greater achievement rewards. That can't happen. A dungeon was important for the owners, the managing party, and those who seek the resources in it. A dungeon can reset but if it was destroyed, it was gone. And there definitely was more than one reason someone would want to destroy the dungeon. It was normal in the worldline so… a manager was a must. And it was better if it was a strong manager. This intimidating, cold, and silent kind of manager was in demand on a planet like this one where the main inhabitants were mostly weak humans. Sure there was a chance that someone crazy strong person would come here for fun, trample over the dungeon, and just walk away. But that chance was very low even in theory. Well, there were pros and cons to being a dungeon owner and it asked for money that not many people possessed. If the two of them had declined the chance to become the dungeon owners, they could have got a relatively small sum of money and that would be it. The worldline would naturally auction this place off to the spectators, the potential buyers, and beings present around this particular planet. There was a reward for destroying a dungeon too but the two of them had no plan to do something crazy like that yet. Not to their own dungeons at least. They knew what they had to do first and that was to get stronger, go to the academy, and when they finished things there, go on the journey to find a piece of land that was unknown to the habitants of this planet. It was far away though, and their main goal was ▼▼▼▼. Things had yet to even properly start. So, to start things properly… "Good idea, little baby. Okay~. Make a sparring area outside too~." The little kitten had a proud expression as he held his head high and El happily tickled under his neck. Of course, Lucy had an unexplainable frown on his face. It was like he wanted to curse out loud but gulped back those feelings. Raz's suggestion was actually good. And the passive profit they can have from this one-time investment might just be more than their income from the dungeon. Still, it pained Lucy's fragile little heart. A sparring area was a rare place where people could fight without caring for the opponent or the surrounding. Even if they charge a small fee, if they are lucky, this place might just become more famous as a sparring spot than a dungeon. It all depended on luck mostly and they didn't know the future. But, Lucy had a good feeling about this. "Raz. Make sure the place is worth the price we are paying. You know what? I will pay 3000 Oz more, so make a good statue of He meant he would give them an artificial observer for free at that price. They were cute fairies that worked as surveillance cameras so they wouldn't have to come here and check for things or ask him about it every time. It was a good deal but… [ "We would be poor again." ] They had earned some money throughout their time while hunting the slimes these past few months. This dungeon was profitable too but now they had invested all the money they had, it would be a while till things were complete and they started earning from their investments. But, for now… "Haaa… well played little one." [Ding!] He patted his white head with a smile and clicked on [Yes] of the new transaction window that popped up before him. [ "Should I hit him?" ] He looked at El with that same smile and she nodded at him with a smile of her own. He really wanted to hit him but he knew he couldn't so, he had to cope with just patting his little head. [ "Do it if you dare. Just remember that you know the consequences." ] They both were smiling. And unknown to their little chat, the kitten who had succeeded in earning a little money from his contractors again had no idea about this little conversation involving him. She pinched his neck and his fur straightened up in surprise. "Stay for a bit. I will tell you something tasty if you stay." His eyes widened and Lucy continued smiling at her. He wanted to hit her too for a certain reason. Their deal with the dungeon was done and they were poor again. Eva had not much idea of what was going on but she could tell something good had happened. She was still upset that she was useless all this time but she had resolve to get stronger. And she was going to get stronger no matter what. That was naturally going to happen but Lucy and El… they were now going to travel to the opposite side of this great forest for their second treasure which was just waiting for them on top of a great tree. They now knew that they possessed a super rare constitution that was called the best in this worldline so they were going to speed up their growth with all the rare resources they could get. They acquired their first treasure and much more from this difficult but helpful dungeon run. And now, for a while, they wanted to just travel, kill new monsters that weren't slimes, and reach their next destination while waiting for their money to sturdily raise up. Mostly, things would be fine. They were now going to start getting rich. They were looking forward to their next big purchase but that was only happening when they save up a few hundred thousand. But even with all their piling up money, it was going to be difficult. Passive income was good and all but, they would have to work hard and sell their products and knowledge to achieve the amount they needed for the rank up. But they will get it by the time they are ready for their third treasure so it was time for the bigger start. They were looking forward to it… and so am I ▼▼▼.