Kuro no Maou

"--Welcome back, Chrono!

Lily, a little girl, smiled and literally jumped into my chest.

"I'm just... I mean, this isn't my house."

"Where I am is where Kurono returns."

I see, there may be a reason.

In this way, on the day the alliance with Sparta was sunny, I came from Monolith in the Imperial Castle to Karamara, to Queen Lily's new national pandemonium.

The transfer location is on the ground floor square of Temenigle.

It is the entrance to the first used Great Labyrinth.

"Ooh... this is the ultimate city of desire, Karamara! Oh, my God, I didn't know so many skyscrapers were tree-lined. This is what the ancient ruins look like in modern times!!

And I'm not the only one who's moved here, like Will's screaming next to me.

In addition to party members, Will is accompanied by Spartan ambassadors.

We can transfer it now! It would be natural for diplomats to accompany you as an Alliance inspector, beyond your lavish words to King Leonhart.

We have decided to form an alliance for now, but we must continue to work together on its contents. We know a lot about Sparta, but we don't know what's going on in this southern corner of the country. I'm not very relaxed, but I'd like you to visit me until you're satisfied.

"Welcome to the Pandemonium. Prince Wilhart and Spartans, please come this way. We will guide you to Temenigle, the country's tallest skyscraper, which will replace the imperial castle in Japan."

It was Zanalius, our diplomatic envoy, who bought the information and left.

For now, let him know more about your alliance with Sparta.

Well, I'll see you later, Will.

Hmm.

Prince Wilhart, I'll be waiting for you on the throne.

"Oh, Lily, you've become the queen of this country. I'm looking forward to the sunshine."

Lily and Will had a smiling handshake before breaking up on the spot.

I'm sorry, but I don't have time to entertain some Spartan visitors right now.

"Lily, I need to talk to you. That's pretty bad news, too."

"Yeah, let me hear it. It's going to be quiet, so I'm going to fly to the fifth floor."

Lily leaves us alone and flies us further through the transition.

The destination is a huge white hole. the merely vast landscaped space is the boss's room of the deus idol

All destinations for coming to the fifth hierarchy are set here. Only Lily can fly directly to the vault. Should I say that's the Throne Room now?

We move from the Boss Room Square to the right room for the group to get together and talk.

When the Great Labyrinth was a shelter, the commander who ruled it, its private space, was a spacious room.

This is where we spent the week after the invasion until we got back to earth, instead of living with everybody. I mean, there's a big, comfortable sofa here.

Would you like some tea?

"Yeah, whatever."

You're getting hungry.

"Can I have a carob?

"Please help me, Mr. Krono. The evil Queen Lily is pushing for power."

"Fiona, just give me something."

Well, let's have a tasting of dishes made with ingredients from the second floor.

"Leave it to the minister in charge of tasting."

"You've created a chaotic position."

"I can formally appoint you. I'm in a position to do it now."

Saying confidently, as Lily clapped her hands, Homunkurus, who was wearing the maid's clothes, quickly served meals to the table.

Along with the tea, a set of snacks such as sandwiches and soups quickly appeared, which Fiona would have prepared from the beginning in anticipation of this.

As soon as I was ready, I cut out the most important thing to tell Lily.

"Nero awakens the Apostle -----"

The next day, the second day of the month of the ice crystal.

I'm Lily and I were on the first floor of the nostalgic "Undead City."

Somehow, things have changed a lot.

This is the zombie-painted dungeon that I don't think is spreading.

Three kilometers from the center, which runs through the shelter, makes it a completely inhabited area. Yes, it's not just zombies walking in and out of paved cities that interact with each other, but living people with solid footsteps.

Thanks to the fact that living beings have come to live instead of dead, or even grey buildings that can only be seen in ruins, something like a feeling of life drifted around, making them feel like they were alive overall.

"Ex-slaves and people who migrated from the Central District live here. And then I brought a little Homunkurus."

Homunkurus and the others are directors.

You know, the boulder.

Watch the city for a moment and you'll notice.

It is Homunkurus who now controls the inhabitants here.

Wearing black uniforms worn by mercenaries, silver-haired red-eyed Homunkurus, armed with ancient weapon rifles, lightly directs people and leads many people down the road.

When you meet Homunkurus on the road, everyone immediately gives way and salutes.

It seems that all the inhabitants were attacked by soldiers.

"I don't think it's good to be too intimidating."

"Homunkurus serves as a gendarmerie, but I've never shot anyone before. I only shot zombies when they came."

"Is that true? There are so many ex-slaves and those who lived well in the Central Quarter, and now they live here together. Bigger and smaller, it's supposed to happen."

"It's okay, we're all good kids. It's time to start."

Lily pointed to the reviving vision on the corner.

By the time it was a dungeon, none of the visions installed here were working darkly, but apparently they weren't broken. Now, just like on the ground, we are constantly streaming various videos.

Then, when the news shows are over, the screen switches to a flower field on one side.

In the middle of the colorful flower fields pictured, fairies spreading their glowing feathers dance down.

"Hello, it's Lily! Let's dance together again today!

With such a lovely smile, Lily moves her little body with her cheerful BGM and dances in the screen --

"That's Lillian."

"Hmm, can you tell at a glance?

"We've been together for a while."

The glowing pair of feathers, a testament to fairies, is just a creation. It's just a shiny prop.

The face is cleverly resembled by the magic of makeup and illusion, but I understand.

Lillian's face was hugged and looked closer, and Lily's face was the longest I've seen since I came to this other world. You can't be unaware of the difference.

"He's a very good kid. And a hard-worker. Look, you're dancing well, aren't you?

"Ah... that's right."

Why is Lillian pretending to be Lily and appearing in Vision?

The answer was that, at the same time as the broadcast began, the residents of the city gathered in front of the Vision and began to dance like Lillian.

I see, Lily, the residents of this city will have a crime rate of zero percent.

"Please praise Lillian later. Now, let's go."

Lillian smiled and said, "Bye! As the show ended, I felt a dark feeling that my heart would fall into the abyss as if nothing had happened.

Lily smiled at me and led me to the second level, as if she hadn't noticed my mood.

The second level is the Great Plains (Evergreen).

It is about 10 kilometers in all directions from the center and is managed by the shelter. There are farms and fishing ports, so they have the widest access to land.

"The original farm remains intact, and new places are being opened from time to time."

"Is this enough food?

"Not enough now, but we'll be able to harvest enough of it. Besides, I only have carobs so I won't starve to death."

"I wouldn't have eaten it if I hadn't been able to hunt it down."

Since the Karamara era, there has been a good yield of agricultural products on this second tier. There are also pastures, and seafood can be harvested at fishing ports. But that doesn't cover enough to feed the entire population.

According to information available to Congress, Karamara's food self-sufficiency rate is about 30%, with the remainder dependent on imports.

It is a natural result because it is more efficient to exchange large quantities of food from other countries with treasures from the Great Labyrinth rather than farming seriously in your own country. Especially wheat and other staple foods are so biased towards imports that they are needed in large quantities.

The only commodity crops that run a farm at risk in the second tier of the dungeon are those that are worth that much. Premium tea leaves, fruits, rare vegetables, medicinal herbs, etc.

"If we were to expand the wheat fields, we would have more land."

"I'm not just going to make wheat. I can get some grain."

"You still depend on imports? I think we can make a favorable trade deal because we crushed the Alliance fleet."

I talked to her yesterday, but Lily told me about it.

I had no idea there had been a war in such a short time. Neighboring countries can move so fast, or form such large alliances.

But most unexpectedly, it was supposed to be a fierce defense war, but it was a one-sided game that wasn't even a battle, so I surrendered completely.

Lily is now the ruler of both the Atlas Desert.

"For the time being, you can import."

"Food dependence is dangerous in the long run. If the neighboring countries are overrun, this place will dry up."

"Yeah, so I'll make sure we have all the grain we need."

"What else can you do besides expand the field?

"If you don't have bread, you can eat carobs."

"... are you improving the taste?"

"That's refreshing. I wonder if Simon's coffee pickles are the best they've ever made."

"I can't accept that kind of animal food."

"Fufufu, it's okay. Hey, does Kurono know how carobs are made?

If you ask me, I don't know where and how carobs are made.

However, on the first floor, the city regenerates, including supplies, so it just springs infinitely.

"It's made of some kind of magic."

"Yes, carobs are made of magic. To be precise, I wonder if it falls into the category of smelting magic."

"... smelting? That's what blacksmiths use to make weapons."

"Yes, smelting is magic that can manipulate both inorganic matter such as iron and organic matter such as monster fangs and nails. And I'm making carobs."

"How?

"We're converting sand into organic matter that resembles bread."

The fact of shock. Carobu, it was made of sand.

Has this alien world ever been the most famous religious great man in the world, summoned or reborn? You see, a leader with the ability to turn that stone into bread.

"Seriously... turning sand into bread is a terrible effect."

As a skilled blacksmith, Legin's main effect is that smelting fuses the materials that make up the weapon.

At the very least, there is no effect of freely converting inorganic matter into organic matter or vice versa.

If you can turn that substance into anything, it's literal alchemy that turns scum iron into gold.

"But it's ancient magic that can do that. Anyway, we can't turn any substance into anything. However, all we have here is a manufacturing facility that makes carobs out of sand."

So, after all, we can only mass produce carobs of excitement.

"I don't like eating carobs as they are. That's why we use carobs as raw materials and then we process them further. It's closer to real grains like wheat and rice."

"Can you do that?

"It's much easier than turning sand into food. The carob itself is a carbohydrate that contains all sorts of nutrients, so you just need to add a little more. We've also found equipment that could do that, and if it's as effective as this, we'll be able to handle modern magic."

"... is it possible that Fiona ate yesterday?"

"It's the same as regular bread, isn't it?

I see, the food problem is going to work out.

I want this pandemonium to be able to be maintained on its own in the worst case scenario. If the entire Pandora continent were to be ruled by the Crusades, it would be the last stronghold at the end of the continent, in the middle of the desert.

Otherwise, this is the home of our forces. I don't think there are any other lifelines, such as food.

Crossroads lurk everywhere. It doesn't matter where you get caught up at any time.

Well then, let's go to the third floor.

Third floor "Industrial Zone (Factoria)".

This is probably the most active place in the Great Labyrinth today.

In addition to the people who already work in the factory, the Golems, who were the mainstream monsters here, are as busy as the workers.

Lily is in complete control of the Great Labyrinth, so all Golem monsters produced since then are under control.

"Are the Golems going to replace the soldiers?

"Only in this labyrinth will they keep moving. So if we get him out of here, he'll only be able to move for as long as there's built-in magic."

I knew it wasn't going to work.

I was quite hopeful about the golem that would be produced here.

The strength is roughly from rank 1 to rank 3, but you can match the numbers. And even though it's a Rank 1 Golem, it can be expected to be a much more powerful force than recruiting peasants in those territories.

The strength of Golem is that it is still an unmanned weapon. Not human, but therefore loyal to orders without fear. If necessary, it can be discarded or can be raided on a disposable premise.

"How long can it run outside?

"Maybe a day is a good place."

How about replenishing the magic?

"I think it would be more efficient for a magician to fight for himself."

"Too bad. I don't think we're going to be able to put it into action."

Otherwise, there's nothing I can do about it.

Let's give up the Golem. In other words, it is expected to develop in the future. You can do your job, Simon.

"How about gun production?

"Ancient weapons are still difficult. We need to figure out what the equipment here is for and how to use it one by one."

After all, mass production of EA series, including storm rifles, is unlikely to be possible immediately.

Looks like ancient infantry gear will have to be used carefully.

"But a blacksmith who uses modern technology will be ready in no time."

Well, let's start with mass production of craw rifles and machine guns.

"Bring Simon tomorrow, will you?

There's more work to do... I don't know, there's more work to do for Simon.

I'd like to try not to rely on Simon alone, but he's the only one who knows how to make and handle guns. Just bring the skilled blacksmith and it won't solve anything.

However, Spartans have borrowed a factory from the Mordored Arms Chamber to start producing craw rifles and machine guns, and there will be more blacksmiths and workers who will learn that know-how from now on.

In the same way, we'll have to let them do it for now.

"For now, we're running an instant blacksmith shop. I'm working on simple equipment and processing the ore that I've been mining on the fourth floor."

"What does the fourth floor look like?

"Almost untouched. I still can't introduce you to Kurono. I'm starting to dig from where I can dig safely."

The Crystal Cave, the fourth tier, is the last part of the labyrinth to operate as its original shelter. Because it's a hierarchy for resource mining, it doesn't mean you can't live unless you use it now.

However, as we continue to operate as a country, resources are a very important element. Benefiting from energy resources may be referred to as geopolitical cheats as early as possible.

It's not that important, but I still don't have enough time or manpower to do it right now. It is expected to develop in the future.

"This is the place in the Great Labyrinth. Do you want me to show you around the front?

"No, not now. Very well."

"Yes, there are still some things I can't get there, but this is all I can do now."

"I think Lily did well. In such a short period of time, new countries are taking shape without major disruption. Maybe nobody else can do this."

"Fufu, thank you. It was worth the effort."

"Oh, Lily certainly fulfilled my wish."

"Yeah, there's not one more slave in my pandemonium. No one is hungry or frozen in the cold. And above all, I won't be bullied."

It's a very unbelievable situation if you knew Karamara before.

I didn't think anyone could change that way. Even though Emilia knew it was reckless, she dreamed of doing so.

However, Lily completed such a dream story in less than a month.

I fulfilled my wish to get rid of slaves -- yes, all with the power of the nightmare of brainwashing.