Chapter 19

Chapter 19

I Became a Prisoner Trainer in the Dungeon.

Episode 19: How To Get A New Prisoner (2).

At that moment.

In the castle of Baron Gilberte, a village of adventurers of considerable size, a group of people gathered for a serious meeting.

“The adventurer group has gone missing in the dungeon.”

Baron Blake Gilberte, with his thick white beard, cautiously opened the discussion.

“It’s common for adventurers to go missing in dungeons. But this case is different. We are gathered here to discuss this incident.”

The people gathered in the conference room were among the most powerful within Baron Gilberte’s domain.

Commander of the Baron’s Knights.

Guild Master of the Adventurers’ Guild Union.

Head of the largest merchant guild in the domain.

And even the parish head of the Goddess’s Church in the domain.

“Fifteen people have gone missing. None have returned alive. You all should know their names as listed here.”

Those gathered scanned the list before them.

Documents detailing names, ages, professions, and social status.

The right column of the document was left largely blank.

“Their fate is still unknown.”

As if to fill in whether they were alive or dead.

“Guild Master, any response from their ‘adventure badges’?”

“No response from the badges within the dungeon.”

“Even after the knights swept through the dungeon?”

“Yes.”

The dungeon where the adventurers entered was not particularly difficult.

Rather, it was on the easier side, and the fifteen adventurers were more than capable of conquering it.

“Head of the Merchant Guild, was this a newly discovered dungeon?”

“No. It’s a dungeon where small groups of weak monsters like goblins or orcs appear, and we’ve been trading materials from there with the Magic Tower for the last year.”

It wasn’t even their first time in that dungeon.

“Then, either something changed in the dungeon over the past year, or they faced some sudden event.”

Baron Gilberte tapped the table with his finger, deep in thought.

“Among those kidnapped there is my half-brother.”

“Are you referring to Young Master Jake…?”

“As the Commander knows, we weren’t exactly on good terms.”

Siblings from the same family but with different mothers; it would be strange if they were close.

“But that doesn’t mean we were sworn enemies. He left this position because he preferred adventure over the lord’s duties. I should be grateful, in fact.”

“Jake was… quite capable as an adventurer. Right, Commander?”

“…Yes. If he had joined the knights, he would have been among the best.”

Since he left the family for adventure, there were no significant issues regarding Jake in the Baron’s house.

“He did cause some trouble when drinking, but he had a certain manliness to him.”

“Which made him popular among the women adventurers, didn’t it? Even…”

“There were talks of engagement with a lady in knight training.”

Jake wasn’t the problem.

Well, he had his issues, but the real problem was-

“Eris Alvatea, the Count’s daughter.”

The one who entered the dungeon with the adventurers.

“The only child of Count Alvatea. I heard you once taught her at Sunday School, Parish Head.”

“Yes. She was a child of strong faith. But who could have foreseen this…”

The woman cherished by Count Alvatea like a jewel was also missing.

While the other thirteen, no, fourteen people were also important, unfortunately, human lives were valued differently, as shown on the list.

Eyes were fixed on Jake Gilberte and Eris Alvatea at the top of the list, while the names at the bottom, the lowest-ranked adventurers, were of such little interest that one wouldn’t bother to check if the names were correct.

“Guild Master, what’s the most likely scenario given the current situation?”

“…There’s a possibility that a portal to another place opened within the dungeon.”

The Guild Master cautiously spoke.

“The demon army consists of four legions, but apart from the central legion led directly by the Demon King, the other legions are not on good terms. They invade and plunder each other’s dungeons.”

“Then…”

“There could be a door in the dungeon leading to another dungeon. More precisely, it could be an ‘invasion route’ from the other side.”

“You mean Jake and the adventurers have passed through to that side?”

“Yes. They might have leaped over space, perhaps even beyond a thousand kilometers.”

“…Dungeons, tsk.”

Baron Gilberte clicked his tongue and stood up.

“We will continue the investigation. I will organize a separate investigation team. If the Guild Master’s prediction is correct, the Goddess will guide our path.”

“…Yes.”

As Baron Gilberte turned his gaze to the Parish Head, the Parish Head spoke with a heated voice.

“I heard that the faithful sister, Dalia, is with them. If we follow the residual holy power she has left, we can surely track them down.”

“We must find them.”

Baron Gilberte clutched his head in his hands.

“We need to confirm if they are alive or dead.”

In the morning, I was able to gather some information about the dungeon through the succubus secretary.

Once a dungeon was opened, it took at least a day to close it again.

Because it involved spatial manipulation magic, both opening and dispelling it took quite a bit of time.

You might wonder why there was such a cumbersome procedure, but we didn’t leave our front doors open all the time, did we?

You never knew when a hero might come in.

In this world, there were many aspiring heroes, and they explored dungeons all over the world to gain strength in order to defeat the Demon King.

But if the dungeon door was wide open?

Why would they bother with the long journey to the Demon King’s castle?

It would be much better to come to Baron Gilberte’s domain, enter the portal leading to the Vampire Princess’s lair, and then immediately pass through another portal that leads back to the Demon King’s castle.

Apparently, there was an instance where the Demon King’s castle was attacked in this manner.

Thanks to becoming a Trainer, I had learned some inside stories about the demon army and dungeons, which was certainly beneficial for accumulating new knowledge.

Since then, the trend has been to keep the gates between dungeons closed, even if it consumed more mana.

However.

During that one day when the door was open, we could secure as many prisoners as we wanted if we chose to.

“When the Vampire Princess opens the dungeon door, humans can enter for a day.”

Based on this proposal, I made a suggestion to the succubus secretary, but now I was standing in front of a fussy-looking, white-haired, bespectacled old man.

“Use that to our advantage to capture new human prisoners?”

“Yes.”

This stern-looking vampire in a suit with his hair slicked back was ‘Akamondu Nosferatu’.

Regarding this old man whose very name screamed vampire, I must not be careless.

“Interesting.”

The right-hand man of the Vampire Princess.

“Humans don’t fall for our provocations no matter how much we insult them. They value their lives.”

The second-in-command of the Vampire Legion.

“Even if we lure them into the dungeon, they don’t bite easily. But… this makes it so they have no choice but to enter, knowing it’s a trap. They walk into their own grave.”

The one who oversaw all operations in the Vampire Legion.

“Your plan is thoroughly based on understanding humans. It’s a fresh, or rather, ‘human-like’ plan that demons wouldn’t think of.”

My direct superior.

“Trainer Azazel.”

“Yes, Chief Steward.”

His official title was Chief Steward, who could act as Dungeon Master in the absence of the Vampire Princess, essentially a ‘Sub-Master’.

“Were you really a porter before coming here?”

“Pardon?”

“Your schemes are far from ordinary for someone who was just a porter.”

They wouldn’t be ordinary, would they?

While they contained some modern sensibilities, they were also acts of shoving fellow humans into the depths of hell to survive.

“Especially this trap using ‘uncertainty of life or death’… it’s downright vile, even I must admit.”

The Chief Steward unfolded the letter I wrote, which wasn’t exactly a will.

“Writing a proxy will using blood. You are truly inhumanly wicked.”

The contents, written with the fluids from the vampire slimes, could be summarized as ‘I write this in place of my broken arm.’

“Ah. Is calling someone wicked an insult to humans?”

“From a demon’s perspective, how is it? A compliment?”

“For me… it’s both an insult, in the sense that I can’t understand why humans used you as a porter, and a compliment towards you.”

Akamondu put down the blood letter.

“Not even the strategists of our legion could come up with such a sinister scheme.”

“…….”

“Most humans think they’ll be killed within a day if captured by demons. There are cases of ransom, but even then, they’re returned in a state of severe mutilation. On the other hand…”

Akamondu tapped the table with excitement.

“You wrote in the blood letter. The demons here are trying to use humans for breeding experiments.”

“…….”

“Saving women to bear goblin and orc children, while using men as blood bags after cutting off their limbs.”

“…….”

Alive, yet not living.

However, if rescued, ‘living Jake or Eris’ could be saved.

“While also writing, ‘We don’t know when they’ll kill us. Five are already dead.’ Thus, making it seem like they could die at any moment.”

“…….”

“Open a new dungeon near Baron Gilberte’s domain, send goblins there to ensure humans can secure that blood letter?”

“If it’s ‘our legion’s’ dungeon that’s the problem, open a portal to another legion’s dungeon. If there are diplomatic issues, just open a portal in a cave in the forest where goblins live.”

“…Originally, these portals are meant for invading human villages as ‘invasion routes.’”

Akamondu clutches his head, which seems to ache for a moment.

“Approved.”

He rolls up the blood letter and hands it to me, then slowly stands up.

“Open a portal towards Baron Gilberte’s domain. Leak the blood letter to inform them of the situation here, and induce them to send a rescue team. Assess the strength of the rescue team and, as soon as they cross into the dungeon…”

“Close the dungeon door. Only to manage an appropriate number of prisoners.”

“…Heh.”

It was the same principle as when adventurers like me got caught in a trap.

“Well, there’s no need to fight in a weakened state on land blessed by the goddess.”

The difference was that before it was ‘may anyone fall into it,’ and this time, it was about ensuring the enemy had no choice but to enter the trap.

“With you, a Trainer, devising such a plan, do you think I, as Chief Steward, can remain idle? Return to your training room.”

“Chief Steward, is there something I should do?”

“What you should do.”

Akamondu rubbed his fingers together, looking at me.

“You like virgins, don’t you?”

“……Well.”

“Make sure you’re well groomed. You have training to do. Battle is for me, for us.”

Akamondu donned his cloak and headed outside.

“I’ll make sure no one touches the virgin priestesses for you.”

“…….”

Loyalty.