Chapter 158

As Expected, the Dungeon Turned Out to Be a Mine
I spent my birthday just normally with my family, so I'll skip over that. The only notable event was my brother shouting, "Get engaged to me!" before soaring through the air thanks to Father's splendid uppercut. The ceiling he broke was ordered to be repaired by Father himself, as per the Prime Minister's command. Since Father always destroyed and rebuilt the castle himself, he reluctantly carried out the repairs. The ceiling ended up looking a bit more luxurious.

Currently, I'm in some duchy in Ostland as an adventurer. I received a request. Apparently, a certain duke's family had been privatizing and concealing a dungeon, and now that it had been discovered, I was asked to thin out its monsters. Additionally, I was told to handle the land fee claim while ensuring the dungeon's entrance remained open.

The discovered dungeon was named "Golem Paradise," and for a low-rank dungeon, it was an excellent hunting ground. Earth and Mud Golems were fragile yet yielded relatively large magic stones. It was an easy way to make money.

However, while the duke's family had kept it hidden, the dungeon continued to grow unchecked, and now it had reached an uncontrollable state.

"The weakest monsters here are Iron Golems… Just how long were they hiding this place?"

"Iron golems are basically walking resources."

"Adventurers hate fighting golems. They're tough, and carrying them back is a hassle because they're so heavy."

Most adventurers are barely scraping by. Iron golems are durable, yet their magic stones aren't much different from those of earth, mud, or Rock Golems. Weapons get worn down quickly, and the returns are minimal. Since iron is heavy and difficult to carry in large amounts, adventurers avoid fighting them. Moreover, blunt weapons like war hammers, which are effective against golems, aren't very popular. Most adventurers prefer swords, spears, fists, or bows. Even axes, being heavy, are used by only a few. Given the need to consider other supplies, heavy weapons are just not practical.

With the dungeon having grown to the point where Iron Golems are the weakest enemies, adventurers are unlikely to gather here anytime soon. So, I plan to conquer the dungeon and lower its level.

By the way, this place is apparently the maternal family home of the Perverted Prince. That poor household will lose its backing.

"Concealing a dungeon is equivalent to treason. If left alone, it would have triggered a stampede. Severe punishment is inevitable."

Discussing this, we descended into the dungeon through its entrance amidst the ruins. This place had once been a facility belonging to the duke's family, but a stampede had destroyed it, leading to the dungeon's discovery.

Inside, the dungeon was paved with stone blocks. The pathways were wide, about 3.5 meters across. I summoned my custom-modified M5 light tank and a golem force from my treasury. Dungeons are meant to be invaded. The summoned force consisted of a battalion of 600 Soldier Golems, 10 golem tanks, and 200 heavy Assault Golems, totaling around 810 units. A full-fledged golem army. The production line had already been set up inside my treasury, so mass production was well underway.

Since Soldier Golems aren't very resistant to gunfire, I armed them with RPG-7s. Some carried modified AK-47s in case other monsters appeared.

"This is basically an army."

"This is the true Golem Legion."

Feeling proud, I boasted to Alicia, but she just sighed. I don't get it.

"So, you're planning to invade the dungeon with such an overwhelming force?"

"I'm taking every last resource inside."

Since we're short on iron, I'll loot every mineral in the dungeon! The light tank will serve as my shield. Given the width of the passageways, golem-type monsters can't squeeze past it. The tank will act as a roadblock. If we need to turn, I'll just store the tank in the Treasury, adjust the door's orientation, and summon it again. Dungeons are mostly made up of straight corridors anyway.

The heavy Assault Golems will act as shields for each unit, spreading out in squads along the various passageways. As for me, I'll be leisurely reading in a small open-top dog cart—pulled by my wolf companions—behind the M5 light tank.

Explosions echo throughout the dungeon, but I don't mind. Magic stones from golems? Iron golems are too tough, so I'll just take the iron. It's faster to fire an RPG-7 into their chests than to extract their magic stones manually.

On the first day, we secured all resources up to the third floor. We blasted open hidden rooms to collect treasure, triggered traps until arrows and spears stopped coming out, and harvested all the iron. Every monster we encountered was annihilated. Our casualties were minimal. Judging by this pace, the final boss on the tenth floor must be an Orichalcum Golem. I'll be taking that too.

Earning dozens of tons of iron in a single day is huge. The treasure chests had decent loot as well. It seemed the duke's family had struggled to manage this dungeon—it had grown too powerful for them to handle.

"I'm rolling in wealth."

"………"

While the golems continued their 24-hour invasion, I decided to sleep inside the small cabin within my Treasury.

By the time I woke up, the Orichalcum Golem had been reduced to a lump of orichalcum. Apparently, it had been taken down by armor-piercing rounds from the M5 light tank.

Metal-type golems are tough, but since their magic stones are located in their chests, their chest armor tends to be slightly thinner. With the tank's enhanced cannon, a few shots were enough to bring it down. Upon dismantling it, I found that the impact had shattered the internal magic stone, rendering it inoperable.

"This proves that dungeons are nothing more than mines."

"Nobody in their right mind would want a mine like this."

When the ceiling began to collapse, I left behind some C4—created through alchemy—and sprinted out. If a dungeon tries to drop its ceiling on me, I'll punish it with explosions. Golems gathered from all around, but the slow-moving Iron Golems were easy prey.

By the way, alchemy is incredibly useful. It consumes a ridiculous amount of mana, but it allows for transmuting materials. While creating gold is theoretically possible, it requires so much mana that it's not worth it. It's said that mining diamonds is faster than creating them via alchemy.

For the record, if I apply my knowledge correctly, I could probably even transmute enriched uranium. Not that I need it. Managing it would be a hassle, and since this world doesn’t use it, it wouldn't even serve as a deterrent. If I actually used it, history would remember me as a notorious villain. So, no thanks. Producing high-performance explosives is good enough.

By sealing off sections of the dungeon at the right time, we can funnel golems into specific areas, making them easier to hunt.

"This is the least tense dungeon raid I've ever experienced."

"Alicia, how do you usually clear dungeons?"

"Well… We cautiously press forward, constantly fearing an ambush. Even when resting, we stay on high alert, waking up at the slightest noise."

I see. But since I rest inside the Treasury, no monsters can get in. Also, golems aren't living creatures, so they don't get tired. They can see in the dark, making ambushes from the shadows difficult. Plus, my wolf companions are always on guard. How am I supposed to feel tense in this situation?

Come to think of it, is my Treasury the ultimate defense tool? I only saw it as a storage space, but in an emergency, I could use the door as a shield. A fortress? If I get surrounded, I'd have no way to resupply since I can only summon one door at a time.

While I was thinking about that, one of the decoy Soldier Golems ahead of us fell into a pitfall. It was a trap where the entire floor opened up. If the tank had fallen in, retrieving it would've been a nightmare, so I'm glad it was just a Soldier Golem.

"Down below is a bed of swords… Princess?"

"There's a lot of iron. Collect all of it."

A rope was lowered, and the golems snapped the swords off from their bases, collecting the iron. The gathered iron was then transformed into ingots by me and stored in the Treasury.

In about twenty minutes, all the swords were collected, and the golems were pulled up. The first one that fell had its core pierced, so it needed to be replaced.

Once all the work was done, the lid of the pitfall closed. At first glance, it was just a regular passageway. I ordered the golems to advance once more.

"They fell again."

"The swords regenerated."

Looking into the pitfall, I saw that the bed of swords had returned.

It seems I have discovered an endless iron mine. I opened the Treasury nearby and had the golems collect iron here. Meanwhile, the idle wolf cubs had their mealtime. Mr. Coote had been so bored he fell asleep.

"I am bored as well."

"What number are you on?"

"This is my 128th!"

Helios had been eating bone-in meat nonstop since entering the dungeon. He bit into the bones without hesitation.

After announcing that he would explore the Treasury, Helios disappeared. I hope he'll be okay. This Treasury, according to my observations, is larger than Hokkaido. And that's just what I've mapped; beyond that, the space continues to expand. Right now, it's a chaotic mix of an unmanned factory, a lab for my clones, and other assorted experiments. The real issue is figuring out how to distribute this technology. It's such a hassle.

I enjoyed the warm lunch prepared by Alicia. Rations? I've heard they taste awful. That's why I never bought any. Thanks to my Preservation magic, I stockpiled tons of food and snacks, so I'm set for years. Even my bread is the soft, buttery kind.

"For now, let's keep mining iron from that trap."

"You really are going to take it all."

Of course. My goal is to collect every last bit. Besides, even if I don't move, my golem army will continue advancing through the dungeon. If they find similar traps, they’ll harvest those as well. Each unit carries multiple large storage bags, so capacity isn’t an issue.

Fearless and unfeeling, the golem army rampaged without hesitation. Occasionally, a unit’s storage bag would fill up, and they’d return to merge with our main force. The accumulated metals were refined into ingots and stacked like pyramids.

It's an incredible amount… I could build an unlimited fleet of armed airships. But based on my plans, it’s still nowhere near enough. The dungeon will have to keep working hard.

As a result, the dungeon spent four days continuously repairing the traps before finally sealing the pitfall.

"That's unfair! Bring the pitfall back! Hmm… Mr. Coote, use your dog punch!"

"Finally, it is my time to shine."

Mr. Coote punched the dungeon wall at incredible speed. A single strike caused radial cracks to spread across the wall… Isn't that absurd? These walls are strong enough to withstand direct hits from a pile bunker made of special heavy armor alloy. Yet he shattered them in one blow.

Additionally, a treasure chest emerged from the ground. The damage must have been severe. No Iron Golems appeared. This floor had been completely cleared of monsters. The traps were also gone. We had collected every last arrowhead, spear, and piece of metal until nothing remained operational.

"Mr. Coote, are you strong?"

"My Lord… I am the leader of the pack. Naturally, I am stronger than the others."

A shocking revelation—Mr. Coote was actually strong. Now that I think about it, he did knock me out with a mysterious dropkick. Something must have triggered an extreme power boost.

"Upon receiving My Lord’s mana, I became the strongest."

Apparently, from the moment we formed our contract, Mr. Coote was enhanced to this level. Now that I think about it, during our first duel, he did destroy the academy’s barrier.

Hmm… He might have already evolved beyond a Silver Wolf into an entirely new species. I'll have to investigate later.

"Ugh, you could have told me."

"I have told you countless times that I am not a pet."

I lightly smacked his front paw, but all I got in return was the soothing sensation of his silky fur.

At that moment, my communicator received a message—it was a routine report from a golem. Since they were humanoid, they could send simple emails. However, their messages were ridiculously short. They couldn’t process complex thoughts, so their reports were limited to things like "Searching and collecting," "Eliminating enemies on sight," and "Routine report." I couldn't give them any more detailed instructions.

"Looks like a unit has reached the dungeon boss."

"What floor?"

Alicia, who had been washing dishes, stepped out of the Treasury.

"The 30th. The deeper we go, the fewer traps there seem to be."

Golem-type dungeons don't tend to be that deep. It's said that creating golems consumes a significant amount of the dungeon core’s power.

"The traps likely stopped functioning because we looted so much. Dungeons have finite resources."

"Well, there are still 25 more pitfall traps ahead. We’ll continue eliminating enemies and take our time reaching the bottom."

An Iron Golem weighs over two tons—delicious loot. The traps are valuable too. Deeper inside, there are apparently mithril and Orichalcum Golems as well. The team that reached the lowest floor must have accidentally stumbled upon it while exploring. I'll send reinforcements, so they’ll need to hold out for about half a month.