Chapter 91：The Dungeon Lord x Bia

In the Human's refugee camp, I greeted Bia who was helping Leticia put some bandages on the elven warriors who had fought the battle.

"Good day, Bia. How is everything holding up?"

"Plate!? Weren't you eaten by thunder wolves!?"

"Who said that!?"

"Jack did!"

"And who is Jack?"

"My boyfriend! The thin guy who stayed prisoner in your cave for almost a week."

"Oh!!! The silent scout guy with dangerous eyes!"

"He's not a scout, he is a hunter."

"That's pretty much the same to me."

"..."

"OK, OK, sorry. What I mean is that good hunters make good scouts, that's all."

"Good! Now tell us why do you honor us with your presence?"

"Why the sarcasm?"

"Can't you see we are busy here? Every time you come you bring us even more work! At least let us rest for a bit and heal our wounds!"

"Ha.... Do you think I have a choice? Yes, we won this battle, but the War is far from over and considering how they are deploying their troops I fear we can expect an even bigger army next time."

Bia went pale at the news.

"Are you sure?"

"No, but I can only think of two possibilities: Either they give up this place or they send even more people after us. Have you ever heard of orcs giving up?"

"..."

"I should have taken a look outside but I imagine they already retreated. When they go back they will inform the higher ups not only their failure but also all their findings. The traps we have now will no longer be effective and they will know that we have a defense strong enough to hold off hundreds of invaders. So, maybe they will send a thousand troops next time."

"T-T-T-Thousand orcs!? How can we survive that!?"

"I don't know, but just licking our wounds and fighting among ourselves won't solve anything. That's why I need everybody's help, your help included."

"Haa... I understand. What can I do for you?"

"First, do you know the numbers of this last battle?"

"Numbers?"

"Yeah, how many died and such."

"Hmm. I heard from the elves that 16 out of 48 died and aside 4 of them who were lucky, all others took some damage varying from some light cuts to having their arms or legs cut off. There are 8 heavily wounded that can die at any moment, but Leticia already treated them so as long as they don't die, they should be able to fully recover..."

"Those whose members were cut off, will they recover?"

"Luckily Leticia has some elixir left, so regrowing them is possible. But we will need some payment later to buy new elixirs in the City."

"That's no problem. How much do they cost?"

"100 golden coins each, plus transportation cost and taxes."

"How much is that in diamonds?"

"Hmm... about 10 or 11 gems."

I have a faint feeling that she is tricking me, but I will let this pass this time.

So, what was that again? 48 elves, 16 dead, 4 are fine and 8 are in critical conditions?

Damn, this report is a mess!

Let's try to summarize it...

"OK, so we have 16 dead, 8 heavily wounded, 20 lightly wounded and 4 perfectly fine?"

"That's right. But that's just the elves. We also got 20 wounded warriors on our side."

"Any deaths?"

"Are you trying to curse us?"

"No, just...forget it. So, aside from the wounded, how many are fine?"

"Five."

"All right. I'm planning on building a training camp for the warriors, what do you think?"

"That would be great. It would give John something to do instead of just sleeping all day."

"John?"

"...The one you call Berserker."

"Oh! That huge guy!"

"Plate, you should seriously try to remember their name! This will be necessary if you are going to lead us all."

"Wait!? What??"

"Elves and Humans are pretty much the same thing, right? Since you are going to lead the elves, you might as well lead us too. A centralized leadership will also increase our unity and make us fight better."

I put my hand in my forehead, massaging it in circular motions.

Damn, this will give me a head ache!

And then I hear Bia saying in a really low voice.

"And if you take my position I will finally be able to relax."

"What was that!?"

Bia's face turned red and she denied in panic.

"Nothing! I didn't say anything! You must be imagining!"

I see, so this is just a plan so she can push her responsibilities to me!

Well, but I won't fall that easy...

"OK, I will consider. But even if I take the lead, I will also elect a proxy to take care of the minor things, exactly like I did on the elves. So, if that happens, don't worry, I won't forget about you."

Understanding that her plan had failed, Bia despair for a second.

"No!!!!!!!!!!! Forget about me! Please do forget about me! Right this instant!"

Heheh... Forget it! I'm not going down alone! Since it's your idea, you shall come with me!

"All right, next topic."

"Wait a second. Let's negotiate!"

"Not listening!"

"But!"

"I'm going to summon a Blacksmith. He will stay in the room near the stairs."

Bia finally gives up and asks.

"...Sigh...Which room?..."

"The one I'm gonna make."

"...Ohh..."

"Anyway, while the War continues I will have him work for free. So ask for him for anything you need."

"All right! I can't wait to ask for a beautiful crystal sword and armor!"

"That would be cool but where would you get the material... HEY WAIT! The work is free but the materials are not! You have to provide the material, all right?"

Bia clicked her tongue and while looking away she grumbled:

"...money grubber..."

Sigh...

That was close...

I almost sacrificed all my resources for nothing.

"All right, last topic for now."

"There is more!?"

"Of course! You asked for more work, so how could I go away without giving you what you asked for?"

"There is no need. I am happy without it. I got enough in my hands!"

"Too late. I need you to task someone to feed the dogs and change their water as well."

"Dogs? ... You mean the wolfs? Are you crazy? How can a normal person deal with those monsters!?"

"Before this your kids were happily playing with it, giving it food and all."

"But that one was kind and cute, not a bloody fanged thunder discharging monsters who can kill Orcs with a single bite in the neck!"

"They are all the same."

"But after the battle, when we tried to retrieve you, they tried to kill us too!"

"Hmm, that's only because I never ordered them to behave before. They didn't know if you were an ally or an enemy."

"No, Plate, it has nothing to do with ally or enemy! They were looking at us like we were food!"

"Haaa.... Don't worry, it won't happen again, I told them to behave themselves."

"And you think that will be enough?"

"Time will tell."

"No, no, no! I can't risk people's lives with this! Summon something and have it take care of it yourself! I will even give you resources if you need!"

"All right! I will comeback to you when I decide on what to summon!"

Before Bia could understand what she just promised, I run away to the Dungeon Core.

Time to summon a Blacksmith!