LDM 545 – Rewards and Truth

February 25, 2023

(Will it end? I’ve received some comments that said that I might finish this after this arc, but I think it will continue as it should; it’s a lazy(leisure) life of a dungeon master, after all.)

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“Kehma, Rokuko is hellbent on this, so marry her.”

Haku said calmly, but I must have misheard. There was no way Haku would say such a thing. Oh, it must mean martial, not married. Damn you Demon Kingdom, you are a bad influence! {tl: you coward.}

“Kehma, that’s why I’m going to marry you, okay? Okay?”

“I understand. We’ll do martial arts in the arena, got it.”

“No, we’re not. The word marry, and martial didn’t even sound similar. We’re not going to some duel.”

Oh…. they are two completely different things in other world languages. So maybe I was the one who got it mixed up.

“Anyway, for now, let’s get you engaged first. Where will you hold the engagement ceremony? I don’t mind if it’s at the White God Church in the Imperial City. Considering his title, the marriage ceremony will probably take place a year after that.”

“…I want to get married right away.”

“Formality is also important, Rokuko. Because in the end, you are still a nobleman of the empire.”

“Mm~~mm. Oh well, fine! Fiancée has a nice ring to it too. We’re already living together. We have a daughter. We’re practically married already, so a year or so won’t matter.”

I just listened to her voice while still not believing the reality of what had happened so fast.

“And Kehma? When will you break this curse?”

“Ack, sorry.”

Haku urged me to ring the [God’s Alarm], and the white jewel on Haku’s thigh trembled and shattered.

A plume of black smoke billowed out and soon shaped itself into a humanoid shape, Or, to be more precise, a silhouette of the 10th core.

“…… ugh!…..!”

“Oooooooooooh NOOOO! Nooooooooooooooooooo!!! “

The black smoke screams with the voice of the 10th core. However, the [God’s Alarm] is still ringing, and the black smoke writhes as if holding its head as it disappears as if scraped by the sound.

“10……!”

“Damn you 89, Damn you Dark God, aaaaaah……! AAAaa It’s gone, it’s gone….. my pow– …….”

The black smoke disappears along with the 10th core fading voice. At the same time, the accessory on Haku’s thigh also disappeared as black smoke.

“Phew… I guess it was really the curse of the 10th core…, or maybe It was himself. If left unchecked, it would have become a type of curse that would have gained power and done something….”

“Sister, are you all right?”

“Yes, I’m fine now. Come Rokuko. Give me a hug.”

“Yes, thank you, sister!”

Rokuko hugs Haku, who welcomes her with open arms.

By the way that 10th core… is he not humanized but living as a curse? Is such a thing even possible? I don’t know for sure if that smoke was just a curse or if it was his real self.

“Now then, let’s talk about the other reward.”

“Eh, about that…”

“You have any objection, Kehma?”

What happened to the marriage talk? Oh, well, I guess we’re going to do it for real.

“No, nothing…”

“Good. Then how about 15 million DP in addition to the compensation and the [God’s Underwear] that I had proposed earlier? Oh, and for Orange, I’ll give him 5.5 million DP in addition to the 564 portions. He has done a lot of work this time….”

[God’s Underwear] The last divine bedding that we haven’t got our hand into. The remaining [God’s Pillow] and [God’s Mattress] are in possession of Maiodore and Shikina in Zia and can be borrowed at will.

…wait. Do I get an additional reward besides marrying Rokuko? So suspicious, what does she mean by this? Is there still something she wants?

“….Kehma? it feels like your mind is not here right now… but I understand, if I were told that I could marry Rokuko, I would probably think [is it all right for me to be blessed like this]?”

“Eh, ah, yes. I guess?”

But Rokuko seems displeased with my half-hearted reply.

“Sister, I think Kehma is still confused why you easily gave him your blessing rather than absent-minded because he is too happy to marry me.”

“Oh, my goodness, should I pull it off then? I also think it’s better not to marry such a coward, right?”

“No! Or do you think there is someone more suitable for me than Kehma? Haku-nee-sama, all this time you’ve been too mean to Kehma. That’s why he’s like this!”

“Well, I admit that I often arbitrarily pushed him into a corner.”

Haku said while smiling ear to ear while Rokuko could only sigh at her.

“Kehma, you are the reason Rokuko is growing so fast, the one who can provide her with solid security and consistent income, as well as someone who can win a dungeon battle against me – If not you, who else would be such a good candidate for my dear sister? And, you know, Rokuko is madly in love with you. …Rokuko will despise me if I reject such a man.”

In other words, she never intended to reject me; everything she did was just harassment and a way to keep me in check.

“……So what were you going to do if I had run away?”

“Ara? I wouldn’t let that happen in the first place, and if it does happen, I’ll do everything I can to prevent it. Anyway, you didn’t even want to flee anyway… so there’s no issue, right?”

It seems by the time Rokuko fell in love with me, Haku already made up her mind not to let me go. Even if I died while trying to flee, I suspect she would resurrect me, even if it meant that I would become undead.

There are not many cases where an individual can win against a country. And if I can win in the first place, there is no need to give up on Rokuko and run away.

And on top of that, she was harassing me just to keep my hands off Rokuko. What a troublesome perso—Dungeon Core.

“Are you convinced?”

“*sigh* well, in a manner of speaking, yes. So that means I can really marry Rokuko?”

“Yes, but if you ask me whether I like or dislike the man who took away my adorable little sister, I believe the answer should be obvious.”

“Haku-nee-sama! Will you stop picking on Kehma like that?

“Fufu, it’s just a joke, a joke.”

Personally, I think she was about 80% serious because her eyes were not smiling at all.

But she won’t do anything that makes Rokuko sad, which means that at least I don’t have to worry about Haku trying to kill me.

…I know it’s a bit sudden, but I am finally starting to feel the fatigue that has been piling up.

“Oh, by the way, it’s still a hundred years too early for Kehma to use the effects of [God’s Underwear], so use it only to ascend to a demi-god.”

“? Haku-nee-sama, what kind of effect does the [God’s Underwear] have?”

“…um, it’s… uh…. well, it makes you more attractive, or something like that. You don’t need to know about it, Rokuko.”

Haku’s eyes swim, and her words are muddled… It’s definitely something that has a bad effect on Rokuko’s education.

The [God’s Underwear], is just like other divine bedding, was made by [Father] the Dark God for the creator god, right? What was he going to do with it, given that the effect makes people avoid talking about it? It had to be something silly.

I mean, I don’t know if “a hundred years early” is an expression or literal. Then again, when you’re a God, you could live even after hundred years.

“A-anyway! I’ll give it to you now …Maintain it well, and keep it out of Rokuko’s hands.”

I received the [God’s Underwear] from Haku. As a matter of course, it was inside a normal box, not taken off in front of me or anything.