Dungeon of Pride, Laplace



They were both sitting on Simon's legs and enjoying his pampering. As such, Cecilia who got jealous couldn't help but argue with the twins to get down.

Theodore: "Nope don't wanna~"

Maybell: "No"…

Cecilia wanted the twins to get down so she could sit on Simon's lap herself and the twins who didn't want to obey. It was like a daily occurrence and nothing new to anyone.

"Hehe, we were the first to greet master therefore we are allowed to sit on his lap as long as we want. If Princess Cecilia has any problems, she can just beat it"

Theodore commented in an attempt to further incite Cecilia.

"Alright you two, it's time to get down" Simon put the twins who tried to protest down from his lap.

"What did I tell you? Cecilia is older than you, so you should listen to her" Though he said that, Cecilia was only one year older than the twin so it couldn't be said that there was much difference in their mentality. Thus they always tend to argue and bicker even about the smallest of things.

"That's right, it is as big brother said. I'm your elder. Besides, I'm the Second Guardian and you guys are the Fourth and the Fifth. So you should listen to me" Cecilia stressed particularly on the words second fourth and fifth to make the twins realise their place.

Suffering a powerful blow, Theodore nor Maybell had anything to respond with. It was as Cecilia had said, they were appointed as the Fourth and Fifth Guardians by the dungeon while Cecilia was second. In terms of seniority, she was older than them.

"Ahh.. dammit" Theodore shouted and ran out of the room.

"Eh? Brother wait for me" and Maybell ran after him.

"Hehe" Now triumphant, Cecilia flashed a V sign.

"That was impressive Princess Cecilia, the way you handled those too" Alice who watched the entire scuffle praised from the side.

"Hehe, when we were still living in the old forest spring village, I used to play with such stubborn kids. I know exactly how to handle them" Cecilia puffed her chest and replied.

"Hoh, as expected of Princess Cecilia. You should teach me that sometimes… ouch!! Elder sister, why did you hit me?" Alice cried out in grief after getting a karate chop on her head.

"Silence. Don't create more mess for the master" Annette chided. Mentally, Alice too wasn't far apart from those children.

Looking at the rowdy crowd in his main hall, Simon shook his head and smiled. The Main Floor which was all lonely and silent before, was starting to get lively with the appearance of these people.

Each and every one of them were his precious subordinates that gave him a sense of belonging.

"Sigh… alright Cecilia, go and make up with Theodore and Maybell" Irene spoke. Now that there were so many children among the subordinates of Simon, it was up to Irene and Annette to play the role of the Elder sister.

"But"…

"No Buts, go and do it. Aren't you all friends?"

Cecilia seemed like she had something to say but against Irene's stern eyes, she could only nod her head and do as she was told.

"Alice you go too"…

"Yes".

Now that the hall had descended back into silence, Simon and Irene started discussing more important topics.

"So, will it be alright to leave the King of the Ogres as it is? Isn't he creating an alliance to siege the dungeon? Although with the current level of your subordinates, I don't think they will be able to create any storms, but the tower town might still get destroyed like the time with the orcs"

Irene stated her concerns. She had now fully adapted to her role as the proxy dungeon master.

"Maybe we should have destroyed them after all, Master" Bea added uttering some dangerous words. From the serious expression on her face, it doesn't seem like she was joking.

"We cannot do that"…

"Why not?"

Annette answered for her clueless sister.

"For a while now, the Seven Kings have maintained a balance of sorts in the Ghastly Winding Forest where they keep each other in check. Now imagine what would happen to this equilibrium if one of the Seven King clans is destroyed and that too by a new powerhouse that has recently emerged in the eastern region of the forest?"…

"Um, the balance would break?"…

"That's right; however, that is not all. The other Seven kings with the exception of Aldebaran would see the dungeon as a threat and join forces to destroy it first" Annette hit the nail.

What Simon was worried about was precisely that. Due to making that agreement with Aldebaran, he was in a position where he couldn't kill the Seven Kings nor can he use the power of his subordinates to subdue them. He has to do it himself.

But after fighting the Queen of the Harpies Simon realised that he was still far away from contending with one. He needed to get stronger and rank up and for that, he needed time. Aldebaran had given him seven years of time (now only four remaining) but it meant nothing if the seven kings joined forces to attack him first.

As such, Simon wanted to avoid such a scenario in any case.

"They dare" Bea fumed. Although she wasn't created to be the smartest, even she understood what it meant for the seven kings to come together.

"That's alright, I have played my own card so that something like that doesn't happen" Simon revealed a wicked smile.

Subduing the Queen of the Harpy this early had immensely benefitted him. Now not only can he play it safe, he wouldn't have to worry about the Seven Kings attacking him any soon.

Plus with the production of more Revenant Crows, in time he will be able to monitor everything that goes around in this Ghastly Winding Forest.

Simon did not say anything further, after explaining everything he needed to, he got up and headed for the [Training Floor]. If not for the matter this time was urgent, Simon wouldn't have left his training. He was about to grasp a new power that he had been working for weeks now.

Seeing him eager to dive back into training right after he just returned, Irene couldn't help but display a helpless smile. They were just about to teleport to the [Training Floor] when Simon remembered something.

"Ah!! Hold up, I need to go to the garden".

The Main Floor had many areas, one of these areas was the orchard or one could also call it the garden that Irene and Cecilia had created. As he stood in front of the garden, Simon couldn't help but get taken aback by the marvelling seen that lay ahead in front of him.

The picturesque pond of serenity was one thing, but the garden created by Irene and Cecilia wasn't any short of being a legendary sight. A vast field filled with varieties of flowers, shrubs, vines and speckles of light made for an enthralling scene.

What's more, after being nourished by the mystical rain, many of the flowers have evolved to become legendary flowers ad plants that are extremely rare in the surface world. even if you pick one flower from here blindly, it worth would be no less than the Six Nether Flower.

When Simon's body was destroyed by the spatial storm and he lay unconscious on his bed, many of the herbs that helped sustain his life, were taken from here. Many of the items here are ingredients for High tier potions and miraculous elixirs.

As such, if any Alchemist saw this sight, they would immediately faint. The garden created by the girls was one of its kind. 

A rejuvenating feeling embraced Simon as soon as he came to the garden. He felt like his mind calming down and his body heal every second just by being exposed to it. That said, he was not here for flower viewing.

Simon made his way further inside the garden where he saw a row of huge flowers in the shape of Rafflesia, popping out of the ground. They were huge, compared to the ones on earth, they were ten times bigger.

However the biggest unique point of these flowers was not their huge size, but the fact that they housed something. Each of the flowers had something moving around inside them.

When Simon moved closer to the flowers, the being that was inside the flower, popped their heads out perceiving his presence.

They had green skin, long ears and hair like leaves and a humanoid body that resembled a woman. In terms of appearance, they looked closer to an elf or a fairy.

However, they had their own distinctive features that separated them from the other species in that they are tied to their homes. In this case, the flowers in which they reside.

The creatures that were looking at Simon shyly, were none other than Dryads, the caretaker of the woods. They were born after Cecilia activated her skills and bestowed a large amount of vitality inside those flowers saying that the garden needed someone to take care of them.

At that time, Simon couldn't even have imagined that she would end up reviving a species that had almost gone extinct in the surface world. Of course, it was a pleasant and welcoming surprise for his dungeon.

With the addition of the dryads, the Main Floor now had a caretaker to look after its garden. Additionally, these Dryads were extremely loyal to Cecilia who in return indoctrinated them to be loyal to him.  As such, Simon did not have to worry about them becoming hostile to him.