Chapter 996: New design

Chapter 996: Chapter 996: New design

"Are these items hot by any chance?" Asked Calder after thoroughly inspecting the storage rings. There weren’t any solid identifying markers but his instincts as a merchant warned him of a possible problem.

"Yes and no, there remains no proof and those that could be linked have been dealt with, but conclusions may be drawn if they’re all sold in the same place and at the same time." Frost marvelled at Calder’s merchant instincts and chose not to lie to him.

"So a grey area, I can work with that....leave it to me Lord Frost I’ll make sure we get a decent return on these items." A merchant wouldn’t be very good at their job if they couldn’t move goods even if said goods were somewhat questionable.

"If there’s anything you think we can use ourselves feel free to use some of the city’s expenses to purchase them at market value." Frost had already put aside a couple choice items for the Dungeon’s use, purchased with his personal money thus avoiding a break in the contract.

"I’ll keep an eye out. Is there anything else?"

"No that’s it, enjoy your new official position minister of finance."

"I do like the ring of that, minister of finance hahahaha." Calder wanted more than anything to surpass his grandfather, to make him proud. Frost and the city of Niflheim would help him do that, his network of connections and boundless freedom after escaping the restraints of his family had woken up the beast inside. A merchant needed to have strong, ruthless instincts, instincts that couldn’t be trained under a sheltered and coddled environment.

After Calder left Frost had a small discussion with Yuna, Findley and Khuno about relinquishing his control over some of Niflheim’s day to day activities.

"From now on our focus will be on the Dungeon, everything else will be secondary. I don’t want idle wastage, if we don’t need more manpower in the Dungeon then we’ll focus on expansion and an increase of fixed assets." Given that the deepest adventurers had reached was the 12th floor the Dungeon had a plethora of C-rank monsters being unused and underutilised.

"Those that don’t have any active duties can help in Niflheim and must engage in training at least 3 times a week. While they might not have adventurers to fight they can still improve their capabilities through rote practise and sparring. I’ll also think about starting a Dungeon war whenever we’re lacking inspiration." Wars between Dungeons despite the loss of monster life were highly encouraged by Dark as it helped grow his children’s creativity as well as fuel their competitive edge.

"Good idea Master, I’ve been noticing that a lot of the officer class monsters have been rather lethargic recently, with nothing to fight they’ve begun losing motivation." Findley was in charge of the Dungeon’s day to day runnings, inspecting the forces and carrying out planned development so no one knew better than him the mindset of the summoned monsters.

"I want to rectify that as soon as possible. I know we can’t suddenly draw interest from a large pool of powerful adventurers at the drop of a hat but with the civil war looming surely some will decide to visit." To help aid this endeavour Frost and Findley had already thought of some juicy rewards they could plant to entice their interest.

"Regardless of their arrival however I want to play around with the Dungeon’s design, I’ve got a few ideas in my head that I want to try and now that we’re in a bit of a lull it should be the perfect opportunity." The over 200,000 DP he just got from the false caravan’s and the culling of Rathborne, and his troops could support a lot of experimentation. It was time for him to return to his roots; a change all his monsters were gung ho for.

It didn’t take long for Calder to arrange suitable work personnel so Frost soon made a call to his old friend Bastion to hear about his opinion on him offering Jaina a high ranking post in his city.

"Sure I’ve got no issue with that in fact it’s probably better because at the rate she’s going she might just put in a request for a transfer to another territory." Bastion was very receptive to the idea of Jaina being employed in a professional capacity in Niflheim.

"What? Does she have a problem with Niflheim."

"No, no the opposite actually she really likes it there but unfortunately there’s little hope in career advancement, the only one really above her there is Ringwald and he’s not going anywhere anytime soon so she feels trapped, unable to make decent headway." Bastion was quick to derail that train and correct Frost’s thinking, his daughter was eager -perhaps a little too eager- to take on the role of guild master but that position was already filled by someone capable.

"We were actually discussing her future not three days prior where she actually brought up the notion of branching out into an additional management role so as to best accrue experience and achievements. So I’m sure she’d be all for acting as your Secretary or council representative just be aware that she’s become quite career driven. If the opportunities for her are lacking she’ll move on even if she enjoys the position and location."

The whole ordeal with Adam Furano and the plight of her extended family as well as her father’s admonishing over her behaviour changed her from the ground up. Jaina was no longer the same dwarf who belittled and mocked Frost and who neglected her duties.

"Alright I’ll interview her and see if she’s the right fit." As long as Bastion said it was ok he was willing to give Jaina a chance.

The chat with Jaina went well, Bastion was correct she was itching for something new and demanding, Frost didn’t even need to sell the job before she accepted.

From that day forth he had a 2nd secretary as well as a representative on the council, someone who’d take his place for less important and momentous issues.

A mere 3 days later Frost found himself freed from his desk, the summoned yuki-onnas, Niflheim gnomes, merchant hires as well as Jaina took over all the jobs he hated, all he had to do was peruse a report at the end of the day and maybe sign off on a thing or two otherwise he was free for the most part.

A celebration was in order, so he called Maya for a tour through the Dungeon along with endless bottles of wine, visiting wherever the heart led them. Their walk was romantic in nature and full of laughter and excitement, shame Daki was too engrossed in her latest work to join them but still enjoyable, nonetheless.

By the time they reached the final floor Frost’s mind was awash with ideas, he was like a child in a candy store struggling to pick what to eat first.

"From the 15th floor I’m going to change the game, we’re not a monster lair but a Dungeon, about time we start showing our guests the difference."

"What do you have in mind Frost dear?" Maya asked with a delirious smile on her lips and a heavy blush on her cheeks, she was quite drunk and refused to remove the effects.

"Killing to progress through the room is too simple, I’ll take a page out of Void’s book and create a puzzle, one that requires you to collect tokens in order to proceed." His mind was churning at a rapid pace as his ideas swiftly came together.

"Each room will have three camps, monster villages, bastions or forts depending on their own personal style. The chief of said camp will hold a token which can be collected either by a difficult slaughter or by completing set tasks, one token from each room will allow you to descend to the following floor but you’ll have to defeat an enemy to do so." By this point Frost had summoned the training spear Khione had gifted him and was drawing on the ground to help both Maya and himself envision his idea.

"Three tokens will have an 80% chance of summoning an appropriate monster for the floor while the remaining 20% chance will summon something far stronger like Findley, Khuno or perhaps even myself if I’m bored." He drew three different paths on the floor.

"No treasure will be rewarded for any victory, only passage to the next floor but if you use six tokens the monster will be set, strong but you’ll at least know what you’re getting yourself into, a treasure chest may also be rewarded, fair for the floor and the challenge but 9 tokens will summon a much harder foe, but it’ll reward you with an even greater treasure with an even greater chance of spawning." He could stuff it with 4 star equipment or something similar once Daki becomes a 4 star smith.

"Can you get more than 9 tokens?" Maya had become quite enamoured with the idea by this point, allowing some of her focus to return as a result.

"Yes, I’ll hide another 3 tokens, one for each room but only the first reward for all 12 tokens will be insane the rest will be average, but they will allow you to pass through to the next floor unimpeded." He could picture it now, parties upon parties of adventurers scouring the entire floor in search of these ghost like tokens thus keeping them within his hungry maws for longer.