***Cherise Manabella Irenthi’s POV***

A violet-eyed girl with white hair and glistening black horns, curled regally around her head, took a sleek blade into her delicate white hand and cut open the envelope she was holding. She plainly took the short letter out, unfolded it, and immediately burst out laughing.

“Ha! Ahahahaha! Brother…! Brother what in Phegmehogal’s fantasy is that!”

The first thing she saw when she opened the letter was a moderately skilled sketch of her older brother holding a squid the size of his head, making a triumphant face. Just, the look on the squid’s face was so passively irritated!

Cherise’s eyes drifted below the sketch to where a short note had been written.

‘Vacation is fun! Went fishing. Caught this ^! See you next week~

Love, Ulbert’

Cherise laughed again; her brother was so stupid.

Just when she put the letter safely into a drawer, the cloudy crystal set into the corner of her desk started flashing red.

“Ah. I actually have to work today.”

The demon woman raised her hand, and a thin ribbon of mana floated out of it. The wispy black substance lightly settled on the crystal and the red light went away, then the mana dispersed into the air. Cherise stood up from her desk and pulled a compact mirror out of her coat pocket, checking that her hair and light makeup weren’t messed up.

The coat was part of her uniform. It had a sleek and authoritative design: black and figure-hugging, with gold trim. It was buttoned all the way up in the front. There was a hidden undershirt that was part of the uniform as well: it was black, with no neck, sleeves, or any other embellishments. Lastly, there was a set of durable black pants and boots, with stubby heels and pointed toes.

There weren’t any problems with her appearance, so she immediately left for the guildmaster’s office. After walking down a few short halls, she found a set of heavy wooden double doors, decorated with abstract carvings. Cherise rapped on the door twice to announce herself, then pushed the doors open.

“Guildmaster, you called me?”

“Hm? Oh, yes.”

The guildmaster’s office had the same general setup as Cherise’s, but it was bigger and grander on just about every scale. Of notable interest was the wide window framing most of the back wall and overlooking the townscape below.

Sitting behind a desk, made of some very dark and regal wood, was another demon. His white hair was trimmed neatly around his crown-like black horns. Just like Cherise, he was dressed in a sleek black uniform, with gold embroidery on the collar to indicate his status. Despite having called Cherise over, he was absorbed in the letter he was holding and had barely made eye contact with her.

“A new dungeon seems to have been discovered near that elf village, Genenwell. I’ll need you to go and inspect it.”

“Of course, sir.” The girl noticed that her guildmaster’s expression was rather unsettled. “Is there a problem, sir?”

“There might be,” he shrugged, finally lowering the letter and looking at her properly. His violet eyes were slightly narrowed. “According to the notice I received, the villagers regularly hunt in the area where the dungeon was discovered, so it must have appeared only recently. But that dungeon is already writing messages and creating puzzles.” He frowned and folded his hands, “And it’s apparently sealed its entrance, restricting entry to only those who can pass a challenge of wit.”

Cherise blinked twice and wore a wry smile. “Sir, there’s no way a new dungeon would behave like that. Aren’t those villagers just trying to avoid being criticized for failing to discover a nearby dungeon for so many years?”

“That might be,” the guildmaster nodded. “Regardless, I want you to investigate with caution. There’s a chance that an abnormally intelligent and self-aware dungeon was born.”

The girl quickly bowed her head. “Yes, guildmaster. I won’t be negligent.”

“Hm,” he gave a satisfied nod. “For your safety, I think I’ll assign Rybo as your guard. As for your guides, I believe Ruther and Dilsam have both been to Genenwell before. They should do.”

“Sir, how far is it to Genenwell?”

“Let’s see,” the guildmaster glanced at the sent date on the letter. “Three days by bird, so probably about six days by carriage. It might be longer if there aren’t any clear paths through the forest.”

Brother and I are going to miss each other. I should leave him a note.

“Understood, sir. I’ll prepare to set out immediately.”

“Please do.”

***Tketh Rybo’s POV***

He was technically on duty, or on call, or whatever it was called, but just when was the last time his strength had actually been needed? Wasn’t it last year, when that mad boar disease was going around? Or did that time two weeks ago, when that idiot Ulbert needed help opening an ingredient jar, count? The area around Nibesse city was peaceful. There weren’t many exceptionally capable people like Rybo, but there were plenty of competent ones, and they handled most issues that cropped up. He only stayed here because he was guaranteed dibs if anything exceptional did happen, but the wait was quite bad.

In conditions like these, it was important to train regularly, so that one didn’t get accustomed to the slow pace. Since he was on call, he wasn’t technically supposed to leave his office besides during scheduled times. With that being the case, and with his paycheck relying on him following the rules, Rybo often trained in his office. It was big enough, as long as he pushed the useless desk to the back wall. And really, when was the last time he was actually needed?

For the sake of comfort, the beast man removed his assigned jacket and undershirt. It was too hot around here to exercise with them on, especially because of the thick red mane that grew all the way down his spine until where his tail sprouted.

The beast man took a quick drink from his canteen, then started doing practice swings with his greatsword. He controlled every swing precisely so that he didn’t hit the ceiling or any of the furniture. He didn’t have any complaints with the limited area since being forced to concentrate like this made for much better training. He probably did overhead swings for about half an hour before deciding that was enough for one set. The beast man pulled over his desk chair and sat down in it, taking another swig of water while he was having a break.

Then two sudden knocks hit his door.

Shit!

This place was an office, and although it was assigned to a specific person, it wasn’t a private space. Those two quick knocks meant a demon would be coming in, and that was as much warning as they would care to give him.

The beast man quickly tossed his canteen aside and threw on his uniform undershirt. Immediately after, the door opened, and a young demon woman walked in. Demons were little things: this woman was only five foot three. Rybo was a fully-grown beast person and was easily over six foot; he towered over her.

Of course, Rybo recognized the woman as their guild branch’s junior inspector. It wasn’t nearly as low a position as the word “junior” made it sound. A branch’s senior inspector was responsible for looking into any problems with nearby dungeons. The junior inspector filled that role when the senior inspector was absent. They were also first on call if a new dungeon appeared somewhere where there wasn’t a guild branch yet. And then, if a new branch got built in that area, they were automatically transferred to it and promoted to senior inspector. In other words, it was best to always treat a junior inspector as if they were one rank higher because they could be at any moment.

Why is this dangerous little girl in my room?

He couldn’t be sure, but it looked like Cherise’s pale demon skin turned a fraction whiter. She raised one hand up and pinched her nose, frowning, “You use your office as an exercise space?”

Rybo raised one wild red eyebrow and responded curtly, “Is there something I can help you with, junior inspector Irenthi?”

Cherise politely lowered her hand and clasped it behind her back. “I’m being sent to investigate a newly-discovered dungeon. There’s a reasonable basis to think it might be abnormal, so the guildmaster wants you to be my guard.”

“A new dungeon, huh? If it’s dangerous there, I might just transfer.” Rybo stood up and put on his uniform coat. “So, are we leaving right away?”

“That’s right. Quickly pack what you need and wait for me at the stables. I still need to take care of a few more things.”

“How long’s the trip?”

“Six days and up just to get there. Pack accordingly.”

“Right, right. You don’t have to keep repeating it.”

Cherise turned to face the door, but she was still eyeing Rybo over her shoulder.

“What else is there?” he rolled his eyes.

“Wash up a bit before we have to share a carriage together. You stink.”

After saying her piece, she just left without waiting for a response. Rybo curled his fists and smiled aggressively.

I want to hit her.

But, old sweat didn’t exactly feel pleasant on the skin, so ultimately he took her advice.

***Archimedes’ POV***

Archimedes couldn’t put off digging his second floor any longer. The situation on the long ear boy’s side made visiting difficult, so things would likely be quiet for a few more days. Of course, there was the chance that the inspectors would come, but he thought it was unlikely to happen so soon. After all, if the inspectors were soon to arrive, the long ear boy would have just waited until Archimedes had been deemed safe; there would have been no need to sneak away.

It could be that the long ear boy just didn’t know when the inspectors would arrive and couldn’t bear waiting any longer, but that child must have been eagerly awaiting the day that he could openly explore the dungeon. He would surely be watching for the inspectors’ arrival.

Archimedes hoped he wasn’t giving the boy too much credit.

“Long ear boy this and long ear boy that. It’s too long. I’ll call him First until I know his proper name.”

Being introduced to Vow had reminded Archimedes how important names were.

“For the other two… Hunter and Gatherer.”

So much time had passed since he was discovered by outsiders, but only three people had ever come to his dungeon. Not only did that leave the environment being rather lonely, but there wasn’t anything else left to name.

Near his core, Archimedes saw his only Red Bat fluttering about excitedly. He peeked inside of it to learn what had gotten it so energized. What he found was that the creature had been listening closely to his thoughts for several days and was starting to understand what Archimedes was thinking. It had gotten excited upon hearing the topic of names come up.

“What? You want a name?” Archimedes looked at the creature skeptically, and it gave a lively chirp. The Red Bat landed in front of the trap door which hid his core and sat patiently.

Archimedes had never named the creatures in his dungeon. He was a living being (albeit a unique one), and they were his natural byproducts, like mucus or excrements. What point was there in naming his excrements?

The Red Bat seemed to have been eavesdropping, and Archimedes’ thoughts made him lower his head. He soon raised it, though, and gave a determined chirp. Archimedes mentally rolled his eyes and felt out what the creature was thinking. What he found were thoughts that were much more developed than he would have expected. It was even possible to translate them into language:

“There might be no reason to name a natural byproduct, but I am not one. The current generation of Voles are natural byproducts; you put no effort or attention into creating them, and they were born regardless. I was made directly and consciously by you. You put effort and attention into creating and strengthening me. I am not a natural byproduct; I am a work. It’s not strange to name one’s works. Please give me a name.”

Frankly, Archimedes was startled. He had definitely chosen Increase Creature Wisdom as his starting specialization, but he hadn’t expected to see results this early. This Red Bat was only D rank; the most that should be expected of it was a mild bestial craftiness that would allow it to rule over lesser species. For it to possess a clear sense of self, and even the ability to engage in logical reasoning, was incredible. This was as if the creature’s wisdom alone was a rank ahead of the rest of its person; it was a D rank creature thinking at the standard of a C rank.

In his previous life, Archimedes had chosen Increase Creature Strength as his starting specialization, and the initial increase was only around half a rank. Was there this much difference in the quality of specializations?

”I don’t know why I’m like this either,” the Red Bat mentioned.

“If you did, I would be frightened.”

Archimedes sighed and decided to name the creature; names were important to sapient beings.

“I’ll call you Zemnes, how about that?”

Zemnes was startled, then flew laps around the room in excitement.

“Happy! I’m happy!” Zemnes settled down again after a minute. “What does it mean?”

“It doesn’t mean anything. It’s up to you to give it meaning.”

”What is your name?”

“Archimedes.”

”And what does it mean?”

Archimedes hesitated. “It used to mean ‘the strongest,’ or something like that. Now… it’s more complicated. ‘Someone seeking death,’ or ‘someone seeking wisdom,’ might do it. Perhaps ‘someone who was reborn.’ My name… means a lot of things.”

Zemnes immediately felt guilty for making his creator sad.

“Archimedes, please don’t be sad! I think it makes sense that your name has many meanings because you make many things. I always like the way that you are constantly working hard and building things, even though I don’t really understand it.”

Archimedes mentally sighed and shook his head, putting the matter aside along with all the other unanswerable questions he had accumulated.

“It doesn’t really matter. Anyway, I’m about to build something important. I’m curious about your opinion on it, so please pay attention until the end.”

From one floor to two floors was the biggest change a dungeon ever went through. Archimedes was curious if it was as big a deal for his creations as it was for him

“Also, I can’t stop in the middle, so make sure to guard me well.”

“Of course!”

Phew, the second floor already. Hadn’t it only been around a month since Archimedes was put in this world? His progress was astonishing, to say the least. Anyway, the first time he did this, it was entirely on instinct. He hadn’t had an ego yet at that point, so there wasn’t any stress or excitement involved. It was a little troubling to be aware of the process. After all, growing a second floor was like a human affixing a second head to their shoulders. Who would want to be awake for that--and worse--perform the stitching themselves? By the time Archimedes had developed an ego in his last life, he was already a many-headed being, so adding a few more wasn’t bothersome at all. This time he would experience it directly, and that was a bit nerve-wracking.

Archimedes forced himself to calm down and closely examined the various calculations that had been programmed into him at birth. Among them was one that glittered brightly and constantly drew one’s attention. It was made obvious so that brainless dungeons would quickly move with adding new floors as their goal. Naturally, he’d ignored it until now.

“So this is what it looks like. It’s much shorter than the calculations I used to work with, but there’s a lot of advanced details. This will take a while. It’s good that I’m already D rank.”

Once he started examining the formulas, he became absorbed in it. Nothing else was able to enter his eyes. It was as if he had entered into a trance, where nothing but numerical formulas held any meaning and even time was irrelevant.

D rank dungeon core Archimedes has begun constructing its second floor! Estimated time until completion: three days. Congratulations, Archimedes.