Reverse Dungeon

Ian hadn’t even ordered it, yet a festival had already sprung up in the square.

Children filled baskets with flower petals and tossed them into the air, while one particularly dexterous child wrapped colorful strips of cloth around the branches of the World Tree.

For Genea, who came from an elf village, the sight was so shocking that she couldn’t tear her eyes away.

“Is that... allowed?”

Wouldn’t the World Tree be angered?

Yet even as people clanged together hastily made instruments and wandered around singing, the World Tree did not suddenly wither. On the ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) contrary, its cloth-wrapped branches seemed to sway joyfully, golden leaves shimmering in the light.

From the beginning, Ian had treated the World Tree as little more than a “crop-growth enhancer, lighting fixture, landscaping feature, and essential leveling material,” so it was hardly surprising that his followers treated it in a similar way.

Because of its grand name and the legends surrounding it, the adults still showed reverence, sometimes offering prayers as they passed beneath its branches. But the children had no such restraint. To them, the World Tree was simply the beautiful tree in the square.

Though, of course, they would be scolded if they were caught climbing it.

And because human nature made forbidden things all the more tempting, there wasn’t a single child in the dungeon village who hadn’t climbed the tree at least once. Even Momisia had proven her “courage” in front of the other children in the middle of the night.

To elves, who believed the World Tree must be guarded with the strictest protection, the sight was nothing short of appalling.

“How can they do that...?”

The World Tree protected the elves.

Unlike humans, who were duller, more grounded beings, elves were deeply intertwined with the fairy race and lived by absorbing the pure energies of nature. To them, demonic energy was lethal poison.

Without the village’s World Tree, young elves would have died from demonic energy poisoning before ever reaching adulthood.

The world itself was steeped in demonic energy, a danger to elves no less deadly than attacks from demons or lesser demons.

That was why every elf in the village lived in constant fear.

What if the World Tree’s protection vanished?

What if demons discovered the village’s location?

What if the forest’s corruption worsened and reached the village?

What if they ended up enslaved like their kin outside?

Their fears were endless.

But this place was different.

Genea had felt it from the moment she first came to the dungeon in search of Ian.

“Ah? You’re here to see Lord Ian? He’s out at the moment...”

“That is unfortunate.”

“If it’s not urgent, would you like to wait here? I can show you around. The entrance is this way—oh?!”

“I’ll accept your help, Sema. You’re valuable enough to serve as a hostage. I hope Ian’s representative will cooperate with my demands. First of all... let’s seal this dungeon entrance.”

“Gasp!”

Sema, the “Master of Water,” had been caught off guard with shocking ease, his neck ending up in her grasp almost immediately.

In the elf village, trusting an outsider—especially one of another race—would have been unthinkable.

Yet this village carried a strange ease about it.

She hadn’t noticed it while dealing with the immediate crisis, but now she could feel it clearly.

And she thought she knew where that ease came from.

The human hero.

Lord Ian.

At the moment, he was wrestling with a gigantic reptilian monster.

“...Should I not intervene?”

It looked as though the reptile was sucking on Ian, licking his face until his features were almost unrecognizable.

When the Holy Knight stepped in, the reptile attacked him and tried to bite, only for the knight to block it with his armor. Ian got up, wiping his face, then scolded the reptile as if it were a misbehaving dog.

The reptile promptly lay down on top of Ian again and continued licking him.

Everyone around them burst into laughter.

Only the Holy Knight remained silent, arms crossed, his face expressionless but somehow visibly displeased.

Genea decided to question the most approachable target.

“Sema.”

“Y-Yes, Genea?”

After their visit to the magic tower, Sema now looked at her warily. His apprentices did the same.

However, they were all far too moved by their new home to appear truly threatening.

‘Human wizards really are less cautious.’

Genea nodded.

“How can the people of this village be so cheerful?”

“Huh? What do you mean...?”

Sema glanced around the residential district.

The festival, supposedly held to celebrate Ian’s return, had made everyone happy.

“Isn’t it normal to laugh during a festival? Should they be crying instead...? Well, I guess there might be someone crying. Like Polly, the sanitation manager. She’s in charge of cleaning the streets...”

“That is not what I meant.” 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

“......?”

“The people here seem to place absolute trust in Lord Ian.”

“Ah, yes!”

“You did not need to answer so quickly.”

“Ah, yes...”

For all his impressive reputation, Sema seemed strangely guileless.

Was this perhaps a deliberate ploy to lower her guard?

‘Impossible.’

That would mean he had allowed himself to be captured on purpose, and Genea refused to believe such a devious monster existed.

“No matter how safe this place may seem, the world outside is still ruled by demons. Most humans... most of your kind suffer in pain. How can everyone here live with such hope?”

Sema froze beneath the serious, intimidating gaze of the elf.

‘I’ve never thought that deeply about it!’

Was he supposed to worry about the entire world?

Wasn’t it enough to worry about his own future and the bright-eyed apprentices he had to teach?

At that moment, Louise interrupted.

He had been watching Genea approach Sema with the sharp eyes of a hawk.

Louise did not trust outsiders.

He merely accepted that Ian intended to take Genea under his command. But from what he could see, despite surviving thanks to Lord Ian, she still did not seem to respect her master enough.

Leaving Sema to deal with her would hardly count as proper mental training.

‘I should handle this myself, so he doesn’t have to trouble himself with trivial matters.’

Louise spoke with absolute conviction.

“Lord Ian is the one who will drive out the Demon King and save the world.”

‘He is?!’

Sema was startled.

He had no idea Ian harbored such grand ambitions.

But ignorance was nothing to brag about, so he quickly nodded.

“Yes, exactly!”

“......!”

Genea was shaken.

She knew she was an idealist.

She was not as reckless as her brother Moiken, who would charge straight into a slave market, but she had always sympathized with the idea of saving their enslaved kin.

Couldn’t they at least save the children?

If attacking the slave markets was too dangerous, couldn’t they ambush passing slave traders?

“We do not oppose saving our kin. But keeping the village’s location hidden is more important.”

If that was the problem... couldn’t they move the village?

Couldn’t they transplant the World Tree somewhere richer in natural energy?

“Foolish nonsense! You would abandon sacred land?”

Even she had been unable to argue strongly against that.

In truth, her original plan had been to hide and run.

She was a coward too.

But what about them?

They laid traps throughout their own territory and tamed mamool to capture intruders for defensive purposes.

An aggressive defense.

And above it all stood Ian, their leader, who had personally left his home to hunt mamool.

At the end of that journey lay the grand mission of defeating the Demon King.

Genea had only wanted to face the darkness threatening her village.

Whether it came from demons’ schemes or the actions of mamool, she had only thought of capturing those responsible and protecting the village.

There had been no light on that path.

Only a small, frightened world.

Only an isolated village.

The future she imagined had always been dark.

She had sought out Ian to protect that village and proposed a deal to him. Until now, Ian had been nothing more than a capable human hero who might solve the village’s problems.

But now...

Genea looked around at the shining world.

At the beautiful village held aloft beneath the magnificent World Tree.

“Genea.”

Someone called her name in that world where everyone seemed happy.

It was Ian, one cheek flushed red and slick with the reptile’s saliva.

In his hand was a glowing branch.

“This is yours.”

“...Pardon?”

Though Genea was a perceptive elf, she could not immediately understand what was happening.

The young human hero spoke casually.

“Let’s go to your village. You do the convincing. It’s your village we’re saving, after all.”

“......!”

Genea’s composed expression finally wavered.

Ding!

[Genea is greatly moved by you!]

Ding!

[Genea thinks of you as a wise ruler!]

Ding!

[Genea’s loyalty: 67%]

‘Good.’

Ian thought.

Got myself a 4-star hero!