Earth Dungeon 108.1

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Chapter 108.1. Big Money

The penthouse on the top floor of the Amatsugahara Corporation headquarters was elegantly arranged. In the unfortunate snowfall that covered everything in a pristine layer of white, Sakimori, relaxing in the living room, tilted his head at the bundles of bills laid out on the table.

"Hey, Shingen. Surprisingly, 100 million yen seems small, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, you're right. When you have 10 bundles, each worth 10 million yen, and there are only 10 of them, it doesn't have much impact."

"True. I expected a bit more excitement."

A wad of cash laid out in front of me. I casually lifted the bundles of bills, totaling 100 million yen, as if I were holding a brick. It was a bit heavy, but that was it.

[Wow, aren't you going to scream, 'This is 100 million yen!'? And then, trying to have a good time, it'll get donated to the chief without your consent.]

[What's that? That's harsh.]

[It was a police officer at the station, but whenever there was a chance to have money, it always ended up like that.]

The ethereal Shizuku floating in the air were as usual, so there was a relief. She fought against those humanoid monsters a bit, and the energy was... the usual. Although they had an interesting conversation, I had no intention of asking. The usual Shizuku-san were just cute.

"Even with a large sum of money, I want you to be more pleased-nyanko. Sakimori doesn't know how much tension it took to bring this bundle of bills here-nya."

Karin, angry, shook her cat ears and complained, wagging her tail. But, in any case, this money wouldn't stay here.

"Katsuyori, use it wisely."

To hand over the bundles, he shifted them towards Katsuyori. In addition to Shingen and Karin, there were Ryuko, Ooki-kun, and Baba for the children.

"All right. Ryuko, I'll give you half, so use it wisely."

With a slightly nervous demeanor, Katsuyori divided the bundles and handed half to Ryuko. Seeing the bundles, Ryuko swallowed hard and broke into a cold sweat, but still accepted.

"Thank you. Um, I'll do my best!"

"Wow, the big money flowed from right to left in front of me! I've never seen such a sight before, aniki!"

"Amazing. There's not a single bill left in the boss's hands."

"Generous, huh?"

"Can I have one bundle?"

Ryuko snorts with a determined expression and gets serious. Ooki-kun, frightened by the disappearing 100 million yen, and the children were making noise, looking at the bundles.

That's also an investment. Just as sand absorbs water only if it is not used like water, spending some money on the land in the ruined city is absorbed, and without a big investment, the buds won't sprout. That's the nature of a ruined city.

"To be honest, this money is a great help. Well, the large apartment building is completed, but the interior is still far from done, and we still need more workers."

"Same here. We can't use the fields with this snowfall. Many people are diving into the dungeon, so we needed cash to buy cores."

Ryuko and Katsuyori breathed a sigh of relief, knowing they had managed to avoid a financial shortfall.

But, well, it's harsh to see 100 million yen disappear instantly. It's tough in reality. I wish I could savor the feeling of being rich a little longer. Ooki-kun, bring me some tea. Hot one.

"So, what happened with the Snowflake event? Did you guys do any work for the money you received?"

"Yeah, sort of. I don't know the details. Karin, what happened after that?"

I'm grinning at Shingen's words, immersed in the satisfaction of a considerable profit as a Core.

"I'm heading back nyow. Sakimori, you can show a bit more interest in the inner town-nya."

I claimed to have quickly returned to join forces with Shizuku fighting against monsters. It's typical of me. So no one would question it. After that, I teleported to where Shizuku was using [Shadow Teleport]. During [Summon All Units], I wanted to keep one slot open for teleportation destinations, so I only had one available slot.

"Due to the appearance of a fierce monster, we suffered serious damage-nya. Even though the top-class teams didn't participate, Ashikaga, Minamoto, and Miyoshi suffered a significant reduction in strength-nya."

"Hmm. They should learn their lesson, and no more foolish events, I guess."

"Yeah, maybe-nya. In the end, the winning team used guns to defeat the monster that wiped out 3 teams and got disqualified-nya. I doubt they'll hold the event next year-nya."

Karin comes with a wry smile behind her back, but that's probably for the best. By the way, the fact that the winning team got disqualified seems harsh. They brought up the rules and forcibly disqualified the Konoha team. Oh well, the high morality of the inner town is moving.

As a temporary reward, Shizuku also received 300 million yen in a silver trunk, just like when they won, but since there were no transmitters, they quietly stashed it in the penthouse.

"Well, it's not like all of our subordinates are gone-nya. But it's still a blow to the 3 houses-nya. Headhunting, buying potions, and theft might happen-nya."

"Yeah, that explains why there have been more intruders lately."

Lately, many people trying to sneak into my private room. I've instructed that no one other than me should come up to the 15th floor of the headquarters building unless they have a business. 

It's difficult to invade with the hidden Shadow Tigers, Shadow Snakes, and Shadow Cats. By the way, there's also a snake to prevent some "cat" from climbing the building walls.

"I've been dismissing them with a warning... I see. Those were intruders. They were dressed normally and climbed up seemingly curious, so I didn't think it was strange."

They looked so ordinary that I let my guard down. In the past, I wouldn't have shown any mercy, but now that many people are coming in and out of the building. Well, let's consider it not as negligence but as confidence.

"If they had dressed all in black like some old man, I might have realized they were intruders-nya."

The cat girl teased me with a grin, and I smirked back. Quite witty, isn't she?