"So there really was a dungeon in this forest?" asked Francisco Gilead, the future governor of this wooded land.
"Yes, Lord Gilead," replied Miri, mounted on horseback, taking the lead of the caravan carrying the first inhabitants of the human settlement.
From the side, she saw her companion and oldest friend, Ard. The rogue spurred his horse slightly, pulling up alongside the white-haired woman's mount.
"It seems the dungeon has been changing during the week we were away," Ard commented, observing a few hundred meters ahead how the former entrance to the dungeon, which had been a cave, had transformed into a much larger cavern, forming a square of black bricks enveloped in darkness.
"It seems the dungeon has awakened and activated ancient enchantments," Miri murmured. "It's likely its traps have been reactivated as well. We'll have to check."
"Agreed," Ard replied with a small smile. Then he returned to his place at the side of the caravan to keep watch for any lurking monsters.
Once they arrived at the clearing where the imposing dungeon entrance stood, Francisco Gilead stopped, looked at the members of the caravan, and spoke in a proud tone.
"My people! From now on, this will be our new home! Although the coming weeks will be difficult, there is abundant food in the trees and plenty of wood to build our houses. Even better, there is a dungeon that will provide us with abundant resources! I christen this place Gilead in honor of my father, who granted us this land!"
---
Oh... my.
It seems I have neighbors now.
This is good or bad, I suppose it depends on how you look at it. On one hand, it's good because I won't be so lonely, and it will be interesting to see the daily life of the people in this world. Who knows, maybe someday I'll decide to explore.
Of course, that will be far in the future, and I'm in no hurry.
I still have a lot of work to do, finishing up the details on the second floor and starting the creation of the third floor, for which I had a complete blueprint of how I wanted it.
Anyway, I'm getting off track.
For now, the priority is to ensure I have at least three complete floors to buy time. Once I feel things are stable, I can take things more calmly.
Though I will need an assistant if I ever have to leave the dungeon.
Well, I'll leave that to my future self.
I watched as the humans began cutting down nearby trees, using the wood to build basic tents as well as a fence to ensure no one entered the dungeon by mistake or simply to charge an entrance fee.
I suppose bureaucracy exists even in fantasy worlds, no matter how broken this world is.
But at least I have neighbors; that's good. I suppose I can give them a gift.
Silently, I expelled my mana outside. The process was slow and gradual, ensuring the woman with magic eyes wouldn't notice.
The process took me a few hours, but I finally succeeded. I had claimed all the land within a radius of about four kilometers. Through this, I noticed a lake about three kilometers away.
Once night fell and everyone was asleep except for a few guards acting as sentinels, I prepared memory potions. After having my goblins give them the potions to drink, I began the process. I edited the terrain, creating a canal towards the river that surrounded the entrance of my dungeon before flowing back into the river.
The process took no more than a few minutes. Using an enchantment, I purified the water to make it drinkable.
Thus, I had created my outer river.
Now, I just needed to see the humans' reaction when the sun rose.
---
Miri felt a sense of bewilderment at what she saw. She wasn't the only one; beside her, Ard blinked in confusion, along with everyone who had been working.
The reason for the bewilderment was evident: the large river that had emerged from nowhere, surrounding the cave entrance as if separating it from the world by a considerable distance.
"How did we not notice something like this?" Ard asked.
"It must have been the dungeon. It must have done something to keep us from noticing," Miri murmured.
"And the guards?"
Ard shook his head. "They're unconscious."
Miri felt a headache coming on. She wasn't even a guild master yet, and she felt this dungeon would give her more than one headache in the near future.
Appearing from among the crowd, the governor of this land, Francisco Gilead, looked at Miri.
"This event is strange. What is your opinion, future guild master?" Francisco asked.
"It's possible the dungeon activated more of its enchantments and did something to prevent us from noticing. The water seems to come from the river, so we need to confirm if it's drinkable or not."
The noble nodded.
"Sound advice. Perhaps the gods have granted us a blessing to accelerate the settlement's construction," said Lord Gilead, walking away to order that they begin examining the water to confirm if it was suitable for human consumption.