"Protection fee???"

Everyone froze.

Wasn't this supposed to be free…?

But… maybe that's normal?

"…Okay… sure…"

The group exchanged awkward glances and hesitantly pulled out their coin pouches.

Treyni smiled sweetly.

"Now that payment's been made, you are our honored guests."

"Please, follow me."

Though they still had no clue what was going on, none of them believed a dryad would scam them. So, they followed along obediently.

What they couldn't imagine was—

Treyni had already been trained by Chishiya.

She was no longer the innocent forest maiden of the past.

---

Soon after,

Led by Treyni, a bustling city appeared before their eyes.

"This is…."

"Welcome to the Labyrinth City — Lapris."

"Dear guests, your tour begins now."

Treyni gave them a warm smile.

The group swallowed hard and stepped into the city behind her.

"…When did a city like this pop up in the Jura Forest…"

Elyun stared up at the buildings lining the street.

There weren't many tall buildings, most were three to seven stories high.

"All of this is thanks to the Alliance Leader. He designed the entire city," Treyni explained cheerfully.

As the official tourism ambassador, her job was to give these "visitors" a full guided experience.

"Alliance Leader?"

Elyun and the others exchanged looks.

They had come here once before with Shizu.

Back then, they'd even met Rimuru.

In this situation, it was hard not to assume he was the leader Treyni spoke of.

"Let's move along. The tour continues."

Treyni walked forward.

The city was expanding rapidly. More and more monster villages nearby had joined, and the population had soared.

A conservative estimate put the current population over 250,000.

And that didn't even include those who came from the labyrinth.

The whole city was bursting with energy, clearly far more prosperous than before.

Every few steps, a monster would pass by and greet them.

This didn't faze Treyni.

But the rest of the group was visibly shaken.

Fuze gulped. "Are these Goblins and Orcs…?"

He looked around at the monsters walking by in sharp-looking modern clothes.

No matter how he looked at it… they just didn't match the image of terrifying monsters he had in mind…

"Well… more accurately, Goblins and High Orcs," Treyni corrected, still guiding them forward.

Along the street, shops lined both sides.

Counters were stacked with all sorts of goods.

Collected herbs, wild fruits…

Forged armor, weapons…

Modern textile clothing…

Even canned potions with mysterious ingredients.

"This place doesn't feel any different from human cities."

"What kind of currency do you use?" Elyun asked curiously.

"Dear~, we accept gold, silver, and copper coins," Treyni answered with a wink.

In truth, monsters didn't really use money among themselves.

They typically just exchanged what they needed.

These stalls were mostly for tourism purposes.

Designed for adventurers and visitors.

In Chishiya's words:

[Only comfortable sheep grow premium wool.]

[We must offer perfect service so the customers want to open their wallets.]

[Let them feel like spending money is the right choice.]

"…Excuse me, what's that?"

Elyun pointed toward a towering structure in the center of the city.

The tower stood dozens of meters tall and loomed over the skyline.

It had a cylindrical structure, and its width was impossible to estimate.

Treyni followed her gaze.

"That's the city's core facility."

"The Labyrinth Tower."

"More than half the city's resources come from there."

"It's not open to the public yet."

Since its upgrade, the Labyrinth's magic density had spiked, and its outward appearance changed drastically.

Despite being an underground facility in name…

From the outside, it now looked more like a sky-piercing tower.

Perhaps the internal space warped reality?

Even Chishiya didn't know why.

He could only chalk it up to the system's shenanigans.

The group stared at the massive tower, dumbstruck.

At this point…

They were practically dying to know who this "Alliance Leader" Treyni kept talking about really was.

---

Meanwhile…

Outskirts of the city, Dwarf Workshop

A large steampunk-style facility sprawled over an area the size of a residential block.

A massive hammer emblem was stamped on the gate.

Thick black smoke poured from the chimneys overhead.

Ever since the Dwarf King dispatched over a thousand craftsmen, the weapon manufacturing facilities had become fully operational.

Thanks to the Labyrinth upgrade, resource quality had skyrocketed.

Not only had the purity of magic crystals increased, even the iron ore had evolved into rare-grade magic steel.

With abundant resources at their disposal,

Kurobe and the other craftsmen were fired up like never before.

Inside the workshop,

A surprisingly well-developed small-scale industrial system had been built.

From smelting minerals to precision machining, it had everything.

Clang, clang, clang—

The sound of hammering echoed throughout the building.

Countless craftsmen were hard at work.

"Kaijin, how's it looking?"

At that moment,

Chishiya was crouched beside Kaijin, tinkering with something.

As Kaijin finished stoking the bellows,

He fastened a final wheel to the frame.

A "magic device" shaped like a mobile food truck sat proudly in front of them.

"It's done! Chishiya-sama!!!"

Kaijin grinned, wiping sweat from his forehead.

"Nice job."

Chishiya stared at the "dining car" in front of him.

His eyes sparkled with something dangerously close to excitement.

"Congratulations, Kaijin-dono!"

The surrounding dwarven craftsmen, hearing the commotion, gathered to celebrate.

After more than half a month of work,

The "magic tool" Chishiya had designed was finally complete.

"To be honest, the design wasn't difficult to replicate."

"It just took time to engrave defensive magic and feed energy into the magic crystal."

Kaijin explained briefly.

Chishiya nodded.

Even with Kaijin's top-tier skills, it had taken half a month.

That alone showed just how complex the manufacturing process was.

But now, there was finally a completed prototype.

"Predator."

Chishiya raised a hand.

Dark magical energy surged from his palm.

In an instant, the magic tool was swallowed into a swirling black hole.

"Great Sage, analyze and duplicate."

[Notice:]

[Analyzing…]

[Ingredients: 20% Spruce Wood, 5% Magic Steel Ore, 45% Iron Ore, 20% Magic Crystal, 10% Glass (Silicon Dioxide)]

[Analysis Complete]

[Beginning Duplication…]

(To be continued.)

***

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