Chapter 506 – The Kingdom-Managed Dungeon
Tauro had become the official leader of the dungeon-conquering group, ”Black-Golden Wings” within Babylon.
Of course, as the leader that was only natural—but in this case, it also meant he was the overall representative for the entire Dragon people race.
The Dragon people had no intention of causing trouble for their benefactor, Tauro, so they registered as members of Black-Golden Wings and began participating in the Babylon dungeon expedition a few days later.
What came in handy there was the magic stone that Tauro had given to the great hero Roy, the representative of the dragon race—an enchanted stone imbued with Spatial Transfer.
Using this specially processed magic stone, the Dragon people could transfer from the “Rest room” on the first floor of their village’s dungeon directly to Babylon’s “Rest Room.” One after another, the Dragon people moved to join the operations.
This form of Spatial Transfer required immense magical power, but the superhuman Dragon people were capable of using it.
At present, Babylon had been conquered up to the 100th floor, but the teams dispatched by the kingdom were struggling.
Beyond the 100th floor was uncharted territory—a journey into complete unknowns.
Naturally, there were deadly traps designed to kill first-time explorers, and maintaining the necessary personnel was difficult. Many parties were forced to turn back halfway through, so progress was painfully slow.
This had been the same problem the Dragon people had faced when they tackled the “starter dungeon’’ but this was resolved with the arrival of Tauro and they were able to conquer it.
The kingdom’s expeditionary forces, however, didn’t have a Tauro. For them, dungeon conquest was an almost hopeless ordeal.
Still, that didn’t mean the challenge of exploring the dungeon lost its allure.
Many of the treasures found in dungeons were priceless; anyone who could claim them had a chance to make a fortune—a dream of striking it rich in one go.
For that reason, the kingdom heavily promoted dungeon expeditions, and recruiting people for them was relatively easy.
There were several types of dungeon- conquerors.:
- An expeditionary force composed of knights and researchers from the kingdom
These often had various motives, and conquering the dungeon itself wasn’t always their primary goal. Their focus was on research within the dungeon, hoping that future expeditions could benefit from their findings.
- Kingdom-funded adventurer groups.
These prioritized direct exploration, and the commander is a person appointed by the kingdom. Their main goal was simply to delve as deep as possible.
- Noble-funded expeditions (with royal permission).
Though their stated goal would be to conquer the dungeon, many nobles joined for prestige, personal hobby, or the romantic allure of adventure. Others sought to collect unique treasures for their private collections.
Since funding by nobles are often made to recoup their investments, many of these expeditions ended up abandoned partway through.
- The last group is the solo adventurer team that participates with permission from the kingdom.
These were, in a way, the purest form of explorers—driven by dreams of fame, glory, and treasure.
However, since they have to fund themselves, they often ran out of money quickly and were forced to give up on conquering the dungeon.
Of course, some had sponsors—wealthy patrons investing for romantic ideals or for a share of the dungeon’s treasures. Most sponsors were rich merchants and the like indulging in a hobby, but that mattered little to the adventurers themselves.
As for Tauro, being an honorary noble, his group fell under the “noble-funded expedition” category.
“Since everyone from the Dragon people brought their own supplies, I’ve hardly had to put in any funds myself,”
I explained this to Zion, who was supposed to be participating in a dungeon for the first time.
Tauro himself had decided not to take part in the conquest of Babylon.
Which was why Zion looked disappointed
“Let’s leave dungeon exploration to the specialists. Though I did intervene a bit—since the kingdom taxes any treasures obtained in the dungeon, I had to negotiate on that part.”
“They tax the treasures?”
Ragune asked curiously.
“Yeah. Babylon is under royal management, so anything you acquire there is subject to certain taxes. Still, most of the things brought back from the dungeon tends to be rare and valuable, so you can make a profit selling it outside. That’s why people still want to try their luck.”
Tauro explained the workings of state-owned dungeons.
“But royal permits aren’t so easy to get,”
Aeris added, continuing the explanation for Ragune.
“Also, most of the treasures found in dungeons are rare, so the kingdom usually buys them up. Some of it is junk, sure—but they pay high prices anyway, which lets each team challenge the dungeon with peace of mind… Oh, but wait. In our case, if the Dragon people have those transfer stones you gave them, doesn’t that mean they can take items out without the officials who manage the dungeon on the surface ever finding out?”
“I negotiated that with the dungeon’s manager about this. We added a clause that we would protect and cooperate with the other teams in times of crisis. In exchange, they agreed to overlook that part if we paid a higher participation fee as an operational expense, for the dungeon exploration.”
Tauro had discussed this with the officials the day before.
“Hold on—that means all treasures obtained in the dungeon technically belong to you, the leader of Black-Golden Wings, right?”
Ankh said in disbelief.
“Well, I’m the team leader, so officially, yes. But I’ve decided to give most of the treasure we obtain to the Dragon people as wages, after deducting necessary expenses of course. At first, they insisted they didn’t want anything other than the necessary expenses—they were just happy to have a new dungeon to explore—but I couldn’t accept that.”
Tauro admitted with a wry smile.
He seemed a little troubled by the kindness of the dragon people.
“The Dragon people all feel indebted to you, Tauro. I feel the same way. Hahaha!”
Ragune declared, patting Tauro’s back with a hearty laugh.
“I feel like I’m the one who’s always being helped by the Dragon people, though,”
Tauro replied with another wry smile, slightly exasperated yet fond of the Dragon peoples’ sense of loyalty.