The Proposal

"What did you have in mind exactly?"

Violet asked. David took no time to answer as he confidently replied

"As a reincarnated human dungeon master, you have a good bit of knowledge and can think your way through a lot of things. However, not all problems can be solved that way and you need to be able to defend yourself and your dungeon.

If you were a natural inhabitant of this world you would have already had a class, but I'm not sure if you can unlock a class now that you are a dungeon master. You will have to ask your assigned dungeon diplomat about that. If you were an evolved monster or beast that took over as a dungeon master, you would have enough strength to defend your dungeon. Even having strong enough [Monsters] to scare away adventurers would help you, but that clearly isn't going to be the case anytime soon.

You'll have to learn how to wield a weapon and fight back. I only know how to use swords with any significant skill, so I am willing to teach you so long as you are willing to meet my demands. However, I'm unwilling to trust a dungeon master without a contract in place. Too many dungeons take the lives of adventurers with no care for how it might affect those outside of their dungeon."

Violet didn't quite enjoy being treated as a dangerous and unstable individual who might become violent at any moment. However, she wasn't sure that she could blame David either.

"Alright, I suppose we can negotiate terms and then have Theodore finalize it the next time he shows up. It's only been a few days since he last was here, so you may be stuck waiting a few weeks."

David nodded as he replied

"That's fine, I can put in a request for him to return sooner. I'll have to send a letter to the guild, which will take a few days, but a contract can certainly be arranged sooner.

As for what I want out of this, I want to have a safe environment for my daughter to train. I don't expect you to tell me how to solve any puzzles, how to defeat the [Monsters] in your dungeon, or even refrain from placing [Traps]. I just want you to inform me of any [Traps] you place on the first floor of the dungeon. This way we can plan around them and aren't caught off guard."

Violet felt this wasn't too bad of a deal, but she did still have some concerns.

"That sounds reasonable, but I'm still a bit unsure. What guarantee do I have that you won't spread the information to others or that you can't just act outside of the contract? It isn't exactly as if I can monitor your movements when you aren't even in my dungeon."

David tilted his head to the side slightly, looking like a confused puppy, before replying

"Did your dungeon diplomat not explain how contracts work? Dungeon systems have limitations based on the dungeon accords and any other official contracts that the dungeon master signs. Even dungeon [Monsters] are forced to comply with their contracts, which is why they have to protect the dungeon they belong to and otherwise cooperate with you.

Adventures like myself are similar since we have a system that allows us to unlock skills, interact with patron deities, and level up through the experience we gain from battles. If we break the dungeon accords we end up stripped of all of our property, titles, and executed. Sometimes even our families can end up losing their lives as well, depending on how severe the infraction is. Contracts with dungeons are more personal and can have negative effects that affect our systems as well as corrective action being taken by the dungeon diplomats who oversee the contracts.

With all that said, it should be easy enough to add a stipulation that any information regarding dungeons we are given warning about from you is only allowed to be discussed between you, me, and my daughter Alice. I doubt it would make much of a difference in the long run, though. There are some adventurers with magic mapping abilities who then sell physical copies of the maps to others. Everyone will eventually know about any new [Traps], puzzles, etc. that you put in the dungeon. Of course, it will still be up to their own capabilities as to whether they can conquer the dungeon, even with such knowledge."

Violet rubbed her nose with her hand, feeling a tad frustrated.

"I suppose you're right. Fine, we can just skip that in the contract and I'll just ask that you not spread the information out of respect for my dungeon. I also don't mind having a more friendly relationship with one another. I'm happy to consider any suggestions you have for the dungeon and I would appreciate anything you might be willing to share with me about how this world and its various classes work."

David looked thoughtful as he nodded. Just then, a new slime spawned in the middle of the room. Violet felt a bit surprised that it was even possible for her [Monsters] and [Critters] to respawn with people still in her dungeon. Usually there would be a short delay before they would respawn, but Gregory and Henry had left before the slime had respawned the last time. Violet supposed that this was the ideal situation, though, since it was possible that multiple adventuring parties could enter a dungeon floor at the same time.

The dungeon floors were 150 meters x 150 meters or 22,500 meters of total area at the maximum. While Violet had grown up in the US, where the measurements likely would have read more like 450 feet by 450 feet or 202,500 square feet, this world clearly operated on different rules. Regardless, that amount of space, even with the inevitable empty space between rooms, was bound to take a long time to fully explore.

Having only a single party enter the dungeon at once was not something that was reasonable or sustainable. So, having the [Traps], puzzles, [Monsters], and [Critters] be reset, even with adventurers still on the floor, was likely something that would be a necessary feature. Violet had no way to confirm anything else would reset based on time right now. However, she figured she could always just add it to the list of things to ask Theodore the next time she saw him.

Alice and her wolf familiar, Luna, excitedly abandoned their gathering of flowers to engage the new slime in battle. David looked on affectionately before going to clean up after his daughter. He was happy to see her growing stronger in a safe enough environment that there was room for her to act so carefree. With goblins or zombies, things wouldn't be quite so simple and David likely would have had to remain on edge the entire time.