Chapter 172. Reception
I arrived at the hotel with Merino, riding on Artpega.
［Welcome. We have been expecting you, Gauntlet.］
As we entered the hotel, a rabbit in a suit greeted us from the first-floor lobby.
【Pururu】─Madam Rabbit, hello.
【Yumi】─That rabbit doesn’t look like Madam Rabbit, though.
【Hwang Mir】─Another rabbit? It looks identical.
【Mysticism】─🧐
It wasn’t Madam Rabbit.
The rabbit that came out to greet us looked similar to Madam Rabbit at first glance, but I could tell right away that it was a different entity because I didn’t feel the same connection.
Looking closely, there were subtle differences in the face.
［Tashiji. I’ll take you directly to the landlord.］
The elevator was waiting on the first floor.
The rabbit staff opened the elevator door and courteously led us inside.
“Thanks.”
［Allow me.］
“Thank you, thank you!”
Once we all boarded, the elevator door closed.
Then it quickly shot up, piercing through the ceiling.
***
We arrived at the landlord’s room.
I stepped out of the elevator and slowly approached the Building Creator.
The Building Creator seemed weak, slumped on the floor.
“Curi, I’m here.”
I lowered my voice and carefully called out to him.
Since he was said to be timid, I didn’t approach too closely.
I kept a comfortable distance to avoid making him uneasy.
［Gauntlet?］
“Yes, it’s Gauntlet.”
I squatted down.
I did this to meet him at eye level.
［Gauntlet has arms and legs now.］
“I’ve always had arms and legs.”
［Huh? No, you didn’t.］
“······.”
［No, you didn’t!］
“Yeah··· I didn’t before, but I was lucky enough to grow them on the way here.”
The Building Creator’s face brightened.
His grin stretched up to his ears.
He seemed pleased that I humored him.
【Pururu】─What is that crazy dinosaur?
【Mysticism】─🤪
【Bubble Bubble】─I think there’s a serious intelligence issue.
【Hwang Mir】─On par with Merino.
【Yumi】─Merino’s not that far gone.
Merino and Artpega, who came with me, also greeted the Building Creator.
“Hello, I am Merino Ula, the dimension’s finest chef.”
［It’s nice to meet you. I am Artpega Unibicorn, serving the headquarters as the assistant handling various document tasks for the explorer.］
［···Hi.］
The Building Creator, still shy, glanced over our monsters again and mumbled softly to himself.
［Thank goodness··· no one looks scary, and none of them seem mean.］
It didn’t seem like his impression of us was too bad.
【Pururu】─?
【Pururu】─Aren’t Iris and Azeras pretty scary-looking in that duo?
【Hwang Mir】─Objectively, they do look pretty intimidating.
【Yumi】─Be careful! Saying that in front of Iris could get you punished before anyone even notices.
【Luna-chan】─It’s not just the duo; Abyss Lord and Nyara also look pretty fierce.
【Bubble Bubble】─Maybe they just seem normal by the Building Creator’s standards.
【Mysticism】─🤭 Honestly, everyone looks scary except our little hedgehog.
［But didn’t you say you’d bring food? Where’s the food?］
The Building Creator looked around.
His stomach growled audibly.
I asked him to wait a moment and requested Merino to prepare a cake.
Merino, shouting “Yay yay!” pulled out a generous amount of her own fur, mixed it with her horn powder, and molded it like clay.
Then she spread it evenly over a small mattress brought from headquarters.
It would turn the mattress into something that looked just like a cake.
I’d tasted it once before.
Not only did it have a similar texture, but it was also the best-tasting cake I’d ever eaten.
While Merino was busy making the cake, the Building Creator wandered past Madam Rabbit and stuck himself to Hedgehog.
［Doodoomba?］
［Hi. Let’s be friends.］
［Sounds good. New students are always welcome!］
［Huh? Students?］
［I run a dance class, so that makes you my new student.］
［Not sure what that means, but alright.］
Contrary to his previous shy behavior, the Building Creator seemed to bond easily with Hedgehog.
Apparently, he wasn’t scared or shy around cute creatures.
Selective shyness, it seemed.
“Done! Here’s the delicious cake! I added a generous amount of my own saliva, so enjoy it!”
Before I knew it, Merino’s dish was ready.
The Building Creator walked over to the mattress, sniffed it, then carefully took a bite.
［Whoa···!?］
His eyes went wide.
He looked shocked.
［It’s, it’s delicious! Really delicious!!!］
“Hehe. My cooking can’t taste bad.”
The Building Creator began devouring the mattress eagerly.
***
No more persuasion was necessary.
After meeting with him through Iris and offering him Merino’s cooking, the Building Creator expressed his desire to be friends with us.
He even said he wanted to eat Merino’s cake every day.
He was much easier to deal with than expected.
【Pururu】─We could’ve just given him some of Merino’s food from the start to tame him right away.
【Mysticism】─Merino’s cooking is the best in the dimension! 😀
［Delicious! Delicious!］
“Yes, eat as much as you want.”
Using the cushions in the room, Merino made additional dishes.
The Building Creator continued consuming them without stopping, while I sat nearby, patting his head.
Of course, I kept my hand on him to tame him.
The Building Creator’s mark was engraved on his crown, after all.
As I did this, I chatted with Madam Rabbit about various topics related to the Building Creator.
And then, I learned something.
To operate this hotel, a special fuel was required.
The fuel was extracted from the bodies of guests in exchange for entry.
Various organic materials or fragments of souls from living beings served as the hotel’s fuel.
【Pururu】─So he needs fuel. Meanwhile, Jafan can generate endless liquid without fuel.
【Mysticism】─Jafan wins! 😃
【Yumi】─Don’t be so sure. Jafan may just not have run out yet.
There was no worry about running low on fuel for the hotel.
It could run indefinitely from the admission fees collected from guests.
Besides, even if the guests stopped coming entirely, it wouldn’t be an issue.
If the fuel ran out.
Jafan could simply provide an endless supply.
Besides, this hotel would soon become our headquarters anyway, unlike other towns.
Madam Rabbit continued to tell us various stories.
The Building Creator, busy munching on cushions, also seemed to have dropped his guard entirely, even sharing details about himself despite not yet being tamed.
And then, I discovered another surprising fact.
The Building Creator was a special evolution type of the Dollmaker.
The monster capable of turning opponents into teddy bears.
Apparently, if a Dollmaker lives a long life without ever turning a single living being into a doll, it can eventually evolve into a Building Creator.
However, the chance of this special evolution occurring was said to be extremely rare.
It was highly unlikely that there would be another Building Creator in the Ancient Labyrinth.
It made sense.
Dollmakers were inherently an extremely aggressive species.
Without a mutation that suppressed aggression, made it avoid fights, and flee upon encountering others, a Dollmaker could never evolve into a Building Creator.
Therefore.
The Building Creator here was likely the only one of its kind in the entire Ancient Labyrinth.
The Building Creator mentioned that he had never turned anyone into a teddy bear or killed anyone in his Dollmaker days.
He added that he wasn’t even aware that meeting such criteria would lead to his evolution into a Building Creator.
【Rizenova】─It seems Curi naturally evolved on his own.
【Luna-chan】─He’s a more impressive monster than I thought.
【Pururu】─Huh??? How does a skeleton human become a dinosaur?
【Pururu】─Is it just me, or is no one questioning this? Am I the only one finding it odd?
【Yumi】─Now that you mention it, it is strange. There’s no real connection between a humanoid skeleton and a dinosaur, is there?
【Mysticism】─That is odd, now that I think about it. 🧐
【Hwang Mir】─Is this Dollmaker that skeleton monster from before? It doesn’t match what I remember from the guide
book.
【Luna-chan】─That’s the mystery of life. Just accept it. >.<
【Bubble Bubble】─Nothing strange here.
【Bubble Bubble】─That’s what evolution is all about.
【Rizenova】─Exactly. It’s not odd at all if a species transforms into something entirely new.
【Rizenova】─After all, Kinogine Arachne evolved from a spider to a humanoid.
【Bubble Bubble】─Evolution can even turn an apple into a banana.
【Pururu】─🙄
Talking like this, we eventually managed to tame the Building Creator.
The transformation speed was astonishingly fast compared to other SS-ranks.
Anyway.
Since we had tamed the Building Creator, we could now claim the hotel.
［Huh? Is it over? Nothing seems different.］
“Do you feel nothing when you look at me?”
［Nope. It’s just like before. Well, more like how I felt when I decided we’d be friends.］
“···So, once you decide to be friends with someone, you just open your heart entirely, huh?”
No wonder there wasn’t much difference after being tamed.
An unusual creature indeed.
Maybe he was just that pure-hearted.
“Anyway, Curi. I’m thinking of taming all the hotel staff now; is that okay with you?”
［Sure. The staff are my friends, and my friends are your friends, so it’s fine.］
“And I’d also like to tame all the guests currently staying in the hotel; that’s fine too, right?”
［Huh? They’re not my friends, but··· hmm··· I don’t care. Do what you want.］
Next, I planned to slowly tame the staff.
And eventually, I would tame all the guests in the hotel as well.
The guests couldn’t use force inside the hotel, so they were basically like fish in a tank.