“So that’s how you are gonna build the nests, huh.” Seems like a cheat, but since I'm the one benefitting, I'm not gonna complain.

“Yep, let’s start. When it comes out, immediately pour mana into my dirt creation.” With a wave of his hand, the dirt nest suddenly materialized on the ground. “Now!” The imp shouted out so suddenly, that I almost forgot what he asked me to do.

I poured my mana into the nest like crazy. “Phew, did it work?”

*Tap tap

The imp tested the hardness, and found it acceptable. “Yep, it’s hard. Hm, let’s put three in each corner. We probably need them.”

“Sure. More rent for me, right?” I see no problems with this.

We quickly did two more nests. They all had different designs. The first was a large pile of dirt, filled with chambers and tunnels. Made for ants and similar bugs. Hive bugs that have a queen and eggs, that they need to protect.

The second was a square box, with holes in it. Long straight tunnels, with many small rooms attached to them, where the bugs could sleep. This was the nest with the most living space, designed for everything that could fit inside. For independent bugs that roamed around alone in their hunt for food.

The third model was a pile of dirt, with tunnels leading to larger rooms filled with soft dirt. This version forced them to design their own homes in the soft dirt, something they gladly did. It allowed them to experience the joy of free digging, something the other nests could not give them. The feeling of rolling around in soft dirt was vastly superior to the hardened dirt that would not budge no matter how much they tried. Designed for worms and other things that only lived under the ground.

Something important to note; these nests weren’t for wild bugs, but the mind controlled ones. This meant they could live in environments they normally wouldn’t.

“Will this work?” The nests weren’t exactly of the highest quality, but maybe I’m overthinking things. They are only bugs, after all.

“Yeah, just tell them they may live in these nests and they will move in with time. C’mon, let’s set up the others while we wait.” The imp moved on to the next corner, 'accidentally' stepping on a few juicy bugs on the way.

We began to work on creating more nests. We made slight variations of each. The soft soil inside the nests created a massive pileup of bugs, all wanting to get in at the same time. The bugs really enjoyed digging apparently. But if everyone lives in luxury, no one does. So, sadly, some of them must live in the 'ghetto' style nests.

We also made a fourth type. A hardened surface, with three soft dirt patches to dig into, and a heavenly paradise of only soft dirt inside. It looked just like the basic ‘pile of dirt’ on the outside. Inside, however, it was all up to the bugs themselves to build their homes. There were no limits on the home sizes, so this also doubled as a small experiment. How well will the bugs go together if they can dig into each other's homes? Will they start a fight? Perhaps they think I can't see them from inside their nests, so they will act more freely? Or are they just brainless bugs? A very intriguing experiment, indeed.

“Very good. They are moving in to rest now. When they sleep, you will receive a small portion of their gathered mana.” The imp looked proudly upon his work, as the bugs streamed into the new nests. Sadly, not everyone got a home. In time we would expand to make room for everyone, but for now, please endure, my little bug minions.

“How much?” This feels important to know.

“You can actually set the fee yourself, but I would suggest one to five percent? Anymore than that, they will just get tired and it will start impacting their daily lives. Being too greedy never pays off.”

“... Don’t they just crawl around and eat a lot?” I mean, they are just bugs, right?

“Well, maybe. But they are your minions and you shouldn’t mistreat them! There will be strikes and boycotts! The union is strong! The union is strong!” The imp marched back and forth while chanting.

“You got a minion union?” Somehow, I doubt it’s very strong at all.

“…”

“...”

“Anyway…” The imp broke the silence. Seems we will just forget about this union, for now. “Let’s build the snake nest. Maybe make it larger than one block. How about two openings next to the entrance and then an underground network connecting them?” The imp pointed and motioned with his hands.

“Sure, if you think it will be good.” I have no idea what these snakes might enjoy. Dirt? But without a proper nest, we apparently can’t collect the rent.

The imp dug out three blocks, and then filled them up again. He created a tunnel and two entrances/exits by using his special spell. He placed a larger chamber in the middle where the snakes could coil up together. To, uh, do stuff.

“Phew, that nest took a lot of mana to build.” While my mana storage is enough to build plenty more, it was still an unexpected expense.

“Yeah, but it’s just a one time cost, and they will pay for themselves in a few days.” The imp reassured me. It better...

“Now what? Oh, yeah. The fee? What are the pros and cons, not counting any moral or union issues.” I want some more detailed information about this.

“The more mana they have, the longer and stronger they live. They breed faster and grow faster. If you want bigger bugs, I suggest keeping it at the level I spoke of before.”

“Oh, they can grow?” Makes sense, if you think about it?

“Yeah, the various insect clans are extremely large, with countless members. They came from small bugs, like the ones we got, that stumbled upon a great mana source. Like the beetle, spider, fly and worm clans. As time passed the next generation surpassed the old one. The strength of the parent is very important too. Having powerful parents, means you will be born stronger, can live longer and absorb more mana. Finally, you will give birth to new generations, which will also be stronger than the average. It’s an up going spiral that is almost impossible to stop, except by force.” The imp pointed towards the ceiling and moved his hand in an upward spiral motion.

The imp took in a huge breath of air. Preparing to speak a lot? “That is, if they have enough mana. Their homes can only provide so much, so the weaker ones have to find other mana sources, like from dungeons. Either pay a bit of mana to live in peace, or help defend the dungeon from invaders and troublemakers and get paid, but have a higher chance to die. Unless you come from a richer family, most pick the second option. If they are lucky, they won’t see any action, but they will get paid regardless.

Then there are those that loves to fight, and to kill the forces of good, as they decided to call themselves. They only think about their next fight, not how much they get paid. While normal people would be upset if you stop paying them, these guys will be upset if there is nothing to fight and might resort to create a fight themselves. They might riot and end up being a bigger threat than the heroes.

Finally, there are the normal workers, like me, that won’t fight for you, but get paid for other jobs. However, unlike the ‘Great Imp Clan’, yes, that is the official name, most can’t afford to educate their people, so they can only fight for their paychecks.” The imp sucked in new fresh air after talking so much without stopping.

...Is he done? Phew, he went on another rant.

“So, who would come here and pay rent? Also, if a big monster comes, wouldn’t I be losing mana to him?”

“Hm, guess I can explain it some more. Not all will pay us with mana, some might pay with gold or items. It’s up to you if you want to accept an item as payment, though. Maybe he considers it a priceless treasure, passed down for generations in his family, but it’s only a common item to you.”

“That solves some issues I had.” Imagine someone offering me his 'priceless' bug sucker. Well, to me, that is worthless.

“Also, the main part of your rent will come from the mindless creatures you dominate or the captured livestock you drain mana from. If some big monster comes and sucks up a large portion of the mana, then he is usually worth it. If need be, you can always grab him and drop him into the portal to get rid of him." The imp grabbed the air, or rather the imagined monster, with his hand, like a crane, and moved his hand to drop the monster into his made up portal. "Just a word of warning though, it's not recommend to do that, since he might get angry and come back for revenge later. Easier to just tell him you don't need his services anymore. Most people respects the Heart's wishes.”

“Livestock? Tell me more about those.” Sounds like an endless stream of mana to me.

“Some beings generate mana simply by existing and, of course, eating and drinking. Like the bugs. They eat our mushrooms, which grows by feeding on the natural mana that exist everywhere. Right now, we are feeding the mushrooms but in the future, we won’t. So, we capture something, feed it food to generate mana and drain it to keep it weak.”

“That sounds like a great idea, but what’s the catch?” There is always a catch.

“Well, there is none. Except getting it here and have something to feed it with. All dungeons have large amounts of these livestock. Both big and small types. But the best is... Humans. Especially their mages. They generate mana really quickly for some reason. They wander into our dungeons willingly, so they are often captured. Larger dungeons, that are tempting targets for the humans, often sell their overwhelming amount of prisoners to less fortunate dungeons. Maybe we can get one later, to help with our development."

"How much would that cost?" Can’t wait for some flesh bags of mana to start wander into our dungeon. Mmm...free mana...

"No idea, sorry. Depends greatly on the quality, I guess. Anyways, humans doesn't have the highest mana regeneration, but they are numerous, easy to take care of, and most importantly, wanders into the dungeon willingly. Therefore, they got first place in the 'best livestock competition', hosted by the number one magazine in the monster world; the Dungeon Home Journal! Everyone that subscribed to the magazine got to create their own top ten list, and then they added up the votes.” Who? Never heard of them.

“Huh, that seems good and all, but it’s far into the future, right?” Don’t really see us capturing any humans in the near future, even the weakest peasant group could kill us. Maybe we could drown them in bugs. Actually... that might be quite terrifying for the humans. Dump a ton of starved bugs on them, and their armors will no longer be on their side! Haha! You better start running while you can, knights in plate armor, because my bugs are coming for you!

“Yep, very.” Knew it.

“Then, why go into such details at this stage?” I have a feeling I know the answer.

“Well, you asked and I like talking...” The imp looked down at his feet while scratching his head. Knew it.