Chapter 10 That Day, Thunder City Welcomed Its King

Thunder City in the Dukedom of Campbell of the Kingdom of Ryan is as peaceful and busy as ever today.

Steam-breathing ships come and go in the port. Shirtless laborers carry boxes and bundles of goods from the deck to the market or workshops. Every stall under the colorful dyed cloth is filled to the brim with strange little gadgets.

And all this prosperity and the corresponding glory are attributed to the man who rides a tall warhorse, leads the knights, and walks on the main road decorated with lights.

His name is Aaron Campbell, and it is not difficult to guess from the name that he is the lord here.

That’s not all.

In addition to being King Ryan's vassal, he is also the Chosen One appointed by Saint Sith... commonly known as a hero.

And just recently, the demon king who was causing trouble outside Thunder City died under his sword.

Although he is 70 years old, his bravery is still as strong as before.

Many people speculated that this distinguished Grand Duke Campbell might have already broken through the bottleneck of the diamond level and stepped into the realm of purple crystal or even the master level! "Praise Saint Sith! Praise the Holy Light!"

"Long live Grand Duke Campbell!"

"Long live the Grand Duchy!"

"Long live the Kingdom of Ryan!"

Cheers, applause, and whistles!

Looking at the heroes returning triumphantly, the young boys and girls standing on both sides of the street threw flowers into the air, and the old farmers and citizens with red faces and thick necks cheered with all their strength.

In response to the citizens' enthusiasm, Grand Duke Campbell nodded slightly, with a decent smile on his angular face, like a strict father, majestic but kind.

The citizens of Thunder City all like him very much.

Especially the devout followers of Saint Sith, they wanted to pounce on him and kiss his shoes.

but--

Not everyone is willing to attribute everything Thunder City has to Grand Duke Campbell and his Knights.

The corridor of the City Hall.

The pot-bellied mayor lit a cigarette and cast a jealous glance over the half-drawn curtains at the old and handsome duke.

"Look at the disgusting appearance of these idiots... It's as if the sun was created by the crowing of a rooster. There was no sun in the First Age."

Not daring to stare at the adult for too long, he reached out and pulled the curtains completely shut with a guilty conscience.

Looking at Mayor Mill who was cursing under his breath, the gentleman in the bowler hat smiled and spoke in a chatty tone.

"I think you are jealous."

His name is Jan Andes, and he is a famous wealthy businessman in Thunder City.

Just an hour ago, the City Council had just solicited opinions on the controversial "Draft Business Tax Increase"...mainly soliciting opinions on punctuation and word choice.

His old friend Mill had finally dealt with the protesting shop owners, farmers and captains, and he was the one being dealt with.

"Are you jealous? Are you kidding me!"

Mayor Mill expressed his dissatisfaction with his old friend's teasing and cursed.

"I'm not jealous, but Thunder City has always been like this since Isaac's time! It's even more interesting than it is now! But back then, we didn't thank the lord for giving us food, but fought with the lizardmen in the swamp, digging out huge manors from under their teeth! Only then did Thunder City become what it is today!"

"But no one has experienced this, right?" Yang consoled him and stopped him, "Okay, let's not talk about this anymore. You don't want to be overheard by passers-by and mistaken for a 'traitor who believes in foreign gods', right?"

Outer Gods.

Usually refers to all gods except Saint Sith, whether they are the ancient gods of the First Age or a certain Isaac who must not be named.

“Tsk.”

Mir shrank his neck.

This sentence really touched his sore spot.

Regardless of whether he believed in that damn Saint Sith or not, he had to pretend to be extremely pious.

In fact, it’s not entirely fake.

He will still do things like praying and donating money.

Looking at his old friend who had calmed down, Yang spoke in a slow voice.

"At least he did defeat the Demon King, so I think he's fine as a ruler."

"It's a big problem," Mir shook his head and continued with a sigh, "The Demon King is dead, and the Demon Territory will soon disappear. Then slowly, all the adventurers in the city will be unemployed, and then the taverns and blacksmiths will be unemployed. My club has calculated that we will lose at least a quarter of our income... maybe more."

The Kingdom of Ryan is the home of knights, but no city can make money by relying on the knights who have left their jobs.

Compared to the ostentatious Knights of the Trident, the "maze" is the characteristic of Thunder City. Only the "maze" can lure young men in their early sixteens from the countryside to come here continuously, in the thousands.

They could either bring back valuable treasures from the maze, or blame themselves for being unlucky enough to be left inside by the monsters.

An invasion from Hell? Who cares about that? This isn't the Os Empire next to the front line! Rather, he really wants to raise a succubus if he has the chance! However, now that the Demon King is dead, the wealthy and powerful adventurers will quickly head to the next city with a maze, while the adventurers who don't have money to buy a boat ticket will become an unstable factor that disrupts public order.

"They have to learn to adapt to the new life." Yang said in a very soft voice, "No one can live in the past forever... not even you and me."

"I hope so."

The mayor sighed and talked to himself while looking at the ceiling.

"You say... how nice it would be if there was a demon king who followed the rules? For example, he would just stay underground and we would go down on 1, 3, and 5, and they would come up on 2, 4, and 6."

Or just don't come up.

Anyway, even if you take down Thunder City, you can't hold it, right? "We'll all rest together on the seventh day, right?"

Yang laughed out loud when he heard this.

"Is he still called the Demon King?"

Adventurers pursue the labyrinth for faith, for glory, for advancement, and for becoming the object of favor by Saint Sith.

From a rational analysis, the Demon King must have his own demands. He went to such great lengths to invade the surface, so he couldn't be here just for fun.

Mayor Mir apparently felt that he was stupid for saying such a thing, and he sighed towards the ceiling.

"That's true."

Sometimes he couldn't help but wonder what the Thunder City where he lived would be like if the Isaac Dynasty had not perished but had continued to this day.

But that kind of thing can only be left to the imagination.

After all, the history he knew might not be the closest to the truth...

…

On the other side, the Knights' column had already crossed the street, followed closely by the conscripted troops carrying large-caliber rifles.

Different from the soldiers under the lord.

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Most of them come from places like fields, mines or docks, and only gather when the lord needs them.

Although people's cheers and applause were all around the lords and knights, it was an honor for them as mortals to be able to step on the petals that had fallen on the shoulders of the Chosen One.

At least.

That proud expression was not fake.

Some are happy, some are sad.

Just as the team carrying fire sticks marched in orderly steps past the street, the tavern across the street was bustling with people, and the chirping noise sounded like sparrows on the branches.

The name of this tavern is "The Pavilion of Sword and Broken Sword". The origin of the name seems to be because the owner of this shop used to hang a sword at the door.

Later, the sword was stolen, but the thief did not take it for nothing, but hung a broken sword on it.

People were speculating that maybe it wasn't stolen but borrowed. As for why it wasn't returned, it was because the owner of the broken sword unfortunately died in the maze.

Although the name is not very auspicious, since this is the tavern closest to the Adventurer's Guild and is located right behind the Adventurer's Guild, many adventurers waiting for work will gather here to kill time.

Over time, this place has become a veritable "quality plaza" and "matching hall".

Occasionally, someone would commission the bartender behind the bar to do some work that couldn't be registered with the Adventurer's Guild, but wasn't so bad that he could only go to the Thieves Guild, walking in the gray area between black and white.

It's just past noon now, so it's far from time to drink.

However, as luck would have it, due to the death of the Demon King, the number of maze-related commissions dropped sharply, and a large group of idle adventurers could only come here to drink.

Some of the guys who talk too much will yell when they're drunk.

Perhaps this is what Professor Ernos meant -

Sometimes, even if humans are left alone, they will sell their souls to the devil.

When they are completely unaware.

"Damn Campbell family! Why did that idiot want to kill the Demon King? He has no idea what a hard-working but useless Demon King means to Thunder City!"

The oak wine glass slammed heavily on the table, and a man carrying a battle axe on his back shouted rudely and loudly, with saliva flying several meters away.

The man carrying a bow and arrow next to him was probably his companion, and he hurried to comfort the drunk guy.

"But that guy has already come out... If the lord's army leaves him alone, won't the citizens' taxes be paid in vain?"

"That's the problem!" The man with the battle axe on his back shouted with his eyes wide open and his face flushed, "If that idiot really cares about his people, he should cut off the demon's claws and put the demon back -"

The teammate sitting next to him quickly held down the outspoken guy and cursed in horror.

"You're going to die!"

If you say that you want to spare the life of the devil in this land illuminated by holy light, if those fanatical believers hear it, they will definitely shout the name of God and rush forward to execute justice immediately.

Fortunately, all the people sitting here were adventurers, so they pretended not to hear what this idiot said, and some even thought there was nothing wrong with it.

Isn't it? The maze can produce shiny magic crystals, as well as all kinds of good things that are not available on the surface and can only be found underground or even deep in hell... It's like a huge gold mine.

No.

Gold mines are nothing compared to this stuff.

The former is the private property of nobles and landlords, while the latter belongs to everyone who has a dream.

Of course.

Many adventurers admitted in their hearts that they were just jealous.

If there is really a chance to kill the devil, they will not consider all these trivial matters and will rush forward faster than anyone else to execute justice.

After all, it is a chance to gain God’s favor!

Grand Duke Campbell, who is already God's chosen one, may not care, but for those of them who have stayed at their own bottleneck for too long, this is almost their only way to progress.

They want to improve so badly!

I dream about it!

Just as everyone was talking at once, almost no one noticed that a handsome young man walked in from outside and sat in a seat near the door.

They would never have dreamed of it.

The "special merit" they were thinking about was sitting next to them...

(End of this chapter)