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The prosperity permeating the city could be credited to the man riding on a huge war steed, galloping on the main street under ribbons and lanterns with a platoon of knights.

His name was Aaron Campelle.

It was not too hard to deduce from his name that he was the fief lord.

Other than being a vassal of the Lyon Kingdom, he had also been conferred as Saint Sisto’s god elect… or to put it in more conventional terms, a hero.

Not long ago, he slew the demon king wreaking havoc on the outskirts of Thunderbuzz City.

Despite being in his seventies, he remained as valiant as he was back then. Many suspected that Duke Campelle might have overcome his bottleneck as a Diamond-tier and advanced to Amethyst or even Master-tier.

“Praise Saint Sisto! Praise the holy light!”

“Long live Duke Campelle!”

“Long live the duchy!”

“Long live the Lyon Kingdom!”

Cheers, applause, and whistles filled the street.

To welcome the victorious heroes back, the youths along the streets tossed fresh flowers into the sky, and old farmers and city dwellers cheered with all their might.

Duke Campelle subtly nodded with a poised smile in response to the warm welcome, reminiscent of a stern, authoritative, but kind father.

The people of Thunderbuzz City adored him, especially Saint Sisto’s believers. They would throw themselves at him and kiss his feet if he allowed it.

But not everyone celebrated Duke Campelle and his knights.

Along the corridors of the city hall, the potbellied mayor lit a cigar while leaning against the windowsill. He looked at the old but still dashing duke with envious eyes.

“Look at how nauseating those fools are acting… They are acting as if it was the roosters’ crowing that hoisted the sun into the sky. They must think there was no sun in the First Epoch.”

Not daring to stare too long at the duke, he hurriedly pulled the curtains close shortly after.

Looking at the grumbling Mayor Miles, a gentleman wearing a bowler hat casually remarked with a smile, “You look jealous.”

He was Yang Andes, a renowned tycoon in Thunderbuzz City.

Just an hour ago, the city council was discussing the highly contentious ‘Raising Commercial Taxes’ proposal. It sparked statements that would have required many exclamation marks to properly relay the intensity.

His friend, Miles, managed to pull one over the protesting shop owners, farm owners, and ship captains, and Yang himself belonged to the latter side.

“Jealous? You must be kidding!” Miles was displeased by his old friend’s teasing remark. “Thunderbuzz City has been like that since Isaac’s era. I’d say that things were much more interesting then! We didn’t thank the fief lord for bestowing us with food. Instead, we brawled with the lizardmen in the marshes and pulled out manor after manor from their teeth. That’s how Thunderbuzz City became what it is today!” �

“But none of us has been through that, no?” Yang consoled. “Let’s not talk about that anymore. You also wouldn’t want someone to overhear those words, lest you be treated as a blasphemer who worships outside gods.”

Outside gods referred to all gods aside from Saint Sisto, be it the ancient gods of the First Epoch or Isaac, whose name was forbidden.

“Tsk.” Miles cowered.

Those words pricked his pain point.

Whether he truly worshiped goddamned Saint Sisto or not, he had to display unwavering faith… though it wasn’t just an act since he did pray and donate to the church every now and then.

Seeing that his old friend had finally calmed down, Yang slowly reasoned, “At least he defeated the demon king. I’d think that he’s qualified as a ruler.”

“That’s the problem.” Miles shook his head and sighed. “With the demon king dead, the demon king domain will soon disappear. The adventurers in the city will first lose their jobs, followed by the taverns and blacksmiths. I calculated. We will lose at least a fourth of our revenue… maybe more.”

The Lyon Kingdom might be the holy land for knights, but no city could thrive from knights alone.

Thunderbuzz City’s greatest competitive advantage was not the celebrated Trident Knight Order but its labyrinth. The labyrinth was the one that lured thousands after thousands of hot-blooded youths from their villages here.

Some youths died in the labyrinth, but some brought valuable treasures out.

As for the underworld’s invasion… who gave a damn about that?! It was not as if they were located on the frontlines like the Ors Empire!

In fact, Miles would have loved to try rearing a succubus given the chance.

But now that the demon king was dead, the wealthier adventurers would move to the next labyrinth city, whereas the poorer adventurers who couldn’t afford a ship ride would turn into criminals and disturb the city’s peace.

“They have to adapt to times,” Yang said gently. “No one can live in the past forever, even you and me.”

“Perhaps.” Mayor Miles sighed. He stared at the ceiling and murmured, “Won’t it be wonderful if we can strike a deal with a demon king? We will head down on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and he will come up on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays.”

‘Or better still if he remains underground. It’s not as if he can hold onto Thunderbuzz City even if he takes it down.’

“And we all rest on Sundays?” Yang laughed out loud. “Can that be called a demon king?”

Adventurers pursued labyrinths for faith, glory, to climb through the ranks, and to become favored by Saint Sisto.

Conversely, demon kings must be driven by something too. They wouldn’t go to the trouble of invading the surface just to fool around.

Mayor Miles also thought his words were foolish, so he let out another sigh at the ceiling.

“True that.”

Sometimes, he wondered what would have become of Thunderbuzz City if the Isaac Dynasty didn’t collapse and instead continued to this day, but that would always remain a hypothesis.

…

Trailing behind the knight order on the street were the enlistees wielding large caliber rifles.

Unlike the fief lord’s soldiers, these enlistees came from the fields, the mines, and the ports. They only rallied together when the fief lord needed them.

Even though the crowd’s applause and cheers were mainly directed at the fief lord and his knights, to mortals like them, it was still an honor to be able to walk down a street of flower petals that had fallen on the shoulders of the god elect.

At least the beaming pride on their faces was not feigned.

While the enlistees were marching down the street with orderly footsteps, one of the taverns along the street buzzed noisily like canaries on a branch.

The name of this tavern was ‘Sword and Broken Blade’.

It was rumored that the owner had once hung a sword at the tavern’s entrance, but one day, it was stolen. The thief didn’t just steal the sword; he also hung a broken blade on it.

There were speculations that the thief intended not to steal but to borrow the sword, but he couldn’t return it because he lost his life in the labyrinth.

It was an inauspicious omen, but many adventurers still frequented this tavern because it was located right behind the Adventurer Guild.

Over time, the tavern became known as the ‘Adventurer Guild’s second lobby’.

Sometimes, a customer would request the bartender to post some requests that couldn’t be registered with the Adventurer Guild but weren’t terrible enough to have to resort to the shady Thief Guild.

It was just slightly past noon, hardly time for drinks yet.

However, the demon king’s death had led to a steep decline in labyrinth-related requests, so a huge bunch of jobless adventurers ended up gathering in the tavern to drink.

Some of the more foul-mouthed ones cussed when drunk.

Perhaps Professor Enos was right when he said that humans would sometimes sell their souls to demons even when left to their own accord.

“That dogshit Campelle Clan! Why did that old coot kill the demon king? Does he not understand the value of a hardworking but useless demon king to Thunderbuzz City?!”

A man carrying a battle axe on his back slammed his oak mug on the table as he cussed his heart out, his saliva flying meters away.

The man carrying a bow beside him, who was likely to be his companion, quickly consoled him, “The demon king was the one who came invading… The people will angrily protest if the fief lord and his army turn a blind eye to it.”

“That’s the problem!” the man with a battle axe exclaimed with bulging eyes. His face was reddened, and veins were popping from his neck. “If that old coot truly cares for his people, he should have declawed the demon king and released him!”

His horrified companion anxiously covered his mouth. “Do you want to die?!”

To say that a demon king ought to be spared was absolute blasphemy to any devout believers of the holy light. They would have demanded justice to be immediately served in the name of their god!

Fortunately, those in the tavern were all adventurers, so they pretended to have heard nothing. Some even thought there was nothing wrong with those words.

‘Isn’t that the case?’

The labyrinth produced shiny magic crystals and all sorts of valuable resources that could only be found in the underworld… as if a massive gold mine.

No, not even gold was as precious as those resources.

The former paved the road to wealth, whereas the latter paved the road to greatness.

Of course, the adventurers had to concede that their feelings were driven by envy. If they were given a chance to slay a demon king, they would have also charged ahead and done the deed without much thought.

That was an opportunity to receive god’s favor!

Duke Campelle, who was already a god elect, might not care much about the honor, but for those who had been stuck in a bottleneck for a long time, this was their only chance to make a breakthrough.

And adventurers like them dreamed of making a breakthrough all the time!

While the adventurers were ranting, no one noticed a dashing youth walking into the tavern and taking a seat near the entrance.

None of them could have imagined that the ‘special merit’ they desired was seated beside them…