Who Designed This Underworld Dungeon?
Chapter 40 The Lord of the Royal City is indeed the Lord

Chapter 40: Chapter 40 The Lord of the Royal City is indeed the Lord

Yanor Kingdom, Royal City of Roland.

They say that being the boss in the Royal City means you’re the real deal; all you need to do every day besides eating is sleeping, nothing else!

Places like Bed City, which are just backwater areas, aren’t even worthy of their notice!

Ever since Yanor I established the Kingdom amidst chaotic times, four hundred years have passed.

War, civil strife, meddling in-laws seizing power, untimely deaths... due to various factors, the current King Ainz III’s bloodline has long been impure and muddied. Perhaps the authentic royal bloodline has already been lost, but bloodline is just a name; real power is what truly matters.

Ainz III is quite fortunate, his father subdued the surrounding nations, leaving him a strong, orderly country. The four border Dukes were all exemplars of loyalty and patriotism, so he had few worries and lived happily every day.

But it seemed the Gods wanted this lucky King to taste some distress.

There were four things that troubled Ainz III.

The first was the resurgence of the Demon Clan.

A hundred years ago, the Demon Clan was driven to the desolate Western lands by all races that cherished peace. These cunning and sly creatures hibernated for nearly a century, finally baring their fangs just a few years ago.

Ainz III still remembers, it was a stormy night when the Court Mage stumbled into the castle, looking at him with panicked eyes, bearing the dire news of the Demon Clan massacring several border cities.

Damn it, these backwater Demon Clan came begging to Yanor Kingdom!

However, by the time the nation was ready to dispatch its forces, the Demon Clan had vanished without a trace, as if they had calculated the exact time to disappear.

Since then, scattered Demon Clan attacks plagued border cities, and even in the interior, traces of Demon Clan were discovered. The same was true for neighboring nations; no one knew how far the Demon Clan had infiltrated the continent.

People thought about counterattacking the Demon Clan, but the terrifying Miasma of the Western Continent made them think twice.

Fortunately, the Demon Clan’s slaughters ignited the people’s fighting spirit, significantly increasing the enlistment rate for the army. The number of adventurers skyrocketed, among them many specialized in hunting the Demon Clan. It looked like the momentum of the Demon Clan was being pushed back day by day.

However, news that the Demon King was about to be resurrected surfaced from somewhere.

The second thing was the anomaly in the Dungeons.

It happened this year—a Dungeon named "Sain" encountered an anomaly. It was said that previously unseen Monsters appeared inside,

and the layout of the Dungeon underwent an earth-shaking change, significantly increasing its danger, pushing it up to rank among the top Dungeons.

This news spread quickly within the adventurer circles, sparking a lot of interest. Nearly half of the adventurers planned to take a look, but the events that followed halted their steps.

More and more Dungeons started undergoing anomalies!

Three days after the anomaly in Sain Dungeon, the Green Forest Dungeon and the Reverberation Dungeon also experienced anomalies.

On the fifth day, the White Blood Dungeon, Puppet Dungeon, Water Dragon Dungeon, and Onion Dungeon had anomalies.

The sixth day, the seventh day...

To this day, new reports of Dungeon anomalies continue unabated, keeping the adventurer’s guild extremely busy,

Adventurers surged toward the nearest anomalous Dungeons like injected chickens, and the crowd originally heading to the Sain Dungeon was split and redirected in an instant.

It was unclear whether these anomalies were good or bad, or perhaps a precursor to some major event?

The third thing was the strange illness that afflicted Ainz III himself.

"Ugh, hiss..."

Inhuman, grotesque howlings reverberated within Ainz III’s chambers, as if trying desperately to suppress the pain, yet the messy thoughts and mumblings in his mind forced him to scream out loud.

In the spacious chamber, not a single servant was present to attend to him; they had been dispersed by the King’s orders, and even without the orders, no one dared to stay.

Because the King had contracted a bizarre illness that was truly lethal when an outbreak occurred, it was said that he would kill people... and even consume human blood...

Even the most learned Court Mage was helpless against this strange disease, and the Holy Light Church was preparing a blessing ceremony, hoping to use the Holy Light to eradicate the King’s sickness.

But for now, Ainz III could only use one thing to relieve the pain.

Blood Healing Potion!

From behind the thick curtains, a hairy beastly hand suddenly reached out, grabbing a bunch of the crimson Blood Healing Potion, and shortly after, satisfied moans came from behind the curtain, and more than a dozen empty bottles were carelessly tossed out, along with a syringe.

"It’s not enough, I need more..."

The comfort lasted only for a brief ten or so minutes, and soon Ainz III’s voice was once again filled with agony.

"Ahhh—ahhh—"

The fourth matter, Ainz III had no heir.

Or rather, no "legitimate" heir.

To the point that, at a time like this, there was nobody trustworthy to take care of him.

Extremely pitiable.

--------------------------------

In Bed City, all was tranquil and peaceful.

The adventurer’s guild was quiet, a departure from its usual noisy and bustling style. Everyone was looking forward with anticipation, listening carefully to the movements coming from upstairs.

The fireplace burned silently, the crackling of wood and the ticking of the pendulum clock, sounds that were ordinarily ignored, were now clearly audible.

Occasionally, someone uninformed would barge in loudly, and would immediately be met with glares from the angered crowd, and then in confusion, join the throng.

The reason they were doing this was because of a major event—

Someone had found the hidden map of the Sain Dungeon!

It was indeed the area that produced special ingredients. No one had thought it would be discovered so quickly; most people were still in the dark.

Now, those discoverers were upstairs negotiating with the guild’s leaders, selling the information to the guild for an appropriate price.

Once the guild verified the authenticity of the information, it would offer it for sale to all adventurers for a fee, though not an expensive one, just the equivalent of the cost of a meal.

Quite a few adventurers were willing to pay for it. This not only represented obtaining news firsthand but also meant something else—

A sign of respect for the discoverers.

Adventuring was never just about one person’s journey,

But a story embarked upon together by all.

Within this story, some could obtain information that others had not discovered, leading the way in strategizing, these discoverers sharing the information with everyone, regardless of their intentions, whether for payment or not, as long as it was accurate and brought benefits to everyone...

Then they deserved respect!

The wise knew that a few days after the information went on sale, it would be known by everyone, and by then, one could enjoy the information without spending a penny.

But were the buyers of the information fools?

Absolutely not.

"Tap tap tap..."

The sound of footsteps came from the stairs; a slender man with features of a Half-Elf walked down from above. Somebody recognized his identity.

"It’s ’Shadowless’ Jelotte; legend has it he possesses the ’Unique Talent’ to instantly run a thousand meters!"

"Every time the guild has map-related information that needs validation, they ask him to do it. Great, looks like we’ll have the results soon,"

"Sprint, sprint, yes, sprint!"

Under everyone’s gaze, Jelotte turned into a residual shadow and vanished, speeding in the direction of the Sain Dungeon.

Time ticked away every second, with everyone’s eyes fixed on the pendulum clock, meticulously counting each second.

One second, two seconds, three seconds...

One minute, two minutes, three minutes...

Half an hour, one hour...

"Bang!"

The guild’s main door was kicked open, it was Jelotte!

Everyone held their breath, looking towards the sweaty figure, but the seasoned adventurer seemed a bit odd.

"Burp..."

Jelotte was rubbing his swollen belly while wiping off the food crumbs from the corner of his mouth.

Then, he flashed a wicked smile and gave a thumbs up.

"Oooooohhhh!!!!"

The crowd erupted into a frenzy!

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