The Demon King is Unfathomable

Chapter 10: That Day, Thunderbuzz Welcomes Its New King

Today’s Thunderbuzz City, a fief of the Lyon Kingdom’s Duke Campelle, was as peaceful and bustling as always

Ships puffing out steam sailed to and fro the port. Coolies with their bare tops moved boxes of goods from the deck to markets or workshops. Under vibrantly dyed cloths were vendors selling all kinds of little toys and accessories.

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.

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...