Dungeon Maker - Chapter 154
Chapter 154: Preparation (1)
Embrio was dead.
The meaning of his death in the southern area was extraordinary.
He was the most powerful master in the southern area and also the most belligerent.
Few thought that Embrio’s death would mean the end of the war.
His death was likely only the beginning of a new war because of his risky ambitions during his lifetime. In the worst case, the entire southern area could be in unprecedented turbulence like a carriage without the horseman.
Everyone in the southern area was all on edge. Embrio’s remnants were seeking a way to survive, and the masters of houses in the eastern area were restless because of the power of the new master of the House of Mammon.
It wasn’t the masters of houses that suffered the most when war broke out. The ordinary people, who were destined to be sacrificed in the war, kept being anxious about their future.
However, all of this only mirrored the situation of the southern area.
Embrio’s death.
From the perspective of the whole demon world, it was not a big event.
It could be rightly called a storm in a teacup.
The King of Gluttony thought it should be called like that and intended to make it a minor event.
The king raised his unusually large arm to enjoy dinner. A glutton as well as a gourmet, he ate, drank, and devised how to start a war.
At last, a war broke out. The King of Pride finally advanced his army toward the territory of the King of Envy. Since the former declared a war, befitting his grandiose ambitions, nobody believed the current war would end up being a small local war like before. It was an all-out war. An all-out war among the kings who had sin and Godly Energy!
The King of Gluttony was eating food more quickly. Rakshasas, who had been kidnapped from the King of Fury’s territory, hastily brought new food to him. Gandarbas, the beautiful girls and musicians for him, also played faster music to the pace of his eating.
The King of Gluttony came from a lowly devil, a small and fragile demon often eaten as snacks by large monsters such as ogres or trolls.
As a result, the King of Gluttony knew his limits. Unlike other kings, who were noble from birth, he knew how to endure and stick it out.
The King of Pride was certainly strong. Probably, he was the strongest of the current six kings.
But the King of Envy was also as tough as him. He was the oldest king, along with the King of Lust. He was a living legend that lived during the same era as Mammon, the great King of Greed.
The fight between the two was unlikely to end quickly. So, the King of Gluttony had to make the most of it. Namely, he wanted to control information and minimize several facts about Embrio’s death.
The Bone Dragon? Its power was only the delusion of the wanderers, who fled the battlefield. Its power was greatly exaggerated in the process of its rumors spreading everywhere. It was more of an undead Wyvern. That was the right title for the dragon. And it would soon turn out true.
The kings were not supposed to have any interest in the southern area. They had to look to the north only. The King of Gluttony himself was thinking of pretending to do so. He already deployed his troops on the northern and western borders.
He would attack the southern area only after his battle with the northern area escalated enough. It was when all the kings got the south out of their minds when it was time for him to occupy the south.
‘The master of the House of Mammon.’
His performance on the battlefield was impressive to the King of Gluttony.
He could not obtain detailed information about the master because the mole he placed to watch Embrio was killed, but his defeat of Embrio as well as the Bone Dragon and the situation of the battle he grasped indirectly through the eyes of the crow were enough to confirm that the master was very powerful.
The sudden emergence of a powerful master in the southern area?
It wasn’t impossible. It was really possible.
But what if it was not true?
What if the master, like the King of Gluttony, came from a low birth?
More than a thousand years had passed since the sin of greed disappeared.
The King of Gluttony began to move his hand again and devoured the food in front of him.
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The power of experience was great. Yong-ho’s second movement between the two worlds was much better than his first one. Instead of sitting down, he stood upright and met the dungeon spirits of the House of Mammon who came out to welcome him back.
“Welcome back.”
Just as she did when he left, Yuria greeted him on behalf of them.
Yong-ho put down packages on both hands and stroked her head. Yuria wasn’t the only one to welcome him back cutely.
[I earnestly waited for you to come back!]
[Welcome back, Master. How was your trip to your hometown?]
Lucia, who was talking to him cheerfully, suddenly raised her voice.
Startled, Yong-ho raised his head. Yuria as well as other dungeon spirits looked at him, embarrassed.
Lucia shouted again.
[There is something different about you!]
[Seriously! Something different about you!]
[Uh… Oh, no.]
[I’m sorry I haven’t protected you.]
[Sob, sob]
[I should have seen it.]
What Lucia said last was the most important. Yong-ho, who smiled awkwardly in embarrassment, sharply looked at Lucia, and she giggled as if she deliberately cracked a joke.
[Haa, our master has become a man!]
[You have lost your purity, but that’s your other charm. As you have been breathed on, why don’t you decide to be a bad man from now on?]
Yong-ho narrowed his eyes even more. He even doubted that Lucia was talking to someone else, not him. Her use of vocabulary was getting more lively day by day.
“Stop joking now!”
After whispering to her, he took his hand off Yuria and looked at other dungeon spirits.
An unexpected person was standing among them.
“Ophelia?”
“I, Ophelia, Enderion’s daughter, am happy to meet you, master of the Mammon family. I briefly stopped by before heading to the Free City.”
Unlike Yuria, who greeted awkwardly, Ophelia greeted him professionally, rolling her eyes quietly. Catalina, who was standing blankly behind him, looked at her.
“Hummmm”
Her moaning had mixed meanings.
Catalina let her ears droop and curled her lips when she found Ophelia’s sharp glance. Eventually, she lowered his head, blushing.
Ophelia grinned then told him, who was a bit embarrassed like Catalina, “It seems like you had a great and rewarding vacation out there. Congratulations!”
Her statement was as significant as her gaze.
Although Ophelia was not as good as his father in terms of discernment, Yong-ho found it hard to hide his sleeping with Catalina from her. So, he just chuckled. Salami, lying on the floor at some distance, shook its head at Yong-ho’s reaction.
“You’ve brought lots of stuff here. Can you tell me what they are?” Asked Ophelia.
Ophelia, one of the good dungeon spirit models, did not put her master in trouble.
She changed the topic appropriately.
So, he replied right away, “Well, I don’t want to see you empty-handed. So, I’ve brought a motley of stuff.”
Indeed, the baggage was full of various stuff.
Since they were extraordinarily strong, Yong-ho and Catalina could bring them. The baggage was heavy enough for four or five adults to carry.
Yuria, who was closest to Yong-ho, also showed interest in the baggage. She didn’t flap her tail or ears like Catalina, but two strands of her hair that protruded like antennae were cutely flapping instead.
Baduk, sitting next to Yuria, also sniffed its nose. It seemed that Baduk was trying to prove his smelling power like a dog.
“Alright. Look at this, Yuria. This is a chicken.”
Yong-ho did not delay opening the baggage. He opened one of the paper boxes on the top of the baggage and showed them the savory seasoned chicken. It was fried chicken prepared by his father passionately for the dungeon spirits of his son and the House of Mammon. There was no “chicken” as a dish in the demon world, but there were creatures that almost looked like chicken. Yuria and Baduk instinctively realized that what he took out was “meat”.
Baduk already started to drool. Yuria also drooled over it.
Yong-ho did not stall for time. He immediately wrapped a chicken leg in a piece of paper and gave it to Yuria.
“Thanks for the chicken.”
After thanking him first as she learned, Yuria bit the chicken leg. Then she made an expression she had never made before. Her expression was ecstasy itself.
This time, Baduk was drooling profusely over it. Yong-ho handed a piece of chicken to Baduk and observed it happily.
He was not sure about their eating culture in the whole demon world, but there was one thing that he could confirm at least within the southern area.
The dietary culture in the southern area didn’t develop very much.
All meat was grilled or boiled raw, and most vegetables were eaten raw or boiled in water.
It was the same for the bread made from grain. However, pancakes made with eggs were among the most delicious foods.
Of course, even in the southern part of the country, there was something called splendid dishes. For example, Ophelia’s tavern sold some quite delicious dishes. But it was hard to say that they were really delicious. The average taste was so low that they just tasted relatively delicious.
The reason why the food culture in the southern area was so undeveloped as to rival British cuisine was because of the food situation there.
Since the area was so desolate, they could not properly farm. With nothing around, seafood was also rare, and most of the fruits in the forest were inedible.
In a word, food was rare there. It was impossible for them to develop food in this situation. They didn’t have enough food to eat right now, so how could they study something like cuisine?
It was all thanks to the Dungeon Market that cooking in the southern area was developed as much as it was now.
If the Dungeon Market had not supplied them with basic food at low prices, the population in the southern area would have certainly been reduced by half.
So, long accustomed to the rustic southern food, these dungeon spirits had the first taste of delicious dishes of modern society.
What a difference between cooking for survival and cooking for gourmandism!
