**Day 45 Night Omui Lord's Mansion**
I finished the meeting with the envoy from the capital and hurriedly returned to the lord's mansion to give instructions to my subordinates.
"So the capital has finally learned of it."
"It was only a matter of time, but it happened sooner than expected."
I had already informed the capital about the death of the great labyrinth and the investigation, but I kept the details confidential while the survey was ongoing. Now the death of the great labyrinth has become public knowledge.
They have already started saying things like "Present the equipment of the great labyrinth's Dungeon King," "The Dungeon King's magic stone belongs to the royal family," and "Send the one who defeated the Dungeon King to serve as a vassal." None of it is reasonable.
I got angry and told them, "If you want it so badly, go defeat it yourselves—why haven't you?" Then I left. But they will not back down from something like that.
However, I cannot allow any trouble to come to my clan's benefactor or the savior of my territory. Accepting kindness and repaying it with enmity is absolutely impossible. I swear on my pride and even my life—I must protect him at all costs.
Yesterday I heard the miraculous story of Shimomui Village. Just as the guild master reported, the village was saved this time. The villagers all cried. They shed tears of gratitude and kept talking about it.
And then there is the small general store in this town. That shop used to be run by a former adventurer manager who risked battles with monsters to procure goods. He sold cheaply to the poor and made barely any profit. It was a tiny store that kept supporting this poor town when merchants alone could not supply enough.
I do not know how much the town was helped by it. I offered aid many times, but he refused and continued risking danger to bring in goods, keeping the town alive. Everyone—every single person—was grateful to that store. Now that small general store has grown into a symbol of the town. Residents are moved and overjoyed by the abundance of goods they had never seen before.
It has become a symbol of the town's prosperity. That overflowing mountain of products, dazzling accessories, plentiful food and seasonings without shortage—that is the very symbol of a rich life. That is why people gather and stare, crying with joy just looking. Finally, the people of this frontier are allowed to dream. Finally, everyone has begun to dream of a happy life.
Even now, that store sells medicine and food practically for free to the poor and sick. There is no way it makes huge profits and becomes a grand emporium by gouging customers. Yet that massive building has now become a symbol of the town's rebirth.
I do not need to ask anyone to know. It is obvious. That symbol too was created by the boy. Rather, it would be more surprising if anyone else could build something like that!
What exactly has the royal family done? What right do the nobles in the capital have to interfere? They only sent meager aid to this poor frontier, and even that has gradually decreased year by year. They sent no soldiers and never even entered the labyrinth. Yet the royal family and nobles—who have done nothing—make noise and demand things. They have no right to take anything. Above all, it does not belong to me. It belongs to the boy who defeated the labyrinth alone. No one else has any claim.
To begin with, that boy is not from this country. He is not a citizen of the kingdom.
He has never been helped or saved by this nation.
On the contrary, not only the frontier but the entire kingdom and other countries on the continent owe him a debt. There is no way they do not.
No one could defeat that great labyrinth. No one could even reach its mid-layers. Yet he conquered it. He saved us. If that is not a debt of gratitude, what is?
If that great labyrinth had overflowed, not only the kingdom but the entire continent would have been swallowed. Why can they not understand that we were saved?
Instead of endless gratitude toward our benefactor, they try to seize from him. That is beyond rude—it is shameless to the extreme.
What face do they have to demand he hand over treasure? They should bow deeply and offer tribute, not arrogantly try to take from above!
"Never leak anything about the boy and his companions. Nothing else matters. I will not allow any trouble to reach our benefactor."
"Yes, my lord."
Greedy, incompetent, shameless fools who think only of taking without doing anything—puppet royalty with nothing but power, weak central nobles—even if they band together into a rabble, I will cut them down if needed. I will not let them touch him. I will not allow their hands near him.
"Prepare the military. The frontier will be defended. Whether monsters or greedy fools, I will not permit anything that troubles our benefactor in my territory."
"Arrangements are already complete."
Even if they try intimidation with force, the frontier is not so weak as to let the kingdom's army—luxurious in appearance but never fought monsters, never entered our labyrinth—do as they please.
My soldiers have poor equipment and barely enough medicine—poor frontier troops—but they are elites who fight the Demon Forest monsters day and night and thinned the great labyrinth. Now their equipment is adequate, weapons reinforced, medicine supplied. Even ten times or fifty times the number will not faze them.
All of it—everything—came from that boy. What is the point of equipment if not to fight here? What is the point of swords if not to protect someone? What is the point of being a lord if not for this?
If I cannot protect my people's safety or end their poverty, I deserve to be called incompetent.
But I will never allow myself to be called a coward who does nothing for the boy who enriched my people and drove away danger. That alone I cannot forgive.
"Negotiation will not even be possible. Strengthen town security. Do not let agents of the nobles approach the boy and his group."
"Elite guards are already stationed at the gates."
I will protect him from power.
If they push with force, I will meet them head-on.
The real danger is spies.
If any spy exists who could harm that boy, I want to see it. If such a spy exists, they should have defeated the labyrinth themselves. Well, there are none.
Rather, even without my protection, the king's army would be destroyed.
Compared to an orc king horde, the royal army would be too soft an opponent.
Does the kingdom truly not understand how terrifying the boy who defeated the great labyrinth is?
If they think they can defeat him, why can they not understand that he defeated the great labyrinth?
How can an army that cannot defeat a Dungeon King think it can beat the boy who defeated a Dungeon Emperor?
Utterly incompetent.
Pathetically foolish to the extreme.
How can they even consider meddling with someone who holds power far greater than the kingdom?
How can they fail to realize they are the ones who would be destroyed?
Why do they think they can order someone stronger than the kingdom?
Do they want to perish?
If so, I understand.
They will perish quickly.
They will perish in an instant.
By the time they realize, they will already be gone.
The great Demon Forest too.
The great labyrinth too.
By the time they notice, everything will be destroyed.
The kingdom might perish without even realizing.
After all, that boy probably does not even remember the kingdom's name.
He has no interest in knowing the king's name.
The nameless king's nameless kingdom will likely perish without anyone knowing its name.