Chapter 257: Daddy Behavior
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 257: Daddy Behavior
“This is what happened.”
The Succubus Queen—true name [Lilith Astaroth]—could essentially be considered dead.
Monarchs are beings of absolute power who reign as the rulers of their respective species, possessing transcendent martial prowess, abilities beyond human cognition, and unfathomable knowledge.
No high magic in the world could perfectly seal them or successfully imprison them in some remote land. To them, death is meaningless; they are immortal beings capable of resurrecting at any time.
However, with the power held by the Emperor of Sinew, such a feat was possible.
Even if it only meant trapping them inside his ‘stomach’ for a mere ten seconds.
Lilith Astaroth, the Succubus Queen, had escaped from the Demon Realm to this world through a small Labyrinth that opened on the surface roughly two to three hundred years ago.
Utilizing her abilities to the fullest, she gathered information and seized control of a criminal organization called the Antonio Brotherhood through brainwashing—plucking it like a perfectly ripened fruit.
She established herself near the newly formed Calax Great Labyrinth to eliminate a powerful enemy expected to emerge from its depths before they could grow.
That enemy was the adversary of the one she served as her lord. One of the three Heroes. Specifically, the other adversary to be chosen by the Emperor of Sinew.
Strictly maintaining her boundaries while expanding her influence, she transformed the small and insignificant Antonio Brotherhood into the hegemon of the Southeast.
She brainwashed people by concocting plausible justifications, gathered manpower to collect information, maintained close ties with the city’s leadership to exploit their weaknesses, and secretly turned the city into a hotbed of illegal activity.
The Mayerbridge Union was a minor obstacle, but it wasn't a significant problem. Ultimately, her goal wasn't to become the ruler of the city, but to kill the adversary.
Over the long years, she built a faction with unshakable power and established an organization that randomly harmed people by drawing in ignorant commoners to frequent the Labyrinth.
It would have been ideal if the successor chosen by the Emperor of Sinew was among those under her command.
She had even planted ears for the Antonio Brotherhood among several appraisers, working behind the scenes to ensure she would hear word of the successor chosen by the Emperor of Sinew through their conversations.
To be precise, she wanted to hear of the one who had obtained a unique skill that did not exist elsewhere in the world.
Thus, the first stumble in her plan was that a young girl who belonged to no appraiser community was the first to notice that skill.
Normally, if someone discovered a new skill for the first time, they would make a huge fuss and spread rumors everywhere to satisfy their ego. However, the fact that the girl, Ravi Sateria, did not do so was something Lilith Astaroth had failed to predict.
The second stumble was her failure to aggressively expand her influence into the Southwest.
Due to pressure from the Mayerbridge Union, she hadn't overtly exerted influence outside the Southeast.
However, as evidenced by the fact that the Small and Medium Clan Alliance sought out the Antonio Brotherhood the moment they were in trouble, she had actually invested a great deal of power into the Northeast and Northwest behind the scenes.
Ultimately, the decisive reason she hadn't done any work in the Southwest was her judgment that someone possessing the Emperor’s skill would never remain there.
She assumed that someone with such a powerful skill would never stay in the Southwest, which lacked infrastructure, had low prestige, and possessed abysmal facilities.
The fact that mediocre explorers looked down on the Southwest as they recklessly moved their residences to the Northwest and Northeast was also a result of Lilith Astaroth’s machinations.
She never imagined that someone would stay in the Southwest all day despite possessing such a skill.
Thirdly, the general trend of people bragging about obtaining powerful skills was also something she had cultivated.
It was her doing that caused explorers to immediately head to an inn or a guild building to boast loudly over a beer after obtaining a strong skill.
Since humans are animals that love to show off, it didn't even require much effort.
However, the successor was someone who didn't particularly spend time bragging. Although he had revealed his abilities to a few people, it was closer to being caught than boasting.
With these and various other unexpected events intertwining, Lilith Astaroth simply let time slip away—enough time for the Emperor’s successor to grow sufficiently.
As a result, she suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the now-mighty successor.
“Hmm.”
But there was no need to go through the trouble of explaining all this.
“Nothing much happened.”
“Pardon...?”
As Sera, who was hugging Yura on her lap, looked on with a dazed expression, I glossed over the story and brought it to a close.
“Ah, by the way. How was Roanmarie? Wasn't it comfortable?”
* * *
The four branch guilds of the Calax district were currently in an absolute state of chaos.
The Northwest could be said to have the fewest problems, while the Southeast undoubtedly had the most.
“I am declaring my resignation.”
When the administrative leadership resigned en masse all at once, leaving no one to handle the complex desk work, many outsiders entered through various recommendations. About forty percent of that workforce came from the Golden Glove Syndicate, including the Lymain family.
These were people who were already well-versed in accounting and other complex clerical duties. Most importantly, as the number of ‘non-human’ personnel increased significantly, the poor treatment of demi-humans—which had already been rampant in the Southeast—began to change.
To dismantle the cartels that had formed corrupt relationships with the outside world, rotting from within, the reorganization of the Southeast branch guild took place with enthusiastic support from the officials of the other three districts.
“Sigh, how did things come to this? My head hurts.”
“Chairwoman, at least you chose a good son-in-law.”
“...I suppose you’re right.”
No matter how great a merchant group might be, they normally couldn't form such a deep relationship with a major guild branch. At most, a syndicate would periodically supply mass-produced equipment; they never interfered in internal affairs.
The Lymain family was the first to achieve such a feat. And they did it at a guild branch in the Labyrinth City Calax, home to one of the Three Great Labyrinths.
The guild administrators of the Northwest, who were always being pushed around by the prideful independent explorers, expressed their gratitude, and they also felt goodwill toward the branch manager of the Southwest, who had similarly sent support.
The Northeast branch guild wasn't exactly in a celebratory mood, but their hearts were full just seeing the Southeast guild cartel get smashed to pieces.
And now that these four branches were gathered together, there was one concern they had to put their heads together and worry about.
“Explorer Aven... his real name is Yoo Eon. He is a male explorer in his early twenties who began his activities in early February of this year. From then until now, at the end of August, he is a Cobalt-grade explorer and a candidate for promotion to Palladium Grade.”
The meeting was led by the Northeast. It was a meeting regarding the individual who had made the greatest contribution during the Southeast catastrophe about two weeks ago.
“According to what we heard from the Mayerbridge Union, the reason the Northeast explorers were able to respond so quickly was that he provided information to Delbaheim, a Palladium-grade explorer in the Union’s leadership.”
“The Lymain family said something similar... It seems this Aven fellow is the son-in-law of the Lymain Chairwoman.”
The Southeast, whose leadership had been completely replaced, remained silent. Instead, the next person spoke up.
“I told you repeatedly that he was an extraordinary man.”
“Ahem....”
As Arthur Dexter spoke, Melarus Masaher, the branch manager of the Calax Northeast Guild, turned his head slightly and cleared his throat.
Do you have any idea what kind of thorny seat I had to sit in when I went to the Guild Headquarters? That Aven fellow, not knowing his place, barked and snapped at the high-ranking officials of the Guild Headquarters.
He even picked a fight with an Orichalcum-grade explorer. And so on.
“Sir Masaher.”
“S-Speak, Sir Dexter.”
“No, you just looked unwell. I was going to suggest you go use the restroom.”
“Khm....”
In any case, Yoo Eon was the one who had fought a battle massive enough to completely devastate about ninety percent of the Southeast, the largest of Calax’s four regions. He had single-handedly stopped the Antonio Brotherhood, who possessed the martial power to instantly shatter the high-density Grand Magic Barrier of the Gateway.
Anxiety clouded the brows of every guild leader present, except for Arthur Dexter. They were all thinking the same thing:
Is a new Orichalcum Grade being born?
Was he just all flash and no substance, happening to destroy the Southeast by chance? If so, it made no sense that he had single-handedly stopped the Antonio Brotherhood after they broke the Gateway’s Grand Magic Barrier.
While rumors were circulating through the mouths of some explorers with long-range vision that Explorer Aven was a great monster transcending humanity...
“B-But... what is he doing right now?”
Undoubtedly, Explorer Aven was the one who contributed most to this catastrophe. So, what was the man who achieved such a feat doing now?
“He... he entered the Labyrinth this morning.”
“He’s entering the Labyrinth even after such a battle?”
“But there’s one peculiar thing... He wrote down his target floor as the 5th floor before entering....”
“The 5th floor? Not the 50th?”
“I heard he operates solo, so wouldn't the 50th floor be more appropriate?”
Even for an Orichalcum-grade explorer, the 50th floor would be considered a reasonable limit for solo play. After all, humans need sleep, long battles cause muscle fatigue, and considering mental limits, higher floors would be difficult.
Dahlia, who had been suddenly summoned from the Southwest lobby, caught her breath and scratched her head.
“A-Ah, no... this has been repeating for a few days now... and the guards on duty said they only saw him up to the 5th floor.”
“Hmm... is there some reason for it?”
“Oh, and there’s one more unusual thing....”
“An unusual thing?”
Dahlia tilted her head as she flipped through the entry logs.
“For his purpose of entry, he wrote ‘Childcare and recuperation’...?”
“Childcare?”
“Recuperation is one thing, but childcare in the Labyrinth...?”
“Was there any sign of someone accompanying him?”
“Ah, yes. A young child around ten years old... We tried to stop them at first, but since there didn't seem to be any major issues, we granted permission for now.”
It wasn't unheard of for minors under sixteen to be allowed into the Labyrinth with a guardian’s consent. Since the floor was restricted to the 5th, it wasn't a big problem, but...
“Didn't you say he was in his early twenties? I never heard anything about him having a ten-year-old child.”
“I’m not too sure about that either....”
An explorer with power so immense that people were debating whether he was Orichalcum Grade was taking a ten-year-old kid into the Labyrinth to do childcare.
“Hmm.”
The meeting was, quite literally, losing its way in the Labyrinth.