Number One Dungeon Supplier

Chapter 2022: The Slum Promise

"Wow, for the first time, I felt really tired," Jin said to himself as he woke up from his meditation pose. He was not sure whether the fatigue came from before he entered Atopia or after entering it.

Perhaps, he overused it a bit when he had continuously emitted his aura for more than a few hours. But as he overlooked Central Square from his room, Jin noticed that it was still bustling with activity even though only Portal 4 was open.

With his Inverse Eyes, he was able to zoom and magnify to understand what was the situation. "Wow, what is happening, I thought I only made those pork ribs as part of the menu, where are those rabbits coming from?" Jin thought to himself as he climbed out of the king's room and literally flew towards Central Square.

It made those who were working shocked by the sudden appearance of their king. Questo, who was already yawning and going to end his shift so that his Vice Guildmaster could take over, saw Jin and bowed to him before.

"Ah, my liege. I did not expect you to appear so quickly." Questo said and Jin asked what the situation was. The Guildmaster then told Jin about the appearance of a variant that had not been taken into account mainly due to the fact that they might be complacent.

"Hmmm. Maybe when I was meditating, I might accidentally release some things unconsciously. Oh well, at the very least, it's something they could still handle so there was nothing to be worried about." Jin thought to himself as the workers were carrying hauls of corpses from the dungeon portal and to their stores for 'processing'.

"Then I assume that the boss has been defeated?" Jin asked and Questo nodded his head while pointing towards his right, showing a group of men, both injured and tired physically but mentally cheerful. A fireplace was set right in the side of the Central Square, blocking people's way and the guards were wary, now that they saw the King was looking towards their way.

They did not know whether to close an eye and let the King settle it or be reprimanded for allowing these ...hooligans to eat at the side of the Central Square. In the end, their small gamble paid off.

As Jin nonchalantly walked towards the supposed campfire, the Leader of the Red Vipers stood up while the rest mellowed their bantering. "You are the one who cleared that dungeon portal?"

"Aye, you have a problem with it?" The Leader of the Red Vipers was sizing up the new King. This was because Jin was seen without his armour but in his shirts and shorts. They were all thinking what kind of King would come down to meet these subjects in such an attire.

"No, not really. Thanks for the help. Be sure to get your friends to try out the portals as well. We will need as much help as possible if we want to revamp the slums into a livable place." Jin said and the Leader of the Red Vipers gave him a dirty look.

"Heh. As if you nobles ever care about the lower class." The Leader of the Red Vipers spit his sputum at Jin's feet but the latter was fast enough to evade it gracefully. Yet, instead of a retaliatory kick, he merely acted as if he was using his leg as a medium to scratch his other leg.

"Hmm, It's not that I care, it is just that I do not have the people to advertise jobs. What about you? Why don't you get people from the slums to start working? Be the pack mules, or whatever job they can get. The moment they can earn even a single copper, I will permit and open up a noble's house to let those people stay."

"Why would you do such a thing?" One of the Red Vipers shouted and the others added on with booing.

"Why? Isn't it obvious? The conditions of those slums are just nigh impossible to stay in. I need to remove the slums to rebuild it and how to rebuild it if they are not willing to move? I say those empty noble houses are good enough of a squatter place to be in." Jin said and the Leader of the Red Vipers laughed upon hearing his recommendation.

"So all they have to do is to earn a copper?"

"That and keeping the noble house clean. If I rebuild the slums and I come back to see the noble houses to be filled with filth, I am not allowing them to return to their supposed new homes." Jin said and the leader of the Red Vipers understood.

"In short, hygiene? You want to squeeze fucking 50 over people in a noble house and u asking for hygiene?" The Leader asked and Jin nodded.

"If anyone falls sick because of hygiene purposes, I am not letting them stay in the slums too," Jin said and the Leader of the Red Vipers thought for it long and hard.

"We will try."

"Good. I am looking forward to your success." Jin nodded his head and flipped a gold coin towards the Red Viper's Leader. But as Jin was leaving, one of his subordinates shouted demanding why the king did not ask for their leader's name.

"Why should I? If he is that great, his name will naturally come to me instead." Jin said and the Red Viper's Leader laughed loudly as he picked up his drink and asked his group to do a loud cheer.

Only when people were eating, his Vice Leader asked why the Red Viper Leader continued to patronise the King's ideas. "Why? Has any king or ministers ever allowed the lowest of scums to live in a noble house?"

"No." Stay updated with

"Has any king or ministers ever asked the lowest class of scum to take note of their own hygiene?"

"No, never."

"There you have it. If the King was not serious about providing for the slums, he could just make an empty promise. But now that he is telling the slum people to stay in an empty noble house means that he is serious about rebuilding the slums. "

"Then the hygiene part..." The vice leader started to use his brain a bit even though he was a bit tired from the night raid. "Does that really matter? Does he want us not to stink?"

"No." The adventurer tactician who had been aiding them for the past Dungeon Portal had been invited to eat with the Red Vipers. He sounded out as the Vice Leader of the Red Vipers gave such an answer.

"Most of the health problems and deaths in the slums stemmed from the lack of hygiene. My parents died due to food poisoning but when I ate it, I did not have any problems."

"Ah..." The Vice Leader of Red Vipers nodded and started to recall experiences and past scenarios where such an event had happened. "Then, Tactician, what do you suggest?"

"You can just call me by my name, you know..." The Tactician Adventurer said but the Vice Leader refused. "In any case, get everyone to learn the basics of water element magic. With the Noble House having access to clean water, The manipulation of water should be essential...and also to remove our waste."

"Sounds like tough work..." One of the subordinates said and the rest also nodded their heads.

"So, someone needs to do the tough work now that the King has sealed us all in this." The Tactician Adventurer sighed as he did not expect an actual sealing of the city. It was as if the King wanted to clear up all the issues this Kingdom of Ress had before deciding to talk to the rest of the neighbouring countries.

However, with the War status and the possible rumours that the neighbouring cities wanted a piece of Ress because of its crystal mines and mages were something that might have forced the new King to do such drastic actions.

Still, to see the people were resilient and reciprocated to the new resource farm, there might actually be some hope for the kingdom after all.

"How long can these feed the people?" Jin started to ask a few of the merchant guild members and they knew that in a self contained environment, food and water would be the main concern of the kingdom rather than gold. Perhaps, Gold might subsequently be useless considering how people might banter or aid each other to ensure the survival of their own selves.

"3 days. 5 days is a stretch but the food quality might degrade."

"Even with ice magic?" Jin asked and they nodded their heads.

"Unless the meat is in ice. But it's extremely troublesome to wait for it to thaw and takes up a lot of storage." The guild merchants said and Jin sighed. He knows that they need modern solutions for this kind of problem."

"Assuming if there is a way to store it without ice magic, how long do you think it will last if the food is not rotten?" Jin asked.

"Perhaps, 2 weeks. 3 weeks tops with a bit of rationing...that is assuming you were really able to keep the food from not rotting." The Merchant Guild Members said and Jin guessed there was a lot on his plate to do.