Mushroom Lord in the Underground City-Chapter 236 - 233: Heroes

Oath City, council hall.

Inside the grand council hall, dawn’s light streaming through high windows illuminated the entire space.

Archbishop of Light Ditas wearing a plain white magic robe, with a golden Holy Emblem faintly shining on his chest, Duke Brunus in full military attire, his fingers unconsciously tapping on the map on the table, while Duke Lorenzo, the master of Oath City, sat in the main seat, deeply furrowing his brows.

"Just received urgent news," Duke Lorenzo’s voice was low and tense, "Angus Port has fallen. Snake-men as the vanguard launched a surprise attack, followed by eight imperial warships forcefully entering the port. Count Angus... seeing the situation hopeless, sent one last message and abandoned the city."

"So many spy activities before, seems we’ve finally got the main course," Duke Brunus snorted coldly, then asked with suspicion, "Snake-men? Does this race exist within the empire?"

"But they do exist in the Far North."

"What are they plotting by taking Angus Port?" Brunus pursued.

"They probably intend to bypass the Red Ridge Mountain Range’s natural barrier and launch a joint attack with the Empire’s main force on Alama’s High Castle Fortress, creating a pincer attack," Lorenzo’s finger traced a dangerous arc across the map, "It’s a pity, it seems even the empire has not experienced a true war for far too long; they didn’t even disrupt the demon crystal communication properly. The intelligence reached us immediately."

Lorenzo continued, "Brunus, the task of interception is yours. If there’s a chance, make sure to seize the port back while they are not firmly established!"

"I have no objections going," Brunus nodded, then shifted his tone, "But what about the grain supply? Elvyn, how are things over there?"

Everyone turned their eyes towards the communication crystal floating at the center of the hall, the crystal flickering with light, transmitting the voice of Sword Saint Elvyn, who had just woken up: "On my side? The Demon Race really sent people to intercept the envoy, but unfortunately, I was too efficient at cutting them down, I can’t tell if any among them held a noble title."

"Who asked you about that!" Brunus interrupted angrily, "I was asking about the grain supply! When will the elves’ grain arrive!"

"That’s not going smoothly," the voice of Sword Saint carried a tone of helplessness, "The elves have been using ’The ancestral tree cannot be easily awakened’ as an excuse, stubbornly only willing to provide a third of the total!"

"What are these long-eared folks thinking?!" Brunus slammed his fist heavily on the table, "If we fall, do they think they can stay unscathed?"

"Could it be..." Duke Lorenzo’s gaze slowly shifted to Archbishop Ditas, carrying a hint of doubt, "The hero summoning ceremony... was leaked?"

Upon hearing this, Brunus also directed his gaze towards Archbishop of Light in charge of the matter.

"Absolutely impossible!" Archbishop Ditas replied decisively, without a flicker in his eyelids.

"Well, that’s quite strange."

"Elvyn," Lorenzo addressed the crystal, "Inform the elves about the fall of Angus Port and the demons’ official invasion, exactly as it is. This is no longer a minor conflict; it’s an official war now! According to the alliance, they should be committed as well! Push them for full effort on the grain supply, and also request their troops to support us." 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Then he looked at Brunus, "You head out first, I will prioritize the grain supply to your side! I will also immediately send envoys to the Dwarf Kingdom, persuading them to launch an offensive on the eastern border of the empire, to distract that group of vampires."

Brunus nodded, "There’s no other choice."

Lastly, Duke Lorenzo glanced at the archbishop. Concerning the hero, the fewer people who know the details, the better. With full responsibility given to the archbishop now, he could only trust there would be no mistakes on the other side.

-----------------

Silver Sand Bay.

The sun had already climbed high, and Defense Commander Tanaka leisurely strolled out of his residence, heading towards the defense office.

This was his unshakeable daily routine: carrying with him a few followers to patrol around, casually collecting some benefits, and ending this ’hard-working’ day in the tavern.

Not far away, a young mother holding her child watched as Tanaka’s lazy figure disappeared at the street corner.

She tightened the child in her arms, speaking in a very low voice, "How much longer do we have to keep watch like this? We’ve already used the Memory Crystal to make several backups of the advanced reconnaissance skill scroll’s appraisal results and sent them back... when will the higher-ups send someone to take over? Even though the level isn’t high, this is a genuine hero! Keeping watch like this every day is very dangerous, right?"

The child in her arms blinked his innocent eyes, alertly looking around, confirming there was no one nearby, then responded with a voice starkly contrasting with his young appearance, carrying a sharp, experienced tone, "Why are you complaining, Mengya! This is a huge merit, many strive for it in vain! To deal with a hero, obviously a duke-level figure must personally step up, and we obviously can’t know the movements of such high-level people! Besides, before the higher-ups take action, they must first probe the reality, right? What if, like last time, we fall into a human trap again?"

Having a demonic duke ’lured’ away was considered the most humiliating defeat for the Demon Race in nearly a hundred years.

But no one dared to take responsibility for it.

On the other side, the 24-level Tanaka walked out of a restaurant while flossing his teeth; he had just checked the food safety issues there and found them satisfactory.

"Where should I go next?"

Tanaka was satisfied with his life now and understood what he was doing—abandoning the hero’s duties to work as a security captain under a major slave owner.

He had no burden about it.

In the past world, it was precisely because of the excessive, unshakable responsibilities that he had experienced such a miserable life like a beast of burden.