Reincarnated in the Alternate World, I'm A Demonic Lord as Well as a Villager-Chapter 574 - 298: A Maze Is a Maze

Goblin Main Camp.

After greeting each other, Buwana voluntarily began to tell Shami about the recent situation of the goblins.

"I’ve heard you’re planning to attack Balan City, one of the three major economic cities of Esper Kingdom. Although this city holds great economic significance, it’s not a strategic stronghold. It’s easy to capture, but also easy to lose. Attacking hastily will only put you in a dilemma."

Shami looked at Buwana with concern.

"That’s not the case, Lord Shami."

Buwana sighed deeply and shook his head.

"Our next step is not to attack Balan City. The reason for the rumors is that the City Lord of Balan City wants to deceive the Esper Royal Family into financially supporting them. Nowadays, many cities in the eastern part of the Esper Kingdom are blaming the goblins, using goblins’ mass invasions as an excuse to con money from the Royal Capital. We are unwittingly bearing a huge burden."

"Indeed. Some cities even have news saying, ’Goblins passing by bought a ticket and won the grand prize! The lottery center temporarily keeps the prize money, and invites goblins to come and collect it.’

Zhuge Bulin added.

"Isn’t that self-deception? Asking goblins to claim the prize is basically a one-way trip to oblivion. It’s just another way to pocket the money themselves!"

"That’s normal. It’s the end of the year. The director is busy balancing the books. Besides, you can’t do anything about them."

Shami was not surprised by this.

"It’s winter now; humans’ combat effectiveness decreases significantly during winter, but not for goblins. We plan to advance all the way, taking advantage of this winter, to divide the Esper Kingdom into two."

Buwana divulged the grand plan of the goblin army, and seeing Shami still had doubts, he quickly explained.

"Lord Shami need not worry. On the way, the goblins have already encountered many teams from other kingdoms, all intent on defeating the goblins. However, these teams were all driven back by the goblins; they got to witness the goblins’ might."

Shami nodded in satisfaction, looking at this goblin army, resurrected by himself and the flat golden fur dance, couldn’t help but exclaim in praise.

"A child should be like Buwana..."

The Dragon Race Maiden glanced over with a peculiar look.

——

After fully entrusting the task of taking over Esper Kingdom to the goblins, Shami and Elze left the goblin main camp to visit the Underground Maze.

The Underground Maze and the goblin army complement each other. Only if the Underground Maze successfully attracts most adventurer teams, the goblin army would not need to fear adventurer teams with extraordinary power, and could confidently engage the human army.

"We’re here."

Soon, the Dragon Race Maiden stopped, and Shami looked up to see they were at the entrance of a human city.

[Balan]

"Isn’t this one of the three major economic cities of Esper Kingdom? Did we take the wrong path?"

Shami asked in confusion.

"No. Just follow me and you’ll see."

The Dragon Race Maiden did not directly answer Shami’s question but led Shami along the city wall for a while, stomping the ground as they walked until there was a slight movement on the ground, then stopped, looked around to ensure no one was watching, quickly lifted the turf, and led Shami into the ground hole.

"This is the emergency escape passage I designed for the Underground City. If an emergency happens in the dungeon, I can slip out from here."

Shami nodded in realization, glancing around the surroundings of the ground hole.

"You’ve really built the Underground City inside a big city."

"Big cities have more adventurer teams. Although the Underground City is built within the third ring of the city, don’t worry, I’ve already dug over forty secret passages leading out of the city."

"Are you a dragon or a rabbit! You’ve spent more effort on escape routes than on constructing the Underground Maze! An Underground City built in the center of the city would be lost immediately once discovered!"

"That’s why two-thirds of the gold coins Shami allocated to me were used to pay rent and bribe the inspection personnel of the stores here."

The Dragon Race Maiden waved, and in the glow from the thumb-size glowing crystals on both sides of the tunnel, the two entered the Dragon Race Maiden’s Underground City.

Since they entered through the back door, the first place they reached was where the treasure chests were placed.

"Lord Shami, long time no see."

The Treasure Chest Monster, moved here by the Dragon Race Maiden, greeted.

"Anyone who navigates through the Underground Maze to reach here and defeats the Treasure Chest Monster will gain great treasure!"

The Dragon Race Maiden said, and Shami looked into the Treasure Chest Monster to find it pitifully contained only one gold coin.

"This treasure is not even as valuable as putting a bowl of flat golden fur’s bathwater in the Treasure Chest Monster."

"But not everyone can reach here. Lord Shami, don’t underestimate my designed Underground City!"

The Dragon Race Maiden asserted confidently, and Shami’s eyes regained their spark.

Indeed, if the dungeon is well designed, even if the final treasure is this kind of thing, adventurer teams would, because of the challenges they overcame, utter something sentimental like ’We’ve forged bonds; the journey was the real treasure,’ and forget about the treasure itself.

"Then let’s go, show me your Underground City."

"Yes. I’ll lead the way. You can hold onto my tail so we don’t get lost in the dark dungeon."

Shami readily agreed, holding the tip of Elze’s tail with both hands. Elze took two steps and visibly weakened, kneeling, her flushed face turning back to look at Shami in the dark.

"Catch me if you can, but why are your index and middle fingers poking my scales!" 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

"Sorry, it’s just that dragon tails are so intriguing, even the Demon King wouldn’t be able to resist."

Elze shot a furious glare at Shami, but from Shami’s evident fondness, the purple-haired girl felt somewhat confident about her upcoming plot.

Following the Dragon Race Maiden, Shami walked through the dim passageway for a long time. Since it was almost pitch black around them, with only the occasional Glowing Crystal on the walls, Shami almost lost his sense of time.

"We’ve been here for like ten minutes, haven’t we?"

"No, it’s been an hour already."

"What?!"

Shami stopped in his tracks in shock, and the purple-haired girl halted as well.

"We’ve been walking for so long, and it’s all passageways here, no checkpoints or monsters, nothing! Speaking of which, this is the third time we’ve seen this chair, right?"

"Well, since this is an Underground Maze open to the public, if too many monsters appeared, it would expose the identity of the maze builder."

The Dragon Race Maiden rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

Shami was momentarily taken aback.

"It really is a maze after all!"

"Wasn’t it Shami who had it built?"

The Dragon Race Maiden, who had faithfully constructed a gigantic underground maze, questioned Shami.

Shami hesitated for a moment.

"How else could it trap the adventuring parties?"

As Shami spoke, the Dragon Race Maiden directly led Shami through a shortcut, and at this moment, the surrounding environment slowly began to change.

"Don’t worry. This is my Chameleon Ability, which can change the surrounding environment, so the adventuring parties will always be trapped in the maze. Theoretically, no one can reach the Treasure Chest Monster. Because the maze’s surroundings have the chameleon effect, subconsciously transforming to resemble other places. Even this door can block the path to the left or the right, making it nearly impossible for anyone to decipher."

"And the maze is already having quite an effect. Even though it’s the opening period, it’s full every day. Several adventuring parties have been stuck in here for four to five days, and I’ll need to go rescue them later."

"Is it free?"

"How could it be? We’re the Demon Race, after all, of course, there’s an entrance fee, and rescues also come at an extra cost."

Upon hearing this, Shami’s tightly furrowed brow slowly relaxed.

As long as there’s money to be made, it’s alright...

Through the shortcut, the Dragon Race Maiden and Shami arrived at the maze’s exit, and upon exiting, the light was suddenly bright. The maze was situated on a bustling street, and now two groups of people were lining up, some adventurers and some other city residents.

"Shopkeeper Elze, can you speed up the line inside?"

A mercenary shouted, quickly getting into a skirmish with those already in line.

The purple-haired girl smiled cheerfully and swayed her tail slightly, and the noise abruptly ceased, as the mercenary cautiously glanced at the girl’s tail.

This was a shop run by the Dragon Race. Causing trouble here would likely cost you your life.

The mercenary swallowed hard and kept quiet.

Shami glanced at Elze.

Who would have thought Elze could quell the troublemaker merely with her Dragon Race identity, although she’s not really capable of anything besides running away.

Truly two peas in a pod with that golden-haired mediocrity!

"Shopkeeper Elze, is it true there’s a Dragon Race treasure hidden inside?"

"Of course. As the Dragon Race, there’s no need to speak of things I can’t guarantee."

Elze waved her small hands, and those in line showed an expression of belief. The line grew longer, and the secret room’s business boomed.

Meanwhile, Shami now understood why the purple-haired girl’s Underground Maze could thrive in this city.

Indeed, it’s got the spirit of the Demon Race, masquerading the Underground Maze as a city entertainment project. Not only does this attract more adventuring parties to participate, but it also gives the public the illusion of fiction, making the adventuring parties indulge, forgetting their fighting spirits under the ’entertainment to death’ operating principle.

"The current maze fatality rate is 3%, so let’s hope none of you die inside since there’s no compensation for that."

The purple-haired girl loudly explained, clearly causing dissatisfaction among the crowd.

Shami retracted his earlier questioning and showed a look of approval to the purple-haired girl.

The two walked back into the maze, while outside, several girls hired by Elze resumed their busy work.

"Elze, even though this maze somewhat surpasses the bounds of a normal Underground Maze, whether in terms of its concealment level or profitability, it is indeed commendable. If nothing unexpected happens, you’ll soon have a place among the Demon Race’s Four Heavenly Kings."

The Dragon Race Maiden beamed, leading Shami back into the maze.

"That’s great, Shami! Since you’re rarely here, I have prepared something nice for you."

"Oh?"

The purple-haired girl beckoned, and Shami slowly entered a secret chamber.