Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert-Chapter 529

Chapter 529

Zeon visited his own building after a long time.

“Hyung!”

“Oppa!”

The moment he entered the first floor, Jetoya and Remura greeted Zeon.

Seeing their outfits, Zeon asked,

“Heading out?”

“Yes! We found a dungeon that looks doable for us.”

“Really?”

“We were lucky. We found it before anyone else did.”

The one who discovers a dungeon first has the right to raid it.

It was an unspoken rule of Neo Seoul.

Raid teams or scouting parties that broke this rule would be ostracized by other teams. In severe cases, they could even be punished by force.

Because of that, people generally did not touch dungeons discovered first by another raid team.

Of course, there were quite a few exceptions.

If the dungeon’s grade was high, or if it was rare, the story changed.

The first team would be slaughtered so no evidence remained, and all the dungeon spoils would be taken.

Such incidents were not uncommon—not only in the slums, but even among dungeon raid teams operated by Neo Seoul itself—where other teams were attacked, killed, and their dungeons seized.

However, such matters almost never surfaced.

Quite literally, all evidence was perfectly erased.

Another case was being attacked by scavengers.

Because of that, raid teams that discovered a dungeon kept its location and grade completely secret until the raid was finished.

The underground city’s dungeon raid team run by Jetoya was no different.

When they first entered dungeons, they were nothing more than a rabble.

Due to the nature of the underground city, they had no opportunity to experience dungeons. As a result, they had no idea how to find dungeons, nor how to raid them even if they did.

The one who helped them then was Levin.

Levin had experience raiding countless dungeons while following Zeon.

Whenever a dungeon was discovered, he led the underground city’s Awakeners and helped them gain experience.

Thanks to that, their level had risen to the point where they could easily clear most dungeons even without Levin’s help.

Jetoya also participated in dungeon raids like this whenever he had time.

“Zeon-nim!”

“It’s been a while.”

The underground city’s Awakeners, who were checking their equipment on the first floor, greeted Zeon one after another.

Zeon returned their greetings while looking around the first floor.

The first floor, which spanned four entire floors opened into one, was packed with countless shelves, each filled with supplies needed for raids.

At the inner subspace warehouse, as well as along corridors and near windows, underground city Awakeners stood guard.

They were protecting the building well enough that Zeon didn’t need to worry at all.

Zeon looked at Remura.

“Are you going too, Remura?”

“No. I can’t go this time. A disease suddenly started spreading in the underground city.”

“A disease?”

“Yes. It’s like a mild cold, but it’s extremely contagious. Hundreds of underground city residents have already been infected.”

“The cause?”

“We haven’t found it yet. It seems to be due to the harsh environment, but we haven’t figured out exactly what’s causing the disease.”

Remura wore a frustrated expression.

The health of the people living in the underground city was her responsibility.

Ordinary injuries or illnesses could be healed with a single use of her skill, but when so many people fell ill at once, even she was bound to reach her limits.

That was why it was important to find and eliminate the cause of the disease.

“I’m just going to watch Oppa and the raid team leave, then head back.”

“Should I come with you?”

“You? Aren’t you busy?”

“I have some free time for a few days, so it’s fine.”

There was still some time left until the most important event, the control tower groundbreaking ceremony.

Until then, there was nothing else to do, so he intended to visit the underground city.

“I’d appreciate it if you came with me.”

“Then let’s go together.”

“Yes!”

Remura smiled brightly.

Zeon looked at her for a moment, then glanced up at the upper floors where Levin lived. Jetoya spoke up.

“If you’re looking for Levin-hyung, he’s not here right now.”

“Did he go somewhere?”

“Yes. A big request came in, so he went out with the other hyungs.”

“Is that so?”

“He said that once this job is done, other requests will come pouring in like rain.”

Levin was deeply attached to the fixer office.

It wasn’t simply because he ran it.

The lives of countless orphans in the slums depended on it.

Whenever there was a case, Levin hired orphans from the slums and paid them. Because he paid them a considerable amount, the orphans risked their lives to carry out his orders. Thanks to that, Levin was able to resolve many requests safely, and the reputation of the fixer office rose.

Naturally, the number of requests increased accordingly, and it became difficult even to see Levin’s face.

Levin even set up a temporary living space in the office and slept there.

That was how deep his affection for the fixer office ran.

Zeon smiled.

“That’s good.”

He genuinely thought things had turned out well.

Levin, Briel, and Tesserina had all once lived in Zeon’s house. But now, all of them had become independent.

Briel went to the World Tree Village, Tesserina to her new lair, and Levin established a new nest here.

They were each moving forward in a direction suited to their own lives.

He wouldn’t be able to see them as often as before, but he still thought this was the right path.

The same was true for Jetoya and Remura.

They, too, were building their lives with their own goals.

Watching them grow like this was enjoyable in its own way.

Just then, one of the underground city Awakeners approached Jetoya and reported,

“Everything’s ready, Captain!”

“Then let’s depart right away.”

“Yes, Captain!”

The Awakener replied with a salute.

In the underground city, Jetoya was called Captain.

It was a nickname given as the underground city grew under his strong leadership, despite his young age.

At first, he had felt burdened by it, but now Jetoya accepted it as his fate.

Ggrrrk!

The first-floor doors opened, and the raid team led by Jetoya set off.

Buggy-like transport vehicles and four large cargo vehicles exited at the same time.

In the beginning, they lacked money and went out into the desert with nothing but their bodies. But through dungeon raids, they steadily earned money, and each time, they purchased vehicles and various supplies.

Thanks to that, they now possessed equipment on par with a respectable raid team.

Jetoya turned back toward Zeon and Remura and waved.

“Then we’re off.”

“Come back safely.”

Remura also waved until Jetoya and the raid team disappeared from view.

Once they were completely out of sight, the building’s doors closed.

Zeon said to Remura,

“Shall we head to the underground city too?”

“Yes!”

Remura opened the door installed inside the building, revealing an entrance leading underground.

The passage to the underground city had been expanded enough for vehicles to pass through.

It had been constructed to efficiently transport supplies to the underground city.

Thanks to that, Zeon and Remura could walk comfortably, as if taking a stroll.

“Nice.”

“This is your first time coming down since the construction, right?”

“Yeah. I’ve been busy.”

“To the point that you were almost never in Neo Seoul.”

He had gone to the World Tree Village, and even to Tesserina’s lair.

He had spent several times more time outside than in Neo Seoul, and so hadn’t had the leeway to look after the underground city.

Still, fortunately, thanks to Levin’s attention and Jetoya and Remura’s capable leadership, the underground city was running well.

Zeon and Remura chatted as they walked down the passage. After walking for quite some time, the underground city came into view.

Zeon’s eyes widened.

“What the? Why has it gotten this big?”

Setting aside the many houses built thanks to the sand hardener, the underground cavern itself had expanded enormously.

It looked at least three or four times larger than before.

By Zeon’s common sense, it was impossible.

Without any supports, expanding a cavern like this would surely cause a collapse. Yet the underground city had expanded wide and tall without a single pillar.

Remura spoke with a proud expression.

“It’s unrecognizable, right?”

“This is amazing.”

“It’s thanks to Tesserina-unni. She cast magic for us so we could expand it like this.”

“Ah.”

Only then did Zeon understand how the cavern could be expanded without supports.

If it was dragon magic, it could easily bear the enormous weight of the ground above.

“When did she even come here?”

“She stopped by while looking for a house. And she cast magic for us.”

“I should thank her when I see her later.”

“In exchange, we said we’d give Unni a brand-new building once one is built.”

After the underground cavern expanded, the buildings constructed there were also growing larger.

The original sand hardener wasn’t this effective.

It was only good enough to build individual houses, which meant large structures couldn’t be built. But after repeated improvements in the underground city, its performance became good enough to construct large buildings.

Thanks to that, fairly large buildings were being erected in the newly expanded areas of the underground cavern.

True to its name, a massive city was being built underground.

The residents of Neo Seoul would likely never believe that such a vast underground city existed beneath their feet.

Remura couldn’t hide her proud expression.

“The underground city’s population has already surpassed ten thousand. At this rate, it’ll exceed a hundred thousand in a few years.”

“Then you’ll have to expand again.”

“That’s why we’re planning to build the biggest building for Tesserina-unni. Wouldn’t she take even better care of us then?”

“Smart.”

“Hehe.”

It was a tactic possible only because they knew how obsessed dragons were with their lairs.

Just then—

“Remura-nim!”

Someone suddenly came running toward Remura from far away.

The face of the woman, who looked to be in her mid-to-late forties, had gone pale.

Remura recognized her immediately.

“Aunt Jillen! What’s wrong?”

“My child is sick.”

“What?”

“He suddenly developed a fever, and the coughing won’t stop. Please, heal my child, Remura-nim!”

“Alright. Let’s go quickly.”

Remura spoke to Jillen without the slightest hesitation.

“Thank you, Remura-nim!”

“Save the thanks for after your child is healed.”

“Yes, Remura-nim.”

Jillen hurried toward her home.

Following behind her, Zeon looked around the cavern.

The city’s air was so pleasant it was hard to believe they were underground.

It was proof that the ventilation system installed by old man Klexi was working well.

As the underground city expanded, ventilation and purification systems had been continually added. Thanks to that, the air quality underground was no worse than above ground.

‘And yet a contagious cold is spreading?’

Of course, outbreaks could happen, but it felt too sudden.

“It’s here.”

Jillen opened the door to her house.

On the bed lay Jillen’s son, gasping for breath. His face was flushed red, looking as though it might burst at any moment.

It was an urgent situation.

Remura quickly approached Jillen’s son and cast Cure.

Flash!

A pure white light gently enveloped Jillen’s son.

After a moment, as the light faded, his expression looked much better. Remura’s Cure had taken effect.

But Remura was given no time to relax.

“Remura-nim!”

“Our child is sick.”

“Remura-nim, please help us!”

Adults burst into Jillen’s house, shouting.

All of them begged Remura, saying their children were on the brink of death. Dozens of people came to her like that.

It was the beginning of a catastrophe.