The Ultimate Glitch ～One Man Conquers a Dungeon That Humanity Couldn’t Conquer for Hundreds of Years, in Only Two Hours～ - Chapter 11

The Floating Island

Chapter 11

“Did something happen?”

A few days after Reid came back from the Lost Forest, Kosel, who lived in the same village as him, had just showed up on his doorstep.

Kosel was a young man who didn’t care much about his appearance. He looked strangely at his childhood friend, Reid, with his hair disheveled.

No matter how close they were, he thought it’d be troublesome for him to meet

Orchid. He knew his friend would ask way too many questions – questions he couldn’t answer. So he’d asked Orchid to hide before he opened the door.

“The head of the village told me to give this to everyone,” Kosel replied as he handed a piece of paper to Reid. It was a message from the King. When he read the content, he was surprised. The reward for the dungeons’ treasures had been considerably increased.

“80 million Riggles?!”

“Right?,” said Kosel, “it’s an outrageous amount of money. But honestly, I don’t understand why they’d ask me to hand out these papers to Ordos.”

Reid wiped cold sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. This is definitely directed to me, he thought. Both the Guild and the Country must know that two dungeons have been conquered. They must be confused as to why no one has come forward yet.

“Did you know, Reid?,” asked his friend. “About what?”

“It seems like we can’t get any resources from the dungeon that’s next to our village.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know, man. Adventures have said that the inside of the dungeon is pitch black and every living thing in it have disappeared,” explained Kosel, with a confused expression. “There’s a rumor it’s been closed.”

Reid froze. It’s my fault the resources can’t be retrieved, he thought. If the dungeon was really closed, the finances of the villages that welcomed adventurers and military personnel would be jeopardized. He was now understanding the consequences of his actions.

“But hey,” Kosel continued, “this doesn’t have anything to do with us. I wonder what’s the guys up there are thinking…” Kosel shook his head before going back to his house. Reid locked the door and sat on a chair, trying to catch on his rapid thoughts. Orchid watched from a corner of the room.

I knew there was a bounty for the treasures, he thought, but damn, this is a large sum. And I have two treasures… so it would be 160 million Riggles?!

It would be well over his annual income for 200 years.

Can I still sell them?, he wondered. No, wouldn’t selling Orchid be like human trafficking? Besides, the book is pretty much attached to me, so…

“Orchid,” he started, “you said I was your Master, but can that be changed? Can

someone else be your Master?” “It cannot.”

“Aah, c’mon, don’t answer so quickly.”

If that’s the case, then Reid would be confined by the Country to use the crimson book and Orchid. He would lose his freedom.

What was problematic is that the dungeons’ resources were now inaccessible. If

he kept on conquering dungeons, it would become a real issue for the country.

Thus, Reid decided to temporarily stop conquering dungeons.

****

Located east of Morgalea laid the vast territory of the Alessandro Empire. Its only rivals in size were the Confederation of Orleans, in the north, and the Country of Germand in the west.

The Empire had selected a twenty-nine-year-old man named Lois Klein as their Chancellor. From a very young age, he was said to be a prodigy. He had graduated at the young age of twelve, making him the youngest of his class. He then got a job as an officer.

He was the youngest Chancellor the world had ever seen.

As Lois walked on the luxurious carpet that decorated the long corridor of the Castle, he was accompanied by the chief executive and the ministers of each government office.

“Sir Lois, the budget for the road construction of the Sustena District has proven to be insufficient. Would you be so kind to make this issue your priority?,” said one of the ministers.

“What are you saying?,” answered another, “with the growing tensions we have with the neighboring countries, we need to increase the military’s budget! This, should be the country’s priority.”

“No, you’re mistaken,” started someone else, “we have a more pressing issue. The Castle needs to invest in the maintenance of the bay of the port city of Rosaria. The Senate doesn’t understand anything. Please, Sir Lois, pay him a visit.”

Lois was fed up with those men’s selfishness and decided to not put up with them.

His pale skin looked even paler because of his black clothes and dark hair.

His eyes, behind small glasses, wandered to the window. Outside, there was a floating island in the sky – Alessandro had the only aerial ruins in the world. It was situated nearby the capital city and was seen as a national symbol by many of its citizens.

There was a dungeon on that island. The military and adventurers used the Country’s airships to get there and try to conquer it.

Moreover, the floating island was also a popular place for tourists. Therefore, only the dungeon had been made private, so foreigners could explore the rest of the peculiar island.

It was a tourist attraction.

It was an interesting island, but Lois didn’t care much about it. He just sighed and kept on listening to the complaints of his colleagues.

****

In the night, as the light had slowly vanished from his room, Reid opened the magic book. He summoned the map and took a look at it in the darkness and wondered what he should do with it now.

The map he was looking at was one of another country.

If I can’t conquer the dungeons here, he thought, I could go abroad…

He summoned the map of Alessandro.

Alessandro and Morgalea are on bad terms, so if I conquer their dungeons, it shouldn’t be a problem. But if I’m found, I could be in a lot of trouble.

Reid had an interest in Alessandro. Not because of its diplomatic situation, but because of its famous dungeon – the Floating Labyrinth.

The treasures depended on the dungeons they were in. He wondered how great the treasure would be in such an unusual dungeon.

Reid felt really excited.

Orchid was watching him from where she sat, expressionless.

What if there were other kids like her?, he wondered. His excitement turned into anxiety as he fell asleep.