Who Designed This Underworld Dungeon?

"The Sain Dungeon always surprises people."

This is what Dal routinely says when bringing a new recruit into the Fran Guard.

After all, you never know if any random light point in the Sain Dungeon is a stylish little piece of junk, a super practical big gift, or maybe that light point is actually a trap luring you to show your ass to a monster, or worse, it could be the reflection in the big eyes of a Curse Frog.

And now, looking at the dilapidated Savis City before him, he truly feels that Sain has given him a big surprise.

An unprecedented big surprise.

After the Black Hawk's Chaos, the Fran Guard's influence continues to expand, and currently, its membership is growing steadily.

In the turmoil caused by Eliphas, while the Sain Dungeon and Hero Elsa were the most eye-catching, everyone else had their own moments to shine. Back then, Dal and two members of the Fran Guard managed to single-handedly defeat the gigantic meteor monster, just like Sword Saint Japar and Elf Vienma, which made people further recognize this organization.

Originally, the public thought the Fran Guard was solely against the Demon Clan, but unexpectedly, they showed outstanding abilities in battling monsters as well.

Additionally, since Eliphas was also related to the Demon Clan, people's vigilance against the Demon Clan heightened again, and any methods to guard against them were valued.

The influence of the Sain Dungeon is continuously expanding, known all over the Yanor Kingdom, and even surrounding countries have heard its name.

With all these conditions, it's impossible for the Fran Guard to remain unnoticed, completely unable to keep a low profile.

A wave of member increase is inevitable, aside from cooperation from various forces, and Dal has been busy with related matters these days, resulting in dark circles under his eyes.

The problems to be solved are numerous, so many that they make his scalp tingle.

Back when the Fran Guard was smaller, everyone would routinely train and explore the dungeon, rushing out whenever there was news of the Demon Clan, and life was somewhat regular.

But now that it's expanded, how should the personnel be allocated? How should resources be dispatched? Should we increase the permanent base? Should we start regular patrols within the kingdom? Should we send people to defend the borders against the Demon Clan? Should we...

Just the question of whether anyone is willing to go to the border with the Western Continent and Yanor Kingdom to resist the Demon Clan is a problem. Don't forget the name Fran Guard came from the Fran Undead Team in the Sain Dungeon; its core is Sain, and Sain is the best shortcut to improve strength. When there's no news about the Demon Clan, everyone is eager to immerse themselves in it 24/7. Who wants to leave the Sain Dungeon to guard the border?

It always feels like adventurers who have been to Sain are all suffering from firepower deficiency anxiety. They won't leave until they train themselves into the Ten-Mile Slope Sword God, while compared to them, Elsa, who travels at will, clearly possesses extraordinary action power.

Another somewhat goofy problem that leaves Dal unsure of how to proceed is—the wolves, not enough of them.

Wolf Blood is one of the marks of the Fran Guard. Those who can't withstand it can rely on the power of the wolf pack to bear it together, but now, all his wolf pack has shared a round of Wolf Blood, and there are no free wolves to allocate to the new members.

This has led to Dal constantly pondering how to inject some fresh blood into the wolf pack these days.

More than once, he's held his giant wolf in his arms at night with a face full of sorrow, staring at the moon, thinking it's absurd to consider match-making for his wolf pack when he hasn't even had the chance to marry yet.

One Magician named Roger, who wishes to remain anonymous, showed great interest and support in this matter, yet Dal felt uneasy entrusting it to them.

Fortunately, with Steeran's help, he made contact with Vienma. Aside from playing with plants, Vienma, a Master of Natural Magic, has profound knowledge of animals, and might be able to aid the wolf pack in achieving more and better reproduction.

In summary, these days Dal is experiencing both pain and joy, mostly pain, perhaps.

Dal hadn't entered Sain for a while, the reason for his venture into the Sain Dungeon today was because a child who had long admired the Fran Guard was celebrating a birthday, and he thought about getting a gift.

The Fran series toys from the Bed Family were good, but since the kid already completed the entire set, gifting more would be pointless.

Dal was half-socially anxious and basically only communicated with the wolf pack. He's made some progress now, at least he can communicate without issues, but he's still not very good at debating with people, especially concerning gift-preparing skills, essential when socializing.

Could you expect someone who lost their entire family to the Demon Clan as a child and never received gifts to come up with great gift ideas?

After much thought, the gift he finally decided on was—a flower wreath from a Little Warrior Pot.

For this, he found some free time today to enter Sain, took a trip to the Warrior Pot settlement in the Great Tomb area, and during the process of obtaining the Little Warrior Pot's wreath, he inevitably fought with the Elite Monster, [Half-beastified Father Gascoin], that existed there.

With his strength, there was no suspense in achieving victory. Not to mention several idle Fran Guards accompanied him. Defeating the priest, according to procedure, grants Wei Pot Material, then after repairing the Warrior Pot and brushing up the Little Pot's favor, one can receive a wreath crafted by the Little Pot.

However, for some unknown reason, after defeating the priest this time, a never-seen-before item [Little Music Box] was dropped.

Dal had never seen such a mechanical item before and, upon trying to wind it, he heard a serene lullaby. Before he had a chance to marvel at how the Sain Dungeon truly had everything, his vision suddenly went dark.

When he opened his eyes again, he saw an old man sitting in a wheelchair, asking if he'd like some blood therapy.

And then, what was Dal's mood?

Though a bit abstract, it was like the intriguing novelty felt by long-time couples suddenly seeing the other play with some romantic fun.

Dal was actually faster than Fanen in achieving 100% trust in the Sain Dungeon. With the mindset that "How could the Sain Dungeon harm me?" he nodded immediately.

When he woke up later, he was already at Yusefka Clinic... and surrounded by a circle of Fran Guards and a giant wolf.

It seems everyone chose to trust Sain.

The subsequent steps were routine: leaving the clinic to explore Yarn, encountering the Clergy Beast, heading to the Hunter's Dream, seeing the puppet, then leaving the dungeon, finally meeting up with Elsa and the others.

I don't know how Dal feels after this journey, but what is certain is...

The wolfman who regularly appears at Yusefka Clinic to welcome new hunters must have felt desperate when he saw the Fran Guards struggling to push the oversized giant wolf through the door frame, one by one.

And when it saw the giant wolf activate its super transformation, turning into wolfmen taller than itself, it probably lost even the feeling of despair, left with only emptiness inside.

That night, Yarn welcomed a group of people wilder than beasts, all of them Wolf Cavalry.

...

"What you mean is, while aliens ravage this land, slaughter humans, humiliate the dead, and defile corpses, your king does nothing but watch it all happen?"

Savis City, survivor shelter.

Dal looked at Isha in front of him, his face so dark it seemed water could drip from it, repeating the girl's words in a low, serious tone.

Those familiar with him know that when he shows this expression, it's akin to a fiery chili planted—ready to explode at any moment.

"If it weren't for General Uffie coming alone to tell us the truth, we would have thought there were no living people in the world."

Isha said, feeling angry and disheartened by the King of Red's inaction. Without the dungeon, they would already be dead.

However, what she didn't expect was that Dal seemed even angrier than her, almost furious.

"Thank you for your hard work."

Dal looked at Isha with a serious and appreciative gaze. Every survivor there deserved his admiration; anyone fighting desperately for their homeland deserved respect.

He stood up, the chair clashing with the ground creating a sound.

"From now on, leave everything to me."

He paused and then added:

"To us!"

Isha immediately stood up, feeling inexplicably nervous in Dal's presence.

"Isn't this an internal affair of his country? Can we intervene at will?" asked Klan, the Fran Guard accompanying Dal, expressing his concerns.

"Just say we're envoys from Yanor Kingdom."

Dal said confidently, "Although it may be a bit like acting first and reporting later, both the king and the princess will definitely support us."

Listening to his confident words, Isha suddenly felt envious, even a bit jealous.

She didn't know the situation in the distant Yanor Kingdom, but from Dal's confidence, she sensed that Yanor Kingdom now is definitely a trustworthy nation united as one.

If it's them, maybe they really can save Red! Stars shone in Isha's eyes.

"Capture the King of Red alive and give him a good beating!" Fran Guard Wesker suddenly shouted.

"Oh oh oh!" The others responded unanimously, while Dal showed no sign of stopping them, even making gestures as if planning the posture to use in beating the king.

"..."

The stars in Isha's eyes instantly froze.

This group of people... can they really save Red using conventional methods?

Meanwhile, in the capital of Red.

In an underground space filled with meatballs, reeking of a foul stench, there came some noise as a place on the ground moved slightly.

The next moment, Uffie and Fanen jumped out.