With more than six heroes now affiliated with Lartania, a separate resting room was provided, allowing the heroes to gather there.
“Congratulations?”
After a long period of silence, it was Shadra who first broke the ice.
“What do you an?”
“I’m talking about your return to Lartania. From what I’ve heard, it’s sothing you really wanted.”
In fact, Elena, along with River and Shadra, had gathered a rough idea of what had happened over the past few days from the rumors spread by the maids and staff in the Lord’s castle.
“You couldn’t return for such a long ti, but now you have.”
Rin, understanding Shadra’s ‘congratulatory’ words imdiately, smiled back as she spoke.
“I was just about to express my gratitude as well.”
“Huh?”
“You’ve done an excellent job supporting him in our absence, haven’t you?”
“And I’m still doing a great job supporting him now.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll support him even better.”
“A lot has changed between ten years ago and now.”
Their smiles persisted as they continued their verbal dueling.
Of course, neither Shadra nor Rin had any intention of suddenly drawing weapons and escalating the situation.
They both knew that the first to lose their temper and draw a weapon would lose, and they also knew that Kim Hyunwoo would despise such a situation.
“You’ve been talking like a child since the last ti we t, haven’t you?”
“And you’re so…serene. Must be because you’re ten years older.”
…They didn’t draw weapons, but the verbal jabs were sharp and precise.
Of course, not all the heroes were engaged in this tense exchange.
rilda, for example, was more focused on eavesdropping on Kim Hyunwoo upstairs, even as Rin and Shadra exchanged words.
Charyll, on the other hand, seed to find the fight aningless and silently fiddled with an unlit cigarette in her pocket.
…It had been a week since the cigarette ca into her possession, but because Kim Hyunwoo had personally bought it, she hadn’t dared to open the pack.
Elena was nervously watching the tension unfold, while River, whose role didn’t overlap with the others, sighed in relief.
“Everyone, do you have any favorite foods?”
And Lani, who hadn’t grasped the situation, was busy asking the new heroes about their favorite dishes.
While the heroes were getting to know each other better around the round table…
“So…what?”
“It says ‘Amateur, amateur!’ here, Master.”
Kim Hyunwoo stared blankly at the inscription on the blue bone, then pointed to another bone.
“What does this one say?”
“This one says ‘Pathetic amateur’.”
“And the way you stretched out the ‘pathetic’ part-”
“That’s exactly how it’s written.”
Kim Hyunwoo sighed, feeling let down by Rhien’s interpretation.
He had thought that the symbols left after each floor, like clues from defeating bosses, would hold so significant ssage, but it turned out to be nothing.
‘…Considering the necromancer’s personality… It’s not that surprising, though.’
Thinking about the necromancer’s personality, Kim Hyunwoo chuckled and said,
“Got it. Thanks for telling , Rhien.”
“You’re welco.”
As Rhien giggled and swayed from side to side, Kim Hyunwoo patted her on the head-
‘…Now that all the heroes are back, I should prioritize clearing the Labyrinth as quickly as possible.’
-he thought to himself before speaking.
“Please bring Rin and rilda here.”
About five days later.
“Territory window.”
Territory: Lartania
Territory Developnt Level:
5623
Territory Residents:
[Humans: 44,244]
[Beastfolk: 1,082]
–Secondary Buildings–
[Magical Engineering Research Institute]
–Subordinate Buildings–
▪︎ [Magical Engineering Power Plant (Under Construction 72%)]
▪︎ [Magical Engineering Weapons Research Institute (Under Construction 42%)]
▪︎ [Magical Engineering Refinery (Under Construction 55%)]
–Owned Buildings–
[Lord's Castle LV4 (Under Construction 54%)]
[Walls LV5]
[Residential District LV5]
[Blacksmith LV5]
[Barracks LV5]
[Tavern LV5]
[Market LV5]
[Wood Processing Plant LV5]
[Restaurant LV5]
[Leather Processing Plant LV5]
[Stone Processing Plant LV5]
[Trade Post LV5]
[Secondary Wall LV5]
[Inn LV5]
[Administrative District LV5]
[Paved Roads LV5]
–External Buildings–
[rcenary Guild LV1]
[Mage Tower Branch LV1]
[Blacksmith Guild Branch LV1]
–Owned Forces–
• Regular Soldiers: 1,000
• Swordsn: 500
• Guards: 700
• Knight Apprentices: 200
• Beastfolk: 1,082
Kim Hyunwoo scanned the territory window and, seeing the inclusion of the beastfolk, felt reassured.
‘I thought the beastfolk would be included in the territory. I’m glad it worked out as planned.’
Over the past five days, Kim Hyunwoo had summoned rilda and Rin to absorb their respective groups into Lartania, significantly bolstering the territory’s military strength.
In the past five days, Lartania had successfully recruited over a thousand beastfolk and nine 4-star heroes.
‘The Five Swords of Calan and the Red-Eyes’ Four Heavenly Kings…’
For Kim Hyunwoo, who previously lacked any 4-star heroes, the increase in heroes was a welco change.
The more heroes there are, the stronger the territory’s military power becos.
‘The only thing I was worried about was public order.’
Kim Hyunwoo looked out over the northwest side of the territory from the terrace.
‘Public order hasn’t declined as much as I expected.’
Opposite the Magical Engineering Research Institute that was under construction, a residential area was being built.
When Kim Hyunwoo first accepted the beastfolk at rilda’s request, he was quite concerned that it might trigger issues with public order.
In the world of Arteil, beastfolk couldn’t be accepted as citizens, and they were described as being fierce and driven more by instinct than reason.
However, contrary to Kim Hyunwoo’s concerns, the beastfolk had integrated into the territory without any significant issues, aside from a few minor incidents at the beginning.
In fact, they were doing quite well as part of the security forces.
As a result, Lartania’s public order, which had recently been unstable, was rapidly improving, and the territory was growing steadily.
‘I think it’s about ti to erect the third wall.’
Kim Hyunwoo was thinking that it wouldn’t be long before he could expand the wall to include Lartania’s original territory.
“Master!”
“rilda?”
rilda entered the Lord’s terrace.
She landed softly, like a cat, and approached with her tail wagging.
“I finished everything you asked to do!”
Her tail wagged as if asking for praise.
Kim Hyunwoo, rembering he had asked her to help move materials to a nearby building, naturally patted her on the head.
rilda wagged her tail, holding onto the hem of Kim Hyunwoo’s clothes.
Seeing how happy she looked, Kim Hyunwoo couldn’t help but smile. She subtly rubbed her body against him, testing the waters.
He stiffened.
Kim Hyunwoo flinched involuntarily.
…It wasn’t surprising, given that he had been getting a lot of attention from the heroes lately, but the frequency had increased recently, making things a bit awkward.
Specifically, it was becoming a physical issue.
‘This is…’
Recently, rilda had been intentionally pressing herself against him when she rubbed against him, prompting Kim Hyunwoo to instinctively pull his hips back.
Vrrr—!
At the sound of a clear vibration from his office desk, Kim Hyunwoo spoke.
“Hold on a second, rilda.”
“Oh, okay…”
rilda made a disappointed face.
Her drooping tail tugged at his heart, but the vibrating desk ant there was an incoming ssage from outside, so he quickly sat down and opened a drawer.
‘This is…’
He realized it was a ssage from the King of the Calan Kingdom.
Without hesitation, Kim Hyunwoo activated the magic orb.
[Hello, Lord.]
“Hello, Your Majesty.”
As soon as Sasha’s face appeared in the magic orb, he greeted her naturally.
[To be direct, could you help with sothing…?]
Kim Hyunwoo tilted his head at Sasha’s words, then he noticed her condition.
“What’s the matter?”
She looked extrely haggard, as if she hadn’t slept for days.
And then…
[Could you lend …the Five Swords of Calan…?]
Her words trailed off.
“Oh.”
Kim Hyunwoo let out a low exclamation.
Reviews
All reviews (0)