Chapter 14: Tinnitus (3)

"How, why?"

From Roadmalis' mouth, a question flowed out.

"How on earth?"

There was not a single thing that wasn't a question.

From the moment he became involved with Lartania, there was not a single thing that didn't raise questions.

It was a mystery why one of Lartania's heroes was secretly operating in the Kingdom of Calan.

It was also a mystery why Red Eyes was rampaging on behalf of a lord who now had nothing but ruins, unlike ten years ago.

The biggest mystery was that Red Eyes was standing right in front of him.

This was, without a doubt, a strange story.

Roadmalis had died.

He had only been resurrected with the power of an artifact, and his death was an undeniable fact.

'Even so - why?'

Red Eyes was waiting for Roadmalis.

As if she already knew that he would come back to life.

Thus, to Roadmalis's unwittingly thrown question, Red Eyes,

"Intuitively."

Gave an answer that was so void of substance it left Roadmalis feeling utterly desolate.

The next moment.

Swoosh!

"Aaargh!"

Roadmalis screamed in terror as he realized his legs had been severed by Red Eyes.

The moment Merilda, without a word, picked up a wine bottle she had placed to one side and opened it while stepping on Roadmalis's chest.

"Why are you doing this! Why!! Why are you doing this to me!!!"

A scream burst from Roadmalis' mouth.

"......"

Merilda looked at Roadmalis indifferently with the bottle cap off.

"It's strange, all of it is strange, everything!!"

However, Roadmalis, filled with indignation and anger over the injustice rather than the fear he had just felt, began to shout as if spitting it out.

"Red Eyes! Why are you doing this for the Lord from ten years ago!? Why is the Absolute Ruler of Darkness secretly operating in the Kingdom of Calan!?"

"You're not part of Lartania anymore, are you! Neither the Absolute Ruler of Darkness nor you!"

Roadmalis knew that even though Red Eyes had attacked the territory, she was not a hero affiliated with Lartania's territory.

No, he had to know.

Those who became Lords with the power of the Territory Stone could know whether they were bound in a contractual relationship with heroes by their colors.

Red indicates a hero who has already made a contract and cannot make another.

Green indicates a hero who is available for contract.

Grey, showing no color, indicates a hero who belongs nowhere and has no intention of being recruited.

And when Roadmalis first saw Red Eyes in the territory of Sertoa, he saw, just in case, by using the power of the Lord's Stone.

That the color emanating from Red Eyes' body was grey.

"Why are you doing this when you're not even affiliated with that lord anymore - why!!!"

Spitting blood from his mouth as if venting his frustration, Roadmalis regained his senses after all his words and wore a terrified expression.

The moment he spoke out, he felt as if the whole world was holding him back, shouting out of a sense of injustice, but after venting his anger, fear began to creep in again.

However...

Surprisingly, Red Eyes, who had been listening to Roadmalis' angry cries, looked down at him with an unexpectedly indifferent expression, unlike before.

"...?"

Just as he felt puzzled by this,

"There's one thing that everyone, including you, has got wrong."

She spoke calmly, not with anger as before.

"My relationship with my Master is not bound by just such a contract."

Red Eyes leaned down.

"Who do you think is the reason I have this much strength, being chased by slave hunters?"

"Who do you think taught combat techniques to a clueless fool of a Langin tribe?"

"Do you know from whom I received the epithet and name that you all shout and remember?"

"These clothes, this hairstyle, even the instinct to realize that you would come back to life-"

She looked at Roadmalis.

"All of it, I received from my Master."

"Without exception, all from my Master."

Red Eyes looks at Roadmalis.

Roadmalis also looked at Red Eyes.

And then, he realized two things he had been mistaken about.

"My Master is my everything."

One was that Red Eyes, who seemed endlessly indifferent and cold, had something uniquely characteristic of a madwoman.

The other was...

"My, everything."

"Uh, aah-"

That Red Eyes was not calm, but angrier than ever before.

And then,

"So, you who tried to take everything from me-"

Crack!

"-Are going to die."

Red Eyes, who killed Roadmalis by thrusting a wine bottle through his throat, soon disappeared silently from the spot.

Territory: Lartania.

Territorial Development Level: 23

Territory Residents:

[Humans: 918]

Owned Buildings:

[Lord's Castle LV1]

[Wall LV1]

[Residential District LV1]

[Forge LV0 (Under Construction) 0%]

[Barracks LV0 (Under Construction) 77%]

[Tavern LV0 (Under Construction) 77%]

Military Forces:

-None-

Kim Hyunwoo, staring blankly at the territory window that showed the number of territory residents had increased to nearly 900 in just a few days, wore a very strange expression.

The reason was due to the endlessly increasing number of territory residents.

Of course, an increase in territory residents is a good thing.

Since, in Arteil, the number of territory residents essentially translates to labor force.

However, that's when the basic structure of the territory is in place; if the number of residents increases without the manpower to manage it, it could lead to a rebellion in the worst case scenario.

Of course, in the original game, there are no rebellions at the start of play.

This is because when you first start Arteil, you either start with all the basic buildings already constructed, or they are built almost instantly even if they are not.

But what about the territory of Lartania now?

The palisade has just been constructed, and the partially destroyed Lord's castle has yet to be repaired.

Is that all?

Due to the influx of territory residents, additional labor had to be allocated to the residential area, and the forge, which should be the foundation of the military and agriculture projects, has not yet been constructed.

Moreover, the tavern for selecting heroes to manage the inner workings of the territory? It's non-existent.

The trading post? Likewise, non-existent.

In other words, despite Kim Hyunwoo essentially not being able to do anything, the situation is such that it wouldn't be strange for a rebellion to occur at any moment due to the influx of territory residents.

Yet, despite such a situation, the reason Kim Hyunwoo wore a nuanced expression was because:

[Labor Efficiency: 75%]

The labor efficiency, which should have decreased with the increase in territory residents, was still maintained at a quite high level, and moreover, the dissatisfaction level of the territory residents was lower than expected.

And the reason for that was-

"...Because of a title?"

[Yes, the story about the title 'King of Logs' that emerged last time has also spread among the refugees who arrived this time.]

Upon Loria's words, Kim Hyunwoo nodded and said,

"Ah, so you mean the dissatisfaction is low because the story about being a messenger of the Gods or something has spread?"

[No, that's not it.]

"Huh? Then what is it? Wasn't that what you just said?"

[It's true that the story is about the title 'King of Logs,' but it's not the story about a messenger of the God that has spread; rather, it's about crushing the bodies of bandits with logs.]

"......"

[To provide more detail, the story that has spread is that right after saying 'Wanna taste the log??', waving his hand made logs fly out and turn the bandits into minced meat.]

"I never said that!?"

[Rumors tend to get distorted, My Lord.]

"...It got distorted weirdly."

[Still, thanks to that, the dissatisfaction level is significantly low.]

Having realized that the dissatisfaction was low not for religious reasons but out of fear, Kim Hyunwoo, with a complex expression, said,

"So, how much longer until the territory starts functioning properly?"

[As you might expect, you should be able to start managing the territory properly 20 days from now, once the forge, barracks, tavern, and trading post are fully constructed.]

"Really?"

Hearing Loria's words, Kim Hyunwoo nodded in satisfaction and looked over the residential spaces beyond the Lord's castle.

The population had certainly increased significantly from before.

Seeing refugees from outside setting up mats and starting to sell goods, as there was no market constructed yet, Kim Hyunwoo suddenly thought about where the refugees had come from.

'Sertoa-'

The Sertoa territory.

The representative of the refugees, who came shortly after an event popped up, said that they became refugees and came to Lartania after Red Eyes had destroyed their territory.

Upon hearing that story, Kim Hyunwoo realized one certain fact.

For some reason, Merilda was helping him.

Of course, Kim Hyunwoo could not fully understand why Merilda was helping him.

However, considering that every territory Merilda had attacked was after some slightly inconvenient events for Kim Hyunwoo, it was hard to attribute it to mere coincidence.

He inwardly thought his speculation was correct.

Therefore,

'Maybe I should meet and talk to her once I get the chance, as a way of saying thanks.'

As Kim Hyunwoo was thinking this, Loria spoke up.

[But-]

"Hm?"

[Once the basic form of the territory is completed, how do you plan to expand the territory? The population has been met for now, but as you know, it won't be easy to grow the territory in the usual way given the current situation.]

"Hmm."

Loria's point was certainly valid.

While he was relatively free now due to not being able to manage just yet, he couldn't afford to leisurely grow the territory as he did in Arteil.

While it might not seem a big deal now as the territory hasn't grown much, once it does grow and resources begin to accumulate, other territories will eagerly start conflicts to plunder those resources.

Moreover, due to the territory level being higher than the development level, strong monsters from the Labyrinth would periodically emerge, and if Kim Hyunwoo's predictions were correct, high-risk, high-return events would occur frequently starting from territory level 30.

'Things like major raids would proceed just the same.'

So, if Kim Hyunwoo were to manage the territory in the usual way at this point, it would naturally fail.

No, it wouldn't just be likely; it would be inevitable.

However, despite knowing this...

"It's okay. I have a plan."

Kim Hyunwoo confidently stated.

[May I ask how you plan to manage the territory?]

Following Loria's question:

"I'm going to create a Labyrinth city."

[A... Labyrinth city, you say?]

"Yes."

Kim Hyunwoo smirked and murmured,

"A city where the best talents from across the continent can't help but gather."

The Lord of Raipel, a territory located to the east of the Kingdom of Calan, also ranks among the top three in prosperity among the territories belonging to the Kingdom.

Duke Raipellaoshin, one of the top three most powerful figures in the Kingdom, fundamentally possesses an arrogant character.

However, most nobles and even the King of Calan have not criticized the Duke's arrogant nature.

The reason is simply that Duke Raipellaoshin was in a position where he could afford to be so.

He is among the top three most powerful people in the Kingdom, including the King, and he has more than eight heroes in his territory, heroes whose reputations go beyond mere fame to the level of legends.

Moreover, his territory has thousands of soldiers that the Duke can call upon at any time, and it's the only territory in the Kingdom to have a significant number of combat guilds established.

Thanks to this, there are mercenaries who can be hired at any time for the right price, complementing Duke Raipellaoshin's arrogant nature.

"Why don't we just kill him? The Master was bothered by him, wasn't he?"

"Shh, Ruin. The Master said to just give a warning and nothing more."

"I want to kill him; can't I just do it?"

"Do you want to trouble our Master?"

"Ha. I don't understand why we should spare that pig who doesn't even listen to our Master's words, the one who didn't heed the single warning to never touch Lartania territory."

"Shut up, Ruin, it could inconvenience our Master's 'Master'."

"Why?"

"Shouldn't we give him the opportunity to do it himself?"

"Ah."

"Right?"

"Then, shall we kill just half?"

"Hmm-"

Trembling in fear, thanks to the Five Swords of Calan who had come to follow the command of the Absolute Ruler of Darkness.