Chapter 42: Spirit (2)
About four days had passed since Loriel's sudden visit to Lartania.
As time passed, the festive atmosphere in the territory gradually faded, returning to its original state, but from Kim Hyunwoo's perspective, there were two notable changes besides the outward appearance.
The first was the reaction of the territory's residents.
In fact, the relationship between Kim Hyunwoo and the residents was not bad.
He hadn't been taxing them to increase the influx of residents, and he had personally dealt with thieves who entered the village when there was no hero.
Of course, rather than the relationship improving due to dealing with the thieves, it was more about the spread of rumors like 'Messenger of the Gods' or 'King of Logs', which naturally led to respect. Strictly speaking, the relationship between Kim Hyunwoo and the residents was exactly that of a 'Lord' and 'residents' as their titles suggested.
However, the residents' reaction genuinely changed after Kim Hyunwoo protected the Lartania territory from the Disaster.
Previously, they would just give a short bow and go about their business when Kim Hyunwoo appeared, but now they naturally bowed their heads when he went outside, and children looked at him with admiration.
Furthermore, the guards, who always maintained a moderate discipline, would respond loudly and look at him with respect whenever Kim Hyunwoo appeared.
Just like now.
"Call Elena for me."
"Yes! Understood!"
The guard, who normally would have left with a disciplined 'Yes', now responded with all his might and looked at him with a gaze full of respect, prompting Kim Hyunwoo to make a peculiar expression.
"It's nice, but..."
Of course, it was good that the soldiers and residents had high loyalty.
The higher the loyalty of the soldiers and residents, the more penalty factors disappear, and their rate of departure also significantly reduces.
Therefore, Kim Hyunwoo was very pleased that the loyalty had increased, but he honestly found the respectful gazes from the soldiers every time he gave an order somewhat burdensome.
And the second change was,
"Did you call for me?"
"Yes."
It was Elena.
Kim Hyunwoo looked at Elena.
Her expression was calm.
In fact, up to this point, there didn't seem to be any change in Elena.
After all, apart from when Kim Hyunwoo first recruited her, Elena rarely showed emotional disturbances and was not good at expressing her feelings.
Yet, the reason Kim Hyunwoo specifically said Elena had changed was,
"Now that the soldiers have had some rest, I'm thinking about attacking the third tier. What do you think?"
"That sounds good. Shall we go down right now?"
"Well, no, that's not necessary."
"Just say the word, and I'll move immediately."
After the disaster, she began to show a somewhat blind allegiance to Kim Hyunwoo's words.
Of course, it's not that Elena hadn't listened before.
In fact, she was more obedient than the other heroes he had raised when he played Arteil ten years ago.
However, Kim Hyunwoo thought this way because before the Disaster, Elena would provide feedback on any task assigned.
Whatever her opinion, it meant she had her own thoughts.
But now, her immediate nodding to anything Kim Hyunwoo said suggested she no longer offered her own opinions.
"Was the impact of the Disaster that significant?"
Kim Hyunwoo thought this as he looked at Elena, but soon shrugged his shoulders.
Although he felt odd about her blindly following his words, he also thought it wasn't too bad since it meant she trusted him that much.
So, after some time had passed,
"Let's plan to attack the third tier in three days then."
"Understood. Then I'll prepare."
After Kim Hyunwoo's words, Elena, who bowed her head, exited the office, and Kim Hyunwoo, making a humming sound, thought to himself.
"In fact, I really want to equip her with some gear before sending her out..."
Nevertheless, the reason Kim Hyunwoo specifically chose not to equip Elena was because of the blacksmith's level.
"At least Level 3 is needed to proceed properly..."
Kim Hyunwoo opened the information window.
Territory: Lartania
Territory Development:
298
Territory Residents:
[Humans: 2259]
Owned Buildings:
[Lord's Castle LV1 >>> Upgrading 99%]
[Walls LV2]
[Residential District LV2]
[Blacksmith LV2 >>> Upgrading 59%]
[Barracks LV2 >>> Upgrading 0%]
[Tavern LV2]
[Market LV1]
[Wood Processing Plant LV1 (Under Repair)]
[Restaurant LV1]
[Leather Processing Plant LV1]
[Stone Processing Plant LV1 (Under Repair)]
[Trading Post LV1]
Owned Troops:
-200 regular soldiers [Upgradeable soldiers available!]
The number of territory residents has now completely surpassed 2,000, reaching 2,200.
Unfortunately, other buildings, except for the trading post, were no longer being upgraded.
The reason was due to a lack of resources.
The immediate cause was that Kim Hyunwoo had already used up all the resources extracted using Blue Stones, which halted the construction of buildings.
"I was thinking of solving the resource problem through the trading post..."
Kim Hyunwoo remembered that the trading post in Arteil was used for trading various resources, allowing for real-time resource transactions in any territory, as long as there was Gold Coins.
Of course, even if the resource trading was real-time, according to the game's setting, the 'Fast Delivery Dwarf' would deliver the resources, which still took two to three days depending on the distance to the territory.
However, contrary to Kim Hyunwoo's expectation that creating a trading post and linking it with Loria would allow the system to be used somehow, the game required a trade agreement with neighboring territories to use the trading post.
In other words, Kim Hyunwoo currently had no way to obtain resources despite having an abundance of Gold Coins.
"It wasn't planned, but does this mean I need to foster relations with neighboring territories?"
So, Kim Hyunwoo, with a somewhat troubled expression, sighed.
A ★★★ Hero 'Golden Witch' has entered the territory.
[The Tienus Merchant Group has arrived in the territory!]
"...Huh?"
He tilted his head at the familiar notification.
A short while after the notification. Adria, who set up the Merchant Group in the streets, now more prosperous than before, immediately greeted Kim Hyunwoo, and placed a huge bundle of Gold Coins in front of the office desk.
"...What's this?"
"It's the sales amount you mentioned before. A total of 200,000 Gold Coins."
"200,000 Gold Coins?"
"Yes."
At Adria's words, Kim Hyunwoo, who had unconsciously opened his mouth, looked at the Gold Coins and then asked with a puzzled expression.
"But why give this to me? As I mentioned, I thought we agreed to conclude this transaction with the advance payment."
"Of course, that amount has been deducted. The amount I gave to the Lord is just about 20,000 Gold Coins. Of course, according to the contract, it would be fine to hand this over in the next transaction, but-"
Adria smiled and then said,
"I want to establish a good relationship with the Lord as much as possible. Let's consider this earning some points."
He said,
"Well, then I'll gratefully accept."
Since having more money was always better in the current situation, Kim Hyunwoo nodded and accepted the Gold Coins from Adria, starting their conversation.
"You sold it faster than I thought."
"Since it's a rare item, I was able to sell it at a high price. More importantly, I heard an interesting rumor on my way here."
"What rumor?"
"I heard that a Disaster appeared in the Lartania, and you stopped it. Is that true?"
Adria's question.
"Yes, it's true."
"Can you tell me more about the situation? The rumor has spread, but not in detail."
He nodded in response, and as she spoke with a very surprised expression, Kim Hyunwoo began to explain the situation when the Disaster occurred.
Finally, Kim Hyunwoo explained how he caught Magdaora.
"My goodness..."
Adria widened her eyes and spoke as if genuinely astonished.
"Really, you caught it that way?"
"Yes."
"...That's really impressive."
Pure admiration with no underlying intent.
"Well, honestly, I think it's something anyone could try if they just think about it a little differently."
"But no one besides you, the Lord, has tried it, right?"
"Well, that's true."
Kim Hyunwoo felt a bit sheepish as Adria lavished him with praise.
Of course, he himself thought he had accomplished something significant, but being looked at with admiration by an outsider was somewhat embarrassing than he expected.
Kim Hyunwoo, subtly shifting his gaze, suddenly exclaimed,
"Ah!"
and changed the subject.
"Speaking of which, there's an item I'd like to entrust to you, the head of the Merchant Group."
"An item you want to entrust?"
"Yes. There's something I need to sell."
Kim Hyunwoo said so, stood up from his seat, and then took out an Execution Sword from behind the storage cabinet.
"...!"
Adria's eyes widened as soon as he took it out.
"That is...!"
"Oh, you know it?"
"Is that, by any chance, an Execution Sword?"
"Yes, it is."
Kim Hyunwoo said so and then placed the Execution Sword in front of Adria.
"I'm thinking of selling this, would that be possible?"
He said, looking at Adria.
She stared blankly at the execution sword and Kim Hyunwoo, mouthing words as if she wanted to ask something.
"Hem-hem-"
Adria, having seemingly gathered her thoughts, cleared her throat.
"This, it would be good to put it up for auction. After all, the auction is starting in about a week."
"...Auction?"
"Yes, a big auction is being held in Rapengan, a commercial city at the Continent's center."
She conveyed that to Kim Hyunwoo.
At that moment,
in front of the door to the grand underground cavern of the Calan Kingdom,
"Master, I have met with the Lord of Lartania...!"
At Loriel's shout, who had almost flown from Lartania,
the Absolute Ruler of Darkness, who had not shown herself for weeks,
"What, what!?"
hastily showed herself.