Chapter 57: Magic Tower (3)

Rin looked down at Merilda with an incredulous expression.

"......"

According to the Absolute Ruler of Darkness, beastfolk inherently enjoy conflict, possessing a belligerent nature and, consequently, a very strong sense of pride.

Among them, the Merilda known to the Absolute Ruler of Darkness was one of the beastfolk with an exceptionally strong sense of pride.

She had almost come to a life-and-death struggle simply because the Hero King had slightly provoked her once.

And she had fought with the Absolute Ruler of Darkness a few times as well.

Furthermore, she was the epitome of a beastfolk who would charge forward without looking back, even in situations where she could die, if her pride was wounded, truly valuing pride over life itself.

No, in some ways, Merilda's pride was even greater than that of the beastfolk she commonly knew.

While beastfolk, despite their belligerence, might bend their pride to a stronger opponent, she would never bend her pride, no matter how strong the opponent.

Thus, Rin thought that Merilda would never kneel before her.

At least, the Merilda she knew would never lower her pride.

However,

"Ha...?"

Seeing Merilda perform a triple somersault and then slam her head into the ground as if she had discarded such pride long ago, the Absolute Ruler of Darkness unwittingly wore an incredulous expression.

"Step on me quickly."

"No."

"Step on me quickly...!"

"Wait-"

"Step on me quickly!!!"

Crunch-!

Seeing Merilda approaching like a piece of farming equipment, pushing against the ground with her head planted in it, the Absolute Ruler of Darkness unwittingly wore a frightened expression.

"This crazy woman-!"

Unintentionally blurting out, but-

"Even if I'm crazy, just step on me quickly! Quickly-!"

Merilda, instead of stopping, pushed herself forward until she reached the tip of the Absolute Ruler of Darkness' shoe, shouting. The Absolute Ruler of Darkness, feeling a shiver, stepped back and exclaimed,

"It's for infamy!"

"...Infamy?"

"Yes, considering you're a beastfolk and went that far, I'll specially tell you."

Immediately, as if getting goosebumps on her arms, she brushed her arms and turned to leave.

Not long after, Merilda, without even shaking the dirt off her head, pondered over what Rin had said.

"...!"

She realized the meaning of her words.

That the reason her Master had not accepted her was due to her infamy.

Meaning, if she could erase all her infamy, she might have another chance to gain her Master's favor...!

With that realization, Merilda smiled brightly.

"If I erase my infamy...!"

With that thought, she smiled.

"...Erase my infamy?"

Soon, she realized.

The many territories she had devastated.

"...Huh?"

With Merilda's laugh, the situation cracked.

The public safety rate of the Lartania territory was gradually declining as time passed.

The reason, of course, was due to the mercenaries flooding into Lartania like crazy.

It was only the second week since the Labyrinth had opened, but thanks to the widely spread rumors, mercenaries were continuously pouring into Lartania.

Thanks to this, the current estimate of mercenaries in Lartania had already far surpassed 5,000.

In contrast, there were only about 200 soldiers immediately available to maintain public safety in Lartania, and if you subtract those managing the rest area on the first tier, only about 120 remained, naturally leading to a decline in public safety.

Given the nature of mercenaries' work, they were quite rough.

Due to this, the slowly declining public safety began to steeply drop once the number of mercenaries surpassed 5,000.

Until then, despite some issues arising, the relatively small size of the territory enclosed by walls and the diligent work of the soldiers and Elena had somewhat mitigated the impact, but after surpassing 5,000 mercenaries, a lack of manpower led to unpreventable incidents.

Once the guards failed to address an incident, the rough mercenaries, as if embodying the broken window theory, began causing problems everywhere.

"Hey, do you really want to die?"

"What do you mean die? Do you want to die?"

It started with minor scuffles at first.

"Damn it, just give me a refund, will you?!"

"No, you've already stayed for a day! How does it make sense not to pay for lodging?!"

"Stop nagging, seriously, should I just dunk you?"

"I-I'll call the guards!"

"Do you think the already busy guards will come, huh?!"

"Uh, ahh-!"

And eventually, assault.

In just a few days, the sudden increase in assaults in the market and residential areas led to the already declining public safety plummeting like a rollercoaster.

Yes, that was the case until just yesterday.

"...What's that?"

"I heard he assaulted a resident of the living area and resisted the guards who came for him, ending up like that."

The next day, mercenaries and residents of Lartania looking at a man caged in a wooden prison in the middle of the square, on display like zoo animals, soon noticed the message written above the wooden prison.

[This man was lawfully punished for assaulting a resident and resisting the guards who came for him]

Under the prominently written sign, a mercenary spotted the man, who appeared unconscious with both arms amputated, and commented,

"Hmm, even so, isn't that a bit too harsh?"

The mercenary's voice was negative.

Naturally, the speaker knew that the mercenary in the prison had done wrong.

However, despite knowing the wrongdoing, his defense of the mercenary was because he shared the same profession as the man in the wooden prison.

In essence, being a mercenary himself, the stringent response from Lartania's side was somewhat irksome to him.

This sentiment seemed shared among other mercenaries, all wearing slightly complex expressions, but,

"Frankly, I think it's harsh too, but take a closer look at that guy's face."

"Face?"

"Yes, the face. That guy is Kupa."

"...Kupa?"

Following his fellow mercenary's words, the man realized that the one in the prison was indeed Kupa.

Kupa,

despite being a hero chosen by the world, his actions were anything but heroic, causing trouble in various territories, naturally including incidents involving mercenaries.

"...If that troublemaker got what was coming, I don't feel too sorry for him."

"Right, and if he resisted the guards who came for him, it was inevitable."

Nodding in understanding, the man then asked,

"That may be, but how did they catch Kupa? Was it the hero of Lartania?"

"No, I heard it was three guards who caught him."

"Three guards... Does that even make sense?"

The man's disbelief in his colleague's words was due to his knowledge about Kupa.

Kupa, being a hero chosen by the world and known among mercenaries for his considerable skills despite operating alone.

But he couldn't understand how Kupa was caught by just three guards, so he asked.

"I heard he was caught by a magic scroll."

"...Magic scroll? The one that costs more than ten Gold Coins each?"

"Yes."

The man was surprised by his colleague's words.

"Look at the guards' waists."

"...Real magic scrolls? And three of them."

"I heard that recently, all the guards in Lartania started carrying them."

"All of them have magic scrolls? I know the number of territory guards is small, but does that make sense?"

"To be honest, it's hard to believe, but they really do carry the scrolls. And there are signs they've been used, just like that."

"That is true."

Soon, they all talked while looking at the magic scrolls attached to the guard's waist.

"But how do the guards carry such expensive magic scrolls?"

"I heard they have a close relationship with the Mage Tower."

"...With the Mage Tower? Until now, only four or five territories have had a close relationship with the Mage Tower, and those are all large territories, right?"

"Still, the only way for all the guards to continuously carry so many scrolls must be that, right? Especially since the territory isn't even that large."

"Indeed... If they can supply scrolls to all guards, it seems the Lord does have a close relationship with the Mage Tower. Now that I think about it, wasn't Lartania territory quite strong ten years ago?"

Thus, the mercenaries talked for a while.

"Anyway, it's best to avoid causing unnecessary trouble within the territory. Otherwise, we might end up like that."

"That's true."

With those words, they started to disperse.

Soon, Kim Hyunwoo, watching quietly from the end of the Lord's castle, wore a satisfied expression.

"You are impressive."

"Excuse me?"

"Honestly, it's not easy to catch someone when the public order is being disturbed by mercenaries. I didn't expect you to catch them like this."

Adria, watching from the side, followed up with a remark as if impressed.

"Indeed, it's a good method. Catching someone with a bad reputation among mercenaries with scroll magic and showing the results prevents mercenaries from sympathizing with them. This doesn't worsen the mercenaries' public opinion and shows the strength of the guards even in such situations."

"...That's right."

In fact, it was a coincidence that he caught a hero who was causing trouble and had a bad reputation among mercenaries, but as she said, Kim Hyunwoo intended to restore public order in this way.

Solving problems like this prevents mercenaries from sympathizing with Kupa, as she mentioned.

Moreover, establishing the strength of the guards like this, along with the rumor among mercenaries that 'the Lord has a close relationship with the Mage Tower', will surely sustain the territory's public order for some time.

After all, for mercenaries, mages of the Mage Tower were not opponents they wanted to make enemies of.

"Well, mercenaries are increasing faster than expected, so we'll eventually have to recruit more guards."

While thinking that, Kim Hyunwoo turned his gaze to Adria and asked a question.

"But, what brings the head of the Merchant Group here...?"

The reason he asked was because Adria had visited Lartania just two days ago.

More precisely, to deliver the magic scrolls requested by the Mage Tower.

'It would be nice if they could be received through the exchange.'

Unfortunately, such magic scrolls could not be received through the exchange, so Kim Hyunwoo had asked the Tienus Merchant Group for regular deliveries of the scrolls.

In other words, he had received the magic scrolls from the head of the Merchant Group two days ago, and it was not enough that she had suddenly visited yesterday; she had come to the territory again today.

Therefore, Kim Hyunwoo carefully asked because he could not understand why Adria had come for almost three days in a row.

Adria, staring intently at Kim Hyunwoo's face, let out a slightly awkward laugh.

"Today, I have something to say about the Magic Stones of Lartania-"

She broached the subject, sounding somewhat like an excuse.

"Oh, is that so?"

The next day, after talking with Adria, who started to stare at his face strangely unlike before.

"Um... Hello, My Lord?"

"Ah, yes... Hello, head of the Merchant Group...?"

Seeing Adria who had come again, Kim Hyunwoo couldn't help but be puzzled.

Thud-! Thud-!

"...!? Why are you doing that all of a sudden?"

Kim Hyunwoo asked Adria with a puzzled expression, who was suddenly tapping at her head.

"Ah, haha. It was a bit noisy."

"...???"

Kim Hyunwoo could only look at her with a baffled expression as she answered awkwardly.