Chapter 66: King (1)

A week had passed since the day an unidentified hero entered and exited, yet strangely, nothing had happened.

Territory: Lartania

Territory Development Level:

922

Territory Residents:

[Humans: 5446]

-Owned Buildings-

[Lord's Castle LV1 >>> Upgrading 99% (Paused)]

[Walls LV2 >>> Upgrading 84%]

[Residential Area LV3↑]

[Forge LV3 >>> Upgrading 42%]

[Barracks LV3]

[Tavern LV2]

[Market LV2]

[Lumber Mill LV1]

[Restaurant LV1 >>> Upgrading 68%]

[Leather Workshop LV1]

[Stone Workshop LV1]

[Trading Post LV1]

[Secondary Walls LV0 (Under Construction 88%)]

[Inn LV1↑]

[Administrative District LV0 (Under Construction 92%)]

-Owned Forces-

Regular Soldiers: 200

Apprentice Soldiers: 200

Kim Hyunwoo nodded in satisfaction as he looked at the information window displayed by Loria.

The territory's development level was approaching 1000, and the number of territory residents had already surpassed 5,000, which was a significant increase from when he first began to rebuild the territory.

Accordingly, with the residential area being upgraded to Level 3 just in time, the newly constructed buildings were now filled with houses suitable for a medieval city, unlike the countryside village feel of the past.

Despite the high prices, the inn that was built as mercenaries started to arrive in earnest was doing bustling business.

However, what caught Kim Hyunwoo's eye the most was the secondary walls being constructed beyond the existing walls.

The secondary walls being built near the Lartania territory were now clearly taking shape and nearing completion.

Additionally, another significant change was the increase in Lartania's soldiers, from only 200 to 400 at once.

'...Should I have recruited more?'

Kim Hyunwoo thought for a moment as he looked at the information window.

However, he soon shook his head.

In fact, even 400 soldiers were not that many, considering the current situation of Lartania.

Initially, the number of mercenaries flocking to Lartania was truly enormous.

However, Kim Hyunwoo was concerned that recruiting more soldiers would immediately reduce the number of workers in the territory.

'This should be enough. Apprentice soldiers will be worth it once they grow anyway.'

Eventually, he came to that conclusion.

Although the number of territory residents was continuously increasing, what Kim Hyunwoo lacked was labor.

Kim Hyunwoo, who had been pondering for a while, thought,

'I heard that Mila started training the soldiers in earnest a few days ago...'

He recalled his conversation with Mila, who had come to establish a mercenary guild, and looked once at the barracks visible from the Lord's castle.

Mila, known by the title 'Subjugator', had lived her life moving from one mercenary job to another, but she had heard that she had quite a talent for teaching others.

However, the reason she repeatedly refused Kim Hyunwoo's proposal was that she had only ever taught mercenaries.

Moreover, one of the reasons she felt burdened was that Kim Hyunwoo had entrusted her with training apprentice soldiers.

Being a mercenary, she was somewhat aware of how the world works and knew what apprentice soldiers meant.

'Except for heroes, the Lord's personal troops.'

In other words, training apprentice soldiers, who could be considered one of the Lord's lifelines, was quite a burden for her.

However, she accepted Kim Hyunwoo's request despite the burden, frankly because the reward offered to her was too lucrative.

Furthermore, since the Lartania territory would establish a mercenary guild and she would become its branch head, she accepted his proposal, thinking it would be good to maintain a somewhat close relationship with the Lord.

'I still don't know why the Lord chose me, but since I've started, I must do it properly.'

Frankly, Mila still wondered what the Lord saw in her to choose her.

Even though she had heard that she was good at teaching some mercenaries, her only external title was 'Subjugator'.

However, at this point, what was important to Mila was not why the Lord had chosen her but training the apprentices well.

Since she had accepted the Lord's offer, she had no intention of taking the training of the apprentice soldiers lightly and planned to train them very rigorously.

However, her thoughts changed to a strange emotion when she first saw the gathered apprentice soldiers.

The appearance of the apprentice soldiers she saw was too different from the apprentice soldiers she was familiar with.

The apprentice soldiers Mila knew were basically selected for their talents as children, but the apprentice soldiers standing in front of her seemed far from children, no matter how generously she looked at them.

The faces she saw were more mature than youthful.

Furthermore, wondering if she had chosen those with skills, she realized her thoughts were completely wrong after seeing them perform a few basic training exercises.

'...They're incredibly weak.'

The soldiers Kim Hyunwoo selected as apprentice soldiers were weak.

Not just weak, but lacking in every aspect compared to the apprentice soldiers she was used to seeing.

They seemed to know how to use spears to some extent, but all other aspects were close to zero by Mila's standards.

Right away, they couldn't properly use swords even though they became apprentice soldiers, and their basic physical strength was feeble by Mila's standards.

She expected none of them to use magic, but after basic training, she found that most lacked the talent to even feel magic.

In other words, seeing them weaker than any apprentice soldiers she had ever seen, Mila wondered if she had fallen into a trap.

At least in her view, it was doubtful whether the Lartania apprentice soldiers, whose only excellence was their loyalty to the Lord, would properly grow no matter how much she trained them.

However, since she wasn't the type to let go of a task once taken on, she started training the soldiers somehow.

She worked on strengthening their basic physical fitness, teaching them the basics of swordsmanship, and making them realize the magic they must inevitably grasp to move to the next level as apprentice soldiers.

And about a week after she had put in such effort, Mila unknowingly opened her mouth in surprise.

Right in front of her, soldiers were seen forming teams and engaging in mock battles.

"For the Lord!!!!"

Like the berserkers of the North, the apprentice soldiers swung their swords at each other like mad, shirtless.

"......"

However, Mila was not surprised because of the fanatical appearance of those soldiers.

After all, Mila had seen the apprentice soldiers shouting 'For our Lord who has believed in us!!!' and training whenever they did anything over the past week.

The reason she was surprised was because of the level of the soldiers.

Mila thought back to the soldiers from a week ago.

They were a group of dunces who lacked physical strength, couldn't wield swords, and couldn't even use magic, literally the Lartania apprentice soldiers.

But now?

Despite engaging in intense battles for over ten minutes, the soldiers fought like berserkers without exhibiting any signs of fatigue.

Crack! Clack!

Moreover, the swords, which they couldn't properly wield just a week ago, were now somewhat clumsily handled but with a basic grasp.

"...Huh."

A few of those fighting in the battle were using magic very weakly, although they were not aware of it themselves.

'How... Why is this working?'

Seeing this, Mila couldn't help but wonder with a puzzled expression.

Although she had trained them personally, the soldiers' training speed was beyond strange to an unbelievable level.

Frankly speaking, the apprentice soldiers a week ago could be called a ragtag group.

Therefore, Mila looked at the soldiers she had trained with a dumbfounded expression, as if the situation made no sense.

Even as she was trying to figure out how this was possible, Mila soon remembered what the soldiers had said.

The soldiers, who always mentioned the Lord and burned with zeal during tough training, had a suspiciously high loyalty to the Lord.

'...Is it possible to reach this level just with loyalty to the Lord?'

In fact, strictly speaking, this was due to Mila's characteristics and talent being appropriately applied, but she, not knowing her ability was specialized for training,

'How did the Lord of Lartania... manage to elicit such loyalty from the soldiers?'

couldn't help but marvel and think of Kim Hyunwoo.

And at that moment,

'I think it's time to start tackling the fourth tier, and I need to look into the Necromancer of the Blue Forest.'

Kim Hyunwoo, who was pondering,

A ★★★★ hero 'Guardian of Calan' has entered the territory.

The King of Calan Kingdom has visited the territory.

"...Huh?"

Suddenly, a notification popped up in front of him, and he looked at it with a blank expression, then looked at the notification window again.

'The King of Calan Kingdom has visited the territory.'

The notification window remained unchanged upon a second look.

'...The King has come?'

Seeing this, Kim Hyunwoo wore a bewildered expression unknowingly.

It was indeed a very, very rare occurrence for the King of Calan Kingdom to come to such a foreign territory.

No, it wasn't just rare; according to what Kim Hyunwoo knew, it was very strange for a King to visit a territory in another country.

Therefore, Kim Hyunwoo felt confused but immediately took action.

If the notification window was not lying, he had to meet the King of Calan Kingdom soon to establish good diplomatic relations.

Thus, Kim Hyunwoo, who quickly prepared and welcomed the King of Calan Kingdom in his office,

"Ah, you must be the Lord of Lartania. I am truly pleased to meet you."

He was puzzled by the woman who greeted him with a radiant smile and a handshake, expressing her pleasure at meeting him, but soon opened his mouth to speak.

"Ah, yes, hello. First, let me greet you...."

"There's no need for that. You're not a part of Calan Kingdom."

"What? No, but as the Lord of a nation, I should at least show some respect-"

As he said this and was about to kneel on one knee,

"It's okay, please stand up."

"Really, it's really okay? Yes?"

Looking at the King of Calan Kingdom, whose smile seemed not just a smile,

"...Ah, yes..."

he could only stand up again with a puzzled expression.