Chapter 87: Magnifying Glass (1)

The commanders, who could be considered the entire force of the demon world, gathered in the demon world's Purple dwarf star.

In the temple outside the fortress, located to the east of the dwarf star that shares the color of the ever-present purple light in the demon world, ten officers loyal only to the ten commanders were gathered.

"......"

A heavy silence currently pervaded.

The reason was due to the events that had transpired at the temple outside the fortress over the past few days.

'...It's quiet.'

Mulan of the Plague, an officer of the third commander and a member of the temple outside the fortress, found himself thinking this unconsciously.

The temple outside the fortress was not typically this quiet.

The demon race was fundamentally combative and competitive, especially so among the stronger members.

Thus, those who could be considered among the upper echelons of demons were always quick to bare their teeth at each other when they met at the temple outside the fortress.

However,

'How did it come to this...'

Mulan, finding the temple outside the fortress filled with silence, soon found himself reminiscing about the past.

Certainly, it all started when the news spread that Merba, who had materialized at Kelva's request, was defeated by two creatures in the middle realm.

At that time, the demons of the temple outside the fortress were maintaining a noisy atmosphere, and a few of them even looked down on Merba with disdain and insulted him.

For the demons, the fact that an officer under a commander had not only failed to defeat just two heroes, even if not perfectly materialized, but also completely vanished, losing part of their power, was enough to be considered laughable.

For the demons, the middle realm was a place where they could legally absorb the souls of lesser beings to ascend to higher realms.

Among the demons who laughed at Merba, who looked as if his soul had been robbed, was Pivrak of the Explosion, who, while mocking Merba, materialized in the middle realm at Kelva's request but,

'Uh, ah- ugh- uuuugh-!'

Pivrak returned from the middle realm in less than an hour, somehow broken.

Like Merba, he too vanished, losing part of his power in the process.

Naturally, up to this point, the demons were more inclined to laugh at Pivrak, who was defeated alongside Merba, rather than feeling apprehensive.

But immediately after, Shoraim the Sloth materialized next-

'Ah, it hurts! It hurts, you devilish brutes!!! Inflicting pain doesn't change one's notoriety!! Aaaargh!!!'

-Watching Shoraim, who began to have fits every 30 minutes as if afflicted with PTSD, the atmosphere began to grow solemn.

Adding to that, Laila of the Blood, considered the strongest among the officers, materialized and likewise vanished, returning in defeat-

"Ah, demons, those creatures are full of madness...!"

-With dead eyes, murmuring thus, it had come to this current state.

And thanks to that,

"...Has the death summons come?"

"Yes, fortunately, since my soul was damaged, it was possible to avoid it."

"I'm also fortunate that my leg is injured."

"Ha, should I also cut off one of my arms?"

Among the officers in the temple outside the fortress, filled with a solemn atmosphere and not malice towards each other but a strangely grotesque air of survival, Kelva's request for support had already been effectively dubbed a death summons.

After all, every officer who had responded to Kelva's request for support and materialized had not only failed to properly absorb the souls of the middle realm but had also continued to find themselves robbed of their power.

Therefore,

"...Indeed, it would be best to just wait, right?"

"Yes, let's wait a bit until the commanders arrive."

"I agree."

Originally, the demons who had wanted to go to the middle realm first all began to brace themselves, preparing to shrink back until the commanders would manifest in this world.

Mulan, quietly observing the atmosphere within the temple when,

woo-woong-!

He soon noticed the form of Kelva appearing in front of him as black magic coalesced, and he spoke,

"Ah, this is unfortunate. My leg became tangled up while attending to the commander this time. It seems support will be a bit difficult."

And then,

"...Eudeuk-!"

Thanks to such officers, Kelva, who had lost a third of the plan he had been preparing for about seven years in just over a week, turned his gaze towards the two heroes.

He grimaced at the sight of the stronghold, where he had invested so much of his precious time, being destroyed in less than a minute, perhaps thinking that demons would no longer appear and rampage as they pleased.

'How could they do more than demons?'

Kelva had seen everything the two had done while summoning the officers.

Therefore, Kelva, looking at them with a trembling expression, decided to abandon the plan.

Because he realized.

That whatever he did here, the remaining magic circles would be destroyed by those two heroes.

'Let's calm down. This was just a decoy, this is not the real thing.'

Thus, Kelva looked at the two heroes with an expression that was trembling, simply by the mere sight of them.

"If the commander comes, let's meet again then."

With that murmur, he disappeared.

Lartania's development was advancing so rapidly that it was on a different track compared to other territories.

In just a few months, Lartania had already grown to a development level close to 1600.

However, Kim Hyunwoo wanted to develop the territory even faster than now.

"...In fact, at this stage, there is virtually no means to further increase the development level."

In reality, Lartania was already developing at a dazzling pace.

Numerous immigrants were arriving in the territory every day,

and the economy was being revitalized by the many mercenaries coming and going due to the Labyrinth.

Is that all?

The external buildings that would soon be constructed were sure to steepen the curve of Lartania's development speed even more than now.

In other words, over time, the territory's development level would naturally hit 2000.

Of course, from Kim Hyunwoo's perspective, he wanted to reach a development level of 2000 even faster, but unfortunately, there was nothing he could do at the moment.

More precisely, it would be correct to say there was nothing more he could do.

After all, Kim Hyunwoo had already done everything he could.

...To be more precise, if Kim Hyunwoo were to do anything more, Lartania's financial situation would collapse.

Of course, Lartania currently has a considerable amount of Gold Coins.

The taxes now handed over to Kim Hyunwoo exceeded 2,500 Gold Coins, and the Magnifying Glasses he was making were all being sold, bringing tremendous benefits to the territory.

However, despite that, Lartania's finances were in too precarious a situation to start anything new.

After all, Lartania was using all the Gold Coins it earned for the development of the territory.

Is that all?

As the number of mercenaries within Lartania increased, the territory was purchasing all of the Magic Stones that were being produced in increasing quantities.

This meant that, even if Kim Hyunwoo was making close to 4,000 Gold Coins a day from selling Magnifying Glasses, the territory was essentially breaking even.

Of course, converting all Magic Stones into Red Stones would surely be profitable, but the current situation was such that the balance sheet was just breaking even.

"I really want to mass-produce the Magnifying Glasses."

Kim Hyunwoo looked at the Lowest Grade Explorer's Magnifying Glasses.

The Lowest Grade Explorer's Magnifying Glasses were so popular that they could be considered a specialty of Lartania, selling out as soon as he made them.

Moreover, the number of Magnifying Glasses he was producing was not small.

Thanks to the food prepared by Lani, which has made him as powerful as a one-star hero, he was able to produce nearly 4,000 Magnifying Glasses.

However, despite making 4,000 units, the Magnifying Glasses sold out instantly.

They were selling so well that mercenaries were setting up tents in front of the Lord's castle and doing open runs to buy them.

This meant that the supply had been unable to meet the demand for quite some time.

"It seems like it's time to start thinking about mass production. But how?"

Thanks to this, Kim Hyunwoo had been seriously considering what to do with the Magnifying Glasses.

If the mass production of Magnifying Glasses could generate additional funds, it would be possible to invest in the further development of the territory.

Thus, Kim Hyunwoo, who had been contemplating this for some time,

saw that a three-star hero, 'The Golden Witch', had entered his territory.

[The Tienus Merchant Group has arrived at the territory!]

It had been a while since he encountered such a message.

A few hours after the alert appeared,

"Hello, Lord."

"Yes, it's been a long time, leader of the Merchant Group."

Kim Hyunwoo was able to greet Adria, who had visited a bit later than usual this time.

They were able to greet each other, but...

"...Excuse me, Merchant Group leader?"

"Yes?"

"Your face is looking really haggard, you know?"

Kim Hyunwoo thought Adria's condition looked serious enough to warrant concern.

Dark circles were visible under her eyes, and her face expressed a complex mix of emotions, resembling both a Buddha and a devil.

Hence, Kim Hyunwoo, who had his doubts,

"Lord, by any chance..."

"Yes?"

"Could you sell me about 5,000 of the Magnifying Glasses you're currently producing?"

"Ah..."

"I've been listening to the mercenaries and did some theoretical calculations. It seems that adding about 5,000 more would definitely make a difference."

"Look-"

"It will surely work. I'm quite sharp with these kinds of calculations, you know."

Soon, seeing the corners of her eyes flicker with the words that emerged from Adria's mouth, Kim Hyun-woo let out a low sigh as he realized why the Buddha and the devil coexisted on her face.