NOVEL NEXT Chapter 44: Yes? (1)
When the Absolute Ruler of Darkness began to cheer upon hearing the news of the Execution Sword,
“The boss of the third layer is a Quartz Golem. Naturally, being powered by a Magic Stone, it neither tires nor lacks offensive and defensive capabilities.”
Kim Hyunwoo was explaining about the third tier to Elena.
“However, the Quartz Golem shouldn’t be a difficult opponent for you. It’s slow and sluggish in its movements. As long as you remember the weaknesses I’ve told you about, defeating the Golem won’t be hard. Actually, you should be more cautious of the monsters around the Boss in the third tier-”
Kim Hyunwoo was meticulously explaining the third tier to Elena.
In fact, he had called Elena yesterday to discuss this, but he thought it was good to review, so Kim Hyunwoo was explaining to her again before setting off to the third tier.
“Well, I think I’ve told you all the points to be cautious about, so please go and come back safely. Also, inform the soldiers and mercenaries about the monsters in the third tier.”
“Yes.”
Following Kim Hyunwoo’s words, Elena smiled slightly, finished speaking, and led the soldiers and mercenaries down to the third tier.
Then, watching the soldiers and mercenaries entering with Elena through the Lord’s castle window, Kim Hyunwoo thought,“It should be fine, right?”
In fact, Kim Hyunwoo thought that there was no need to worry much about the third tier.
As the Labyrinth became increasingly difficult the deeper one went, Elena’s stats were still sufficient to clear the third tier. Despite this, fearing that unupgraded troops might die, a large number of mercenaries were hired before their proficiency was fully increased.
Having mercenaries would surely minimize the death of soldiers in the first place.
“Of course, from the fourth tier onwards, it would be wise to refrain from taking soldiers in.”
That wasn’t an immediate concern.
After all, the tiers needed to create the Labyrinth city Kim Hyunwoo wanted were only up to the third tier.
Therefore,
“Once the third tier is conquered, we can start the Labyrinth city right away, so there’s no worry there… But what about the resources?”
Kim Hyunwoo, watching Elena who had now fully entered the maze, shifted his concern to another topic.
Thanks to the remaining Magic Stones, the Lartania workshops were all repaired, but naturally, the production of resources couldn’t keep up with the territory’s development speed.
Using the Blue Stones felt increasingly wasteful, and waiting for development was too slow.
“The trade center I was counting on would require good relations with neighboring territories.”
Unfortunately, Kim Hyunwoo was not in a position to foster friendships with neighboring territories.
After all, the only heroes under Kim Hyunwoo were Elena and Lani.
“…If I think about seriously running the Labyrinth city, things will sort themselves out by then, so maybe I should plan the development around that time?”
This was the moment to consider how to handle this situation.
From a hill far away,
“……”
Merilda was watching him.
Her mood hadn’t been very good lately.
Of course, if you asked her what was wrong, it wasn’t that something had happened.
Ever since the Absolute Ruler of Darkness visited the last time, nothing significant had occurred to her, and although Giral did visit, he disappeared at some point.
In other words, there was no one here to particularly upset her mood.
In fact, if anything, her mood had been much better recently than when she lived in the territory she had created as Red Eyes.
Unlike the times she searched for him in her dreams without any emotion, now she was directly observing her Master’s appearance every day.
Moreover, the praise she had heard from her Master last time still brought a natural smile to her lips whenever she thought about it.
…And yet, precisely because of that, Merilda’s mood had recently turned even worse.
Naturally, it wasn’t Kim Hyunwoo’s fault.
If there was a problem, it was Merilda’s.
More precisely, it was her problem of wanting praise, and then something beyond that.
At first, after being rejected by Kim Hyunwoo and receiving a gift, Merilda thought when she stepped outside the Lartania territory.
To support her Master from behind and build affection, waiting for him to call on her again.
After thinking that, Merilda helped him without ever showing herself to Kim Hyunwoo.
She silently supported him from behind, waiting for him to realize this fact.
She certainly had no complaints about that life.
However, at some point, when she unexpectedly heard Kim Hyunwoo’s praise, Merilda’s resolve wavered.
To be honest, she thought Kim Hyunwoo’s feelings towards her wouldn’t be good.
But surprisingly, Kim Hyunwoo’s – no, her Master’s feelings for her were not like that.
Rather, Merilda had heard her Master defending her in front of Elena.
Therefore, Merilda felt unparalleled joy and at the same time thought,
if her master doesn’t think poorly of her,
perhaps it would be good to talk to him again if he holds slightly better feelings than negative ones.
Certainly, it was a different thought from her initial resolution, but once the thought started to invade her mind, it quickly took over, testing her patience.
“…Master.”
Lately, Merilda often imagined herself standing before Kim Hyunwoo when he was alone.
Imagining herself standing before him, asking for forgiveness, and the master who rejected her stroking her head with great affection.
“……”
Each time she imagined this, a smile would form on Merilda’s lips, but apart from that, her patience grew increasingly thin, like a thirsty person drinking seawater.
Especially lately, seeing her Master talking with Elena sometimes made her feel suffocated.
And in such situations, Merilda thought of the most plausible way for her to appear, but as that opportunity came and went, her patience reached its limit.
However,
“……”
When her patience neared its limit, Merilda quietly reached into her left pocket, feeling the familiar sensation, and took out a box.
Looking at the small box her Master had given her, Merilda suddenly remembered Giral’s voice, absent from this place.
“If you, the Boss, want to make a good impression on that human man, wouldn’t it be better to take a more proactive approach?”
Giral’s words, carefully offered when Merilda’s chance to appear had vanished and she was in a despondent state.
At the time, she didn’t respond well to it and brushed it off due to her mood.
“…If it’s something that will earn praise from my Master…”
Reflecting on his words belatedly,
“To take the initiative, to earn praise.”
She murmured quietly as she gazed at the Lord’s castle.
About five hours later,
Kim Hyunwoo saw Elena and the soldiers, who had gone to subdue the third tier, emerge as the sun gradually set and dusk fell.
Troop Type: [Regular soldier]
Leader: Malon
[Proficiency 100/100]
Number of soldiers: 200
[View details]
Combat efficiency: Good
[Upgraded troop type available for 200 soldiers]
[Can be promoted to 'Guard' troop type]
[Upgrade to higher troop types is limited due to low barracks level]
[Can be promoted to 'Scout' troop type]
[Upgrade to higher troop types is limited due to low barracks level]
[View more upgradeable troop types]
-Basic equipment-
Head: Helmet
Body: Light armor
Waist: Leather belt
Legs: Greaves reinforced with leather
Armed with: Spear
Secondary weapon: None
※Some soldiers have reached maximum proficiency! Proficiency is stored!
“It’s a relief.”
After checking the information window and seeing that the troops had emerged without a single casualty, he smiled.
Soon after, Kim Hyunwoo was able to hear the report about the third tier from Elena, who came to his office.
Seeing that the soldiers and Elena were unharmed, he had anticipated as much, but the report confirmed that nothing unfortunate had occurred in the third tier, as Kim Hyunwoo had predicted.
However, there was something noteworthy this time as well.
“Blue bones, they appeared this time as well?”
“Yes. This time, we attacked the Quartz Golem first, and removed the core in its right leg, which you mentioned was the most troublesome.”
Elena placed the blue bone on Kim Hyunwoo’s desk as she said this.
The bone was visibly larger than the ones seen before.
Kim Hyunwoo stared intently at it.
“Indeed, it seems there’s something in the Labyrinth.”
He was convinced that with the appearance of blue bones near the third tier, there must be some secret hidden in the Labyrinth.
He couldn’t fully discern what the secret was, but he was certain it was somehow linked to the Necromancer of the Blue Forest.
So, after looking at the blue bone Elena had brought for a while, Kim Hyunwoo set it aside and then spoke to her.
“You’ve worked hard this time as well.”
“Not at all. Thanks to you, Lord, we had little difficulty.”
Elena answered with a slight smile.
Kim Hyunwoo, who had been talking with her, was now smiling more than before.
“Let’s rest for today and discuss the details tomorrow.”
“Understood.”
With that, he sent Elena, who had worked hard all day, off to rest.
“Now, let’s start preparing from tomorrow.”
Kim Hyunwoo thought with a smile.
The next day,
When Kim Hyunwoo woke up later than usual, having stayed up to investigate the peculiarities of the blue bone found the night before,
“Lord, the Duchess of Tesnoka from the Norba Kingdom has come to our territory.”
“…What? The Lord has come?”
“Yes.”
Kim Hyunwoo’s puzzled expression at the sudden news of another territory’s Lord visiting was brief; he then greeted the Duchess of Tesnoka.
Soon, Kim Hyunwoo could see the Duchess of Tesnoka, who was strikingly beautiful with long purple hair reaching down to her hips, as she was led by the guard into the Lord’s office.
And then,
“Do you have any thoughts of marrying me?”
At her words, spoken with a very relaxed expression as she looked at Kim Hyunwoo,
“…Excuse me?”
Kim Hyunwoo found himself asking in return without realizing.
Boom-!
A small explosion was heard from the hillside visible through the window Kim Hyunwoo was looking at.