NOVEL NEXT Chapter 58: Magic Tower (4)
For the next three days, seeing Adria visit every other day, Kim Hyunwoo’s expression grew increasingly puzzled.
That was because, at least in Kim Hyunwoo’s opinion, there was no reason for Adria to keep staying here.
Lartania had become a thriving city due to the opening of the Labyrinth, allowing the Tienus Merchant Group to make a decent profit through their business.
However, even if the economy was doing well, moving around to sell goods was more profitable than staying in one place, so Kim Hyunwoo began to wonder.
“Ahem, I probably won’t be able to see you starting tomorrow.”
“Have you decided on your next destination?”
“Yes. I have a place to go. Uh-!”
“…What’s wrong?”
“Ah, my head just rang for a moment… It’s a bit noisy inside.”
“You’ve been like this for a few days now; I’m worried something might be wrong with you.”“Ahaha, don’t worry, it’s nothing like that. Anyway- I’ll see you next time.”
After saying that, Adria left the territory.
“…What was that all about?”
Kim Hyunwoo tried to guess why Adria had been visiting consistently over the past few days but naturally couldn’t figure out her intentions.
‘The only change… is that she’s been staring at my face for the past few days.’
Kim Hyunwoo glanced at his face and thought.
‘Could it be, she’s fallen for me?’
He chuckled at the thought for a moment.
Even though Kim Hyunwoo considered himself to have an average appearance, not lacking in any major way, he didn’t think it was enough to attract beautiful women.
If his appearance had been exceptional, he wouldn’t have been cooped up raising a beautiful heroine in Arteil; he would have been out with real women.
‘If I was going to be stuck in a game anyway, it’s a good thing I’m not too handsome.’
Therefore, Kim Hyunwoo, feeling a melancholic gratitude (?) for his average looks that had never gotten him a girlfriend, opened the information window.
Territory: Lartania
Territory Development Level:
745
Territory Residents:
[Humans: 4746]
-Owned Buildings-
[Lord's Castle LV1 >>> Upgrading 99% (Paused)]
[Walls LV2 >>> Upgrading 42%]
[Residential District LV2 >>> Upgrading 32%]
[Blacksmith LV3 >>> Upgrading 13%]
[Barracks LV3↑]
[Tavern LV2]
[Market LV2↑]
[Wood Processing Plant LV1]
[Restaurant LV1 >>> Upgrading 0%]
[Leather Workshop LV1]
[Stone Workshop LV1]
[Exchange LV1]
[Secondary Walls LV0 (Under Construction 45%)]
[Inn LV0 (Under Construction 72%)]
[Administrative District LV0 (Under Construction 44%)]
-Owned Troops-
-Regular Soldiers 200 [Upgradeable soldiers exist!]
Over the past few days, the territory has been steadily developing.
The upgraded barracks, unlike the initial simple training ground, now looked much more organized, fitting the name perfectly.
The training ground of the barracks, visible through the windows of the Lord’s castle, had expanded so much that it was incomparable to before.
Kim Hyunwoo, watching the territory residents entering the barracks, perhaps for recruitment, soon turned his gaze to the market.
The market, stretching across the north of the Lord’s castle, had significantly increased in area compared to before.
The market, which previously had a single line of stalls, had now expanded to two rows, and merchants had started setting up in every alley, making it much wider than before, though still packed full.
The most significant change, however, was to Lartania’s walls.
Stone was starting to be piled on the first layer of walls, which until now had only been made of logs and watchtowers.
In other words, the first layer of walls was finally starting to resemble a proper wall, and the second layer was also being constructed of stone.
The construction of the second layer of walls could proceed to the next level as soon as enough resources were consumed, according to the level of the first layer of walls.
“Thanks to that, I’ve blown through a lot of Gold Coins and already used up all the resources bought from the Tesnoka territory.”
Restoring the territory was certainly necessary, so Kim Hyunwoo didn’t regret spending Gold Coins and resources.
“Loria, how’s the public order?”
“Since the last incident, public order has started to stabilize again. It’s not at its peak like before, but it’s maintained at a pretty good level.”
“And the happiness level?”
“It has also recovered. In fact, the happiness level has returned to its maximum.”
“That’s a relief.”
Kim Hyunwoo nodded, satisfied.
In truth, handing over the land to the Mage Tower in exchange for just a few magic scrolls was somewhat of a loss.
At least, Kim Hyunwoo thought that Lartania would grow even more than the Lartania he had developed ten years ago.
However, even if he took some loss in terms of future value, Kim Hyunwoo thought the deal with the Mage Tower was alright, not just because of the happiness and public order, but because he had a plan.
He had a way to make a good profit from the Mage Tower that had bought the land.
‘Considering that, I won’t be at a loss at all.’
With a smile, Kim Hyunwoo soon realized that he also needed to upgrade the newly recruited soldiers at the barracks.
Troop Type: [Regular Soldier]
Leader: Malon
[Proficiency 100/100]
Number of Personnel:
200
[View Details]
Combat Efficiency: Very Good
[Upgrade available for higher troop types (200 personnel)]
[Can be promoted to 'Guard']
[Can be promoted to 'Scout']
[Can be promoted to 'Cavalry']
[Can be promoted to 'Trainee Soldier']
[..]
[.]
[View More Upgradeable Troop Types]
-Basic Equipment-
Head: Helmet
Body: Light Armor
Waist: Leather Belt
Legs: Greaves with Leather Overlay
Armed with: Spear
Secondary Armament: None
※Combat efficiency is high due to long-term proficiency!
※The entire troop possesses magic scrolls, significantly enhancing combat efficiency!
Kim Hyunwoo, looking at the notification window that popped up, pondered calmly.
‘In fact, at this point, it’s right to upgrade everyone to guards.’
With the increase in territory population and mercenaries, making it hard to maintain public order, it was appropriate to upgrade most of the troops to guards.
This is because upgrading to guards doesn’t cost much in money and maintenance compared to other soldier types and actually enhances the city’s security.
However, Kim Hyunwoo was concerned because the career path of a guard ends precisely at ‘guard’.
In other words, while cost-effective, their potential peak was not high.
‘…Perhaps apprentices are better.’
Apprentices.
At a glance, it seems like a vague type of soldier, and indeed, apprentices were among the most ambiguous types of soldiers that could be upgraded to regular soldiers.
Even though their abilities were slightly lower than those of guards, the maintenance and cost were more than double that of guards.
However, the reason Kim Hyunwoo was deliberating between apprentices and guards was that the potential peak of apprentices was overwhelmingly higher than that of guards.
Right away, apprentices show similar abilities to regular soldiers up to the next stage of apprentice knight, but they demonstrate their true value once they advance beyond that stage to become ‘knights’.
Even among them, if they reach the highest tier of ‘honor knight,’ there is no one among the soldiers who can beat an honor knight, and if knights gather, they can even take on a 4-star hero.
Furthermore, beyond the highest tier, when a ‘swordmaster’ appears by chance, they possess the power to face a 4-star hero alone, even though they are not heroes themselves.
‘Well, in reality, from the swordmaster onwards, it’s like moving to the hero category and becoming a hero.’
Kim Hyunwoo knew that besides this, advancing from a knight to an honor knight required not experience but rather murderous BM and luck, yet he deliberated.
‘…Well, I have quite a bit of money to spare, and it’s better to have a higher peak.’
Kim Hyunwoo eventually decided to upgrade all 200 soldiers to high-tier knights.
After all, even if they were apprentices, it wasn’t that they couldn’t be put on guard duty.
Moreover, no matter how important heroes were in the territorial battles of Arteil, the next most important were the high-tier soldiers.
‘More precisely, high-tier soldiers are also necessary to prevent fights.’
With that thought, Kim Hyunwoo upgraded all the regular soldiers to apprentices.
A few minutes later.
[The morale of the apprentices reaches its peak!]
[The loyalty of the apprentices reaches its maximum!]
[The apprentices feel unwavering loyalty towards the Lord!]
[The apprentices swear undying loyalty to the Lord!]
‘…?’
Kim Hyunwoo had a baffled expression at the sudden notification windows that appeared before him.
30 minutes later.
“I will work hard, sob-! I will work hard! My Lord!!”
“I will also, I will also work hard!!”
Kim Hyunwoo, watching the soldiers on guard at the Lord’s castle, shedding tears,
‘…Why are they like this?’
could only have a puzzled expression.
A colossal tower in the northwest of the continent.
From afar, the tower seemed to stretch so high it might touch the sky, inspiring a sense of mystery just by looking at it.
The various geometric patterns etched on the tower’s exterior occasionally glowed, indicating that this tall and massive tower was protected by numerous spells.
Together with being a community divided into five schools, at the top floor of the tower, which could be called the fortress of mages, there was.
“Umm-”
Great Mage Laran and, on the opposite side, a woman – no, the Master of the Blue Tower, humming with a large pointed hat, swaying her head side to side while sipping tea.
Great Mage Laran, who had been watching her long hair sway gently as she subtly shook her head, said to the Master of the Blue Tower,
“You seem to be in a good mood?”
“Hmm? Oh- Yeah.”
The Master of the Blue Tower responded languidly.
Seeing her like that, Laran had an expression of wonder.
She always smiled, but from Laran’s long acquaintance with her, he seldom saw her this happy.
Therefore,
“So, why have you been in such a good mood these past few days?”
Laran asked.
To which the Master of the Blue Tower replied,
“Umm- well.”
After a slight moment of contemplation, she chuckled softly-
“I think I’ll soon meet someone I wanted to see but thought I wouldn’t be able to.”
-So she said.