NOVEL NEXT Chapter 93: Item (4)
Rin, Merilda, and the Crimson Dragon were well aware that any action they took at this moment, in fact, held no significant meaning.
Since Kim Hyunwoo was unaware that this mess had been caused by their battle.
However, despite knowing this, the reason they all chose to act was just in case of a certain situation.
What if, just if, Kim Hyunwoo found out that the road had been destroyed because of the heroes?
Of course, given the outcome, there might be a chance he would let it slide without much fuss, but that was just a probability, and there was definitely a chance that Kim Hyunwoo would reprimand them.
And the three heroes directly involved in this incident were so afraid of Kim Hyunwoo harboring negative feelings towards them that just the thought of it could send them into a panic.
In other words, for that less than 1% chance that no one would find out if they just kept quiet, they all ran to Rolang Forest as soon as they heard a story from beyond the Lord’s castle, without hesitation.
Of course, during this, there were frequent incidents of them casting spells or uprooting trees from the surroundings and throwing them in an attempt to keep each other in check.
In this situation, which could become awkward if Kim Hyunwoo noticed, they interfered with each other with the thought of getting caught, hoping to create the impression that they had done more work than others, just in case.
…Of course, each time they engaged in acts of sabotage, somewhere an innocent road was destroyed or a forest was completely pushed back, but to them, this wasn’t really important.After all, the only thing that mattered to them was not to be hated by Kim Hyunwoo.
Thus, upon arriving in Rolang Forest, without caring who was first, they immediately began cutting down the trees around them.
Thud!
The Absolute Ruler of Darkness swung her sword, and ten trees were instantly cut down.
Crash!
Merilda swung her claws, and the trees shattered like chopsticks, scattering in all directions.
Swoosh!
The Crimson Dragon, using Adria’s body, merely waved her hand lightly and instantly burned the base of the trees, bringing them down.
Materials began to accumulate in no time.
And then, suddenly,
Rin, Merilda, and the Crimson Dragon, after watching each other, vanished from Rolang Forest in an instant.
Like the wind.
Of course, distant booms could still be heard from afar, but no one was left in Rolang Forest.
All that remained were countless cut trees and, thanks to that, an empty clearing that was supposed to be there.
Originally,
“……”
Kelva, who had been blankly observing the situation inside Rolang Forest, looked at the wide clearing with a dumbfounded expression.
The space, which had been densely filled with forest just about 20 minutes ago, was now completely empty.
“…What exactly is this?”
Kelva muttered to himself and unconsciously looked down.
There, the emergency summoning circle he had prepared just in case the 50 other summoning circles were ever destroyed was in ruins, with only parts of it still drawn.
In truth, though it was called an emergency summoning circle, this circle he had drawn in Rolang Forest was prepared intermittently over seven years, just as when he was preparing the summoning circles.
Even though it was prepared intermittently, it wasn’t prepared haphazardly.
Given his meticulous and thorough nature, the summoning circle drawn in Rolang Forest was truly an emergency measure in case all 50 summoning circles were destroyed, thus he had actually spent more time on it than on the others.
At least, this one circle could cover for about ten of the circles drawn in the village.
“What on earth… is this supposed to mean…”
Kelva recalled all the effort he had put in.
Within this forest, which always produced hallucinogenic effects on those who entered due to its unique magic, he had endured all manner of hardships to draw this summoning circle.
Though he could have drawn it elsewhere, in his opinion, there was no place as secure as Rolang Forest for hiding a summoning circle.
Rolang Forest, where trees imbued with magic grew, was too dangerous for lumberjacks, and above all, trees containing magic could be easily produced with the help of a magician.
In essence, seven years ago, the demons, who knew nothing about the intermediary world, intermittently built villages, gathered followers, and drew summoning circles. During this, they learned human world knowledge, including economic activities and land, and came to understand the principles of supply and demand…
It meant that Rolang Forest was a place imbued with the essence of knowledge about the intermediary world.
…Indeed, Kelva’s choice was not wrong.
He had never been caught for a summoning circle in the past seven years, and the circles were still well-maintained up until today.
Well, until a little while ago.
“……”
Kelva looked down at the summoning circle.
Wondering if it could possibly be repaired, he touched the summoning circle, but…
Zzzzt-!
As soon as Kelva’s hand touched it, the summoning circle, having already lost its power, hissed and melted away.
And Kelva, looking at it, said,
“Ha-”
Unintentionally, a hollow laugh escaped him, and for the first time since he had come to the intermediary world, he twisted his mouth into a smile.
“Ha…hahaha…”
Then, he laughed in a way he had never done before in the intermediary world.
“Hahahahaha-!”
He laughed so hard that he wondered if he had ever laughed like this even when he was in the demon world, his laughter echoing throughout Rolang Forest.
And then,
“Hey you-”
Kelva, although he had learned it in the intermediary world, had never allowed himself to utter it because he considered it too vulgar-
“-Fucking bastards!!!!!”
He spat curses out, expressing his boiling anger.
The next day.
“…So, you’re saying that all the materials have already arrived?”
“Yes… I’m not entirely sure either, but this morning, before I urgently inquired about the materials from the Mage Tower and the Merchant Group, I went to the hot springs to report the exact number of materials needed… and the materials were all there.”
“…Even the wood?”
“Not just the wood, but all the other necessary materials were there too. In fact, there was more than enough…”
Kim Hyunwoo made a strange expression as he looked at Karok, who seemed confused about the situation he himself described, but soon spoke up.
“Just to be sure, check the materials and if there’s really nothing wrong with them, proceed.”
“Understood. Then, I’ll proceed that way for now.”
After hearing his words, Karok bowed his head immediately and left. Kim Hyunwoo then spoke.
“Loria.”
Yes, My Lord
“…By any chance, did something come in as a quest reward?”
No. Also, if you're asking about the materials that suddenly appeared outside the territory, at least, it wasn't a reward from the system
“Then?”
...Since it's also outside the territory, I...
“…Right.”
‘It’s not like the territory’s development level reached 2000. What’s going on?’
Even as Kim Hyunwoo said that and turned on the information window, he soon shrugged his shoulders.
Although there was no immediate way to know where the materials had come from, as long as there was nothing wrong with them, there was no issue.
‘…Of course, it’s strange to think that materials appeared out of nowhere overnight, and it’s not even a reward.’
From Kim Hyunwoo’s perspective, the materials were needed.
‘I need to look into this as well.’
He thought about finding out where the materials suddenly appeared from, hoping at the same time that there would be no issues with them.
Meanwhile.
“My Lord, I’ve brought it.”
“Thank you.”
“Not at all. Then!”
Kim Hyunwoo immediately received a ledger from the guard.
The ledger looked quite thick, about three volumes in total.
When Kim Hyunwoo flipped through the ledger, it was densely filled with many people’s names alongside numbers next to them.
“…It’s quite well-organized.”
What Kim Hyunwoo was currently looking at was a ledger recording the number of times mercenaries had purchased Magnifying Glasses and hit the ceiling since the introduction of the ceiling system, which Kim Hyunwoo had instructed the guard to bring in order to check how well the ceiling system was being utilized.
‘As expected, the ceiling system was effective.’
Soon, Kim Hyunwoo smiled as he thought this while reviewing the ledger.
To be honest, he was a bit worried since the ceiling wasn’t for a confirmed item but for Lower-grade Magnifying Glasses, yet the ceiling system was performing its role even better than he had anticipated.
In the ledger Kim Hyunwoo was currently reviewing, there were many mercenaries who had already hit the ceiling multiple times.
‘Someone has already hit it more than 3 times?’
Kim Hyunwoo, upon realizing that a mercenary had already hit the ceiling three times despite the system not being introduced long ago, looked quite surprised.
“…..”
Soon, he found himself involuntarily closing his mouth.
And for good reason.
Elena
Total purchases: 272 times Ceiling: 3 times
“……”
The ledger he was looking at had a name very familiar to Kim Hyunwoo written in it.
‘Elena… What are you doing?’
Kim Hyunwoo sighed deeply.
And then,
Three days later,
after confirming that the materials were indeed in good condition, the timber mill staff swiftly started working on the hot spring. In just three days, although simple, they successfully constructed the hot spring building.
Since the Territory Development Level has reached 2000, you have completed the 'Second Clue'
Kim Hyunwoo was able to obtain the second clue.