Chapter 77: Tier 4 (3)

Chapter 77: Tier 4 (3)

The next day.

Kim Hyunwoo called Elena, who was heading down to the fourth tier, and gave her a gift.

“...What’s this?”

Elena asked with a surprised look.

To that, Kim Hyunwoo responded with a smile.

“It’s an axe made from the materials of the Magdaora we caught last time.”

“Excuse me? Magdaora, as in that Disaster of a...”

“Yes, that one.”

With those words, Elena, who took out the axe, looked at Kim Hyunwoo with an astonished expression.

The axe in her hand looked extremely good, as if it was appealing to be a very expensive entity just by its appearance.

‘It’s actually good too.’

Although it wasn’t a weapon for a 5-star hero to use, a weapon made from Magdaora’s materials was quite a decent weapon for up to 4 stars.

“Isn’t this gift too much for me?”

Elena looked a bit burdened, but Kim Hyunwoo reassured her with a smile.

“Too much? Not at all.”

“But still-”

“If you really think so, I’d appreciate it if you dedicated yourself even more to training. I sincerely believe that Elena will become a strong hero.”

Kim Hyunwoo’s words.

Upon hearing this, Elena widened her eyes and looked at Kim Hyunwoo, then nodded her head with a slightly reddened complexion and said,

“...I will definitely try to become like that.”

“I believe in you. Then, have a good trip.”

After accepting Elena’s response with a smile, she immediately moved outside the Lord’s castle, and Kim Hyunwoo, watching her,

[Elena's affinity has increased!]

[Elena's affinity has reached the maximum level!]

“Oh.”

He unwittingly smiled at the pop-up notifications.

‘Of course, it’s just that the affinity reached Level 5.’

In Arteil, even if the affinity reaches Level 5, it doesn’t mean the hero character has fallen in love, but rather that the trust has become very strong, making it easier for the favorability to increase.

‘Well, even in the current state, I’ll sufficiently receive a stats increase due to the affinity.’

While Kim Hyunwoo thought so,

knock knock.

He turned his gaze towards the sound of knocking on the office door.

“It’s been a while, My Lord.”

“Ah, please come in.”

Kim Hyunwoo greeted Mila with a smile as she entered the office, asking her how she had been along with a warm welcome.

Since officially scouting Mila, Kim Hyunwoo and Mila hadn’t had a significant meeting.

‘Normally, it would be good to meet often.’

But currently, Kim Hyunwoo had a lot to do, including making the Magnifying Glass, and above all, because he found Mila’s characteristics trustworthy, he didn’t specifically arrange to meet and talk with her separately.

After exchanging simple greetings for a while, Kim Hyunwoo was able to get to the main point.

“So, what brings you here?”

It wasn’t Kim Hyunwoo who had called Mila.

Rather, she had requested to see Kim Hyunwoo first, so he asked with curiosity.

Mila, having received the question, seemed to ponder for a moment before speaking.

“Well, it’s about forming a Mercenary Guild, I was wondering if I could get a little help with that.”

“Help?”

“Yes. Well-”

Mila, looking quite troubled, soon began to tell Kim Hyunwoo about the current situation.

After listening quietly to Mila, Kim Hyunwoo nodded in understanding as she finished speaking.

“...So, to put it essentially, the Mercenary Guild is unable to receive financial support due to political fighting... Is that what you mean?”

“Yes...”

Mila, making a face as if feeling quite disgraced just by thinking about it,

“...Well, to be honest, even if you don’t support us, the Mercenary Guild will probably be properly built eventually. But if that happens-”

“Mila, you mean you’ll be pushed out by politics and won’t be able to stay in Lartania?”

“Yes.”

Upon Mila’s words, Kim Hyunwoo made a thoughtful expression, nodding his head and sighing peculiarly.

‘Indeed, wherever people gather, political fighting is the same.’

Kim Hyunwoo looked at Mila with a sympathetic expression.

It made sense because, based on the story Mila had given, it seemed she was essentially being treated as a thorn in the side by the Mercenary Guild.

‘...Since Lartania definitely seems like a winning lottery ticket, they deliberately make various excuses to block the funding for the Mercenary Guild, thinking that if Mila gives up, they’ll send another mercenary...’

It was clearly a very petty act.

Certainly, if the Mercenary Guild acted like this, Mila had no choice but to be affected.

According to what she had said, if the Mercenary Guild isn’t properly built within half a year, the authority to build the Guild would be transferred to the other side.

“Boss, what’s going on?”

Ryu, looking at Merilda, who had limited her daily raids on the Lord’s castle to once a day and was maintaining silence, asked her as she pondered.

“Huh?”

She asked with a low exclamation, as if suddenly realizing something.

“Ryu.”

“Yes?”

“What was the reason those guys came to deal with the Red Eyes when we settled down?”

“...Ah, are you talking about the intruders?...Well, I think most of them came for treasure?”

“What else did they gain by capturing us?”

“...When the intruders dealt with us? Well- maybe honor or favorability from the surrounding territories?”

“That’s it.”

“...What do you mean?”

“The way to eliminate my infamy, that’s it.”

“Ah.”

With Ryu’s exclamation, Merilda smiled.

She herself thought that eliminating the already overflowing infamy would take too much time.

But what if she could gain honor and favorability from territories by defeating villains?

Eliminating infamy quickly wasn’t an impossible task because of this.

‘I’ll return faster than that sinister dragon or the hysterical woman.’

Merilda, who immediately stood up,

‘To my Master.’

Resolved, she smiled.

“I just have to beat all those infamous guys, right?”

Merilda’s words.

Upon hearing this, Ryu made a momentarily blank expression.

“That... Yes?”

He asked again.

“If I defeat all those infamous guys, won’t the favorability of those territories, who have infamy with me, increase?”

“That... makes sense?”

“So, if I defeat all those infamous guys, my infamy will disappear too.”

Following this dizzying logic, Ryu made a flustered expression, as if he might unwittingly slap his forehead.

Honestly, the conclusion Merilda came to was quite dizzying, and not something one would typically think of to eliminate their infamy.

“...But, wouldn’t that be a bit difficult?”

Therefore, Ryu asked, perhaps out of concern.

“Why? The logic is sound, isn’t it?”

Following Merilda’s response,

“...The logic, it does make sense. Logically...”

Eventually, he nodded as if giving up.

“Where’s the most infamous place around here?”

As Merilda asked,

“Hmm-”

After a moment of thought, Ryu brought Giral and Gram.

“...So, you’re saying to beat all the infamous guys and clear the infamy?”

“Yes.”

Giral and Gram inadvertently opened their mouths slightly at Merilda’s confident nodding.

“...Ahem.”

Soon, Giral quickly closed his mouth.

Honestly, the idea of eliminating all infamous individuals to clear one’s own infamy wasn’t something that could come from a normal line of thought.

After all, considering how many villains are in this world, how could one possibly find and defeat them all?

But,

‘...From her expression, it’s clear she won’t give up.’

After thinking this, Giral, seeing Merilda’s confident expression, spoke,

“I believe the most infamous place around here is the Trikram territory.”

“Trikram territory?”

“It’s a territory ambiguously belonging to the Calan Kingdom, infamous to the extent that despite being a territory, it’s practically filled with nothing but slaves.”

“..Then, wouldn’t meddling with it worsen our relationship with the Calan Kingdom?”

“Considering the infamy, the favorability might actually increase. Moreover, killing that lord might not affect our relationship with the Calan Kingdom, but it will definitely eliminate the Boss’ infamy.”

“Really? Is that so...”

Giral nodded in response to Merilda’s question,

“Let’s go right away.”

She immediately opened her mouth with a deep smile.