Chapter 122: Legitimate Visits (2)

Chapter 122: Legitimate Visits (2)

Malon.

He was the leader of the Apprentice Knights affiliated with Lartania and a person who held the most loyalty to the Lord.

Of course, Kim Hyunwoo didn’t particularly take care of Malon, but the reason for his full-hearted loyalty was because of the opportunity he had created.

After all, Kim Hyunwoo had given Malon, who was of a certain age and had only faint possibilities left, being nothing more than an ordinary soldier, the blessing to become a ‘knight’.

Not only that, but there was no knight in Lartania who did not feel loyalty to Kim Hyunwoo.

Essentially, being a ‘knight’, even though far from being a ‘hero’, definitely means acquiring the power to surpass an ‘ordinary person’.

Anyway, Malon, who held deep loyalty to Kim Hyunwoo, had recently been witnessing strange events around the territory, more precisely around the Lord.

...More precisely, he was blatantly witnessing odd fights among the heroes circling around Kim Hyunwoo.

Of course, those fights naturally did not mean physical battles.

To be more precise, it was right to see them as verbal arguments.

“You changed your hairstyle? Wouldn’t it be better to stick with the original one? It doesn’t feel that different anyway.”

“Is that so? But isn’t changing it up in various ways better for a change of mood rather than sticking to one style because it’s voluminous?”

“I see. Well, in truth...you might not see much effect despite the effort, right? It could be hard on you for nothing.”

“Don’t worry. I thought it’s better than not being able to change because of voluminous hair.”

In front of Malon, who was voluntarily standing guard at the entrance of the Lord’s castle, Elena and Shadra were exchanging words with smiles on their faces.

The smiles maintained their unchanging laughter.

...However, their eyes were not laughing.

“Since you came to see the Lord, wouldn’t it be better to come on another day?”

“Dad said it’s okay to come whenever I have time, so it shouldn’t matter, right?”

“Is that so? Ah, come to think of it, Shadra, you have a feeling like a real daughter, so it might be okay for you. I’m envious.”

Elena, smiling and without hesitation, stabs with a verbal dagger.

However, seeing Shadra immediately counterattack after momentarily stopping at her words, Malon couldn’t help but sigh without realizing it.

Lately, whenever he was on guard duty, the women circling around the Lord would engage in such nerve-wracking confrontations whenever they met.

And that’s not all.

Since the sign saying ‘Congratulations on the Lord’s Marriage’ appeared once, Elena, River, and Shadra had been oddly dressing up every time they entered the Lord’s castle.

Elena, for instance, had started coming in neat uniforms, frequently changing her hairstyle unlike before.

River, the head of the Blacksmith Guild, wore not her usual blacksmith attire but strangely fluttery dresses.

Shadra had been entering and leaving the Lord’s castle in outfits that were oddly revealing.

Furthermore, recently, they had been strangely bribing the guards to meticulously check who came and went and subtly interfered if someone else entered first, thus engaging in checks and balances.

“...The Lord’s abilities are certainly remarkable but...even taking that into account...it’s a complete mess.”

Malon was still watching the two of them stabbing each other with verbal daggers at the entrance of the Lord’s castle, thinking just that.

While Malon was watching the heroes’ breathtaking dagger-stabbing for the umpteenth time.

Three days after the Blue Merchant visited Lartania, Kim Hyunwoo, as usual, was going about his work and had organized his tasks into three categories.

‘Finding a way to meet the Red Merchant, slowly selecting a hero that had been postponed, and thinking about the fifth one.’

In fact, the first task, finding a way to meet the Red Merchant, was not that difficult.

Just as buying goods with a Red Stone would summon the Blue Merchant, the Red Merchant would also come to deliver goods if the purchase price of an item reached a certain amount.

The only problem here was that the goods sold by the Red Merchant were event materials, but this issue was quickly resolved.

Unlike the time when playing Arteil, where goods were not sold without an event, the current Red Merchant seemed to sell items according to the date, even without a specific event situation.

[Surprise Reveal in 82 Days!]

Upon clicking the event tab, Kim Hyunwoo saw the notification and thought.

‘In 82 days, I should have gathered a decent amount of Red Stones, so I’ll have some leeway.’

Territory Residents:

[Humans: 29,108]

–Owned Buildings–

[Lord's Castle LV2 >>> Upgrading 99%] [Paused]

[Wall LV5↑]

[Residential District LV5]

[Blacksmith LV5]

[Barracks LV5]

[Tavern LV5]

[Market LV5]

[Lumber Mill LV5]

[Restaurant LV5]

[Leather Workshop LV5]

[Stone Workshop LV5]

[Trading Post LV5]

[Secondary Wall LV5]

[Inn LV5↑]

[Administrative District LV5]

[Paved Road LV4↑]

–External Buildings–

[Mercenary Guild LV0 (Under Construction)]

[Mage Tower Branch LV1↑]

[Blacksmith Guild Branch LV1↑]

–Owned Troops–

-Regular Soldiers: 1000

-Guards: 200

-Apprentice Knights: 200

At the point where, unbeknownst to Kim Hyunwoo, all buildings except the paved roads had reached Level 5, and the Territory Development Level had exceeded 4000, allowing the construction of second-tier buildings.

“...How should I proceed with the second-tier development?”

Kim Hyunwoo, who was earnestly pondering how to carry out the second-tier development.

[The 'King of Calan Kingdom' has visited the territory]

“...Huh?”

He couldn’t help but react to the sudden notification that appeared before his eyes.

That was because the notification that suddenly popped up in front of Kim Hyunwoo seemed quite out of the blue to him.

‘Why the King of Calan Kingdom...?’

Kim Hyunwoo had seen the King of Calan Kingdom before and had certainly received some favor, but it was strange for her to appear out of nowhere in this situation, raising questions. However, a new notification soon popped up, leaving him with many hooks over his head.

Especially since this happened right after the notification of the visit from the King of Calan Kingdom.

A ★★★★★☆ hero 'Absolute Ruler of Darkness' has entered the territory.

“...??”

It was because a name he knew very well had appeared before his eyes.