Chapter 127: Uh??? (3)

Kim Hyunwoo, having woken up less than 30 seconds ago, began to think.

‘Is this a dream?’

He reassessed the situation.

Right now, on his bed, Merilda, who had been looking at him with a tender expression just moments ago, was being yanked backward by her hair by Adria.

Adria was frowning, looking very angry.

In a situation that couldn’t possibly happen in the reality Kim Hyunwoo knew, he was momentarily brain-dead, staring blankly at the scene before he slowly sorted it out.

‘So...Merilda, who shouldn’t be here, was suddenly trying to do something on my bed, and Adria is angrily trying to stop her...’

...Was that a proper summary of the situation? Kim Hyunwoo’s bewildered expression lasted only a moment.

“Let go-!”

Merilda flung away Adria’s hand that was grabbing her hair, her expression looking very urgent.

“Hey, meow-!”

She looked at Kim Hyunwoo, who was standing there with a blank expression.

Kim Hyunwoo, whose face had turned red as if this situation was very embarrassing, looked at her with pitifully trembling eyes.

‘So...Merilda, who shouldn’t be here, suddenly pushed Adria, who was grabbing her hair, far away, then climbed on top of me and is pretending to be a cat...’

It only confirmed that what he was seeing was indeed a dream, so he spoke while lying there blankly.

“Merilda.”

“Uh...yes?”

“You’re a wolf.”

“Oh...oh?? Ah...that’s true. But, if I do this, the reaction...huh? Huh?? This isn’t it?”

Merilda was confused by Kim Hyunwoo’s bewildered question.

However.

“I think Merilda suits being a wolf.”

“Huh?”

At Kim Hyunwoo’s next words, Merilda looked momentarily blank, so he smiled and spoke-

“Merilda, you’re definitely more of a wolf than a cat...but pretending to be a cat is cute. Seeing it in reality is quite...cute...”

-He suddenly closed his eyes and fell asleep.

“...????”

Merilda, flustered by Kim Hyunwoo suddenly falling asleep after complimenting her.

However.

“...!”

Merilda soon realized why Kim Hyunwoo had suddenly fallen asleep and turned to look at Adria.

Adria, or rather the Crimson Dragon who had taken control over her, had used magic to put Kim Hyunwoo to sleep.

“You...!”

At that, Merilda, who had been wagging her tail unconsciously, stopped and glared at Adria with hostile eyes, but Adria also frowned and glared back at her.

“What are you doing?”

“What do you mean? I just stopped a beast trying to do something weird to the Lord...!?”

Merilda, growling and glaring at each other, lunged at the Crimson Dragon.

“...!”

In that instant, Merilda saw it.

Adria subtly smiling as if she had been waiting for this moment.

At the same time, Merilda realized.

That it was Adria herself, and not the Crimson Dragon, controlling Adria’s body.

Seeing that, Merilda felt a surge of anxiousness.

“...!”

“Ah.”

Kim Hyunwoo soon opened his mouth as if realizing something.

“Loria.”

[Yes, My Lord.]

“Were you awake last night, by any chance?”

[As you know, I don’t have a concept of sleep, Lord. I can rest briefly, though...]

“Then was there anything strange last night?”

Kim Hyunwoo asked immediately after hearing Loria’s words.

He decided to ask Loria, who always helped manage the territory, rather than asking Adria, assuming she would have seen the situation last night.

Loria was silent for a moment, then asked.

[...What kind of strange thing?]

“...So, didn’t Merilda and Adria visit?”

[You mean the Beast King and the head of the Merchant Group?]

“Yes.”

[...At least while I was managing the territory last night, there were no intruders in the Lord’s castle.]

“...Really?”

[Yes. It seems you had such a dream. You did toss and turn a bit while sleeping yesterday.]

“Ah, I had a rather strange dream.”

Hearing Loria’s words, Kim Hyunwoo nodded but didn’t lose his puzzled expression.

Of course, Loria had said so, and Kim Hyunwoo himself thought the situation was very surreal and strange, but it still felt oddly realistic.

But after a moment.

‘Well, it must have been a dream.’

Thinking that, Kim Hyunwoo shrugged, ending his thoughts.

Soon after arriving at the office, Kim Hyunwoo met a woman who came instead of Adria.

“...You said the Merchant Group leader is a bit sick?”

“Yes, she has been overworked for the past few days, so she’s not feeling well. It seems it will be difficult to meet her today, so I came instead.”

Kim Hyunwoo nodded at the secretary’s words.

Thinking back, she didn’t look very well even when they met yesterday.

“...Then...”

“Ah, she should recover in a day or two, so I was thinking of visiting again then. Is that alright?”

“If that’s the case, I’ll keep that in mind.”

With Kim Hyunwoo’s words, the secretary bowed politely and left the office.

The next day.

[Mercenary Guild LV1 has been completed.]

Kim Hyunwoo heard the news that the Mercenary Guild, the first external building started in Lartania but the last to be completed, had been finished.

Not long after, Kim Hyunwoo was able to meet.

“Nice to meet you. I am Loton, a high-ranking officer of the Imperial Mercenary Guild.”

“Yes, nice to meet you.”

“I’m also pleased to meet you, but first, I think we need to discuss this matter, so I’d like to get straight to the point.”

“What is it?”

“I’ll be straightforward. We’d like to assist with the Labyrinth project in Lartania. Is that possible?”

“...What?”

...A mercenary was saying crazy things.