I Entered a Gacha Game That Had Been Abandoned for 10 Years chapter 110

110 – Request for Reinforcements (2)

Kim Hyun-woo, who froze for a moment, belatedly regained his composure and answered with a chuckle.

“The story seems to be flowing in a similar way to last time.”

[Last time, it wasn’t sincere, but this time it is.]

Seeing Rania’s eyes and tone that seemed infinitely sincere beyond the modifications, Kim Hyun-woo kept his mouth shut and listened to the story.

“…First, let’s leave that story for later and I’d like to hear the detailed situation, is that possible?”

[Of course.]

With her response, Rania began to explain step by step, from one to ten, the current situation she was in to Kim Hyun-woo.

[Currently, the Norba Kingdom is in a state of constant chaos due to endless wars. Led by the faction of Duke Landaron, who made a contract with the demons, they staged a coup and occupied the kingdom, using the demons to enslave the territories.]

As the detailed explanation began with those words, Kim Hyun-woo concentrated for a while.

After a while.

“So… if I summarize, you’re saying that in the span of one month, half of the kingdom’s territories have been enslaved by Landaron, and the remaining eight territories, including Lady Rania, are the only ones left?”

[Yes, that’s right.]

Upon hearing Rania’s response, Kim Hyunwoo pondered.

‘I had a rough idea it would be something like this.’

Since the moment Duke Landon occupied the Norba Kingdom and became king, Kim Hyunwoo had sensed that this situation would inevitably unfold.

It was not surprising, given that Landon, who seized power through unilateral violence without any legitimacy, would be hard to tolerate in other territories.

Therefore, from Landon’s perspective, subjugating the territories was necessary to prevent the country from splintering.

Even if he occupied the kingdom, the territories would never obey his orders. On the contrary, they might disintegrate, turning the kingdom into something else entirely.

However, even though Kim Hyunwoo foresaw Landon’s next move as if he were anticipating it, he couldn’t help but wear a peculiar expression when Rania spoke.

“…It’s been just over a month, but Landon seems to be moving faster than I thought.”

This was because Landon’s speed in subjugating the territories was faster than expected.

Knowing that subjugating other territories immediately was essentially a race against time, Kim Hyunwoo expected Landon to move quickly. However, the speed was so swift that Rania answered the thrown question.

[If it were only Landon’s soldiers, we could have somehow stopped them. But the monsters are the problem.]

“…Monsters, you say?”

[Yes. After Landon allied with the demons, he brought monsters from the demon realm. They turned out to be more troublesome than we thought because the monsters from the demon realm demolish magical barriers like ordinary walls.]

“Is that true?”

[Yes.]

In Rania’s somber affirmation, Kim Hyunwoo could understand why other territories were quickly subjugated in such a manner.

‘Perhaps it was because the walls crumbled.’

In essence, defending a fortress was far more advantageous than attacking it, and with proper strategy, defenders could repel up to five times the attacking forces.

However, that was only valid under the assumption that the walls were intact. If the walls were not intact, the significance of defense and offense would become meaningless.

[Of course, now the number of monsters mixed among Landon’s soldiers has decreased, so the situation has improved slightly.]

“..,It seems like it’s been quite exhausting.”

[There might be that, but as far as I know, there are heroes sent by Randalon to eliminate the monsters. Thanks to them, Randalon is not deliberately sending monsters to the soldiers.]

“…Heroes killing monsters? Are they from the Empire, perhaps?”

To Hyunwoo’s question, Rania shook her head and spoke.

[No. People from the Empire probably won’t arrive in this land for another two weeks. They are on the eastern frontier.]

“Hmm…”

In addition, Hyunwoo, who obtained additional information from Rania, continued.

“So, essentially, if we properly stop the soldiers of Randalon, who practically have few monsters left, there won’t be any room for them to invade anymore, right?”

[Yes. I heard that it’s tight just maintaining the territories we have now. And with those unidentified heroes helping us, once we deal with the soldiers currently roaming around, the people from the Empire will arrive… It’s a critical moment.]

Upon Rania’s words, Hyunwoo realized that it was time to make a decision.

‘Should I save Tesnoka Territory? No, can I even save it?’

Hyunwoo carefully pondered the current situation as informed by Rania.

‘The soldiers to stop amount to just over ten thousand, the northern walls are already crumbling, and Rania’s soldiers have had their morale significantly lowered from the continuous battles.’

“Hmm…”

Hyunwoo pondered.

In truth, at this point, for Hyunwoo to help Rania, he would have to incur a considerable loss.

At the moment, Hyunwoo didn’t have the forces to assist Rania, and in fact, deciding to help would mean considering the use of missiles.

‘But that would be foolish.’

The Tesnoka Territory would be extremely beneficial to Hyunwoo.

The reason Larvania has been able to achieve such remarkable growth so far is because the Tesnoka Territory has generously continued to sell materials.

However, even so, using the red stone because of that didn’t make sense.

Right now, Kim Hyunwoo’s supply of red stones wasn’t abundant.

Therefore, as Kim Hyunwoo continued his contemplation, he looked at the restrained Lania.

She appeared endlessly anxious, awaiting his decision.

‘Perhaps they’re requesting aid not because I sent soldiers, but because they saw the missile launch…’

Unfortunately, since he had no intention of using the missile, Kim Hyunwoo pondered.

“Ah.”

Uttering a subdued sigh, he then questioned Lania.

[Yes…? Oh, yes. Well, I do have some, for now.]

From Noble mtl dot com

“If you can prepare the other items I’m requesting, I might be able to help.”

Looking at Lania nodding in surprise, Kim Hyunwoo chuckled and continued.

[Really…!?]

A smile crept onto Lania’s lips.

####

Once the decision to assist Lania was made, Kim Hyunwoo promptly sought out Shadra to inquire about something on his mind.

“If it’s just that, it shouldn’t be difficult, right? It’s not Dispelling in the first place, so it should be usable even during war.”

Smiling at Shadra, who nodded in agreement with Kim Hyunwoo’s plan, he said,

“Can we go to the Tesnoka Territory together for a moment?”

“The Tesnoka Territory? Why there?”

“We received a request from the main army.”

In response to Kim Hyun-woo’s words, Shadra paused for a moment, then nodded as if understanding the situation and began to speak.

“Got it! Since Dad asked, I should definitely go!”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it!”

While saying so, Kim Hyun-woo gently patted Shadra’s head, who was subtly sticking close. This time, he finished by immediately calling Elena.

“Now, shall we depart right away?”

After handling only the essential tasks for the administrative district, Kim Hyun-woo, along with Elena, Shadra, necessary items, and ten trainee knights, set off for the Tesnoka Territory.

####

It took about five days for Kim Hyun-woo to reach the Tesnoka Territory.

Actually, it was supposed to take a bit longer than this, but thanks to Shadra summoning a golem and carrying the carriage from the middle, they were able to shorten the time more than expected.

Due to that, Kim Hyun-woo, who arrived at the Tesnoka Territory quite smoothly, could see a territory that seemed worse off than he had thought.

‘…It’s a mess.’

At a glance, the Tesnoka Territory he saw seemed to indicate that a war was happening here.

There was not a single intact part on the outer wall, and, as she mentioned, some parts of the wall had completely collapsed.

Although they hurriedly claimed to be under construction, in reality, it was almost as good as being wide open.

Furthermore, the fierce gaze of the soldiers conveyed the situation of the Tesnoka Territory, so as Kim Hyun-woo looked at it…

“Lord…!”

“It’s been a while.”

Before he could even head towards the Lord’s Castle, he could meet Rania, the lord of the Tesnoka Territory, who rushed out.

“Thank you for accommodating my unreasonable request.”

Rania immediately lowered her head.

“No, it’s not. Nearby territories should help each other.”

‘And it’s not like we’re not getting compensated.’

As Kim Hyun-woo chuckled and spoke, Rania smiled and tried to hold his hand again.

“Hello?”

Before Rania’s hand could touch Kim Hyun-woo’s, at a perfectly timed moment, Shardra stepped forward with a greeting that made Rania nod her head with a slightly bewildered expression.

“Hello, how are you?”

With a questioning look at Rania, as Kim Hyun-woo introduced her right away.

“Yes, nice to meet you.”

After subtly standing in front of Kim Hyun-woo and greeting, Shardra’s words made Rania awkwardly laugh as she spoke.

“Yes, nice to meet you too.”

After such a brief greeting, Kim Hyun-woo could now get a more detailed briefing from Rania about Tesnoka Castle than what he heard last time.

“So, the story is that the soldiers of Landon will arrive here in about three days?”

“That’s right.”

“That should be enough.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

Looking at Rania, who nodded firmly at Kim Hyun-woo’s words, he nodded approvingly and continued speaking.

“From now on, let me explain the plan to you.”

And thus, he began explaining the plan to Rania.

About 10 minutes passed after Rania heard Kim Hyun-woo’s entire plan.

“…Can it really be stopped like that?” she asked, her expression taken aback.

“Yes. It will work,” Kim Hyun-woo replied confidently.

Rania nodded as if she understood, acknowledging Kim Hyun-woo’s self-assured demeanor.

“I understand. Then, I’ll trust you, Your Grace.”

“Thank you for trusting me.”

“No problem. If we’re going to be married, we should trust each other.”

“Huh?”

Kim Hyun-woo made a bewildered expression at the unexpected words from Rania.

“Yes?”

Rania responded similarly, causing Kim Hyun-woo to hesitate for a moment.

“Ah…”

Upon reflection, Kim Hyun-woo realized he had arrived here without mentioning that he would demand a different reward. Belatedly, he attempted to explain to Rania.

“Dad? What’s this—what’s happening now?”

Shadra’s eerie voice echoed.

Thunk!

“Your Grace…?”

Along with the sound of something crumpling, Elena’s voice came through. Kim Hyun-woo could instinctively feel cold sweat forming.