117 – The Proposal Ring (1)
The scarlet Saryong was not yet ready.
To be precise, she was not yet ready to meet Kim Hyunwoo.
In fact, when Adriah asked what preparation was needed for a meeting, Saryong couldn’t say a word, but at least her scarlet heart was unprepared.
To put it bluntly, she would freeze on the spot if she were to come face to face with Kim Hyunwoo right now.
But that doesn’t mean that scarlet Saryong disliked the opportunity Adriah had created for her.
Strictly speaking, scarlet Saryong was simply not ready to meet Kim Hyunwoo, it didn’t mean she didn’t want to meet him.
In other words, despite crying and being flustered by Adriah’s sudden actions, scarlet Saryong had her own expectations about the current situation.
Even if scarlet Saryong was afraid of crying and standing in front of Kim Hyunwoo, the fact that she liked him did not change at all.
That’s why she poured a lot of effort into the past two weeks, which Adriah had told her about.
But…
“…”
The intense gaze of the crimson dragon clashed with the locked eyes of Merilda and Lynn.
[…Sigh, I can roughly guess.]
Simultaneously, as Adriana’s sigh echoed inside the crimson dragon’s mind, the dragon looked at them with a disdainful expression.
“…Are you two complete thieves or something?”
Although Merilda and Lynn seemed slightly startled by the blatant irritation and disappointment in those words, they quickly responded with frowns of their own.
“What about you!?”
“Why would I!?”
“You didn’t purposely set the coordinates here?! Pretending to rescue the owner and putting on a show!”
“That’s right! You were thinking something similar! What!!”
“At least I’ve never sneaked into the owner’s house like you two! You sneaked in secretly and took that scroll, didn’t you!?”
Just three minutes ago, the dragon was crying and lamenting that it couldn’t find Kim Hyunwoo, but now it seemed as if not meeting him became a blessing, tears welling up in the dragon’s eyes as it spoke.
Rage surged—!
Whether out of extreme anger or magic, the surroundings’ concealed interior began disappearing in an instant.
As Merilda and Lynn witnessed the disappearance of the magically concealed interior, the crimson dragon, upon seeing the room now covered with pictures, momentarily wore a blank expression. Adriana, observing this, rubbed her forehead as if suffering from a headache.
‘…This wasn’t what I originally intended.’
Upon reflection, it was Adriana’s mistake.
Considering that Adriana was aware to some extent that Merilda and Lynn were always watching over the Lartania domain, even through subordinates or disciples, it was understandable.
And that included monitoring it through a subordinate or disciple even when Adriana wasn’t present.
Honestly, I couldn’t assume that they would secretly take the scroll just because they saw it.
With a sigh, Adriah looked at Merilda and Rin.
Looking at the two who were trembling lightly as if overwhelmed by Kim Hyunwoo’s pictures posted everywhere, Adriah made a slightly puzzled expression and thought.
“…By the way, they seem to be looking at it with a feeling that it’s a bit too much.”
To be honest, whenever Adriah looked at Kim Hyunwoo’s pictures posted all around the room, he felt overwhelmed, so he understood the feeling and looked at Merilda and Rin with a sense of understanding.
“…Oh.”
“Wow…”
[?]
Soon, Adriah’s face became blank as he watched the strange blush appearing on the faces of Merilda and Rin, whose pupils were trembling.
“Can’t you just give me one?”
“I, I want one too-“
“Don’t be ridiculous!!!!”
Soon after, Adriah was reminded once again of one fact by the voice that sprang from Merilda and Rin’s mouths.
…That Rin and Merilda, including their own guardian, were not exactly normal.
####
In Kim Hyunwoo’s office, the teleportation scroll disappeared and about three weeks later.
“Phew.”
Kim Hyunwoo, who still hadn’t properly realized that the teleportation scroll had disappeared, spent the past three weeks happily watching the city grow, thinking that a day was far away.
—-
The Territory of Larthania.
Land Development Level: 3980
Landmin
[Humans: 23146]
Owned Buildings
[Lord’s Castle LV2↑ ＞＞＞ Upgrading 99%] [Paused]
[City Wall LV4↑ ＞＞＞ Upgrading 0%]
[Residential Zone LV5↑]
[Blacksmith LV5]
[Barracks LV5]
[Tavern LV5↑]
[Market LV5↑]
[Lumber Mill LV5↑]
[Restaurant LV5↑]
[Leatherworking Shop LV5↑]
[Stone Quarry LV4↑ ＞＞＞ Upgrading 77%]
[Trade Post LV4 ＞＞＞ Upgrading 44%]
[Secondary City Wall LV4]
[Inn LV4↑ ＞＞＞ Upgrading 72%]
[Administrative Zone LV5]
[Paved Road LV2↑ ＞＞＞ Upgrading 72%]
From Noble mtl dot com
External Building
[Mercenary Guild LV0] [Under Construction]
[Mage Tower Branch LV1↑]
[Blacksmith Guild Branch LV1↑]
Military Strength
-Regular Soldiers 1000
-Guards 200
-Apprentice Knights 200
—-
‘Indeed, with such a large workforce, the growth rate is no joke.’
The Larthania territory, seen beyond the balcony, now displayed a distinct and definite appearance, at least resembling a bustling territory in the fantasy world.
The market constructed within the territory now featured buildings ranging from 2 to 3 floors, especially prominent along the central street, making it even larger.
The city walls had also significantly expanded compared to before.
Moreover, perhaps due to the increased number of residents, the residential area extended noticeably towards the secondary city wall, revealing many newly built houses.
The administrative area at the back of the lord’s castle had become so massive that it was visible when looking towards the right end of the balcony.
Kim Hyun-woo, looking at the territory transformed into something akin to a perfect fantasy novel setting, unintentionally wore a satisfied smile.
‘Indeed, with a plentiful workforce, progress happens in an instant as long as there are resources.’
While three weeks might be considered a relatively long time, it wasn’t enough to develop the buildings to this extent.
Nevertheless, the reason Kim Hyun-woo could advance all the buildings within this short period was precisely due to the workforce.
With the number of people gathering significantly different from before, just by issuing a recruitment notice, Kim Hyun-woo was able to achieve remarkable progress in about three weeks.
Kim Hyun-woo, who was observing the developed territory, turned his gaze to the goods window with a satisfied expression.
“This is it.”
[Lowest-grade Magic Stones: 304,325]
[Low-grade Magic Stones: 208,231]
[Intermediate-grade Magic Stones: 21,732]
Actually, the reason he had a satisfied smile was not only because of the development of the territory but also because of the magic stones.
Thanks to the magic stones he had collected over the past few weeks, Kim Hyun-woo could afford to buy an engagement ring.
“If I just exchange the lowest-grade magic stones for red stones, I can exchange all the low-grade magic stones for stones, which would be 9,200 stones… So the total amount I’ve collected is 18,200 stones.”
In other words, if Kim Hyun-woo exchanged all the stones right now, he could practically buy the engagement ring immediately, which made him smile.
However, despite having collected the magic stones as they were, Kim Hyun-woo had one concern that made him not use the magic stones.
“…Should I activate the low-level labyrinth break?”
Actually, even if he activated the lowest-level labyrinth break at this point, there were so many people inside the labyrinth that it was highly likely to be cleared without any problems. But he was a little worried about the low-level break.
And the reason for that was because from the low-level labyrinth break, slightly troublesome monsters that were difficult for the mercenaries currently inside to handle appeared frequently.
“Hmm…”
So, Kim Hyun-woo, who had been contemplating for a while.
“…Ah.”
As if he had come up with something, he let out a faint sigh.
After a little while.
“…Floor 7, right?”
“Yeah. There should be mercenaries hunting over there too, so if it seems like monsters are gathering, help me take them down together.”
“What- If it’s a request from Dad, of course, I should do it.”
Kim Hyun-woo, who had summoned Elena and Shadra, went down to the 7th floor with the apprentice knights and asked them to follow.
After a certain amount of time had passed.
“Well, then. Since we’ve set up the minimum safety measures, shall we start right away?”
Kim Hyun-woo, heading underground, immediately began activating the labyrinth brake.
And.
After about five hours had passed, confirming Elena and Shadra’s return as they finished all the lower-level labyrinth brakes, Kim Hyun-woo spent about a day from then on raising the labyrinth brake.
After gathering all the magic stones and activating all the labyrinth brakes.
[Red Stones: 18,230] [Blue Stones: 232] [Gold Coins: 225,422] [Magic Stones: 884]
“At last…!”
Kim Hyun-woo, for the first time since entering this world, looked at over 18,000 red stones and unconsciously smiled.
Immediately opening the cash window, Kim Hyun-woo.
[Would you like to purchase a ‘Propose Ring’? Y/N]
Without hesitation, he pressed the Y button on the notification window that appeared.
And.
[For the transfer of artifacts, the ‘Blue Merchant’ will visit your territory!]
[Remaining time: 2 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes, 59 seconds]
Misunderstanding in sight, i repeat, misunderstanding in sight 😂