127 – Huh??? (3)**
It hadn’t been more than 30 seconds since Kim Hyun-woo woke up.
‘Is this a dream?’
He reassessed the situation.
On his bed, Merilda, who had been looking at him with a tender expression just moments ago, was now being pulled back by Adriana by the hair, while Adriana wore a visibly angry expression.
In a situation that was utterly impossible in Kim Hyun-woo’s known reality, he momentarily went into a state of shock, staring blankly at the scene before gradually piecing it together.
‘So… obviously, Merilda, who shouldn’t be here, was about to do something on my bed, and Adriana was trying to stop her with an angry expression…’
In a state of chaos that made him doubt if his thoughts were even coherent, Kim Hyun-woo momentarily wore a dazed expression.
“Let go of her-!”
Merilda pushed Adriana’s hand away from her hair, wearing a very urgent expression.
“Meow-!”
Looking at Kim Hyun-woo standing there dazed, she spoke.
With her face turning red from embarrassment, Kim Hyun-woo, looking pitifully at her trembling eyes, thought.
‘So… clearly, Merilda, who shouldn’t be here, pushed Adriana away, climbed on top of me, and is mimicking a cat…’
With only the certainty that the current situation he was witnessing was indeed a dream, he lay there dazed and said.
“Merilda.”
“Uh… Yes?”
“You’re a wolf.”
“What… What?? Oh… right, I am. So, if I do this, the reaction… Huh? Huh?? Isn’t this it?”
Confusion clouded Merilda at Kim Hyun-woo’s bewildered question.
However.
“Merilda, wolves suit you.”
“Wow.”
Upon hearing Kim Hyunwoo’s words, Merilda momentarily froze, then he smiled and continued speaking.
“Merilda, you are truly more of a wolf than a cat… But imitating a cat is still cute. In reality, it’s… inte…rest…ing…”
Abruptly, he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
“????”
Merilda was taken aback by Kim Hyunwoo’s sudden compliment and closed eyes.
However.
“…!”
Merilda soon realized the reason for Kim Hyunwoo’s sudden slumber and turned her gaze to Adriya.
Adriya, or rather the scarlet dragon who had taken control over her, had used magic to put Kim Hyunwoo to sleep.
“You…!”
Merilda, with her tail inadvertently still, shot a hostile look at Adriya, but Adriya, in turn, frowned at Merilda.
“What is the meaning of this?”
“What’s the meaning…! I just separated the creature trying to do strange things to the master…!?”
Growling, Merilda lunged at the scarlet dragon, but…
“!”
In that fleeting moment, Merilda saw it.
Adriya, subtly smiling as if she had been waiting for this moment.
At the same time, Merilda realized.
It wasn’t the scarlet dragon controlling Adriya’s body at that moment, but Adriya herself.
At that moment, Merilda felt an inexplicable sense of unease creeping in.
“!”
Before she could react, Adriya, as if never there to begin with, disappeared in an instant as Merilda approached.
Teleportation magic.
Realizing this, Merilda instinctively turned around and saw Adriya near Kim Hyunwoo’s bed.
“I can finally be free…!”
Looking at the scroll in Adriya’s hand, Merilda reached out, realizing what had happened to her.
But Adriya had already torn the scroll apart.
Seeing this, Merilda, gritting her teeth, used her tail instead of her legs to pound the ground and rushed towards Adriya.
Thud-!
“Oops!?”
“This is absolutely not allowed…!”
She grabbed Adriya, then tumbled beside the bed.
Before their bodies hit the ground, the scroll activated, leaving no one in Kim Hyunwoo’s room.
And.
“Didn’t it happen like this last time?”
“Yes.”
Responding to Ryu’s observation from afar on the hills of Lartania, Girall concurred.
“The timing really couldn’t be worse. How does this situation even arise?”
“Exactly. It’ll take a while to come back again.”
Haa, let out a sigh and turned to ask Giral.
“So, did the data gather well?… To be honest, I feel like it didn’t really come together properly from the start due to various interruptions.”
“…Well, I can’t deny that.”
As Giral had said, in reality, Ryu hadn’t gathered the data.
It was because, even before Merilda could execute the plan, an arrogant superior had come and disrupted everything.
Nevertheless, despite that fact, Ryu smiled and spoke.
“Still, this should be sufficient.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. No matter what, thanks to the hard work of the leader, we managed to collect very important data.”
“…Enough to execute the plan?”
“Of course. Well, even though it’s not extremely precise, from the messages between the Lord of Lartania and the leader, it seems like it should be enough.”
“…All the effort wasn’t in vain then.”
“That’s right. It might even be the best key. Although my plan is a bit radical, it will definitely boost our success rate.”
“…I’ve been curious since last time, what is this plan?”
Curiously questioning Giral.
To that question, Ryu chuckled before responding.
“It’s a method very well-used among us rabbit humanoids.”
Now, let’s wait for the leader to arrive. With those words, she turned around and began to head back to the headquarters with her red eyes, followed by Giral gazing at Ryu and then shrugging his shoulders.
####
The next day.
Kim Hyunwoo, waking up nonchalantly, suddenly felt memories of the scenes from last night passing through his mind.
‘A dream…maybe?’
＜p class=”a”＞From Noble mtl dot comAlthough the situation itself felt very dreamlike, Kim Hyunwoo had slight doubts because the scenes from last night were vividly etched in his memory.
‘It feels like a dream, but…’
As Kim Hyunwoo pondered with a perplexed expression due to the vividness of those scenes, he wondered if he should ask Adria about it.
“Ah.”
Kim Hyunwoo opened his mouth as if he had realized something.
“Loria.”
[Yes, my Lord.]
“Were you awake last night by any chance?”
[As you know, my Lord, I do not have the concept of sleep. I can rest for a short while, but…]
“Then, was there anything strange last night?”
Upon hearing Loria’s response, Kim Hyunwoo immediately asked.
Rather than questioning Adria, he judged that Loria, who always assisted in managing the territory, must have been observing the situation last night and hence inquired.
After a moment of silence, Loria asked back.
“…What kind of strange thing?”
“So, did Merilda and Adria come by?”
[Are you referring to the King of the humanoids and the superior?]
“Yes.”
[…At least there were no other intruders within the Lord’s Castle while I was managing the territory last night.]
“…Is that so?”
[Yes. It seems like you had such a dream. You were tossing and turning a bit in your sleep last night.]
“Oh, it was just a slightly strange dream.”
In response to Loria’s words, Kim Hyunwoo nodded his head, but his expression remained mysterious.
Certainly, Loria had mentioned it, and Kim Hyunwoo himself thought it was a very strange and peculiar situation, yet it was strangely realistic.
But shortly after.
“Well, it must have been a dream.”
Kim Hyunwoo concluded his thoughts with a shrug of his shoulders.
Soon after arriving at his office, Kim Hyunwoo could meet a woman instead of Adria.
“…The Lady Superior is feeling a bit unwell?”
“Yes, due to some discomfort in the abdomen these past few days, her health has deteriorated, so it seems a bit difficult for her to meet today. That’s why I came in her place.”
Kim Hyunwoo nodded in response to the secretary’s words.
Upon reflection, her condition didn’t seem that great even when they were supposed to meet yesterday.
“…Then…”
“Well, if she recovers in a day or two, would it be alright for me to come back at that time?”
“In that case, I understand.”
With Kim Hyunwoo’s words, the secretary politely nodded and left the office.
The next day.
[The Mercenary Guild LV1 has been completed.]
Kim Hyunwoo heard the news that the Mercenary Guild, which was the first external building he started constructing in Lartania, was finally completed, albeit being the last to finish.
Before long, Kim Hyunwoo could meet him.
“Welcome. I am Roten, a member of the Imperial Mercenary Guild and one of the senior officers.”
“Yes, nice to meet you.”
“I am pleased as well, but first, I think we should discuss this matter right away.”
“What is it?”
“Let me be straightforward. I would like to help with the labyrinth business you are running in Lartania. Would that be possible?”
“…Excuse me?”
…A mercenary talking nonsense.
Loria lying with no hesitation
THAT THING (AI) IS SUS MAN, I THINK SHE IS THE SUS ONE
AI is sus 🧐🧐
Yeah, I think she’s not ai even, heed my words she/it wil definitely betray him at some point.
Nah, I have a feeling that one theory a few chapters ago may be true, she is the fifth Round Table member everyone forgots.
I feel the same way. She is the fifth of his heroes, she is the one who prevents the blue merchant from speaking freely and who provokes this coldness in the MC’s feelings.
Yeah, the fact that she lied was probably because she didn’t want MC to start questioning why Adria and Merilda were visiting him at night, with the latter even acting cutely. I think the fact that he wasn’t reacting to women was also related to her, maybe even her remotely activating his passive so that he won’t get flustered around other women and fall in love with them.