138 – Couldn’t even lay a hand on them? (3)
“…So, you mean-“
Kim Hyun-woo could hear an extraordinary rumor from Adria.
“Are you saying the demons self-destructed?”
“While strictly speaking, it’s just a rumor, it came from a fairly reliable source.”
Listening to Adria, Kim Hyun-woo pondered with numerous thoughts swirling in his mind.
“So, they really self-destructed?”
“While there’s no concrete evidence, the ongoing war, which was previously evenly matched, has now significantly tilted towards the Holy Kingdom. Not only that, but it’s said that the monsters have completely disappeared.”
“The monsters…?”
In response to Kim Hyun-woo’s question, Adria nodded and continued, “As you’ve faced them several times, my Lord, you know that the Norba Kingdom’s basic strategy involved overwhelming monster assaults, but now they’re gone.”
“…If that’s indeed the case, the demons must be at a severe disadvantage.”
“It’s not just a disadvantage. At this moment, the territories of the Norba Kingdom are being reclaimed one by one by Lord Tesnoka. The recovery rate has already exceeded 50%.”
Listening to Adria’s words, Kim Hyun-woo nodded in understanding.
Her words allowed him to somewhat anticipate how the current situation was unfolding.
However, what made Kim Hyun-woo still doubtful was the words he heard from the Red Merchant and the Blue Merchant.
‘…No matter how much I think about it, self-destruction seems strange.’
At least, Kim Hyun-woo knew that the demons had a goal of reviving the Demon King, although he didn’t know how they planned to do it.
Moreover, he considered the Blue and Red Merchants as one of the three races that should prevent an invasion.
It was because they were offering a wish in exchange for a condition.
However, since it was a bit strange for such a race to simply self-destruct, Kim Hyun-woo made a puzzled expression and asked, “Could there be any other news?”
Kim Hyun-woo’s question.
Adria seemed to ponder for a moment before nodding her head and began to talk about the rumors circulating in society.
By the time Kim Hyun-woo was silently listening to Adria’s story.
“Ah.”
Adria, as if suddenly remembering something, let out a quiet sigh and began to speak.
“Come to think of it, there is a somewhat peculiar rumor about the demons.”
“A peculiar rumor, you say…?”
“I heard that the Norba Kingdom, which is the demons’ stronghold, is covered by a black entity.”
“…A black entity?”
“Yes, it’s said to be a moving mass… similar in form to an egg.”
“That sounds incredibly dangerous, doesn’t it…?”
Seeing Kim Hyun-woo’s somewhat worried expression, Adria lightly smiled and continued, “I also thought so at first, but according to the mage who went to investigate that black entity, it’s not a hazardous object at all.”
“…Is that so?”
“Yes. It’s said to be just a type of powerful containment magic… with no immediate risk of release, and moreover, it’s said that the demons self-destructed because of it.”
Upon hearing this, Kim Hyun-woo made a perplexed expression but nodded his head as Adria continued to explain.
“It’s said that the demons are inside that containment magic.”
“Inside containment magic… the demons?”
“Yes. That’s why people are wondering why the demons didn’t self-destruct for some reason, and besides, eventually, the demons naturally return to the demon world over time.”
Listening to Adria’s words, Kim Hyun-woo made a perplexed expression but nodded his head.
Indeed, upon hearing those words, it seemed that the demons’ self-destruction among themselves was true.
‘…In that case, it’s actually quite fortunate for me.’
Thinking that way, Kim Hyun-woo shrugged his shoulders and spoke to Adria.
“Anyway, it’s quite good news.”
“Isn’t it? It seems that if the demons run amok, it would be troublesome for everyone. I’m hoping that things will get easier once the Norba Kingdom stabilizes soon.”
Engaging in more conversations with Adria, who was nodding with a very satisfied expression, and a few others, Kim Hyun-woo soon got to the point.
“Come to think of it, I had something to ask.”
“What is it?”
“I’m looking for an item called the Yggdrasil Branch and another called the Eldra’s Embers, do you happen to have them?”
Upon his question, Adria pondered for a moment before saying, “Hmm… I can get both the Yggdrasil Branch and Eldra’s Embers, but I don’t have them right now.”
Though Kim Hyun-woo showed a slightly disappointed expression at Adria’s words, he soon asked, “Then, could you possibly get them for me next time you come?”
Of course, Kim Hyun-woo also knew how to obtain the two ingredients mentioned earlier, but if he were to try to acquire them himself, although it would be possible, it would certainly take a long time, so he asked her for help.
“It shouldn’t be too difficult. However- since they are ingredients after all-“
“Of course, but the price will reflect that, so don’t worry.”
In response to Kim Hyun-woo’s words, Adria nodded and spoke.
“But why suddenly look for the branches of Yggdrasil and the Mion of Eldra? As far as I know, those are ingredients used in potion-making…”
Carefully asking whether this question crossed a line or not, Adria observed Kim Hyun-woo quietly.
Listening to her words, Kim Hyun-woo pondered briefly before casually saying, “It seems like I’m under a simple spell, so I want to lift it.”
“A spell?”
“Oh, it’s nothing grand. It’s just that the ingredients I mentioned are needed to lift it.”
Pausing for a moment, Adria gazed at him.
“?”
As her gaze lingered a bit longer, causing him to feel puzzled, Adria withdrew her gaze and said, “Sorry, but finding out you’re under a spell was quite intriguing.”
With a forced chuckle, Adria stood up and continued, “Anyways, since you’ve told me, I’ll bring those ingredients next time I visit. It shouldn’t take too long.”
“If it won’t take long, when do you think you’ll have them?”
“Um… about three weeks? I have to visit another domain, so around that time.”
“That’s quite fast. Well then, I’ll leave it to you.”
“Don’t worry.”
—
The very next day after Adria left the Lar’tania domain,
Kim Hyun-woo began managing the domain as usual.
Actually, recently, Kim Hyun-woo hadn’t been devoting much time to managing the domain.
Of course, not dedicating much time didn’t mean he had abandoned the domain.
In fact, Lar’tania was running very smoothly at this moment.
However, as the administrative district began to function properly, with most paperwork being automated except for very crucial matters, Kim Hyun-woo had been brainstorming a new business idea.
The ‘Gem System.’
‘This will definitely make money.’
The gem system in Arteil literally involves inserting refined gems, made from specific potions, into weapons to enhance them.
That’s all there is to it.
There are no other complicated explanations.
Yet, despite that, people are passionate about the gem system.
The reason is that each successful enhancement significantly boosts the weapon’s performance.
Especially for artifact weapons, every enhancement changes the weapon’s level.
Furthermore, with gem enhancement, even if the enhancement fails, the weapon doesn’t break.
And does the enhancement level drop? No.
If you ask if it costs a lot to enhance, the answer is no.
In reality, the cost for enhancement varies depending on the weapon’s grade, but ultimately, it’s about 1 gold coin per enhancement.
Moreover, in Arteil, the enhancement of weapons reaches up to the 7th level.
So, if you succeed seven times, you can stop enhancing.
Up to this point, there wasn’t really a bargain system, but due to the fact that Arteil’s BM was created by money-crazed fiends, naturally, there was one trash-like condition attached.
That was the probability of weapon enhancement being unbelievably low.
To the point where you’d wonder if this was possible.
Nevertheless, once an enhancement succeeded, the weapon’s performance skyrocketed unbelievably, so people were obsessed with enhancing.
…Originally, for users, even if they made just one day’s profit properly, they could easily gather around 50,000 gold coins.
…The problem is, even if you poured in those 50,000 gold coins, you couldn’t even raise one weapon to +3.
Anyway, around the time Kim Hyun-woo was wracking his brain to introduce a new enhancement system.
On the hills of Lartania.
“…Today is the decisive battle. Chief. Pull yourself together.”
“…Hoo- Hoo-“
Merilda was preparing for the decisive battle.