145 – Resolve (1)
A little while later.
After Lorton, who was speaking ill of Lartania, was taken away by other knights.
“Phew-“
Beside the silent Emperor of the Empire, a knight assisting him asked.
“You don’t plan to listen to Lartania?”
“Lartania, indeed.”
The Emperor muttered with a strange expression, stroking his chin.
She, who seemed to be seriously contemplating something with an ambiguous expression that was hard to decipher, soon answered.
“I don’t plan to listen, nor do I plan to call for it.”
“…Is that so?”
In a somewhat incomprehensible tone, the Emperor responded to the knight’s answer.
“Yeah, there’s no point in going to a friend who doesn’t really need our help. Besides, we’re not in a situation where we can help anyway.”
The knight seemed to firmly nod, understanding her intentions.
＜p class=”a”＞From Noble mtl dot comIndeed, the current Empire was not in a position to immediately help anyone.
“I misspoke.”
So the Emperor, who had briefly looked at the knight who bowed his head.
“…I hope the friend has grown well.”
In place of a strange expression, he was now murmuring with a faint smile.
####
Despite warning Shardra about the dangers of the Hammer of Enhancement and the sinister probabilities associated with the hammer itself, Kim Hyunwoo couldn’t help but hand over the Hammer of Enhancement to her, realizing that some education about the hammer was necessary for the heroes within the territory.
Thus, Kim Hyunwoo gathered the heroes in front of him.
Elena, Rani, Shardra, River, Mila.
However, upon seeing the five heroes, Kim Hyunwoo quickly identified who needed to be briefed on the current Hammer of Enhancement.
First, Rani, who had a small cream attached to her cheek, looking innocent and clueless as to why she was summoned, was sent away.
Similarly, River, who seemed unsure why she was called, but with a subtle yet expectant look in her eyes, like Rani, was also sent away.
Now, there were three left.
“…I was going to talk about the Hammer of Enhancement….”
As soon as Kim Hyunwoo spoke, the heroes reacted promptly.
Elena subtly turned her gaze away, playing with the twin-tail hair.
Shardra, who had been eager to buy the Hammer of Enhancement just a while ago, now made a dumbfounded expression.
Mila, who had become a perfect mercenary guild leader but was still diligently training soldiers, first looked embarrassed for a moment, then cleared her throat and adjusted her expression.
“…By any chance, is there anyone here who hasn’t purchased the Hammer of Enhancement?”
Kim Hyunwoo asked casually.
Confirming that no one spoke up, Kim Hyunwoo began to speak.
About the shocking probabilities of the Hammer of Enhancement and how fleeting the concept of enhancement really was.
“Still, getting stronger, that’s true, isn’t it?”
After explaining, when Elena’s immediate question followed, Kim Hyunwoo nodded.
“That’s right, although I must say, there’s no need to think or worry about this too much.”
In Kim Hyunwoo’s perspective, there was no real need for heroes to enhance their combat capabilities on their own.
Nevertheless, Kim Hyunwoo had gathered the heroes to inform them of this fact, as it seemed prudent to at least mention the minimal probabilities associated with the Hammer of Enhancement.
Furthermore,
“From now on, if you want to purchase the Hammer of Enhancement, come to me and talk about it. Larutania’s heroes will provide the hammer as the original price,” even if it was Kim Hyun-woo, he had no intention of taking advantage of the heroes affiliated with Larutania, so he declared to the heroes like that.
“Well then, I’ll just quickly-!”
“However, there’s a limit of 1000 per person. Maybe additional production in the future, but not right now.”
As Kim Hyun-woo finished speaking to curb Shadra’s outburst, a couple of weeks had passed since he settled the matter regarding the Hammer of Enhancement.
—
In the territory, the ★★★ hero ‘Witch of Gold Coins’ has arrived.
—
[At the top of the territory, ‘Tinus’ has arrived!]
Adria arrived at the territory.
In front of Kim Hyun-woo’s eyes, a notification window popped up, and about an hour later, he could meet Adria, who came to the study with two wooden boxes.
“Long time no see.”
“That’s true. I originally wanted to stop by a bit earlier, but it took longer than expected to find the items you requested.”
Adria said so and then extended the two wooden boxes to Kim Hyun-woo.
“This is-“
“The items you mentioned. Yggdrasil’s branch and Eldra’s warmth.”
In response to her words, Kim Hyun-woo nodded in gratitude towards Adria and discreetly opened one of the wooden boxes.
—
Yggdrasil’s Branch
Grade: ??
A branch of Yggdrasil, known as the World Tree.
While there are no World Trees on the continent, sometimes fragments like these branches can be obtained from monsters crossing over from other dimensions.
—
—
Eldra’s Warmth
Grade: ??
A crystal containing the warmth of Eldra, an existence from another dimension.
The crystal continuously emits a gentle warmth and, unless subjected to a special process, remains intact and maintains its state.
—
Upon opening the wooden box, a notification window appeared.
Reading the notification, Kim Hyun-woo confirmed the elegant branch and small gem inside and then closed the box before speaking.
“These are hard-to-find items. Thank you for obtaining them so quickly.”
“Don’t mention it. Besides, I’ll be taking full payment for these, so-“
With a smile, Adria’s words were met with Kim Hyun-woo’s nod of approval.
“Of course. I’ll definitely pay the price, so just let me know.”
With that, Kim Hyun-woo briefly heard the price from Adria, agreed to pay without any further haggling, and soon engaged in a casual conversation with her.
“By the way, where exactly do you plan to use the items you acquired this time?”
In the midst of their conversation, a question emerged.
“Are you referring to the branch and the crystal?”
“Yes, I heard that it’s used to unlock the golden seal… But as far as I know, neither of the two ingredients seem to be directly related to anything golden.”
“Was my question too probing?” Kim Hyun-woo lightly clapped his hands in response to Adriana’s question, who smiled slyly and said, “No, since you’ve even provided the items, I can share this much.”
He had already revealed what kind of golden seal he would unlock with the items he had acquired.
“…So, you mean a golden seal related to affection?”
“Exactly. I didn’t know either, but I was told that such a thing was attached to me.”
“Is that so, a golden seal?”
“I’m not sure of the details, but… it does seem to exist. I’ve actually felt it quite distinctly a few times recently.”
Upon hearing Kim Hyun-woo’s words, Adriana, as if trying to put on a very serious expression, realized something belatedly and nodded a few times while speaking.
“Indeed… I see.”
“Yes?”
“Oh, no, something just came to mind.”
Adriana said so, then with a sophisticated smile, she chuckled and asked, “Lord, when do you plan to unlock that golden seal?”
“…Well, now that all the ingredients are gathered, I plan to unlock it today. Since all the ingredients are ready, there’s no need to delay unnecessarily.”
“I see… today, then…”
With a meaningful expression, Adriana nodded her head.
At that moment.
“!”
Gyrall, who had been listening to the conversation from outside the hills of Lartania as usual, couldn’t help but widen his eyes at the sound of the unfamiliar golden seal.
Whenever he met a merchant, there was always a barrier in place preventing outsiders from knowing the contents or situation inside, so this was truly new information to him.
Shocked by the news, Gyrall soon started running towards the location with red eyes to spread the word.
Some time ago.
“…!”
As a result of the incident with Gyrall, Lorelle and her teacher had become extremely awkward with each other, and now Lorelle, who was observing Lartania’s lordship from a completely different place, also wore a vacant expression.
‘Wait, if this continues-!’
She soon realized one fact: from that day on, she had a new opportunity with her teacher, who had been immersed in melancholy and staring blankly at the ground.
Without hesitation, she left the spot.
By the time no one was left on the hill where Lartania could be seen.
In the outskirts of Lartania.
Lorelle opened the door to the log cabin without hesitation and saw her teacher, who had been wandering around for over three weeks with her knees still unhealed.
The sight of the absolute ruler of darkness, holding her knees with a ragged face, having not eaten anything for days, was enough to break Lorelle’s heart, but she couldn’t do anything about it.
The absolute ruler of darkness, who had practically been rejected by Lartania’s lord, returned and did nothing as if she had given up on everything in this world.
Thanks to that, Lorelle had quickly built a log cabin here for her teacher who remained motionless.
“Teacher, I have good news.”
guess Gyral still not knocked up Lorelle yet