167 – Showdown (1)
In the dark, empty abyss, Roria looked at the vacant lot and muttered with a wry smile.
“It’s really useless. How can it be so useless? Isn’t it just like the demons?”
Her lips were smiling, but her face was sullen as if she didn’t like the situation at all. She let out a sigh.
“At this rate, the plan keeps going awry~ Isn’t it too much for it to go wrong like this?”
Roria spoke as if she was talking to someone.
Of course, there was no answer from the empty abyss.
All she could see was darkness and all she could hear was the sound of her own heart beating in her chest.
However, Roria didn’t seem to care about anyone’s answer in the first place. She grumbled and stared at the empty lot for a while.
“Well, at least it’s not completely blocked like the demons, so I’ll have to look forward to it for now…this way-”
She turned her gaze to the back of the lot.
Swish-click-
As soon as Roria turned her gaze, a round table appeared as if it had been there all along.
However, unlike last time, there was no knight sitting alone at the round table.
“Ahem-”
Roria confirmed with her own eyes that no one was there at the round table and walked over to the table and sat down.
Then.
“It seems to be going well. I can tell that you’ve already escaped ‘here’. Then can I expect a little bit?”
She muttered softly, shaking her crossed legs from side to side.
“Let’s wait for the good news.”
####
Three days later.
—
Raltania Territory.
Territory Development: 6041
Territory Population
[Humans: 51244]
[Beastmen: 1082]
Secondary Buildings
[Institute of Demonic Engineering]
-Sub-Buildings-
[Engineering Power Plant]
[Institute of Demonic Weaponry]
[Institute of Demonic Refining] ↑
Owned Buildings
[Lord’s Castle LV4] [Under Construction] 99%
[Wall LV5]
[Residential Area LV6↑ ＞＞＞ Upgrading 0%]
[Blacksmith LV6↑ ＞＞＞ Upgrading 0%]
[Barracks LV6↑ ＞＞＞ Upgrading 0%]
[Tavern LV6↑ ＞＞＞ Upgrading 0%]
[Market LV5]
[Lumber Mill LV6↑ ＞＞＞ Upgrading 0%]
[Restaurant LV5]
[Tannery LV6↑ ＞＞＞ Upgrading 0%]
[Stone Masonry LV6↑ ＞＞＞ Upgrading 0%]
[Trading Post LV6↑ ＞＞＞ Upgrading 0%]
[2nd Wall LV5]
[Inn LV6↑ ＞＞＞ Upgrading 0%]
[Administration Area LV5↑ ＞＞＞ Upgrading 0%]
[Paved Road LV5]
[3rd Wall] [Under Construction 55%]
External Buildings
[Mercenary Guild LV1]
[Magician’s Tower Branch LV1]
[Blacksmith Guild Branch LV1]
Troops
-Regular Soldiers 1,000
-Swordsmen 500
-Guards 700
-Trainee Knights 200
-Beastmen 1084
—-
“Wow, this is really fast.”
Kim Hyun-woo looked at the Territory Window with an expression of renewed admiration.
Currently, all of the buildings in the Territory Window had been upgraded and were being upgraded once more.
Furthermore, this was happening in less than a week.
‘This is an unbelievable speed… I never thought that the construction speed would increase this much just because the beastmen helped with the work.’
Kim Hyun-woo was astounded by the incredible construction speed when the beastmen participated in the construction.
Of course, it wasn’t purely because the beastmen helped, but also because the total number of people participating in the construction had increased significantly as the population grew. However, even so, he couldn’t have achieved this speed without the beastmen, so he looked at the Territory Window in admiration.
‘At this rate, if I just have enough resources, I can max out all of the Tier 1 buildings within half a year…?’
Kim Hyun-woo looked at Raltania while thinking that.
Now, Raltania didn’t feel like a successful territory but rather like the capital of a kingdom. It was flourishing to that extent.
Right now, even to the naked eye, luxurious buildings lined up inside the Tier 1 Wall, and instead of street vendors, buildings had appeared in the market.
Not only that, but Tier 2 Walls were also being built with luxurious buildings beyond them, and a new wall was being built beyond that Tier 2 Wall.
Of course, the wall itself was so large that it couldn’t be built all at once, but at least from a distance, the Tier 3 Wall was getting taller and taller every day.
‘Once the third wall is built, we’ll finally be able to reclaim all of our original territory.’
Kim Hyun-woo glanced at the steadily, yet rapidly, rising wall with emotion before returning to his work.
Some time later.
As the sunset sky darkened completely, Kim Hyun-woo checked the latest report from the heroes and summarized the current situation.
‘…We have about four days left before entering the labyrinth, and the Eastern Allied Clans…haven’t shown any reaction.’
Kim Hyun-woo wondered as he thought about it.
‘…I thought they would react, but this is strange.’
Kim Hyun-woo had been certain that the Eastern Allied Clans would react in some way.
From Noble mtl dot com
However, contrary to his expectations, the information from Shadra indicated that the Eastern Allied Clans had shown no reaction at all.
‘But it’s not like we can attack first.’
In fact, Kim Hyun-woo didn’t have enough military power, so it was impossible for him to actually use the real power he had in Rartania.
‘Should I raise more soldiers?’
The reason Kim Hyun-woo hadn’t raised any soldiers until now was that Rartania was more or less moving according to his will.
Even excluding the soldiers and heroes currently in Rartania, there were now more people in Rartania who wanted to protect it.
They were the mercenaries who had settled in Rartania, near the labyrinth.
Unlike before, the mercenaries who had set up guilds in the labyrinth city would definitely try to protect Rartania unless it was a fight with a 0% chance of winning.
‘There are also several 4-star mercenaries who have come to Rartania and set up guilds…’
As Kim Hyun-woo intended, Rartania was becoming a territory that was increasingly difficult to touch as time went on.
This was because anyone trying to attack Rartania would have to face the mercenaries as well.
‘But there’s no guarantee that the mercenaries will be able to stop all the angels…’
While Kim Hyun-woo was contemplating,
Knock, knock-
“Come in.”
When Kim Hyun-woo tilted his head at the quiet knock and opened his mouth, Lynn soon opened the door and appeared.
“…Lynn? What’s wrong?”
Lynn looked at Kim Hyun-woo’s questioning gaze with a hmm expression before saying.
“Excuse me for a moment.”
She quickly walked towards the terrace.
And then.
Click-
Lynn closed the terrace door that Kim Hyun-woo had opened and drew the curtains shut.
As he watched Lynn’s sudden actions with a bewildered expression, Kim Hyun-woo noticed something strange about her.
‘…Why is she wearing a coat?’
Lynn looked different from usual.
She always wore a qipao, but now she was wearing a long coat that reached her ankles, covering her entire body.
She looked very suspicious.
However, Lynn continued to move diligently, even in her current attire. She walked towards the window, closed the open window, and drew the curtains shut.
“…Lynn?”
Ignoring Kim Hyun-woo’s question, Lynn walked towards the last remaining window and closed the curtains. She soon turned to look at the window she had just closed and let out a deep sigh.
She then looked at Kim Hyun-woo with a determined expression.
“Meow?”
Kim Hyun-woo made a bewildered expression at the sudden determined look on Rin’s face.
However, she didn’t care and stood in front of Kim Hyun-woo. She suddenly took something out of her pocket and put it on her head. Kim Hyun-woo could easily see what it was.
‘…Cat, ears?’
What she was wearing on her head were cat ears with black stripes.
They were high-quality cat ear headbands with lush fur that looked just like the ears of a Norwegian Forest cat.
Kim Hyun-woo stared at them blankly for a moment before he could see Rin, who had been holding onto his coat with a determined expression, let go.
Swish- swish.
Soon, the coat slid down Rin’s smooth body.
And what he saw next was Rin wearing a very provocative outfit that only covered her most important parts.
“…”
Kim Hyun-woo’s ears, which hadn’t been able to properly react to what had just happened, heard a cute cat’s cry that was trying to hide its embarrassment.
“Nya, ang-”