51 – The Absolute Darkness (4)
“E… Ah… E?”
The head of the Absolute Darkness idol was in turmoil.
In that moment, she couldn’t comprehend the words she had heard.
No, she did comprehend them.
She just didn’t want to acknowledge it.
It was only that she didn’t want to admit the fact that she had heard such words.
“Ah…”
Her heart, which had been pounding as if it would explode at any moment, stopped.
Her breath, it didn’t come.
At the same time, numerous thoughts raced through her mind.
What should I do? What did he say? He sold something? An Executioner’s Blade? Him? My belongings? Why? No, before that, why is the Executioner’s Blade even there? Wasn’t it me who destroyed it? What on earth is happening-
So many thoughts swirled in Lin’s mind, to the point where she couldn’t even comprehend them herself.
However, those thoughts were shattered in an instant by his following words.
“That, I thought you just threw them away and sold them.”
“No, no! I did not simply discard the gifts! Why would I ever throw away the gifts you gave me!? Th-There’s no way, I- I have all of your gifts with me-!”
Swoosh!
From within the darkness that surrounded Lin, the gifts began to spill out.
Starting with the blade, numerous weapons clattered and scattered on the floor, soon filling up the office.
“This, look at this! I, I haven’t discarded your gift. I’ve kept them all! The, the Execution Sword too! I, I must have been mistaken… That’s, that’s it!”
So saying, Lin finally spread the gifts, now all tangled like scrap metal, and opened her mouth.
“S-sorry, I, I just misunderstood. The reason I came here today is to, to seek forgiveness from you!”
Now, she herself didn’t properly grasp what she was saying.
She just spewed out random words still lingering in her mind.
But.
“Huh…? What forgiveness?”
Unlike Lin, who was in a complete state of panic, Kim Hyunwoo spoke to her with a calm expression.
“Uh… Do you have something to apologize for me?”
“Huh…?”
Kim Hyunwoo, speaking as if genuinely questioning, made Lin absentmindedly open her mouth, but she quickly regained her senses and replied.
“S-so, I mean, I knew you were coming, but I didn’t come to the estate quickly. And-“
“Well… Isn’t that natural? You didn’t call me in the first place.”
“Huh?”
“Since you didn’t call me, it’s natural that I didn’t come. No need to apologize; I didn’t call you, that’s all.”
Kim Hyunwoo spoke as if everything was fine, even raising his hand. In his perspective, seeing Lin suddenly panicking and talking incoherently, he realized that they weren’t in a state for proper conversation, so he opened his mouth to calm her down.
However, for Lin, such consideration from Kim Hyunwoo had already tilted her thoughts towards being disliked. To her, it sounded like he was mocking her for not coming, as if making fun of the fact that she, who hadn’t been called, showed up.
“Oh, uh, no… No, it’s my, my mistake. I, I couldn’t come-“
The absolute ruler of darkness tried to deny the fact forcibly, but…
“So, it’s okay because I didn’t call you, right?”
Kim Hyunwoo, pausing at her words, seemed to have a sudden realization. He sighed as if something had come to mind, then started searching the air while gazing into the void.
After a while of searching, Kim Hyunwoo manipulated something.
Swish!
Soon, a paper fluttered down in front of him.
Thud!
The paper landed on the ground.
Kim Hyunwoo picked up the fallen paper from the ground and immediately extended it toward the absolute ruler of darkness.
“Here.”
“Th-this is?”
The ruler of darkness asked with a trembling voice.
Looking at him, Kim Hyunwoo made a perplexed expression and said, “Come to think of it, I remembered that you didn’t like that pseudonym of yours.”
“…Huh?”
“If you have this, you can change your pseudonym. And like I said, there’s no need to apologize or anything.”
Although it was a somewhat unexpected gift, from Kim Hyunwoo’s perspective, it was a gift anyway. Moreover, by giving the gift, he unintentionally expressed, ‘Do I really seem like I have no thoughts?’
However, from her perspective, his actions seemed sarcastic, and soon Kim Hyunwoo smiled and spoke.
“I didn’t call you because it’s me.”
And then,
“Ah.”
The absolute ruler of darkness felt something shatter within their heart.
####
Honestly, Kim Hyunwoo still hadn’t fully grasped the exact nature of the situation. And it’s understandable because from his perspective, just as the domain of influence was starting to run smoothly, his former hero, whom he had raised without any warnings, suddenly appeared.
Actually, even if it was just that, it would have been a little bewildering, but he could still assess the situation. “Did she realize that I sold the Executioner’s Sword and come to get the money back?” That’s what he initially thought when the Absolute Ruler of Darkness blurted out those words, but now he couldn’t understand why she had come here.
Honestly, at first, he thought maybe she had come to demand the payment for selling the Executioner’s Sword, but seeing her suddenly apologize only made it even more unclear what her intentions were. And on top of that, showing signs of panic, Kim Hyunwoo tried to calm her down and comfort her, even giving her the name change voucher that he had planned to give her when they met.
“Ah, uh-“
“…”
She seemed even more panicked than before and couldn’t say a word when she saw Kim Hyunwoo. “No, seriously, what’s wrong?”
Honestly, as Kim Hyunwoo, the situation was so sudden that he had a slightly bewildered expression for a moment. But that was brief.
“I… I was the one who did wrong.”
Once again, he bowed his head deeply and responded to Lin, who answered without saying anything. Kim Hyunwoo’s expression showed that he couldn’t understand what she had done so wrong.
And it’s understandable, because as far as Kim Hyunwoo was concerned, Lin hadn’t done anything wrong to him.
“No, what did you really do wrong…”
That’s why this time, Kim Hyunwoo wanted to ask her what exactly she did wrong.
“Well, yeah, it’s fine if you know.”
In the end, he steered the conversation towards affirming her words.
In reality, he could ask what exactly he had done wrong, but in the midst of panic, he realized that questioning now would only lead to a repetition of the current situation.
Therefore, Kim Hyunwoo first quickly calmed Lin and then responded with the intention of calmly discussing the matter once again.
“Uh, then—again, you mean… accepting me?”
Along with the question from the absolute ruler of darkness that followed.
Once again, an alert window popped up in front of Kim Hyunwoo.
[★★★★★☆Would you like to propose the recruitment of the hero ‘Absolute Ruler of Darkness’? Y/N]
[※Caution: Accepting this hero into your territory will create hostile territories, guilds, and nations.]
[Norba Kingdom Relations -522]
[Eastern Union Clan Relations -432]
[Matop Relations -172]
[Tesnoka Territory Relations -282]
[Mallan Territory Relations -222]
[Highland Territory Relations -338]
[Roland Territory Relations -458]
[Bloa Territory Relations -311]
[Shulatia Territory Relations -143]
[Mandea Territory Relations -522]
[Mihallan Territory Relations -374]
…
[Norva Kingdom regards you as the enemy of the celestial realm!]
[The Eastern Union may offer a bounty to bury your territory!]
[Malan Territory-
[Highland-]
….
…
..
.
※There may be a conflict between Norva Kingdom and the enemy of the celestial realm!]
※The great hero, the Sword God Arwen, will harbor malice towards your territory!]
※The great hero, the Snow Ghost Lam, will harbor malice towards your territory!]
※The great hero, the Grand Sorcerer Laran, will harbor malice towards your territory!]
※The great hero, the Subterranean Fist King Kallam, will harbor malice towards your territory!]
—-
※Caution
★★★★★☆ If you recruit the hero ‘Master of Darkness’ and reveal the truth of the hero, it may result in a disadvantageous influx of territory residents.
“Wow.”
Kim Hyun-woo let out a sound without even realizing it.
In his eyes, what he saw on the relationship chart was much worse than Merilda’s relationship with him at the beginning.
“…Even worse than Merilda. And the relationship with the territories of Norba Kingdom seems particularly bad…?”
In truth, when looking at just the relationship chart, it seemed like a mess. However, the reputation of the Absolute Dark Lord was so severely deteriorated even among the Great Heroes.
“If they’re Great Heroes, according to the game settings, they should be 5-star idols.”
Kim Hyun-woo looked at the dizzying expression on the relationship chart in front of him and thought without hesitation.
“Well, this is a bit… not good.”
If he were to accept Lynn in the current state, the territory would definitely be destroyed while spreading its wings.
If he were to accept her right away, the increasing territory influx rate would be shattered, and the mercenaries would also be scattered.
Is that all? With this level of chaos, it wouldn’t be strange for other territories or kingdoms to declare war at any moment.
“…That seems like it’ll be a bit difficult.”
Kim Hyun-woo said so.
Lynn.
“…Ah.”
She had a despairing expression as if the world was crumbling.
Are all the others also going to be like this?
Lmao