54 – Dragon (3)
When the parents were torn apart and the upper part was completely destroyed by the northern barbarians, the red dragon, the guardian of the upper part, appeared to save it, with the purpose of granting her what she desired.
From Noble mtl dot com
The time when the witch of gold summoned her as a full-fledged guardian had passed for over seven years now.
And during that time, although Adria had not demanded anything more than what she was looking for, she always dedicated a portion of the money earned from the upper part as an offering and always interacted with the guardian.
At least in Adria’s mind, the owner of the upper part, the guardian, was the red dragon.
And with that thought, at the end of the 7 years of interaction, Adria firmly realized one thing about the guardian of the upper part.
That the woman who had taken on the role of the guardian of the upper part was truly interested in nothing other than ‘what she desired’.
For the emotionless woman she had met from the very beginning, Adria had given her a lot.
As her parents were merchants, she had learned business since she was young, and not only had she become a hero by receiving the world’s choice, but her talents as a merchant were outstanding, so she was able to grow the upper part much more than when her parents operated it.
However, she had never once received any response to Adria’s gifts.
Countless gold coins.
Precious jewels.
Even the century-old weapons, none of them could bring any change to the guardian’s emotions.
Instead, all Adria always faced was a gaze with an indifferent expression and a dry voice saying ‘well done’.
And because of that, Adria was in a situation where she could not easily manage her emotions that resonated in her mind.
“M-Mistress. It’s really you, mistress. M-Mistress, I thought I’d never see you again…!!”
It’s no wonder, the appearance of this guardian was really something she had never seen before.
A voice that could be felt even beyond consciousness, a voice so vivid that it started to turn into a sobbing sound as time passed.
Feeling even more confused, Adria asked, “Um, are you okay? You don’t look well…”
Soon after realizing that Kim Hyun-woo was looking at her with a strange expression, Adriana belatedly regained her composure and replied.
“Ah, yes- I suddenly felt a bit dizzy. I’ve been working hard lately, so maybe that’s why.”
“…Ah, indeed, being a merchant is a profession that involves working late into the night, so it’s natural to be tired.”
Kim Hyun-woo’s response.
While awkwardly smiling, Adriana continued to hear the voice of her guardian, who was groaning and crying in her mind.
“The reason I came here, as you may have guessed, is because of the auction of the Executioner’s Sword you entrusted me with this time. Besides, there seems to be a lot of rumors circulating right now, and there are other things I want to talk about. But before that, do you happen to know Lord Jeokmokryong?”
[No!]
-She couldn’t finish her sentence.
The reason was the imposing voice filled with intimidation in her mind, not the voice full of crying from a moment ago.
In an instant, Adriana, whose body froze, couldn’t finish her words, but Kim Hyun-woo, who had already inferred the meaning of her words to some extent, spoke.
“If you’re talking about the Guardian Dragon of Tynus Upper, unfortunately, I don’t think I’ve ever met him.”
“Th-that’s so?”
“Yes. In the first place, I had no connection with the dragon tribe. Well, there was one person who was half-human, half-dragon.”
Kim Hyun-woo spoke like that and then looked at her.
“…I don’t know anything about dragons. In the first place, even though humans and dragons may look similar, their bloodlines are fundamentally different, so there’s no room for confusion.”
“…I see.”
Adriana wanted to ask what this reaction was all about, but after leaving her curiosity about the guardian’s intervention a while ago unanswered, she returned to the main topic.
“Ahem, then let’s get back to the main point. I came to deliver the payment received from the Raphengen territory this time.”
Soon, while hearing the peculiar gasps of the guardian, Adriana brought up the main topic.
Around 30 minutes later.
Adria abruptly handed a gold coin to Kim Hyunwoo, as if something urgent came up.
“Let’s meet again next time for now. I think I have to hurry somewhere.”
With that, she left the territory.
For a moment, as Kim Hyunwoo looked at her questioningly, he couldn’t believe the wealth in his hands and stared at the window of wealth in front of him, as if it was unbelievable.
[Gold Coins: 1,117,334]
Even though he had sold membership cards right away, he only had a meager 110,000 gold coins before. Compared to that, the amount had increased more than tenfold. Kim Hyunwoo found himself smiling, almost unconsciously.
1.1 million gold coins.
Of course, considering the wealth that Larthania possessed in its prime, it wasn’t a large sum. But at least for Kim Hyunwoo at the moment, 1.1 million gold coins felt like winning the lottery.
With 1.1 million gold coins, there were so many things that Kim Hyunwoo could do.
“I originally planned to wait until the Labyrinth City was fully operational, but with this much, should I just go for it now?”
With a smile on his face, Kim Hyunwoo thought about it.
“Ah.”
Suddenly, a thought came to his mind, and he took out the execution sword that was hidden under his desk in his home office.
To be more precise, it was the execution sword that Lynn had brought yesterday but had not taken with her.
…
Kim Hyunwoo felt a strange sensation as he looked at the execution sword.
Because of the current situation, Kim Hyunwoo had practically gulped down 1.1 million gold coins for free.
“According to Lynn’s words, she bought the execution sword at the Raphengon Territory…”
Thanks to the fact that Lynn, for some reason, did not take the execution sword with her, Kim Hyunwoo found himself in a situation where he had the execution sword again, even though he had sold it.
“Hmm…”
Though Kim Hyun-woo didn’t harbor any ill intentions, he found himself strangely fixated on the execution sword for reasons he couldn’t quite understand.
As Kim Hyun-woo pondered alone, staring at the execution sword that Rine had left behind, Adriana handed over a gold coin and hastily left the territory, her confusion evident as she gazed at the guardian being projected in the screen, holding the crystal and bowing respectfully.
No matter how much she thought about it, the situation didn’t make sense to Adriana.
“Why does the guardian know Kim Hyun-woo?”
Of course, Adriana knew that ten years ago, the Lartania territory was a massive one, and she also knew that the current Kim Hyun-woo was the man who had developed that very Lartania territory.
So, in a sense, it was possible that Kim Hyun-woo and the guardian knew each other.
After all, connections could be made anywhere.
However, from Adriana’s perspective, the guardian’s reaction felt incredibly strange, especially considering that while Kim Hyun-woo had adamantly denied any connection to dragons, the guardian had addressed him as “master.”
So, as Adriana wore a face full of doubt, she first lowered her head and spoke.
“I’m sorry.”
[…]
“Even though the great one did not command me, I am truly sorry for being unable to overcome my curiosity and speaking out of turn.”
[…]
“If in any way this incident has caused offense, I will do my utmost to soothe the great one’s potential anger. I am truly, truly sorry.”
Adriana bowed deeply, her words filled with utmost sincerity.
But.
[…]
The voice still wasn’t audible.
And Adriana let out a deep sigh inwardly.
To be honest, she still had no clue about the relationship between the Lord and Guardian of Lartania, but now she realized one thing with this.
The question itself about this relationship was like a “landmine”.
That’s why Adriana couldn’t resist her momentary curiosity and rashly threw out the question, sighing at herself and attempting to open her mouth once again.
[Hoo.]
The voice came through.
[Hoo, hee-]
The voice.
[Hoo, heehee…]
…Did it come through?
Adriana unintentionally raised her gaze at the voice she heard, looking at the screen where the Guardian appeared.
The Guardian seen there, surprisingly, had a bright smile that Adriana had never seen before, laughing while looking at the stored artifact.
An artifact that functioned similar to a modern-day camera.
As Adriana stared blankly at it, she soon realized that the artifact that faintly appeared from the side contained Kim Hyun Woo from earlier.
Right after realizing that.
[Heehee…Heh,]
Adriana, for a while, stared blankly at the broken Guardian.