57 – Matap (3)
Lynn gazed at Merilda with an incredulous expression.
“…”
The Absolute Ruler of Darkness knew that humans, by nature, had a strong inclination for combat and possessed a very strong sense of pride in accordance with that temperament.
And among them, Merilda, known to the Absolute Ruler of Darkness, was one of the most exceptional individuals in terms of pride.
She had almost come to a fatal decision with the Hero King in the past, just because he had teased her temper for a moment.
She had even fought with the Absolute Ruler of Darkness a few times.
Was that all? If her pride was hurt, she would charge forward without looking back even in a place where she could die, prioritizing her pride over her life, a true embodiment of pride more important than life itself.
No, in some sense, Merilda’s pride surpassed that of the humans commonly known to her.
Even if the humans were combative, they would bend their pride to a stronger opponent, but she would never bend her pride to anyone, no matter how strong they were.
That’s why Lynn never thought that Merilda would kneel before her.
At least, the Merilda she knew was not a person who would bend her pride.
However.
“Ha…?”
As if she had thrown away that pride from a long time ago, Merilda, along with a triple somersault, immediately slammed her head on the ground, leaving the Absolute Ruler of Darkness wearing an incredulous expression, as if she didn’t even realize it.
“Hurry up and step on it.”
“No.”
“Step on it quickly…!”
“Just a moment-“
“Step on it quickly!!!”
Quaddduk-!
From Noble mtl dot com
The figure of Merilda, approaching as if pushing the ground like a farming tool with her head pressed against the ground, made the absolute ruler of darkness unintentionally wear a terrified expression.
“This crazy woman-!”
I also unintentionally blurted out, but-
“Even if I’m crazy, just step on it quickly! Quickly-!”
Merilda, instead, pushed the ground and shouted as her foot touched the end of the darkness ruler’s shoe, and the darkness ruler, seemingly feeling chills, lifted his foot.
“Infamy indeed!”
“…Infamy?”
“Yes, since I’ve gone that far under the theme of humans, I will specially inform you.”
As if feeling goosebumps, he turned and left, brushing off his arm as if feeling goosebumps.
Not long after, Merilda, still not brushing off the dirt on her head, pondered Lin’s words deeply.
“!”
She realized what she meant.
The reason her master did not accept her was because of the infamy.
In other words, if she could erase all the infamy, she would have the chance to gain her master’s affection once again…!
Therefore, Meryl, with a bright smile, thought, “I just need to erase the infamy…!” With that thought, she smiled and continued, “…erase the infamy?” Soon, she remembered the numerous territories she had conquered.
“Ha?” Meryl’s laughter turned cold.
####
The public order in the Larutania territory was gradually declining as time passed. The reason was, of course, the mercenaries flocking to the Larutania territory as if they were crazy. It had been just over a week since the dungeon opened, but thanks to the spreading rumors, mercenaries were constantly flowing into Larutania.
As a result, the estimated number of mercenaries currently in Larutania had already exceeded 5,000, while the soldiers guarding Larutania were only about 200. Excluding the personnel managing the rest area on the first floor, there were barely 120 soldiers left to maintain public order.
The mercenaries were quite rough, as they were simply doing their job. Consequently, the public order, which had been gradually declining, began to plummet sharply as the number of mercenaries exceeded 5,000.
Until then, even if there were some issues, the relatively small size of the walled territory and the hard work of the soldiers and Elena had covered them to some extent. However, as the number of mercenaries exceeded 5,000, incidents that could not be prevented due to the lack of manpower began to occur.
The moment the security guards failed to handle an incident, the rough mercenaries, who had been causing problems throughout, began to prove the theory of a broken glass window by causing problems everywhere.
“Hey, do you really want to die?”
“What are you looking for? You’re the one who’s going to die!”
It began with a light scuffle at first.
“Hey, just give me a refund, okay?!”
“You’ve already stayed for a day! Is it reasonable not to pay for accommodation!?”
“The constant chirping is so annoying. Can’t you just leave it alone?”
“Hey, I’ll call security!”
“Do you think the busy security guards will show up!?”
“Ugh, ugh-!”
Later, it escalated to violence.
Just a few days ago, due to sudden outbreaks of violence in the market and residential areas, the already precarious public safety began to plummet like a roller coaster on a steep descent.
Yeah, just until yesterday.
“…What’s going on there?”
“I heard he resisted the security guards who came after assaulting Yeong Ji-min in the residential area and got himself into that situation.”
The next day, mercenaries and Yeong Ji-min watched a man, confined in a wooden cell in the middle of Larthania Square, as if they were zoo animals, gazing at the words written on the wooden cell.
—-
This man was handled according to proper procedures as he resisted the security guards who came after assaulting Yeong Ji-min.
—-
Beneath the sign with imposing letters, mercenaries observed a man with both arms severed, seemingly unconscious.
“Well, even considering everything, isn’t this a bit too harsh?”
The mercenary’s negative tone.
Naturally, the mercenary trapped in that cell knew very well what he had done wrong to prompt those words.
However, despite knowing he had done wrong, the reason he defended the mercenaries was that he, too, had a profession similar to the man trapped in that wooden prison.
In other words, he was also a mercenary, and Larthania’s stern response was somewhat irksome.
Other mercenaries seemed to wear subtly uneasy expressions as well.
“Honestly, I think it’s severe, but take a closer look at his face.”
“His face?”
“Yeah, his face, that guy, Kupa’il-se.”
“…Kupa?”
In response to his fellow mercenary’s words, the man could discern that the one inside the prison was called Kupa’il.
Kupa, despite being a chosen hero of the world, behaved nothing like a hero, causing incidents and problems in various territories. Naturally, mercenaries were also among his targets.
“…If that troublemaker got caught, he doesn’t look particularly pitiful.”
“Yeah, and if the guards came and he resisted, it’s unavoidable.”
As if understanding, the man nodded and soon asked a question.
“That’s true, but how on earth did they capture Kupa? Did Larthania’s hero capture him?”
“No, I heard three guards caught him.”
“Three guards… does that make sense?”
The reason the man couldn’t believe his comrade’s words was precisely because he knew about Kupa.
Despite being a chosen hero of the world, Kupa had made a name for himself in the mercenary world with considerable skill, even though he operated alone.
However, the fact that Kupa, with such prowess, was captured by just three guards was incomprehensible to him, so he asked.
“I heard he fell victim to a magic scroll.”
“…Magic scrolls? One of those is worth more than 10 gold coins, right?”
“Yeah.”
The man was taken aback by his companion’s words.
“Look at the waist of the guard over there.”
“…Is that really a magic scroll? And there are three of them.”
“I heard that recently, all the guards in Lartania have started carrying them around.”
“All of the magic scrolls? I know the number of estate guards is low, but does that make sense?”
“To be honest, it’s hard to believe, but they do seem to actually carry the scrolls. There are even traces of usage.”
“I see.”
Soon, they all discussed the magic scrolls attached to the guards’ waists.
“But how on earth do the guards have such expensive magic scrolls?”
“I heard they have a close relationship with the tower.”
“The tower? So far, there are only a handful of estates that have close ties with the tower, and they are all large estates, right?”
“Still, if the guards can continuously carry that many scrolls, it must be because of that relationship with the lord, or what else could it be? Besides, the estate itself is not that big.”
“True… If the lord can supply scrolls to all the guards, it suggests a close relationship with the tower. Come to think of it, Lartania Estate wasn’t that influential ten years ago.”
As the mercenaries continued their conversation for a while…
“Anyway, it’s best to avoid causing unnecessary trouble within the estate. If we make a mistake, we could end up like them.”
“That’s true.”
With those words, they began to disperse.
At the edge of the lord’s estate, Kim Hyun-woo, who had been silently observing, wore a satisfied expression.
“You’re impressive.”
“Pardon?”
“Honestly, it’s not easy to catch them during a time when security is compromised due to mercenaries. I didn’t expect you to handle it like this.”
Adria, who had been watching from the side, sighed as if impressed.
“It’s indeed a good method. By using scroll magic to capture those with a bad reputation among mercenaries and showing the results, you not only prevent mercenaries from sending sympathy notes, maintaining their opinion, but also demonstrate the strength of the guards even in such situations.”
“…That’s true.”
In reality, catching the hero who wasn’t well-regarded among mercenaries for causing trouble was more of a coincidence, as Adriana pointed out. But as she said, Kim Hyun-woo was trying to restore security in this way.
By solving problems like this, sympathy notes from mercenaries wouldn’t be directed towards Kupa, as Adria said.
Moreover, firmly imprinting the strength of the guards in this way, along with the spreading rumor among mercenaries that the lord has a close relationship with dark mages, would undoubtedly support the security of the territory for the time being.
After all, mercenaries didn’t want to mess with the magic users of the dark arts if they could help it.
‘Well, the mercenaries are growing faster than I thought, so I’ll have to recruit more guards sooner or later.’
Kim Hyun-woo thought that way, and at the same time, he turned his gaze to Adria and asked a question.
“But, Lady Adria, what brings you here…?”
The reason he asked that question was because Adria had visited the Lartania territory just two days ago.
More precisely, to deliver the magic scroll requested by the dark side.
‘I wish I could receive it at the trading post.’
Unfortunately, such magic scrolls couldn’t be obtained at the trading post, so Kim Hyun-woo had asked Tynus Top to arrange for regular deliveries of magic scrolls. In other words, he had received the magic scroll from the Lady Top just two days ago, and now she had visited the territory again today, just like she did yesterday, without any apparent reason.
So, not being able to understand why Adria had visited for almost three consecutive days, Kim Hyun-woo cautiously threw the question, and Adria, who was staring at his face, let out a somewhat awkward laugh.
“Today, I have something to say about the magic stones in Lartania-“
She brought up a peculiarly defensive topic.
“Oh, really?”
This conversation took place the day after Adriana started looking at her own face in a peculiar way, unlike before.
“Um… Hello, Your Grace?”
“Oh, yes… Hello, Lord Sangdan…?”
Kim Hyun-woo couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows again at the sight of Adriana, who had come back once more.
Thump! Thump!
“…!? Why are you suddenly doing that?”
Kim Hyun-woo asked in a bewildered expression as Adriana suddenly tapped her own head.
“Oh, uh, hehehe. It’s a bit, noisy.”
“…???”
Kim Hyun-woo couldn’t help but look at her with a puzzled expression as she awkwardly responded.
It’s both pitiful how Merilda went from happy from knowing the condition to be by his side again to ‘oh sh*t’ when she just how ludicrously bad her reputation is, the Red Eyes and her are practically a real living ghost story.
*both pitiful and hilarious
And Lin has an even worse reputation. I don’t know how they plan to fix 10 years of bad reputation so easily.
Adriah is going cray-cray 🤣