I Entered a Gacha Game That Had Been Abandoned for 10 Years chapter 65

65 – Diplomacy (3)

As soon as he received the summoning order from the king, the Duke of Randalon headed towards the territory of the Norba Kingdom, and soon, not long after.

“…The sword of Norba Kingdom’s envoy seeks an audience with the master.”

Upon arriving at Wangsung, Duke Landon bowed his head, but the expression on the king’s face, who was looking at him, did not seem very favorable.

Right after that, Duke Landon realized why he had been summoned.

“W-What are you talking about? I did send an envoy to the Larthania territory, but I have never given such orders to the envoy in that manner!”

“Is it a misunderstanding, then?”

“Yes!”

In addition, he realized how absurd the misunderstanding against him was.

“Then, your beloved diplomat dared to ask the Lord of Larthania about your parents to spy on you without any shame. Your words are ignored.”

“…I haven’t had a chance to confirm it since the diplomat hasn’t returned yet, but if there is such a fact after verifying the truth, then I will take responsibility—”

The Duke hurriedly spoke.

However, the king, as if implying that he didn’t need to listen to such words from the duke, casually waved his hand to interrupt him.

“Just because you handle things in that way, what difference does it make? It is evident that Norba Kingdom has suffered due to your actions.”

With an annoyed expression, the king showed the duke a letter.

Soon, the duke could read the letter that the king had dropped in front of him.

—

To the great ruler of the Norba Kingdom, also known as the loser in the east, King of Troman.

I am Lord Kim Hyunwoo, managing the small territory of Larthania.

I sincerely apologize for not being able to visit in person this time and instead sending my greetings through this letter.

The esteemed king of the Norba Kingdom—(omission)—

The reason I am sending this letter is because of the mana stones that can now be continuously produced in Larthania. Mana stones, if produced in sufficient quantities, have tremendous potential to greatly advance this continent. At the same time, it is a power too great for me to handle alone, posing a threat to me in this perilous continent. Therefore, I humbly plead with the king of Norba to protect me from the threats of this turbulent continent with the power of the Norba Kingdom.

—

However, suddenly, three dukes, proclaimed to be the strongest in the Norba Kingdom, and simultaneously messengers of the Duke Randalon, also known as the Sword of Norba, came to me. They insulted my parents and began to threaten me with various coercions.

…

..

.

—-

“…sigh.”

Duke Randalon involuntarily let out a bitter laugh and stopped reading the letter.

After all, he had already grasped the entire content of the letter.

Unknowingly, Duke Randalon gritted his teeth and furrowed his brow.

Even without reading the entire letter, he could summarize its contents in one line.

‘I originally intended to make a deal with the Norba Kingdom, but one of your subordinates behaved so insolently that I feel ashamed and will look for other business partners.’

The letter, written by the lord of Lartania, originally had the intention to make a deal, but one of his subordinates acted so rudely that he no longer wished to engage in any transactions.

‘This bastard…!’

Duke Randalon, unknowingly, uttered a curse from his lips, realizing that he had been hit in the face without even realizing it.

In practical terms, due to this letter, Duke Randalon had essentially pushed away the benefits he could have gained from the Norba Kingdom.

“…”

In fact, it was a bit strange that such a situation could arise with just one letter from a lord who wasn’t even part of the Norba Kingdom.

Ultimately, even if the lord of Lartania possessed a magic stone, he was still an outsider, while Duke Randalon was one of the three dukes of the Norba Kingdom.

However, despite that, the king was undermining Duke Randalon’s dignity by making such a fuss, precisely because the king was trying to restrain him.

Right now, Duke Randalon possessed an extraordinary military force, enough to be called the Sword of Norba in the Norba Kingdom.

Perhaps even more loyal than when he served as the Duke of Sende during the reign of King Norba.

In addition, as his territory grew rapidly, becoming a thorn in the king’s side, the letter to the Lord of Lartania’s domain was originally expected to be of no consequence. Still, it had now become a potent weapon to keep him in check.

Thus.

“Thanks to the duke, Norba Kingdom suffered tremendous losses. How do you plan to take responsibility for this situation?”

With anger and thoughts of the Lord of Lartania, who orchestrated this, the Duke of Sende gnashed his teeth.

####

A few days later.

“How did you anticipate this happening?”

Smiling as he read the letter from King Norba, Kim Hyun-woo responded to Elena’s curious voice.

“I could roughly anticipate it because of the information.”

“Information, you say?”

“Yes. Elena mentioned it, didn’t she? Duke of Sende is one of the three dukes of Norba Kingdom, and he holds the largest military power within the kingdom. Plus, he has a violent personality. Recently, he has significantly expanded his influence.”

“Is that so?”

“I expected that. More precisely, it’s more accurate to say I anticipated King Norba’s reaction.”

“King Norba’s reaction?”

Kim Hyun-woo nodded.

“Yes, in reality, from the king’s perspective, my letter was just a meaningless letter from an outsider. But for him, it became a useful weapon to restrain the duke, who is growing to a level almost comparable to the king’s power.”

“In addition, by leaving room to potentially renegotiate if the Duke of Sende is hindered, I’ve created a situation where the king can unquestionably benefit if he opposes the duke.”

Kim Hyun-woo shrugged.

“At this point, the Duke of Sende is probably in a situation where he can’t move easily. The king and other lords who view him unfavorably are likely seizing this opportunity to undermine him.”

“…With just a single letter?”

“That’s how political battles usually go. With a meaningless letter, one can arbitrarily assign meaning, interpret it expansively, and crush people. If there’s a reason and justification for it, that is.”

As Kim Hyunwoo mumbled, recalling the internal political and factional fights that occurred in Hwasa, Elena briefly shared an admiring expression.

“So, are we aligning ourselves with the Norba Kingdom?”

“No, not really.”

“Huh? But didn’t you send a letter to the king using the recent contract as a pretext?”

“That’s right. However, it’s just an ‘opportunity.’ We haven’t explicitly stated that we will enter into a contract.”

“…But wouldn’t it create a more serious situation if the king of Norba learns about this?”

Elena’s concern.

However, Kim Hyunwoo smiled slyly and spoke.

“It’s okay. By the time the king of Norba gets angry, we’ll have some connection with the Kalan Kingdom and the Eastern Clan Union.”

“What does that mean?”

“Elena probably knows, but the relationships between the Kalan Kingdom, Norba Kingdom, and the Eastern Union Clan are not good.”

“Yes, I’m aware.”

“In other words, when the king is furious, we can create a bond with the Kalan Kingdom or the Eastern Clan Union.”

“Oh.”

“When that time comes, even if the Norba Kingdom realizes the truth, they won’t be able to do anything to the Lartania territory. The three kingdoms won’t want the territory with the magical stone attached to go to another place. Of course, there might be a tipping point-“

“Until the territory grows stably, adjusting that will be the task I should handle from now on.”

Kim Hyunwoo spoke of the vision he had been contemplating.

Elena looked at Kim Hyunwoo with a truly admiring expression.

Rani’s daily life could be described as quite monotonous.

From Noble mtl dot com

Basically, her routine these days revolved around cooking from the moment she woke up in the morning until she went to bed at night.

However, despite that, she had never once felt empowered at this moment.

No, rather, she was thoroughly enjoying her current life.

It was because, in the Larutania territory, she could receive recognition that she couldn’t get before by cooking.

Moreover, every time Kim Hyun-woo, who could be considered her savior, enjoyed the food, she felt a corner of her heart filling up with happiness.

When the lord enjoyed the food she made, she would also suddenly feel a sense of recognition.

So, she was thoroughly enjoying her life in the Larutania territory, and today, she was even more filled with anticipation.

It was because today was the day when Kim Hyun-woo, in return for Rani cooking continuously, would personally cook to reciprocate.

Therefore, Rani was looking forward to the food that Kim Hyun-woo would make today.

That evening.

“…I’m sorry, it doesn’t taste good, does it?”

The “curry” that Kim Hyun-woo had made was terribly tasteless from Rani’s perspective.

“This… um… didn’t turn out well, did it?”

Kim Hyun-woo, who had thought that since he knew the ingredients, he could make curry well because he had mindlessly eaten a lot of instant curry in modern times, ended up completely ruining the dish. He expressed his apologies and told Rani about it.

“Oh, no, it’s okay! I made a lot of mistakes at first too!”

“…Next time, I should learn how to cook separately from Rani and then treat her again.”

Following Kim Hyun-woo’s words, Rani comforted him several times and said, “I’ll teach you well!”

“Then, I’ll ask for your help next time.”

With the great satisfaction of being able to tell him about her favorite dish, Rani hastily finished her dinner with a sandwich she made.

And that night.

At a somewhat ambitious hour.

“Haa… haa… This, the master’s cooking…”

In the restaurant, a red-eyed Rangin appeared.

The next day.

“…Huh? Did I throw it away yesterday…? No, I don’t think I did…”

Rani, seeing that the curry made by Kim Hyun-woo, which was left over from yesterday, was completely emptied without a single spoonful, wiped away her puzzled expression.

And then.

—-

An unidentified hero entered the territory.

—-

—-

An unidentified hero left the territory.

—-

“…?”

Kim Hyun-woo, waking up in the morning, also had a bewildered expression at the notification window that popped up in front of him.