The Crimson Dragon was not yet ready.

To be precise, she was not yet ready to meet Kim Hyunwoo.

In fact, when Adria asked what preparation was needed for a meeting, she couldn’t say a word, but at least the Crimson Dragon’s heart was not ready.

If anything, she felt she would freeze on the spot if she encountered Kim Hyunwoo right then.

However, that didn’t mean the Crimson Dragon disliked the opportunity Adria had created for her.

Clearly, it was not that the Crimson Dragon didn’t want to meet Kim Hyunwoo; she just wasn’t ready yet.

In other words, despite being upset and bewildered by Adria’s sudden action, the Crimson Dragon actually had her own expectations about the current situation.

In the end, even though the Crimson Dragon feared standing before Kim Hyunwoo with a sad face, the fact that she liked him remained unchanged.

Therefore, she had put in a lot of effort over the past two weeks since Adria had informed her of this fact.

Having done so…

“……”

The gaze of the Crimson Dragon and the entangled looks between Merilda and Rin, who were grabbing each other’s necks, became complexly intertwined.

[…Ah, I can somewhat guess.]

At the same time, hearing Adria’s sigh-filled voice in her head, the Crimson Dragon looked at them with a look of contempt.

“…Aren’t they just outright thieves??”

Rin and Merilda seemed slightly startled by the words dripping with overt annoyance and disappointment, but soon they too spoke with furrowed brows.

“Then what about you!?”

“Why me!?”

“Did you deliberately set the coordinates here?! Pretending to save the Master just to show off!”

“Right! You were thinking the same thing, what!!”

“I, at least, have never sneaked into the Master’s house like you have! You guys just sneaked in and took that scroll, didn’t you!?”

Just three minutes ago, the dragon was tearfully upset about not being able to meet Kim Hyunwoo, as if it were the regret of a lifetime not meeting him.

Whoosh-!

Angered, the magically concealed surroundings and interior began to disappear in an instant.

Soon after the magic-concealed interior vanished, Merilda and Rin were momentarily dazed as they saw the photos that the Crimson Dragon had plastered all over the room.

Seeing this, Adria hit her forehead as if she had a headache.

‘…This was not at all what I intended.’

Upon reflection, this was Adria’s fault.

After all, Adria was somewhat aware that Merilda and Rin were always watching over the Lartania territory.

Even in her absence, he was watched over by their subordinates or disciples.

…Honestly, she hadn’t assumed they would secretly steal the scroll just because they saw it.

Seeing them slightly trembling under the overwhelming presence of Kim Hyunwoo’s photos plastered all around, Adria felt a bit awkward and thought to herself.

‘…They seem to think this is a bit too much as well.’

Honestly, Adria herself had felt overwhelmingly dominated by Kim Hyunwoo’s photos on several occasions, so she looked at Merilda and Rin with a sense of understanding.

“…Oh”

“Wow…”

[?]

Soon, as Adria noticed a peculiar blush on the faces of Merilda and Rin, whose gazes had been trembling, she wore a momentarily dazed expression.

“Could I have just one of these?”

“Me too, just one-”

“Stop talking nonsense!!!!”

Shortly after, as the voices burst from Merilda and Rin, Adria was reminded of one fact anew.

…Including her own guardian, Rin and Merilda were not exactly normal.


About three weeks after the Teleportation scroll disappeared from Kim Hyunwoo’s office.

“Sigh.”

Kim Hyunwoo, still unaware of the disappearance of the Teleportation scroll, had spent the last three weeks delightfully watching the city grow almost daily as part of his routine.

Territory: Lartania

Territory Development Level: 3980

Territory Residents:

[Humans: 23,146]

–Owned Buildings–

[Lord's Castle LV2↑ >>> (Upgrading 99%) Paused]

[Walls LV4↑ >>> Upgrading 0%]

[Residential Area LV5↑]

[Forge LV5]

[Barracks LV5]

[Tavern LV5↑]

[Market LV5↑]

[Wood Processing Plant LV5↑]

[Restaurant LV5↑]

[Leather Processing Plant LV5↑]

[Stone Processing Plant LV4↑ >>> Upgrading 77%]

[Trading Post LV4 >>> Upgrading 44%]

[Secondary Walls LV4]

[Inn LV4↑ >>> Upgrading 72%]

[Administrative District LV5]

[Paved Roads LV2↑ >>> Upgrading 72%]

–External Buildings–

[Mercenary Guild LV0 (Under Construction)]

[Mage Tower Branch LV1↑]

[Blacksmith Guild Branch LV1↑]

–Owned Forces–

-Regular soldiers: 1000

-Guards: 200

-Apprentice Knights: 200

“Indeed, with so many people, the rate of growth is no joke.”

Looking over the balcony, the Lartania territory now had the clear and definite appearance of a rather bustling territory, at least in a fantasy world.

The Market built inside the territory was now showing buildings between two to three stories tall, especially along the central streets, making it look even larger.

The Walls had also grown much larger than before.

Additionally, perhaps due to the increase in territory residents, the residential area had clearly expanded towards the secondary walls, with many houses now visible at a glance.

The Administrative District behind the Lord’s castle had grown so large that it was visible from the right end of the balcony.

Looking at the territory, which had practically transformed into something out of a perfect fantasy novel, Kim Hyunwoo unwittingly smiled with satisfaction and thought.

“Indeed, with enough manpower, development happens in an instant as long as the resources are available.”

In fact, three weeks is certainly a long time, but it wasn’t long enough to develop the buildings to this extent.

Yet, the reason Kim Hyunwoo could develop all the buildings in such a short time was precisely because of the manpower.

Unlike before, the sheer number of people that gathered as soon as an announcement was made had changed, allowing Kim Hyunwoo to achieve tremendous development over about three weeks.

Having looked at the developed state of the territory, Kim Hyunwoo soon turned his gaze with a satisfied expression to look at the resources window.

“This is it.”

[Lowest-grade Magic Stones: 304,325]

[Low-grade Magic Stones:

208,231]

[Mid-grade Magic Stones:

21,732]

In truth, the reason for his satisfied smile was not only the development of the territory but more so because of the Magic Stones.

After all, the Magic Stones he had collected over a few weeks had made it possible for Kim Hyunwoo to buy a Proposal Ring.

“If I convert just the Lowest-grade Magic Stones to Red Stones, that’s 9000 Stones, and if I can convert all the Low-grade Stones, that’s 9200 stones…so the total money I have now is 18,200 Red Stones.”

In other words, Kim Hyunwoo was smiling because, if he converted all the Stones right now, he could essentially buy the Proposal Ring immediately.

However, despite having gathered all the Magic Stones available, the reason Kim Hyunwoo was hesitant to use them was due to one concern.

“…Should I initiate a lower Labyrinth Break?”

In fact, initiating a lowest-grade Labyrinth Break at this point wouldn’t be a problem since there are so many people in the dungeon that it’s likely to be cleared without any issue, but a lower Labyrinth Break was a bit worrying.

That’s because, from a lower Labyrinth Break onwards, monsters that are somewhat troublesome for the current mercenaries to catch start to appear more frequently.

“Hmm…”

So, Kim Hyunwoo, after pondering for a while, said,

“…Ah.”

He let out a low exclamation as if he had thought of something.

After a bit of time,

“…The 7th tier?”

“Yes. There will be mercenaries hunting there as well, so if it seems like monsters are swarming, help them out.”

“Wha- Of course, I have to listen if Dad asks.”

Kim Hyunwoo, having called Elena and Shadra, asked them along with the Apprentice Knights to go down to the 7th tier.

After a certain amount of time,

‘Now, with all the minimum safety measures in place, shall we start immediately?’

Kim Hyunwoo, heading underground, immediately began to initiate a Labyrinth Break.

And then,

after about five hours, having finished all the lower Labyrinth Breaks and confirming Elena and Shadra’s return, Kim Hyunwoo spent about a day initiating Labyrinth Breaks.

After initiating all the Labyrinth Breaks with the collected Magic Stones,

[Red Stones: 18,230]

[Blue Stones: 232]

[Gold Coins: 225,422]

[Magic Stones: 884]

“Finally…!”

Kim Hyunwoo, looking at over 18,000 Red Stones for the first time since he came into this world, smiled unwittingly.

Kim Hyunwoo immediately opened the cash window.

[Would you like to purchase the Proposal Ring? Y/N]

He pressed the ‘Y’ button on the notification window that appeared before him.

And then,

[The 'Blue Merchant' will visit your territory to deliver the artifact!]

[Remaining time: 2 days 23 hours 59 minutes 59 seconds]

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