Chapter 25
Chapter 25
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: Merchant Group (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“Lord Crimson Nightmare Dragon... does that mean you're a dragon, by any chance?”
Kim Hyunwoo broached the subject casually, and Adria nodded as she continued.
“Yes, the owner of our Tiinus Merchant Group is indeed a dragon. One of the strongest among their kind—a Red Dragon, no less. Thanks to her protection, we're able to conduct our trade routes without any escorts.”
Watching Adria speak with such pride, Kim Hyunwoo nodded thoughtfully to himself.
'So that's why there were no guards.'
As far as he knew, merchant groups always traveled with armed escorts.
Even without monsters, caravans were naturally exposed to all sorts of threats.
That's why he'd found it strange from the start—no matter how massive this group was, not a single guard in sight.
'A dragon would explain it.'
From what Kim Hyunwoo recalled, dragons in the Arteil world held immense status, just like in any fantasy setting. They were even treated as raid bosses during his playtime.
With that in mind, he nodded along until a sudden curiosity struck him.
“So, is Lord Crimson Nightmare Dragon traveling with the caravan?”
“No, not at all. Even without the guardian following us, her magic alone is more than enough to keep our journeys safe.”
Kim Hyunwoo nodded at Adria's response, but then a memory from the past surfaced.
'Come to think of it, my territory had a dragon too... sort of.'
More precisely, the hero in his Lartania territory wasn't a full dragon but a half-dragon.
And not just any half-dragon—a measly 1-star one at that.
'That was ridiculous back then too.'
Kim Hyunwoo couldn't help reminiscing.
In the midst of his 500-pull explosion, desperately scanning for anything decent, he'd found her. At the time, she struck him as an utterly bizarre hero.
She directly contradicted the community mantra that anything meta was at least 3-star—she was straight-up 1-star.
And her mentality was like a flatfish; raising her based on traits and talents had been a nightmare.
Logging in meant at least 30 minutes of mandatory chat therapy. Later, he even blew cash he didn't have on a book called 'Eight Ways to Comfort Someone' just to manage her mental state.
Of course, all that pampering paid off eventually—she grew strong enough to earn her keep. But as the hero who'd dramatically boosted his typing speed through endless chats, she left a deep impression on him.
'Wonder what she's up to now.'
Suddenly lost in thoughts of her, Kim Hyunwoo snapped back, remembering Adria was still there, and cut his reverie short.
“My apologies. Something just came to mind.”
With a quick bow of apology, he shared some light conversation with her before asking,
“If it's not too much trouble, could you tell me a bit about how the world's been faring?”
“...You mean the state of affairs in the world?”
“Yes.”
He already knew quite a lot about Arteil.
As one of the few black cows who'd survived deep into the late game, his head was still packed with territory management tips and labyrinth strategy info that proved incredibly useful even now.
But that's exactly why he sought info from Adria—everything he knew was from 10 years ago.
His reliable, unchanging knowledge base was a huge help, but everything else needed a fresh update.
He had zero clue what changes had hit Arteil after he quit, or what patches had dropped.
So he asked her for the rundown. After pondering his gaze for a moment, Adria gave a small nod.
“That shouldn't be hard.”
And with that, she began.
“We'll stop the stories there for now. Since you're planning to stay a day, if there's anything you want to sell or buy, just send someone over.”
With those words, Adria left the office.
In their roughly 30-minute chat—short enough to feel brief, long enough to feel substantial—Kim Hyunwoo gleaned a ton of info.
It included brand-new stuff he'd never heard of, like the “Southern Empire,” the “Magic Tower,” the “Holy Kingdom,” and the “Adventurer's Guild.”
But the most useful nugget? The political dynamics of the nations around Lartania.
Of course, grasping neighboring politics wasn't crucial right now.
But once he started running the labyrinth city in earnest, it'd become vital.
Fortunately, the political ties around Lartania looked pretty favorable from his position.
So, after calmly sorting through Adria's intel for a while, Kim Hyunwoo thought,
'...I actually learned everything I wanted to know. More than expected.'
He briefly wore an odd expression, realizing she'd oddly cherry-picked info he likely wouldn't know.
'Well, whatever. Suits me fine.'
He spent a good while organizing it all.
Once he'd mentally filed away Adria's info after some time passed, he mused,
'Alright, got the info I wanted—time for the next step?'
Gazing at the Tiinus Merchant Group bustling with sales in the lord's castle, he recalled Adria's words.
'They're prioritizing valuables and artifacts.'
He didn't have any real artifacts on hand, of course.
But he knew how to make valuables. A faint smile crept across his face.
“How'd it go?”
Back in the grandest wagon—the merchant leader's office—Adria fielded her secretary's eager question with ease.
“'Returned' is definitely the right word for Lartania's lord. He's clueless about current events, just like the rumors say.”
She'd realized he only wanted specific info—and she'd delivered exactly that, reading his intentions perfectly.
Through it, she'd confirmed the rumors: Lartania's lord had truly returned.
“I figured it was just gossip, that the Territory Stone had picked some proxy lord or whatever.”
“Plenty thought the same. No lord's vanished for nearly 10 years and popped back up before.”
The secretary addressed Adria, now seated, and pressed on.
“So, what do you make of Lartania's lord?”
“Hmm, honestly? Nothing special. Didn't feel like the guy who built Lartania 10 years ago. Still, worth building a connection.”
“Is that so...?”
“...? Why the look?”
“You don't usually talk about forging ties with lords.”
As the secretary said, Adria wasn't one for cozying up to lords.
Such ties had upsides, sure—but plenty of downsides too.
She kept them at arm's length, never pushing for deeper bonds.
That's why the secretary was surprised.
“...He's the guy who built that Lartania 10 years ago. And now, just months after returning, he's already built a territory this size. Worth a connection, don't you think?”
Adria shrugged.
“Though figuring out what he wants after just a few months? Probably impossible from the start.”
She replied.
Her secretary nodded blankly for a moment before glancing down at the item Adria had placed on the desk.
“That necklace...?”
The secretary pointed at a necklace.
A red gem-studded one, modest compared to Adria's own jewelry.
“Oh, this? A gift from the lord for the info. Said it's something he's treasured for a long time.”
Adria lifted it nonchalantly at the question, then added,
“Include it in the tribute for our lord. She likes necklaces with red gems, after all.”
She handed it to the secretary.
Just as Adria added one more item to the offerings for her master...
In a massive cave deep in the southeastern forest...
“───”
A woman sat in an exquisitely antique chair.
Behind her chair loomed treasures enough to make anyone gasp.
Piles of gold coins, tangled artifacts, weapons half-buried in the hoard, radiating grandeur.
A dragon's trove if there ever was one—the dream of every adventurer.
Yet the woman at its heart wore a profoundly gloomy expression.
Her crimson red hair tangled wildly with her horns.
Her golden dragon eyes, dulled and steeped in melancholy.
Scars of self-harm encircled her neck and wrists multiple times, silently proclaiming that even in this space others coveted, she found no joy.
“...”
She turned her gaze slowly, looking back.
Her somber eyes beheld mountains of treasure.
But she stared at the riches with those same gloomy eyes before turning away.
Facing forward again.
Grasping her throat with both hands.
Krunch—!
She squeezed her own neck.
She hated the pain too.
But she had to.
She was broken enough that without this, she couldn't sleep anymore.
The dragon... had to force sleep this way.
Enter dreams.
This golden hoard everyone desired held nothing she wanted.
“-”
Her master... wasn't there.
...
She squeezed her own neck.