Chapter 26
Chapter 26
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: Merchant Group (3)
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The current state of Lartania Territory looked pretty decent on the surface.
The population, which had once been a mere eighty residents, had swelled to over 1,400, and the barren wasteland that had been the territory was starting to take on the shape of a proper domain.
However, the key fact to understand here was that Lartania's development wasn't the result of the territory circulating and growing on its own—it was purely due to Kim Hyunwoo's investments.
In other words, the territory was spending far more than it was earning, and the moment Kim Hyunwoo stopped investing, it would grind to a halt.
He wasn't collecting any significant taxes from the residents, after all.
Of course, that was entirely his decision.
To gather essential labor in the form of residents, he'd temporarily waived taxes to boost inflow—that had been his idea.
Likewise, handing over housing to the newcomers without demanding rent had been his call too.
Thanks to that, the resident departure rate was nearly zero percent, and loyalty was sky-high, so Kim Hyunwoo had no regrets about his investments.
But still...
'Running low on resources, that's for sure.'
Kim Hyunwoo glanced up at the resource window displayed in his UI.
The red stones, once at 9,700, had dwindled to 5,800 after steady use, and the blue stones—surely over 1,500,000 at one point—were down to just 24,211.
In short, the resources he'd earned from that Labyrinth Break were finally starting to run dry.
Of course, Kim Hyunwoo didn't panic.
He'd foreseen this situation from the start.
'I've been crafting resources using blue stones, which have way lower yields than mining directly, and converting them to gold coins for worker wages. No wonder they're almost gone.'
He eyed the blue stones, now down to about 20,000, then shifted to the red stones.
Compared to the blues, the reds still had half their original amount left, but Kim Hyunwoo had no intention of using them.
No—he couldn't use them.
Those red stones were absolutely essential for the labyrinth city he'd set as his goal from the beginning.
...Anyway, his resource situation was that after pouring investment upon investment into Lartania, things would be completely tapped out in a month or two. But he wasn't anxious.
He had a plan, having predicted it all.
That's why...
'I was planning to just open up some trade routes with nearby territories and sell stuff there, but a merchant group should work fine too.'
With that thought, Kim Hyunwoo started fiddling with the UI Loria had created for him.
The next day.
He headed to the Tiinus Merchant Group, still hawking their wares in the territory.
'There's nothing worth buying here.'
After wandering Lartania Territory for about a day, Adria reached that conclusion.
"Hmm."
She'd known from the start, when deciding to visit, that the territory would be in rough shape.
It had only been properly run for a few months, after all.
Naturally, with the Tiinus Merchant Group not dealing in heavy resources from the outset, and no local specialties here, acquiring anything worthwhile seemed unlikely.
That said, something else had caught her eye as she toured the place—a flicker of curiosity in her gaze.
It was the residents.
'For this level of development, their living standards shouldn't be this good.'
Adria had visited countless territories, so she knew well what failing ones or those just reviving looked like.
'Rapid development should tank resident living standards.'
But Lartania's residents didn't look deprived.
On the contrary, affordable luxuries like soap were selling briskly.
To Adria, at least, it was a bizarre sight.
Normally, steep growth meant resources and labor from the residents themselves, funneled back into the territory.
Especially in a place without even a trade post—the backlash should have been severe.
Yet Lartania showed none of that.
Of course, other curiosities abounded too.
How had they built such neat wooden houses without a wood processing plant or trade post? And with no mines, how were they fielding soldiers?
According to her intel, Tiinus was the first merchant group to visit Lartania.
Following those threads of curiosity, Adria's questions all converged on one person.
'Lartania's lord.'
The man she'd seen yesterday—the architect of its peak, yet unremarkable in her eyes.
Her secretary was gathering more details, which would clarify things, but regardless, her interest in the lord was bubbling over.
And then.
"Lady Adria, the lord has come to see you."
Her secretary's voice rang out.
In Adria's office.
"I heard you're buying valuables, so I brought something to sell. Possible?"
Kim Hyunwoo, arriving unannounced, placed a vial of potion on the desk and asked. Adria's eyes widened in surprise.
She couldn't read item details just by looking like he could, but the vial's appearance and the blue-glowing liquid inside were reason enough.
"This wouldn't be... a coma recovery potion, would it?"
"That's right."
At his confirmation, Adria stared blankly at the potion, mouth agape, then caught herself and turned to him.
"My apologies. It was just... unexpectedly rare. If it's not too much trouble, may I appraise it with a scroll?"
"Go ahead."
"One moment, please."
She held one of her rings toward the potion.
Coma Recovery Potion
Red magical power flares outward, forming a magic circle.
Red mana burst forth, deploying a magic circle. Watching it, Kim Hyunwoo remarked,
"...For real, huh?"
"Yeah, the real deal."
He sensed a twinge of doubt from her shocked expression but played it cool without showing it.
Adria stared at the coma recovery potion in a daze, then looked at him with an inscrutable gaze.
"First off, coma recovery potions stopped circulating five years ago, when the Mystery Merchant vanished. They're extremely rare now."
"Mystery Merchant... ah."
'Now that I think about it, items bought with blue stones—excluding resources—were all from the Mystery Merchant concept.'
Remembering Arteil's lore, Kim Hyunwoo responded,
"So, no one's sold them since five years ago?"
"Yes."
He nodded thoughtfully.
'As expected.'
Blue stones bought useful in-game items.
But he'd brought the coma recovery potion specifically because it could only be purchased with blue stones.
He was testing Adria on a hunch.
If he was the only one in this world who could use blue stones as currency, their item's value would skyrocket.
"So, how much would you buy this for?"
Confirming his theory from her reaction, he asked.
Adria fell silent for a long moment, glanced at him, sighed deeply, and spoke.
"For this... around 16,000 gold coins."
She named a price.
"16,000 gold coins?"
"Yes."
Kim Hyunwoo barely kept his jaw from dropping.
'Profit margin... how much?'
He calculated swiftly.
'Converting blue stones to gold gives 4 per stone, and this potion costs 1,000 blue stones. Pure arbitrage...'
Four times.
The figure flashing in his mind nearly made his lips twitch, but superhuman restraint held it back.
A fourfold profit was huge, but he wasn't selling yet.
That's why.
"Lady Merchant Leader, I've got a great business proposal. Want to hear it?"
"...A good business proposal?"
"Yes. One we'll both love."
He began to speak.
At that moment, in the Kalan Kingdom's underground.
Loriell bowed her head before her master, the Absolute Ruler of Darkness.
"Still... haven't found it?"
"...I'm sorry."
The reason: despite time passing, she hadn't located the final item she sought—the 'Execution Sword.'
"No information either?"
"..."
The Absolute Ruler of Darkness's voice dripped with irritation and gloom.
Loriell pondered in silence.
Truth be told, she had found one piece of info on the Execution Sword.
All five Swords of Kalan had, in fact.
But she stayed quiet because that info would devastate her master.
She hesitated longer.
"I asked."
At her master's voice, Loriell finally spoke.
"...Master."
She could never lie to her.
That's why.
"From what we've learned, the Execution Sword is an artifact that doesn't even appear in labyrinths. And its crafting method vanished completely five years ago with the 'Red Mystery Merchant'—no one knows it otherwise."
Loriell relayed the intel.
"...Ah?"
Despair clouded her master's gloomy eyes.
"Ah..."
Tears welled up.
Trickling down her cheeks.
Loriell watched her silent tears, then quietly bowed and left the inner sanctum.
The Absolute Ruler of Darkness felt her strength drain away, replaced by despair, shedding tears without a sound.
But at some point.
Her hollow, tear-streaked gaze shifted.
"No."
Quietly,
"No. Way."
She muttered.
Forcing back the despair filling her body, she gritted her teeth.
"There's still a way."
She didn't want to give up like this.
Didn't want to lose him this way.
Didn't want to abandon her beloved without a fight.
That's why.
Her eyes filled with venomous resolve as she recalled one fact.
She wasn't the only one to receive an Execution Sword.
And she knew the hero who had.
"If I can't obtain it—"
Thinking of the red-eyed wolf, she clenched her fist tight.
"—I'll take it from them."
...Blood trickled from where her nails dug into her palm.