Chapter 55
Chapter 55
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: Magic Tower (1)
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Two days after Adria departed, the notifications popped up just as Kim Hyunwoo was deep in conversation with the dwarves.
Kim Hyunwoo checked the alert floating before his eyes.
A day after that, he finally came face-to-face with the "Swift Delivery Dwarf" who'd only existed in the game's lore.
"Hello there!"
She was unmistakably short, yet her massive chest asserted a presence that screamed she was no child. Kim Hyunwoo muttered without thinking as he took her in.
"...Big."
"Pardon?"
"Ah, no. I mean, you're a dwarf, but you're taller than I expected."
He wasn't one to make such slips normally, but her sheer, overwhelming size left him gaping like an idiot. He blurted out an excuse as he snapped out of it.
"Hee hee~ Our lord knows just how to make a dwarf happy~"
She beamed with delight at his words, chuckling "hee hee hee!", and handed him a document.
"But praise aside, payment's gotta be spot on. No discounts, okay?"
"I know. Where do I sign?"
"Right here and here. And load the payment onto the empty wagons at the same time."
Kim Hyunwoo glanced at the territory residents he'd hired in advance for this day—they were hustling to load the resources—then signed without delay.
"Wow~ Thanks a ton!"
The "Swift Delivery Dwarf," who introduced herself as Gwyn, bowed her head with a satisfied grin. Once she confirmed all the resources were loaded,
"Alright! Gotta deliver this payment now, so I'll be off!"
She vanished like the wind with a cheerful laugh.
Kim Hyunwoo stared blankly after her, thinking to himself.
'No wonder the community vets are obsessed with the Swift Delivery Dwarf.'
Of course, as a long-time Arteil player, Kim Hyunwoo knew of Gwyn, the Swift Delivery Dwarf.
He'd just never paid her much mind since she wasn't a recruitable hero—just a lore character you could chat with briefly.
But meeting her in person, he could see why a few hardcore fans were so into her.
Lost in thought, staring at the spot where Gwyn had disappeared,
"My lord?"
He heard Elena's voice from beside him, where she'd been waiting.
"Ah, yes?"
"Nothing, you just seemed spaced out."
"Did I?"
"Yeah. Ever since you met that little dwarf. You've been out of it..."
She phrased it innocently, but her sly, half-lidded eyes suggested she knew exactly what was up.
"Nah, now that the resources are here, I was just thinking it's time to get to real work."
Kim Hyunwoo averted his gaze, slapped on a straight face, and deflected her suspicion(?) with small talk. He promptly called over the guards and began instructing the nearby guards on how to use the mountain of resources.
"What was big, exactly..."
"..."
Kim Hyunwoo endured Elena's oddly deadpan stare until he finished giving orders to the guards...
The next day after the resources arrived in Tesnoka Territory.
Kim Hyunwoo gazed at the status window now blocking his view and smiled in satisfaction.
Territory Development had been around 300 last time he'd checked. With the labyrinth opening, it doubled overnight to over 600. Residents jumped from the 2,000s to over 4,000 in a flash.
A staggering pace for development in just a few days.
"Is this okay?"
"What do you mean?"
As he grinned at it, Elena spoke up. She glanced around cautiously before continuing.
"Growing the territory is great, of course... but aren't we scaling up too fast? I know you have it all planned out, my lord."
"...Hm. Yeah, I can see why it looks shaky."
Kim Hyunwoo agreed outright.
She wasn't wrong.
'Normally, at this stage, it'd be smarter to focus on maintaining public order.'
Running a territory in Arteil involved many key factors.
But residents were paramount, so the game demanded careful efforts to keep them from leaving.
Labor came from them, after all—as he'd said many times.
'Of course, this territory's overflowing with mercenaries right now.'
Lartania currently hosted an estimated 5,000 mercenaries, and that number was climbing in real time.
Meaning the territory effectively had over 9,000 people.
Unfortunately, mercenaries couldn't be treated as labor.
They cost way too much to employ that way—especially now, with the labyrinth city open.
Kim Hyunwoo had the funds, sure, but he had no intention of burning cash like that.
Money wasn't infinite, and 1 million gold wasn't even that much to restore the territory to its former glory.
Plus, he'd already blown through about 400,000 gold.
The culprit? The secondary walls.
At first, when he'd built the initial walls, he'd only enclosed the Lord's Castle area—not the whole sprawling Lartania territory.
Obviously, since the full territory was massive.
And starting from scratch, there was no need to wall off everything right away.
But now, with the labyrinth city open, the secondary walls were a must for his next steps. So he was pouring money into rushing them.
'Even so, they've only covered about 40% of the original territory.'
The land was so vast that going further felt wasteful. This was his compromise.
In short, instead of bulking up troops to solidify internals, he'd expanded aggressively using resident labor—which is why Elena was worried. After a moment's thought, he asked,
"Is public order starting to slip?"
"...Not badly yet. But if mercenaries keep flooding in..."
Kim Hyunwoo nodded at her words.
Right now it was fine, but it would decline over time, just as she said.
In fact, things were holding up remarkably well so far.
Mercenaries had surpassed 4,000, while soldiers numbered only 200.
And even those were tied up guarding the first-floor lounge, gates, and Lord's Castle—leaving virtually zero for patrols. If order started crumbling now, it could spiral into disaster.
Declining security tanked happiness degrees insanely fast, no matter how high it was.
Basically, his territory had built up too quickly, leaving the foundations shaky.
"If it's that level, we're still good."
"...Really?"
Despite knowing all this, Kim Hyunwoo spoke calmly.
He had a plan for everything.
"Yes. For now, Elena, do what you can to maintain order. I'll delegate full authority on security matters."
"You mean..."
"Exactly—handle things at your discretion without reporting every detail. I trust you."
At his words,
"...Ahem. I'll do my best."
Elena averted her eyes, a faint smile tugging at her lips, then left the office.
Three days passed like that.
"Hm. I figured it'd come soon, but if it doesn't improve, guess we'll have to recruit more soldiers."
Kim Hyunwoo smacked his lips in mild regret as he read the warning from Loriell.
The alerts appeared right on cue, and Kim Hyunwoo smiled.
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