Chapter 8
Chapter 8
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: Wolf (2)
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Harancia territory was a domain you could spot just by heading a bit north, boasting a far more prosperous agrarian industry compared to the land Kim Hyunwoo was cultivating.
Thick walls encircled the territory, and within lay fertile soil teeming with countless fields of grain.
On top of that, under the protection of Sertova territory—which belonged to the Kalan Kingdom in exchange for over 30% of its annual harvest—no one dared to mess with Harancia.
Thanks to this, Harancia had maintained steady growth from the past right up to the present. But a few years ago, when the previous lord died suddenly and his son—the current lord—took over, he grew dissatisfied with the status quo.
He harbored ambitions.
Far more interested in mercenary or magic industries that could draw bigger money and better talent than farming.
He even wanted to develop the labyrinth, something he couldn't due to the boundaries disguised as Sertova's protection.
Yet the reason he couldn't was because his father, the former lord, had already made Harancia reliant on Sertova for many of its issues.
So from the moment he took office, the lord pondered how to break free from Sertova. To him, Lartania territory presented a perfect solution.
Because Lartania was on the verge of spitting out territory stone fragments—enough to bring in a fortune beyond imagination, if he could just claim them.
That's why the Harancia lord considered Lartania's proximity a stroke of great luck.
As far as he knew, territories like Lartania—left to rot—weren't that common on this continent.
In fact, even scouring the entire southern continent, there were only a handful.
Territory stones didn't just vanish when a lord died without passing it on; they immediately designated the next lord to continue.
In other words, abandoned territories were rare even after a lord's death or disappearance, making chances to snag territory stone fragments few and far between.
Thus, from Harancia's lord's perspective, having Lartania right next door was pure fortune.
Its geographical advantage meant he could claim the fragments all by himself.
Of course, after Lartania partially collapsed, he couldn't monopolize them entirely.
The reason Harancia could scoop up the fragments solo post-burst was a deal they'd struck.
A promise to hand over 80% of the retrieved territory stones to Sertova.
Thanks to that, in this Kalan Kingdom-affiliated region, anyone eyeing Lartania's stones vanished under Sertova's protection.
Leaving Harancia free to gobble them up safely.
But naturally, Harancia's lord had no intention of handing over the stones he'd claimed to Sertova intact.
Instead, he planned to deliver them straight to the Kalan royal family, swapping Harancia's overlord from Sertova to the crown.
Of course, someone might wonder: what's the difference?
Sertova belonged to the Kalan Kingdom, after all.
But it was starkly different.
Unlike Sertova, which didn't want Harancia growing too big, the Kalan royals wouldn't impose such limits.
And that wasn't all.
Any fallout with Sertova from offering the stones could be mediated by the royals stepping in.
In short, Harancia would gain complete freedom to grow under Kalan protection without restraint, filling him with anticipation.
Even when the lord of the neglected territory—absent for ten years—suddenly returned and sent a plea for aid, he had no plans to help.
No, upon receiving the letter, the lord actually smiled.
He didn't know why Lartania's lord had returned, but requesting reinforcements basically meant they lacked the forces to stop the labyrinth break.
And that made perfect sense.
Lartania's heyday was ten years ago, and its famed Round Table—the strongest in the area—had naturally disbanded after the lord vanished.
So the Harancia lord eagerly awaited Alto's return from fetching the territory stones.
Until he learned Alto was dead.
"..."
The Harancia lord stared blankly at the scenery beyond the lord's castle.
What he saw was a completely shattered wall.
Below it stretched a straight path from the castle, decorated with the blood and corpses of his soldiers.
And right before him.
"How in the world did you..."
She stood there.
No, terror itself stood there.
The hero most cherished by Harancia's former lord, slain in a mere five exchanges—one of Lartania's former Round Table members.
"You gave the order, didn't you?"
The wolfkin now called "Red Eyes" stood before her.
"To watch your master die, then retrieve the territory stone."
The Harancia lord couldn't fathom why Red Eyes was standing before him.
No, he could piece it together with some deduction.
Red Eyes had been a hero of Lartania long ago.
But he couldn't fully grasp it because that was ten years ago.
In other words, she had no ties to Lartania now.
Even with the lord's return, Lartania had nothing left to recruit her.
So.
"W-wait, calm down, Red Eyes—! Why are you doing this? You're not even affiliated with Lartania anymore—"
The lord opened his mouth to persuade her, but in that instant.
Krunch!
He could speak no more.
"Grraaaghh!!!"
Merrillda had seized his face and hoisted him into the air.
Blood trickled between her fingers—perhaps his jawbone had shattered—and with bloodshot eyes, the lord thrashed desperately to escape her grip.
But Merrillda, her face etched with clear fury, spoke.
"Who said I'm not affiliated?"
"Mmph—! Grrgh—!"
The lord writhed in midair.
She hurled him aside like trash.
Bam! Crunch!
Crashing through ornate wooden furniture, the lord clutched his mouth and screamed, but Merrillda ignored it, striding toward him again as if it were nothing.
"Past or present, you people from this territory always know how to piss me off."
Squelch!
She stomped his skull, shattering it beneath her boot.
His body convulsed violently before going limp.
Gazing at the fallen lord, Merrillda.
"..."
Suddenly recalled an old memory.
Of herself, waiting in the lord's castle for her master, bearing Harancia's insignia—
'Come with us, King of Beasts. The other heroes have all left, and you're not even officially Lartania's. Why stick around? It's been three weeks of persuading—won't you at least hear us out?'
'Ha! If you won't acknowledge it, I'll tell you myself!! Your master abandoned you. He won't come looking! You're discar—'
The hero from Harancia she'd slain.
And then.
"No— that's not it."
"I— I'm—"
"I'm still affiliated."
Merrillda glared murderously at the dead lord.
Her hands, steady through slaughtering hundreds of soldiers, now trembled uncontrollably.
"I just—"
"—can't go back yet."
She clutched the gift box in her bosom tightly.
Shiver—
...Her trembling didn't stop until long after leaving Harancia territory.
Kim Hyunwoo, who had marveled yesterday at Lartania's influx rate spiking to 292%, didn't notice much change that day.
It wasn't like a sudden surge meant residents would pour in overnight.
So he pondered what external event had boosted the -25% influx rate so dramatically, but naturally, he had no way to find out.
The alerts only confirmed it was event-related, nothing more.
Thus, shrugging off the curiosity, Kim Hyunwoo spent the day.
"...What the hell?"
But the next day, upon seeing the massive crowd settling into the nearby ruins, he found himself gaping in astonishment.
Confirming the influx rate had climbed from 292% to 310%, he gawked before hurriedly checking the territory window.
"Holy shit."
Kim Hyunwoo cursed involuntarily, eyes bulging wide.
No matter how high the influx rate, he'd never seen this many residents flood in at once.
'Even at peak rates, it's usually 10-20 steadily. Not over 200 in a single day.'
Stunned yet grinning uncontrollably at the sudden boom, Kim Hyunwoo soon wondered where they'd come from.
'Duh, just ask.'
Remembering this was real life, not a game, he summoned a refugee representative from last night's arrivals for answers.
And.
"So, you're all here because Harancia territory got wrecked?"
"Yes. The soldiers said 'Red Eyes' attacked it."
"...Red Eyes?"
"..."
As Kim Hyunwoo tilted his head at the refugee's words.
The lord of Sertova territory—to the east of Harancia, under Kalan Kingdom protection—
"...Say that again."
The former hero, Lord Malis.
"What'd you say?"
—wore a deeply intrigued expression upon hearing from his servant that Harancia had been half-destroyed, while Lartania survived the labyrinth break unscathed.