NOVEL NEXT Chapter 128: Uh??? (4)
“…You want to help with the Labyrinth project?”
“Yes, as you said, we want to help with the Labyrinth project. The Lartania territory needs quite a lot of troops, right? For example, the expanded rest area to the second tier…the forces needed for security.”
“Lartania doesn’t particularly need external help.”
Kim Hyunwoo responded impassively to Loton’s words.
At least he knew what intention Loton had in making such a suggestion.
“Hmm, is that so?”
“Yes.”
At Kim Hyunwoo’s nod, Loton nodded to himself a few times before sitting in front of him and speaking.
“Lord, think about it carefully. Do you really not need the power of our Mercenary Guild? It’s a bit presumptuous to say, but we are very competent.”
“In what way?”“In any way. Especially in handling mercenaries.”
Loton said with a smile.
“Our Mercenary Guild can do a lot. We can make the mercenaries move as you wish, or we can make them lazy.”
“…Aren’t you being too blatant?”
At the blatant threat, Kim Hyunwoo let out a chuckle. Loton, maintaining his sly smile, continued.
“It sounds as if I’m threatening you, Lord.”
“It does seem like that.”
“Of course not, I’m merely making a constructive suggestion. How could I possibly threaten the Lord of Lartania, who has many achievements?”
Kim Hyunwoo let out a hollow laugh at the sight of Loton’s sly smile.
“Is that so?”
“Of course.”
“Heh…let’s hear it. How much do you want?”
“Ten percent, no more, no less. How about exactly 10%?”
“Don’t you think that’s too much?”
“No, of course, it’s a significant amount. But Lord, if you make such a contract with us, we will fully support you.”
“What happens if I refuse?”
Smiling, Kim Hyunwoo asked.
Loton, smiling back, answered,
“If you refuse, nothing will happen.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, nothing at all. It’s just that…managing the mercenaries might become a bit difficult.”
At Loton’s words, Kim Hyunwoo looked at him with an incredulous expression.
‘Look at this bastard?’
Kim Hyunwoo felt an urge to split Loton’s slyly smiling face right then and there.
If it were before, it would have been impossible, but now, thanks to consistently eating Lani’s food, he had physical abilities comparable to at least a one-star hero.
It would be easy to get up right now and smash his face, but that would be a last resort.
‘What should I do?’
At least, this issue was very troublesome from Kim Hyunwoo’s perspective.
To put it simply, what Loton was saying was that if he wasn’t allowed to leech off the Lartania domain, he would destroy the public order within the territory.
Of course, the current public order in Lartania was very good, despite tens of thousands of mercenaries entering.
But if the Mercenary Guild decided to cause trouble while disguised as mercenaries, the situation would undoubtedly worsen.
Even if it started on a small scale, as the saying goes, a single loach can muddy the whole pond, and once trouble begins, it often snowballs.
Of course, in this case, increasing the punishment for troublesome mercenaries could reduce the problem, but it would undoubtedly cause the steadily increasing number of mercenaries to hesitate.
On the other hand, if he maintained the average level of punishment, the happiness and public order of the residents would be ruined.
In short, it was a very troublesome issue for Kim Hyunwoo.
“……”
Of course, this matter wasn’t an enormous problem in itself.
Ultimately, to avoid being swayed by Loton, he just needed to increase the punishment for the mercenaries.
Since the mercenaries had already tasted the money they could earn from the Labyrinth, they wouldn’t turn their backs on him.
However, the reason Kim Hyunwoo was hesitating was the growth loss that would occur from significantly increasing the punishment.
Currently, Lartania had tens of thousands of mercenaries, and more were pouring in every moment.
In other words, the number of potential tax-paying mercenaries was increasing much faster than the residents.
From Kim Hyunwoo’s perspective, he wanted to avoid any reduction in the influx of potential tax-paying mercenaries.
Therefore, while Kim Hyunwoo was deep in thought, heard,
“First, you must have a lot to think about today, so I will come back tomorrow.”
Loton, bowing his head and smiling slyly, left his seat as Kim Hyunwoo watched.
“What a headache…”
Just as Kim Hyunwoo made a dumbfounded expression while watching Loton,
“Lord, Mila has come to see you.”
He heard that Mila had come to see him.
“I’m really sorry, Lord. It’s all my fault.”
As soon as she saw Kim Hyunwoo, Mila bowed her head deeply, and Kim Hyunwoo spoke.
“…Can you explain the situation to me?”
“…Well, the truth is, I don’t get along well with the Imperial faction of the Mercenary Guild.”
Kim Hyunwoo listened attentively as Mila sighed deeply before continuing her explanation.
After a while, having listened to all of Mila’s words, Kim Hyunwoo remained silent for a moment, organizing his thoughts before speaking.
“So, to summarize, the Mercenary Guild originally had two factions?”
“Yes. I was with the Mercenary Guild on the Norba side.”
At Mila’s answer, Kim Hyunwoo briefly summarized the situation.
The situation itself wasn’t too difficult to understand.
In short, the Mercenary Guild was originally divided into two factions. Mila’s faction was completely defeated a few years ago, and the Imperial faction took over everything. Now, they’re trying to get rid of Mila as well.
“…So that man too.”
“…Yes, at first they deliberately didn’t supply the materials to prevent completion, and now that I’ve completed the Guild, they’re trying to take my position as Guild leader.”
“…No matter what, it’s a guild. Can they act so unreasonably? There should be some justification.”
“…Within the Imperial Mercenary Guild, they value justification, but not for me. I was originally from a different faction. Moreover…the leader of the Norba faction…was my father.”
“Ah…”
Hearing that, Kim Hyunwoo could infer the situation more precisely.
Why the Mercenary Guild was harassing Mila more.
And why Mila couldn’t easily shake off the Mercenary Guild.
Therefore, Kim Hyunwoo, who had been contemplating, started thinking deeply.
After a while,
“I understand.”
“…I’m really sorry. I will take responsibility somehow…”
“No, there’s no need for that.”
“…What?”
“Just focus on training the soldiers well, Mila. I’ll handle this.”
Kim Hyunwoo spoke, smiling at Mila. He seemed to have thought of something, and with a confident smile, he touched his chin.
At that moment,
Loton, leaving the Lord’s castle in Lartania, thought with a sly smile.
‘Think hard, no matter how much you think, you won’t find a suitable answer.’
He recalled Kim Hyunwoo’s very troubled yet extremely irritated expression and twisted his lips into a smile.
Unlike the other foolish lords, the Lord of Lartania seemed to have caught his meaning very precisely.
‘Well, that’s probably why he was able to rebuild Lartania from its half-destroyed state to this point.’
Loton looked at the streets of Lartania.
Lartania, which he had heard was in ruins, had become a massive territory.
At least the central square could be compared to that of a great territory within the Empire, so Loton nodded and smiled.
He knew that no matter how capable the Lord was, he wouldn’t be able to refuse his proposal.
‘I’ll suck you dry,’
Loton muttered with a smile, and as he entered the Mercenary Guild and sat in the office that would soon be his,
“…?”
Loton saw something strange.
A glowing white mass in front of him.
Just as he began to question the mass, there came
a blinding flash!
The glowing mass quickly grew in size and engulfed Loton.
In the next moment,
“…Huh?”
What Loton saw was not the office of the Mercenary Guild,
“Hello, heretic?”
“…What?”
But the face of a girl with eyes shining like gold.