Loriel, of the Five Swords of Calan, held her breath, awaiting Kim Hyunwoo’s response. Disappointment clouded her face as she pondered.

I wish I could ask more directly.

Truth be told, she was not a great conversationalist, nor did she possess the gift of gab. She was not adept at subtle hints.

Yet, Loriel’s roundabout approach to the Absolute Ruler of Darkness stemmed from her Master.

Since her Master had expressed sadness and struggle, Loriel knew she absolutely must not hint at her emotions.

Loriel did not know the specifics, but she understood her Master was gathering gifts to apologize to the Lord for something.

Therefore, Loriel could not carelessly reveal something her Master had been preparing for years.

Yes, that is correct.

However, seeing her beloved Master skip meals and remain secluded in her quarters was also agonizing. So, Loriel used diplomacy as a pretext to visit the territory.

To gauge the Lord’s feelings.

If her Master’s reputation was not good, to try and improve it even slightly.

Therefore.

Indeed. The fact that the Absolute Ruler of Darkness was also called a Weapon Master commanded some respect from a warrior’s perspective.

Ah.

Could you possibly tell me what the Absolute Ruler of Darkness was like, if that is alright?

She asked this to probe the Lord’s feelings.

Soon, Kim Hyunwoo, having received such a question,

Weapon Master… Was there such a title?

thought this, but quickly answered.

Well, quite a reliable hero.

Is that so?

Yes. Skilled with various weapons, they performed admirably on any battlefield. A truly remarkable hero.

At Kim Hyunwoo’s answer, Loriel murmured a quiet

As expected,

nodding her head in apparent satisfaction.

Then, may I ask just one more thing?

What would that be?

She then furtively observed Kim Hyunwoo’s reaction before asking her question.

What did you think of the Absolute Ruler of Darkness?

Me?

Yes.

A question that seemed slightly off-target.

It was a mistake on Loriel’s part, who lacked eloquence and was eager to find out what she wanted, but Kim Hyunwoo only harbored slight doubts before responding thoughtfully.

From my perspective, as I mentioned earlier, a good hero. Good at fighting and followed commands well.

He thought,

Well, I almost got sick of the weapon gifts that nearly broke my back,

but Kim Hyunwoo did not voice this.

After all, Loriel seemed to admire the Absolute Ruler of Darkness at first glance, and from Kim Hyunwoo’s perspective, there was no need to give a bad impression to a diplomat from the Calan Kingdom.

Building some rapport now might be helpful when I open the Labyrinth city.

Thus,

Honestly, I did miss her presence a bit.

Kim Hyunwoo offered such empty compliments to Loriel, who seemed to like the Absolute Ruler of Darkness.

Whether Kim Hyunwoo’s empty compliments worked or not, Loriel, whose expression brightened noticeably as she spoke with him, said,

Having delivered the gifts, I will now take my leave.

With those words, she departed the territory.

As Kim Hyunwoo pondered again how to handle the materials,

on a hill above the territory,

He said, he missed her?

Merilda muttered, her face filled with murderous intent and a hint of tears.

Giral, who silently observed her, as she continued to be in an oddly low mood since yesterday.

Grr-!

Giral, thinking the air around the intensely agitated yet deeply saddened Merilda might have dropped to below freezing, soon quietly vanished from behind her without a sound.

He actually wanted to greet her and return, but feared he might find himself in a difficult situation if he spoke to Merilda, who had been in a low mood since yesterday.

Sigh.

Thus, having quietly moved out of Merilda’s reach, Giral sighed and then,

It seems the Boss has no intention of moving from here, so I should bring her back.

He moved to bring back the beastfolk, who were surely in disarray without their leader.

Based on the Norba Kingdom, it was located at the easternmost end and was the third-largest territory within the Kingdom.

At the same time, Roman, shrouded in darkness, belonged to the Duke of Tesnoka, who held a ducal title in the kingdom.

Is that true?

Yes.

He was reporting to the woman before him.

Hmm-

The woman, humming with interest and playing with her hair that reached down to her waist, spoke with a slightly questioning tone.

So, the Lord of a territory that was only established a few months ago dealt with a disaster with just 200 soldiers and one hero?

That is correct.

I hate to say this, but you do realize that what you’re saying sounds incredibly hard to believe, right?

She replied, while fiddling with her silky, purple hair that reached her waist.

Yet, despite her words,

It is the truth.

Roman answered her, the rightful heir to this territory and the one who had recently inherited the ducal title from her father.

She, the Duchess of Tesnoka, crossed her arms.

Her endlessly serious expression fell silent, as if pondering something.

Let’s hear the details.

Following her question, Roman began to methodically recount what he had witnessed.

Beginning with how the soldiers distracted the Disaster’s attention by throwing blue flames made from a power engine.

And how they trapped it in a prepared pit, the hero broke the Disaster’s jawbone, and finally detonated a massive power engine inside the Disaster’s body as a bomb.

And after listening to Roman’s story with her arms crossed for a while,

Huh,

she laughed incredulously and said,

And that’s really how the Disaster was captured?

Yes.

Upon Roman’s affirmation, the Duchess fell silent in thought.

If Roman’s words were true, then the Lord of Lartania had not engaged in battle with just 200 soldiers and one hero.

If Roman’s words are true, the important thing isn’t the soldiers or the hero. Rather, it’s-

Even though she had inherited the territory somewhat sooner than other heirs due to her father’s untimely death and had not received all his knowledge, she was intelligent.

The fact that the Tesnoka territory had grown even more right after she officially took over as its Lord was proof of that.

And the conclusion drawn by the astute Duchess of Tesnoka after hearing Roman’s entire report was,

-The Lord of Lartania.

That was precisely it.

An impressive Lord.

Yes. Certainly, the hero without a title is also a monster, but

The Lord is even more so, right?

Correct.

Roman answered as if he had been waiting for her response.

It was indeed an unbelievable tale that a being, which would normally require thousands of sacrifices and many heroes to subdue, was dealt with through strategy by a mere handful of people.

Therefore,

How far do you think this story has spread?

From what I’ve checked, initially, there were only two people tracking it, but later it increased to about four.

At least the guys from the Calan Kingdom have seen it, right?

Yes. A report will probably be submitted soon.

The Duchess, speaking with Roman, said,

I don’t want to lose this.

Muttering in a slightly greedy voice as if she had found precious jewelry by the roadside,

Send someone to Lartania. Let’s see if we can meet sometime. Or maybe I should just go myself?

She smiled as she said this to Roman.

The meadow north of Lartania.

In that place, where there were only vast fields, it suddenly appeared.

Whish-!

Shrouded in a black robe, concealing its identity, it silently observed Lartania.

As if assessing something, it remained motionless, watching the territory for a while.

Indeed, worthy of the extrastar expected by that person. I didn’t know it could handle a Disaster to that extent. But still-

In a voice that could not be identified as male or female, it spoke with an odd admiration before continuing to observe the territory,

-Whether the extrastar can grow until the deadline is something that must be observed.

It murmured softly.

And after watching the domain for a long while,

Arde- Pa, Narma.

Murmured softly, and then,

May it live up to that person’s expectations-

As these words were spoken, it began to dissolve into a black mist from the ground up, disappearing.

-O, last star.

With those words, there was nothing left on the meadow.

As if there had never been anything there at all.