Transmigrated into the Gacha Game I Abandoned for 10 Years - Chapter 119: Proposal Ring (3)

A carriage approaching the Lord’s castle with a huge sign on it that reads,

“Congratulations on the Lord’s Marriage!”

Seeing the mercenaries and citizens looking at the carriage with bewildered faces, Kim Hyunwoo shuddered with immense embarrassment, but it was a situation where he couldn’t just jump out immediately.

After all, if he ran out to take down that sign right away, the already focused attention on him would surely intensify.

‘…I’m pretty sure there was nothing like that.’

Kim Hyunwoo looked at the sign with a stunned expression and thought about the past ten years, but he never saw any information about the Blue Merchant coming with a sign like that.

‘…Actually, since it was a top-view perspective, whether he brought a sign or not, it wouldn’t have been visible.’

Still, he had thought it would only be a fanfare, but seeing such a sign openly displayed made him feel like his insides were twisting.

Especially seeing the territory’s residents and mercenaries staring intently at the sign.

So, Kim Hyunwoo twisted his body until the blue carriage arrived at the Lord’s castle.

Not long after that.

Kim Hyunwoo was able to meet the Blue Merchant who came to the office.

“Nice to meet you, Lord of Lartania.”

The Blue Merchant’s greeting was very similar to how Kim Hyunwoo had seen her in the game.

She is wearing a somewhat tight outfit underneath the blue robe, similar to that of a thief.

With her short hair and an outfit that, put kindly, is distinctive and, less kindly, seems to mix elements of various professions, she smiles her uniquely bright smile before sitting down in front of Kim Hyunwoo.

“First of all, congratulations on your marriage.”

Kim Hyunwoo, looking at the Blue Merchant who sat down in front of him as if she had been waiting to say this, responded.

“…I have no plans for marriage yet.”

“What? But you bought a Proposal Ring?”

“…That was solely to meet you.”

The Blue Merchant made a slightly strange face at Kim Hyunwoo’s words, but soon nodded, seemingly fully understanding what he meant.

“Sure, the Proposal Ring is the cheapest option… But wouldn’t it be better to save up a bit more and buy something better?”

“…But anything useful costs over 20,000 Stones.”

In fact, Kim Hyunwoo had seriously considered several times whether it would be better to buy something other than the Proposal Ring.

But the reason he specifically bought the Proposal Ring was because any better and somewhat useful item would invariably cost more than 20,000 Stones.

Moreover, it was clear that collecting 20,000 Stones would take more than a month, so Kim Hyunwoo simply bought the Proposal Ring.

“Well, that is true.”

There was a look from the Blue Merchant, as if contemplating something, then she nodded as if she understood and began to speak.

“Since you said you specifically wanted to meet me…let’s have a talk not just as a merchant and a lord, but from the perspective of a messenger and a foreigner.”

Snap!

With that, the Blue Merchant snapped her thumb and middle finger together.

And then.

Whooosh-!

The space that was clearly an office just a moment ago began to transform into a meadow.

A meadow bathed in the light of a blue moon.

“…What?”

Kim Hyunwoo, taken aback.

However, the Blue Merchant nonchalantly waved her hand and spoke.

“It’s just a private space. Honestly, as long as I’m around, there’s no worry about sound leaking out, but borrowing this space for a while ensures that no information will leak.”

The Blue Merchant said this and fiddled with the armrest of the wooden chair she had been sitting on, which was now dyed a bright white, as if she liked the change, and then spoke.

“Now that the space is all set up, let’s get down to a real conversation. Hmm, what should we start with? Oh, do you have any questions?”

“Questions?”

“Yes, anything.”

At the Blue Merchant’s words, Kim Hyunwoo pondered.

He wasn’t pondering because he had no questions, but because he had too many.

And, after much deliberation, the first question that came out of Kim Hyunwoo’s mouth was-

“…Who sent me here?”

-This was it.

In truth, there were mountains of other questions he wanted to ask, but he asked this one first simply because it was what he was most curious about.

After all, Kim Hyunwoo still wondered why he had come to this place.

Considering it, it had already been ten years since Kim Hyunwoo had stopped playing Arteil.

Sure, he had been a ranker, but not number one.

Had he criticized Arteil?

…It would be a lie to say he hadn’t criticized it, but to his knowledge, there were plenty of players who had been far more critical of the game than he had.

In other words, experiencing such a strange phenomenon worthy of a novel, Kim Hyunwoo wasn’t particularly unusual in any respect.

So, that led Kim Hyunwoo to ask his question.

At that question, the Blue Merchant seemed to ponder.

“Hmm, I can somewhat guess what kind of answer you’re expecting.”

“…Is that so?”

“Yes. You might be thinking some transcendental being summoned you for some reason, but unfortunately, that’s not the case.”

“…It’s not?”

“Yes, it’s not. Rather, the reason you were brought to this world…is largely your own fault, in many ways.”

With a meaningful smile, she said that.

Loriel, who is a disciple of Rin and could also be considered the de facto leader of the Five Swords of Calan, fundamentally has a personality that doesn’t experience much change in emotions.

This allowed her to take on the leadership role among the somewhat rough personalities of the other Swords of Calan and, in fact, to act as one of the closest to their master.

…Of course, recently, all Loriel had been doing was monitoring what was happening in Lartania and reporting back to Rin.

Loriel had never really had any complaints while carrying out that mission.

After all, the plan being executed to assist their master was already being handled by colleagues in the Calan Kingdom, and although this task was initially somewhat boring, it became quite alright once she had someone to talk to.

In other words, one could say that Loriel’s mission was very comfortable, but on the other hand, it could also be described as extremely boring.

However.

“……”

At this moment, Loriel’s pupils were trembling uncontrollably.

Even more so than when Rin hadn’t returned from Lartania after accidentally tearing a Teleportation scroll while fighting with Merilda.

“…Is that really what I just read?”

Loriel muttered involuntarily.

Loriel, who is usually always calm, trembled slightly in her voice, unlike her usual state.

No wonder, since Loriel’s eyes were seeing letters that were unbelievable to her.

…A signboard congratulating the marriage of the Lord of Lartania.

Thus, Loriel couldn’t help but tremble in her voice without realizing it.

“…I can see it clearly as well.”

Giral, who had been yawning wide with boredom just moments before, was now sweating coldly as if feeling the gravity of the situation, looking at those letters.

“……”

“……”

After confirming with their own eyes that the characters they saw were indeed true, Loriel and Giral did not say a word to each other.

They just stared blankly at the signboard.

Wondering if they understood correctly, they looked back at it several times just to be sure.

And then.

“…We’re screwed.”

Giral’s low voice hit Loriel’s ears.

“…Right?”

“Yes.”

“…If the Master finds out about this…”

Loriel involuntarily made a dizzy expression.

It’s hard to say, but she holds great respect and affection for her Master.

But what if the Master were to see this situation?

“…Ah.”

The mere thought made Loriel dizzy, and as she staggered and looked to the side, she saw Giral, possibly having similar thoughts, covered in cold sweat and deeply pondering.

And then.

“…What should we do?”

“First of all, somehow…”

After a long period of pondering, Loriel and Giral started to wonder how they could possibly conceal this.

Both Giral and Loriel knew it was wrong to lie, as they had been instructed to report on the situation in the territory.

Despite this, they both judged that it might be better to hide the situation, considering what would happen if it were to be revealed.

Just as they opened their mouths to urgently coordinate their story,

“I’m back!”

“You’re back…but what are the two of you doing?”

“…Ah.”

Loriel and Giral let out sighs with looks of utter astonishment.

“Look at this, Giral!”

Merilda, seemingly unaware of their situation and quite excited, approached Giral and held something out to him.

“Look, it’s a picture of the Master!”

Merilda said with a smile, as if she had obtained something very good.

…In fact, she had snatched one or two pictures after the Crimson Dragon refused to give them up until the end… But the point was that she got the pictures, so she boasted with a very satisfied expression.

“…Huh?”

Merilda ended up seeing the scene behind Giral, who was making an awkward expression.

The signboard celebrating the marriage of the Lord.

“…Eh?”

…The two pictures that Merilda had snatched from the Crimson Dragon fluttered powerlessly to the ground from her hand.