The Black Forest's Hidden Bounty
Maids who worked for a full month earned between 1 and 4 silver in wages. The longer their experience, the higher their pay, but since all the maids gathered here had only just turned twenty, most received 1 to 2 silver per month.
Yet making three coats would earn them 5 bron! If things went well, this month's wages could double—perhaps even triple.
The maids who had hesitated before the expensive dresses now had eyes blazing with determination.
“We’ll do our best!”
Chloe smiled warmly at the fired-up maids.
The next morning.
“Are you coming as well, my lady?”
When Chloe appeared before the logging team waiting to depart, Scrooge’s eyes widened in alarm.
“Yes. I should go too.”
“Why would you go to such a dangerous place?”
“Because everyone else is going?”
“Pardon?”
“How could I send my people into danger while staying behind?”
“My lady! Absolutely not. That place is far too perilous! Even in broad daylight, anything could happen.”
Scrooge recoiled as though monsters might leap out at any moment, desperately trying to dissuade her. Though his frantic reaction made Chloe a little nervous, she couldn’t take back her words now. Besides, raising favorability was already difficult enough—if she went back on what she’d said, the favor she’d worked so hard to gain might drop again.
Chloe shook her head with a resolute expression and spoke firmly.
“No, I’m going too. I can’t just send everyone else.”
“I must insist. If you were to get hurt—or worse, if a monster appeared—your life could be in danger.”
Fear was slowly creeping in, but she figured she needed to hold her ground at least three times before she could back down gracefully later. Thinking this would be her final attempt, Chloe spoke once more.
“That’s exactly why I should go.”
Now she planned to quietly retreat if Scrooge tried to stop her one more time. But—
“Haah… If that is truly your wish, my lady, then I suppose there’s no helping it. However, you must stay in a safe place at all times.”
“What?”
He wasn’t going to argue again?
Chloe was slightly flustered but hid it well, glancing between Scrooge and the waiting knights. Backing out now would only make her look ridiculous.
Completely unaware of her inner turmoil, Scrooge gazed at her with sparkling eyes. He seemed genuinely moved.
And he wasn’t the only one. The knights who had followed Chloe and even the ragged logging team looked at her with moist eyes. Moments later—
Territory residents’ favorability has increased by 10.
Territory residents’ favorability has increased by 10.
Cheerful notification sounds rang out as countless favorability increase messages popped up like bamboo shoots after rain.
‘Jackpot!’
Chloe bit her lip hard to suppress the smile tugging at her mouth. Though her fear hadn’t completely vanished, if favorability rose this much, it was worth enduring. Besides, so many knights were coming along.
Ding, ding. With the pleasant sound effects, the fear that had been churning inside her blew away like dust in the wind.
If she grinned like an idiot now, she might lose all the favorability she’d worked so hard to build. Not realizing her expression had turned strange from forcing back her laughter, Chloe struggled to maintain a dignified look.
‘Why does she look so terrifying…?’
Scrooge, who had been basking in the warmth of emotion just moments ago, felt a chill run down his spine at Chloe’s peculiar expression.
Chloe kept up her solemn facade and strode to the very front of the logging procession.
“Let’s move out.”
At her composed command, the knight captain shouted loudly.
“Move out!”
“For the revival of Grace!”
“For our lady!”
“Waaah!”
The unexpectedly grand cheer made Chloe’s skin crawl. But revival, huh. She’d make it happen.
She raised her chin proudly toward the distant Black Forest and thrust one arm high into the air.
“Waaah!”
“Long live our lady!”
Heh!
Having never led a cheer squad at a sports festival, Chloe felt a surge of energy from the deafening roars that followed her single gesture.
Just wait, my people.
I’ll make sure you all get to eat rice and meat soup!
Hahaha—Chloe’s nostrils flared as she fought the urge to burst into loud laughter.
‘Our lady must have a lot on her mind.’
Scrooge, however, grew increasingly worried at the incomprehensible look on his lady’s face.
The Black Forest was far more beautiful up close than it had appeared from afar. Perhaps because no one had set foot there in ages, there were no signs of damage.
“Once we enter the forest, the dense branches block out the sunlight, so it stays dark even in the middle of the day.”
“That’s why it’s called the Black Forest.”
Chloe quietly added to Scrooge’s explanation. Scrooge’s heart swelled at the sight of Chloe, who had once shown no interest in the territory’s affairs, now changing.
The strange expression he’d seen on her face earlier had already vanished from his mind. It felt as though he was finally being rewarded for all the days he had suppressed his desire to leave Grace Territory, again and again.
“The trees are so tall and thick. They must be incredibly old.”
Even the smallest tree was so wide that an adult couldn’t wrap their arms around it.
“Yes. It’s been hundreds of years since the Black Forest last felt a human touch.”
Even after craning her neck back as far as it would go, Chloe couldn’t see the tops of the trees. An indescribable sense of awe washed over her—not fear of the forest, but the feeling of being a tiny, insignificant creature daring to touch primordial nature.
I’m sorry. I’ll only prune a little. Too many branches make maintenance difficult, after all.
I’ll thin them out just enough for sunlight to reach the ground. No more, no less.
Chloe murmured the words—neither prayer nor spell—while gazing at the Black Forest for a long time.
The temperature had dropped sharply overnight, as if winter had drawn much closer.
“My lady, this man is the leader of the logging operation.”
While Chloe was sorting through her complicated thoughts, the knight captain’s voice came from behind her.
She turned to see a tall man standing with his hands neatly clasped. He looked slightly gaunt, his cheekbones prominent from lack of proper meals.
“The leader? I thought the butler was in charge?”
When Chloe gave Scrooge a puzzled look, he smiled gently and explained.
“This man was originally a carpenter, so he knows far more about trees than I do. That’s why I put him in charge of the logging operation.”
“Really?”
At Chloe’s surprised gaze, the former carpenter bowed deeply.
“A carpenter?”
“Yes.”
“What did you mainly build?”
“Houses.”
Bingo!
Where had such talent come from?
Chloe grabbed his hand enthusiastically.
“What’s your name?”
The man, startled at having his hand seized by a noble, stammered out an answer.
“B-B-Builder, my lady.”
It was an incredibly straightforward name. Chloe looked at him with a hint of mischief in her eyes.
“Your father’s name isn’t House, is it?”
“How did you know?!”
Gasp!
Chloe was inwardly shocked but kept her voice steady on the outside. This system had a surprisingly simple side beneath its complicated appearance.
“I just know these things. Well then, I’m counting on you.”
Builder bowed so deeply that his forehead nearly touched the ground.
As someone who shows great interest in your people, you have the makings of a wonderful lord! Resident Builder has developed deep respect for you. As a reward, you receive 50 hidden points. Your total hidden points: 520.
Deep respect should be worth at least 500 points, shouldn’t it? Chloe grumbled inwardly, but the status window continued as if it hadn’t heard.
More important than accumulating hidden points is using them efficiently! Would you like to begin personalized point management?
No thanks. You’ll just take more points away. I’ll manage my own points.
Tsk.
Leaving behind that single infuriating character, the status window vanished.
Despite being malnourished, the workers moved surprisingly fast. As the logging team cut down trees, the transport team loaded them onto carts. Chloe had worried they might work inefficiently, but under Builder’s command, everyone moved with perfect coordination. She was genuinely impressed.
Builder was clearly going to be the cheat key to reviving Grace Territory. Less than three hours after they began logging, the sun started to set.
Night fell faster in the Black Forest than elsewhere. A dark, ink-like shadow crept out from the depths like fog.
The temperature dropped suddenly, and white puffs of breath escaped their mouths.
Just as Chloe was about to suggest they head back, she spotted a familiar plant in the vast field at the forest’s edge. From afar, she had mistaken it for overgrown defense grass, but the leaves were slightly different—smaller and rounder on defense grass, while these were larger with pointed tips.
“Huh? Isn’t that a potato? Scrooge!”
Though dusk made it hard to see clearly, the plants filling the wide field were definitely potatoes. Having worked in potato fields before, it would have been strange not to recognize them.
At Chloe’s call, Scrooge, who had been directing the cleanup, hurried over and stood beside her, squinting at the field she pointed to.
“Yes, my lady?”
“Those plants. Aren’t they potatoes?”
“You mean that weed, my lady?”
“Yeah. Looks like potatoes to me.”
“That’s Dural.”
“That’s Dural?”
It was definitely the name she had seen in the status window. The unusual name had stuck in her memory. But no matter how she looked at it, it was a potato.
“Yes. Why do you ask?”
Scrooge glanced at the unremarkable plant with a puzzled expression. Chloe approached the Dural, thinking it must simply be called something else here.
“My lady, the sun has set. We must depart soon!”
Scrooge urged her anxiously, glancing nervously at the darkening forest. His voice carried a hint of frustration, as if he found it absurd that his lady was interested in a useless plant.
Paying him no mind, Chloe ran to the edge of the hill with hopeful anticipation. She grabbed a Dural stem with both hands and pulled hard.
Then, like something out of a dream, potatoes the size of a person’s face came tumbling out, clustered along the roots.
Jackpot!
To think there could be such plump potatoes in this world!