Special Allowance and a Silver-Haired Dream
Yes. Spe-cial Al-low-ance.
Chloe spoke each syllable with deliberate emphasis, and the worry that had lingered on Delma’s face melted away like snow. It seemed people truly became infinitely small in the face of money.
“Yes! Understood!”
Delma’s reply rang with energy. She already looked energized at the mere thought of receiving the special allowance.
“You’ll be going too, right, Delma?”
“Of course! I’ll definitely go!”
Delma answered with a bright smile before heading out.
“A special allowance, she says!”
Delma, having left the lord’s chambers, gathered the castle servants with a heart full of excitement.
At the head maid’s summons—Delma had taken on that role as well—the servants of Grace Castle quickly assembled. To them, Delma was both their superior at the castle and one of the few reliable adults they could lean on.
In the hall normally used for group meals or private servant parties, roughly fifty servants gathered in small, anxious clusters. Among them, the only ones showing any hint of anticipation were the maids who had already sewn clothes and received the special allowance.
“Why do you think she called us together?”
“We’re not being let go, are we?”
“That can’t happen. There’s nowhere else for me to go.”
“Same here. This is the only place that pays even a pittance of a salary. If we get kicked out, my little siblings will starve.”
Ever since Grace Castle’s financial situation had deteriorated, the only times Delma gathered the servants were to deliver bad news—staff reductions, inability to pay wages, that sort of thing.
Although the lord had recently changed, the servants had all sensed that the castle’s finances had been at rock bottom until just days ago. Every face was etched with anxiety.
Some of the younger maids were already teary-eyed, terrified of being dismissed.
The hall was spacious enough to comfortably hold a hundred people, so with fewer than fifty it felt painfully empty.
Delma climbed a few steps so the murmuring crowd could see her clearly, then looked down at them and announced in a loud voice.
“You all know that what you ate earlier was Dural, right?”
The servants nodded silently.
It had been so long since they’d eaten their fill that their stomachs were still pleasantly rounded.
“There’s a vast plain near the Black Forest where Dural can be harvested. The lord brought back the very Dural we ate. They’re so large that everyone here ate until they were full with fewer than twenty of them. Remember?”
As the servants nodded, anxiety gradually deepened on their faces.
They were terrified she was about to demand money from them.
But Delma’s next words swept their fears away in an instant.
“Tomorrow we’ll be harvesting Dural near the Black Forest, and we need workers.”
Even though it had tasted delicious, the vague terror of the Black Forest and the worry of harvesting Dural themselves hadn’t completely vanished. The servants’ murmuring grew louder.
Delma waited until the noise died down a little, then continued boldly. With both hands planted on her hips, she looked positively confident.
“The lord has declared that anyone who helps with tomorrow’s Dural harvest will receive a special allowance. Naturally, this is separate from your regular wages.”
“Me! I’ll go!”
Arms shot up everywhere. They all belonged to the maids who had already earned a special allowance from the sewing work. The rest hesitated, watching them. Their fear of the Black Forest was still too strong.
Reading their reluctance, Delma shrugged and added one more detail.
“The daily wage is three bronze.”
Every remaining arm flew into the air at once.
“Me too! I’ll go too!”
“Count me in!”
The hall filled with voices volunteering to go, starting with Anna.
A short while later, Chloe learned through Delma that they had secured more than enough servants for tomorrow’s Dural harvest. So many had volunteered that they decided to rotate shifts. No matter how attractive the special allowance was, they couldn’t abandon all the castle’s work.
The servants were apparently overjoyed at the prospect of earning extra pay outside their regular wages.
Lying on the soft bed and reflecting on Delma’s report, a warm smile spread across Chloe’s lips.
It was a completely different feeling from the strange vacuum-like state where everything had frozen earlier.
“Am I… getting comfortable here?”
She occasionally pinched her own cheeks, wondering if she was still dreaming.
The status window that popped up so suddenly made the whole situation feel even more unreal.
Yet the people she met, the food she ate, the wind brushing her cheeks, and the cold air were all far too vivid to be anything but reality.
Was this really all right? As she pondered, the wave of exhaustion made her blink slowly, and before she knew it, Chloe had fallen asleep.
That night, Chloe dreamed of a handsome silver-haired man staring at her intently.
It seemed he had said many things, but when she opened her eyes in the morning, the only thing Chloe remembered was his long hair, beautiful as strands of silver.
“A ghost dream?”
Chloe rubbed the goosebumps that had suddenly risen on her arms and headed to the bathroom to wash.
A moment later,
It says it’s a ghost dream. Hehehehehehe. You said you’d plant your existence in her subconscious? Even though she’ll only hear it as ghost stories.
The letters engraved on the status window wiggled as if laughing.
The silver-haired man who had appeared at some point glared at the status window in irritation, then turned his sharp gaze toward the tightly closed bathroom door.
“It seems I’ve brought a fool.”
The souls he had brought before would remember at least half of ten stories. Yet this woman called Chloe seemed to remember none of them. Not even his face.
Otherwise there was no way she would compare such a handsome face to a ghost.
Should we change tactics?
“Shut up. I decide that.”
I didn’t say anything? You just shouldn’t look.
The man stared at the cheeky status window with irritation, then let out a deep sigh and gave a single sharp wave of his arm. The inventory Chloe had painstakingly upgraded immediately appeared.
Inside were still a few cup ramens, juice packs, and pieces of gum that hadn’t been removed.
The man looked at them with displeasure and reached his arm into the inventory.
What’s the point of reaching for something you can’t even touch?
But the man’s eyes widened at the small juice pack now held in his hand.
The paper pack fit perfectly in his palm and was as cold as ice.
This had never happened before.
You’re not an idiot after all! Drink it! Stick the straw in! Suck on it! Let’s see if you can eat it!
The status window sparkled even more frantically, filling the man’s vision with light. The silver-haired man stood in a daze for a moment, then detached the straw from the pack and poked it into the lid.
What are you waiting for? Hurry! There’s no time!
After another glance at the status window’s urging, the man slowly brought the straw to his lips.
Slurp.
As the cool apple juice flowed into his mouth, an explosively sweet and refreshing flavor burst across his tongue.
Jackpot!
The status window floated two enormous excited letters, and the man reached for another item.
At that exact moment, the hourglass spinning on the back of his hand flickered and vanished. The man’s figure disappeared before his hand could even touch the inventory.
In the hand being sucked back into the status window, a crumpled juice pack dangled pitifully.
“All right, shall we set off then? Delma, are the workers ready?”
“Yes, they’ve been waiting since early this morning.”
Delma’s voice was slightly stiff with tension.
Chloe, once again dressed in the most comfortable clothes possible, felt an overwhelming urge to summon a tailor and have proper pants made as soon as possible.
When she wore nothing but jeans and work clothes every day, she had longed for a pretty, fluttering dress. Yet after spending several days in dragging gowns, she now desperately craved sweatpants and trousers. If she had her way she would have worn the jeans and jumper from her old studio apartment, but Delma would surely throw a fit as if the world were ending and rip them to shreds on the spot.
Kind-hearted Delma had an unexpectedly fierce side.
“What about the carts?”
Chloe asked, shaking her head to dispel the image of her favorite t-shirt being shredded in Delma’s hands.
“We prepared ten.”
Delma counted the long line of carts once more before answering.
Scrooge moved between them, meticulously inspecting each one for damage and checking the condition of the horses and oxen that would pull them.
“Hmm… that’s not enough. Can’t we get more?”
When she thought of the Dural fields that stretched so wide the end could not be seen, ten carts seemed absurdly insufficient.
“There are only ten usable carts in the entire territory.”
Only ten carts for such a large castle.
It really was desperately poor.
She decided she would have to ask Builder whether he could make more. Since he knew how to build houses, surely he could produce carts just as skillfully. She felt a spark of hope.
Before heading to the Dural fields they stopped by the Black Forest first. Although they had meant to hurry, logging work was already in full swing inside the forest.
A few workers still cast fearful glances toward the Black Forest, but that very fear seemed to make them work even faster.
“Come on! Let’s pick up the pace!”
Builder’s booming voice echoed across the entire worksite.
Hearing an even more energetic shout than the first day, Chloe somehow felt her mood lift.
“Builder.”
“Oh! My lord!”
When she approached and called his name, the startled Builder hurried over, bowing deeply.
“Is the work difficult?”
“Not at all! Simply being allowed to work like this fills me with gratitude! Besides, all these trees will be used for our village… won’t they? Strength I never knew I had keeps surging up. Not just me… everyone gathered here feels the same.”
Overcome with emotion, Builder kept pausing as his voice choked up, then continued again.
“I’m glad. Distribute these to the workers.”
At Chloe’s words, two servants handed Builder several large boxes.
“What are these?”
Builder stared at the long objects packed inside the boxes. They sparkled in the sunlight and looked almost like metal pillars at first glance, yet strange, unfamiliar characters were written across their surfaces.
Though a commoner, Builder had learned to read while working in construction. His eyes widened at letters he had never seen in his entire life.
“Hot Six.”