The Pearl Fang Dagger

Huh?

The physical level that had never appeared before was now displayed. On top of that, her characteristics had risen to one, and the territory residents’ affection rating had skyrocketed. The increase was far faster than when she had raised affection in Morta Village.

At this ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠pace, it seemed she could wipe out the negative score in no time once the other villages were ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠opened.

That wasn’t the end of it. The mp value, which the status window had never bothered to explain, had also changed dramatically. It had definitely stolen two thousand ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠points from her, so why was one thousand one hundred and twenty-five still left? Where had the missing thousand gone?

No matter how hard she thought, nothing came to mind that could have consumed a thousand mp.

After pondering for a long while, Dong-hee clapped her hands together as if she had finally figured it out.

Wait! Could this be my health gauge? Then what on earth is that eighty-six thousand four hundred? Is it… my lifespan? So if I fill that whole number, I die?

Dong-hee thought she might become the first person in history to die of high blood pressure caused by a status window.

Dong-hee decided to take a walk around Grace Castle to get some fresh air and headed toward the training grounds where the knights were drilling.

Today was a rest day from logging, so she had heard the knights and mercenaries would be training at the grounds instead of heading out to help.

Clang! Clash!

Whoosh! Thud!

As she drew closer to the training grounds, the ringing clash of metal and the rough shouts of men tangled together in the air.

Red Bear’s booming roars cut through the noise at regular intervals. His voice was so loud she half wondered if he was the only one using a megaphone.

Red Bear spotted Chloe a moment later and came sprinting over, leaving his men to continue training.

His face showed both delight and worry at the same time.

“My lord, is it really all right for you to be out already?”

“Yes. I’m completely recovered.”

“Even so, perhaps you should rest a little longer…”

“It’s fine. I’m sorry for worrying you so much.”

At Dong-hee’s bright smile, Red Bear’s eyes widened, then he shook his head with a small smile of his own. His gaze was full of pride, the way a father might look at a grown daughter who had done well.

“Oh, right. I heard the daggers are finished?”

The Cullen fangs they had brought out of the Black Forest had not been sold. Instead, she had decided to use them to upgrade the weapons of the Grace Territory. Various guilds had sent a steady stream of offers to buy the fangs once the news spread, but Dong-hee had turned them all down without hesitation. Such fine material should obviously be used to arm Grace’s own knights.

The knights who received word of their lord’s decision had been overjoyed. Today was the day the finished daggers would be distributed to them.

“Yes. We received a great deal of help from Smith along the way.”

It had also been Dong-hee’s decision to pull Smith away from building the vault to work on the weapons.

“I knew he was exceptionally skilled, but I had no idea he could craft weapons so well.”

“Neither did I. Our territory is full of talented people. And of course you’re one of them, you know that, right?”

At the sudden praise from his lord, Red Bear’s face flushed bright red. Dong-hee watched him for a moment, then grinned and took the lead.

There were one hundred and thirty daggers made from Cullen fangs in total. The fangs themselves were so hard and sharp that ordinary human strength could not grind them, so the smiths had simply fitted them with perfectly balanced handles or attached them to spearheads. Most of the rest had been turned into arrowheads for large bows.

Weapons made from Cullen fangs were so valuable that their price was whatever the market would bear.

Wealthy knights from affluent noble families could have bought as many as they wanted, but the situation was different for the Grace Knights. Most knights from prestigious houses had already left the territory. Those who remained were either fallen nobles or, in more than half the cases, commoners.

So it was only natural that they were moved to receive such precious Cullen daggers.

The knights accepted the blades on bended knee as if they were receiving priceless treasures. Swearing loyalty to the lord of Grace as members of the Grace Knights was the most obvious thing in the world, yet the previous lord had never been someone worthy of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that loyalty. That made this oath especially meaningful, both for the knights and for Dong-hee.

The status window popped up without warning. But she had grown used to it by now and didn’t even flinch.

Dong-hee read the message with a calm gaze, her expression brighter than it had been in a long time.

The area she would expand was already decided. All she had to do was go back and retrieve what she needed.

She had been so busy she still hadn’t visited the egg counter at the mart. The moment she returned to her room, she would open the front door first.

Still, ninety-five percent trust? That was a rather heavy burden.

Even as she thought that, she couldn’t hide the smile that tugged at her lips. She was still beaming when Red Bear respectfully held out a dagger with a red handle.

“What’s this?”

“It is your dagger, my lord.”

“Mine?”

Dong-hee accepted it with a dazed expression.

“Smith crafted this one first and poured the most time and effort into it.”

“Oh my, it’s beautiful.”

The dagger had no unnecessary decorations, yet the one made to fit Chloe’s hand perfectly was stunning. Although the fang could not be ground, it had been polished again and again until it gleamed like a pearl.

Simply holding the fang in its natural shape would be enough to threaten an opponent, yet the crescent-moon-like blade was also incredibly lovely. The care the maker had poured into it made Dong-hee’s heart flutter with happiness as she received the gift.

“It’s more to my taste than any present I’ve ever received.”

“Smith will be overjoyed to hear that. It’s a shame he couldn’t be here today. The vault construction ran into delays, so he hurried back to the castle.”

This was the first time Dong-hee had seen Red Bear talk so much. He looked greatly encouraged by the gift of the precious dagger.

Watching Red Bear and the knights rejoice, she felt truly glad she had not sold the Cullen fangs and hides.

“I also ordered protective gear to be made from the Cullen leather. Once the children’s winter coats are finished, work on them will begin. The tailors will come soon to take the knights’ measurements, so keep that in mind.”

The hides stripped from the Cullen corpses collected on the way out of the Black Forest were also to be used for the knights. On her way back to her room, Dong-hee saw the status window announce that trust had surpassed ninety-nine percent.

The moment she returned to her room, Dong-hee opened the hidden shop and expanded her inventory first. The number of items she could now store had risen to eight hundred.

“Now that feels reassuring.”

After checking the once-empty inventory with a light heart, she called up the status window again.

The moment she saw the options, Dong-hee chose without hesitation.

“Number three.”

No matter which floor it was, she would gain far more items than the convenience store could offer.

“Of course.”

Excitement made her feel as if her shoulders might start dancing on their own. At her answer, the floating status window displayed the updated activity radius.