The Village That Waits
Morta Village had been bustling since dawn with a thorough cleaning of the entire settlement.
“I told you to clear the stones from the middle of the road!”
“Did you scrape all the moss off the wooden fence?”
Everyone was completely absorbed in final checks at their assigned spots. Today was the day their lord, whose health had fully recovered, would visit Morta Village for the first time in a long while.
Especially Hope, the village chief, was so busy running around the village that even two bodies wouldn’t have been enough.
“Dear, please take it easy. You have to think about your health too!”
His wife, Uria, nagged him out of worry, but Hope didn’t even seem to hear her.
“This is the village our lord protected with her own hands. We have to show her that we’re living well.”
She understood her husband’s feelings, but after watching him barely sleep for days and rush around without rest, Uria’s anxiety had grown into a mountain.
After all, he was someone who had never been blessed with natural stamina and had suffered from one minor illness after another his entire life.
Knock, knock, knock.
“Chief!”
While Hope was checking his list to make sure nothing had been missed, a knock sounded and someone called for him.
“Oh!”
“The carriage has arrived.”
“Really? I’m coming right now!”
Hope’s face lit up as he burst out the door. The village road was already packed with people who had poured out of their homes to welcome their lord.
Her inventory, filled once again with nothing but food after a long time, weighed on her as she traveled.
The moment she entered the entrance of Morta Village, memories of that day came flooding back vividly. She tensed up, half expecting a swarm of Cullens to come flying from the direction of the Black Forest.
When the carriage finally came to a stop, Red Bear, who had been in charge of escorting her, opened the carriage door.
“Waaaaaaaah!”
The instant the door opened, a roar so loud it felt like her ears might fall off poured out. Donghee, who had stepped out without thinking, blinked in wide-eyed confusion and looked around. She had expected some welcome, but this was nothing short of explosive. It felt like she had become the nation’s top idol.
“Long live our lord!”
“Thank you, my lord!”
“Waaaaaaaah!”
Words of gratitude rained down from every direction. The knights formed a barricade around their lord to prevent the crowd from rushing forward all at once.
“My lord, are you truly alright now?”
“Doesn’t it still hurt where you were injured?”
The eyes of those asking were glistening with tears.
“I’m fine. Don’t worry.”
Donghee answered in the most energetic voice she could manage so the people could feel at ease.
In the end, it took three times longer than usual to reach the chief’s house. Hope, who had been unable to come forward because of the massive crowd, finally saw with his own eyes that their lord was safe and sound. Tears immediately blurred his vision.
“Huuuugh, my looord. Seeing you safe like this… sob, sob. Now I can die without any regrets. Aaaah.”
Watching a white-haired old man sob like a child, Donghee felt a sting in her nose. She wondered what she had done to deserve so many people liking her and worrying about her. It was an overwhelming emotion she had never felt even once in her previous life.
“Seeing that you’re safe puts my mind at ease too. I was worried when I saw a frail man like you running outside with nothing but a stick.”
“Y-you saw that?”
She remembered the desperate way Hope had screamed her name the moment a Cullen grabbed her shoulder and took flight. After that, she had been too busy trying to survive to see what happened to the others. The image of that man—who looked like he would be sent flying with a single flap of a Cullen’s wing—stomping his feet in frustration because he couldn’t save her with his stick had remained etched in Donghee’s mind for a long time.
“Thank you. For trying so hard to save me.”
“My lord…”
Hope once again shed tears that fell in heavy drops.
After the storm of tears had passed, Donghee went with Hope to the site where the Dural Bread factory would be built. Builder, who would be in charge of construction, and his assistants came along as well.
The construction site was located near the southern boundary of Morta Village, directly across the river from Idor Village. While inspecting the area around the future factory, Donghee stared for a long time at Idor Village visible beyond the river.
Idor Village gave off a bleak and desolate feeling, like staring at North Korea across the Imjin River.
Unlike Morta and Enol, which were being developed with great enthusiasm, this place had not even been opened yet. She hadn’t realized it until she saw it from afar, but now that she had, she felt a strong urge to visit as soon as possible. She felt pathetic and incompetent for having delayed opening it out of fear that her favorability would drop into the negatives.
“The river has dried up quite a bit.”
The river was quite wide, but due to the long drought, the water had receded so much that the riverbed was almost completely exposed. The people of Grace Territory could barely remember the last time they had felt the refreshing pour of rain.
Hope, who had been staring at the river alongside her, had eyes as dry and cracked as the parched riverbed.
“The Temra River used to be full of fish, but now there isn’t even enough water, let alone fish.”
The fact that any water flowed at all was only possible because melted snow from the snowy plains trickled down through the valleys.
“Even if we build the factory, if water isn’t supplied properly, production will definitely face setbacks. It would be nice if it would rain at least.”
Builder looked resentfully up at the cloudless, bright blue sky.
The drought was not limited to the Grace region. Streams and even wide rivers were increasingly showing their bottoms.
I need to find groundwater.
Since there was a snowy plain not far away, there had to be places in this area where underground water flowed. Couldn’t she upgrade the terrain information with hidden points and locate the groundwater?
Donghee opened her status window to check her current condition.
Her body level had returned to 2 after fully recovering from her injuries, and because she had gifted 1,200 MP points to the sulking Taechang, only 730 hidden points remained.
With that amount, it seemed impossible to obtain proper terrain information.
Didn’t it say I could convert territory favorability into hidden points?
She asked while looking at the favorability she had maintained out of fear it would turn negative again when opening other villages. In the meantime, it had grown vigorously and now stood at a whopping 85,000 points.
Yes. It is possible. Shall I convert the territory residents' favorability into hidden points?
Yes. Please do.
You can convert favorability into hidden points in units of 1,000 points. Please tell me how many points you wish to convert.
Convert 50,000 points for now.
Even with 1,000 points she had received quite a lot of useful information. She was no longer afraid of favorability dropping into the negatives. Right now, all she wanted was to develop the territory as quickly as possible by utilizing the information and abilities she possessed.
Converting 50,000 points of territory residents' favorability into hidden points. A fee will be charged during the conversion process. Do you agree to pay the fee?
Donghee narrowed her eyes and glared at the blue status window that mentioned the fee again just when she had almost forgotten about it.
How much is the fee?
The fee for converting 50,000 favorability points is 500 points. Would you like to proceed?
Donghee agreed with the bitter resignation of swallowing a bitter pill, and the status window cheerfully deducted the fee.
Whoosh—
Territory Residents' Favorability: 34,500p
Hidden Points: 50,730p
MP: 1,890 / 86,400
As expected, the fee had become Taechang’s MP index. The more time Taechang spent manifesting meant more time Donghee could put him to proper use when needed, so she didn’t feel like she had lost out at all.
Your current hidden points total 50,730. Would you like to open the hidden shop?
No, not right now. Later.
If she obtained the information here and then showed a painful expression in front of everyone, they would obviously worry a great deal. It would be fine to learn the location of the groundwater a day or two later.
“Builder, start the construction for now. As you’ve probably been told, we also need to build a daycare inside the factory grounds so that women can comfortably leave their children and work. Make sure to pay attention to insulation so the children don’t get cold. If you need any materials or supplies during construction, request them from Scrooge. We’ll support just about anything.”
“Yes, thank you, my lord.”
“And one more thing.”
Donghee continued while staring straight at Idor Village across the river.
“We need to build a bridge connecting Morta and Idor. Of course, it must be sturdy enough for carriages to cross easily. Since the river has dried up nicely, construction shouldn’t be too difficult, right? If you need experts for the bridge construction, call for them. Also, when doing this work, make sure not only the people of Morta Village but also those from Idor can participate and receive daily wages.”
The lord’s instructions were decisive and without hesitation. It was as if she had planned everything long ago.
“Yes, understood.”
Listening to Builder’s reply, Donghee spoke inwardly.
Status window. Open Idor Village.
Opening Idor Village.
The moment the concise sentence appeared in the status window, the territory residents’ favorability plummeted straight into the negatives.