Chapter 33: I Am the Lord!
Karak puffed out his chest proudly, holding it out to me as if it were a great treasure. It was a small stone, like a pebble. I examined it carefully.
Item:Random Skill Stone
A very rare item found from Minotaur bodies. Consuming it grants a random skill.
It was a skill stone, straight out of the novels. The description confirmed it dropped at an extremely rare rate, which meant I was one lucky bastard. No wonder Karak was so proud of it.
Then a sudden thought struck me.
"Karak."
Krak?
"Have you ever eaten one of these before?"
Kruk kruk!
He shook his head no.
"Then how do you know?"
That's when Karak's body language kicked in. From what I could gather, the orc chieftain claimed all of them. In other words, the power holders monopolized these things. That made their power grow stronger, solidifying their rule even more. In a strength-based society like the orcs', it was probably par for the course. And whoever found one likely got massive praise. That's why Karak was beaming like this.
"Good job. Meat for dinner tonight. Go catch three chickens from the coop and eat your fill. But see those big ones called Brann chickens? Don't touch them. Got it?"
Karak nodded eagerly, drool already dripping as he headed to the coop. He'd handle grabbing his three no problem.
In the meantime, I inspected the Minotaur's remains. First things that caught my eye were the tail and horns. Last time, I'd tossed the horns. But now I remembered my hornbow was a knockoff. I'd based it on a real hornbow design so the system recognized it, but authentic hornbows needed water buffalo horns—the key ingredient. There were even historical records of the Ming Dynasty restricting water buffalo horn exports to mess with Joseon's hornbows.
Anyway, with these horns, I could make a proper hornbow.
"I'll process these horns for now, and then there's the tail left."
For some reason, Minotaurs seemed deeply tied to random skills. Eating their tail stew granted a random skill—but only once per person. My family had already gotten theirs, leaving just Seon-woo. Someday I'd drag him into the gate and turn him into Karak No. 2...
But you'd have to feed him first. The tail was perfect for stew anyway.
Then I thought of Karak. Could he get a skill too? Hoya and Baekya had gained skills back then. Maybe Karak could as well? But his status window hadn't appeared yet.
If orcs could be tamed, that answered itself—he was following my orders completely. But taming seemed geared toward animals. Was Karak an animal? Should I classify a humanoid like him as one?
As I pondered that, Karak returned with his three approved chickens, presenting them for inspection. I'd told him to eat freely.
"Go ahead and eat."
He prostrated himself before me. That's when it happened.
Will you accept Orc Karak?
Accept him? Odd phrasing, but I went with yes.
Conditions met. Promoted to Lord.
Charisma stat unlocked.
"Whoa."
My status had never shown a job before. Seon-woo's had "Archer," but mine was blank. I'd figured specific conditions triggered it, but becoming a Lord? Didn't see that coming. Time to check my status window again.
Skills:Calmness (Passive) Lv.3, Observation (Active) Lv.3, Cooking (Active) Lv.4, Fishing (Active) Lv.1, Farming (Active) Lv.2, Animal Affinity (Passive) Lv.5, Logging (Active) Lv.1, Processing (Active) Lv.1, Archery (Active) Lv.6, English (Passive) Lv.2, Japanese (Passive) Lv.1, Charging (Passive) Lv.1, Woodworking (Active) Lv.4, Fear (Active) Lv.1, Tanning (Active) Lv.2, Leatherworking (Active) Lv.2, Fire Control (Active) Lv.2, Riding (Active) Lv.1, Drawing (Active) Lv.1, Hertian Beginner Swordsmanship (Active) Lv.5.
A dazzling status window. The fruits of everything I'd done in the gate. Now "Tamed Animals" included Baekya and Kkamangi after Kkamangi fully bonded. Fun part: Job was Lord, but Combat Job was empty—meaning I could get one later.
"If I'm the Lord, can I see territory info too?"
Focusing on that brought up another alert.
A small territory on an island. The Lord is extremely diligent, and resident loyalty is high. Production is steadily increasing.
*Territory development unlocks various benefits.
Straightforward explanation. The nameless territory bugged me, so I named it.
"Hoya, how about Hoya Territory after you?"
Nyaa?
"Crazy naming sense? Yeah, sorry, even I think it's lame. How about taking a syllable from my name and yours—Siho Territory?"
Nyaang.
Hoya nodded this time. Sounded good to me.
"Change territory name to Siho Territory."
The three reserves were probably my family—I'd granted them gate access. Seon-woo didn't have permission yet, so he wasn't counted.
"Lord, huh... I do like territory-building stories, but didn't expect to become one myself."
Not a bad feeling. Actually, pretty good. The system recognized this land as my territory, complete with buffs. Explained why crops grew fast and yielded more here.
"Yeah, I'm the Lord. Heh."
Nyaang.
Thwack!
Hoya smacked the back of my head.
"Hey!"
Nyaa nyaa!
"Snap out of it? Fine, I'll get serious."
Nyaa nyaa nyaa nyaa!
"What? As Lord, I gotta protect the territory? Protecting it means someone might invade?"
Flipping Hoya's warning around, it implied attacks were possible.
Nyaa!
Yep.
Sudden unease hit me. Lose the territory, lose Lord status. What then? Lose the gate entirely? Hoya had mentioned something targeting gate owners, downplaying family risk but stressing my danger. Maybe something wanted this territory. Territory wars could happen. Win by smashing the enemy territory or subduing their lord. Probably what worried Hoya.
"Guess I need to level up more then?"
Nyaa!
Obviously.
"First, proper weapons. Arm Karak too—he's my resident now."
Looking at Karak brought up his status.
Skills:Hertian Beginner Swordsmanship (Active) Lv.2, Butchering (Active) Lv.5, Tanning (Active) Lv.4, Farming (Active) Lv.4, Cooking (Active) Lv.3.
"A warrior with more life skills than combat ones?"
His loyalty maxed at 100—adorable on an orc. Surprisingly, warrior job but specialized in chores. Jackpot for me.
"Karak, eat that, then tan the Minotaur hides."
Kurak kurak!
He dropped the chickens to start work, but I wasn't that harsh.
"Eat first."
Kuruk?
"Eat, then work. No rush."
Tears welled in his eyes as he bowed. What kind of life had this guy lived?
I patted his shoulder and pointed to the hanging pot. He grinned and dashed over.
Orcs apparently had a cooking culture. He pointed at the field—asking about veggies? I nodded, and he gleefully grabbed some, tossing them in with the chickens to boil.
Honestly? No way I'd normally eat orc cooking. But prejudice busted—he washed his hands clean first. I'd expected raw chomping, but nope.
As he cooked, I checked the Minotaur's two axes. Swords I could buy outside, but probably just Japanese swords at best. Longswords or broadswords from abroad? Hassle. One option left.
"Make 'em myself."
Build a forge, learn blacksmithing. Way tougher than woodworking or leathercraft. Prep alone was insane. But self-sufficiency demanded it.
Observation on the axes showed nothing special, except: "Axes made from island iron."
Island had iron sources.
"Oh, right—the skill stone."
I popped it in my mouth. Size of a cow yellow pill—easy swallow. And yeah, I was one lucky guy.