Chapter 72: Unexpected Light Eaters
I just stared quietly at Hoya. He avoided my gaze. Normally, he'd be acting all tsundere like What're you gonna do about it?
"You're hiding something, aren't you?"
Nyaaang? Hoya stared back at me with the cutest expression in the world. Those eyes made me put off the interrogation for later.
"First things first, Helena."
"Yes."
"I have a question. Is this form the Wind Tribe's usual look?"
"Oh, no. This is actually our battle form. Normally..."
She chanted some kind of incantation, and her body began shifting into the form of a human woman. She fully transformed into a complete female figure. The only problem was...
"H-here, cover up."
She'd ended up with nothing on her lower half. I hurriedly handed her something to cover herself with.
"You seemed curious."
Seeing her embarrassed made me relieved—she felt shame about the same things we humans did.
"We usually transform in private where no one's around and get dressed first."
"Good to know. At least your common sense lines up with ours."
"We were originally humans, after all."
Were originally humans. Didn't that imply they weren't anymore? That piqued my interest.
"So, is it... shapeshifting?"
"That seems the closest term."
"Right, shapeshifting. We should prepare clothes you can wear even after shifting."
"We've researched that ourselves, but..."
They hadn't figured it out. But I had a feeling my mom could solve it.
"Then let's figure out the scale of food your Wind Tribe needs daily. You're not expecting us to cover everything, right?"
"Of course not. About 500 Wind Tribe members lack sufficient food. The rest of us can manage self-sufficiency."
Phew. Feeding 2,000 would be insane. A quarter of that was still no small amount, though.
"You don't just eat grass, do you?"
Horses peacefully grazing was practically a trope. Though our Kkamangi ate meat too.
"As I said, we were humans."
"Yeah, figured."
"Yes. So we need at least one proper meal a day—not grass."
"Hmm?"
So that meant two meals of grass? Her way of talking was a bit odd. Bottom line: one meal a day for 500 people. Solving that with feed would cost a fortune. With Earth's one day being five here, that was 2,500 person-days of feed on our end.
"How much per meal?"
"Is this the food you'd provide us?"
"Yeah, want to see?"
"We'd like to ration it to our warriors."
"Go ahead."
I'd brought a sack of feed—one big 20kg bag. I divided it into bowls for them. The warriors savored it as they ate. They were all in human form too, post-shapeshift. Humans eating feed felt a little off, but whatever—not my business.
Then something interesting happened. Warriors eat a lot, right? They move around. But these guys couldn't even finish one bowl and set it down.
"Not to your taste?"
"No, they say it's delicious. Almost too much—they feel overfull."
"This?"
"Yes. It proves how prosperous this territory is."
"Whoa."
These guys were crazy light eaters. Supplying feed wouldn't be a huge issue after all. Relief.
"Do you usually stay in this form?"
"Yes, it's far more efficient."
Made sense—horse lower bodies would burn more energy. One worry down.
"Karak, show them where they'll be staying."
Krak!
Karak approached, and Helena winced slightly. I told her, "Just so you know, they're the same to us as you are."
She froze, then nodded. "Narrow-minded of me."
"No blame. But you're a citizen of our territory now, and they became citizens before you. Don't make me choose between you."
"I'll remember."
Karak grinned, having overheard, and led Helena's group away.
Helena's group picked their spot under Karak's guidance, and our construction team would build their homes. Our territory's houses followed standard specs, so it was quick work. The brick factory was humming, and orcs handled materials flawlessly. Orcs were total blessings—numbers growing fast too.
One concern: Helena was the only woman; the rest were men. Gender balance? Minor but not minor.
I mulled that while resuming glassmaking to unlock the skill. Karak assisted, learning my techniques. Excluding me, he probably had the widest crafting skills.
"Karak, having fun?"
Krak. He nodded vigorously. The guy's curiosity was endless.
"Alright, let's make a skill. It's like this..."
I explained step-by-step like a review, crafting glass. After a few fails, success.
Glassworking (Active) Level 1
I'd expected Glassworking specifically, but got the general crafting version.
"Let's level it more today." I pushed it to level 3, then headed to Earth.
Back on Earth, I hit the office first. Ordered bulk feed for home delivery, handled some work, then went to Seon-woo's family shop. His dad was beaming. Good business thrilled merchants, greed or not.
"Lately, other gates keep asking for our goods."
"Really?"
"Yeah, so about that..."
"Handle it, Dad."
"Think so?"
"Yeah. We're selling our gate goods, but not only ours."
"Right?"
"Yep. And that rib joint next door?"
"Yeah."
"Wants our beef. The pork belly place too."
"Beef's doable soonish. Pork needs breeding to eliminate 'that thing' first."
Stat-less beef was tasty and restored stamina. That rib joint would boom. We'd bred multiple cow types for numbers. Other meats had strength buffs. Island boars were purebred, so I'd take a Korean black pig to crossbreed. No immediate pork sales—shop focused on stat-less goods.
"Tell the pork place to wait."
"Rib joint boss is..."
"Don't worry. Old buddy, solid guy."
"If you say so."
"Chicken place is wild—can we do 200 birds a day?"
"Farm scale allows it?"
"Yeah, but concentrating on one spot?"
"You balance it, Dad. You're commerce chief."
"Me? Haha, right."
"Official title. My call as lord."
And he was killing it. Feed costs covered.
"Anything else?"
"Can't keep up. Tofu and soy milk flying off shelves. Hair strengthening effects kicking in—no regrowth, but halts loss."
"If it cured baldness, perfect."
"Yeah. Cafés are chaos—moms from schools lining up, office workers too."
Positive ripple effects. Nice.
"Heard from your dad coffee trees exploded—enough for branches?"
"Yeah?"
"Yep."
"Handle it then."
"Got it. Gangnam, Jongno, Hongdae maybe."
"Sounds good."
"I'll vet managers hard."
"Yes."
Heading out, I saw a chicken line. A kid shuffled up, then turned away hesitantly.
"Huh?"
The owner dashed out, grabbed the kid's hand, pulled him inside. A customer griped, "We were here first."
Others: "Kid comes first always."
"Where's that fair?"
"Owner promised him chicken anytime since way back."
"What?"
Customer's friend whispered. Face reddened: "Ch-chicken dries your throat. I'll pay for a big cola—give him one!"
Laughter. Poor kid, probably. Kind customers. World still worth living in. Smiling, I headed home.
Sis waited out front with some folks.
"Si-woo."
"Sis."
"These are the people I mentioned."
Researchers? They looked nervous, but one relaxed seeing me. Do I look harmless?
"Don't you remember me?"
"Huh?"
"Choi Si-woo oppa, right?"
"That's my name, but... Wait, Joo-yeon?"
"Yes! You remember?"
Flashback: Seon-woo's first crush, not mine.
"Hired!"
"Just like that?"
"Talk inside."
"Uh... okay."
Amusing. Seon-woo still pined for her. Fun event incoming.
Nyang!
Thwack! Hoya smacked my head.
"What?"
Nyawoong. Pitiful look. Why the sudden judgment?