Chapter 28
Chapter 28
Was this what people meant by blowing one’s nose without using their hands?
I couldn’t quite decide whether to feel pleased or annoyed when I heard heavy footsteps.
Turning my head, I saw Calix Craubel, covered in dust from head to toe.
The knights behind him looked much the same. Dirt had lodged between the gaps of their armor, and thick blood clung to their swords.
Had they gone to deal with the worm’s habitat?
“Why are you here?”
The moment he saw me, Calix Craubel lifted his brows and asked.
“Well…”
“Ugh.”
Just as I was about to answer, Bram Gus pushed himself upright while clutching his head.
“You bitch…”
“You bitch?”
When Calix Craubel repeated the words, Bram Gus’s face instantly stiffened.
Despite looking like someone who had been groaning in pain only moments ago, he sprang to his feet and bowed deeply toward the lord.
“Greetings, my lord!”
It was impressive that he could do that even with his chest wrapped in bandages.
Calix glanced once over Bram Gus, then said nothing and looked back at me.
“I asked why you’re here.”
“I came to see you, my lord.”
“To see me?”
“Yes. I had something to ask about the drainage construction.”
His eyebrows lifted slightly.
Calix Craubel handed the sword he was carrying to a knight standing behind him and said something quietly.
The knights immediately dispersed in perfect order. Bram Gus read the situation and quickly disappeared as well.
Calix Craubel tilted his head toward me.
“Follow me.”
“What is it you wanted to ask?”
The moment we entered his office, Calix Craubel removed his dust-covered coat and handed it to the butler.
“I heard that the drainage construction will be suspended for the time being until the worm’s habitat is located.”
“That’s right. So?”
After unfastening his cufflinks, Calix Craubel sat on the edge of the desk.
“Did you rush here because you’re worried the project won’t be finished before the autumn monsoon?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
There was no reason to hide it, so I answered honestly.
“But judging from how you look, it seems you’ve already dealt with the worm’s habitat.”
“That’s right.”
When Calix lifted a cup, the butler filled it with water.
“A useful tracking hound happened to arrive, so I made efficient use of it.”
So there must be dogs that can track monster habitats, like narcotics detection dogs.
“All the worm habitats near the river have been cleared out, so the construction can proceed as planned.”
The lord dismissed the butler before continuing.
“However, many people were injured, so you’ll have to recruit new laborers.”
“I was planning to do that anyway. In that case, would it be possible for you to assign some knights to the work site?”
“Knights?”
“Yes. Even if the worm’s habitat has been cleared, people will hesitate to work out of fear. But if your knights are stationed there to guard the site, they’ll feel reassured and come out to work.”
The lord considered for a moment before nodding.
“Very well. Anything else you need?”
Oh? Was he going to grant whatever I asked for?
“Then I would like to recruit roughly twice as many laborers as before. Some of the work already completed has been destroyed, and we need to compensate for the delay with manpower. If possible, I’d also like to conduct work at night.”
Thinking I shouldn’t waste this opportunity, I listed all the conditions I wanted.
The lord stared at me.
Did I make too unreasonable a request?
But I couldn’t give up any of them.
“Yesterday, you could have simply run away, but you deliberately went back to save someone.”
While I was thinking about how to persuade him, the lord spoke.
“And even though I told you to rest until tomorrow, you dragged your injured leg all the way here just to check on the construction.”
His eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at me.
“Why are you working so hard?”
It was ironic to be suspected simply for working diligently.
“I only did my best at the task entrusted to me.”
“Not because of the wish ticket?”
“That’s part of it too.”
In truth, that was the biggest reason, but I didn’t want him to see through my thoughts, so I gave a vague answer.
The lord stared at me for a moment before speaking again.
“You said you wanted to recruit more workers, correct? Fine. Do it.”
“And the night work?”
I asked cautiously, hoping he would approve that as well.
“Hmm. Will the laborers really be able to endure working from dawn until late at night? There won’t even be any lighting at night.”
“I plan to run two shifts. Those who start at dawn will work until one in the afternoon, and the second group will take over until eight in the evening.”
That was also why I wanted to recruit twice as many workers.
Since the work required exhausting physical labor, it would be far more efficient to rotate shifts rather than force people to work long hours.
“For lighting, we can use gas lamps. That level of brightness should be sufficient for simple digging work.”
Calix raised the corner of his lips with interest.
“I’ve thought this before, but you come up with quite a lot of inventive ideas.”
“Haha, is that so?”
I wanted to tell him this was completely ordinary in the world I used to live in.
“Then the people working at night will need carriages to return home. I’ll arrange that as well.”
Ah, right. The stagecoaches stopped running around seven in the evening, so there would be no transportation.
“Thank you for your consideration.”
I expressed sincere gratitude for taking care of even something I hadn’t thought of.
“Anything else?”
“Nothing for now.”
“For now? That means you might have more requests later.”
He really was unnecessarily sharp.
“Then I’ll be leaving now.”
“Are you returning to the Hunter Village?”
“Yes.”
“How will you get back?”
In response to the question, I checked the clock on the desk.
7:10 p.m. — all the stagecoaches had already stopped running.
When did it get this late?
I hadn’t even noticed the time passing while talking with the lord.
Should I sleep in the duty room tonight?
“I’ll provide you with a carriage.”
“No, that’s alright.”
I shook my head quickly at his offer.
“I can sleep in the duty room.”
“You seem reluctant to owe me a favor.”
“Well… yes.”
“Or are you refusing because you’re worried the rumors will grow even worse?”
When I laughed awkwardly after being hit right on the mark, Calix Craubel chuckled.
“Other women are desperate to be associated with me somehow, yet you refuse the opportunity. As I always say, you really are unusual.”
If those women knew you would soon be consumed by demonic energy and turn dark, they’d probably run away screaming.
“That only makes me more curious.”
The corner of Calix’s lips curled slightly.
“Reducing the damage from the autumn monsoon won’t be easy, but do your best. Even if you fail, don’t be too discouraged.”
Was it just my imagination, or did that sound like he was already assuming I would fail?
“You may go now.”
After leaving the office, I returned to the Urban Development Department office with a lingering sense of unease.
That night I slept in the duty room and returned to the Hunter Village the next morning.
“Aileen, you’re back? You haven’t eaten breakfast yet, have you? Come sit here.”
Tabin, who was preparing breakfast, greeted me warmly.
In the past he used to panic if I was even a little late, but these days he seemed completely calm.
After I spent several nights in the duty room working on the drainage blueprints earlier, he seemed to have gotten used to it.
“Was the worm problem resolved?”
“Yes. The lord cleared out all the habitats, so it looks like the construction will start again tomorrow.”
“That’s good news.”
While chatting about the drainage construction during breakfast, I remembered the meaningful words the lord had said before I left his office.
“There’s something I’m curious about.”
It was also a question I had spent the entire night thinking about without finding an answer.
“If someone insists that a problem must absolutely be solved, but then says something like ‘I’m not sure if you can do it, but try your best anyway,’ what does that mean?”
“Hmm… well.”
Tabin took a sip of water and thought for a moment before replying.
“If you ask me, it sounds like he’s teasing you.”
“Teasing?”
“Right. He probably wants to see how much the person he asked will struggle.”
Considering the lord’s twisted personality, that was entirely possible.
But that man seemed to genuinely care about the people of his territory…
He had been the one who first asked me to prevent the damage caused by the summer and autumn monsoons.
And when the drainage construction was delayed because of the worm, he personally went to clear out the habitat.
Most lords I had read about in books simply ordered their subordinates to handle such matters. They never moved personally.
If it wasn’t what Tabin suggested, then what exactly had he meant by those words?
I asked Tabin hoping to find the answer, but somehow my thoughts only became more tangled.