Chapter 29
Chapter 29
I contacted the labor offices and posted recruitment notices for workers, but honestly, I was anxious.
Will anyone actually come?
What if, just like Bram Gus said, everyone was too scared and stayed away?
Anton Brown told me I was injured and should rest until today, saying he would go handle things himself.
But I had no choice except to head to the construction site.
Normally it would already be noisy near the entrance, but today it was strangely quiet.
Looks like not many came after all.
I had expected that, but seeing it in person still made my spirits sink.
Anton Brown was probably flustered as well, not knowing what to do.
I walked deeper inside, intending to comfort him and revise the construction plan.
Once I passed through the thick trees, the view suddenly opened.
And I saw people—crowding around the construction site.
“What… is this?”
Why were there so many people?
I stood there in confusion when Anton Brown hurried over.
“Your leg isn’t even healed—why did you come? I told you not to come. I said I’d handle everything.”
That’s exactly why I came. Because I can’t trust you.
“Why are there so many people? Did they all come to work?”
“Yes. They signed their contracts just now and were about to start.”
So they really were laborers.
Even after hearing it with my own ears, I stared blankly at the crowd in disbelief.
“I didn’t expect this many either. It’s all thanks to Bram Gus.”
Anton Brown continued with a proud smile.
“He went around everywhere telling people it was safe to work outside the city now. He said the lord had cleared out the worm’s habitat and that knights would be stationed there just in case.”
That man really said those things?
It was almost as hard to believe as the situation in front of me.
At that moment, Bram Gus appeared from among the workers.
After giving them some instructions, he walked over to us.
“What’s this? If you’re injured, you should stay quietly at home. Why are you running around?”
“You’re injured too, Mr. Gus.”
“I told you—this much is nothing for a man.”
Still saying the same nonsense as before.
But strangely, it didn’t annoy me anymore.
Instead, I almost laughed.
Of course, if I laughed here people would think I was strange, so I held it in.
“I heard everything from the team leader.”
“Heard what?”
“That you went around gathering workers.”
Perhaps embarrassed, Bram Gus’s ears turned slightly red.
“Ahem. Anyway, let’s start the construction.”
He glared fiercely, and Anton Brown quickly excused himself.
“That guy really has a talent for spreading unnecessary stories.”
Bram Gus muttered irritably.
“Unnecessary? I think it’s a good story.”
I said with a smile.
He looked away briefly before replying gruffly.
“I didn’t do it for you. I did it for Belheim.”
“Yes, of course. I’m sure you did.”
“……”
Apparently displeased with my answer, he wrinkled his nose.
“Still, thanks to you we were able to start the construction. Thank you.”
“Save your thanks. It better work.”
Bram Gus widened his eyes as if to threaten me.
“If the autumn monsoon damage doesn’t decrease, I won’t let this go.”
“Don’t worry. I can’t guarantee there’ll be no damage at all, but it will definitely be less than last year.”
“You really do talk big.”
He grumbled.
“Two days ago you pushed me over, and the back of my head still hurts.”
“When did I push you? I just tapped you. But judging by how you panicked and fell over, it must have hurt a lot, right?”
When I casually raised my elbow toward his chest again, he jumped back in alarm.
“What are you doing?”
“What do you mean? I didn’t do anything.”
I clasped my hands behind my back and feigned innocence.
“……”
Bram Gus glared at me with dissatisfaction before stomping off toward the construction site.
Just as I had planned, the drainage construction proceeded in two shifts.
The site we had worked on earlier was ruined by the worm, and the schedule had been delayed.
But thanks to increasing both the manpower and the working hours, the project finished only one day later than planned.
That’s still pretty good.
The process had been somewhat rough, but I was satisfied that it ended safely.
Two days after the drainage construction was completed, the autumn monsoon began.
Heavy rain poured down relentlessly for five straight days.
“Everything should be fine… right?”
I sat by the window, staring at the merciless rain as I muttered to myself.
The drainage design had no issues, and the construction was done neatly.
When we tested it earlier by releasing water, I had personally confirmed that it flowed without obstruction.
Even so, I couldn’t completely relax.
There were always exceptions in life.
And natural disasters were especially unpredictable.
Another monster like the worm might appear and destroy the drainage channels.
Or the ground might collapse unexpectedly.
I wanted to go check if everything was fine, but the rain made it impossible.
Carriages couldn’t run in weather like this.
Apparently there are carriages that can move perfectly fine even in this kind of weather.
They were called “magic carriages,” and supposedly they were the exclusive possessions of wealthy nobles.
“Whether it’s reality or a novel, life is easier if you’re rich.”
In the end, people need money.
After engraving that realization into my heart once more, I opened the system window.
“I’ve accumulated quite a lot of points.”
Because I couldn’t go far while it rained, I stayed home and diligently cleared sub-quests.
“There are still a lot of sub-quests left.”
Since I had focused almost entirely on the drainage construction before, more than thirty sub-quests remained.
[Repair the broken wall], [Fix the worn warehouse roof], and so on.
As my range of activity expanded, there were now many sub-quests available not only in the Hunter Village but also in Belheim.
“The Belheim sub-quests give more points than the Hunter Village ones.”
Then of course I should do those.
I selected several manageable ones, planning to complete them after the autumn monsoon ended.
“…What’s this?”
In the middle of the densely listed sub-quests, one strange quest stood out.
[Q. Repair the wounded heart of the lord.]
[Reward: 1,000,000p]
“A million points?”
I rubbed my eyes and checked again.
“It really is one million points.”
The reward alone made my mouth water, but the problem was the quest itself.
“What does it even mean to repair the lord’s heart?”
A person’s heart isn’t an object. How could you repair it?
“Did the system add this just to mess with me?”
Considering the point loan system, it seemed entirely possible.
In other words, this was probably a quest that could never be completed.
“For a system, it really enjoys messing with people.”
Clicking my tongue, I closed the quest window.
The moment the rain stopped, I rushed to District 9—the place that had suffered the most damage during the autumn monsoons of the past two years.
Please let it be different this time.
Please let the drainage channels do their job.
With that desperate hope, I passed through the underpass.
“…It’s fine.”
There wasn’t even a trace of flooding.
Not even signs of mud being washed away.
The drainage channels were intact, with only marks showing where the rainwater had flowed through.
I checked District 6, District 8, and even the outskirts of the city.
Everything looked perfectly fine.
Still, just in case.
Something might have happened that I didn’t know about.
So I also asked the residents.
“Nothing happened this time.”
“That’s right. Not a drop of water came into our homes.”
“I’ve lived here for more than ten years, and this is the first time something like this has happened.”
The residents’ faces were full of smiles.
The reason I became a city planner in the first place was because I wanted to help people.
Who would have thought I would fulfill that dream only after becoming “Aileen”?
My chest swelled with emotion, and the feeling was strangely complicated.
“Anyway, it succeeded. That’s what matters.”
Which meant I could obtain the lord’s wish ticket.
“Finally, I’m free!”
Unable to suppress the joy rising from deep within my chest, I raised both arms toward the clear sky.