Became the Owner of a Poor Estate
Chapter 21
“This is the Defense Grass I mentioned earlier. It serves to repel monsters to some extent. It gives off a scent they dislike.”
“So it’s like mosquito repellent.”
“Pardon?”
“No, never mind. But can those plants really block a monster attack?”
“Since there is plenty of prey for them in the forest, they don’t usually come down to the village. Besides, most monsters live in the northern part of the forest. However, with the drought lasting this long, I’m not sure what will happen in the future.”
“Now that I look at it, the Defense Grass has all dried up. Is it okay?”
“Defense Grass grows well even without water. Around this time of year, it naturally turns yellow like that and the scent grows stronger.”
Donghee sniffed the air, trying to catch the scent, but she couldn’t smell anything special. Seeing this, Scrooge gave a small, fond smile as he continued.
“I’ve heard it’s difficult for humans to smell it.”
“Really? No wonder.”
Feeling a bit embarrassed, Donghee rubbed her nose and looked away, pretending to be preoccupied.
She realized she knew far too little about this place.
She had obtained some geographical information, but it was only a fraction. She needed to earn Hidden Points quickly to get more information about the territory.
“Monsters, huh?”
Since the system mentioned stats and such, it would be disappointing if monsters didn’t show up.
After a moment of thought, Donghee turned back to Scrooge and asked again.
“Monsters don’t appear during the day, right?”
“Yes. However, night falls early in the forest, so we cannot let our guard down.”
“It’s fine. We just need to hit them fast and get out.”
“Do what, exactly?”
“Logging.”
To repair the crumbling houses in the village, procuring materials was the first priority.
“Are you saying you intend to log in the Black Forest?”
Scrooge looked as if he had heard something unthinkable.
“Why? Is it not allowed? Monsters won’t appear in the forest along the Defense Grass boundary, right?”
“People will be reluctant to go because it’s dangerous.”
“I just need to give them a generous hazard pay.”
“Hazard pay?”
Despite being a butler for over thirty years, it was a term Scrooge had never heard before.
“Yeah. Tell them that if they’re reluctant because it’s dangerous, I’ll pay them more than other jobs. It needs to be done simultaneously with the purification work happening now. For the logging work, pay a daily wage of 5 Bron.”
“5 Bron?”
Donghee nodded slowly.
“Why, is it too little?”
She asked, worried that the allowance might be too low for such dangerous work.
“No. It is far too much. There is likely no commoner who could earn that much for a single day’s labor.”
“Well, there will be now. In the Grace Territory.”
The higher the daily wage, the better.
Donghee smiled with satisfaction, thinking of the gold coins she had stashed away.
She never imagined it would feel this good to know she’d never run out of money!
Feeling almost like a creator, Donghee looked around the desolate village.
The servants who had been trained before coming here were explaining precautions to the villagers, along with the warning that they wouldn’t receive their wages if they didn’t work properly.
The work progressed rapidly.
With their bellies full and the promise of pay for cleaning up in front of their own homes, no one refused.
From the adults of each household to children over ten years old, everyone stepped up to clear the muddy village roads and the foul-smelling waste.
She had worried that there might be no volunteers for the logging team going into the Black Forest, but upon hearing the daily wage, everyone rushed to join. Scrooge was forced to select only those who looked sturdy and capable.
As soon as Donghee returned to Grace Castle, she went straight to the Convenience Store.
It was a huge relief that the amount of items she could store in her inventory had increased. Furthermore, the system was incredibly convenient since she could hardly feel any weight once items were placed inside.
Donghee leisurely looked around the empty Convenience Store and filled her inventory with food she could distribute to the people, focusing on drinks, snacks, bread, and triangle kimbap.
After filling up on supplies for a while, Donghee pulled a can of beer from the refrigerator and plopped down on a chair inside the store.
Perhaps because she kept coming and going, she felt less afraid than at first, but there were still moments when a chill ran down her spine.
Crack!
Donghee opened the cold beer can, trying to soothe her troubled mind.
Had everyone really disappeared?
Or was it just that I became invisible to others?
Fsssh!
As she popped the tab, white foam bubbled over the small opening.
Donghee quickly pressed her lips to the rim, sucked up the foam, and then tilted the can to take a long, deep gulp. She also tore open a bag of squid snacks from the shelf and set it in front of her.
The moment the bag opened, the distinct salty aroma of squid snacks wafted out.
It was ironic that she still had an appetite even in this situation.
“Kaaah!”
The cold beer flowed down her throat, refreshing her.
It felt as if her head was clearing.
“For now, let’s just think about one thing: Morta Village.”
—The system applauds the user’s clear sense of purpose.
A bonus of 100 Hidden Points is awarded.
Current Hidden Points: 470p.
The next thing she wanted to buy from the Hidden Shop was the Level 7 Inventory, which could hold up to 800 items, but she couldn’t afford it with her current points.
Donghee considered buying something else but held back and finished the beer.
Strangely, even after finishing the whole can, her mind felt even sharper.
“I should drop these off and head back to Borimdang.”
Donghee emptied the food she had stored in her inventory into her room, then stepped back through the front door and ran toward Borimdang.
She didn’t forget to set a ten-minute timer.
After being busy all evening, Donghee organized the items and immediately pulled the bell pull to summon Thelma. Since she had instructed that no one be allowed in the room while she rested after returning from Morta Village, no one had come to wake her.
She had found out later that Thelma was also handling the duties of the head maid.
No wonder she was busy every day.
Seeing Thelma rush in despite being so incredibly busy, Donghee felt both gratitude and guilt. Based on age alone, she was essentially ordering around someone the same age as her parents. However, compared to the beginning, she had become much more comfortable over the past few days.
Indeed, humans were creatures of adaptation.
“Thelma, how many maids in Grace Castle are good at sewing?”
“Most of them can sew, my lady.”
Thelma, who had just arrived in the room, replied while catching her breath. Her face was as red as a tomato from running.
“Good enough to make clothes?”
“Let me see… about five of them?”
Thelma answered after counting on her fingers and searching her memory.
“Then gather all those maids. Tell them it’s extra work on top of their assigned duties, so they’ll receive a special allowance.”
“What… what kind of work do you intend to give them?”
Though she had known the lord since the moment she was born, Thelma couldn’t quite grasp what her lady was thinking.
“Just gather them for now. As soon as possible. I’ll explain once everyone is here. Oh, and before that, could you take out all the clothes in the dressing room?”
“All of those clothes?”
Lord Chloe had a particular obsession with dresses, if nothing else.
They were all dresses covered in fluttering lace or mostly in shades of pink, but the Lord, who insisted that no two pinks are the same under the sun, had desperately collected them even in their poor circumstances. With her consistent taste, she had filled the dressing room with dresses of very similar designs.
Having lost her parents at a young age and not receiving enough love, Chloe had comforted her empty heart by collecting dresses.
Even though she had sold jewels, paintings, ornaments, and even land to raise money, the one thing she held onto until the end was her dresses.
As the dresses were brought out one by one, they not only filled the room but piled up like a mountain in the drawing room as well.
Donghee’s jaw dropped at the staggering amount of dresses filling her vision.
“There are really too many. And they’re all similar designs!”
As Donghee looked at the dresses strewn across the floor in horror, Thelma muttered with a look as if she had seen a ghost.
“Why am I hearing the voice of my own heart?”
The five maids who came at Thelma’s call didn’t know why they had been summoned, so they just stood there with wide eyes, trying to gauge the situation.
Donghee looked at the stiffly standing maids and spoke as if it were no big deal.
“Tear all these dresses apart and make children’s clothes out of them.”
“Whaaaat?”
“Pardon?”
Hearing Donghee’s words, the maids’ faces turned pale as if they had been handed a death sentence.
“Why are you so surprised? I told you to tear these down and make clothes that children can wear. If the fabric is thin, you can layer it twice or three times.”
The person most shocked was Thelma.
Thelma burst into tears and collapsed to her knees in front of Donghee, wailing.
“My lady, hic! Please do not give up hope until the end. Everything has finally started to fall into place… hic.”
“What are you talking about, Thelma? It’s not like that.”
“But these dresses are things you cherish like your own life. To give these up… you must be thinking of doing something terrible!”
“Thelma! I told you, that’s not it.”
It was only after repeating several times that she was absolutely not having any bad thoughts that Thelma finally stopped crying.
Since moving the dresses was a hassle and there was no suitable separate space to work on so many dresses at once, they decided to make the children’s clothes in the Lord’s private drawing room for the time being.
“Is it really alright to tear these dresses apart?”
The maids asked with trembling eyes, holding dresses so expensive they wouldn’t be able to wear them in their entire lives.
No one wanted to be the first to start cutting.
Left with no choice, Donghee picked up a nearby dress herself, waved it toward the maids, and said,
“It’s fine, of course it’s fine! I sent someone to get winter fabric, but I think it will take too long. By the time the merchant arrives, winter will have already started. So tear them apart right now. Like this!”
Donghee grabbed the lace on the dress and ripped it with all her might.
Riiiiip!
“Gasp!”
The expensive dress was ruthlessly torn by Donghee’s hands.
“M-My lady! We will do it! Please, put that down!”
If they carefully unpicked them with scissors, they could save as much lace and fabric as possible.
But doing it the way the Lord was doing would inevitably ruin the material.
“Alright. Don’t worry about the dresses being torn and just make some children’s clothes. In various sizes. Got it?”
“Yes!”
“Oh, and did you hear about the special allowance? 5 Bron for every three coats made!”
It was quite a large amount to be called a mere special allowance.
