Translator: Nox

Became the Owner of a Poor Estate

Chapter 24

Chapter 24

“Oh, what do I do!?”

Thelma’s eyes welled with tears as she frantically patted Chloe’s back and held her palm out toward her mouth.

Her voice trembled as she urged her to spit it out, and her feet stomped restlessly on the floor in a panic.

Ah… Thelma really does care for me.

Okay, that’s enough teasing!

Donghee quickly composed her expression and looked at Thelma with a nonchalant face.

“Thelma! It’s okay. I was just surprised because it tasted so good!”

Her back was stinging from how hard Thelma had been patting it.

Still failing to grasp the situation, Thelma didn’t take her hand off Chloe’s back as she asked, “What?”

She looked like someone who had lost her soul. Seeing her vacant eyes made Donghee feel even guiltier. She decided she should never play a prank like pretending to be sick in front of Thelma again.

“I said I’m okay. Look. I’m perfectly fine.”

To prove her well-being, Donghee spread her arms wide like a scarecrow and gave a bright smile.

Tears finally spilled from Thelma’s wide-open eyes.

Ugh, guilt is stabbing me right in the solar plexus.

Thelma quickly wiped the tears away with the back of her hand and then began circling Chloe, inspecting her meticulously. Even though she had been told several times that she was fine, it seemed she needed to see it for herself to be at peace.

Even in that short time, Thelma’s gaze, which scrutinized every nook and cranny, was filled with worry, and sigh after sigh escaped her lips. Between those sighs, she muttered phrases like, “I just can’t with you,” like a rhythmic chant.

“Are you truly alright?”

As if she couldn’t believe her eyes even after seeing a perfectly healthy Chloe, Thelma repeated the same question several times.

“Yes. I’m fine. Here, try some.”

As Donghee offered the fried Dural with another grin, Thelma’s body leaned away as if trying to escape. Perhaps embarrassed by her flinch, she stood up straight and brushed off her skirt, though nothing was on it.

“I’m telling you, it’s really delicious!”

Donghee urged her once more.

The taste was on a completely different level from the french fries she used to eat as a side menu at hamburger joints.

Since the Dural was so large, a single fry was nearly 30cm long.

Furthermore, the savory flavor that seemed to explode in her mouth the moment she bit down, combined with the crispiness that only freshly fried potatoes can offer, made exclamations of admiration escape her naturally throughout the meal. She wasn’t usually a big fan of french fries, but she felt like she could keep eating these forever.

“It would be the icing on the cake if we had ketchup. Thelma, do they not grow tomatoes around here?”

“They used to grow them in Lassen Village, but because of the drought, the harvest was poor this year.”

Thelma understood and answered immediately, confirming that tomatoes were called tomatoes here as well.

“The tomatoes from Lassen are truly top-quality, though.”

Thelma even smacked her lips as if she missed them.

Feeling greatly relieved by the fact that soil suitable for growing tomatoes existed within the territory, Donghee picked up another fry.

Next time, I should try making potato pancakes—no, Dural pancakes!

Just thinking about it made her mouth water.

Donghee stared blankly at Thelma, whose eyes were twice their normal size, and crunched on the long Dural fry as if she were eating a Pepero.

By the time Donghee had finished her second fry and even gave a thumbs up, Thelma hesitantly picked one up. However, she didn’t grab it firmly; she used only her thumb and index finger to hold the very tip. To an outsider, her expression looked exactly like someone being forced to pick up a bug.

Thelma arched her thin eyebrows as she looked at Chloe.

It seemed like she was asking, “Am I really supposed to eat this?” so Donghee nodded vigorously.

Ah, to think I have to put this much effort into getting her to eat one Dural fry!

Part of her wanted to tell her not to bother, but she couldn’t do that since she had to solve the territory’s food problem. If she couldn’t even convince Thelma, who was fond of her, it was obvious that none of the other residents would ever try to eat Dural.

“Try it, I said. Mmm! It’s delicious!”

She felt like a preschool teacher acting as if vegetables were as tasty as chocolate cake in front of a picky child.

With a confused expression, Thelma glanced at the two people standing at the kitchen entrance and then slowly put the fried Dural into her mouth.

Yes, yes! Just like that! Ahh! Open wide!

Donghee opened her own mouth in a circle, mirroring a mother feeding baby food to a child, as she watched Thelma eat.

The closer the fried Dural got to Thelma’s mouth, the wider Donghee’s eyes grew with anticipation.

Donghee could even hear the sound of the two people standing at the kitchen entrance catching their breath.

“What do we do!? Butler-nim, please stop them. Something terrible is going to happen!”

The head chef urged Scrooge in a voice that sounded like he was about to burst into tears.

“They are not the type to listen just because I try to stop them. And looking at them now, they seem to be alright.”

The young Lord touched the Dural with such nonchalance that it made his own frantic fear feel embarrassing, and she had even cooked and eaten it.

Scrooge felt pathetic that he, well over fifty, had been trembling in more fear than a young Lord not even twenty years old. Come to think of it, he had never actually heard of Dural harming a person.

Why was I so afraid?

As he was wondering about the doubt that had suddenly surfaced, he heard the sound of Thelma chewing the fried Dural.

Crunch!

It felt as if a crack had formed in the space that had been filled with taut tension.

“Huh?”

The speed at which Thelma chewed the fried Dural gradually increased.

Crunch, crunch.

As the length of the fry in her hand shortened, Thelma’s eyes grew wider and wider.

It felt as if a status window would appear out of nowhere and say: The size of the fry and the size of Thelma’s eyes are inversely proportional.

Before long, Thelma’s sparkling gaze was already moving toward another fried Dural.

“See? I told you it was delicious.”

“My goodness! Dural was such a delicious food?”

The fried Dural had vanished from between Thelma’s thumb and index finger.

While chewing incessantly, she urgently beckoned the two people standing at the kitchen entrance. Meanwhile, she didn’t forget to pick up another fried Dural with her other hand.

“What are you doing? Hurry over and try some!”

“Try the steamed potato—I mean, the steamed Dural too.”

Dural, Dural… the nuance is a bit weird.

Dural friend, hahahahahaha.

Donghee shook her head as she thought of the useless pun. If she made such low-quality jokes in front of these three, they would surely look at her with strange eyes.

The strange looks she was getting now were quite enough.

Scrooge and the head chef, looking at the excited Thelma with suspicious eyes, slowly approached.

Welcome. Is this your first time having Dural?

---

After clearing both the fried Dural and the fluffy steamed Dural, the three of them patted their full bellies and looked up at Chloe with reverence.

[You have gained the infinite trust and loyalty of three residents!]
[You have taken a step closer to solving the territory’s food problem.]
[Perhaps you have an extraordinary talent for territorial management! Ho-ho-ho!]
[I offer my praise to your ever-evolving abilities.]

Forget the applause and give me something like an ability or points.

[My, how impatient!]
[A special bonus for the User who has earned the infinite loyalty of three people!]

Until now, the bonuses given by the status window were nothing more than a few measly Hidden Points. Without much expectation, Donghee chewed on a fried Dural and waited for the status window’s next words.

[Choose one of your activated activity ranges. I will expand the area surrounding that activity range.]

Huh? What does that mean?

Expand the surrounding activity range! No way!

At the status window’s explanation, Donghee, who had been leaning back lazily while rubbing her full stomach, bolted upright.

“Lord-nim, what is the matter?”

“You aren’t feeling ill, are you?”

Seeing Chloe suddenly stand up as if she were anxious again after eating so much, the head chef asked with a frightened expression. The corners of his mouth were glossy with oil, looking as if he had applied lip gloss.

“No, it’s nothing like that. I’m just full and want to walk a bit.”

At those words, the head chef sat back down with a visibly relieved expression.

Even though he had muttered several times that he was so full he could die, he reached for another fried Dural once again.

Leaving that scene behind, Donghee stepped out into the hallway and focused on the status window again.

What do you mean by expanding the surrounding activity range?

[Oh dear! Your comprehension is lacking! Don’t worry. Since I am a kind system, I will provide an example suited to your level.]
[It means that if you choose the Convenience Store, the locations around the Convenience Store will also be included in the activation range.]

Wow!

She didn’t like the first sentence, but the following explanation was fantastic, so Donghee chose the expansion location without hesitation.

Then it has to be Borimdang, of course. This was because the alley where Borimdang was located was a street lined with old jewelry shops.

[You have selected Borimdang as the activated expansion area.]
[User may use up to a certain range connected to Borimdang. However!]

However?

[There is a time limit.]

The time limit was nothing new, as Borimdang already had one.

What happens if I break the time limit?

[Borimdang will be deleted from the activated areas.]

Oh! For goodness’ sake!

How much time do I get?

[10 minutes after leaving Borimdang. Please return to your dingy studio apartment within 10 minutes. Not even a 1-second delay will be tolerated, so be careful with your time usage. Ho-ho!]

Dingy?

If the status window had a mouth, she would have grabbed it and pulled it hard. Granted, it was a basement studio and it was dingy, but it was also a precious space that held the entirety of her twenties.

It was as if the status window were taking lessons in being annoying; its snarkiness was evolving day by day.

Donghee huffed and then fell into deep thought.

10 minutes. That’s not bad.

Since she had brought out a sufficient amount of items from Borimdang in 10 minutes, it would likely be the same for other places.

[Status Window]

• User Name: Chloe Grace
• Occupation: Part-timer / Lord of Grace Territory
• Ability: 0.5 / Power-up Punch (when wearing gloves), Terrain Information Level 1 (Limited to Morta Village.)
• Activity Range: 3 / Basement Studio, Convenience Store, Borimdang and surrounding area (Limited to within a 20m radius.)
• Traits: 0.1 / A territory that is still dirt poor. (When on earth will the territory’s revival happen…?) ★Tends to be obsessed with chocolate rolls.
• Resident Favorability: 6,270 (Next village can be opened. However, favorability may plummet upon opening an additional village. A negative score is certain. Haha.)
• Inventory (Level 4) Storage. Basic Capacity (0/400)
• MP: 75 / 86,400

The activity range had changed to 3, and the favorability of the Morta Village residents had increased significantly.

However, an item she hadn’t seen before had been added.

Next village can be opened?