Became the Owner of a Poor Estate
Chapter 29
“Yes. Is there something wrong…?”
Handsome, who had looked so confident just a moment ago, let his voice trail off, perhaps sensing Chloe’s strange reaction.
“No, it’s just that the name suits you perfectly. Handsome. It’s a name that fits you to a tee.”
Donghee tightened her lips, trying her best not to laugh.
Only then did a bright smile spread across Handsome’s face as he continued excitedly.
“My parents gave me this name so that I would work diligently and become a rich man.”
Handsome was so pleased to be complimented on his name that he rattled off its meaning without even being asked.
Donghee thought it had a different meaning from the ‘Handsome’ she knew, but what did it matter? At least she wouldn’t have to struggle to memorize it.
At this point, she couldn’t help but ask one more thing.
“By any chance, do you have any siblings?”
“Yes, I have younger sisters.”
Expectation began to creep up on her.
“Don’t tell me their names are Beauty or Cutie?”
“How did you know? The one right under me is Beauty, and the youngest is Cutie.”
Seeing Handsome’s eyes go wide as he answered, Donghee was finally certain. Whether it was the god who created this world or the System itself, they had definitely named the characters through a pure stream of consciousness.
The creator must have hated coming up with names so much that they resorted to this, and eventually, they probably got so lazy that they dumped the task on her under the guise of a quest.
Still, Handsome, Beauty, and Cutie? Wasn’t that a bit much?
But then, the name she had come up with—Helsa—flickered through her mind, and she silenced the criticism in her heart.
Donghee suppressed her laughter and replied seriously.
“Hand… some. I look forward to working with you. If there is anything you don’t know, ask the Financial Officer.”
“Yes, my Lord. I will do my utmost to serve you.”
Even the way the good-looking Handsome spoke was quite charming.
Not long after construction began, most of the houses in Morta Village were reborn with a clean, polished appearance.
In place of the hole-ridden walls where the wind whistled through and the flimsy roofs that leaked rain, sturdy walls were built to block out the elements, and roofs were crafted to stay bone-dry even in the fiercest storms.
The people who had lost even their hope inside those crumbling shacks wept openly on the day they moved into their new homes, offering prayers of gratitude to the Lord of Grace over and over again.
“Mama, there aren’t any holes in the walls anymore!”
“When I close the window, the wind doesn’t come in!”
“The roof is strong, and there’s even a fireplace inside!”
The fireplace was a special instruction Donghee had given to Builder.
Originally, the commoners’ houses didn’t have separate fireplaces. On cold days, they had to huddle together on beds made of straw under thin blankets to endure the chill.
“Are we rich now?”
“Thanks to the fireplace, we’ll stay warm even in winter!”
By the special grace of the Lord, each household was allowed to autonomously source the wood they needed from the forest before the winter season began.
Of course, due to potential dangers, they were required to move with the knights when gathering wood, and to prevent indiscriminate logging, the amount of firewood each household could take for free was strictly regulated.
If they wanted more firewood, they had to purchase it separately or buy logging rights from Grace Castle.
Back when they didn’t have a single penny, it would have been impossible, but now they had the wages earned from renovating the village. They could afford the basic firewood and food needed to survive the immediate winter. Furthermore, word traveled so fast that merchants began appearing here and there to sell various goods in Morta Village.
Instead of the sounds of weeping in grief and despair, Morta Village was now filled with laughter and hope. The once-deserted streets were bustling with people busily moving to and fro for work.
As the repairs on the crumbling houses neared completion, Donghee began the work of paving the village roads in earnest.
Of course, she didn’t do it herself; she simply gave the order to fix the roads, and Builder executed the task brilliantly.
“The budget is plenty, so don’t worry about that. Just make sure to build sturdy roads that will last a long time. And don’t forget to dig drainage ditches on both sides so the water can flow out.”
“Yes, my Lord. The workers are already busy crushing stones.”
“Are you planning to make a gravel road?”
“Yes. I intend to set up curbs made of sturdy timber on both sides of the road to keep the stones from washing into the drainage ditches, and then fill the center with gravel.”
She worried the gravel might get displaced whenever a carriage passed over it, but for now, there didn’t seem to be a better alternative.
It would have been great if she could bring in concrete, but she didn’t know where to get it, nor did she have the courage to try and transport something so heavy.
I have to stick with what I can find here!
Donghee resolved to utilize the resources of this world as much as possible, using the knowledge she could gain through Hidden Points. She couldn’t keep feeding the people with supplies she hauled through her front door forever.
“Make the road wide enough for one carriage to pass—no, make it wide enough for two. I don’t care how much the construction costs.”
“Yes, I understand.”
Roads had to be wide. Absolutely.
Donghee’s philosophy was that they should be at least two lanes wide. That way, oncoming carriages or wagons could pass each other without trouble.
Builder walked away with another armful of work from Chloe, but instead of looking exhausted, he seemed even more excited.
Only the main road passing in front of the village was made into a wide two-lane path, while the alleys cutting through the village were repaired while maintaining their original width.
With the houses and roads fixed, the village began to transform into an entirely new sight.
A few days later, when she visited the village again with her knights and her butler, Handsome, construction was in full swing.
With the roads neatly repaired, the village had undergone a literal metamorphosis.
In place of the muddy paths, wide, solid gravel roads had been laid out; mud puddles and sewage were nowhere to be found.
“It’s the Lord!”
“The Lord is here!”
“Waaaaah!”
At the cheer let out by one worker who spotted Chloe first, the rest of the workers stopped what they were doing and raised their hands, cheering to welcome her.
Since they were working so hard, she should probably provide a special meal for these loyal subjects, right?
When Donghee gave a slight nod, Handsome shouted toward the gathered crowd.
“The Lord has specially prepared today’s lunch! Everyone, please gather at the village dining hall when it is time for the midday meal!”
The new butler, Handsome, showed them the ramen that Donghee had busily transported from the Convenience Store.
“Waaaaah! Thank you!”
Watching them shout their thanks without even knowing what the food was, Donghee made a vow once again.
I will make sure my people get to eat white rice and meat soup.
A temporary kitchen had been set up not far from the construction site. Even though it was called ‘temporary,’ it had walls, a roof, and proper ovens and tables, making it look like a large restaurant at a glance.
The head chef was the one in charge of preparing the special meal for the workers.
Thelma, along with the maids, took on the role of evenly distributing the finished ramen to the people. The number of bowls they brought out reached into the hundreds. They were bowls primarily used by the servants of Grace Castle, brought over because they had been sitting idle as the number of employees decreased.
The workers brought several of the largest pots from the castle kitchen, placed them over the temporary ovens, and poured in water.
Since the method for cooking ramen had already been explained several times, the head chef, the assistant, and the workers helping them began boiling the ramen with practiced ease.
On one side, the savory aroma of fried Dural, steamed Dural, and even bread made with Dural wafted through the air.
At first, the villagers who realized the main ingredient was Dural had hesitated to eat, but after seeing the people from Grace Castle eating Dural dishes without a second thought, they began to creep closer and accept the food.
And before long, just as Thelma and the head chef once had, their eyes went wide, and they began to line up for seconds.
Not long after the water began to boil, enough ramen was completed for many people to eat at once. The ramen cooked in the large pots over five massive ovens was so plentiful that fifty people could eat simultaneously.
The workers gathered around the tables were momentarily speechless when they saw the ramen served in wooden bowls.
A dish consisting of curly noodles submerged in a reddish, clear soup was something they were seeing for the first time in their lives. Commoners rarely had the chance to eat noodles themselves, and in a place where spices were as expensive as gold dust, they almost never encountered a dish with such a pungent, stimulating aroma.
“What kind of food is this?”
“I know, right? I’ve never seen it before, but it smells amazing.”
Even while looking at the well-cooked ramen, the workers hesitated to touch it.
Watching them quietly, Donghee took a bowl of ramen as if to demonstrate and sat down at a table across from the workers.
Seeing a noble—and their sheltered Lord at that—sitting at the same table as them, the workers were startled and scrambled to their feet.
“Sit, sit. It’s fine.”
Donghee gestured for them to sit back down quickly and then picked up the fork the head chef had given her.
Chopsticks would have been better, but since she didn’t have any, she had to settle for a fork. She made a mental note to ask Builder to make some wooden chopsticks if the opportunity arose.
Donghee lifted the steaming noodles with her fork and blew on them.
Then, as if showing the workers who were staring intently at her, she put the noodles in her mouth and slurped them right up.
