Chapter 19 · 8 min
Chapter 19
Chapter 19
Guests are here!
Our cabinet descended into chaos.
Good lord.
Wol Hayeon.
She’s a world-famous celebrity.
I was shaking.
My speech even changed a little from nerves.
I started talking like an actor in a historical drama.
I hurriedly searched the territory for refreshments to serve them.
There was nothing.
Only ramen snack.
“Screw it.”
Clench!
I scooped up a huge amount of chlorella and had the Asura Rakshasas serve it.
I’m poor, but at least I can offer this.
Then something astonishing happened.
Cheon Ryujin began heartily gulping down the chlorella!
‘What a likable guy.’
Cheon Ryujin was a broad-minded, considerate man.
He must have been eating the chlorella so enthusiastically because he didn’t want me, the host, to feel embarrassed.
[Aqua... Was this actually delicious all along? Never knew!
づ
]
Aqua tried downing a bowl of chlorella too.
Bweeeeeegh.
ꉂꉂ (ˆoˆ )
Instantly sprayed it back out.
That was how difficult chlorella was to consume.
Cheon Ryujin.
What an incredible man.
Afterward, my guests asked about my objective.
My objective?
A good question.
Ultimately, growing the territory.
But I had a separate short-term objective involving the lettuce.
There was someone I needed to meet.
“I need to go to Carcosa.”
I had to deliver supplies to Ji Wuchang.
The moment I said that, my guests’ eyes lit up and they started bombarding me with questions about Carcosa.
What the hell would I know?
I knew absolutely nothing.
So I went around in circles and told them as much.
“That is unfortunate.”
I politely refused, but Cheon Ryujin proposed a strange deal.
A bold offer to do anything for me!
Why?
Why would you be this kind to someone you just met?
Obviously.
Because Cheon Ryujin has such a great personality!
What a man!
‘At this point, he’s on Ji Wuchang’s level.’
I accepted Cheon Ryujin’s generous proposal.
There was something I needed, after all.
“Flame Axes, Elf Boots, Orc Bracers.”
“Huh?” “What?”
Oh no!
Their expressions froze because I suddenly made such a difficult demand.
‘Was that too shameless of me?’
Even my territory’s ultra-excellent cabinet officials couldn’t obtain those items...
Should I take it back now?
* * *
Inside the silence.
Cheon Ryujin couldn’t stand it.
He was dying of curiosity.
“Why do you need garbage equipment used by bottom-tier Climbers?”
“Cheon Ryujin, shut up...!”
Wol Hayeon was losing her mind.
Had he never heard curiosity killed the cat?
If a royal spirit flew into a rage, this would be the end of them.
Wol Hayeon stepped forward to salvage the situation herself.
“Lord Merchant! You need the items you just mentioned, correct!”
“That’s right... but perhaps we should forget the matter.”
“We’ll get them for youuuuuu!”
Before the Lord Merchant could cut off the conversation, Wol Hayeon clung on with everything she had.
“How many sets do you need?”
“Hmm. A lot.”
“A lot?”
Cheon Ryujin and Wol Hayeon exchanged glances.
With their wealth and connections, that wouldn’t be difficult.
“Understood. Next time, we’ll bring 「a lot」.”
“You two are very kind. What can I do for you in return?”
“Information about Carcosa...”
“Must I say it again? That is impossible for both me and you.”
“...”
The two bit their lips.
Of course.
They had searched for Carcosa their entire lives.
Something like that could never be traded for such a trivial favor.
The other side had no reason to need them.
Maintaining this relationship was the best they could hope for.
“Ahem. We’ll take our leave. Thank you for your hospitality, and we look forward to meeting again.”
Wol Hayeon dropped to one knee and bowed.
“Hey. Aren’t you going to do it?”
Wol Hayeon growled at Cheon Ryujin.
Cheon Ryujin squeezed his eyes shut, then knelt.
On only one knee.
Like a knight.
That was the greatest concession his pride would allow.
The Asura Rakshasa statue blasted Cheon Ryujin with sinister energy, but he endured it proudly.
“...The chlorella was good. May your business continue prospering.”
The two left.
Only after the guests disappeared completely did the Asura Rakshasas scratch the backs of their heads.
『Lord bro. We got startled bad. Guests even knelt down... Thought maybe they got hurt, so we were gonna help ‘em up...』
Our first time receiving guests in the territory.
A moderate success.
* * *
Black stars rose over the dim sky of Carcosa.
If Earth’s night sky was black and the stars yellow.
Here, it was the complete opposite.
The sky was an ominous yellow, while the stars glittered in sinister black.
Outsiders who fell here eventually degraded into citizens.
They became part of the city.
Even within this living hell, hope had begun to bloom.
By a lake far from the city, outsiders struggled to survive.
The man leading them was Ji Wuchang.
Everyone followed him.
Outsiders undergoing combat training gave respectful nods as Ji Wuchang passed.
Ji Wuchang had rescued countless outsiders until now.
“Our group has grown too large.”
Ji Wuchang was deeply troubled.
Carcosa’s knight class periodically conducted outside patrols.
They rarely came near the lake, but as the camp grew, so did the risk.
What if the knight class attacked right now?
“At least half would die.”
The outsiders were all capable fighters.
The problem was supplies.
You needed proper weapons if you wanted to fight.
“Do I really have no choice but to rely on young Han Jain?”
Han Jain.
The miraculous traveler who could come and go from Carcosa.
He would bring the supplies.
“If young Han Jain had a personality like my academy classmates... I never could’ve asked. Especially if he were Cheon Ryujin or Wol Hayeon. Hopeless.”
The image of Cheon Ryujin carrying items around because someone told him to made Ji Wuchang laugh.
It was impossible.
“That mad dog would never run errands for anyone. Hahaha.”
He’d be lucky if Cheon Ryujin didn’t start a fight instead.
Who could possibly handle that temper?
Wol Hayeon wasn’t much different.
She had a habit of suddenly exploding.
Thankfully, young Han Jain didn’t have that vicious temperament.
“Ahhh! That makes me feel even guiltier!”
All he had given the man in return was a journal to use as a ramen pot stand!
Its contents weren’t anything special.
Just ramblings about his experiences climbing the Tower.
“Boss. What are you doing?”
Ji Wuchang’s lieutenants appeared.
The orc Zolta and Jenny Iceberg.
Zolta was a hero of the orc race.
Jenny Iceberg was America’s greatest healer.
Now they were both trapped together in Carcosa.
“You’re here. Come scout the city with me.”
“Isn’t it dangerous?”
“It is, but we need more information. Someday, we’ll攻略 Carcosa.”
攻略 it?
Ji Wuchang thought differently from everyone else.
He was searching for a way to攻略 this hell itself.
“Fine. Let’s go.”
Afterward, they completed several hours of scouting through Carcosa.
They also brought back some loot.
Building materials from Carcosa.
Marble. Lumber. Tiles, and so on.
They always brought things like this back whenever they went scouting.
Even though it was just junk.
“Boss. Why are we collecting this stuff?”
“Just because.”
You never knew.
Maybe someday someone would find a useful purpose for it.
* * *
The peaceful first-floor territory.
I looked up at the blue sky.
The guests’ bold spirit still seemed to linger in the territory.
“They promised to bring set items for someone they’ve never even met.”
Nod, nod.
My cabinet officials agreed.
“I want to learn from him too.”
So straightforward and easygoing.
How could I become a cool man like Cheon Ryujin?
“How many sets do you think they’ll bring?”
[According to. My calculations. As many as. Ten.]
“Whoa! Ten whole sets? That’s seven billion won just in money! Now I feel too guilty.”
[Aqua... Thin-skinned, so conscience stings!
ᕤ
]
“But I shouldn’t dare underestimate a man like Cheon Ryujin.
Maybe he’ll bring more than ten.”
If things go well.
He might even bring twenty!
Anyway.
I couldn’t just take such expensive set items for free.
We put our heads together and thought about what kind of reward to give them.
[How about. Sharing the攻略. Written on. The ramen pot stand.]
“You mean the contents of the book Ji Wuchang gave me?”
Good.
I should at least try.
Even if giving them the攻略 wouldn’t help them much.
At least it would show sincerity.
“First, I need to improve the farm. It was hard receiving guests with nothing but chlorella and lettuce.”
If I had some refreshing crops to serve guests, I could at least save face.
I checked the upgrade condition for the Level 4 farm.
This time, the requirement was quite troublesome.
=======
[Lv.4 Upgrade Available]
* Required Material:
1 Cyclops Spine.
=======
“A-A Cyclops spine?”
I immediately opened the marketplace and checked stock.
Naturally, sold out.
“This is giving me a headache.”
The farm-upgrade difficulty had spiked.
From now on, I wouldn’t be able to expand farms endlessly just by having money.
“Then where am I supposed to spend all this money piling up?”
Thanks to the HACCP incident, money was stacking up like a mountain.
As I pondered, the senior lords in the night sky twinkled.
「If you’ve got spare money, want us to call a contractor?」
“A contractor? What kind?”
「Interior contractor.」
Ohh.
Interior work.
The cultural tech tree had already proven useful when I built the gate.
No need to think about it.
I asked my seniors to call a contractor.
「There’s a scammy one who quotes low and then adds costs mid-construction, and a dependable one who charges the proper price while sweating his ass off.」
“? Isn’t that basically no choice at all?”
「The first one makes way more money.」
The world is upside down.
I asked them to call the hard-working contractor.
Soon, the interior contractors arrived in my territory.
“Kekeke. Hello there!”
Their leader was a goblin.
They say goblins are a crafty race... No.
Trust the seniors’ judgment.
“Forty billion.”
“What?”
“Advance payment is forty billion. Pay up.”
“We haven’t even written a contract yet...”
“Travel fee is ten billion.”
“What did you say?”
I was dumbfounded.
So this was the life of a homeowner?
Above the running landlord flew the interior contractor.
These people were openly vicious contractors trying to gouge me.
I was thinking about how to send them away when their attitudes suddenly flipped completely.
They bowed their heads.
“G-Gasp!!! Lord, are you a spirit!!!!”
Everyone trembled violently and began struggling to breathe.
[Aqua... Proud and smug!
ง
]
[Aqua... Doesn’t usually accept autograph requests!
( ◡̀_◡́)ᕤ
]
I had no idea what was happening.
But this was my chance.
“How much did you say construction would cost?”
“Forty billion...”
“What?”
“F-Four billion!”
“What?”
“U-Ugh! Four hundred million!”
“Whaaaaaat?????”
“If you simply give us the job, we’ll gladly devote ourselves completely to it!!!”
I Set Up House in the Tower, and Making Money Became Too Easy