Chapter 13: A bad Luck
"Master... slowly... back away..."
Monali's words were as cold as the ice of the northern mountains, filled with a dark dread as if she were witnessing the gates of hell opening. Her face had turned as pale as a cloudless noon sun.
"What's happening, Monali? What are we facing?" My words came out slowly. The terror gripping Monali began to creep over me as well, even though I didn't yet understand the cause.
To me, the place looked enchantingly beautiful, a sight not to be missed. Why was she asking me to retreat?
"It's a Deceptive Beast..." Monali whispered slowly. "It's... a monster... not an ordinary one. It's an Ancient Calamity Beast. You must forget about this lake. We must leave now."
Monali took several trembling steps back.
"Before its hibernation state ends! Come on, Master... no one can resist its deception once it wakes up. Death... is the inevitable fate before such a creature. It is the worst monster in existence. especially for Masters."
Monali murmured as her hands signaled Suman to retreat quietly, while her eyes pleaded with me to back away without question.
I didn't understand. What did "Deceptive Beast" even mean? Would it try to trick me? I didn't think it could. I would move forward. I didn't care how scary it was to her; it was in my territory now. Even for me, I could sense the power of the beast if it was as she described. I had felt the power of her brother before... why didn't I feel this now?
One step... then a second... toward the lake.
Monali's voice rang out again: "Master! You must back away now! This is no time for arrogance! It is impossible to face it!"
Impossible to face? Are you mocking me? I'll stop its deception right now. You'll see.
"Stop... Master..."
I didn't listen. I advanced four steps, then five.
"Master... if you go any further, I will no longer be your subordinate!" Monali's voice screamed.
I froze. I hate ultimatums. I truly hate them. But... her words were saturated with fear. It wasn't just fear of the monster; it was fear of losing me, and perhaps fear for her own life.
{ 2:00 PM }
"Master, welcome back. How was your trip?" Jo greeted me with a smile.
I couldn't help but ignore the greeting and headed straight for my house.
Behind me, Jo asked, "Lady Monali, what happened to the Master?"
"He is disgruntled because he didn't find a beautiful spot to relocate his headquarters,"
Monali replied with annoyance. "We faced... a massive danger, and we couldn't proceed."
"What danger?"
"A Deceptive Beast of the Ancient Calamity rank," Monali answered bitterly. "And yet, your Master is upset that I stopped him from walking toward his death. Do no good, and no evil shall befall you... Damn it!"
{ 6:00 PM }
After several hours, I regret to say I was wrong to criticize Monali. All she was trying to do was protect me.
In fact, after thinking it over, I believe that beast had controlled me before Monali even detected its presence. My insistence on going was foolish. Any idiot at my level would be suicidal to approach a beast of that rank. Even a strong warrior like Monali was trembling from a distance just by looking at it.
In this world, there are six different classifications for monsters:
Lesser Calamity Beast
Intermediate Calamity Beast
Greater Calamity Beast
Ancient Beast
Celestial Beast
Gate Beast
Calamity beasts. from Lesser to Greater. are named so because they accompany the disasters that strike the lands of the Masters. As for beasts from Ancient to Gate ranks, they are supernaturally powerful creatures whose strength cannot be contained within a Master's territory.
So?? Why was an Ancient Beast in my land?? Even Monali couldn't believe her eyes. She screamed upon our return that the presence of a monster of this level in a Master's land was nothing short of monumental ill luck.
This made me remember my Luck stat, which was rated at 80%. Could the System have given me such high luck specifically to counter the "great misfortune" of having an Ancient Calamity Beast nearby?
How was I supposed to expand, build, and develop now? That beast... even Monali's description of it was cryptic. She had never met one before; all she knew was lore.
"It offers you what you need... and it won't offer you what you need."
I truly don't know what those words mean. But it doesn't seem like a monster that fights you; it simply ends you.
Well... I shouldn't obsess over it now. I won't let anyone near the "Second Space" until we find a solution. For now, I must start the necessary developments.
When the expansion opened,
the System was generous. The Weapon List expanded to include three new slots. The Food Menu was now filled with over 30 types of ready-made meals and more than 100 raw ingredients like vegetables and fruits. Houses were now available in multiple designs, and at the same time, the Living Vault was unlocked.
What is a Living Vault? Well, it's like a large bank safe that can convert funds from the System into physical coins.
Since opening the summons, no one had received their share of money. Well, it's not like I was making them work for nothing, haha! No, I provided food, drink, and housing. However, I still needed to pay them.
The problem was there was no physical way to transfer money from the System to their pockets. The only transfer that had occurred was to Lois, in a transaction that could be described as entirely electronic.
Fortunately, the Living Vault could now handle that. There were also smaller safes in various sizes. Tomorrow, I must begin the administrative work. I won't always be around to buy food and other things whenever someone needs them. I will provide everything for them and devote myself to more important matters.
I must... adopt one of the characters I write and develop my combat ability.
(The Next Day...)
In the middle of the Space, I decided to erect a new, large building. I enlisted the help of Lois, Jo, and Suman, with Monali as the designer.
because we all know her taste far exceeds mine, haha!
We decided on a unique design: a large circular building with two floors, high balconies, and the potential to add more floors in the future. In the center was a large hall, surrounded by a wide corridor with doors leading to other rooms. Each room had a specific function. There were five rooms in total.
The second floor followed the same design, but the large hall there was a formal ballroom. I don't know why, but it'll be there, haha!
As for the hall on the first floor, it was for meetings with the leaders I would appoint today to make various decisions.
{ 2:00 PM }
We finally finished. If the hall hadn't been provided entirely by the System, it would have taken us months to build, haha! Even so, 600,000. more than half of what I owned. went into it.
"Alright guys... we are standing before the City Hall. The first building where we will shape our laws and facilitate the lives of our great people."
"Our great people, haha," came a faint laugh from the back. It was Lois. Curse her... beautiful face, bad attitude.
Inside, the meeting hall was very beautiful, with a large wooden table surrounded by five chairs. Just entering that room made you feel like you were in an elite government hall.
"Alright, let's sit," I said calmly, happy with the achievement. Then I began the five-person meeting: Myself, Monali, Jo, Suman, and Lois.
"Folks... today we begin our first meeting. From today on, we five will be the ones making decisions for the village. I will be the Leader, and you will be the four Deputies. equal in everything. None of you is above the other. Does anyone object?"
No one refused; everyone quickly accepted.
"Now... let's start with the first decision: Labor Fees."
"Labor Fees?" Lois asked.
"Yes. We give the others their wages as food and housing, but that isn't enough."
"It's more than enough," Lois replied again. Suman interrupted her.
"I think... it's not enough."
"Hey, you!" Lois raised her voice.
"Your tone," Monali focused her gaze on Lois with anger. "It shouldn't rise in the Master's presence. External joking might be acceptable to him, but we are now in an official meeting to decide the village's fate. You must behave with decorum."
"Hmph..." Lois couldn't raise her voice further. Ultimately, there was a hidden respect from the People of the Hidden Moon toward their royalty.
"Master," Jo spoke.
— "Yes, Jo."
"Master, perhaps you should make the decisions alone, or only with the Princess. Suman and I... even Miss Lois... we aren't 'hall-sitters.' All this is new to us. We should be in our proper places."
"Haha... do you think I'm a 'hall-sitter'? In fact, I loathe those people. Why should they make decisions instead of those who actually own them? Here, there is no bloodline or lineage in the selection. You are all here for a reason. Therefore, today, your words are acceptable no matter how loud. Speak freely; in any case, it's our first meeting."
"I apologize," Lois muttered. "I will try to be quiet. Please, continue... what do you think about paying wages?"
"No need to apologize. In fact, I thought about wages when I discovered you could summon people as well..."
"How so, Master?"
"The First Law: everyone who comes to live in our village, we provide them with housing and work."
"Do you mean a house, Master?" Suman asked.
"Well... not a full house. If we gave a house to everyone, there wouldn't be enough space. When we unlock more space, we'll do that. For now, we'll settle for something like a dormitory."
"I hate dormitories," Lois replied.
"I also hate them," Monali whispered.
They finally agreed on something against me, haha! But it's okay, I'll quiet them down.
"You misunderstand. By 'dormitory,' I don't mean a house where multiple families live together. It's more like a large building where each floor is inhabited by one family."
"I've never seen anything like that before?" Suman said.
"I have," Lois replied. "It was in one of the cities. Several buildings with 5 or 6 floors. But they weren't isolated; anyone who wanted to go up had to climb stairs through the lower floors."
"Well, the solution to that is simple."
"How?"
"With this." I placed several files on the table containing house designs. Unfortunately, the System didn't provide a complete house, but it provided designs for purchase along with the tools.
The City Hall was one of those designs. Building it was a test to see how things would go, and it was a surprise indeed. Jo's leadership of the process was excellent, but what surprised me most was Suman. He was like a master builder, merging the parts with professional craft.
"These designs are for buildings similar to this one. All of them can be built up to the third floor. But unfortunately, none of them have floor-to-floor insulation. This is a task that must be carried by the most skilled among us."
"The most skilled?" Monali asked.
"Yes. It's Suman. I was careful to watch the construction of the City Center, and Suman truly surprised me. I have no doubt that Suman will be more than capable of performing this duty."
"This... is a great honor, Master," Suman whispered, while Jo laughed in support. "Well done, Suman! You are the first among us to be given an official job by the Master."
"Now... Suman will choose the appropriate design to build in the coming days, and then he will choose the location. Now, let's move to something else."
"In room number 3 on this floor, there is a vault containing money. The vault will hold funds to pay the workers. either monthly salaries or daily wages, depending on what the worker chooses. But there is a problem."
"What is it, Master?" Monali asked.
"I... am not aware of the value of money here or how much should be given."
"Then let me handle this," Monali stated confidently. No one else objected, and it was immediately decided that she would do that work.
"But Master," Monali continued, "this task needs other employees. I will only be an overseer and manager. After all, I must remain by your side. You know why."
"Yes... I know. You shall have it. Tomorrow, I will summon two more servants."
"Now, it's your turn, Jo. From tomorrow, you won't be a woodcutter, but a manager of woodcutters and a warrior as well. This means you will have two jobs until we find someone else to take one from you. I've thought about summoning 10 woodcutters: 5 to cut trees, and 5 to become warriors to train under your hand."
"At your command, Master... but..."
"What?"
"I... how do I train them? I don't have enough experience."
"That's not a problem. Take this." Again, I placed several scrolls of training methods in front of Jo. Near each scroll was a small, square blue box, like a cube.
"What are these, Master?"
"It's a Skill Cube. It gives you the ability to understand the combat manual. Even if you are a woodcutter, with this cube, you will have a combat progression that you develop sequentially. It's like opening another path alongside your original profession. With this cube, all you'll need is training and hard work to become a warrior."
Suman and Jo's expressions were full of shock. Suman quickly declared: "Master... I... can I have one of those cubes?"
"Haha! Of course. You all can. We all need to be warriors. We don't know what danger might come to the village. The more warriors we have, the better. In fact, I thought about making everyone have a combat path. but it seems these cubes won't be available until we expand the space again. For now, I only have 10. 5 will go to the warriors tomorrow, and 3 for us. Two will remain, and we'll see what happens with them."
"Thank you, Master."
"Alright. Now we can end our first meeting. Tomorrow we will start implementing what was decided."
(The Next Day)
{ 9:00 AM }
"Master, you summoned me,"
Jo said with dignity, then bowed his head to greet Monali, who stood beside me.
"Yes, Jo. You might have forgotten, but I haven't. You have a percentage of the wood profits. It's time to give it to you."
Jo didn't answer immediately. Instead, he dropped to one knee and bowed his head, saying, "Thank you, Master."
I didn't expect such a gesture, but what a proud and grateful man.
"Alright Jo. I owe you... 30,000. Monali... let's give Jo 50,000."
"As you command, Master," Monali replied with a smile. The loyalty mark above her head glowed, increasing again. It had now reached 60%.
Monali opened the vault. it wasn't full; I had placed the equivalent of 300,000 Dinars in it.
The coins in the vault were small gold and silver discs.
A small silver disc carried the number 1, meaning it was worth 1 Dinar. Another silver disc of the same size with the number 5 was worth 5 Dinars. A third disc was slightly larger with the number 10, and another of the same size was worth 50 Dinars. Then there was a bronze disc worth 100 Dinars. Finally, there was a gold disc worth 1,000 Dinars.
These were the currencies that represented commercial exchanges in this world.
Monali gave me a small chest containing 50,000 in coins. With a smile, she asked Jo to stand.
He still bowed his head. Then he took the chest, silent. It was an emotional moment for him.
Perhaps he hadn't actually expected me to give him his share, haha! Well, I never thought for a moment of stealing from him.
Suddenly, tears began to stream down Jo's cheeks. When he raised his head toward me, his eyes were already flooded.
I thought for a moment about hugging him to comfort him, but I decided to wait. Something inside me told me something was wrong.
"Master?" Jo whispered.
— "Yes, Jo."
"Will you allow me now... to break my family's slavery contract?"
Hah?!
"Yes... yes, of course! Do it now, Jo!"
{ Ding... Ding... Ding }
{ Secret Quest: Save Woodcutter Jo's Family – Completed Successfully }