Chapter 11

Chapter 11

I walked, and walked again, along the dark night road until I arrived.

It wasn’t that far of a distance.

‘To think I’d end up coming here again today, even after finishing work.’

It was the livestock shed where I worked.

It was shabby and smelled, but there was nowhere else I could stay.

‘What a pathetic excuse for a noble.’

It wasn’t like I went around acting like a noble, though.

Still, the thought of a well-bred noble staying in a run-down livestock shed storage room struck me as funny somehow.

– Moooo~

– Neigh!

The animals sounded as if they were asking me why I’d come here in the middle of the night.

The shed was made up of three animal pens and a storage room.

I didn’t like the idea of staying in the animal pens or the stable.

‘So the storage room is the only option left.’

When I opened the storage room door, a musty smell of dust hit me.

‘I can’t see a thing.’

It was already 9 p.m., so it was dark, and there wasn’t even a small lantern in the storage room.

I could walk to the shed with the help of the streetlights and moonlight, but no light reached inside the storage room.

‘First, I need to be able to see before I can move around. Let’s light something.’

I took a lantern out of my bag and lit it with a flint. A soft golden glow filled the dark room.

When I hung the lantern on the ceiling, the room lit up in warm gold.

‘I’ll probably have to live here for the next few months.’

It might even go beyond a few months and turn into years.

I put my bag down and flopped onto the floor, glancing around.

‘Surprisingly, I think I could live here comfortably. Not bad.’

My hand naturally went to my mouth.

But the problem was something else. Not the smell of animals, but the musty dust and mold stung my nose.

‘No, this won’t do. I have to clean first.’

Mold clung to the walls, and dust either floated thick in the air or lay in heaps. It would surely be bad for my lungs.

Since this would be my nest, I wanted to keep it clean if possible.

There were cleaning tools like rags, mops, and brooms in the storage room, so I didn’t need to prepare them separately.

‘And at least I can freely get clean water, which is a relief.’

A water supply device was set up next to the storage room. I could use it for drinking or cleaning.

‘I never thought about it while working here, but this is actually a pretty livable environment.’

After filling a bucket with an appropriate amount of water, I began cleaning the storage room.

The scattered feed and fodder were neatly organized in the corner. The dirt and dust that appeared in the process were swept outside the door.

After sweeping the dirt, I tried to remove the mold from the walls.

‘Mold doesn’t come off easily.’

I’d need to dilute alcohol with water to wipe it away. Fortunately, I had alcohol with me.

I pulled a bottle of liquor from my bag.

Slosh, slosh — the orange-colored liquor was about half full.

It seemed to be the kind of drink Villed usually had. Out of curiosity, I’d once brought it to my lips, but the strong smell alone told me how high the alcohol content was, so I didn’t drink it.

It was a noble’s liquor. It probably cost a lot.

‘Half of it’s already gone, so I can’t resell it, and I’ve got no other use for it. Might as well use it here.’

I generously mixed the liquor with water and used it to remove the mold.

The black-stained mold vanished completely, and the log walls regained their clean color.

I wiped the ceiling, walls, and everything else with a rag.

‘Looks like this place hasn’t been cleaned in years.’

Even with just a quick wipe, the rag turned pitch black, making the job a pain.

‘Yes, it’s getting clean.’

The more I cleaned, the more the darkened storage room began to return to its original color.

Finally, I mopped the floor until it shone.

As time passed, the storage room, once thick with black dust, transformed into a perfect log cabin.

‘So this is what it was originally like.’

Maybe because I had cleaned it myself, my chest felt refreshingly clear.

The storage room that had been dark with dust now glowed a warm brown, made brighter still by the lantern light.

‘No, really. This isn’t bad at all.’

The lantern’s soft light, the log-built space, the deep navy scenery outside, and the faint chirping of little insects…

It was a scene filled with the old European charm you’d expect to see in a movie.

‘If the dormitory feels like a noble’s home, this feels like a commoner’s.’

I thought it had its own kind of charm.

I sat on a feed box, lost in appreciation, but it didn’t last long.

Growl—

“Now I’m getting hungry.”

And I wasn’t the only one.

– Popong.

In the ✿Animal✿Farm✿ screen, Hwayo was staring at me.

Soul Flame ‘Hwayo’

Level: 3

Mood: Hungry, Stress 7%.

Just as the description said, it was looking at me expectantly for food.

‘What do I do? I don’t have money to buy myself food, let alone buy eggs for Hwayo.’

That meant I’d have to get them from somewhere else, but food and lodging were supposed to be covered by the dormitory.

‘But now I can’t even use the dorm cafeteria.’

Unfortunately, the single rooms were rented on a monthly basis, not by the semester.

‘Hmm…’

I sank into brief thought.

Come to think of it, the chicken coop had tons of eggs.

‘Would it be okay to just take some?’

In fact, after a week of working in the shed, there was something I’d been wondering.

The animals all belonged to the school.

But the school seemed to have no interest whatsoever in the products that came from them.

‘It feels like I could just take the eggs.’

I hadn’t acted on it yet, just in case.

Still, since nobody else took them, wouldn’t it be fine if I only took infertile eggs?

Better that than letting them go to waste, right?

‘Even so, it does feel a bit like stealing, so my conscience pricks me.’

But really, no one ever tried to collect the shed’s products.

It was the same in the game. The player could work at the shed and pick up wool or eggs.

‘Though in the game, they weren’t all that useful.’

For someone like me who had to survive, they were as valuable as gold.

‘Alright, let’s not be greedy. Just take a little.’

A few should be fine.

With that thought, I picked up five infertile eggs from the chicken coop.

‘This will be my daily bread.’

Two would go to Hwayo, and three would be enough for me.

I lit a fire in the hearth in the corner of the storage room and set a clean stone slab on top.

Cracking three eggs with a tap and pouring their contents onto the stone, they began to sizzle.

The remaining two I placed whole on the stone for Hwayo.

‘Feels like I’m cooking in the wild.’

The stone slab gave off just that kind of atmosphere.

Before long, the fried eggs were fully cooked.

I first sent the cooked eggs to Hwayo.

– Popong.

With sleepy eyes, Hwayo ate them up and then returned to its nest to sleep.

Watching that, I also satisfied my own hunger.

There was no trace of noble dignity here. Rather than savoring the taste, I devoured them with the sole aim of filling my stomach.

‘Now I feel alive again.’

I ended dinner with a glass of water.

Leaning back in a comfortable posture, I looked up at the night sky.

‘Come to think of it, I sweated a lot today.’

A sticky discomfort came over me.

It had been a day full of activity, sweating during the exam, while managing the shed, and while cleaning the storage room.

‘I want to take a bath.’

Back when I lived in the dormitory, there was a private bath.

But here, with only a storage room, such a place was impossible.

Bathing was essential for cleanliness. Living in the storage room from now on meant I would always have to think about this problem.

…Or so I thought for a moment.

It seemed the solution would come quickly.

‘That…’

My eyes naturally went to the metal barrels in the corner.

There were five of them, shaped like drum barrels.

Originally, they were large containers for holding feed, but one was empty.

I stood up and looked inside. Aside from a few leaves and roots at the bottom, there was nothing else inside.

I tried stepping into the barrel.

It felt like I had become a cat fitting perfectly into a box.

‘I think this will work just fine.’

Feeling cat-like, I acted immediately. I took the barrel outside.

‘I might burn something if I do this indoors.’

On a dry patch of ground, I set up two rectangular stones upright and placed some firewood between them.

The balance of the barrel on the stones was perfect, and I filled it to the brim with water using a hose.

Crackle! Crackle!

As the firewood burned, the water inside the barrel warmed up.

‘This should do it.’

Dipping a finger into the water, I found it the perfect temperature for bathing.

Before getting in, I looked around.

‘No one’s going to see.’

There were no students, and no one would come to the shed in the middle of the night.

Splash—

I slid into the barrel. My whole body felt the fatigue melt away.

‘Got in at just the right time.’

As I relaxed in the hot bath, all sorts of thoughts bubbled up.

‘To make the most of my abilities, I’ll need to exercise and build strength while working in the shed…’

I thought about what I needed for combat.

That was clearly the first priority.

‘I need a weapon now.’

Other students carried staves, swords, or bows as their weapons. Talentless Villed was still putting off choosing one.

Besides, I needed a weapon to use my ability.

I pulled a card from the air.

Cost 3 – Borrow the fire of the Young Salamander for a short time.

To use this ability, a weapon was essential.

If I tried to use it without a weapon…

Whoosh!

Fssshh…

A powerful flame flared in midair for only a moment. Without a weapon, it vanished instantly.

‘Then let’s try this.’

I picked up a fallen branch from the ground and used the ability again.

Fwoooosh!

Fssshh…

As expected, the result was no better this time.

It didn’t last long before the branch burned away, leaving only ash.

‘As I thought, a normal branch won’t do.’

It was no better than a disposable weapon.

Once it burned, it couldn’t be used again.

And because the branch couldn’t withstand such intense firepower, it burned away quickly. The original duration was fifteen seconds, but it didn’t even last five before going out.

‘So how do I get a weapon…’

Leaning back slightly against the barrel, I gazed up at the night sky full of stars.

The weapon’s power was important, of course.

But more than anything, durability was key something that wouldn’t falter even in flames.

‘A weapon with good durability will cost a fortune.’

I could have requested my family to buy me a good one, but all support had been cut off.

That didn’t mean I had no options.

Who was I? The player who had perfectly conquered Yggdrasil.

‘If I put my mind to it, I could get a good weapon…’

Should I really try?

Before I knew it, my eyes began to sparkle.