Chapter 12

I recoiled immediately.

‘Ugh, no. Just thinking about it sounds exhausting.’

The position of a lord? Power? Wealth? Sure, having all that would be nice.

But maintaining it all costs money.

Being a lord is a brutal job. You have to watch the budget like a hawk to make sure nothing’s being wasted, and you need to tour your territory on a regular basis.

And that’s not all. If you want your lands to prosper, networking with neighboring lords is essential. Otherwise, you end up isolated.

‘And if you slip up and get dragged into political infighting… you could even end up fighting a war.’

A hell-difficulty life like that… I don’t want it….

I just want to tend a farm and loaf around for the rest of my life. Being a lord—no thanks.

‘Got it, System? You’d better not give me some quest like ⟨Let’s Become a Lord!⟩ or anything….’

…An emoticon that looked ready to ignore my wishes completely popped up. It was seriously irritating.

Fuming, I finished up the cooking. Calling it “cooking” was generous—I’d just boiled bird eggs and potatoes.

It’d be nice if I had salt or pepper, but in the so-called “general store that has everything,” all seasonings were sold out.

No matter how much I grilled the system about when they’d restock, the answer was always the same.

That stupid smiling emoticon—seriously. It feels like it’s doing this on purpose just to get on my nerves.

‘I was planning to visit the village someday anyway, but….’

The nearest village was about an hour away from here, I think. That was by carriage, though.

‘On foot, it’d take about three or four hours.’

Alone, going back and forth over that distance would’ve been rough—but now, it was doable.

I’ve got a spirit and a worker now, after all!

‘Yeah. I should go to the village soon.’

I don’t have any money, but… couldn’t I sell vegetables? Or barter?

If I’m going to do that, then obviously… I should bring a crop people actually want.

“…I should plant strawberries starting tomorrow.”

“Huh? Strawberries?”

“Yeah. Don’t you think they’ll sell well?”

It was early spring—prime strawberry season.

The time when people start wandering the market, thinking, Man, I want some good strawberries.

And with my cheat skill, I can harvest the most delicious strawberries in the world. Heh….

I’ll sell tons of strawberries… and make a killing.

Then I’ll buy seasonings, and tasty food too.

Humming to myself, I set the food on the table. Then I called Lycian over and ate together.

Maybe because I was in such a good mood, even the bland potatoes tasted surprisingly good.

---

And that’s how I ended up picking up a lunatic… no, Lycian.

“Master~♥ Would you like to eat first? Or… should you start with me?”

As I was tending the fields early in the morning, Lycian sidled up and whispered something insane.

What scares me is that I’m getting used to him calling me “Master”…. At first, just hearing it made my skin crawl.

“Maaaster~! Nini finished the laundry and hung it all up! Praise me!”

“Yeah, good job.”

I grabbed the dewdrop rice cake flitting chaotically around me, gave it a few half-hearted pats, then walked past Lycian and headed into the house.

Or—well, I tried to.

“…?”

I froze at the slight tug on my sleeve and turned around.

Lycian was staring at me intently, eyes full of expectation.

What do you want me to do…?

He bent his knees and lowered himself. His round head came into view—at the perfect height for patting.

…Ah. He wants me to pat him too?

Wants praise as well?

‘What is he, a dog or something….’

Snorting in disbelief, I ruffled his hair roughly, just like he wanted.

Even though his hair was a mess, Lycian just grinned like an idiot.

When I stepped into the kitchen, the table was neatly set with food.

A salad made from tomatoes and potatoes harvested just yesterday, and tomato soup. All of it was Lycian’s work.

“Please eat lots, Master.”

“Thanks. I’ll dig in.”

The salad was bland without salt, pepper, or olive oil, and the tomato soup was just sour.

Still, I ate it gratefully. Having food at all is something to be thankful for. Much better than starving to death.

“Today’s the day you harvest the strawberries, right?”

“Yeah. This afternoon.”

That’s right. Today is strawberry harvest day.

I planted them yesterday around eight in the morning, but unlike tomatoes and potatoes, they seemed to take longer to harvest. Maybe because they’re fruit?

“And you also said you’d make a flower bed in front of the house and plant flowers.”

“Oh, right!”

Lycian reminded me of a plan I’d completely forgotten in my strawberry-induced excitement.

The small yard between the house and the fields felt a bit bare, so I’d been thinking of sprucing it up with some shrubs or flowers.

As he piled more salad onto my plate, Lycian smiled brightly.

“I’ll make the flower bed, so you can rest, Master.”

“Huh? What are you talking about? You went to the forest yesterday too. I’ll do it.”

“But, Master….”

Suddenly, Lycian looked at me with pitiful eyes, gazing at me like I was something tragic. What—why are you looking at me like that?

“Your stamina is weaker than a newly hatched chick’s, isn’t it?”

“…….”

This bastard just hit me with facts.

My head rang from the damage of long-overdue reality hitting me.

“Hey! I’m not that weak…!”

“You told me not to hunt wild animals, but you really should eat meat, Master. Once I finish the flower bed, I’ll catch a bird.”

“Why would you catch a poor bird…!”

“If you put it that way, aren’t unhatched bird eggs pitiful too?”

Turns out Lycian was a machine gun of uncomfortable truths. And even while calling me Master, he was subtly trying to talk back…!

‘Crafty little bastard….’

I take back what I said about him being dog-like.

This guy’s a fox. Definitely a fox. A nine-tailed fox, even.

…Wait, are foxes part of the canine family?

After finishing breakfast, I made the flower bed together with Ninabel and Lycian.

I thought it wouldn’t be hard, but it was surprisingly exhausting. Is my stamina really just trash…?

“…….”

It even went up by one. So now it’s two.

Wow—up by a whole point! Amazing! Round of applause!

‘Would I start feeling like a person once it hits around 100…?’

Muriel… how on earth did she survive all this time with stamina like this?

What did the people of Winterberg Castle see in a kid like her to brand her a villainess?

With a body this frail, she must’ve been wobbling around every day. And seeing that, they still felt like bullying her?

‘Truly impressive human beings….’

Anyway, thanks to Lycian working so hard, we finished the flower bed quickly.

Since we didn’t have bricks, we made a wooden fence, planted flower seedlings, and watered them.

For the record, Lycian made the fence too.

Despite looking like a pampered young master, he was capable of all sorts of things. He wouldn’t starve anywhere.

“You’re really capable.”

At my words, Lycian broke into a grin and started hamming it up like an idol doing fan service at a signing.

“You’re glad I’m here, right?”

I shoved him away with an incredulous look as he sidled closer.

This bastard pulls fox tricks at every opportunity. Does he think that’ll make my heart flutter?

A cool spring breeze blew in from somewhere. The sunlight was dazzling, the cloudless sky a deep blue. And in our flower bed, colorful flowers were blooming in full.

Tulips, pansies, hyacinths… and lisianthus too, though it wasn’t blooming season yet. A flower with a name similar to Lycian’s.

Or rather… was Lycian’s name taken from this flower?

“A name like a flower—it suits you.”

“Huh?”

“It’s nothing.”

Pretending nothing had happened, I stood up from where I’d been crouching in front of the flower bed.

Then I slowly took about ten steps back, taking in the view of the wooden house now adorned with a flower bed.

It was simple and charming, like something straight out of a fairy tale. A pretty house anyone might dream of at least once.

…If not for the hamster-patterned roof, that is.

‘Ugh…. That damn roof, seriously.’

Hamsters are cute, but this is interior terrorism! Are you listening, System?

That was when—

“…!”

A message that felt like false advertising from the system popped up out of nowhere.

‘Special item…?’

I’ve got a bad feeling about this.

Eyeing the blue screen suspiciously, I pressed [▶Go to Shop], figuring I’d at least take a look.

A massive banner appeared immediately.

A red box decorated with a golden ribbon—and next to it, the flashy words “☆Special Item☆.”

When I tapped it, a list of items spilled down the screen.

“…….”

The hallmark of a trash game: gacha items.