Chapter 198
Chapter 198
Ppyak-!
Peck, peck. The parakeet perched on my shoulder cried out as it pecked at my cheek.
“Hey, you little brat. That stings.”
Lapin looked at it and interpreted the parakeet’s words for me.
“‘What are you doing? Hurry and touch my beak,’ it’s saying.”
“Damn it.”
When I placed my hand on its beak, the little creature closed its eyes and quietly enjoyed the touch.
But if I suddenly pulled my hand away while petting it like this……
Flash!
Peck, peck peck!
It immediately started pecking my cheek again.
It only stung; it didn’t really hurt.
It was still a small and young individual, so its strength wasn’t that great yet.
“How long do I have to keep petting you before you’re satisfied?”
Among the spiritual beasts living inside the ‘Animal Farm’ system, the parakeet was the first to send a call asking to be let out.
In the end, I summoned it and let it perch on my shoulder.
It had looked cute just sitting there, so I had playfully touched its beak. But it reacted as if it were a native encountering a new civilization, as though it had received a tremendous shock.
And ever since then, this had been the situation……
If I ignored it or forcibly stuffed it back into ‘Animal Farm,’ it would sulk for quite a while, so I couldn’t take a hardline approach anymore.
Lapin’s eyes sparkled with envy as she cautiously spoke.
“……Parakeet, can I try touching it a little too?”
As Lapin stepped closer, wiggling her fingers as if they were itching to try, the parakeet spread its wings and screeched, ‘Ppyaaak-!’
“Uwaaah……”
Lapin deflated immediately, her eyebrows drooping into an 八 shape as her shoulders slumped.
I didn’t know the exact meaning, but apparently, the answer was no.
“Hey, just ask Lapin to do it. Why are you bothering only me?”
Ppyak ppyak, ppyaaak.
“It says it won’t do. It feels good only when Villed touches its beak.”
“Hmm…….”
It had to be me, huh.
‘Does it at least recognize its owner?’
The other spiritual beasts were the same.
If I fed them myself, petted them, or played with them, deepening communication, our ‘bond’ would grow stronger.
The deeper this ‘bond’ became, the more the efficiency and performance of skills seemed to increase.
The System had never explicitly mentioned it, but that was how it felt from experience.
As I continued stroking the parakeet’s beak, I stepped outside the storage shed.
Following the path beside the Livestock Shed, an open clearing soon came into view.
The first stage of building a house had already been prepared there.
A large rectangular foundation site outlined the shape of the future building, solidified in place. Along the edges, traces of firmly set concrete remained.
The marks of formwork scattered here and there and the hardened concrete surface indicated that the process had only just finished.
Nothing had been erected yet, but the ground meant to bear the weight of the house was already complete.
It had been prepared several days ago, and I had merely been waiting for the concrete to fully cure.
‘This should be enough. I can move on to the next stage.’
……There were roughly three weeks left until the end of the break.
‘Tending the island went a little faster than expected, and the parakeet hatched without any problems…… so now there’s only that one thing left.’
I was planning to build a Two-story House that I had prepared in advance. After being kicked out of the dormitory, I had used the Livestock Shed storage as temporary lodging for nearly a year.
‘But I can’t keep living in a storage shed until graduation.’
Yes, it was time to leave the shed behind.
If I could live in a warm interior and sleep in a soft bed, my quality of life would certainly improve.
Moreover, I had secured the right to operate the Livestock Shed and the surrounding land until graduation, and I had even obtained a building permit. Everything was perfectly legal.
‘Besides, I have construction experience.’
I had already built two houses.
The Treehouse had been completed in less than half a day, and building the cabin restaurant had taken two days.
But those had all been small houses, which was why they hadn’t taken long. The house I was about to build this time was quite large in scale.
Designing a house normally took around two months.
They said the first step was the most important.
Since it was the most fundamental task, it naturally required a long time.
Before construction, there had to be a design process. It involved mathematical calculations and aesthetic considerations that formed the foundation of the house—complex matters that couldn’t simply be ignored……
‘Yeah, but that doesn’t really concern me, does it?’
Because……
Blueprint of a Building Blessed by the Goddess – 10,000P
Can only be built within the Farm!
I took the ‘blueprint’ out of my pocket.
It was enough to make me want to give a standing ovation.
‘This is why the System is great. It’s so convenient and efficient.’
All the complicated precision calculations could be entrusted to it.
Thanks to that, the time required for design had been drastically reduced.
Of course, it was a bit painful that it had drained all the points I had painstakingly saved up.
If there are residents in the Farm Owner’s house, you can earn daily points!
10P per resident
Current residents 0/6
Coincidentally, it seemed I could also earn points through the ‘house.’
If I filled all six resident slots, I could earn 60P per day.
That would be 1,800P in a month, and after half a year, I would surpass the break-even point.
‘Right. The initial investment is large, but it’s definitely not a losing deal.’
I unfolded the blueprint and carefully read through it.
Lapin, apparently curious, came closer and looked at it with me.
“Hmm, it looks like a strange drawing.”
“It may look strange, but this is going to be our house.”
After staring at it for quite some time, Lapin tilted her head.
The blueprint was densely packed with overlapping lines and incomprehensible symbols. To someone unfamiliar with it, it might as well have been a coded message.
“There are lines overlapping everywhere, lots of squares…… hmm, is it a house built like a spiderweb?”
Her description of it as a ‘spiderweb’ was oddly cute.
The blueprint did look complicated.
But for me, it was different.
The moment I read it, with the System’s assistance, the information flowed directly into my mind.
I understood it instantly.
The blueprint designated by the System showed six rooms.
Each room had a generously sized bedroom, with a private bathroom and toilet attached beside it.
It wasn’t just a space for sleeping.
The bedroom and living area were naturally divided. Structurally, it felt closer to a small residential unit rather than just a room.
If I were to describe it in modern terms, it would be closer to a ‘two-room’ layout.
The first residents would be Lapin and me.
As for the remaining rooms’ occupants……
‘I don’t know yet.’
But I wasn’t in a hurry. They would be filled eventually.
Piyooong…… piyong…….
At some point, the parakeet had fallen asleep while standing. I placed it back into ‘Animal Farm.’
‘It would be nice if construction could be finished within the break.’
In reality, even with five workers, building a two-story house would easily take half a year.
But this house would be built by Lupina, Lapin, and me.
If we used the power of spiritual beasts, the process could be significantly shortened, but there was no telling how quickly we could finish.
To complete it within three weeks, I would need all the help I could get.
There was one person who came to mind.
‘……Shia?’
She certainly had considerable physical strength, so she would definitely be helpful.
‘I’ll ask her when I bring her food.’
Just as that thought crossed my mind—
“Young Master, I’m here.”
Lupina, who had come to help with the work, was accompanied by two familiar figures.
“Lord Villed!”
“Senior Villed!”
Freckled Girl Hesti and Macgrim in a white beret.
I approached them and asked,
“What brings you two here?”
“Well, actually…… we were curious where you were staying, so we asked someone from the Administration Office. They said they were heading to you, so we followed along.”
“That’s how it happened. Haha…….”
Lupina scratched the back of her head awkwardly and laughed. Then she approached me and whispered,
“Young Master, did I cause trouble by bringing them? I thought they were acquaintances of yours and came together, but if I’ve inconvenienced you, I sincerely apologize…….”
“No. It’s fine.”
She looked ready to kneel at any moment, so I quickly shook my head.
Then I turned to the two of them.
“Your exam must be over?”
At my question, Macgrim nodded.
“Yes, it ended today. Thanks to you, Lord Villed, I was able to keep my spirits up and take it well. Now we just have to wait for the results.”
“They say the list of successful candidates will come out in a few days. Ugh, I hope we pass…….”
Hesti couldn’t hide her anxiety, but Macgrim looked calm, as if she already knew the outcome.
“Don’t worry. With our level, we’re at least in the upper ranks. We scored plenty after eating the toast you wrapped for us, Lord Villed. And Kaiel helped too.”
“Yeah……!”
They had only met because of the exam, but they seemed to have grown quite close.
But it felt like someone was missing.
“That blond boy isn’t here?”
At my question, Macgrim nodded.
“Kaiel said he was busy and left first.”
“……I see. By the way, what happened to the door?”
“The door we told you about in the dungeon?”
Recalling it, Macgrim shook her head with a faint smile.
“As soon as we went back, the door disappeared. We couldn’t find any trace of it. If it weren’t for the toast in our backpacks, we would’ve thought it was a dream.”
Her words made me recall a few days ago.
The day after Macgrim’s group visited, I had opened the restaurant again.
It took about an hour before new customers appeared.
A librarian from the library, a knight in armor—customers of various professions and ages.
But they all shared one thing in common: they were hungry.
Hesti spotted Lapin and approached her happily.
“Oh, Lady Lapin…… no, Senior! Hello!”
Lapin hesitated for a moment at the greeting but then replied.
“Hesti, nice to see you. What brings you here?”
“I came for the entrance exam. It just ended, and we came to visit Senior Villed.”
“Oh. Hesti, I hope you pass.”
“Thank you, Senior Lapin!”
At that, Lapin hesitated again.
Though her expression didn’t change much, her face looked slightly flushed.
She seemed subtly pleased.
I thought I knew why. When Lapin returned to my side, I quietly asked,
“Do you like being called ‘Senior’?”
“……Ahem.”
She cleared her throat softly and shrugged.
Meanwhile, Hesti and Macgrim had already wandered over to the foundation site.
The hardened concrete and the large rectangular outline must have piqued their curiosity.
“……But what is this?”
Macgrim asked, blinking.
“I’m building a house here.”
“Ah…… it looks quite large.”
“Yeah, it’s a house with six rooms.”
“Six rooms?”
Hesti and Macgrim blinked.
“One is mine, one is Lapin’s. The remaining four will be for other residents.”
“Wow, have you already decided on all the residents?”
“No. Nothing’s decided yet. I plan to accept applicants.”
“I see…….”
Macgrim slowly nodded. Her gaze lingered on the ground where the foundation work was underway.
‘They’re probably just curious. It’s not like the two of them would apply to live here.’
If Hesti and Macgrim passed the exam, they would naturally stay in the dormitory.
Lapin was an exception, having practically lived in the Livestock Shed, which was why she had decided to stay here.
But then Macgrim approached me quietly and spoke.
“……Lord Villed, may I ask you for a favor?”
“What kind of favor?”
“I’d like to recommend a resident.”