Chapter 129: Yousen, Who’s Practically Paying to Join

Because she didn’t put much care into it, the snake—which was already a long, slender creature—ended up looking like a white mummy after Su You wrapped it up.

The black snake had a bad feeling the moment it saw Su You pull out the bandages, but it was too badly injured to move. Any movement risked reopening its barely-healed wounds. Besides, it trusted that Su You wouldn’t harm it, so it simply let her wrap it up like a mummy.

There were three bandages in total; Su You used two. When she was about to use the third, the system notified her that the target was no longer bleeding, so she just stuffed the last bandage into her backpack, planning to toss it into the crate in Residential House 4 later.

“Heal up on your own. I’ve left you some food. Once you’re better, hurry up and leave. If that mage comes after you again, I won’t step in next time.” With that, Su You put down some food and left the tool shed, leaving the door slightly ajar.

She didn’t bother worrying about how the snake, now wrapped up from head to tail, was supposed to eat or free itself. That wasn’t her problem. If a mighty forest boss couldn’t even deal with a few bandages, it might as well starve. She’d already done more than enough.

As for why she didn’t just kill the black snake for a big reward, she’d already explained: compared to the reward, it was more important not to let a new, potentially even more dangerous creature respawn here.

Besides, the snake might look half-dead, but Su You had no idea what its true condition was. She’d even tried using her detection skill to check its stats, but all she saw was a long string of “???”s.

She couldn’t even see its HP, let alone its attack or defense stats.

It might not be a match for Meike, but that didn’t mean she could easily take it down herself. If she wasn’t quick enough and it managed to bite her, she’d probably lose most of her HP—or even end up in a near-death state.

For now, building a friendly relationship with the black snake was clearly the most beneficial choice.

…

…

In the blink of an eye, another day passed. On the afternoon of the eighth day, Su You returned to her territory and finally met the last NPC she’d recruited—Yousen.

Unlike recruiting Buguo and Meike, recruiting Yousen was incredibly easy—so easy that “easy” didn’t even begin to describe it.

If the difficulty of recruiting someone was usually a 1, then recruiting Yousen was a 0.

When Yousen arrived at the territory, Su You wasn’t even there—she’d taken Laike to the mine to have him dig for copper ore and marble. When she got back, she found a young man had appeared in the territory.

That young man was Yousen.

Somehow, Yousen already knew Su You was the lord, so he immediately asked to join the territory. Before this, Su You hadn’t spoken a single word to him—their very first conversation was him asking to join.

If Su You hadn’t checked his stats and seen that both his favorability and loyalty were normal, she would have suspected something was off. After all, it was rare for an NPC to be so eager to “sell themselves.”

But since Yousen seemed perfectly normal and she needed to recruit him anyway, Su You simply agreed.

After joining, Yousen was assigned to live in Residential House 5.

Currently, the residential assignments in the territory were as follows:

Residential House 1 (Duo Li, Duo Ya), Residential House 2 (Lyle, Laike), Residential House 3 (Meike), Residential House 4 (used as a warehouse), Residential House 5 (Yousen).

As for Su You, she moved straight into the Lord’s Mansion as soon as it was built.

Even though Meike’s level had been suppressed to beginner, he was still a high-level mage, so Su You gave him a bit of respect and assigned him a private room.

To further increase his favorability, Su You even converted the extra space into a small kitchen and gave Meike access to all the ingredients in the territory.

At first, Meike was dissatisfied with the basic conditions, but the moment he saw the kitchen, all his complaints vanished. When Su You told him he could use any ingredients from the warehouse without restriction, he immediately gave her a whopping ten favorability points!

Honestly… this guy might be a bit useless and playful, but as long as you cater to his interests, he’s pretty easy to please.

In the past, Su You would never have dared to give him access to the warehouse, but now that he was a chef with advanced cooking skills, she wasn’t worried.

Meike’s cooking might not be great, but as long as the system’s programming was solid, it was fine.

With a willing, enthusiastic “employee” working for free, Su You finally had one less burden—she no longer had to cook for herself!

Besides giving Meike access to ingredients, Su You also put him in charge of the tavern, which was currently just a place to sell food.

Meike had no objections to being the tavern owner. In fact, every time he sold food for the first three times, he gave Su You an extra point of favorability—three sales, three points.

She wasn’t sure if this had triggered some special hobby of his, but as long as favorability went up, it was a good thing.

As Su You enjoyed the roast meat Meike had made, she couldn’t help but feel a bit emotional—she never thought she’d live to see the day she could safely eat Meike’s cooking.

In the past, Meike’s “dark cuisine” wasn’t just unpalatable—it could actually reduce your HP, and in severe cases, even inflict a bleeding debuff.

As a lord player, Su You couldn’t level up, and without special items, her HP would always be stuck at 100. That meant just a couple bites of Meike’s old cooking could be fatal.

So even though Meike used to force people to taste-test his food, he never dared mess with Su You—not just because he was afraid she’d dismantle his kitchen and confiscate his treasures, but also because he didn’t want to lose his “sugar daddy” who let him waste so many ingredients.

There was Su You, happily munching on roast meat, while Meike watched her eat with growing satisfaction.

After all, this was the first time in his life he’d seen someone willingly eat his food—and even pay for it!

“Boss, I’ll have two servings of berry roast,” someone called out to Meike, waving and handing over ten copper coins.

(End of chapter)"

"130. Happiness and Joy

This man was a member of the caravan. Not just him—other caravan members were also trickling into the tavern. They each took out their money and told Meike what food they wanted.

“Alright, here’s what you ordered.” Meike took their money with a cheerful smile and handed out everything they’d asked for in order.

“Thank you, boss! Your food is really delicious,” said Caravan Member A, grinning as he took his roasted meat.

He wasn’t just flattering Meike—yesterday afternoon, Meike had just finished studying a skill book and was assigned by Su You to run the tavern. So, the food they’d eaten yesterday was already made by Meike himself, not the soulless dishes churned out by Cheng Xinhuo.

Maybe it was the bonus from his advanced cooking skill, but Meike’s food really did taste better than what Cheng Xinhuo made.

Meike loved cooking, loved watching others eat his food, and loved it even more when people genuinely praised his cooking.

Just because of that one sentence from Caravan Member A, Meike’s affection for him shot up.

If the tavern didn’t belong to Su You, and if Su You hadn’t provided the ingredients, Meike probably would have given this guy a free meal on the spot.

“As long as you like it! There’s more if you want,” Meike suppressed his inner joy, his whole being radiating happiness.

Even though he’d only been in this territory for less than a day, the joy he’d felt in that short time was more than he’d experienced in decades!

Caravan Member A was sincere in his praise, but seeing Meike so happy made him feel a bit odd.

He actually knew that this seemingly simple, honest middle-aged man was the very same high-level mage who’d caused that huge explosion yesterday… Which raised a question: why would a high-level mage be so delighted just because someone complimented his cooking?

Caravan Member A couldn’t understand it, but he was too embarrassed—and too afraid—to ask.

After all, no matter how approachable he seemed now, the man was still a high-level mage. If he accidentally said something that hit a sore spot, it could end badly.

Actually, it wasn’t just Caravan Member A who found it strange—the other caravan members did too. But like him, they only dared to sneak glances at Meike’s expression and didn’t dare ask anything.

So, in this slightly awkward atmosphere, everyone finished their lunch.

“Lord Su!” Before they left, Caravan Member A approached Su You. “We’ll be leaving the territory tomorrow morning. The captain asked me to let you know.”

Afraid Su You might misunderstand, Caravan Member A quickly added, “Normally, the captain would tell you herself, but she has something urgent to handle today and isn’t in the territory, so she asked me to inform you in advance.”

Yun Li really did have urgent business. When she was about to leave the territory, Su You and Laike had gone to the mine and weren’t around. Plus, she couldn’t guarantee she’d be back tonight, so she asked another caravan member to pass on the message.

Su You nodded to show she understood, and after Caravan Member A finished speaking, he left with the others.

Actually, Yun Li leaving tomorrow was within Su You’s expectations, because the day after tomorrow would be the tenth day—the time when the dark creatures would attack.

It could be seen as some mysterious force prompting Yun Li to decide to leave, allowing the caravan to perfectly avoid the dark creatures’ attack, which was now less than twenty-four hours away.

After finishing her meal, Su You also left the tavern. Before leaving, she glanced back at Meike and saw he was still busy experimenting with new dishes. After a moment’s thought, Su You decided not to stop him… After all, with advanced cooking skills, no matter how strange the food turned out, it probably wouldn’t be inedible.

After leaving the tavern, Su You headed to check on the farmland.

Yousen had just arrived. Although he had planting skills and the perfect match trait, Su You still wanted to check on the fields herself, since Yousen’s eagerness to work for free still struck her as a bit odd.

When she got to the fields, she saw Yousen just putting away his bucket.

As he set the bucket down, Yousen looked up and saw Su You across from him.

“Lord, I’ve finished tending to the crops here. They’re all growing well.”

As he spoke, Su You looked over the ten plots herself. Just as he said, the nine fields were indeed in good shape.

As for why it was nine fields…

“By the way, Lord, the cotton in this plot just matured. I’ve harvested it and put it here for now.” Yousen pointed to the cotton on the ground, then continued, “Now that the cotton’s been harvested, this plot is empty. What would you like to plant next?”

“Plant cotton again. Did you get any cotton seeds from the harvest?”

Unlike wild plants, domesticated (field-grown) crops yield both produce and seeds when mature, so there’s no need to process the plant further to get seeds.

For cyclical plants like berry bushes, seeds drop on the final harvest.

Hearing Su You’s instructions, Yousen nodded and pulled out seven or eight packets of cotton seeds from under the pile of cotton.

“Don’t change the other crops for now. After harvesting, just replant the same thing as before,” Su You said, satisfied with the current planting arrangement. Since she didn’t have any new seeds, she wasn’t planning to change anything yet.

“Alright, understood,” Yousen replied obediently.

“If you want to earn some money after planting, you can check the bounty board to see if there are any suitable tasks for you.”

Yousen gave a shy smile, then hesitated, looking like he wanted to say something but was holding back.

Su You was about to leave, but seeing his expression, she paused.

“Is there a problem?” Su You asked, opening Yousen’s info panel. Aside from a slight increase in loyalty and favorability, all his stats were exactly the same as when she recruited him that morning.

Yousen nodded, looking a bit embarrassed—almost like a bashful bride.

Su You even thought she saw a faint blush on his face?!

After confirming she wasn’t seeing things, Su You was left completely bewildered.

(End of chapter)"

"131. Upgrading the Backpack

Su You: What? What just happened? Did I miss some major plot development?

Just as Su You was starting to feel a bit lost, Yousen finally spoke up.

“Um... Lord, I wanted to ask you—within the territory, is there someone with short hair, really skilled with a bow...”

Yousen had only gotten halfway through his question, but Su You already guessed who he was talking about.

Short hair, uses a bow—who else could it be but Duoya?

...So, could it be that Yousen likes Duoya, and that’s why he’s so eager to stay in the territory?

Su You didn’t know, didn’t really understand, and as a child, she found this plot twist a bit unusual and hadn’t quite processed it yet.

After hearing Yousen’s words, Su You, who was just over two hundred months old, had a rather complicated expression.

“You must be talking about Duoya. She is indeed one of the people in the territory.”

Yousen’s eyes lit up, and he quickly thanked Su You... The more he acted like this, the more convinced Su You became that her guess was right.

“There aren’t any rules against that in the territory, but I hope this won’t affect your work here.” Su You wasn’t Duoya, and she couldn’t see how much affection one NPC had for another, nor did she really care about NPC romances.

Even though, as the lord, she technically had the authority, she wasn’t about to make decisions for NPCs about their love lives.

But while she supported their freedom to fall in love, she didn’t want it to affect the NPCs’ loyalty to the territory.

In other words: Office romance? OK! Let it affect your work? NO!!!

Some people might think Su You was overthinking it—what’s the big deal if NPCs fall in love? It wouldn’t have any real impact. But only Su You knew that, in the past, when players tried to force NPC couples together, it led to decreased affection, lower loyalty, and sometimes even NPCs leaving the territory. There were even cases where an NPC, unable to get what they wanted, ended up blowing up the territory...

It might sound bizarre, but in a game with maxed-out realism and freedom, anything was possible.

Of course, these situations were rare and only happened if you really pushed your luck.

And as for the territory explosion incident, it was later debunked—the truth was that an NPC had mistaken (fake) explosives for a gift and given them to their crush, and, well...

Both NPCs were fine in the end, since the explosives were fake—just for show, no real power—but when your attempt to woo someone almost blows them up, it’s obvious things aren’t going to work out.

After that player posted about it on the forum, the story got twisted into: “Shocking! NPC blows up territory after being rejected!”

After hearing Su You’s words, Yousen nodded, then spoke seriously, as if making a promise: “I understand, my lord. Don’t worry... I’m not—”

“Alright, no need to explain. As long as you know what you’re doing.” Su You didn’t care for these kinds of promises, especially since it had nothing to do with her. Yousen didn’t need to make any guarantees to her—unless he was promising to devote himself to the territory’s development in the future...

But as things stood, if Yousen really was here for Duoya, he didn’t seem like the type to cause trouble, so Su You wasn’t particularly worried.

“Alright, get back to work. Good luck, kid—I have high hopes for you.” Su You didn’t specify what she meant by that, and after saying it, she left.

Su You headed to the warehouse, because she’d just seen Lake pushing a wooden cart back. Lake’s return meant he’d probably finished mining marble and copper ore.

After Warehouse 2 was built, Su You had switched the bounty board’s linked storage from a wooden box to Warehouse 2.

So she went to Warehouse 2 to collect the marble and copper ore, then took the materials to the workshop to finish the items she hadn’t been able to make yesterday due to a lack of materials.

Su You had two things to craft: copper balanced arrows, and her own backpack (upgrade).

The recipe for copper balanced arrows was: wood*2, copper ingot*1, feathers*5. It was the same as the stone balanced arrow recipe, just swapping stone for copper.

The materials and output were the same—each batch produced 10 to 12 arrows.

Su You had half a batch left from before, which was 25 feathers, so she used wood*10, copper ingot*5, feathers*25 to make 50 to 60 copper balanced arrows.

After putting the materials on the workbench, Su You started preparing the materials for the backpack upgrade.

The initial backpack was level 0, with only five slots. She’d previously used string and bark to upgrade it to level 1, doubling its space from five to ten slots.

Upgrading to level 2 was different—it required a lot more materials: advanced string, cloth (or soft fabric), some copper ingots, and beast teeth.

The reason for so many materials was that backpack space had a huge impact on game progress, so each upgrade required materials worth several times more than the previous level.

Su You had always wanted to go exploring, but hadn’t taken action. Partly because she needed to build up the territory (with the dark creatures’ attack looming), but also because of the backpack’s limitations.

The backpack was too small to carry much, so Su You felt that even if she went exploring, she wouldn’t be able to bring much back, which made her reluctant to go.

She took out the required materials and opened her backpack.

[Consume advanced string*10, cloth*5, copper ingot*2, beast teeth*5 to upgrade backpack to level 2?]

As before, when upgrading the backpack, the backpack interface closed automatically. When Su You opened it again, the space had doubled from ten to twenty slots.

Excluding level 0, the backpack had ten levels in total. Each level increased the number of slots, and starting from level 3 or 5, each upgrade also brought other changes.

For example, at level 3, the stacking limit increased to 100. Except for special items like tools, weapons, and equipment, all other materials could be stacked up to 100 per slot.

And since a level 3 backpack had 50 slots, it was basically like carrying a level 1 warehouse with you.

A level 5 backpack had 100 slots, with the same stacking limit of 100, but it also unlocked a feature called “auto-absorb”—which, as the name suggests, worked like a magnet to automatically pick up dropped items within a certain range.

This feature could be toggled on and off, and you could even filter which types of items would be auto-picked up."

"132. Food, Clothing, Shelter, and Transportation

If the level 5 backpack is already this impressive, then the level 6 backpack is truly extraordinary.

A level 6 backpack has 200 slots, but more importantly, it comes with a feature that almost every player at the time desperately wanted: any food stored inside the backpack would enter a “preserved” state—it would never spoil or rot as long as it wasn’t taken out.

In fact, it wasn’t just food. With the exception of certain special items, anything prone to rotting or going bad could be kept fresh forever in the backpack.

Although these backpack features sound amazing, according to some in-game statistics Su You once saw, only 2% of all players ever managed to upgrade their backpack to level 4. For level 5, it was just 0.4%, and as for level 6—fewer than ten players ever reached it.

As for level 7? Not a single player had ever achieved it.

Back then, Su You only upgraded her backpack to level 6 before giving up on further upgrades. Even though she had the resources to buy the materials needed for a level 7 upgrade, the cost simply wasn’t worth the benefit. Besides, 200 slots at level 6 were already more than enough for her, so she didn’t bother going any further.

By the mid-to-late stages of the game, most lord players rarely left their territories, so backpacks became less and less important, making further upgrades unnecessary.

Since she never upgraded beyond that, Su You had no idea what special effects a level 7 backpack might have.

And she wasn’t alone—none of the other players she knew had any plans to upgrade their backpacks either. So aside from rumors, there was zero information about level 7 backpacks, and the game company never released any official data on them.

With the backpack upgraded and the copper balanced arrows crafted—fifty-five arrows in total, which was about average—Su You stored the arrows in her backpack, since Duoya wasn’t in the territory at the moment. She’d give them to her when she returned.

Today, Su You had assigned Lake to mine copper ore and marble. She used some of the copper ore for making arrows and upgrading her backpack, and stored the rest in the warehouse for other uses.

As for the marble, she needed it for construction—she wanted to finish all the basic infrastructure in her territory before the first dark creature attack.

The first dark creature attack wasn’t just there to increase the game’s difficulty. Once a territory successfully survived its first attack (whether on day ten or fifteen), it would gain a huge amount of reputation (for fending off the dark creatures and becoming famous), and the player would also have the option to open their territory to outsiders.

This is what Yun Li was referring to earlier when she mentioned that Sunset Territory wasn’t “open to the public.”

The difference between an open and a closed territory is kind of like the difference between a shop that’s “open for business” and one that’s “closed.”

Once a territory is open, the number of visiting travelers and wanderers increases, more merchant caravans and traders will stop by, and population growth speeds up.

Su You needed to finish building all the essential structures in her territory before the dark creature attack. That way, when travelers or merchant caravans arrived, if they enjoyed their stay, her territory’s reputation would increase.

The more satisfied they were when they left, the more reputation she’d gain, and word-of-mouth would spread.

With their recommendations, even more people would come to the territory, creating a positive feedback loop.

The “essential” buildings Su You referred to could be summed up as “food, clothing, shelter, and transportation.”

First up: “clothing.” Su You already had a tailor shop, and Dolly had successfully leveled up her tailoring skill.

Although it was still at the beginner level and she couldn’t make anything too fancy, she could handle everyday items like clothes and bedding.

Next: “food”—places to buy and eat food.

For food, Su You already had a tavern and a diligent, passionate owner-chef, so there wasn’t much to worry about.

The only issue was that the menu was a bit limited, since the only ingredients available were meat and berries. But Su You had already planted wheat, rice, potatoes, and corn. With Eusen around, once these crops were harvested, the menu would expand.

Things like bread, corn pancakes, rice, crispy rice, baked potatoes, potato cakes, roasted corn… it was just a matter of time.

Then came “shelter.”

This mainly referred to residential houses and inns—both places where people could stay.

Shelter was actually even more important than the previous two. After all, you couldn’t expect visitors to just sleep on the ground, could you?

To provide accommodations, Su You used an inn card she’d previously obtained to build an inn in front of Warehouse 1. She also planned to build a row of residential houses alongside the training grounds, bringing the total up to ten.

Since wood was needed for other things, this was just a plan for now—she only used a building card to construct the inn for free.

An inn could house many people, while a residential house could only hold two. With an inn, there’d be enough space for everyone unless a large merchant caravan like Yun Li’s needed to stay over.

Residential houses were generally for permanent residents, while outsiders usually stayed at the inn. Of course, if someone really wanted to stay in a house, they could—as long as they paid extra.

Finally, “transportation” referred to roads and vehicles like carts and wagons.

Su You was already working on building roads, both inside and just outside her territory.

As for carts and wagons, the relevant building was a “mount shop,” but having a shop was useless without anything to sell.

Horses and donkeys had to be purchased from specialized animal-trading caravans. Since only one caravan had visited so far, it was unlikely another would show up anytime soon—and even if one did, it might not be selling animals. So for now, all Su You needed to do was improve the roads.

…

With food, clothing, shelter, and transportation taken care of, Su You looked through the building list for other common shops—

For example, a “tool shop” selling axes, shovels, pickaxes, fishing rods, and other tools; a “weapon shop” for all kinds of weapons; and an “armor shop” for various types of armor, and so on…"

"133. Travelers and Visitors

The construction materials for this type of shop are all the same: composite wood planks, composite stone slabs, and marble tiles.

Composite wood planks are synthesized from regular wood planks—5 wood planks make 1 composite wood plank, which means 60 units of wood are needed for 1 composite wood plank.

Similarly, composite stone slabs are made from regular stone slabs—3 stone slabs make 1 composite stone slab, or in other words, 48 units of stone for 1 composite stone slab.

Whether it’s a tool shop, weapon shop, or armor shop, all of these shops originally start as a “blacksmith shop.”

Once upgraded, the blacksmith shop can be converted into a tool shop, weapon shop, armor shop, or other types of stores. Before upgrading, the blacksmith shop can sell all items produced by the blacksmith.

The purpose of upgrading is to categorize these products. When items are sold in the shop that matches their category, they fetch a higher price, customers are more satisfied, and the shop gains its own reputation, which helps attract more people to the territory.

For example, a stone axe might sell for 25 copper coins at the blacksmith shop, but if sold at the tool shop, it could go for 35 copper coins.

The same goes for other items—selling them in the corresponding shop increases their price.

Other buildings similar to the blacksmith shop include the craftsman’s workshop and the tailor shop. Both can be upgraded to specialize in selling a certain type of product.

But since it’s still early days, there’s no need to split things up so finely, and Su You doesn’t have enough materials to build and upgrade so many buildings anyway. For now, she plans to build just one blacksmith shop, one craftsman’s workshop, and one tailor shop.

With these three shops, plus a tavern and a waystation, the territory’s basic commercial facilities will be complete.

[Consume 5 composite wood planks, 5 composite stone slabs, and 5 marble tiles to build a blacksmith shop?]

[Construction in progress: Blacksmith Shop. Estimated time: 300 minutes.]

...

[Consume 5 composite wood planks, 5 composite stone slabs, and 5 marble tiles to build a craftsman’s workshop?]

[Construction in progress: Craftsman’s Workshop. Estimated time: 300 minutes.]

The blacksmith shop, craftsman’s workshop, and tailor shop are all being built in the same row. The craftsman’s workshop is next to the tailor shop, and the blacksmith shop is right beside it.

After picking the locations, the construction countdowns began. Su You also took the opportunity to organize the remaining materials and tally up the quantities.

Thanks to the lumber mill, Lyle no longer has to haul logs back and forth. The lumber mill not only transports wood but also serves as a sheltered rest spot, so Lyle’s wood-gathering efficiency has increased by a full 50%.

Whereas before, chopping seven or eight hundred units of wood a day was exhausting, now gathering eleven or twelve hundred a day is easy.

Currently, the warehouse in the territory holds over 2,000 units of wood, though there’s less stone—just over 700 units.

Besides wood and stone, there are also plenty of other materials, like rope. Since fiber takes up too much space, Su You has turned it all into rope, so there are only about 300 ropes left in storage.

There used to be more rope, but Dory, who was in charge of collecting it, has now been assigned to the tailor shop, so no one is gathering fiber anymore. As a result, the rope supply is only going down, not up.

Even so, after several days of use, there are still over 300 ropes left, which shows just how hard Dory worked before.

But now that the territory is growing cotton—three whole fields of it—cotton can be used as a substitute for fiber, so whether or not anyone collects fiber isn’t that important anymore.

...

*Knock, knock, knock—*

Just as Su You was about to finish inventorying the warehouse, there was a sudden knock at the workshop door. Before she could open it, she heard Dory’s voice outside—

“Miss Lord, that little girl you and Doya brought back before—she’s come back again...” As Dory spoke, the door in front of her was already opening.

“Is it Buguo?”

Dory nodded. “Yes, she said her name is Buguo... Oh! And besides her, there are a few travelers and a wanderer outside the territory. They’d like to stay here for a while.”

“A wanderer?” Su You was a bit surprised. She hadn’t expected a wanderer to show up at this time.

But then again, the territory is short on people, and with a timed quest hanging over her, Su You was more than happy to welcome wanderers—in fact, she wished more would come.

“Yes, just one wanderer, and about three or four travelers. I didn’t get a good look. Right now, Lake is greeting them.” As Dory spoke, she led Su You to the tavern.

Lake had spent the whole morning mining stone and was exhausted, so instead of heading back out after turning in his quest, he decided to rest in the territory.

Coincidentally, the training ground had just been completed, so after lunch, he wanted to check it out and maybe get some practice in.

But on his way there, he saw a few people lingering at the territory’s gate. Out of curiosity—and for the territory’s safety—Lake went over to ask about their situation.

That’s how he learned they wanted to stay for a few days. Just then, Dory happened to pass by, so Lake called her over to inform Su You, while he took the newcomers to the tavern.

...

“This is a new territory, isn’t it?” Traveler A said, taking a big bite of roast meat and sighing with satisfaction. “I never expected such a small place to have such amazing food. This roast is incredible—better than anything I’ve had at the big city taverns.”

The best part was, not only was it delicious, it was cheap too.

He remembered paying over twenty copper coins for a piece of roast meat before, but here it was only ten!

Supposedly, the chef here has Intermediate Cooking Skills, which is why the price is so high... but honestly, this chef is way better.

Half the price, better flavor, and a generous portion—Traveler A, a true foodie, was instantly won over by this meal.

Lake just smiled and said nothing. He didn’t need to say anything—Meike, the chef, had already started chatting with Traveler A as soon as he was praised, leaving Lake with no chance to get a word in.

As for Traveler B, Traveler C, and the wanderer, those three were much quieter. After paying, they simply ate their food in silence.

(End of chapter)"

"134. The Great Liar

Oh, right, there was also a little girl named Buguo. She didn’t order any grilled meat—just a cup of berry juice. Then she hugged her bundle and sat quietly in the corner of the tavern, sipping her drink in tiny mouthfuls. She looked so calm and composed that she hardly seemed like a child at all.

Meanwhile, Meike and Traveler A were getting along better and better as they talked. If Laike didn’t know this was their first meeting, he would have thought they were long-lost brothers or something… How had their conversation gotten so friendly that they were now slinging their arms around each other’s shoulders?!

Weren’t mages supposed to be proud, arrogant, and aloof?

Laike tugged at the corner of his mouth, then turned his attention to the other two travelers and the wanderer.

These three all seemed like the quiet type, or at least not the kind to chat with strangers. So no matter how lively Meike and Traveler A’s conversation got, they barely reacted, just focusing on eating—until…

“What’s that…?!”

“Fire magic?! The tavern owner is actually a fire mage?”

“Am I seeing things? That really looks like magic!”

Laike himself had just taken out the food he’d bought earlier and was about to take a bite of grilled meat when he heard a series of exclamations erupt around him.

And the content of those exclamations gave him a strange suspicion.

He looked up, and sure enough, Meike—who had been chatting just a moment ago—was now back at the stove. One hand conjured flames out of thin air, which he used to roast a huge chunk of beast meat.

As the fire wrapped around the meat, the grill sizzled, and golden drops of hot oil slid down the marbled surface, finally dripping into the pan and pooling into a little golden puddle.

It wasn’t just a visual spectacle—the unique aroma of roasting meat filled everyone’s noses.

Even though the meat in their hands and the meat Meike was cooking were made from the same ingredients and prepared in the same way, somehow the piece in Meike’s hands just seemed more delicious.

Watching Meike use his mage abilities to show off his cooking skills, Laike was at first stunned. But after the shock wore off, the lofty, mysterious image he’d always had of mages came crashing down. All he saw now was a middle-aged man using fire magic just to grill meat—so down-to-earth it was almost comical.

And it wasn’t just Laike. The other three, who had barely spoken or moved, all stared with their mouths agape when they saw Meike using fire magic to show off his cooking.

What Meike didn’t know was that, thanks to his impressive culinary skills, he’d successfully led these newcomers into a major misconception: that all fire mages are naturally gifted cooks—and exceptionally good ones at that!

“Boss… you—you’re a mage?!” Traveler A stammered, feeling so dizzy he nearly fainted.

Especially when Meike nodded in confirmation, Traveler A’s eyes rolled back—he didn’t actually faint, but it was a close call.

Mages held a special status in this world. After all, less than one percent of the continent’s population had any magical talent at all… and talent alone wasn’t enough to become a mage.

Of those with talent, only half ever succeeded in becoming mages, making them even rarer and more prestigious.

At that thought, Traveler A suddenly realized something—damn, he was amazing!

He’d actually been slinging his arm around a mage!

He could brag about this for the rest of his life!

…Of course, Traveler A didn’t know that Meike was actually a high-level mage. Although he was currently only at the beginner level, as soon as he left (or withdrew from) the territory and was no longer restricted by the territory’s level cap, he would be a high-level mage.

If just meeting a mage was this exciting, imagine how Traveler A would react if he knew he’d just been buddy-buddy with a high-level mage—he’d probably faint from excitement.

But before they learned Meike’s true identity, they first met the lord of the territory.

“Greetings, my lord…” Including the wanderer, all three travelers asked if they could stay here for a few days. They weren’t sure exactly how long, but they were definitely interested in a territory where a fire mage worked as a chef.

Since Inn 1 was occupied by Yunli’s merchant caravan, and Inn 2 had been built instantly using a construction card (so it was ready immediately), the newcomers could move straight into Inn 2.

“This will be your accommodation, arranged by the lord,” Laike said, leading the four, now full, guests into the empty Inn 2 and giving them a brief introduction.

The prices were set the same as Yunli’s.

A single room cost fifteen copper coins, while a double room was ten copper coins per person.

The double rooms were furnished for two, so they were a bit smaller overall. If you wanted more comfort, a single room was the way to go.

Traveler A: “I’ll take a single room.”

Traveler C, hearing this, made the same request.

After a brief discussion, Traveler B and the wanderer decided to share a double room.

Laike collected their payment and led them upstairs…

…

…

While Laike was settling the four guests, Su You made her way to the little corner of the tavern and sat down across from Buguo.

“You were right,” Buguo said, sensing someone approach. She looked up and saw it was Su You, then muttered this out-of-nowhere remark in a gloomy tone.

Su You didn’t know exactly what Buguo had gone through after leaving yesterday, but she could guess that Buguo was referring to her earlier words: “That priest is a liar.”

Buguo took a big gulp of berry juice, so fast she almost choked.

…Honestly, if Buguo weren’t just a child, and if Su You didn’t know she was only drinking juice, her whole demeanor in this setting would have made her look like a jaded adult drowning her sorrows.

“He’s a liar—a big, fat liar!” Buguo slammed her wooden cup down on the table, the loud thud drawing Meike’s attention.

Meike glanced at Su You, then at Buguo… If he were a normal person, he might have been interested in the gossip, but clearly, Meike was not normal. He just curled his lip, shifted his posture, and went back to grilling meat.

To him, even magic wasn’t as interesting as cooking—let alone gossip.

(End of chapter)"

"Certainly! Here’s a fluent, natural English translation of the passage you provided:

---