Chapter 9 …
My Slave No. 2 had outstanding strength, speed, and stamina.
“Yaaah!”
With a single powerful swing of his axe, a thick tree split with a crack and crashed to the ground.
For the record, the tool I’d put in Slave No. 2’s hands was the “Skilled Woodcutter’s Axe (D-rank).”
I’d scraped together every last coin left over from yesterday to buy it.
There were other options too—
the “Shabby Woodcutter’s Axe (F-rank)” and the “Inexperienced Woodcutter’s Axe (E-rank)”—but…
Since I was buying him one anyway, this benevolent master decided to go for the best one. So I chose the most expensive option.
Crunch!
Craaack—
Thud!
What a refreshing rhythm. It was ASMR at its finest.
I sat in the shade, sipping cool water and enjoying the sunlight and breeze.
‘Ahhh, this is the life.’
Raul probably thought I was suffering alone in that lonely little cabin, right?
But I’ve got a (suspicious but helpful) system, a (emotionally needy) spirit, a cute rabbit, and a (mysterious but useful) laborer.
‘And I’m about to upgrade my house, too.’
“Hehehe….”
I was in a great mood.
Just imagining how Raul would react when he saw how well I was eating and living already made me giddy.
‘And when the words “let’s get a divorce” come out of my mouth first…’
What kind of face would he make then? A wicked smile crept onto my lips.
He never would’ve imagined it. That Muriel would be the one to suggest divorce first.
Even if he pretended otherwise, Raul knew it. That Muriel had feelings for him.
If a woman who used to cling to him suddenly turned cold one day… with his personality, wouldn’t that be quite a shock?
“Huff… Master, one hundred logs—completed.”
At Lissian’s sudden voice, I snapped out of my thoughts.
He had planted the axe into the ground and was breathing heavily.
Clear beads of sweat rolled down his hair and skin, glittering in the light. …He looked like a celebrity doing a photoshoot.
“Your face is seriously insane….”
“Pardon?”
“Nothing. Good work.”
I stood up and walked over, patting his shoulder in encouragement. At the same time, I pulled up Lissian’s status window.
Stamina: 999
Mental Strength: 562
Luck: 314
Charm: 788
Talent: 627
Mana: 891
Divine Power: 0
All stats MAX: 999
“…….”
I’d already peeked at this once before coming into the forest, so this was the second time—but even so, it was still ridiculous.
What is he, a max-level character?
‘Meanwhile, my own stats are complete trash…!’
The sense of relative deprivation hit hard.
Anyway, Lissian was now fully recovered and perfectly fine. Probably thanks to “The Holy Breeder’s Touch.”
There was the side effect of having tamed him… but still, it was fair to say I’d saved his life.
“Let’s move the firewood to the cabin before sunset. I’ll help too.”
“Please rest, Master. I’ll handle it all.”
“How are you going to move all this by yourself?”
“I’ll just carry as much as I can. Like this.”
Lissian lifted twenty logs at once with ease. I stared at him, mouth hanging open.
“…You’re really strong.”
Definitely not human….
In the end, Lissian alone carried all one hundred logs to the yard in front of the house.
The spiteful spirit refused to help him, saying he should suffer a bit, and even if I tried, I could only carry one or two at most.
Standing on my tiptoes, I roughly ruffled Lissian’s cream-colored, sweat-soaked hair.
“You really worked hard.”
I should make him something tasty. Though “tasty” was a stretch when our staple was potatoes. Still, I’d found three bird eggs in the forest earlier and stolen them. Boiling those should do.
“Nini, give Lissian some water.”
“Okay~ Master.”
The spirit fluttered over and splash!—dumped water all over Lissian.
He ended up soaked from head to toe, like a drowned rat.
‘Are you insane…?’
I meant drinking water! Drinking water!
I promptly flicked Ninabel on the forehead.
“Ow! That hurts, Master!”
“Hey! How can you splash water on someone who just worked so hard?!”
“But he had to wash anyway!”
“Hurry up and give him water properly! If you bully him again, you’re in trouble!”
“Hiiiing….”
Only then did Nini create several nicely sized droplets of water for drinking.
While Lissian rested and drank, I purified all one hundred logs stacked in front of the house.
Paaah!
As a veil of iridescent light burst from my fingertips and wrapped around them, the dark, murky black-purple logs returned to their natural color.
At once, a system notification popped up.
<Let’s Upgrade the Living Space!> Quest Complete!
As a success reward, 3,000 coins have been granted.
Using 100 untainted logs, the living space will be upgraded.
(Small, shabby cabin → Somewhat livable single-story house)
‘Ooooh…!’
I didn’t know how much it would change, but just the fact that I could escape that decrepit cabin made me happy.
Heart pounding, I read the system’s next message.
Please choose the roof color.
Red
Blue
Green
???
“…?”
What is number four…?
‘Question marks… Random?’
Then it’d be safer to pick red, blue, or green. My gacha luck is atrocious.
‘Let’s go with a bright red.’
Just as I decided and was about to press 1—
“Master?”
“…!”
Startled by the sudden voice behind me, my hand slipped.
‘Sh—!’
You have selected Option 4: “???”!
I’d pressed the one option I absolutely shouldn’t have…!
“No—!!”
“Yes?”
I screamed internally and tried desperately to cancel, but it was useless.
Clack, clack—cheerful construction noises rang out as ribbons of strange, colorful light wrapped around the cabin.
“What on earth…?”
I heard Lissian’s bewildered voice, and then—
Living space upgrade complete!
You have obtained “Somewhat Livable Single-Story House”!
Enjoy a cozy life in your new home ♡
The system went ahead and finished the construction.
And finally, as the light faded, the new house was revealed…!
“…This is insane.”
It wasn’t flowers.
Not clouds.
Not waves.
It was a bizarre hamster-patterned roof…!
“Th-this is crazy! It’s ridiculous…!”
Brown, white, dark gray—hamsters of all different fur colors covered the roof.
Hamsters jumping around.
Hamsters cracking sunflower seeds.
Hamsters making a V-sign with tiny paws and winking ☆.
“What is this even supposed to be?!”
I collapsed onto the ground, pounding the earth as I laughed and cried at the same time. It was so absurd and ridiculous that I couldn’t even get angry.
I had to live in a house with a hamster-patterned roof? This had to be a dream, right?
‘Be honest with me… System, you’re not sane, are you…?’
(๑•᎑<๑)ｰ☆
Hey, don’t wink at me. You turned my roof into a hamster pattern…!
“…Master?”
“Oh my! Master! The house got bigger! Is this also Master’s power?! As expected, Master is amazing~!”
At the voices of Slave No. 1 and No. 2, I quickly pulled myself together.
I’d laughed myself silly, but I needed to explain this situation—especially to Lissian.
Ninabel was an idiot, so I could gloss things over with her, but Lissian didn’t seem easy to fool.
“Power…? Master, are you perhaps a mage?”
“Ah, not exactly.”
With practically zero mana, pretending to be a mage would get exposed instantly.
‘But I do have divine power.’
Ahem. Clearing my throat, I smoothly delivered the lie I’d prepared.
“I’m actually under the protection of a god.”
“…!”
But maybe it wasn’t even a lie.
Trait: ■■■ ■■■ ■■’s Blessing (□□ Adjustment)
Anyway, I was receiving some kind of blessing, right?
Whether it was from a god, a demon, or an alien race, I had no idea.
Still, I thought the odds favored it being a god. After all, I possessed divine power.
‘Purification is a branch of divine power to begin with.’
A purifier who appears once every thousand years… Ninabel had said that about me.
‘My goodness! A purifier appearing once every thousand years! Please, make me your slave!’
I’d been too overwhelmed at the time to think much of it.
But now that I thought about it again…
‘…Maybe I’m actually an incredibly amazing person?’
