Chapter 05
As expected, suspicious gazes pierced down on me. Cold sweat ran down my back.
“I read it in a book.”
At times like this, I had to stay calm and act confidently.
“There’s a book with that kind of content? What’s the title?”
“I’m sorry, but it’s been so long since I read it that I don’t remember the title.”
“Then can you go home and bring it?”
“Unfortunately, it was swept away during the last rainy season, so I don’t have it anymore.”
The eyes of Calix Kraubel sharpened.
But I had dealt with far worse jerks than him, so it didn’t bother me.
“Well, fine.”
Calix Kraubel placed the paper I had drawn down in front of me and said,
“Judging by this, you seem to have quite a bit of knowledge about construction. Would you like to work in the Urban Development Department?”
“…What exactly does the Urban Development Department do?”
From the name alone, it seemed related to city work.
“It’s the department responsible for everything from city design to construction and maintenance.”
Despite his blunt tone, Calix Kraubel added a surprisingly kind explanation.
“It’s the perfect place for someone with your level of construction knowledge.”
So it’s basically the same kind of work I used to do when I was ‘Han Seona.’
“Then how about joining and working for Belheim?”
Ding—
[1-2. Accept the Lord’s proposal.]
[Reward: 5,000p]
Why did a quest have to appear right now of all times?
And not even a sub-quest—it was a main quest.
Usually in games, you had to complete the previous quest to unlock the next main quest.
‘But I don’t want to do it.’
I liked construction work, and it made me happy to help people.
But since I had died from overwork once, I didn’t want to deal with stressful work this time.
I wanted to live a peaceful, leisurely life—the healing life I had always dreamed of.
And I definitely didn’t want to work under the final boss of a novel.
[If you fail the main quest, you will receive a penalty and your Life will be reduced.]
I was about to refuse the offer when a warning window appeared before my eyes.
[First penalty: You will lose all the points you currently have.]
Those were points I had painfully earned by running around nonstop during the rainy season—and I’d lose all of them?
That’s insane…
[If your Life is reduced three times, you will die immediately, so please be careful.]
“What?!”
At the horrifying mention of death, I shouted without realizing it.
The Lord frowned.
“Did you just speak informally to me?”
“Huh? Ah, no—I was just momentarily lost in thought…”
“Oh? You dared to think about something else in front of me?”
Ugh, no matter what I said, it didn’t seem like he’d let it slide.
And the system warning about death was seriously getting on my nerves.
Wait a second. If I absolutely had to do the main quest, then I could just change the conditions, right?
“Um… would it be possible for me to work temporarily?”
Having come up with a reasonable solution, I carefully suggested it.
“Temporarily?”
“Yes. It seems you need help with the triangular roofs and water channels, so I’d like to assist only with those parts.”
This way, I could complete the main quest while avoiding having to work under the Lord permanently.
Even I had to admit—it was a brilliant idea.
“I refuse.”
The problem was that the Lord had absolutely no intention of changing his proposal.
“If I continue working under you, people will point fingers at me.”
“Why?”
“Well, I just turned twenty, and I lack the experience to be in a management position.”
“Everyone has a beginning. And age has nothing to do with skill.”
I tried to persuade him somehow, but it didn’t work at all.
Though, this was different from people back there.
Manager Park and the other superiors always insisted that age equaled skill, and even rookies needed experience.
“My father is unwell, so I can’t be away for long.”
“Is that the same sick person who went hunting yesterday?”
…When did he even investigate that?
“I also have a timid personality and don’t really like socializing…”
“For someone timid, you speak quite well.”
Ugh, nothing I said was getting through.
“Stop with the useless excuses.”
As I struggled to find something else to say, Calix Kraubel spoke firmly.
“You seem to be under a serious misunderstanding. You have no right to refuse. If I say you’ll do it, then you will.”
Ha… just because he had power, he thought he could control people however he wanted. Same everywhere.
“What if I still don’t want to?”
Memories of being looked down on as a woman and harshly treated by Manager Park resurfaced, and before I knew it, I snapped back.
I realized my mistake too late, but I couldn’t take back what I’d already said.
“Then your father will be held responsible for raising his daughter poorly.”
…What?
“Is it acceptable for a Lord, who should protect his people, to threaten their lives?”
“If you’re worried about your father, then go work in the Urban Development Department.”
In other words, if Tabin died, it would all be my fault.
As expected of the final boss—what a rotten personality.
There was no way he had turned evil because of demonic influence. He had clearly been a bad person from the start.
“I hope you make a wise choice.”
After threatening someone’s life, he spoke as if I actually had a choice. It was disgusting.
The quest window floating in front of me, urging me to accept the Lord’s proposal, was just as irritating.
“I… will do it.”
I didn’t want an innocent person to die because of me, and I had to complete the main quest, so I had no choice but to accept his proposal.
“You made the right decision.”
The final boss smiled in satisfaction, annoyingly so.
[1-2. Quest Complete! You have been awarded 5,000 points.]
[Achievement unlocked: Rookie Architect.]
The system window sparkled brightly, almost as if it were mocking me.
Late afternoon, with dusk settling heavily.
Normally, this would’ve been the time to wrap up work and prepare to go home.
But due to the rainy season, buildings and roads had been damaged, so the Urban Development Department staff had been working overtime for days.
They had quickly finished dinner with sandwiches and were working hard when a skinny man hurried into the office.
“Did you all hear the news?”
“What news? Another building collapse?”
“Maybe a road collapsed this time. Hope it’s in front of your house.”
The employees, who had been exchanging trivial jokes, all turned to look at him.
The Urban Development Department was an important division responsible for designing and managing buildings within the territory.
But because the job involved a lot of rough work on construction sites, people avoided coming here.
As a result, they were always short-staffed, and even when they managed to hire someone, they would often quit.
So the fact that the Lord personally hired a new recruit—
“What? That’s good news.”
“Then why are you making such a fuss? I thought something serious happened.”
“Which family are they from? They must’ve graduated from the Academy, right?”
“Not only have they never been to the Academy—they’re a commoner!”
At his words, the noisy office suddenly fell silent, as if cold water had been poured over it.
But the shocking news didn’t end there.
“And on top of that—it’s a woman. A woman!”
“…A female commoner? How did someone like that get in here?”
“Exactly. This isn’t work a woman can do. Was she sent here just to organize documents?”
The office became noisy again.
Everyone started making all kinds of guesses about the mysterious woman the Lord had brought in.
“Hey, what if that woman… tried to seduce the Lord—agh!”
Toma Harens, the team leader of the Urban Development Department, smacked the employee who said something ridiculous.
“Say something that makes sense. Do you think the Lord is the type to fall for seduction?”
“Right. He’d probably cut your head off on the spot for trying something like that.”
Another employee snickered and agreed with the team leader.
“Then just say it—why hit me?!”
Smack—
“Ah! You hit me again!”
“Stop being noisy and go find out what kind of woman she is.”
“What difference does it make? If she’s someone the Lord personally placed here, we can’t just kick her out.”
“Then we’ll make her quit on her own.”
Toma Harens tilted his lips into a crooked smile.
“She won’t last even a month—just watch.”
