Chapter 33: Staying the Night

“Remember anything?” Su You handed the grilled meat to Dolly. “If not, it’s fine. Eat something first.”

Looking at the delicate-featured woman before her, Dolly felt a strange sense of goodwill rise in her heart.

“Um… thank you. I’ll pay you.” Although Dolly still wasn’t sure who this woman was, the fact that she’d been able to bring Dolly here and was now roasting meat over the territory’s heart-fire gave Dolly some vague guesses.

But no matter who the woman was, it didn’t change the fact that she’d saved her.

Dolly had intended to take out some money to thank Su You for rescuing her and providing her with food and drink, but before she could do anything, Su You shoved the grilled meat into her hands, not giving her a chance to react.

“Eat first. We can talk about everything else later.” With that, Su You stood up, as if she was about to leave. “There’s a new guest. I’ll be gone for a bit—take your time and rest.”

At first, when Dolly saw Su You leave, she thought maybe the woman was embarrassed to accept her money. But after hearing the second half of her sentence, Dolly paused, then instinctively glanced toward the entrance of the territory.

If she wasn’t mistaken… there really was someone standing over there.

Since Su You genuinely had something to attend to, Dolly didn’t want to disturb her and could only thank her again to show her gratitude.

Su You actually didn’t care whether Dolly paid or not. After all, she was only doing this to build goodwill.

Wandering NPCs rarely had skills, because most of them didn’t have any backstory—no story, no past; their existence was simply to exist.

But Dolly was different.

Although Su You couldn’t see any other information about her, she could tell from Dolly’s clothing that she probably wasn’t an ordinary wandering NPC. Su You guessed she was someone with a backstory—in other words, an NPC with talents or skills.

But even if she was wrong and Dolly didn’t have any skills, Su You wouldn’t consider the grilled meat wasted. She needed people, and goodwill still needed to be built.

…

When Su You reached the gate, she saw a handsome, short-haired woman dressed in practical leather armor.

Not only that, but Su You could see what looked like a bow and arrows slung across her back…

Huh?

An NPC who comes with their own weapon?!

“Hello, are you the manager of this territory?” Duoya looked Su You up and down. Perhaps because they were both women and seemed about the same age, her previously cold demeanor softened a little.

Hearing this, Su You, who had only been guessing at her identity, now felt sure.

Because only tavern-recruited NPCs would know directly that she was the territory’s manager. In other words, this dashing, charismatic woman was Duoya.

If it weren’t for the fact that her current appearance was quite different from how she’d looked on the recruitment panel, Su You might have recognized her identity just from the bow on her back.

“That’s right, I’m the manager of this territory.”

“Su You. That’s my name.” As she spoke, Su You opened the gate.

Duoya didn’t enter right away. She stood at the entrance, surveying the territory… Though it was rather shabby, she didn’t show any sign of disdain.

Faced with Duoya’s appraising gaze, Su You remained calm, not at all embarrassed by her “poverty.”

Every territory starts from nothing, after all—there’s nothing to be ashamed of.

“Duoya.” After taking in her surroundings, Duoya looked at Su You and introduced herself, then stated her request.

“Lord Su, I’d like to stay here and rest for a day. If you’re willing, I can offer something in return as payment for lodging.”

As mentioned before, recruiting an NPC doesn’t mean they’ll automatically join you. The tavern recruitment only gives the player a chance to interact with the NPC. Whether the NPC actually joins depends on the player’s own abilities.

After all, the player doesn’t pay any price for recruitment. It’s impossible to get a powerful NPC for free.

Duoya’s request to stay the night was actually a “chance” set by the system—a chance for Su You to make her stay.

During this day, Su You could try to persuade Duoya to stay, whether through words or other means.

If, by the end of the day, Su You couldn’t make Duoya feel “I want to stay” or “I need to stay,” then she would leave the next day, and Su You’s recruitment attempt would be considered a failure.

As an “old city lord” who had recruited countless NPCs, Su You understood this well, so Duoya’s request didn’t surprise her.

“No problem, as long as Miss Duoya doesn’t mind how simple things are here.” Su You smiled, then led Duoya to the heart-fire.

When Su You returned with the short-haired woman, Dolly—who had finished her meal and was feeling full—immediately stood up.

“And this is…?” Duoya glanced at Dolly, a hint of curiosity in her eyes, but it quickly faded when she noticed the traces of hardship on Dolly.

Those marks were all too familiar to someone like Duoya, who’d spent years dealing with wild beasts.

Guessing what Dolly might have been through, Duoya’s mood soured a little. She also noticed that Dolly seemed to want to say something to the territory’s lord, so she gave them space, moving to the other side of the heart-fire and staring into the flames.

Dolly watched her leave but said nothing. At this moment, her attention was entirely on Su You.

“Thank you for saving me. I’m sorry I forgot to introduce myself earlier. My name is Dolly, and I’m a repairer with a merchant caravan. My companions and I ran into wild beasts in the forest… If it weren’t for you, I might have starved to death out there.”

Although Dolly was an NPC, in this digital world, NPCs were almost indistinguishable from real people—their behavior and AI were nearly identical to humans.

Therefore, under normal circumstances, even after such a disaster and being rescued, Dolly shouldn’t have revealed all her information so readily.

No matter the situation, no matter who the other person is, it’s always a mistake to reveal everything about yourself to a stranger."

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