Chapter 34: The Repairer

It was hard to tell whether Dolly was just a little scatterbrained by nature, or if her goodwill toward Su You had skyrocketed after being saved by her, but at this point, Dolly had already told Su You everything about herself.

From her identity, to her experiences, to what she’d gone through afterward… and even her current thoughts.

“If I’m not mistaken, you must be the lord of this place, right?” Dolly asked. Su You nodded, not bothering to hide it.

After all, there was nothing to conceal—she was the only person in the entire territory, and she clearly had the authority to use the land. If she wasn’t the lord, who else could be?

Seeing Su You nod, Dolly’s smile grew wider, but soon her expression shifted to one of nervousness and apprehension.

“Miss Lord, I’ve lost contact with the caravan, and it’s obvious I can’t survive in this forest on my own. So I’d like to join your territory… Of course! I know this is a sudden request, but if you’ll let me stay, I’m willing to do anything you ask, as long as it’s within my ability…”

“You’re a repairer?” Su You interrupted, then took a damaged piece of animal hide from a wooden box nearby. “Can you fix this? If you can, I’ll let you stay.”

Repairers, also known as restorers, had a primary ability: repairing and restoring.

Anything described as “damaged,” “worn,” “rough,” or “broken”—whether it was an item, a tool, or even weapons and equipment—they could fix, as long as they had enough materials.

In truth, the moment Su You heard Dolly say she was a repairer, she’d already made up her mind to keep her. After all, the repair skill was both powerful and rare.

The reason she handed over the damaged hide was partly to make herself feel better—Su You could tell that Dolly’s words were sincere, with no false pretense.

Dolly clearly cared a lot about being saved, so Su You decided to let her repair the hide as a way of “repaying” her for the rescue.

Of course, there was another reason: to verify Dolly’s identity.

Though Dolly seemed genuine, Su You couldn’t be sure she wasn’t mistaken, so having her repair the hide was a way to confirm if she really was a repairer, and truly the caravan’s repairer.

To be a repairer for a caravan, your skill level couldn’t be low, so for her, fixing a hide should be an easy task.

And as it turned out, Su You’s judgment was spot on. Dolly was clearly delighted when she heard Su You’s request.

She took the damaged hide from Su You, carefully examining and feeling it all over before looking up to ask, “Do you have any thread? Or fiber scraps would work too.”

Su You handed her some string she’d previously used to tie up rabbits.

“Is this enough? If not, there are fiber plants over there—I can go gather more.”

Dolly looked at the three pieces of string, measured them against the hide, and then gave a precise answer.

“I’ll need about one more piece of string, or twelve strands of fiber scrap.” One piece of string required ten strands of fiber scrap to make, but if you only had fiber scraps, you’d need a bit more…

Even so, Su You chose to gather twelve strands of fiber scrap for her—after all, string had to be crafted, but fiber scraps were ready to use.

“This might take a little while, please wait,” Dolly said, then laid the hide flat on her lap, holding the string in one hand and pressing down on the hide with the other.

Su You had worked with repairers before—very skilled ones, in fact—so she was familiar with how they restored things, and didn’t pay much attention.

After all, the Sunset Continent wasn’t a “scientific” world. There were dark creatures, dwarves, elves, and even mages and healers in the human lands—this was a continent full of diversity.

Repairers were people born with the gift of restoration, able to channel repair energy.

Their method wasn’t like the old days—no “sewing up torn clothes with a needle and thread.” Instead, they fused materials into the damaged item using their own energy.

The first time you saw it, it was pretty novel, but after a while, it lost its charm.

Still, just because Su You wasn’t interested didn’t mean others weren’t.

As Su You was about to try making another batch of berry-roasted meat to see if she could win over Duoya, she noticed that Duoya—who had been sitting silently on the other side of the central fire, withdrawn as usual—had lifted her head and was staring intently at Dolly’s hands.

Su You was puzzled, until she noticed something beside Duoya.

She suddenly realized how she might be able to get Duoya to stay…

…

…

“All done! How’s this?” Dolly looked at the now perfectly restored hide, a happy smile appearing on her face as she handed it to Su You, waiting nervously for her response.

[Animal Hide · Restored]

Category: Material

Quality: Common

Description: An ordinary animal hide, obtainable through hunting, used for crafting equipment or items.

…

“Thank you, you did great.” Any item that’s been repaired gets the “Restored” tag, but it’s just a marker—it doesn’t affect its use at all.

This restored hide could even be stacked with hides that were never damaged in the first place, and once stacked, the “Restored” tag would disappear.

Hearing Su You’s praise, Dolly let out a sigh of relief.

She still remembered what Su You had said earlier—if she could repair the hide, she’d be allowed to stay.

Honestly, fixing the hide was a piece of cake for her, so once Su You stated her condition, Dolly’s nerves had already eased.

“Do you just want to stay, or do you want to join the territory?” Su You put away the hide and looked at Dolly, confirming her intentions.

Dolly was stunned for a moment, then, after a few seconds of silence, gave her answer: “Sorry, I might not have made myself clear earlier—I want to join the territory.”

“I hope the lord will let me join. I’ll do my best to help build up the territory and make it bigger and stronger.”

Su You narrowed her eyes, sensing something in Dolly’s words.

The reason she’d asked was because Dolly had previously said she wanted to “stay,” not “join the territory.”"

"35. The Broken Bow

There’s still a big difference between the two.

One is just temporarily staying here, like Doya. Dory’s stay might last a bit longer, but she’ll leave eventually.

But joining the territory is a different matter.

Once an NPC joins a territory, they won’t leave unless the territory is destroyed or for some special reason.

Dory’s attitude just now was a bit ambiguous. Su You wasn’t sure if she was doing it on purpose, if she hadn’t realized it herself, or if she was just wavering in her decision...

If Su You guessed right, everything Dory said about her experiences was true, but she was definitely hiding something.

And what she was hiding probably had to do with why she was willing to join the territory.

Otherwise, her choice should have been to stay for a while, find a chance to contact her original caravan, and then return to them. If she chose to join the territory, that basically meant she was giving up on going back...

“Dory, welcome to the territory.” No matter what Dory was hiding, it was her own private business. As long as it wouldn’t affect her or the territory, Su You didn’t want to pry.

If their relationship improved in the future, Dory would naturally open up if she wanted to. Asking now would only lower her favorability. If Dory decided not to join because of this, Su You would lose out.

After all, Dory was a repairer—and not a low-level one.

[A wanderer has applied to join your territory. Please check and process the application promptly.]

Su You ignored the system prompt and looked at Dory, continuing, “As you can see, the territory has only just been established. There’s nothing here yet, so you might have to put up with some hardship these next few days.”

Dory shook her head. She didn’t feel put out at all. After what happened, she was just grateful to have a safe place to stay.

She was very thankful to Su You.

“It’s fine. Every territory starts from nothing. Since I’ve joined, I’m willing to watch this place grow and develop...”

Dory spoke sincerely, which made Su You like her even more.

“Go get some rest. Didn’t you say you haven’t slept for days?” Su You pointed toward the tavern, signaling for her to go rest inside.

Dory knew her own condition, so she didn’t try to tough it out. After telling Su You, “If you need help with anything, just let me know,” she headed for the tavern.

But she had barely taken two steps when someone called her name from behind. It wasn’t Su You’s voice.

Dory stopped and turned to look at Doya.

“Is there something you need?” She didn’t know this short-haired woman, and it seemed the lord didn’t know her either—Dory could sense the distance between them.

If she guessed right, this woman was probably like herself: just passing through and planning to rest here for a while.

The difference was, Dory had now decided to stay and join the territory. As for the other woman’s plans, she didn’t know.

“You’re a repairer. Can you fix anything?” Doya’s tone wasn’t very friendly—rather cold, actually—but she didn’t mean it that way.

She realized it too, and quickly adjusted her manner. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop on your conversation... I have something that needs repairing. If you can fix it, you can name your price.”

Dory looked at Doya, then at Su You.

“Can I see what it is first?” Judging by how serious Doya looked, Dory didn’t know what the item was, but she could tell it meant a lot to this woman.

Hearing this, Doya took off what she’d been carrying on her back.

From the front, Dory and Su You had only seen a bow slung over Doya’s shoulder. But when she took it off, they realized she’d been carrying two bows all along.

One was intact, but the other was broken in two, only the handle remaining—no bowstring, nothing else.

Looking at the broken handle, Dory already had her answer—she knew she couldn’t fix it.

She didn’t even recognize the material the handle was made from.

If she didn’t know the material, how could she repair it?

As a repairer, the first thing they learn is to identify materials. Dory had aced her materials class, so if she didn’t recognize this, it meant it wasn’t in any of her textbooks.

If it wasn’t even in the textbooks, there were only two possibilities: either it was a brand-new material that had only appeared in recent years, so she’d never learned about it; or it was extremely rare and precious, and thus not recorded.

Either way, it wasn’t something she could get her hands on, so she couldn’t fix it.

And even if she had the material, she didn’t have the skill.

The higher the grade of the material, the more energy it took to work with. With something not even in the books, Dory doubted even her teacher could repair it.

Forcing a repair would only harm herself and destroy the item.

As Dory was searching for a tactful way to decline, Doya had already read the answer in her expression.

“Sorry to bother you. Go get some rest.” Doya carefully put the broken bow away, her face showing no disappointment.

She’d seen and heard this answer many times before.

Dory opened her mouth, but didn’t know what to say, so she just went to the tavern to rest.

After Dory left, only Su You and Doya remained.

Based on Doya’s actions and what she knew of her story, Su You could guess the story behind the bow.

It was probably the bow Doya’s father had used when he was alive. As for how it got broken, it likely had something to do with the wolves.

“Lord Su, is there something you want to say to me?” Doya had noticed Su You watching her openly for a while.

She didn’t know what Su You was thinking, but that didn’t stop her from asking directly—after all, that’s what mouths are for.

Su You said, “I know what material that bow is made from.”

At her words, Doya’s expression changed."

"36. Dragonbone Pattern

This was, up until now, the only time Duoya had shown any real emotional fluctuation.

In fact, before Su You chose Duoya as her candidate, she had already guessed that Duoya would be a difficult NPC to recruit. After all, the more powerful an NPC was, the higher their demands for the territory would be.

If Su You had chosen Duolin or Duomi instead, her chances of successfully recruiting them would have been much higher, since those two weren’t particularly strong NPCs, and they were both quite young.

Youngsters, inexperienced in the ways of the world, are much easier to persuade (or fool).

But she still chose Duoya, because every NPC has their own preferences and needs—and what Duoya wanted was this bow.

That was also why Su You had felt confident she could get Duoya to join her territory.

Because she had seen the half-exposed broken bow, recognized the material it was made from, and guessed who its owner was.

“You really know what this material is?” Duoya seemed a little agitated, staring straight at Su You, trying to read any sign of guilt or uncertainty from her face.

But she saw nothing.

“That’s right. Not only do I know what this broken bow is made of, I also know how to obtain the material.” Though, in truth, she only knew the method—she’d never actually acquired it herself.

This material was no ordinary thing. Even back when she had a max-level account, she’d never managed to get her hands on it, let alone now.

As for Duoya in front of her… it was even less likely she could get it.

“What do you want? As long as it’s something I have, I’m willing to trade it for this information.” Duoya did have some doubts about whether Su You was lying, but she couldn’t think of any reason for Su You to deceive her—after all, there was nothing for her to gain.

So she was willing to believe Su You, though her trust was tinged with a sense of “trying anything in desperation.”

Less than a year after her father left, her mother passed away in grief, and even the young sable her father had given her… Now, all she had left was this bow.

As long as she could repair it, she was willing to pay any price.

At this moment, Su You didn’t know about Duoya’s mother or the young sable, since those were part of the “supplementary story”… Su You only knew that such stories existed, not what they contained.

A supplementary story meant the system would automatically fill in a reasonable backstory, giving these NPCs a reason to be here.

Otherwise, if Duoya’s father had left but her mother was still around, there’s no way she would have abandoned her mother just to wander the world in search of a way to repair a bow.

No matter what, an object can’t compare to a living person—Duoya wasn’t an irrational person.

But now, she was all alone, and the only thing worth remembering was this bow. That’s why she could travel mountains and rivers, all across the land, just to repair it… In this way, the story made much more sense.

Some people, after learning about the concept of supplementary stories, might wonder, “If you don’t choose Duoya, wouldn’t she at least get to live with her mother?” It’s as if the player’s choice is the butterfly’s wing that erases Duoya’s mother from existence.

But that’s not actually the case.

If Su You hadn’t chosen Duoya, then Duoya simply wouldn’t exist in this world at all.

…

Back to the present—Su You actually didn’t mind telling Duoya about the material and where it came from. But her ultimate goal was to gain favor, to get Duoya to stay.

But from the look of things, Duoya’s idea was to learn the source of the material, then try to get it herself and repair the bow.

That was exactly what Su You didn’t want to see.

“I can tell you about the material for free, but then what? What are you planning to do?” Su You didn’t wait for Duoya to answer before continuing, “I don’t know what this bow means to you, but I can tell you clearly—even if you know what the material is, you won’t be able to get it.”

Duoya: “…”

Duoya didn’t know Su You wanted her to stay, so she was confused as to why Su You was saying all this.

After all, there was no real connection between them—they were just strangers. Whether or not she could get the material, what did it have to do with Su You?

No matter how clever Duoya was, she was no match for Su You—after all, Su You had cleared the game before and was well-versed in the art of talking to NPCs.

So, just as Duoya was about to say, “This doesn’t really have much to do with you, Lord Su,” Su You spoke up again.

“Let me tell you about the material first… It’s called ‘Dragonbone Pattern.’ But it’s not the bone of a dragon, nor is it the bone of any other creature. It’s actually a type of tree that grows in a dragon’s lair, nurtured and irrigated with dragon blood.”

If nothing else, just from the name alone, you could tell this material was extraordinary.

And after hearing the details, it was even clearer how rare and precious it was… In fact, “rare and precious” didn’t even begin to describe the scarcity of Dragonbone Pattern.

No wonder Su You had never managed to get it before—dragons were not easy to deal with, and if they were willing to irrigate something with their own blood, it meant the Dragonbone Pattern was valuable to dragons themselves… Which made it even less likely they’d ever trade it away.

Maybe it was because what Su You said was so shocking, but Duoya’s eyes flickered with suspicion and confusion.

She didn’t really trust Su You’s words, even though she couldn’t see any reason for Su You to lie.

“Lord Su, this is my father’s bow. He was just an ordinary hunter—how could he possibly have a bow made from something as rare as Dragonbone Pattern?”

It wasn’t that Duoya was belittling her father, but she simply couldn’t believe that someone powerful enough to possess Dragonbone Pattern would die to a pack of wolves.

In other words, if this really was a Dragonbone Pattern bow, then how could it fail against wolves?

Duoya wanted to believe it was made from Dragonbone Pattern, but only if her father hadn’t died.

To Duoya, what Su You said was completely contradictory, though Su You herself “didn’t know” where the contradiction lay.

But in reality, Su You did know Duoya’s story, knew who the bow’s owner was, and knew that an ordinary hunter couldn’t possibly have a bow made from Dragonbone Pattern…

But so what?

Whether an ordinary NPC could have a Dragonbone Pattern bow wasn’t Su You’s concern. All she needed to do was prove what she said was true… in other words, to prove that this was Dragonbone Pattern."

"37. Short-handed

“I don’t know much about your father’s situation, but to prove I’m telling the truth, you can soak it in the water for a bit.” Su You pointed to the nearby creek and continued, “Dragonbone is nurtured with dragon’s blood. Years of soaking infuse it with dragon’s blood, and when dragon’s blood meets water, it causes certain reactions…”

What kind of reaction exactly, Su You didn’t say.

If Duoya was willing to believe her, she’d try it herself and find out. If she didn’t believe her, then saying more would be pointless.

For a while after that, Duoya didn’t do anything, and Su You simply acted as if she wasn’t there.

Once she finished what she needed to do, Su You picked up her axe and went back to chopping wood.

Originally, this job should have been left to the new NPCs, but of the two who’d arrived, one wasn’t ready to join yet, and the other was in poor condition… No matter how short-handed Su You was, she couldn’t send someone in that bad a state to do heavy labor like chopping wood.

So, in the end, she had to do it herself.

The “Territory Join Request” notification had been flashing since earlier, but Su You still hadn’t opened it.

Because there was no point.

Without a residential house, she could only see who had applied to join the territory, but there was no button to approve their application.

Rather than waste time looking at that, she might as well chop a few more trees and hurry up with building houses.

A residential house required ten planks to build, but its interior was quite spacious. Most importantly, each house had two single beds.

In other words, one ordinary house could accommodate two NPCs, increasing the territory’s population capacity by two.

[Obtained Wood x2]

[Obtained Wood x3]

…

When she finished chopping the nearby trees, Su You moved to another spot to keep working.

The animal hide that Dory had repaired earlier was now a pair of shoes on Su You’s feet. Although chopping wood didn’t require much walking, the hide shoes were more comfortable than straw sandals, so even standing and chopping, she could feel her feet were more relaxed.

Whether it was just her imagination or not, as long as it was more comfortable, it was a good thing.

She kept using the same axe over and over, not really paying attention to the time. Eventually, when a full-durability whetstone was used up, Su You saw Duoya walking toward her.

Su You put down her axe and looked at her, then her gaze shifted to the broken bow in Duoya’s hands—

[Activated · Broken Dragonbone Bow · Part 1]

Actually, Su You had checked this broken bow earlier, but at the time, its name was [Broken Dragon?? Bow · Part 1].

Even though only half the name was displayed, Su You didn’t rely on the name to identify the material—she recognized dragonbone on sight. So even with an incomplete name, the character “dragon” was enough to confirm her guess.

Maybe because it had now been activated, she could see the full name clearly, with an “Activated” prefix in front.

Su You knew what “activation” meant. Some special materials needed to be activated in certain ways, or they wouldn’t display their true properties.

In an unactivated state, even equipment made from the best materials would be no different from ordinary gear.

Activated equipment could also be sealed again in certain ways… While she was thinking about this, Duoya had already walked up to her.

“I tried it. I believe you, but I don’t know why you’re doing this.” Duoya wasn’t one for beating around the bush, as her previous way of speaking had already shown.

She hadn’t believed Su You at first, but maybe because Su You seemed so genuine—and also, she couldn’t find any reason why Su You would lie to her.

So she took the broken bow to the creek.

The result was obvious: she saw with her own eyes as the bow in her hands changed from ordinary black ebony, its dark sheen fading, the whole thing turning a fiery red.

Not only that, the smooth surface she’d carefully maintained now showed scale-like patterns.

If she hadn’t seen it herself, Duoya would never have believed it.

Combining this with what Su You had said, Duoya suspected the patterns were dragon scales… The very fact she was thinking this way meant she had started to trust Su You, using the information Su You provided as a basis for her own deductions.

So she came over—partly to apologize for her earlier attitude, and partly because she wanted to know why.

Why did Su You tell her about the material for free, yet act like she didn’t want her to go on an adventure?

“Since you now believe it’s dragonbone, you should also know there’s no way you could get this material yourself… right?” Su You happened to be a bit tired, so she put away her axe, gathered up the wood on the ground, and talked to her.

“My goal is simple… You can see for yourself, this is a brand new territory, and I’m the lord here. At the start, every territory lacks everything—especially people.” Not only did Duoya dislike beating around the bush, Su You didn’t like it either.

If revealing her intentions too soon would make Duoya leave, or make everything she said after less believable…

If Duoya knew from the start that Su You wanted her to join, she’d definitely think Su You was exaggerating about the bow’s material just to make her give up.

In that case, Duoya wouldn’t have done the experiment.

But if Su You used the dragonbone information to earn her trust, then she could propose a deal.

That’s right—a deal.

“You’re an excellent archer, and the territory needs combat power in its early days. Here’s my offer: I can help you gather dragonbone material, and I can also help you find someone to repair your bow.”

“Of course, I have to be clear—it’ll take some time. It’s not something I can do in ten days or half a month.”

Maybe because Su You had earned a lot of goodwill by telling her about the material, Duoya didn’t yet have a clear answer about whether she’d stay, but she didn’t doubt Su You’s honesty.

“I’ll think about it.”

“Go ahead.” Su You had said all she needed to say, and didn’t try to persuade her further. Duoya was clearly not someone who could be easily talked into something.

If she wanted to stay, she would. If not, she wouldn’t."

"38. Wild Boar

“Oh, by the way, there’s some roast meat by the fire in the center of the settlement. If you need it, help yourself.” Su You wasn’t particularly picky about food—as long as it wasn’t some truly inedible abomination, and as long as it filled her up, she’d eat pretty much anything.

As for this berry-glazed roast, she didn’t plan to eat it herself. She intended to use it to build goodwill, or as a trade item.

Maybe because she already knew Su You’s goal was to keep her around, Duoya didn’t read too much into Su You’s gestures of goodwill, but she wasn’t about to accept them easily either.

After all, Su You had already done her a favor by letting her stay for a day. Regardless of whether Su You had other motives, that didn’t change the fact that she’d helped her.

But just as Duoya was about to refuse, she heard Su You speak again: “If you don’t want to owe me a favor, could you help me catch some small animals? I only need the hides. I can cook the meat for you for free—so even if you decide to leave tomorrow to look for materials, you’ll have something to eat on the road.”

Duoya: “……”

Duoya: “…Alright. Thank you.”

Duoya’s initial refusal was simply because she didn’t want to owe anyone, but since Su You put it that way, she had no reason to refuse anymore—especially since she really was a bit hungry.

She’d originally planned to go hunting in the forest after talking with Su You, or at least look for something to eat… Thinking of this, Duoya subconsciously touched the bow and arrows on her back, then walked over to the fire in the center of the settlement and took the berry-glazed roast.

Besides the roast, she also spotted a cup of water by the fire.

She hesitated for a moment, then sat down and slowly filled her stomach with water and roast meat.

After finishing, she took the empty wooden cup to the stream to rinse it, then put it back in its original place.

After that, she slung her bow and arrows over her shoulder and headed into the forest.

Watching Duoya’s figure gradually disappear among the trees, Su You, now rested, picked up her axe and went back to chopping wood.

……

……

By noon, Su You let out a breath, packed up the third batch of wood she’d chopped, and headed back to her territory.

Although there were trees everywhere nearby, for various reasons, Su You wanted to preserve the ones closest to her territory, so she’d gone a bit farther out to chop.

But this was a forest, after all—no matter how far she went, she was still surrounded by trees.

It took Su You three minutes to return. But before she even stepped into her territory, the scene inside made her freeze in shock.

Her previously empty territory was now covered with animal carcasses, big and small. Besides the rabbits she’d caught before, there were several roe deer, a fire-feathered chicken, a deer…

And even a wild boar!

Su You: “???”

Staring at the wild boar, Su You’s eyes filled with astonishment.

Anyone who knew about wild boars knew how formidable they were… and in the game, their combat power was nothing to scoff at either.

Frankly, Su You couldn’t even imagine how Duoya had managed to kill a wild boar.

When Duoya saw Su You return, she paused in her work of processing the animals. She seemed about to say something, but when she noticed Su You’s gaze fixed on the wild boar, she frowned slightly.

“Lord Su, you don’t know where this wild boar came from either?” The amount of information in Duoya’s question was enough to throw Su You’s thoughts into confusion for a moment.

What did she mean by “you don’t know where the wild boar came from either”…? Didn’t Duoya kill it?

Su You realized she might have misunderstood something.

She sat down beside Duoya and shook her head slightly. “No idea. I was out chopping wood all morning.”

Thinking about it, she felt a bit lucky she’d been out.

If that wild boar had been alive, Su You definitely wouldn’t have been able to handle it. It was even more troublesome than the Fire Demon Lord.

Duoya had already guessed the answer when she saw Su You’s shocked expression, but hearing Su You confirm it, her frown deepened.

“If it wasn’t us, then could it be…” Duoya glanced at the tightly shut tavern door, but left her sentence unfinished.

There were only three people here. If it wasn’t Su You or herself, the only other possibility was Dolly… but Duoya didn’t think Dolly had the strength to kill a wild boar.

So… was there a fourth possibility?

“I suspect there’s something…” Again, she trailed off, looking at the rabbit she’d already skinned and suddenly standing up.

“Consider these the payment for letting me stay tonight.” As she spoke, Duoya placed several processed animals, large and small, in front of Su You.

“I’m going to check the area.” What she’d left unsaid was that she suspected there was a large creature nearby, and that the wild boar had probably been killed by this mysterious animal.

As for why the wild boar’s corpse had ended up here, that was anyone’s guess.

If there really was a large creature, it would have left obvious traces, so Duoya needed to investigate.

Whether for her own safety or for other reasons, she had to figure out what was going on.

But just as she was about to leave, Su You stopped her.

“No matter what kind of creature it is, the territory itself is absolutely safe.” But if she left, there was no telling what might happen.

Every territory, once established, had a three-day protection period. During this time, the territory was invincible—not even a wild boar, or even a dragon, could harm it in any way.

But only Su You knew about this; Duoya obviously had no idea such a “protection period” existed.

“Does Lord Su know what’s going on?” Duoya’s gaze changed as Su You blocked her path.

She looked Su You up and down again, but aside from the fact that Su You’s shoes had changed from straw sandals to fur boots, she was the same as before.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but I do know the territory is absolutely safe.” Su You’s expression didn’t waver under Duoya’s scrutiny.

Whether Duoya believed her or not, she didn’t try to leave again.

She glanced at the wild boar and asked, “What do you plan to do with it, Lord Su?”

Seeing that Duoya wasn’t planning to leave anymore, Su You sat down and started sorting through the animal drops—storing what needed to be stored, preparing what needed to be cooked, and setting aside Duoya’s share.

But after hearing Duoya’s question, she realized she should probably deal with the wild boar first, so she walked over and began examining it from top to bottom."

"39. Building a Residential House

“Throw it… hmm? What’s this…?”

After confirming that the wild boar was dead, Su You was planning to ask Duoya to help her toss the boar outside. After all, it was another creature’s trophy, and it wasn’t appropriate to leave it here—nor would it be right for her to just claim it for herself.

But as she was inspecting the wild boar, Su You discovered something pressed underneath its body.

She dragged the boar a few steps to the side, revealing the object in full—a rather worn-looking wooden cup.

Duoya noticed Su You’s actions and glanced over as well, so she also saw the wooden cup lying on the ground.

“Did it steal this?” That was the only explanation Duoya could think of.

Otherwise, she couldn’t understand why a wild boar—or any clearly non-human creature—would have a wooden cup, something only humans would make.

Besides, Duoya had just used a wooden cup Su You made to drink water, so she immediately recognized that although this cup was a bit old and dirty, it was almost identical to the one she’d used earlier.

Su You stared at the cup for a few seconds, then seemed to realize something.

“It’s fine… Let’s just keep the wild boar. Could you help me process it? As payment, you can take some of the meat for yourself, and I can help you prepare it later.” Su You had other things to do and didn’t have time to deal with such a large boar, nor did she really know how to process it.

Duoya, on the other hand, had followed her hunter father for over a decade and was used to this sort of thing. She was definitely more skilled and faster at it than Su You.

From Su You’s reaction, Duoya sensed she might know something, but she didn’t ask further. She simply walked over to the boar.

“I can help you butcher it, but I won’t take any meat. I’ve got plenty of my own, and I can’t carry too much anyway.” Duoya didn’t refuse; after all, she was free at the moment. “Do you have a knife? My hunting knife isn’t in great shape.”

When Su You heard she had a hunting knife, she put away the stone knife she’d taken out and instead pulled a whetstone from her backpack.

“I only have a stone knife, but here’s a whetstone. No need to return it—you can keep it.”

Duoya didn’t stand on ceremony. She took the whetstone, pulled out her hunting knife, and started sharpening it.

Once her knife was sharp (full durability), Duoya tucked the whetstone away for herself.

With a sharp knife, butchering the wild boar was a breeze for Duoya. Su You watched for a moment, then turned away to get on with her own tasks.

She’d spent the whole morning chopping wood. Although she’d taken plenty of breaks, she’d finally gathered enough materials to build a residential house.

She took out all the processed wood blocks from both her basic and portable workbenches and further refined them into planks.

Once both workbenches were busy, Su You began sorting through the things Duoya had brought back.

[Obtained Small Meat x20]

[Obtained Small Meat x10]

[Obtained Large Meat x5]

…

Looking at the piles of meat on the ground, Su You paused for a moment, then quickly stored them in a chest to prevent them from spoiling faster by being left out.

Besides the meat, there were plenty of other animal drops.

[Obtained Rabbit Fur x20]

[Obtained Chicken Feather x10]

[Obtained Deer Antler x2]

[Obtained Deer Blood x5]

[Obtained Animal Hide x12]

Of all these materials, the most valuable were undoubtedly the two deer antlers.

After all, they were top-tier healing items!

Unfortunately, Su You didn’t have any good supplementary materials to pair with the antlers. Processing such rare materials without proper ingredients would be a waste.

She decided to store the antlers for now and planned to search the forest for suitable herbs later that afternoon.

Besides that, the deer blood was also a great ingredient. Not only did it restore a lot of hunger, but it also provided a strength-boosting buff.

But no matter how good these materials were, they were useless for now. Su You didn’t have the right supplementary ingredients for cooking or alchemy, nor did she have the necessary tools.

For example, she needed an alchemy furnace for potion-making, or a cooking pot for boiling deer blood… The antlers were fine, since they didn’t spoil here and could be kept indefinitely.

But deer blood was different—it would go bad in about five days.

As she sorted through everything, Su You pondered how to deal with it all. By the time she finished, the wood blocks she’d put in the workbenches had all been processed into planks.

She dusted off her hands and carried the planks over to the side of the tavern.

[Consume Plank x10 to build a Residential House?]

Su You lined up the residential house with the tavern and confirmed the build.

[Building Residential House. Estimated time: 120 minutes.]

Two hours—this was the longest any building or crafting had taken Su You so far.

But really, it wasn’t much. After all, the residential house was just a basic structure. Later on, even the simplest buildings would take three to five hours, some over ten, and a few special buildings could take several days.

Maybe it was the noise from starting construction, but just a few minutes later, the tavern door opened from inside.

“Miss Lord, I feel great right now. Is there anything you need me to do?” Dolly came over to Su You, looking serious.

Su You thought for a moment, then handed her the stone knife.

“We just got a batch of animal hides. I want to make some clothes, but I’ll need some thread. Could you help me gather some fibers?”

“No problem.” Dolly nodded and prepared to head off with the stone knife to the spot where Su You had previously collected fiber scraps.

But she’d barely taken two steps before Su You called her back.

“Oh, by the way, I’ve gathered all the materials for the residential house, so you’ll be able to move in today.” Su You pointed to the house, then continued, “You just woke up, so go eat something first. You can collect fibers later… By the way, do you know how to cook?”

Since Dolly hadn’t joined the territory yet, and the house wasn’t finished, Su You couldn’t see her info in the “Join Territory” menu, so she could only ask directly.

At the mention of cooking, Dolly looked a bit embarrassed and shook her head.

“Sorry, I can’t cook…” That was putting it mildly—she’d managed to burn meat to charcoal more than once, as unbelievable as it sounded.

Whenever she touched ingredients, none of them ended up edible."

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