Chapter 74: Little White?

[Collect Stone] (Repeatable)

Posted by: Lord

Quest Objective: Submit stone (0/10)

Quest Reward: 1 copper coin

Quest Tool: Copper Pickaxe (Usage fee: 3 copper coins, Deposit: 60 copper coins)

[Collect Sandstone] (Repeatable)

Posted by: Lord

Quest Objective: Submit sandstone (0/6)

Quest Reward: 1 copper coin

Quest Tool: Copper Pickaxe (Usage fee: 3 copper coins, Deposit: 60 copper coins)

[Collect Fiber] (Repeatable)

Posted by: Lord

Quest Objective: Submit fiber scraps (0/150)

Quest Reward: 1 copper coin

Quest Tool: Stone Knife (Usage fee: 1 copper coin, Deposit: 10 copper coins)

...

Besides these, there were also quests specially prepared for Duoya, like ""Collect Meat"" and ""Collect Animal Hides,"" but since Duoya hadn’t recovered yet, those could be set aside for now.

Looking at all this, it became clear that the territory actually had a big problem: there was no ""income.""

All these quests were collection tasks that Su You paid for out of her own pocket. With no source of income, the little money she had wouldn’t last more than a few days.

Su You already had a solution in mind, and that was ""trade."" That’s why she was so eager to get the courier station built.

Although the merchants at the courier station were random and might not have what she needed, that didn’t matter—trade always goes both ways.

It wasn’t just about buying from them; as long as she had something the merchants wanted, she could also make money by selling to them.

Of course, this wasn’t a stable source of income.

After all, merchants didn’t come every day. A territory’s stable development shouldn’t rely on external trade, but rather on internal circulation. So merchant trade was just a way to relieve some pressure; the real solution to economic problems still depended on developing the territory itself.

...

...

In the evening, Su You looked at the blooming sunset flowers, then asked Lake to bring out the berry and meat stew and set it on the table inside the tavern—the table was something Su You had just found time to make at the workbench.

Besides the table, Su You had also made some chairs.

On the table, aside from the stew, there were a few other simple dishes. It wasn’t much, but for everyone present, it was enough.

As they ate and drank, the initial silence gradually faded. Someone started a conversation—no one could remember who—and soon everyone was chatting naturally.

Lake was a talker, and Dory played along. With those two lightening the mood, they listened to Lake recount thrilling adventures he’d had with Lyle in their old adventuring days, and to Dory sharing funny stories she’d seen or heard while traveling with merchant caravans. All in all, it made for a very lively and enjoyable dinner.

Even Duoya, who was usually quiet and reserved, was drawn in by the atmosphere and occasionally joined the conversation. Most of the time, though, she was looking after the white ermine sprawled across her lap, slowly chewing on jerky.

...

After dinner, aside from the injured Duoya and Su You—who was ""not allowed"" to help—the other three began clearing the table.

Su You sat and rested, watching them tidy up, when suddenly she heard a question from beside her.

""Lord, have you given it a name yet?"" Duoya reached out with her uninjured hand and scratched the white ermine under its chin.

Su You paused, then shook her head slightly. ""If you like, you can name it.""

Knowing herself, if she had to name the ermine, she’d probably just give it some meaningless, half-hearted name...

Like... Little White?

But honestly, she didn’t even want to give it a perfunctory name. It felt both pointless and, in a way, too meaningful.

Duoya didn’t know what Su You was thinking, but she didn’t rush to name the ermine just because Su You said so.

After all, Duoya had once had a white ermine of her own. Even though it was gone, she couldn’t just ""find a replacement"" because of that.

To humans, a name might not seem like much, but for them, it’s something that stays with them for life.

""Since you haven’t decided yet, let’s just leave its name blank for now.""

Su You made a noncommittal sound in response, then stood up and walked over to the recruitment point inside the tavern.

Opening the recruitment interface, she saw that the information about Duoya had disappeared. The whole panel now just showed a countdown with ""???"".

Su You closed the recruitment screen and switched to the territory information panel.

[Sunset Territory]

Lord: Su You

Territory Level: Small Camp (Upgrade to Medium Camp at 5 population and 20 Prosperity)

Territory Prosperity: 12.9

Territory Reputation: 1

Territory Population: 5/5

Territory Aura: Initial Protection

Territory Events:

I: [A dark force seems to be quietly approaching...]

Seeing that prosperity had increased again, Su You skillfully opened the detailed information panel to check the situation.

[Level 1 Warehouse completed, Territory Prosperity +1]

[Territory population reached five, Territory Prosperity +3]

[First time using high-grade ingredients to cook for all territory residents, Territory Prosperity +0.5]

...

Su You could understand the first two, but as for the third... well, it was just another thing she hadn’t encountered before.

She was getting used to it, though. After confirming the current prosperity value, she started thinking about how to quickly raise it to 20 and upgrade the small camp to a medium one.

There were two buildings under construction: [Residential House 3] and [Courier Station]. Once Residential House 3 was finished, it would provide 1 point of prosperity. As for the courier station... if nothing had changed, it should provide 3 points.

In addition, the first time she hosted a merchant, that would also grant prosperity. She couldn’t remember exactly how much, but it shouldn’t be more than 3 points.

After these two buildings were done, the territory’s prosperity would only reach 16.9, still 3.1 short of the upgrade requirement.

But then again, by all rights, the tavern should also provide 3 prosperity points after completion, just like the courier station. So why hadn’t it?

Su You didn’t quite understand.

Was it because buildings constructed with building cards didn’t grant prosperity?

That didn’t seem reasonable...

After all, prosperity reflected the territory’s overall development. Even if the tavern was built with a card, it was still a tavern, still a building. Its essence hadn’t changed.

""Miss Lord, we’ve finished tidying up. What should we do with the tables and chairs... should we just leave them in the tavern?""

(End of chapter)"

"Certainly! Here’s a fluent, natural English translation of your provided Chinese text:

---