BOPE 113

 Chapter 113

It was undoubtedly extravagant just to use it as a container for laundry detergent, but Donghee didn’t care. Grace had an abundance of mana stones, and as the lord, he had plenty of money.

They say Saudi Arabia has gold vending machines, so a simple laundry container was nothing in comparison. Above all, completing the quest came first, so from Donghee’s perspective, it wasn’t a loss at all.

Donghee looked pompously at the navy-blue bottles lined up on the table. Inside the mana stone bottles, there was even persimmon sap.

As soon as he realized that the sap wouldn’t spoil in bottles made from heated mana stones, he ordered Hansum to fill five bottles to the brim. Watching the liquid slosh inside the bottles, Donghee felt as happy as if he had seen a pouch full of gold coins, even though it was just sap.

“Lord, did you call me?”

The person who had arrived at the office was Delma. Recently, she had been more concerned with the lord’s health and personal affairs than the castle’s housekeeping, but her original role had been head maid of Grace Castle.

Donghee handed all five bottles on the table to Delma.

“Wh-what is this?”

Delma looked at the bottles, which resembled high-end liquor bottles. They did look like liquor bottles at first glance, but there was no reason for the lord to offer alcohol in the middle of the day, so she was curious about their contents.

“It’s persimmon sap.”

Delma’s eyes widened in surprise. Persimmon sap was something the Grace territory could produce anytime without spending a single coin.

“Then why put it in such expensive bottles?”

Delma thought it was a waste. Moreover, persimmon sap usually spoiled very quickly, so she worried that the beautiful bottles might end up useless.

“I put it in this morning.”

“Eh? Then we have to throw it away immediately… no, surely not?”

Delma frowned as she spoke, then suddenly asked in disbelief. Donghee nodded confidently. Although the sap wasn’t perfectly transparent, the liquid inside the navy-blue bottles hadn’t turned black.

“No way!”

Delma quickly opened one of the bottles she was holding. The tightly sealed lid popped with a crisp sound. The wooden stopper made by Mason perfectly sealed the bottle’s mouth.

Hesitating for a moment, Delma sniffed the bottle. Worried it might have spoiled, she was relieved to find the fresh aroma of just-harvested sap.

“You say this was collected this morning?”

Seeing Delma repeatedly ask in disbelief, Donghee smiled broadly and replied,

“This morning. It hasn’t changed at all. If anything, it’s even better now. That means you can do the laundry without worry, right?”

At that moment, a blue status window floated in front of Delma, who was marveling at the navy-blue bottle.

-You, the user, have completed the first quest to expand your activity range:

1. Create a new item using persimmon bark – Completed!

2. Increase food production that hasn’t existed in the territory yet

3. Purchase crops to plant on newly cultivated land – trivial, just buy 50!

You will receive 1,000 hidden points as a reward. Continue completing the remaining quests safely.

Even though he hadn’t fully completed the quest yet, Donghee was thrilled to receive the hidden points. Since Delma was present, he couldn’t openly show his excitement, so he awkwardly smiled while watching her marvel at the bottles.

Helsa, after multiple trials adjusting the water volume and the size of the heated mana stones, successfully created a water container at the perfect temperature. With the help of Builder and Mason, she placed the wide container in the poultry barn and carefully covered it with straw. The warm water raised the barn’s internal temperature as if it were a heated floor.

She had a strong feeling this time that she would successfully hatch fertilized eggs.

“I hope I can finally see yellow chicks this time!”

Helsa wanted to succeed in this task to make the lord happy. Above all, she wanted to taste the delicious chicken dishes herself. She finished the day’s work at the barn full of anticipation.

For more than twenty days afterward, Helsa continued her tireless effort. She constantly monitored the temperature and humidity of the barn and carefully rotated the eggs every three hours so that each one stayed in contact with warmth. Since there were no hens, she took on the hen’s role herself.

Helsa thought that even if only half, or even a quarter, of the eggs hatched successfully, she would be satisfied. Later, she hired helpers, but she still had to manage the meticulous details herself. Every day, she fought alongside the fertilized eggs in her own small battle.

Then one day, a faint sound came.

“Peep!”

Helsa’s head snapped around.

“Where is it?”

She held her breath and listened, but the sound didn’t come again. Perhaps it was a hallucination born of her desperate hope. She sighed in disappointment and carefully rotated the eggs again.

“Peep!”

“Huh!”

This time, the sound was clearer and louder. Helsa’s heart pounded like a drum as she frantically searched for the source.

Eventually, she spotted a small crack on one of the eggs and crouched down.

“Peep!”

Through the tiny crack, the faint sound of a chick peeping reached her ears. Helsa held back a scream, trembling as she patiently waited for the chick to break free from the shell.

After what felt like an eternity, a tiny yellow chick emerged, wobbling near the warm water container. Its soft yellow feathers looked like dandelion seeds.

“Ahhh, finally! Finally!”

Tears streamed down Helsa’s face.

Donghee, who was inspecting the bridge construction connecting Morta and Idor, saw a status window indicating the quest had been completed and rushed straight to the poultry barn.

By then, the chicks had multiplied from one to thirty.

“Helsa!”

Overjoyed, Helsa looked back at the voice behind her. Even though she thought she had already cried, tears welled up in her eyes again at the sight of the lord.

“Lord!”

Helsa couldn’t move much because the chicks had gathered around her feet. She wiped her tears with her arms.

“You finally succeeded!”

“Yes! Lord! We finally succeeded. But I think the rest failed.”

Though more eggs had failed to hatch than succeeded, Helsa smiled broadly.

“You did amazing, even this alone! You really worked hard, Helsa!”

Donghee sincerely praised her efforts, knowing better than anyone how much she had devoted herself to the barn. Of course, he planned to reward her handsomely.

From that day on, the area around the poultry barn, filled with yellow chicks, was always crowded with visitors. Helsa had to assign staff to guard the barn due to the overwhelming attention.

“Mom, the chicks are so cute. I wish I had one too.”

Kevin held Beiki’s hand as he watched the chicks. Even Beiki, who loved cooking but had never tried chicken dishes, was amazed. The price of chickens was high, and only wealthy nobles could afford them.

“Yeah, they’re really cute. How could anyone eat them?”

“What?! You eat chicks? Really?”

Beiki’s words shocked Kevin so much that his eyes filled with tears. Other children nearby stared in disbelief at Beiki as if hearing a horrifying story.

Beiki stammered, trying to clarify,

“No! I didn’t mean we eat them now!”

“We can’t eat them!”

Children who had never raised pets were easily captivated by these small, chirping creatures. Beiki, unsure how to manage the situation, looked at Helsa in the chicken pen, thinking she might have a wise answer.

“Of course! I’ll protect these cuties!”

Helsa, tears welling in her eyes like the children, stood proudly among the yellow chicks. The motherly instincts that had been dormant suddenly exploded.

The chapter ends with the barn full of joyful yellow chicks under Helsa’s protective care.