“A Golden Carrot… you mean?”
Mr. Scrooge tilted his head slightly as he repeated my words.
“Uh, you actually know what that is?”
I asked cautiously, worried he might react like I had and say he’d never heard of it before.
Fortunately, his answer was perfectly normal.
“Yes. I’ve heard that small quantities occasionally make their way onto the market. Although… I’m not sure whether you’ll be able to obtain one. Unless you have something valuable enough to trade for it.”
“A trade?”
“Yes. Unless you can exchange something of equal value, acquiring a Golden Carrot will be quite difficult.”
Did it literally contain gold or something?
Judging from his reaction alone, it was obviously an incredibly rare item. As I frowned, Mr. Scrooge continued in a reassuring tone.
“…For now, I’ll make an inquiry through the cargo transfer magic circle. That should at least give us a clearer idea of our options.”
“Ah, thank you.”
“Think nothing of it. Compared to the kindness you’ve shown Monter Village, this is nothing.”
Kindness? That was far too generous a way to put it.
Embarrassed, I smiled awkwardly, and he chuckled before motioning for me to follow.
Following Mr. Scrooge to where the magic circle was located, I couldn’t help but gape.
Compared to the last time I’d seen it, the place looked completely different.
There were neatly packaged sacks of spices, stacks of crates, and countless bolts of rolled-up fabric.
“That’s… a lot more than I expected.”
Mr. Scrooge answered with a somewhat troubled smile.
“Normally, someone from the castle comes to collect the goods. If necessary, I can lend you a cart… but the problem is that it has to pass through the forest.”
Right.
The villagers had said strange things happened whenever they traveled through those woods.
Hearing the concern in his voice, I hurriedly waved my hands.
“No, it’s okay. I actually came prepared for exactly this situation.”
Even though I hadn’t been able to get a Golden Carrot, I had found something in the cash shop that was absolutely perfect for this.
[Dimensional Inventory Ring — 25,000 Diamonds]
A dimensional storage inventory in the form of a ring.
Press the red gemstone in the center once to open the storage space, and press it again to close it.
The interior measures approximately 100 cubic meters—roughly the size of two or three average rooms combined.
Time is completely frozen inside the inventory, preventing stored items from spoiling or deteriorating.
Living creatures, however, cannot enter.
Even my hands had trembled when I bought it because of how expensive it was.
Still, considering I’d probably be purchasing supplies for the village regularly from now on, I really had no choice.
Since nobody else could come to the village—and the villagers couldn’t leave to help either—it would have been impossible for me to haul all these supplies by myself.
“Go ahead and load everything.”
Hopefully it’ll be worth the money.
Pressing the red gemstone on the ring, I confidently declared,
“Everything from here… all the way over there.”
…
I felt like some newly rich tycoon.
As promised, I returned to the castle before it got late.
After asking the head maid, I had the steward and the head chef summoned to the castle lobby.
Then, right in front of them, I began taking out the supplies I’d ordered one by one.
By the time I finished, the pile was large enough to completely fill a small cargo truck.
The steward stared in astonishment.
“…You actually managed to get all of this.”
“Of course!”
“That couldn’t have been easy.”
“Well, it wasn’t that bad. Haha.”
I shrugged with a grin.
“It wasn’t exactly effortless, but it was worth it, wasn’t it?”
“Worth it…?”
To be honest, my original goal had simply been to have a few dresses made.
The head maid kept insisting I wear something elegant every time I met the duke.
But after a while, I couldn’t ignore how worn-out all the servants’ clothes looked.
Since I was already buying fabric anyway, I figured I might as well replace everything they wore, too.
“The servants of this castle deserve to be treated well for all the hard work they do.”
“…Indeed.”
“Exactly. Honestly, just replacing everyone’s uniforms with something clean and attractive would give them a lot more pride in working here.”
Back when I worked part-time, I always felt more motivated wearing a nice, modern uniform than some ragged old thing.
This opinion came from experience.
“I’d never considered it that way… but you’re right.”
The steward’s reply sounded surprisingly humble.
“HAHAHAHA! Seasonings! Finally, seasonings!”
Meanwhile, the head chef was hugging an enormous sack of salt while shouting with joy.
Watching him celebrate, I quietly opened the quest window.
**[Quest Complete.]
Would you like to view your rewards?**
I nodded.
A moment later, 2,000 Diamonds were added to my balance.
At the same time, an unfamiliar interface appeared.
• Steward Affinity: 100/100
[The affinity of all major characters (Head Maid, Head Chef, Steward) has reached the maximum level.]
[All rules governing Belmond Castle have been revised.]
[Special rewards granted.]
Huh?
Maximum affinity?
Special rewards?
I hadn’t said anything, but I’d already realized that most of the castle’s rules had changed.
And after everything we’d been through together, I’d expected the major NPCs’ affection to have risen quite a bit.
Still…
Seeing all three maxed out caught me completely off guard.
Already?
Well…
I had spent quite a long time living alongside them.
A lot had happened.
But that wasn’t the only surprise.
[Special Reward! The limit on your Restoration ability has been removed.]
• Restoration (S+)
[Special Reward! Bonus Diamonds acquired! +10,000 Diamonds]
[Special Reward! The cursed servants of Belmond Castle have recovered part of what they had lost.]
[A Hidden Quest has appeared.]
▶ What the Castle Servants Lost (In Progress)
The servants of Belmond Castle spent countless years trapped within the secretive castle.
Without even realizing it, they each lost three things.
As the future mistress of House Belmond, help them recover what they’ve lost.
Face
■■
■■
Rewards
50,000 Diamonds
Affinity with Edwin (◆/2, Alignment: ◆)
.
.
.
Just as the flood of system windows threatened to overwhelm me…
Something strange began happening outside the interface as well.
Quickly shaking my head, I dismissed the windows and looked around.
Then I froze.
“S-Steward?”
“Yes, Miss Windsor?”
His response was perfectly ordinary.
But to my eyes…
The steward, the head chef, and even the head maid were all wrapped in thick white mist, cocooned from head to toe.
“Are… are you all alright?”
“Pardon? Whatever do you mean…?”
Their answers were completely normal.
As though they couldn’t see the mist at all.
“N-No… there’s this strange fog right in front of…”
None of them seemed aware of the white mist that only I could see.
I trailed off and looked around.
At that exact moment—
The mist vanished in an instant, as if mocking me.
As it dispersed from around the three of them, I completely lost the ability to speak.
Th-Their faces…
Ever since arriving at Belmond Castle, everyone except Edwin had been missing their faces.
Where their eyes, nose, and mouth should have been was nothing but a gaping hole filled with endless darkness.
Naturally, I’d assumed it was just some creepy rendering bug the game developers hadn’t fixed.
So I’d ignored it.
But now…
Those eerie, empty faces were completely normal.
They had become the faces of actual people.
At that moment, I remembered the hidden quest I’d just seen.
“E-Excuse me for a moment.”
Still staring at their unfamiliar eyes, noses, and mouths, I hurriedly turned around and ran elsewhere.
A short while later…
I clamped both hands over my mouth in disbelief.
The people…
Every servant in Belmond Castle—the people I’d grown attached to without ever once seeing their faces—
They all had faces now!
Every single one of them had fully formed features.
Eyes.
Noses.
Mouths.
They finally looked like real people.
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