CH 81.1

“The house’s shabby.”

That’s what Cloud said while eating breakfast. It was so out of the blue that Katarina inadvertently responded back.

“What?”

“Cold breeze blows into the house through holes. Frigid breeze blew on my face for the whole night as I slept. Don’t you guys feel the cold?”

When Cloud asked, the children complained in unison as if they had been waiting just for it.

“Cold, yes! The bed is sooo cold at night, and the blanket is thin!”

“I don’t even have a blanket! Brenna noona always steals it.”

“Wh, what.. when did I steal it?!”

“You pull it on yourself when asleep. Sleeping warmly all alone, leaving me without a blanket!”

“You don’t get any warmth? You can roll yourself with the bedsheet… No, I didn’t take it away!”

Brenna peeked at Cloud as she yelled in clarification.

Hearing the children’s complaints, Cloud crossed his arms and nodded.

“As expected, I ain’t the only one who is dissatisfied.”

He turned his gaze to Katarina.

“…what.”

“Your younger siblings have also voiced, shouldn’t you think out plans, elder sis?”

“…Do you think I want to live in a house like this? What can I do if it’s unaffordable for me?”

She mumbled and dipped her carrots with her fork, while Cloud tapped on the table with his index finger.

“Then can I help you? Calling a carpenter will solve the problem.”

At Cloud’s words, the children snapped their gazes at her with expectant eyes.

They finally won’t have to fight over the futon while sleeping. They wouldn’t have to worry about losing their blankets overnight.

That expectation did not last long.

“Nope. You don’t have to do that. You’ll be leaving in a few days anyway.”

“I’m afraid those days will be difficult.”

“Alright, talk’s over. And, you’re a guest, we’ll solve our family problems ourselves. You don’t have to spend your money trying to help. We’ll figure it out.”

They slept in the same house and ate the same food, but Cloud will always be a guest. Katarina didn’t want to be obliged by a favor, she had handled the household till now and she also would.

So she clearly drew her line.

It hurt a little to see her younger siblings a bit disappointed, but it was better than having problems later.

But perhaps he understood her intention, Cloud smiled.

“You mean I cannot spend my money, right?”

“Yes..?”

“What you mean is that you don’t feel comfortable with me spending money over your problems. Alright, I won’t spend my money.”

Cloud concluded Katarina’s words and stood up.

“I’ll be taking the sword.”

And he left the house.

It happened so suddenly that Katarina couldn’t even react.

She blankly stared at the door as he left.

‘Did he leave?’

No.

Because he left his luggage behind.

Then where did he go?

‘…I’m wholly confused.’

Maybe to spend time outside doing stupid things men do.

Katarina passed the day convincing herself she didn’t care if Cloud returned or not.

Just when she was getting ready for dinner preperation, unable to overcome the whining of her younger siblings about being hungry—

A splintering sound was heard.

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Turning her head, she saw that one of the wooden beams supporting the house had been torn away.

“Hell?”

Why? Who did that?

If Katarina was perplexed, her younger siblings were curious.

The children rushed outside.

“Guys?!” she yelled from behind. “Wait for me!”

Katarina hurriedly grabbed her saber she kept hidden away. She didn’t know who was the perpetrator, but it was clear that it was some madman. A madman who could harm her younger siblings.

She jumped out of the doorway and declared threateningly.

“Dare you touch even a single hair on my brothers.. sisters…?”

The exhilarating voice gradually turned into a questioning one.

What the hell… was happening…

“Wow! Oppa’s sword is shining!”

“I-I’ve heard of this before! You see that sword? I heard that only the greatest adventurers can use it!”

“Oh, stop. If you touch it wrong, your fingers may fly off.”

The scene unfolding before her eyes was beyond her imagination.

Logs were neatly stacked in front of her house.

Cloud was trimming the logs into wooden beams, shaving the thick logs with his sword beaming a beautiful blue, as if peeling a fruit.

He cautioned the approaching children, saying he was preparing a surprise.

“What the hell is this…”

“Ah, it’s fine. Just scaring them. Gotta be cautious when dealing with children.”

“What are you doing?”

“Me? Fixing the house, of course.”

“I guess I said I didn’t need it.”

“You only said I cannot spend money, yup?”

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“Yeah, I did, exactly. Then what is that?”

Katarina pointed to the pile of logs. According to common sense, there was no way he could have obtained so many logs unless they had been purchased from a lumber yard.

However, Cloud’s answer was far beyond common sense.

“I got it from outside.”

“…What?”

“Freshly cut from outside the city.”

Apparently, common sense didn’t apply to Cloud.

Cloud grabbed the log and hefted it up in the air. The approach was as natural as Katarina lifting an onion.

Katarina’s legs began to tremble little by little.

“Oppa! Oppa! Can you take more?”

“More? Why, of course.”

Cloud lifted another log with his other hand as well. As he started juggling the logs, Katarina couldn’t stand it any longer and flopped down.

“Ahhh…”

Wh, what had she done…

Bringing such a monster into her house for just a few pennies…!

Katarina clutched her head and resented her past self.

Regardless of her thoughts, Cloud diligently reassembled the ramshackle house. The shabby house was transformed into almost a brand new one, the fantasy world example of Theseus’ ship.

Thanks to which, Cloud and Katarina’s younger siblings were able to sleep comfortably without being exposed to the cold wind.

Katarina, on the other hand, could not sleep.

The ropes that bound Cloud’s limbs seemed too flimsy to her.

‘Chains. I need chains, thick chains!’

But a poor woman like her could not afford an expensive commodity like a pure metal chain, so she slept, resenting her own poverty.

* * *

Cloud’s eccentricity did not end with renovating the house.

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“The closet is small…”

A large chest of drawers was made.

“Wouldn’t you like to have a garden?”

A sturdy fence now surrounded her house.

“Isn’t it uncomfortable when cooking?”

A three-level wooden shelving was created.

If he felt uncomfortable with anything, he just hammered it up on the spot. Later, he even challenged himself with more difficult structures one after another.

Three weeks passed in such absurdity.