Chapter 69 Huh . . . The Animals?

The night steadily approached, and darkness consumed the sky. I could still hear the ongoing construction outside, although it was faint.

No complaints since I knew that they were working on finishing building my territory. Honestly, I even felt bad about lying here, resting, and sleeping.

<That's the job of Tokens, Host. They don't need sleep, so they might as well do their job.>

<Aren't you glad they slave away so that you can have an easy life? Within a week, your territory will be finished just in time for the Blood Rain.>

Shut up. That just makes me feel guiltier.

However, my feelings didn't matter as my body succumbed to exhaustion, and sleep took hold of me.

I woke up to find myself back in my usual room. The sun shone through the windows, and it was morning — obviously.

My eyes were blinded as soon as I opened them, and whenever I tried to lift my eyelids, I failed. It was like they were glued together.

"You're awake!"

A familiar voice came from behind, and I turned around and saw my father standing there. He had a big smile on his face, and he looked healthier than before. His hair had grown out again and was combed neatly. By the looks of it, he must've been away on vacation or something.

But then, I remembered an important thing.

I had no father.

I woke up to the sound of someone knocking on the door.

"You should get up now," a familiar voice said from behind the wooden walls.

I brushed my hands over my face and propped myself up.

My hands were stretched in the ceiling's direction as I let out a yawn. When I opened the door, my sight was welcomed by Florin's hands which held a tray full of food.

Thank goodness she served fruits this time. Eating charcoal lizards could easily be included in my nightmares. Aside from fruits, there were also boiled eggs. It seemed like bringing chicken livestock all the way here paid off.

I also noticed that Florin was dressed differently this time.

Instead of her usual green robe, she had a white dress with a blue apron on. From her previous get-up, the only thing that remained was her light green hair tied into pigtails, as well as her teasing smile — if it counted.

I, on the other hand, was still wearing the same newbie garb since the first time I got here. My armors and stuff were unequipped because it felt like they weighed a lot, though they didn't weigh anything, simply because that was what my subconscious thought of anything metallic.

I also unequipped my maw since they felt like a hindrance when I wanted to wipe my sweat. Besides, I was going to work all day, not battle. The thin and shabby long-sleeved mud-colored shirt, dark pants, and simple boots worked just fine.

Looking at Florin again, I couldn't figure out where she got that dress. It was probably looted from someone.

"Thanks," I said when she handed me the plate. "Where did you get this?"

Last time, I searched for fruits in the forest but only found a lot of poisonous mushrooms and berries.

"I didn't. Athena found them in the forest."

Maybe I didn't look for it hard enough previously?

The sun was blinding and hot. It had been quite some time since I had woken up based on how high the sun was and how its light burned my skin. My mind was still foggy from the nice, long, uninterrupted sleep, but it felt good.

I checked the fruits in my hand. There were weird fruits like Banago, blue apple, Kalinkaberry, Kokorinut, and Sweetberry. None of them had poison — I checked their descriptions.

While eating the food on my plate, I looked around at my territory. A night's work had completed this many structures in the area.

The barn was already finished. It was a hundred-square-meter shed with a height of at least six meters for extra air circulation and storage. It was made of stone with windows made of wooden frames and glass, and it also had a blue-tiled roof, which was the staple theme of my property.

Apparently, stone materials increased the hit points of my structures since they would last long even if there were a fire.

<Or if you're under siege.>

". . ." I don't really want to think about war and bloodshed right now. Especially not in the morning.

I bet the barn would serve as a temporary shelter for the animals throughout the night. There'd be fewer of them in there next time since Daedalus was currently working with the Pigs pen.

That aside, the walls were still unfinished, and so were my house, the vertical farm, paddy terraces, and breakwater. Daedalus would start working on them after he was through with the pig's pen.

Most of the construction was still halfway, so as expected, there was still a lot of work to do.

The area looked like a big square with pathways leading in different directions. There were also several flower shrubs and small trees that were planted around the perimeter.

All the root crops had been sowed in the small land near my house, and I bet it was Florin and Turnip who decided to plant flowers and trees in the area.

Maybe I should suggest converting some land into an Orchard.

It didn't cross my mind before because I didn't see any fruit-bearing trees in the forest. We have seeds with us, though, so maybe we could reproduce them.

I approached Athena, with Florin tailing me from behind. As usual, Daedalus was by the former's side, probably being forced to listen to her dreary, long lectures.

"Good morning," I greeted.

Athena stared at me with her piercing grey eyes, making me back a little.

"W-what is it?"

Athena shook her head, and with her soft, confident voice, she answered, "I'm just surprised hearing you greet me, my lord. Usually, 'tis I who greets you first."

Is that even important?! I lamented.

"I'm just in a good mood today," I lied and swiftly changed the topic. "Anyway, I want to ask where you got those fruits. I searched for them in the forest before, but I found none."

Well, if I had found them, would I have had such a hard time with food in my first few days here?

Athena replied with a no-nonsense face, "The animals gave me those fruits."

". . . The . . . animals?"