Chapter 362: Cost of Building Walls

Joo Joowon suddenly felt a little regretful. Even seeing Seong Seungmin walking upright on two legs had made him feel uncomfortable, so why had he failed to learn his lesson when choosing an NPC?

Perhaps he should have simply recruited a humanoid NPC instead. After all, this was only a short-term recruitment, and it was not as though he could not put up with it for a while.

However, there was no point in thinking about any of this now. Who could blame him when his brain had simply failed to work properly for a moment back then?

"Welcome! I hope we can get along well in the future."

Joo Joowon instinctively slipped into his professional work mode and extended his hand.

Kang Taewoo froze for a moment before hesitantly taking it. The etiquette of each race was different, and they generally followed the other party’s example, imitating what they did in order to respect local customs.

Only after touching Kang Taewoo did Joo Joowon discover that, although it was impossible to tell with the naked eye, Kang Taewoo really was a fluffy creature.

It felt like a short-pile plush toy. There were no paw pads, and its bear paws were stuffed very full, making them soft and squishy to hold. It felt no different from shaking hands with a plush toy.

If not for the fact that the other party could move and speak, and even gave off the aura of a living creature, Joo Joowon really would have thought that it was nothing more than a large stuffed toy.

And not just any stuffed toy, but one designed in a bizarre horror style.

After shaking hands, Kang Taewoo quickly withdrew its paw, feeling that the way this lord was looking at it seemed rather strange.

It glanced around and spoke with practiced ease. "My lord, shall we get started with work? Would you like me to cook first, or should I begin with my actual job?"

It seemed to have grown accustomed to lords recruiting it only to ask it to do things outside its main profession. After all, a builder who was not a good cook could never be a good blacksmith.

Joo Joowon blinked and took out a blueprint for a building.

"This is the city wall blueprint."

This time, Kang Taewoo was genuinely a little surprised.

Generally speaking, when second-generation heirs from wealthy families came out to "start their own businesses," they would bring along NPCs or players with professions such as builders. They would make thorough preparations in advance and basically never resort to temporary recruitment.

So, was this lord someone who knew nothing and had simply stumbled into this situation by chance? But a player who had obtained lord qualifications should not be an idiot, either, right?

Kang Taewoo examined the blueprint. Since the project was well within its capabilities, it nodded and asked, "My lord, how large would you like the city walls to be?"

Joo Joowon loaded the map for Kang Taewoo and pointed to the area he had marked. "You can just build the walls around this mountain. If possible, it would be fine to expand them a little farther out, too."

"That’s quite a lot of work. It will probably take around seven days to finish, since I’m only a beginner-level builder." Kang Taewoo studied the map. "There’s no time to waste, so let’s get started now. May I ask where your lord’s material warehouse is? You can authorize me to access it directly."

Lords did not necessarily display every building on the map, so Kang Taewoo did not find it strange that the only structures it could see within the territory were the Lord’s Manor and the farmland. After looking over the mountain’s terrain, it straightforwardly asked Joo Joowon about the arrangements.

Temporary NPCs like Kang Taewoo were usually not allowed to sit around doing nothing after being recruited. Their lords generally could not stand seeing them idle, so it was normal for them to start working almost immediately after arriving.

Joo Joowon replied generously, "I haven’t built a warehouse yet, but you can use as much of the wood on this entire mountain as you want."

Kang Taewoo: "...?"

It pulled out its résumé and slapped it against Joo Joowon’s body. Then, it roared furiously, "Look carefully! I only accept occasional side jobs in addition to my contracted work. Don’t think you can exploit me for free just because I have lumberjacking as a secondary profession! Bears have NPC rights, too!"

"This needs to be strengthened!" Kang Taewoo declared loudly.

"What’s the hurry? I haven’t finished speaking yet. Who said I was going to make you do everything by yourself?"

Although Joo Joowon had indeed wanted Kang Taewoo to take on several roles, he had never considered the other party an idiot. Wasn’t working for someone all about doing an amount of work that matched the pay? No matter how much he tried to squeeze out of Kang Taewoo, the other party could not possibly be foolish enough to do two jobs for the price of one.

"However, you do need to lend me your lumberjacking tools, or help me forge a few."

Upon hearing this, Kang Taewoo immediately calmed down. "I see! I’m sorry. I was too hasty. Forging tools would require a blacksmith’s workshop, as well as materials such as iron ore. However, I still have a few lumberjacking axes in my personal space, so I can lend them to you for the time being, my lord."

As it spoke, it reached into the air and pulled something out. A lumberjacking axe nearly one meter long immediately appeared in its paw.

Joo Joowon only needed one glance to decide that, compared with chopping down trees, this thing seemed much more suitable for chopping up zombies.

Generally speaking, the longer an axe’s handle was, the more leverage it provided, making it easier to apply force.

That made this axe much more useful than a fire axe. It was also safer because he would not need to worry as much about zombies grabbing him and scratching him.