After Lucan explained the plan to Kenny, he and Nors set off towards the tree clusters across the stream.
This was where they could chop trees and transport the wood back to his shelter.
These dense clusters formed a natural border with the Cursed Lands, stretching from northeast to south, characterized by heavy, gnarled roots and deep, unsettling shadows—the kind of place everyone instinctively avoided.
However, they weren't venturing deep into the woods, just staying along the outer edge to gather what they needed before returning.
As Lucan and Nors moved toward the clusters, the stream, a winding ribbon separating the relatively safer living area from the creeping influence of the Cursed Lands, flowed between them and the trees.
Lucan noticed the old man seemed a bit nervous, his eyes darting, as anyone would be when venturing into unfamiliar, unsettling territory.
Lucan himself felt a trickle of sweat, but the need for wood for the fence was paramount.
To ease the tension, Lucan said in a soft, steady tone to Nors, "Nors, the stream is just ahead. After that, we cross, chop some wood, and head straight back. Nothing else, okay?"
Nors, startled by the direct question, looked at Lucan and replied, "Yes, Lord. The sooner we go in and get the wood, the better for us."
"If there were better, straighter woods in the town, we wouldn't need to come here," Lucan said, his gaze distant, sweeping across the murky stream they were about to cross. A hint of weary resignation edged his voice.
"Indeed, Lord," Nors affirmed, meeting Lucan's gaze. "If there were good woods there, we wouldn't need to come here. But we need this wood for the fence, as you said."
After some time, the two of them reached the tree clusters and began the arduous task of chopping wood. The rhythmic thud of axes against timber echoed softly in the quiet.
The wood chopping took several hours, but Lucan and Nors eventually collected enough. With logs weighing heavily on their backs, they began the slow journey back to the shelter.
They first waded through the stream, the cold water a brief shock, and then slowly made their way.
As they approached the camp, Lucan saw Kenny diligently digging along the marked lines for the fence, and a wave of quiet satisfaction passed over him.
The boy was doing a good job. Ignoring him for now, Lucan headed to where the newly chopped wood needed to be placed.
He also knew he still needed to build the storage crate. Thinking about the sheer amount of work ahead, it felt overwhelming.
But Lucan didn't give up, nor could he. So, he and Nors continued toward his shelter. A few minutes later, they arrived, and Lucan quickly dropped his logs with a grunt, followed by Nors.
"That was too hard, just too hard, but we made it here," Lucan panted, his voice a low breath punctuated by ragged huffing sounds. "I didn't know some logs could be that heavy. Nors, do you know how many times I stopped to catch my breath?" He noticed Nors, though winded, wasn't breathing as heavily as he was.
"Lord, I think you stopped about eleven to thirteen times on the road, and waited for some time too," Nors replied with a soft chuckle, looking at his lord, who clearly possessed far less physical stamina.
"Nors, is your body made of iron that doesn't get tired no matter how much you're molded?" Lucan asked, his tone returning to normal after regaining his breath. "I stopped that much, but you were just looking at me, standing or sometimes sitting near me. You didn't seem to have much trouble."
"Lord, I think I said yesterday that I was used to lifting heavy things. Looks like you forgot it, Lord," Nors said, a hint of amused pride in his voice.
"It's not that I forgot, it's just that I didn't think it was true, because you're getting old now, and an old man doesn't have much strength to lift heavy things. But now, seeing your endurance, Nors," Lucan admitted, a touch of genuine surprise and respect in his tone, "I realize how deeply my upbringing had clouded my judgment about what true strength looks like."
"Lord, it happens sometimes. My son also didn't believe it was true until I showed him, so it can happen," Nors said, his amusement soft, a hint of pride in his resilience.
"Now, what do we do with these logs? Do we stack them up or just start with the fencing? What do you think, Nors?" Lucan asked, gesturing to the pile of freshly cut wood.
"Lord, I think we can stack them up. It would be better, and the sun is starting to set; it will be dark soon," Nors replied, informing Lucan about the dwindling daylight.
"If you say so, then how do we place them? If you've lifted heavy things, then you'll also know how to place heavy things, right?" Lucan asked Nors, seeking his expertise regarding the logs.
"But, if there was something that could better store these things, that would be good," Lucan muttered to himself in a low voice that Nors didn't hear. He mentally cursed the effort it took just to move these logs, the sheer inefficiency of it all.
—eed for inventory] A faint, almost subliminal,
message from the screen flickered in Lucan's peripheral vision, but he didn't consciously register it, already focused on helping Nors place the heavy logs.
Few hours later, the logs were neatly stacked.
Nors and Lucan were walking towards the fire when Lucan, still facing away from the stacked wood, saw a sudden flash of light behind him.
He froze, a jolt of alarm going through him. Where was this flash coming from? Lucan turned his head quickly to see that there were no logs where they had just been.
They were gone—not destroyed, not rolled away, they had simply vanished. Lucan panicked, though he managed to keep most of it from showing on his face.
Nors, standing beside him, saw Lucan looking towards the empty spot where the logs had been, so he also looked back and was equally taken aback.
Where had the logs gone? Nors looked at Lucan and saw that he was also baffled, which meant it wasn't Lucan's doing.
He asked Lucan, his words distorted by fear and confusion, "Lord—Lord, what happened? Where are the logs? Do we need to get more logs, or is this some monster trying to kill us?"
Nors was asking questions, but Lucan was ignoring him, staring fixedly at something else entirely.
The screen materialized before Lucan. The glowing text solved a pressing problem, and a wave of profound relief washed over him.
[Inventory System Unlocked]
[Capacity: 30 Slots]
[Active Slots Used: 2]
[Item: 14 Logs]
[Note: One slot's limit is 10 pieces, but all 10 pieces must be of the same kind.]
This was exactly what Lucan needed right now. If he could simply go to the tree cluster, chop some logs, and transport them into this inventory, it would be incredibly helpful.
He could significantly speed up the fencing process, build shelters, or construct any wood-related structure with ease—just pull out the materials and use them.
He could also store other items like stones or buckets of water, though he suspected there might be a limit to the size or type of things it could hold, perhaps not living creatures.
"Lord!" Nors shouted, his voice laced with alarm. Lucan, jolted by the sound, quickly composed himself and turned to the old man, who was clearly growing more nervous by the second.
Nors had no idea what his lord had just acquired or how game-changing it would be for improving their land.
"What? Why did you shout so loudly? My ears are ringing from you," Lucan said, a note of subdued satisfaction in his voice now that he'd gained something far more beneficial than he'd anticipated.
"Lord, you were just standing there, unmoving, and I was asking about where the logs had gone," Nors explained, his tone a mix of anxiety and bewilderment.
"After some time, when you didn't reply, I had to shout so you could calm yourself, especially if you were also taken aback by this sudden disappearance."
But Lucan wasn't taken aback by the disappearance at all; he was inwardly savoring the feeling of acquiring such a remarkably useful ability.
Not wanting to make Nors more nervous, Lucan met his gaze. "The logs haven't disappeared by themselves, Nors; I just made them disappear." Lucan had spun a convenient lie.
Yet, was it truly a lie? If this mysterious screen declared him the lord and this land his, then its functions were surely his to command. In a way, he had made them disappear.
"Lord, you did it? But how?" Nors pressed, his voice shifting from confusion to a challenging skepticism, though still maintaining an underlying respect.
"Lord, if you did it, then where are these logs? Or is Lord just lying to me? Lord, even if I am an old man, I can recognize some lies!" The air around them grew thick with Nors's disbelief, his gaze sharp and unwavering on Lucan's face, searching for any tell.
"I did it, see?" As Lucan spoke, a log shimmered into existence out of thin air. Nors gasped, stumbling backward, on the verge of falling. Lucan quickly reached out, steadying the old man's arm and helping him calm down.
"Lord, this… how? How can it be? Is Lord a mage?" Nors rambled, his eyes wide with a mixture of fear and awe.
"Yes, if the lord is a mage, then that's possible! Mages can do anything they want, so if Lord is a mage and possesses magic abilities, then he can do it. We are just lowly beings; how would we know what a noble is capable of?" Nors continued, asking and answering his own questions without waiting for Lucan to say anything.
He had simply misunderstood.
But this misunderstanding worked perfectly to Lucan's advantage. He now had a plausible lie to fall back on. If anything extraordinary were to happen in the future, he could simply claim to be a mage and make some of them believe it.
In a way, he could be seen as a mage, yet not truly, since Lucan didn't possess the mana typically required for a mage's feats.
So, for now, Lucan just stood there, letting Nors continue his misinterpretation of what he had just done.
"Lord, then we will have so much more help with this!" Nors exclaimed, a flicker of excitement replacing his fear.
"If we can just chop some logs from the tree clusters, make them disappear, and then make them appear near the shelter!" He was still unaware it was an inventory system, a normal person unable to conceive of a screen assisting Lucan in his actions.
"But Lord," Nors suddenly said, his tone turning serious, a furrow appearing between his brows. "If you can do that, then why didn't you do it before? If you had just done that, then you wouldn't have needed to stop so many times on the way back."
Lucan was startled by the old man's sudden question. When Nors usually needed answers, he found them himself, but now he was directly asking.
Lucan didn't know where Nors had suddenly acquired such a shrewd intellect. If it were him, he wouldn't have thought that deeply, but he knew he had to answer, or risk breaking the illusion.
"Nors, you know the answer, just like how you didn't know I am a mage," Lucan said, making the "lie" obvious for Nors to (mis)interpret. "Think about it; you will find the answer."
Nors frowned in thought, then his face cleared. "Yes, Lord, I also think there is an answer. It's just that… I don't know, or Lord, is it that you wanted to get better at your physical abilities? Is that why you didn't use the magic, so you could make it look like mages and commoners can also be the same?" Nors had misunderstood again about Lucan's motives, but Lucan didn't stop him.
It was better if Nors continued this line of thinking, and the problem would simply solve itself for Lucan.
Lucan and Nors continued talking as they slowly made their way closer to the fire, sitting down.
After some time, the other people also came to sit nearby. The sun had fully set, and night had fallen. The fire, now burning brightly, offered warmth, and everyone simply enjoyed its glow and shared conversations about the day's work.