The next day...
Saruto sat comfortably in a chair, legs crossed, sipping a tall weird glass shape of orange juice through a straw that made the occasional obnoxious slurping sound.
Beside him, Elena held up a bright pink umbrella to shield him from the sun, posture perfect, expression serene.
Meanwhile, his lovely slave was on the roof, hammering away like a condemned man doing community service. Every bang echoed with pure resentment and his muttering curses.
"WHY am I the ONLY one working here?!" He shouted down. Grumbling nonstop as he yanked out broken planks and replace it with new one.
Saruto ignored him completely.
Eyes fixed on the scene with a face of exaggerated seriousness. chin up, lips pressed thin, contemplating the meaning of hard labor (that someone else was doing).
Without looking away from his slave's suffering, he took another long sip, before finally asked in an low tone.
"Elena… why are you covering me with a pink umbrella?" His tone was calm, but his expression could've unsettled small animals.
Elena tilted her head, smiling sweetly. "Mm? Because you look more handsome that way~ Y'master~"
Saruto respond. "…" then went back to sipping his drink like nothing happened.
A few seconds passed. Still watching the happiest slave flail with a hammer, he muttered to his maid.
"Anyways, why hasn't a single carpenter shown up yet? Tch. After all my effort writing that warm request."
Elena tilted her head innocently, eyes glinting. "Ohh~? That's probably because they all left town… right after you visited them with your 'kind' threat envelope if they didn't come, Y'master~"
Saruto paused mid-sip. "..."
Slowly turned to her, expression blank but twitching slightly. "Huh. You're telling me… there's none? Not even one carpenter left?"
Elena nodded with the calm assurance of someone describing the weather.
"Mhm~ that's what happens when you threaten every carpenter in town, Y'master~"
His slave shouted from above excitedly, voice cracking with disbelief. "YOU DID WHAT?!"
Saruto just leaned back in his chair, shrugged once, and went back to sipping. "Damn. Guess I'll just have to build the entire thing… with one slave labor."
From the roof came a strangled scream of despair, followed by a loud thunk of a hammer hitting wood and possibly, Riot's patience.
He started tapping his glass lightly with one finger, eyes half-lidded.
he asked lazily. "Where are they staying now?"
Elena's tone stayed sweet, her parasol never wavering. "In a friend's house~ after you ordered them to be somewhere else, Y'master~"
"Good." His reply was short, almost satisfied.
He leaned back again, completely unfazed by slave distant yelling and the sound of a hammer hitting something that definitely wasn't wood, as he sweated under the harsh sun.
Saruto ignored it completely an second time.
A few minutes of calm wind passed, the kind of peaceful quietness that usually led to something literally stupid.
Then Saruto spoke again, in the same flat tone, he asked. "…Now that I think about it, what's the name of our town again?"
Elena's eyes lit up with teasing delight. "Oh~ Great question, Y'master~ It's the first time you've ever wanted to know the name of our small town~!"
Saruto nodded, pretending to be uninterested but still listen. "Mm. Enlighten me."
She twirled the pink umbrella once, as if the moment deserved flourish.
"But of course, it's Firstdella! The proud little town we call home~!"
Saruto didn't react, still wearing that ridiculously exaggerated serious expression, readying to whip his favorite slave If the job was sloppy.
The thought in his head landed like a dull thud. 'I knew it…' sighing internally.
'The developer had always been lazy when it comes to naming a country or region.'
'Every place the hero's lived in has a number-based name. Firstdella, Secondreach, Thirdvale and the next thing you know, we'll hit Fourtopia.'
He give himself an looonngg sip of juice, the straw letting out a drawn-out sluuurp that perfectly matched his disappointment in the world awesome design to have such lame name.
"And~ there's another problem, Y'master~" Elena continued, not in a teasing tone this time.
"The craftsman and carpenter are known as sworn brothers since they both fall under the crafter category."
She calmly poured water onto an already dying plant — the perfect metaphor for adding fuel to an already raging fire.
"Meaning," she went on, "they also left. The same crafters that supply our knights with weapons."
Saruto's head snapped toward her so fast it could've created a breeze.
"Say what again??"
She repeated, word for word, with absolute calmness. "The craftsman and carpenter are known as sworn brothers sinc—"
"Wait wait wait! I know that, but why did they leave?! Surely they wouldn't just quit a high-paying job??"
Elena blinked, genuinely puzzled by his confusion. "Huh? Have you forgotten, Y'master? They haven't been paid for 6-months… because of your spending on auction items."
She leaned closer, counting off with her fingers while still holding the umbrella over him. "Including the defective dragon egg sitting in your garden."
"the one labeled as 'one of a kind and hard to find.' If I recall correctly, you spent around 100,000 gold coins on that egg." (1 million in USD)
"…" Saruto froze with the third silence reply. The only movement was the slow drop of his straw as his mouth went slack, jaw drop in absolute disbelief.
The air went painfully still.
Then, deep within his brain cell, he expressed every language known to man...
'WHAT THE FUCK?! THAT DAMN, FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT, MOTHERFUCKER, TRASHY, GARBAGE, SHIT-HEAD, CROWBAR-SWINGING NOBLE BRAT!! USELESS GOLD-SUCKING PARASITE! BRAIN-DEAD COIN-DEVOURING FAILURE OF HUMANITY! A WALKING FINANCIAL CRISIS WEARING SHOES! I HOPE YOU TRIP ON YOUR OWN EGO AND FALL INTO A PIT OF UNPAID TAXES! OH WAIT YOU ALREADY DID, YOU INFLATED-PRICE PAYING, AUCTION-OBSESSED, BANK-ACCOUNT-DESTROYING, DRAGON-EGG-COLLECTING LUNATIC!!'
The mental thought continue, as his body also began tweaking at the same time, literally.
Its was so long, his thought also begin leaking into a whisper occasionally that it could have filled an entire holy scripture of pure, concentrated rage condense all by itself
Meanwhile, Elena quietly poured another cup of water onto the dying plant. It didn't help.
*
To be continued...
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Synchronization: █████