Glenn nearly lost his composure as he watched the ever-foolish little maid flounder before him. Beside her, Gotaya stepped forward at once, flipping the ram aside and helping Tia back to her feet.

  Glenn approached, surveying the chaotic scene, and addressed the now-crimson-faced girl: “Why are you out here fooling around with these two?”

  Tia climbed over the fence, scratching her head. “They seemed to be having so much fun… I wanted to join them.”

  At her words, Glenn cast a long glance at Ravel and Gotaya. The two promptly looked away, refusing to meet his eyes.

  “Forget it. Since you’ve kept everything more or less in order, I’ll overlook this.”

  He waved a hand dismissively and turned to stroll through each section of the livestock pens. The curly-haired young master and the elf girl both finally let out the breaths they had been holding.

  Glenn noticed a new little hut in the distance, with a plump meat-worm sprawled beside it, fast asleep. Only a few days had passed, yet the thing had grown astonishingly.

  The maid trailed behind Glenn, chattering nonstop about everything that had happened during his absence. And indeed, quite a few notable events had taken place.

  First, the kingdom had performed a Sacred Purification upon the battlefields where they had clashed with demons. It was a ritual as old as the kingdom itself—an act of devout worship, capable of cleansing any trace of infernal taint. Whenever a kingdom finished a campaign against demons, such a rite was always held.

  On the day of the purification, the spectacle had been nothing short of magnificent: tens of thousands of knights of Rank Two and above donned ceremonial robes and danced ancient steps passed down from antiquity. The scene was so grand, it drew countless travelers and foreigners to witness it.

  Naturally, Tia and the others had gone as well. The little maid described it to Glenn with great excitement, though her limited vocabulary failed to capture the true splendor. Still, Glenn could imagine it well enough.

  The other matter was this: lately, many strangers had been specifically seeking Glenn out. Most came because of his fairy tales; a smaller portion because of his handcrafted wooden works.

  In short—Glenn had inadvertently become a minor celebrity.

  That alone made Glenn laugh helplessly, but when Tia produced a small book she carried with her— its title boldly reading Glenn’s Book of Fairy Tales— he very nearly buried his face in his hands.

  The original authors might not exist in this world, but he still felt a faint pang of guilt.

  The maid waved the book before him, then clutched it tightly to her chest as if afraid someone might snatch it away.

  “Who printed this? Shouldn’t they need my permission?” Glenn asked.

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  Tia shook her head. “It’s really popular at the bookstore in town. People line up every day to buy it. I had to wait forever just to get this copy.”

  “Let me see it,” Glenn said, extending a hand.

  The maid hesitated but eventually passed it to him.

  I want to know who had the nerve to profit off me—without even paying royalties!? Glenn flipped through until he found the publisher’s imprint.

  “White Bird Publishing?” He instinctively searched the original owner Dylan’s memories for clues, but found nothing.

  Useless good-for-nothing Dylan… He sighed deeply. He would definitely visit White Bird Publishing and demand his due compensation.

  Returning the book, Tia tucked it away as though placing a treasure back into a chest.

  Glenn looked toward Gotaya and Ravel, who were pretending to work. “In a while I’ll be bringing a group of people here. You two will teach them how to manage things. That way your workload will lighten considerably.”

  Both brightened visibly at the news.

  Then Glenn turned to the elf girl. “Miss Elf, when I have time I should take you home. You’ve been away for so long—your family must be worried. Of course, if you don’t wish to return, that’s fine too.”

  Now that he had enough hands, he no longer needed to keep a kidnapped elf around; she had her own family and friends, and he had no intention of detaining her.

  At his words, Gotaya fell silent. Though she longed to see her mother and her tribe again, she was equally reluctant to leave Glenn—especially with so much martial training still to learn.

  Glenn didn’t press her. Instead, he gathered Kael and a number of people from Camber Ridge and brought them to the farm. When he told them what work they would be doing in the future, every one of them looked delighted.

  They had long grown tired of the harsh life back at Camber Ridge, and the jobs Glenn assigned were exactly what they had hoped for.

  Seven more remained with the convoy; Glenn planned to send them to staff Dood’s shop. Now the main concern was arranging housing for everyone.

  Buying property in Bayek was impossible—all the empty houses belonged to owners who had fled to unknown places. Letting people move in freely could cause consequences no one wanted.

  So Glenn led them into the outer woods and helped them build simple wooden cabins using the local timber. Temporary lodgings for now— later, they could upgrade their living conditions with their own wages.

  No one objected; in fact, they were relieved. They had expected Glenn to leave housing entirely to them, so this arrangement felt more than generous.

  After working until late afternoon, Glenn left early and headed for Dood Town.

  By now the knights had withdrawn, and the town had mostly returned to normal— though the crowds were still thinner than before.

  Arriving at his shop, he found it packed with customers and had no choice but to slip in through the back door.

  Inside, Luther, Carter, and Carkin were so busy they practically left afterimages, their uniforms drenched in sweat, too occupied to even notice the back door opening.

  Glenn stepped seamlessly into the rhythm: slicing meat, weighing, wrapping— his hands moving twice as fast as any of theirs.

  This gave the trio a moment to breathe. Only then did they notice him, each one’s face breaking into pure astonishment.

  “Mr. Glenn!? You’re back!?” Luther practically shouted— otherwise no one would have heard him above the noise.

  “Just got in! Good heavens— I didn’t expect business to be this busy! I’m honestly shocked!” Glenn shouted back.

  “It was normal a few days ago!” Carkin yelled over the clamor. “But someone must’ve spread the word about our butcher shop! Tons of outsiders have been coming just to buy meat! That curly-haired kid already delivered four black boars!”

  No wonder the pig pens looked so empty… Couldn’t that little lordling bring other livestock for once?

  Glenn worked without slowing, chatting with them and interacting with customers.

  By six or seven in the evening, the crowd finally thinned, and he left the rest to Luther and the others.

  Luther had been managing the accounts these days—Glenn trusted him— so when he asked about the recent earnings, the young man responded fluently and without a hint of guilt.