Chapter 19: Chopping for Pride

A dense forest filled with trees.

In that forest, Alfredo was swinging his dagger with great effort.

“Haaah!”

With a loud shout, one of the thick trees was sliced through and toppled over.

Chopping down trees was harder than he thought.

It was a completely different sensation from fighting orcs.

‘I’ve sliced through wooden training dummies at the arena before, but this is…’

Untreated wood was tough and dense.

So using a short dagger to cut down a tree meant he had to swing it multiple times.

But it wasn’t bad.

It felt like he was undergoing some sort of training.

Every time a tree fell, he felt like he had accomplished something.

“That’s two down already? Hmph, at this rate, anyone would believe I’m a real lumberjack.”

He had felled two trees in 20 minutes.

That meant one tree every 10 minutes.

Even for a skilled lumberjack, that would be a tough pace to maintain.

“What? You’re saying I can’t chop trees? Let’s see if you can still say that after watching this!”

Alfredo grinned, imagining Exitra’s face.

He wanted to see that face twisted in defeat.

‘I’ll prove I’m better than you… And that position as rightful heir… I’ll take it, no matter what.’

His determination was burning fiercely.

Just then, Exitra appeared in the distance with five territory residents in tow.

Exitra casually waved his hand.

“Alfredo, how’s it going?”

“Hmph! Even if you don’t ask, I’m doing my job just fine.”

“Oh, you already chopped down two trees?”

“Hmph.”

Although Exitra was genuinely praising him, Alfredo didn’t take it at face value.

Everything Exitra said sounded like sarcasm to him.

“Ohhh, Lord Alfredo!”

“That’s amazing!”

“You haven’t even been out here long, and you’ve already chopped two trees!!”

The five territory residents behind Exitra gasped in admiration at the fallen trees.

Even a professional lumberjack would need at least 20 to 30 minutes to cut through trees that thick.

But Alfredo had felled two in under 20 minutes.

It was genuinely impressive.

“You did this for us… Lord Alfredo… thank you so much.”

The residents’ pure admiration made Alfredo visibly flustered.

He wasn’t used to receiving gratitude like this.

He didn’t know how to respond.

“H-hmph. D-don’t think I did it for you! I-I just cut them down for… for my own training!”

“Even so, thank you so much.”

“Thanks to you, we can repair our homes now.”

The territory residents bowed their heads in gratitude.

“Tch!”

Alfredo clicked his tongue, clearly displeased for some reason.

— [Ooh, the little brother is so cute lol]

— [My little brother can’t possibly be this adorable…]

— [I smell tsundere energy from miles away…]

— [Look at him all flustered—so precious.]

— [You’re so cute. I want to raise one just like you.]

‘Maybe it was because he’d always been portrayed as a toxic character—a traitor, even trash.’

‘But this new side of Alfredo was winning viewers over.’

***

“Alright, guess I’ll chop some trees until Ray gets here.”

“You? Chop trees? You don’t even have any tools. How exactly—? Do you want to borrow my dagger?”

‘Was he trying to seize the opportunity?’

Alfredo smirked.

He thought this was the perfect chance to mess with Exitra.

But—

“Did you forget what my class is? I’m a Spirit Mage.”

Whoooosh!

Three Wind Spirits appeared around Exitra.

“My tools are spirits. I don’t need anything else.”

Shrrrraaaaack!

Blades of wind burst outward.

The trees in front of him began to fall, cleanly sliced through.

Thud. Thud!

[Achievement unlocked: ‘Faster Than Anyone, Unlike the Rest!’]

[Achievement unlocked: ‘Is the Lumberjack Out of a Job?’]

[Achievement unlocked: ‘Lumberjack Talent.’]

[Achievement unlocked: ‘Aiming for the Lumberjack’s Throne…’]

He even unlocked a series of new achievements.

All of them were ones the viewers had never seen before.

—[Holy crap, what kind of achievements are those…?]

—[What did I just witness??]

Everyone—including Alfredo and the five territory residents—were stunned.

‘What just happened?’

A gust of wind blew past, and suddenly the trees were chopped and falling.

‘What the hell just happened?’

‘What even…’

The residents were completely dumbfounded.

And Alfredo’s face twisted in horror.

‘Damn it all…!’

He had worked his butt off for 20 minutes to chop two trees.

And Exitra had just sliced down over five in an instant.

‘What could you even call that?’

It was just… unfair.

And it wasn’t only Alfredo who felt that way.

— [Is that even allowed?]

— [Alfredo’s crying in the corner lol]

— [He was sweating bullets for two trees, and Exitra just casually wiped out five~]

— [lmaooo what did I even just watch?]

— [The achievements say it all!]

— [What are the conditions for those? I want to collect them.]

[Lumberjack has donated 10,000 won.]

<Ah, damn… my job’s gone…>

— [I hear a lumberjack losing their job right now lolol]

— [Seriously, what the hell did he do??]

[Fairy Queen has liked this video~]

“Exitra… what exactly did you do just now?”

The viewers and territory residents asked the same question.

Exitra didn’t hide anything.

He kindly explained.

“Oh, I just compressed the wind as much as I could, then shaped it into a sharp blade and sliced through the trees.”

The residents were once again blown away.

Honestly, they didn’t completely understand what Exitra meant.

But one thing was clear.

‘He just did something amazing!’

“That’s… that’s incredible. I never knew Spirits could be so powerful…”

“How… how is something like this possible?”

No one could have guessed that Spirits were capable of something like that.

The territory residents were truly in awe.

‘Looks like this will end faster than I thought.’

That’s what he said.

But it wasn’t all smooth sailing.

“But I used up all my spirit energy just for that one strike. I need to rest and recover.”

The tree was thick.

Cutting it down wasn’t easy by any means.

That’s why he had to pour all his spirit energy into it.

“Phew. I’m going to rest for a bit…”

“Exitra-nim!”

Right on cue, Ray arrived with a wagon.

Seeing that, Exitra turned to the territory residents and said, “You guys, load it up.”

***

“Huff… huff…”

“I-I’m gonna die…”

The territory residents worked hard to move the tree.

The wood was large and heavy.

Just moving one was already a challenge.

It wasn’t too hard to roll them over to the wagon, but lifting them up and loading them was another story.

“Let me cut it down a bit.”

Ray swung his sword to divide the log into three manageable parts.

Without doing that, no matter how big the wagon was, they wouldn’t be able to fit everything.

Slice!

A swift slash.

He cut the tree into three clean sections.

“You can load it now.”

“Got it…!”

“Phew…”

The residents gave it everything they had as they loaded the wood onto the wagon.

Even split into thirds, the weight was far from light.

Each time they moved a piece, they had to push themselves to the limit.

“Uuaaahhh!!”

“Aagh! So heavy!!”

“Mommy!!”

They let out strange shouts as they loaded the wood onto the wagon.

— [LOL]

— [These poor residents, lol]

— [A gym rat would absolutely love it here, hahaha]

— [Hey, hey! That’s how you hurt your back. Member-nim, you need to lift with your legs, not your back…]

— [No, but seriously—what if an actual gym bro shows up?! LOL]

— [What’s your big three? Hahaha]

Still, thanks to the large wagon, they managed to load all the wood.

“Ugh! It’s finally done!!”

“Huff… huff… so tired…”

Sweat poured down the residents’ foreheads like rain.

Their clothes were completely soaked.

“Tch.”

“But we can’t stop.”

They were exhausted, but they couldn’t take a break.

Why? Because Alfredo was still cutting trees nearby.

With a noble working that hard right next to them, could commoners afford to rest?

That would be asking for trouble.

It was like in the real world—if your boss is working hard and you, the rookie, try to clock out just because your shift is over, you’d be in for a bad time.

“Haaah!!”

With a loud shout, another tree fell.

Alfredo was just as exhausted.

“Huff… huff… this is only the seventh one…”

His hands were shaking and his legs wouldn’t move properly.

His stamina was almost gone.

‘I thought cutting trees would be easy… but this is way harder than I imagined.’

Harder than fighting an orc.

He was burning through his stamina completely.

And yet, Alfredo didn’t stop chopping.

‘Big bro took down more than five trees at once. I can’t fall behind…!’

He started swinging more aggressively.

Still, he couldn’t shake the discomfort in his chest.

‘Dammit. I feel like I’m being used.’

He knew he’d fallen for a provocation and was now dancing to someone else’s tune.

But even so, he kept going—because the provocation had hit him that hard.

He still couldn’t erase it from his mind.

That expression on Exitra’s face!

“Phew…”

Alfredo turned his head.

Exitra was sitting comfortably, watching.

Seeing that, Alfredo shouted in frustration.

“Brother! Are you just going to sit there and watch?! What are you doing?!”

“Hmm? Oh, I’m recovering my spirit energy. I went a bit overboard, remember?”

“You used it once! Is that enough reason to just rest like this?!”

“Why? You tired or something?”

“N-No, not at all!”

That was a lie.

He was absolutely dying.

The dagger that once felt light now weighed a ton like a shackle.

His legs barely worked.

His stamina had run out ages ago.

But the only thing keeping him moving was sheer pride.

It was that burning pride—his refusal to fall behind Exitra—that drove him forward.

— [Little bro looks exhausted.]

— [Look at all that sweat. Someone give him a drink.]

— [Exitra, hiding behind the excuse of spirit recovery to slack off.]

— [Honestly, if you rest that much after one use…]

— [Let’s just… choose our words carefully.]

— [Even though nothing was said, we all get it. LOL]

“Slacking off? I’m really just recovering, I swear! And if anyone says more, you’re getting banned.”

— [Wow, now that he’s got more viewers, he’s banning people.]

— [You’ve changed, man.]

— [Boohoohoo~]

— [Oh no, we’re banning folks now~]

“Haaah… look. Just check the status window.”

Exitra opened his status window and showed his spirit energy level.

He had recovered some energy—about 2,000.

“See? Not that much, right?”

— [Uh, no? That’s actually plenty.]

— [Just don’t go full power—cut slowly instead.]

— [Ban ★★ incoming]

— [Why does that look more like ‘libido’ than ‘spirit energy’? Is it just me?]

— [Nope, might not be just you. LMAO]

“Haaah… I’m not slacking off. But fine, since I’ve rested, I’ll get back to work now.”

***

Exitra stood up from his seat.

Ray had gone off to unload the logs back at the territory.

There were people there, so unloading shouldn’t be too hard.

‘And if it is, he can just call a fellow knight for help.’

“Alright then, let’s keep cutting trees.”

This time, Exitra began cutting slowly, managing his power.

Using full power consumed too much spirit energy, but pacing himself like this made the task more efficient.

— [But wait—if there’s a tree spirit, couldn’t you just pull the tree out instead of cutting it?]

— [Oh! I was thinking the same thing!]

— [Right, that should work too.]

If he summoned a tree spirit, he could manipulate plants.

In theory, he could make a tree move on its own or even uproot it whole without cutting.

“Ah, yeah. I did think about that. But… that’s kind of a bad idea.”

—[Bad? Sounds good to me?]

Seeing the chat reaction, Exitra gave a resigned smile.

“You know what? It’ll be easier to show you directly.”