For now, I quickly whipped up the warehouse for the Bell-Rango Company — since that was the urgent request. This time I even added a basement, so technically I’m helping with the land shortage problem too. Efficiency, thy name is me.
“Now we’ve got enough materials stocked up for a while, so let’s focus on hammering out the deal with the Commerce Guild. I’ll leave that part to the Bell-Rango Company.”
“Understood!”
Rango answered energetically, his face lighting up like he’d just been handed free candy.
“Thank you very much. Actually, Lord Van, there are a few other things I’d like to request… if you wouldn’t mind hearing them now—”
That’s when Bell, timing his move like a predator waiting for prey, butted in. His words were polite, but his bloodshot eyes gave him away. The man reeked of Please, I’ll do anything, just say yes. Unfortunately for him, I was busy.
“Ah, sorry. I need to expand the town right now.”
“…Excuse me?”
“The town. I’m about to expand it.”
My casual refusal had both of them blinking like I’d just casually announced I was moving the moon a few inches to the left. They looked at each other, replayed my words in their heads, then swiveled back toward me.
“W-where!? Closer to the adventurers’ town!?”
“Oh! And if there’s new land available, please entrust it to Bell-Rango Company!”
The two leaned in, practically foaming at the mouth. Apparently their merchant instincts had been set on fire.
“I’m expanding the adventurers’ town toward the Wolfsburg Mountain Range. Basically, I’ll dismantle part of the wall and double the town’s size.”
“Double!?”
“DOUBLE!?”
Their excitement also doubled, for some reason. Well, I suppose it makes sense. Adventurers visiting Ceat Village are increasing nonstop. The population grows by about 500 villagers a month, sure, but adventurers? They can spike by a thousand in a single month. Of course, many leave right after finishing their commissions, but it turns out that once they’ve visited once, the odds are pretty high they’ll come back again.
Result: the average number of adventurers staying here just keeps climbing upward like a graph line I can’t stop.
Meanwhile, most of the nearby villages have already been absorbed, their residents happily relocating to Ceat Village. After all, there’s plenty of work, houses for everyone, and — most importantly — no property tax forms to fill out. Everyone’s thrilled.
That’s why Bell-Rango Company is exploding with growth… and also drowning in a manpower shortage.
In other words, Bell-Rango Company is struggling.
But then again, I’m struggling too. Lately, I’ve seriously been considering learning some kind of shadow clone technique just to keep up with the workload.
…Too bad I have no idea how one actually learns that. (If anyone out there has a “Clones for Dummies” guide, please send it to me.)
So for now, I just have to prioritize and tackle things one by one.
“My plan is to expand so that about three thousand adventurers and traveling merchants can stay here at once. Plus, His Majesty and the others will be returning soon, right? I’d better get the town ready before that happens.”
“Urgh… if you put it like that, we can’t argue. Very well, we’ll trouble you another day.”
“Yup, sounds good.”
With a light reply, I waved Bell and Rango off.
After that, I took Kamshin and headed out of town to survey the expansion site. But before we got very far, a group came running up behind us.
“Lord Van! Please wait!”
The voices belonged to none other than Bora and the mechanical bow unit, led personally by her. And with them — the youngest knight in the corps, little Porte-chan. They’d clearly scrambled to assemble whoever was nearby, so there were only about ten, lightly armed with mechanical bows and daggers.
“The outside of town is dangerous. Allow us to guard you!”
Seeing Bora say that so earnestly was heartwarming… and at the same time, deeply concerning.
“No, no, you’ve all been marching for days. You should rest.”
I tried to wave them off, but Bora just looked at me like I’d said the dumbest thing in history.
“Lord Van, you haven’t rested since we returned. Not only the villagers, but even the adventurers are worried about you.”
“…Wait, they’re that worried?”
I asked, surprised. Geez, I can’t help it if I’m too popular. What a troublesome curse.
While I was busy half-blushing over that thought, Bora nodded with deadly seriousness.
“Of course. If Lord Van were to collapse, Ceat Village would be finished. We can’t build weapons or even houses on our own yet. This village exists only because of you.”
She said it with a dazzling smile. Meanwhile, I quietly took the critical damage of realizing my only value was “the guy who makes stuff.” But I didn’t say that out loud. I’ll just cry into my pillow tonight.
“…Fine. Then you can all come along.”
“Yes, sir!”
With a sigh, I gave in. Bora and the others snapped into perfect salutes. Even Porte-chan was starting to look the part. Their training was paying off.
Now if only they could also remember to take care of my fragile little heart.
Because Van-kun is the type of boy who grows best when praised, not when used like a crafting machine.
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