As Ceat Village became economically prosperous, with advantageous trade relations with the Yellenetta Kingdom and the Shelvia Confederation, a wide variety of goods began circulating in the area. Nearby, there was also a dungeon, and half of the adventurers took up residence in the Adventurer’s Town and the dungeon base, bringing in valuable materials and ores.
In Ceat at Village, the Bell-Rango Trading Company is the largest power, but the kingdom's largest trading company, the Mary Trading Company, also has a store here, and a large caravan comes once a week to conduct various transactions. Additionally, thanks to the regular trade agreements with Count Panamera, who gained territory on the Yellenetta Kingdom’s side, Ceat Village has become, in a sense, the most prosperous economic city where almost anything can be obtained.
However, there is just one major issue in Ceat Village.
“…Why am I so busy?”
Gazing at the large pile of paperwork that needed to be processed as the lord, I muttered softly. In response, Till poured me a cup of tea with a wry smile.
“Is it because you've been away from Ceat Village for a while?”
“Is this what it feels like when you come back from a business trip and find all your usual tasks piled up...?”
I leaned back in the chair, feeling a sense of déjà vu from Till’s words. As I stretched and raised both hands, Kamshin let out a frustrated sigh.
“…If only I had the skills of Lord Espada, I could handle this paperwork for you!”
“No, no, Kamshin, you’ve been training all morning. You've worked hard enough, so you should rest a bit this afternoon.”
I offered some comforting words with a chuckle at Kamshin’s frustration. While I also train with Dee for swordsmanship, Kamshin’s training schedule is intense—from dawn until lunchtime. Despite the rigorous training, he’s right by my side as my bodyguard after a quick wash and lunch. His stamina is truly incredible.
I thought to myself that Kamshin was catching up to Dee’s level, and as I smiled, Kamshin placed his hand on his chest and shook his head seriously.
“We’ve faced assassination attempts many times… If I could, I’d put a bed next to yours and protect you all day long!”
“That’s too heavy!”
“Eh!? No, I meant I would just place the bed beside you, so it wouldn’t be heavy!”
“That’s not what I meant!”
I promptly corrected Kamshin’s misunderstanding with a playful retort. As we bantered, Arte, sitting on the sofa opposite my desk, giggled softly with her finger on her lips.
“…I envy how close you two are.”
“Eh? Arte, do you want to place a bed beside mine too?”
“N-No, that’s not what I meant...!”
I teased Arte lightly, and as expected, her face turned bright red. From what I’ve learned from previous experiences, Arte seems to be shy but secretly a little perverted. She can’t speak up about topics like this due to embarrassment, but I suspect she’s actually quite interested.
As I thought about this, Espada, who was sitting on the sofa facing Arte, placed the documents he had on the table and spoke up.
“In reality, we are still far from having enough manpower. We’re training a few new people, but unless we establish a better education system, the shortage of talent won’t be solved.”
Espada’s firm statement made me panic. I had planned to spend my days wandering around the territory, wondering what fun things to do, living a carefree life as the “playboy” Van.
In my haste, I decided to check the current situation in Ceat Village.
“R-Right, we did create a school substitute, right? How’s that going?”
“The children and those who are interested are learning well, but it will be at least ten years before we can produce people capable of handling internal affairs. As for the people we need now, we require two personnel for taxation, one to record new residents, and five to manage the allocation of food, clothing, and shelter. After that…”
“T-That’s still not enough… What about Espada’s disciples?”
“Thanks to them, we are managing to get by. Currently, I am teaching Arte-sama the basics of document selection, but we still need more personnel for managing the territory’s finances, manpower, and the knightly orders. I am currently handling about half of this myself, but if I could get five trustworthy people, I would be able to teach them.”
“…So, in other words, it would take five internal affairs officers to do Espada’s work alone…”
I muttered in dismay at Espada’s report. His words weren’t exaggerated or self-praising, they were simply the facts. If I were asked to do all of Espada’s work, I’d go on strike. No, I’d probably lead a rebellion.
With that thought, I realized that Espada, who handles all of this with no change in expression, must be some kind of cyborg or android. If I skipped studying and played around, I’d probably get blasted with a murder beam. How terrifying.
Joking aside, there would undoubtedly be times when I’d need to go out in the future. For that reason, I needed to urgently recruit more people to help with managing the territory.
“…Right, the village’s population has already exceeded three thousand, hasn’t it? With that many people, there must be some suitable candidates for such tasks. Perhaps we should announce a recruitment.”
“…As mentioned in the report the other day, the village currently has over four thousand residents, and including the adventurers, there are about five thousand. Please make sure to read the report carefully…”
“R-Right! Some of them are also supposed to move to Brother Murcia’s territory, so I was considering those numbers?”
“…You mentioned the village’s population, correct? Let’s go with that.”
That was close. I never know when Espada’s “check system” will activate. I need to keep my guard up.
I refocused my mind and nodded to myself.
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