The Village

Winter had set in.

It was autumn until quite recently while I still thought it was summer, and now it’s already winter.

Well, a village was established.

Yeah. A village.

I don’t really get what happened that well, but it looks like the stingy adventurers that pitched tents instead of paying for the inn just decided, ‘These tents are cold, let’s set up some huts~?’

And then they just settled down right there. ‘Yo, good morning Kehma-san!’ Don’t give me that. You said you’d build huts but you seriously made some respectable houses!

Moreover, other adventurers even went: ‘Oh, looks good. I’ll also build one… ah, how though?’ ‘Look no more, leave it to me!’ Then settled down by building houses. The heck is this guy, is Koo-san a carpenter’s son? Booyah, I remembered his name from earlier!

A bar was completed next to the inn.

One of Receptionist-san’s juniors joined the guild’s branch office so it turned into a two-person system.

In addition, shops got built when the smell of business appeared. Thanks to that it’s gotten difficult for us to sell potions and stuff. We didn’t sell that much anyways though. Above all, there’s no reason for me to refuse because of the permanent residents’ and shopkeepers’ DP.

And like this, a village formed on its own accord.

It’s like someone planned this behind my back, but well it’s favorable to me. The adventurer guild is suspicious. Is Koo-san a spy from the guild head? Hm.

Now that they’re building houses, won’t there stop being guests at the inn? I thought that, but nothing like that happened. Rather, the amount of merchants increased.

Thanks to carpenters felling trees in the forest for lumber, the roadless forest now has a road to some extent. Since its become easier to travel through, the circulation between Sia and Pavuera increased, further increasing our DP income and tunnel rental’s income. It’s gotten hard for the golem wagons to get rented though.

(Add on to that that since the lumber quests were put out by the guild, Meat and Ichika have increased their amount of achieved commissions.)

“Having a bar’s better after all! Right Wataru!?”

“Nooo, I’m on abstinence until I pay back my debt! Why did I have to stop drinking even though there’s a bar here now!”

“It’s alright, this is ordinary apple juice.”

“Eh, then it’s alright… wait, isn’t this alcohol!?”

“Aaah? No way Wataru. This is juice, it tastes a bit like alcohol but there’s nothing in it but juice. See?”

“Whaaaat, juice huuuh? It’s definitely juice if Gozoh-san says so, ahahaha.”

There are even farces like that, too.

Well, I don’t really have a problem with him drinking alcohol though. He’ll pay his debt back properly after all.

Nonetheless, Haku-san hasn’t come around recently. Not since I gave that ring to Rokuko.

According to the hero, Haku-san is busy and doesn’t have the time to come here, however… it feels like I’m a death row criminal waiting for execution.

Furthermore, we’re selling cards and dice to the bar, even renting out slots.

As expected, simple gambling fits just right with wagering drinking money in the bar. They’re profiting from the slots even with the rental fees, so the setting is promising.

Well, the cards, dice and slots are being rented out so the game room would be vacant right? It’s nothing like that.

“Uooooh! Go, go! Number three, Yumenokuni! Aah, don’t stop there!” 1

Currently, the game room is used for rat racing.

Those guys that turned into residents and the inn’s guests are participating.

“Number one, Aonotenteki! Run! Run! Do iiiiiit!” 2

“A chance for number four! Go, Nazunazuuuu! I bet on you, oi, stop looking for something and run!” 3

“Oooh, Onsoku came up from behind! First place, number five, Onsoku! As expected of its dignity, the crowd’s favorite!” 4

Voices of sorrow and joy came from the audience that enclosed it all, failed betting tickets fluttering in the game room.

The bets were for which rat would come in first. Because calculations were troublesome, second place wasn’t cared about at all.

“The next race is in one hour! It is today’s final race, those running can be found here.”

“Ooh, Deppa is coming out? He’ll decide it in one go, can’t be unprepared.” 5

“Elekimouse is the favorite to win, that guy’s lightning quick, exactly like thunder!”

“Wait wait, Fighto has amazing willpower too, this race looks like it’ll be interesting.”

“Oraniwasanpo is steady and clever though he’s not powerful huh~. He’s the dark horse. Alright, I’ll buy ten of ’em! One silver!” 6

While the guests were betting on the following race, the rats that ran in the previous race were given cheese to chew on.

These guys are subordinates that live in the forest, the rats that were active in our dungeon battle against Haku-san.

Moreover, when they turned into named monsters when I gave them a name for the race, they became pretty clever.

They obey my instructions faithfully and determine their order intentionally, purposely building suspense during the race. Fufufu, with these guys investigation commissions are my forte now too… It was a miscalculation though. It was a miscalculation though.

And like that, the village completed centered around the inn, rather, the dungeon.

On a certain winter day, Gozoh called me over to the bar. I thought he’d summoned me for a drinking bout or something, but it didn’t feel like that. The adventurer representative Gozoh and the blacksmith Kantra, along with Koo-san who’d turned up to build houses, as well as the bar’s master, a shopkeeper, and the guild receptionist… the person in charge of the branch office. Everyone was here.

“Well then, today I had Kehma come here. There’s an important talk to about this town at Cave of Desires.”

“Hoh, so we’re turnin’ into a serious village huh… Ah, here’s some refreshments. So, what’s the talk?”

“Ooh! Tasty! Alright, the chief will be Kehma! Any objections!?”

Eh?

Kantra: “I consent if it’s Kehma-dono.”

Koo-san: “Ah, I have faith in Kehma-san!”

Bar master: “None here. Ooh, this is karage. My favorite food.”

Shopkeeper: “I think it’s good! It’ll be profitable for us.”

Receptionist-san: “… I have none either.”

… No one’s going to stop it? What’s with this flow?

“Wait, please hold up. Oi Gozoh, why’d it turn into me becoming the village chief?”

“Because you have the most free time! Other people have work… whaaat, the village chief’s just a normal mediator, it’s nothing different from what you’ve been doing so far, Kehma.”

“Wouldn’t Rokuko be fine then…? She’s mostly free too.”

“… Kehma. You’re thinking about entrusting the village to Rokuko-chan?”

… No, sorry. I said something weird there.

“But saying you’ll entrust it to me, wouldn’t I just be a figurehead?”

“Yeaaah. Well, that’s generally how it is. It’s just that if something happens, the village chief decides. Everyone else also helps out.”

“Eh? That so… well, in that case…”

That should be fine then? I acknowledged becoming the village chief.

Though I have the feeling I was being led on, it’d just be troublesome if I left it to some unskilled guy.

“Well, it’s a bit fast but how about we consult the village chief?”

I knew it.

Footnotes:

Paradise

Blue Raindrop

SFX for a mouse

Sonic Speed

Bucktooth

Garden Stroller