Consulting the Village Chief

Please lend us money.

What came out of Gozohs mouth was, unexpectedly, a common thing.

Gozoh, well, thats

Nn? Not to me personally ye know? To the village.

Huh? Right. So for the villages expenses then? What would it be used for?

It seemed to be more of a please lend us money than please pay us thing.

The shopkeeper grinned.

Well, heres the short of it. Food durin wintertime and as much food as needed. Taking a route thatd ensure that, Koo-sanll build communal warehouses in the village at a discount.

Hey, didnt you have some place originally to return to for wintertime?

Its turned into something troublesome so I said that kind of thing.

As for me, even though I wouldnt get any DP, its not like I really needed it either. It isnt that bad slowly entering the hot spring without nuisances too. Then pair that with dozing off in the massage chair.

Hm? Everyone, your expressions froze like crazy. Youve been quiet for a while now.

Then, the shopkeeper was the one to break the silence.

No way, those iron golemsre great quality, theres no way Id do somethin thatd be like throwin away production durin wintertime!

Y-yeah, thats right. Weve already brought our livelihoods here after all. Right, Koo-san?

Yeah! Ill follow Kehma-san!

Gozoh followed up as though trying to fill the gap, then Koo-san instantly made his declaration. Whyd you say something like being my follower so proactively? I dont even remember doing anything really.

Well its fine. But wouldnt it be a waste of money?

Pavuera and Siare always runnin short on iron, so itll definitely be worth it. Sides, soon therell even be a huge demand for it flutterin in. During the winter too.

A huge demand huh Needing a lot of iron, itd be for weapons and armor doesnt that imply war?

I think I heard some talks about that? Well, when I said that while recollecting, the shopkeeper had a surprised face.

Ah, looks like I was spot on.

W-well, theres some reasons. I dont want to stop operatin here for that time.

So you mean itll be more like an investment than a loan?

Yah yah! Aaah as expected Kehma-hans the best, the conversations already done! Ya definitely wont lose out, how much can ya take out? [1]

While the shopkeeper struck the table with a loud bang, he grinned broadly.

Hmm, wouldnt the amount depend on the market? I dont know about that at all. Though, isnt this a good chance to use the gold coins that Ive just been hoarding away without turning into DP?

I piled up gold coins on the table after taking them out of my [Safe].

Ten, twenty eeh, troublesome, this should be around a hundred coins. One month of Watarus debt repayment.

Is one hundred gold enough?

A-a hundred!? Ah, y-yah, t-thats enough. Yah, thisll double by spring, wait, that might be a bit hard though, Ill return around a hundred fifty!

You seem reliable. Then in exchange, Ill leave you to manage things concerning the villages operating expenses, manager. Show me the profit youll make Ill be checking the books, so dont embezzle alright?

I never thought youd do somethin like take out a hundred and plop it down Ill do it, my Dyne Company will do its best with all its got!

His shop is the Dyne Company huh. Its the first time Ive heard that.

By the way, from the sounds of it even ten gold seems like it would have been enough. Well, theres no helping it now that Ive taken it out, its better than having too little. I took the chance to leave the funds stuff to him. He looks motivated, so its kay.

So much money but, isnt it too much? Arent you suspicious that he may swindle you or run away with it?

Receptionist-san spoke.

It would definitely be a pain to lose 100,000 DP worth, but taking it back now would be troublesome, so Ill make light of it. My ideal role as the village chief is [Just take an imposing stance, then leave the troublesome things to those around me and sleep soundly].

Right, so in order to push the troublesome things onto everyone else, lets give the feeling of being a big shot.

Well, I trust him. You, an adventurer guild receptionist, are also present here, arent you? Besides, if a merchant ran away with just this much money it means they would be just that little of a merchant. Right?

Hey, dont look down on me! Ill do whatever ya want if I make a mistake and lose it, dogeza, seppuku, anythin!

Not just dogeza, but even seppuku? Ah, if you do that be here so you turn into DP alright?

Thats unexpected Suddenly pressed into being the village chief, yet already able to take such prompt decisions.

Fufufu, this is the first time seeing the Dyne-san this riled up.

I received a rare praise from Receptionist-san. And next to her, that dandy-mustached Oji-sama The bar master is grinning with some hidden meaning.

Next is your turn.

Then, while were at it. Ill leave the village chief stuff to the bar master whenever Im doing something, so as such, please do your best as the village sub-chief.

Ah, me? Fumu, Kehma-san is an adventurer as well, so although I dont know what might happen understood, Ill accept.

Fufufu, looks like hell work. Lets shove away most of my work.

Then how about we summarize? First is our policy. These winter preparations to speak more accurately, preparations for iron golem mining during winter.

I looked at everyone one by one, allotting the minimum work to everyone.

Koo-san, begin to build the warehouses immediately starting tomorrow. Kantra, give him priority and make nails or whatever else he needs. Receptionist-san, put out a commission for wood collection from the guild For funds, please discuss with the Dyne Company. The Dyne Company will be in charge of supplying materials and financing. Concerning materials, you may use the inns storehouse for now. For the village sub-chief, review the Dyne Companys plans for any insufficiencies. Other than that, Ill leave the detailed instructions to you. Well, for Gozoh

Aye, my work is to hunt iron golems in the dungeon! Leave it to me!

Thats also true, but Im going to give you an even more important job.

Nn? What important job?

Gozoh inclined his thick neck to the side. I responded with a grin.

Please think about this villages name. Ill leave it to you.

Wha!? Youre throwing that to me!?

As expected, Gozoh let out a hysterical voice.

It was your idea after all, think about it however you want. You could name it whatever you want, even if it was something stupid as Gozoh+Roppus Love Love Village. Well, please think about it properly.

What!? G-g-got it! Ill think about it, Ill do it!

And like that, I assigned work to everyone present such that Id have no work of my own.

So far so good, these guys will be thinking about what they should do from here on, so they wont notice that I dont have work to do.

Looks like it will be busy Ill do my best even if Im just a figurehead. Well, Ill go back and get some sleep. Good night.

Now then, lets get back for some sleep.

*

After Kehma left, while the villages leadership ate karage in the bar, they talked about Kehma becoming the village chief.

Seriously, that guys a super big shot. He easily gave out orders after having the position pressed onto him.

As expected of Kehma-san! Ill follow him for life!

My my. Why did he place me as the village sub-chief?

My storell be dealin with finances Easily just pullin out a hundred gold, seriously a big shot

Just when did he prepare that much money? Even though hes a D-Rank adventurer

Ah, he ripped Wataru off of twenty-three hundred gold by gambling. Hes paying him a hundred gold a month.

Against Hero-sama?

For now, everyone had their own opinion regarding the figurehead.

Listening to their opinions and laying down policies, giving out directions, and even having discretion.

It was the work of an excellent village chief.

In truth, theyd just planned on asking him to put a good word in from them to the inn to lend the money after he declined being made the village chief.

They never thought that the person himself would acknowledge becoming the village chief and make a quick judgement, taking out as much as ten times the highest amount they expected to get.

Thanks to that, they had been completely deprived of their leadership.

Even though I thought that Id be able to more or less pay back Kehma-san lending the slots and giving me the snack recipes. [2]

Really~. Its thanks to Ichika-han workin part time that my shops even survived.

Hes even handled rescue commissions for the guild several times

Hahahaha! Were no match for our village chief.

By the way, concerning Ichika, even though she independently went to work at the shop part time on her rest days and break times in order to earn money for the slot machines, they assumed that she was sent over by Kehma.

Even her wasting money on the slot machines, they just took it as Kehma decentralizing the areas wealth.

He even entirely saw through my profit scheme

Im sure that he has his own information network. Theres no way he doesnt as the secretary of an inn with an A-Rank purveyor behind it.

Add on to that that he said we could use the inns warehouse, which in other words means that he expects the price to hike up quickly. And he gave so much, its like he wants me to buy enough to control it.

Did he predict that far?

The bars master was amazed.

Meanwhile, Gozoh poured apple wine into Silias glass.

Hey, Silia-chan. What rank is Kehma now?

He had his examination a few days ago, becoming D-Rank. Rather, wasnt Gozoh-san his examiner?

I know, just wanted to ask D-Rank huh Hes an even lower rank than me, despite how it looks Isnt he already good enough for C-Rank?

As expected as not even one year has passed, he does not have enough achievements to be C-Rank.

The guilds receptionist said that while picking up some of the karage before drinking a mouthful of the apple cider.

And then, there was Koo-san.

So good, so gooood!

While filling his mouth with karage, his respect for Kehma elevated another level.

Footnotes:

Think this is the first time this has come up, but -han is the kansai dialects version of -san.

As in, hes so much of a big shot itd be hard to show thanks