I became Countess Dolknes, but I have no intention of leaving the fief like what my parents did . However, unless we defeat the Demon King and graduate from the academy, it would be hard for me to focus on the territory management . Thats why I must at least check the state of my territory once .

Im going to the fief riding on Ryuus back . I went to the dungeon in my territory once, but I havent been visiting the feudal lords residence after I went to the Royal Capital .

Ryuu, get down to the garden over there . Please be quiet .

When Ryuu landed in the garden, there was a low thud, and the ground shook . Hes a big guy, even if we try to be quiet, theres no way to assure it will be quiet .

Hearing the sound, the servants came out of the estate immediately and noticed my arrival . It has been two years, not that Im happy to see them again since Ive only had a brief conversation with them .

They looked at Ryuu and me in surprise . Some of them even screamed .

I had sent a letter a week before my arrival, but I guess they mustve been surprised to see a dragon for the first time .

Im home . Its been a while .

Welcome home, Mistress .

I bowed lightly, and they bowed deeply and stayed still . I can feel their strong desire not to be the one to talk to me .

Nevertheless, Im their master . Is this happening because I was different from my parents?

A man soon came out in a hurry from the same door .

Im sorry for the delay in welcoming you . Im Damon, the acting Lord .

The acting Lord, Damon, was a middle-aged man with a worn-out atmosphere . I havent heard anything about the fief being in shambles, the management must have been in good hands .

I dont remember if I already saw him back then, though .

Nice to meet you, Damon . Id prefer it if youll call me Yumiela .

As you wish, Lady Yumiela . You must be tired after your long journey, we have prepared a room for you to rest . Umm

Damon looks up at Ryuu and goes silent . He doesnt know how to deal with a dragon .

You dont need to take care of Ryuu . And Im not tired yet, so Id like to hear a quick update about the territory .

If I went by using a carriage from the Royal Capital, it would take us two days . But since I flew with Ryuu, it only took us an hour .

All right . Let me escort you to your room .

Thank you . Ryuu, you can rest in the garden, or you can go play .

Ryuu responded with a roar before spreading his wings and took off into the sky . Dont bring back any monster as a souvenir, please .

Damon guided me through the estate . The other servants didnt even try to make any eye contact with me .

The only heiress who was treated coldly become the head of the family and came back on a dragon, of course, it would be scary . First of all, I have to work on improving my relationship with my employees .

I dont want them to be like Rita .

How long have you been the acting Lord?

As we walk down the corridor, I asked him a question .

Ive been in this position for 18 years .

Hes been doing this for a long time, even before I was born .

My parents will be here soon, but are you going to serve them?

My loyalty belongs to House of Dolknes and this fief . Im serving the head of the family .

Im trying to probe how he felt about me succeeding the family, but he gave me a safe answer . He looks like a worn-out middle-aged man, but hes a man with determination .

This is the office .

I can see how tidy the room is, it didnt feel like a workplace . He must have quickly cleaned it up after I sent that letter a week ago .

Then, can you show me the recent account book?

Yes . These are the financial reports for the last five years .

For the time being, Ill just look at the yearly income and expenses . For the last five years, the tax revenues went up little by little every year . Funnily enough, its about the same amount each year .

How has the population of the fief changed over the last five years?

There has been a slight increase, but overall, its been flat .

Have you passed any new policies in the last five years?

No, we cant change any of the policies without the lords authority . Its the same as before .

It would be strange to see if profits kept rising for the last five years when nothings changed .

Profits seem to have increased in the last five years, how about before?

There has been slight increases after I was appointed here .

Sweats began to break out on Damons forehead, which meant he answered me offhandedly . I knew it, hes tampering with the reports .

But if thats the case, its strange that it kept increasing . If hes going to fill his own pockets, he should gradually cut down the income and expenses .

If theres something that bothers me about the decrease in income and expenses, its that I wonder how good his ability is? But agriculture, which accounts for most of the tax revenue, is dependent on nature, so there is bound to be some decrease . Who wouldnt understand that?

Hey, why did Damons predecessor quit the job?

Our revenues decreased so theyve been fired

Wow, I knew it . To my father, the territory was only something that produced the money . If the acting lord increases the tax revenue, he wont say anything, but if the tax decrease, theyll get fired .

So, whats the real balance?

If changing the acting lord didnt raise the tax revenues, my father could interfere and excessively raise the tax rate . To avoid this, Damon made it look like the tax revenues were increasing by a certain amount, whether they were going up or down . Fraud is fraud, but it was probably the result of him putting the territory first .

Umm, I dont know what youre talking about

While he feigned ignorance, the sweats didnt stop to break out .

Im not accusing you of anything . Id like to know if you turned in a deficit year or if you borrowed money from somewhere else?

Yes, I forged the reports . I concealed the actual balance for a good harvest year to make up for a bad harvest year . We dont have any debts, but we are in a tight financial situation .

Its tight because you sent most of the money to my parents in the Royal Capital, right?

Yes, but the truth is I forged the reports

Damon, thank you for supporting the Dolknes territory . My family was supposed to be the one who supports it . I look forward to working with you to support this territory .

When I lowered my head, Damon kept his gazes down . Eh, are you crying?

I, Damon, swear to do everything in my power for the sake of this fief, Lady Yumiela .

He does his retainers courtesy . Hey, isnt this in a similar pattern with Rita?

Lets bygones be bygones . And it would have been worse if you hadnt forged those reports . Lets think about the future . You have a public service project you want to do, right?

But we have no savings, we will need a plan to raise money .

I can take care of that part, Im a rich person with abundant raw materials from monsters .

Dont worry, Ill bring you the money . If you need help like cutting a rock on the way or levelling down a mountain, Ill help .

For the benefit of my fief, Im not afraid doing the heavy works limited to destruction activity . No, should I stay out of it to open more job opportunities?

Then well build roads, no, well start with the flood prevention project first

Damon begins to talk about the development proposal for the fief as if to relieve his previous exasperation . So, when is this talk going to end?

The next day, Damon and I decided to go out to inspect the town . I told him I didnt mind being alone, but he wouldnt listen, saying hed follow me .

Lady Yumiela, um Are you going out without any hat on?

Yes, Ive decided not to hide it anymore .

The townspeople paid attention to my hair, but I dont care . From now on, we have to aim to create a society where black-haired people can walk openly .

Ah, I miss this place .

I stopped in front of one of the stores . I used to sell my raw materials to them in the past .

This particular store doesnt have a great reputation because of its outward appearance .

As Damon said, the building is old, and the inside was dimly lit .

The reason why I chose to sell my raw materials there was because of its appearance . Because in a respectable store, they would never buy any monster materials that a child brought in alone .

The town looks pretty much the same as it did two years ago . Its not desolated or run down, but its not vibrant either .

I mean This territory doesnt have any character .

Well, we dont have any specialities .

Ill have to think about it, whether its a new industry or adopting a successful method from other territories . It would be nice if we could use the dungeon to revitalize the town as Barias did .

Lady Yumiela is very familiar with the town . Have you visited the town while you were staying in the estate?

To my surprise, they still havent found out that I slipped out of the estate uncountable times before .

Ill be honest with you Ive been sneaking out of the estate and levelling up in the mountain and the dungeon for a long time already .

What on earth were the maids even doing No, its all my fault that I entrusted everything to the maids .

No, Im the one who sneaked out, right?

If were talking about whos to blame, it would be me, hands down . We need to stop arguing about whos responsible in every argument because Im the one who will be the most inconvenienced .

We decided that a visit to the town wasnt enough, so we came to a nearby village not far from the town . Once again, the villagers eyes are focused on me as I enter the village .

Its the Mountain Guardian .

Eh, what did the grandpa say? The other villagers gather around and speak about the Mountain Guardian . Some even put their hands together in prayer .

Damon, whats this all about?

I dont know whats going on either

What kind of misunderstanding are they making this time?

Umm, what is the Mountain Guardian? Maybe youve got the wrong person?

The old man answers on behalf of the villagers .

The Mountain Guardian is a goddess with black hair . I was worried because recently there havent been any sighting Are you the Goddess?

Is there such a god? Its unusual for an ominous black-haired god to be a guardian deity .

No, I didnt mean it like that . What kind of goddess is she?

The Goddess controls the darkness and drives out the monsters .

Thats a very militaristic goddess . Its a pity that the world is going to treat her as an evil goddess for being able to control the darkness .

Has that goddess always been residing in this mountain?

No, the first time the villagers witnessed her was about ten years ago . She was a little girl at the time, but shes gradually grown up .

Um, I knew it It was me after all . The dark attribute gave it away .

Ah, that was me . I used to level up around here in the past . Im not a goddess, but a human . My name is Yumiela Dolknes . Ive recently become the lord of this fief .

I explained the situation, and I wondered if the villagers would be disappointed .

However, the villagers cheers betrayed my expectation .

Our Lord is the Mountain Guardian?

Praise the Goddess! Long live the Lord! Long live Lady Yumiela!

What is this? Its better than being hated, right?