Chapter 23

I have become the Count of Durness, but I have no intention of neglecting my territory like my parents did. However, it will be difficult to get involved in the management of the fief until I defeat the Demon King and graduate from the academy. Therefore, I must visit the fief at least once to see how things are going.

I head to the Durness territory on the back of Ryu. I have been to the dungeon in the territory once, but this is the first time I have visited the lord's mansion since I left for the capital.

"Ryu, land in that garden, please. Quietly, if you can."

When Ryu lands in the garden, a deep thud echoes and the ground shakes. Considering how big Ryu is, this is actually a restrained landing.

The servants come out of the mansion, seemingly having noticed my arrival. It has been about two years since I last saw them, but we didn't talk much back then, so it's not like they are overjoyed to see me again. They look shocked when they see me and Ryu, and some even scream. I had sent a letter a week ago saying I would arrive, but it's natural for them to be surprised at seeing a dragon for the first time.

"I'm back. It's been a while."

"Welcome back, my lord."

I give a slight bow, and they bow deeply, not moving afterward. I can feel their strong desire not to talk to me.

Still, "my lord." I'm not a lady, a master, or a madam, so I guess it's natural for them to call me that.

A man rushes out after the servants.

"I apologize for the late welcome. I am Damon, the acting lord."

Damon, the steward, is a middle-aged man with a tired air. I haven't heard that the territory is in disarray, so he must be managing it well.

I think I might have seen him when I lived in this mansion, but I'm not sure.

"Nice to meet you, Damon. I would like you to call me Yumiera."

"Understood, Lady Yumiera. You must be tired from your long journey. I have prepared a room for you to rest. And..."

Damon looks up at Ryu and falls silent, unsure how to handle a dragon.

"Ryu doesn't need any care. Also, I'm not tired, so could you give me a brief overview of the fief's situation?"

It takes two days to get here by carriage from the capital, but it took us less than an hour.

"Understood. I will show you to your room."

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

Ryu roars and takes off into the sky. I hope he doesn't bring back any monsters as souvenirs.

Damon leads me through the mansion. The other servants avoid making eye contact with me.

It must be scary for them to see the neglected daughter return as the lord, especially on a dragon. I need to work on improving my relationship with the servants. I don't want them to become fanatical like Rita, though.

"How long have you been the steward, Damon?"

I ask Damon as we walk down the corridor.

"Eighteen years."

That's even before I was born. He's been doing this for a long time.

"Right, my parents will be coming here soon. Do you plan to serve them?"

"My loyalty is to the Durness family and the Durness territory. I serve the lord."

I was trying to gauge his thoughts on my usurpation of the title, but he gave a safe answer. He looks like a tired middle-aged man, but he's quite shrewd.

"This is the office."

The office is so neatly organized that it doesn't feel like a workplace. They must have hurriedly cleaned up when they learned I was coming a week ago.

"Can I see the recent ledgers?"

"Yes, here are the financial reports for the past five years."

I start by looking at the annual income and expenses. The tax revenue has been increasing slightly each year for the past five years. That's strange, it's the same amount every year.

"What about the population trend in the fief over the past five years?"

"It has been slightly increasing, but overall, it's been stagnant."

"Have you implemented any new policies in the past five years?"

"No, without the lord's authority, I cannot implement new policies. We have been following the usual procedures."

It's strange for the profit to keep increasing for five years.

"The profit has been increasing over the past five years, but what about before that?"

"It has been slightly increasing since I took office."

Damon, who had been answering calmly, starts to sweat. He must have tampered with the documents.

However, even if he did, it's still strange for the profit to keep increasing. If he were embezzling, he would gradually reduce the income.

The only thing that would be problematic with a decrease in income is if his ability were questioned. However, agriculture, which makes up a large part of the tax revenue, is subject to natural factors, so it's normal for it to decrease sometimes. Anyone who doesn't understand that...

"By the way, why did your predecessor resign?"

"The revenue decreased, so he was fired..."

Ah, I see. To my father, the territory was just a money-making machine. He would say nothing if the steward increased the tax revenue, but he would fire him if it decreased.

"Right, so what is the real financial situation?"

If changing the steward didn't increase the tax revenue, my father might have meddled and raised the tax rate. To avoid that, he made it look like the revenue was increasing by a fixed amount each year, whether it increased or decreased. It's wrong, but it shows that he was thinking about the territory first.

"Um, what are you talking about..."

Damon's forehead is drenched in sweat as he tries to deny it.

"I'm not blaming you. I just want to know if you transferred the surplus from profitable years to deficit years or if you borrowed money from somewhere."

"...Yes, I tampered with the documents. I hid the surplus from good years and transferred it to bad years. There is no debt, but the financial situation is tight."

"The financial situation is tight because you were sending most of the money to my parents in the capital, right?"

"Yes, but the fact that I forged the documents is undeniable—"

"Damon, thank you for supporting the Durness territory all these years. It should have been done by a member of the Durness family. Please continue to take care of the territory."

When I bow, Damon presses his eyes. Is he crying?

"This Damon swears to do his utmost for the territory and for Lady Yumiera."

He performs the ritual of a vassal. Oh, is this the same pattern as with Rita?

"Let's forget about the past. If you hadn't forged the documents, things might have been worse. Let's think about the future. Do you have any public works projects in mind?"

"But there are no savings, so we need to find a way to raise funds."

Leave that to me; I'm rich from selling monster materials.

"Don't worry about the money. I'll take care of it. If there are any rocks in the way or mountains to flatten, I can do it."

For the sake of my territory, I'm willing to become a human bulldozer. No, maybe I shouldn't do it myself to create more jobs?

"In that case, let's start with road maintenance, or perhaps flood control—"

Damon starts to talk about development plans, as if to vent his frustrations. When will this conversation end?

The next day, I decide to go on a tour of the town with Damon. I said I could go alone, but he insisted on coming with me.

"Lady Yumiera, would you like to wear a hat?"

"It's fine. I've decided not to hide anymore."

The townspeople stare at my hair, but I don't mind. I need to work towards a society where black-haired people can walk proudly.

"Oh, this shop is nostalgic."

I stop in front of a merchant's shop where I used to sell monster materials.

"This shop doesn't have a good reputation. And it looks old and dark inside."

As Damon says, the building is old and the inside is dim.

I chose to use this shop because of its appearance. A reputable shop wouldn't buy monster materials from a child alone.

The town hasn't changed much since two years ago. It's not desolate or in disarray, but it's not bustling either.

"Something is... missing, isn't it?"

"Yes, there are no notable specialties."

I need to think about new industries or successful examples from other territories. It would be great if we could revitalize the town with a dungeon like Varias did with his sword.

"Lady Yumiera, you seem to know the town well. I thought you never left the mansion while you were here?"

To my surprise, it seems no one knew I had sneaked out.

"To be honest, I used to sneak out to level up in the mountains and dungeons."

"What, what did the maids... No, I am responsible for leaving it all to them."

"No, I was the one who sneaked out."

If we start talking about who is to blame, I would be the clear culprit. I don't want everything to turn into a responsibility issue because I would be the most inconvenienced.

Thinking that a tour of the city alone wouldn't be enough, I came to a nearby village. As soon as I enter the village, the villagers' eyes focus on me.

"You're the guardian deity of the mountain."

What, what did that old man just say? Other villagers gather and start calling me the guardian deity of the mountain. Some even pray to me.

"Damon, what's going on here?"

"I have no idea... I'm as confused as you are."

What kind of misunderstanding is this now?

"Excuse me, what is the guardian deity of the mountain? I think you must be mistaken."

An old man speaks on behalf of the villagers.

"The guardian deity of the mountain is a black-haired goddess. We haven't seen her recently and were worried... Are you not the deity?"

Is there such a deity? A black-haired deity as a guardian is unusual.

"No, I'm not. What kind of deity is she?"

"She wields darkness and drives away monsters."

Quite a combative deity. Wielding darkness, she might be considered an evil deity by the public, which is a bit sad.

"Has this deity been in the mountain since ancient times?"

"No, the first sighting by a villager was about ten years ago. She was a little girl back then but has grown over the years."

Yes, that's definitely me. I had a vague idea, but now it's clear.

"Ah, that's me. I used to level up around here. I'm not a deity but a human. I recently became the lord of this territory, Yumiera Durness."

I explain the situation, but will the villagers be disappointed?

To my surprise, the villagers cheer.

"The guardian deity is the lord!"

"Long live the deity! Long live the lord! Long live Lady Yumiera!"

...What is this? Being hated is worse, I guess...?