I went to the otherworld village the Sunday after Kyouka and Yuusei-kun visited. I decided to head there from early morning that day. After finishing breakfast and preparing, I entered the lab through the usual door. "I don't think this place emits that much magical power, so I wonder why Kyouka was staring at it so intently?" "It must be her wild instincts, meow. Even noticing me should be impossible for a mage of her level, meow," Miriam replied. Wild instincts, huh? It made sense that "Slasher Kyouka-chan" would have such keen senses. She had also noticed Filman before he released his magical power in front of the multipurpose hall last time. "Do you think she might enter the room on her own?" "You should tell her directly that she must absolutely not enter this place, meow. Then Kyouka will definitely not come in, meow," Miriam advised. Well, that child was fundamentally earnest, so that should work. If she ever came by again, I'd tell her that. After we finished discussing what happened with Kyouka yesterday, we left the house and started walking towards the village. "Huh?" "Hmm? What's that?" "The road is blocked, meow." The path we were walking on was a single road surrounded by forest, and if we continued straight ahead, we should have reached the village. However, right in front of us stood a log cabin, blocking the road. I was certain nothing like that had been there the last time we came. We continued walking until we reached the front of the house, then stopped. "What's this?" "I don't know?" "There's a door, meow. Let's knock on it, meow." Indeed, the house had a door. I knocked on the door as Miriam suggested. "Yes?" I heard a woman's voice, and then the door opened. The face that peeked out from inside the house was Monika's. "Oh, hello." She greeted us. "Welcome back. You've returned, I see." "Yeah, I just got back," she replied. What great timing. "Thanks for your hard work. By the way, what's this house?" "Ah, yes. Well, please come in." The interior was fairly spacious, with a table and a work desk among other things. "Is this your house, Monika?" I asked as we sat down at the table. "No, it's supposed to be your house, or rather, your office. But this will be my workplace too, so I came to check it out." Ah, so they had set up an office for the village chief. That's why they built it by the road. "I see... By the way Monika, your appearance is completely different now." "Indeed, you changed quite a bit." "You've gone from a country to a city mage, meow," Miriam chimed in. Monika used to wear a drab black robe, but now she was dressed in a beautiful white and blue one. Her hair also looked better. "Thank you. I prepared this because I needed to speak with the noble, Claude-sama."

"Eh? Wasn't that expensive? I can pay for it." "It's alright. This is part of my professional appearance. To be honest, when I went to the royal capital, I received some hand-me-downs from a noble friend from my school days. They also helped me style my hair." Huh. So she had connections like that. "What happened after that?" "Well, first of all, I successfully submitted the report to the royal capital. We're not officially recognized as a village yet, but they did acknowledge that you, Tatsuya-sama, have become the village chief." So I was accepted. I had been a bit worried they might reject me, being somewhat of an outsider with an unkown background. "They won't recognize us as a village right away?" "We'll have to pay taxes first. Usually, it's 10% of the village's total harvest, but for pioneer villages, a poll tax is acceptable too. It's one gold coin per person per year." So paying taxes is what makes us officially a village, huh? Well, that's what this venture was for, after all. "Which option is better?" "The poll tax, I'd say. I'll show you the apple orchard later, but our apple cultivation has been a remarkable success. The poll tax will be far cheaper for us." So it was successful. As expected of the super fertilizer. "That's great news. When do we need to pay the poll tax?" "It should be fine to pay right after we secure distribution channels for the apples. Any earlier would strain our budget. However, if we delay this too long, we might be suspected of tax evasion and draw unwanted attention from the government. After all, these apples will be a surefire hit." "Can I leave that part to you?" "Of course. I've already asked the friend I mentioned earlier, and the groundwork in the royal capital has been laid."" This girl is incredible. "Alright, I'll leave it to you then. What about Claude-sama?" "That went well too. The main issue was who would become the administrator of this village, but I secured Claude-sama's word that Tatsuya-sama would be the administrator." Hmm? I didn't quite follow her. "What does that mean?" "It's about which domain this village will belong to. Since Claude-sama is a noble with a domain, if he becomes the administrator, it means this village would become part of his territory. This has the significant advantage of having someone to turn to if anything happens, but on the other hand, it also means Claude-sama would have the authority to appoint the village chief. In other words, if this village starts making good money from apples, there's a possibility it could be taken over. This village is ultimately Tatsuya-sama's. We must avoid that at all costs." I see. So that's a risk we have to look out for. "How did you manage to get that approved?" "I negotiated well. However, from now on, we should focus on building goodwill and never oppose them. As I mentioned before, the difference in power between domains is clear, and we can't afford to be on their bad side." I had no intention of opposing anyone, regardless of who they were. Peace is the most important thing. "I understand. So our apple orchard just needs to supply the merchants designated by Claude-sama, who's our wholesaler, right?" "For the time being, let's go with that strategy and stay on the down-low. Our priority is to establish a solid foundation first." "Got it. What about meeting with Claude-sama?" "I've secured an appointment for that as well." This girl is truly amazing. I almost think she should be the village chief instead. "When would be a good time?" "The sooner the better, I believe. The apples are ripe already." You're right, sooner is better. "I want to see the apple orchard." "Of course. Shall we go then?" We stood up, left the house, and headed towards the apple orchard.