I'm the Knight of This Town (1)

"Yaaawn. My jaw is sore from all that talking. I'm exhausted." Arriving near the village entrance, Yohan stretched his arms over his head with a deep groan.

"Really? I feel like I just stood there and took up space without doing anything useful," Billy lamented, letting out a soft sigh from beside him.

Annie didn't reply, seemingly lost in her own thoughts, while Falco nodded her head vigorously in agreement with Yohan.

"You don't get it. When you go to a meeting like that, bringing a whole crowd of your friends is the best way to make an impression."

"Do... do you really think so?"

"Of course. Absolutely." See? I'm the only one who looks out for his friends like this. At Yohan's reassuring words, the tension finally melted from Billy's face, replaced by a warm smile.

His words weren't just a white lie to comfort the half-troll. Nobles, by nature, cared immensely about appearances. The very reason the **Lord of Balifield** was sending an inspection team despite practically accepting Yohan's proposal was to maintain proper decorum.

Furthermore, the composition of Yohan's party—two humans, an elf, and a half-troll—was a factor that couldn't be ignored. While bands of like-minded humans were common in this world, having an elf among them was exceedingly rare. Having yet another demi-human in the same party was enough to spark rumors of a 'highly unusual mercenary band' on its own. It was even more potent when their strength was already proven, and their roster was so eccentric.

"People naturally get a lot more intimidated when they're confronted with something completely outside their comfort zone."

"Intimidated..."

"You saw it earlier. The moment you lost your temper and looked like you were about to flip the table, that noble lord flinched."

That was precisely why Yohan had brought so many members of his knight order along. Of course, he hadn't intentionally planned for Billy to fly into a rage over the Lord of Balifield's casual, albeit ignorant, racial discrimination. Well, it had produced a positive result in the end, so no harm done.

"Should we try to scare the inspection team too when they arrive?" Billy asked.

Yohan shook his head.

"No. Trying to act tough in front of inspectors when it's not your usual style will only make us look suspicious. Just act normal."

"Hmm..."

"Hey, have I ever steered you wrong? Trust me on this. Right, Captain?" Yohan suddenly winked at Annie.

Annie let out a soft chuckle, while Falco, watching from the side, made a gagging sound.

"The Leader is right, Billy," Annie said. "Inquisitors are trained to spot the slightest awkwardness that stems from unnatural behavior."

"Well, that settles it. Dismissed for today. Until that inspection team or whatever shows up, let's just quietly focus on our manual labor."

Their daily routine consisted of helping the villagers build houses, paving roads, and hunting down local bounties whenever they got too restless. Traveling from Balifield to the **Nameless ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Village** took about a week even on horseback. Of course, Yohan could have used the Goddess's power to teleport them instantly, but there was absolutely no reason to offer such VIP treatment to complete strangers.

Besides, if he kept working the Goddess like a rented mule, she might actually snap. The silly Goddess was certainly quick to laugh, prone to tears, and produced an impressive amount of snot when she cried, but once she truly lost her temper, she would fly into a terrifying rage. Moreover, it would take at least ten days for them to organize and dispatch the inspection team, so Yohan wanted to use that time to polish the village as much as possible.

About a week later, an unexpected visitor arrived in the village.

"Mmm, yes. This is truly wonderful."

The visitor strolling through the village square while chewing on a piece of jerky was none other than the **Main God Justia**. True to her status as the twin of the Unnamed Goddess, Justia could freely teleport to any location she had visited at least once.

At Justia's surprise visit, Yohan had to drop his tools and rush over to keep a close eye on her. While the villagers couldn't tell the difference between Justia and the Unnamed Goddess, he was deeply worried about what kind of trouble this absolute disaster of a deity might cause.

"Yo... No, Apostle. Let us go ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠look at that as well."

With the Unnamed Goddess boasting triumphantly in his head and Justia clumsily pretending to be her right in front of him, Yohan felt a massive headache coming on.

"Ugh..." His head spun. He was beyond stressed; he was practically dizzy.

"Ah, this is driving me insane."

He couldn't take it anymore. Yohan reached out, grabbed Justia by the wrist, and opened a **Dimensional Portal** before she could even utter a word, dragging her inside.

Slam! He kicked the door shut with an irritated bang, then pushed Justia down onto the floor cushion in front of his low dining table.

"Hey. What the hell were you thinking, coming here?" Yohan glared at her.

The Holy Kingdom had only just recovered from the **Madness** spread by Pandemonium. Naturally, the entire nation should have been incredibly busy trying to repair the damage.

"Is... is the reason not obvious? I merely wished to soothe my weary mind and body by taking a stroll through this wonderful village."

It was neither obvious nor did it make any sense. For a split second, Yohan wanted to smack her on the head or pinch her cheeks and stretch them as far as they would go, but he exercised superhuman patience and held himself back.

"Besides, did you not say with your own mouth that I could visit whenever I wished? I only came because I had your permission."

Actually, maybe I shouldn't hold back. Justia answered his question and took a crisp bite out of the **Sugar Apple** she was holding.

"Sigh... Fine. Let's say that's true. But isn't your own kingdom still a complete mess right now?"

"That hah... cough. That ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠is true, but my followers will not suddenly cause trouble just because I have stepped away for a brief moment. Besides, the defensive barrier protecting the Holy City was reconstructed long ago."

"Sure, sure."

Honestly, if the goddess herself said it was fine, what was the point of arguing? Yohan let out another sigh and sat down opposite Justia, with the low table between them.

"By the way, since the leadership of the Central Church was basically wiped out, have they elected a new Pope yet?"

Justia, who was busy taking another bite of her apple, shook her head.

"Not yet. There is a conflict between those who believe we must elect a new Pope as soon as possible, and those who argue that a Pope is meaningless now that the Main God has awakened."

Isn't the entire point of a Cardinal's existence to elect a Pope? Yohan crossed his arms and tilted his head. Well... they would figure it out on their own. There was no reason for him to lose sleep over it.

"My followers and my nation are recovering from their wounds smoothly. There is no need for you to worry."

"Right."

He figured he could just walk her around the village a few more times and then send her on her way. That way, he could finish his work in the afternoon.

"Or perhaps... were you worried about me?" Justia asked, a subtle, playful smile playing on her lips.

"..."

Justia's physical manifestation looked identical to the Unnamed Goddess. She even shared that slightly airheaded, loose-screw vibe. But the Unnamed Goddess never made a face like that. Her gaze was strangely deep, and the corners of her lips curled up in an elegant, alluring arc.

"Yohan. I have lived for countless ages, yet the only one who treats me in such a manner is..."

"Cut the crap. Once you're done eating that, go home. I'm busy."

A sudden silence fell over the room. Justia blinked her wide eyes in sheer surprise, but soon she simply let out a soft, silly giggle.

"This kind of treatment is also, in its own way..." she muttered in a barely audible whisper.

After the minor commotion of Justia's sudden visit passed, Yohan returned to the active construction site.

"Ah, Leader. You're here?"

"Yeah. Keep up the good work."

At the site, Billy and a large group of craftsmen were busy carrying building materials and working on the exterior walls. It was a sturdy building, constructed by laying a foundation with cement sourced from other cities and meticulously stacking bricks on top—strong enough to withstand any violent storm. Situated not far from the central plaza, this building was the new brewery.

"Looking good."

Yohan stepped through the wide-open entrance, which didn't even have a door installed yet. Inside the brewery, which was in its final stages of completion, various brewing equipment and oak barrels filled the space.

"It's all thanks to everyone working much harder here than on any other project," Billy said as he followed him inside.

Yohan let out a hearty laugh. These people had been dragging their feet when it came to building their own houses, but the moment he suggested building a brewery to make some proper alcohol, they abandoned their own home construction and rushed to the brewery site.

Thanks to that enthusiasm, excluding the foundation work, it had taken less than a month to lay the bricks and raise the roof. In his original world, such a rapid pace would have raised serious suspicions of shoddy construction, but Yohan, having supervised the site multiple times, knew they hadn't cut a single corner.

Throughout the village, residents were hard at work constructing various other facilities besides the brewery. They had started with a printing press to churn out promotional flyers for the **Church of the Unnamed Goddess**, and they were even building a blacksmith shop, realizing they couldn't rely on importing farming tools and weapons forever.

Of course, it would take a considerable amount of time before all these facilities became fully operational. The blacksmith shop was easy enough—they just had to provide a workspace for the few blacksmiths who had fled the Holy Kingdom—but making alcohol required time to ferment and age.

Until now, individual households had simply crushed grapes or sugar apples to brew their own alcohol. This resulted in highly inconsistent quality. Furthermore, the production volume was nowhere near enough to satisfy a population of two thousand, forcing them to import a massive shipment of beer from the Royal Capital just a few days ago.

"We'll probably go through some trial and error for a bit, but once the brewery's operations stabilize, it'll become a very lucrative source of income."

There was certainly no issue with the raw ingredients. After all, they possessed a cheat-like ability to harvest high-quality fruit regardless of the season or climate. Billy nodded in agreement.

"The same goes for potion making."

"Yeah."

While alcohol was half for export profit and half for domestic consumption, the production of medicine, including **High Potions**, was the true economic backbone of the Nameless Village. For starters, there wasn't much need for healing potions within the village itself. Although workers occasionally got hurt on the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠job or suffered injuries from wild beast attacks, the Goddess's direct healing was more than enough to handle those incidents.

Granted, the Goddess's healing process was excruciatingly painful, but this actually had the positive side effect of making the villagers act with extreme caution to avoid getting hurt in the first place.

On top of that, among the two thousand residents, a few individuals had begun to manifest the ability to wield **Miracle Arts**, much like the priests of the **Central Church**. This significantly reduced the number of patients seeking out the Goddess directly. It was clear proof that the Church of the Unnamed Goddess was evolving from a small cult into a legitimate religion.

"Come to think of it, it should be about time for Balifield to send their inspection team."

"Yeah. They'll probably arrive within three days at the earliest. It takes about a week even on horseback."

"Right. You told us to act as naturally as possible, but shouldn't we at least prepare a basic reception?"

"Of course."

That was true. Showing them the villagers' everyday lives was one thing, but they still needed to properly receive the inspection team once they arrived.

A few more days passed in this manner, and finally, the inspection team—totaling ten people, including their armed escort—arrived at the Nameless Village.