I Became a Landlord (2)

Charlotte suddenly drew her sword.

Crack—!

A streak of light leapt along the blade and died. The glow that had gathered on the steel couldn't hold its shape and vanished almost at once, but there was no mistaking what she'd been trying to do.

Weapon Enhancement?

It was clumsy, but that flash just now was unmistakably the precursor to Weapon Enhancement. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Apparently Charlotte had climbed a rank from the reward she'd just received.

"It seems the experience earlier gave me a feel for it."

Charlotte looked at her sword with a faint smile. She seemed to think the battle with the orcs had been the catalyst for her growth. It was clearly thanks to the experience points, but since she had no way of knowing that, the misunderstanding was only natural.

"Congratulations. You've grown stronger."

"It's all thanks to you, Father."

It really was thanks to me, actually.

About D-plus rank, roughly.

She was still a long way from a complete Weapon Enhancement. But she'd found the thread of it, so if she caught even a small break, reaching C rank wouldn't be far off.

While Charlotte swung her sword a few more times, I looked around.

So the entrance isn't opening.

If this had been the Tower, a path to the next area would have opened after the reward was claimed. Here, there wasn't even a hint of that. It seemed to be a difference between the Tower and a dungeon. But I'd confirmed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠they were connected, and I'd even found a lead, so there was nothing to be disappointed about.

"Shall we head back."

There was nothing more to check. I turned and started toward the exit.

We'd been walking for some time when Charlotte spoke up, as if something had been sitting on her mind.

"What were you checking earlier, if I may ask? I saw the mana stones floating up."

"...I'm not entirely sure myself. It may have something to do with a secret of the dungeon."

I couldn't very well tell her about the Tower, so I hedged. Fortunately, Charlotte didn't seem to think a priest would lie, and she accepted it without suspicion.

"It's gotten quite late. I'm sorry, but I believe we'll have to return tomorrow."

Right after we left the dungeon, Charlotte looked up at the sky. The sun was already well past noon. It was indeed an awkward hour to start back for the city, so I nodded in agreement.

"There's no need to apologize. We would have needed time to collect the spoils anyway. Let's take our time and set out tomorrow."

Pulling every orc's tusk and skinning them all would take no small amount of time, no matter how many soldiers they had. Even with a few extra hours to spare, they would have ended up leaving tomorrow regardless.

"Thank you for understanding."

I nodded and watched the soldiers processing the orcs. I was merely watching out of curiosity about the hide-dressing, but one of the nearby soldiers scratched his head and started making excuses, apparently conscious of my gaze.

"Ah — Father, I'm sorry. The orc hides got pretty mashed up, so I don't think we'll get a fair price for them."

"? Don't concern yourself. There's no need to worry."

I hadn't planned on asking for any of it anyway. If they offered, I might hesitate a little, but I'd refuse in the end for the sake of my image.

"On the contrary, I feel boundless joy that none of you soldiers were seriously hurt. And material wealth holds no value to me whatsoever, so there's truly no need to apologize."

For the record, that was a lie from start to finish. But the soldier seemed to believe this blatant falsehood, and he was visibly moved.

"I'll do my absolute best to process them as intact as possible!"

"..."

Is it because this world hasn't been corrupted by the internet? They're so earnest it almost makes my conscience hurt.

And that wasn't even the end of it.

"The hides are damaged, but the tusks and the iron weapons the orcs were using are intact, so they should fetch a decent price."

"...Dame Charlotte?"

"Even if you have no desire for wealth, you'll need money to run the church. I'll dispose of them promptly and make a donation. Please don't refuse — accept it."

Charlotte had fallen for the lie as well. But she'd even found a proper justification and was offering a donation, so this time I didn't refuse. I bowed my head in gratitude.

"...Then I won't refuse."

Nice.

Conscience aside, a good thing was a good thing. Hiding that thought, I put on a show of piety and returned to the tent. Then I clasped my hands and prayed.

"He really is a devout man."

"Our city has been blessed."

Of course, contrary to the soldiers' assumptions, I wasn't actually praying. I was just opening the gallery to kill time.

So the gallery that was on fire has finally settled down.

The bizarre posts that had been flooding the board for a while were nowhere to be seen. The newly appointed Padaks seemed to be doing their jobs properly.

Appointing them was worth it.

So this was why people kept subordinates around. I was browsing the gallery to kill time when one post caught my eye — it had just made the recommended list.

And the title was calling me out by name, so of course I was curious.

The gallery I'd known never cared for long posts, so the fact that this one had made recommended was an exception. One look at the comments told me why.

There were surprisingly many similar cases, which was how the post had earned enough sympathy to climb the list. Of course, not every comment was so heartfelt.

Tsk.

I had no interest in doing that kind of thing with a man, so I banned the anon who'd written that disgusting summary for a year.

A thank-you, then.

A peculiar feeling came over me. After all, I'd only added that feature to give the Padaks some kind of perk. Of course, that was as far as the feeling went.

As if I would.

Unpaid free labor was already more than enough just from pretending to be a priest. The only reason I was sitting in the gallery admin seat was until I finished memorizing the theology and scriptures I hadn't learned yet. That was it. That was as far as it went.

I was closing the gallery and starting to stand, pretending to have finished my prayers, when a cautious voice came from the tent entrance.

"Um, Father."

It was Charlotte.

"Yes, go ahead."

I answered with some puzzlement. I thought we'd already finished our business in the earlier conversation.

"About the dungeon, Father."

"The dungeon?"

Charlotte hesitated for a moment. Then she said something I hadn't expected at all.

"Is there any way we could... keep it?"

"...?"

I had no idea what she was asking. My complete failure to understand must have shown on my face, because Charlotte rushed to explain.

"It's not for any strange purpose! Please just hear me out and don't be alarmed, Father."

"? Yes, go on."

"You truly must not be shocked."

"Understood."

What on earth was she winding up to say? Charlotte even glanced around first, as if worried someone might overhear.

"...There was an uninhabited island and an ocean inside that dungeon, wasn't there."

"You saw it yourself."

My voice was starting to climb from sheer impatience when Charlotte finally spat out the point.

"It seems some of the soldiers who enjoy fishing snuck into the dungeon and went fishing."

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that, so please feel free to enforce discipline as you see fit."

"No, that's not the important part. The soldiers actually caught fish."

"...?"

Well. It's a beach, so of course they would. She was delivering the most obvious fact in the world as if it were some enormous secret. Frustrated by my reaction, Charlotte thumped her own chest.

"This territory is as inland as inland gets — and we can eat ocean fish, not freshwater fish!"

"..."

It still didn't land. I didn't particularly care for seafood to begin with, so Charlotte getting this worked up ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠over a single catch made no sense to me. Then she said the next part, and I finally understood.

"We could distribute fresh seafood inland!"

Alright. That I get.

This was a territory without a single proper specialty product to its name. Of course the lord's daughter would get carried ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠away. The problem was that Charlotte had asked me because she figured a priest was a man of learning — and I knew next to nothing about dungeons. No matter how desperately she asked, a solution wasn't going to just appear.

...No. There might actually be a way.

I remembered that the dungeon hadn't immediately registered the boss's death. If we could fool it the same way we had then, what Charlotte wanted might not be impossible.

"There's one method that might be worth trying."

"Ohhh!"