The New Lord's Efficiency

Building rapport with the villagers (3). A landslide. The water pipes exposed above the dirt. And the suspicious slime covering the pipes. If I think about it step by step, the answer is obvious. "It's a slime."

Exactly, a slime. They are monsters that live in narrow, damp burrows underground. When a tunnel collapses, they wander in search of a new hideout, and sometimes they ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠end up inside the plumbing. "Seeing them get all the way into the water pipes is something I've only ever read about in old books." The landslide must have been the primary variable. The tunnels collapsed all at once, and the displaced slimes must have flocked to the water pipes in a panic. Then, they got tangled together and clogged the pipes tight.

Squish. I used a branch I picked up nearby to clear away the pile of dirt and investigate. "As I thought." Sure enough, I found a slime specimen nearby. It was a squishy blue jelly with what looked like a cracked jewel inside. It seemed to have died while trying to force its way into the narrow gap of the pipe, crushed and trampled by its own kind. Just then, the status window appeared to announce the reward.

What? I didn't even kill it.

The system supports features like this, too? It feels like I'm getting a profit just by standing still. Taking the slime core, which would be useful later, was just a bonus. Anyway.

"This explains why the pipes didn't clear up easily." There's no way a normal spell would work when monsters are blocking the way. It's only natural that the spell I improvised to clear out mud residue wouldn't work properly. Now that I know the cause, it's time to solve the problem. I intend to strengthen the water pipe spell I used yesterday and add an attribute to counter the monsters. Since I need to efficiently remove the slime, adding a coagulation property would be good. And do I need combat power to face living monsters? At the same time, I have to be careful. I must use minimal destructive power so as not to damage the already weakened pipes. After adding a few symbols and calculations to the magic, I placed my hand on ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the pipe exposed above the dirt.

Swoosh. I had just placed a small mass of magic inside the pipe. The principle is the same as the first spell. It's cone-shaped, and this thing will travel through the pipe and act like a drill. Fighting back if it encounters a slime in the middle is a bonus. This will take about three or four hours. Since I have other things to do, I decided to head back to the farm. Miroa will handle building rapport with the villagers. They say that villagers you become close with provide gifts from time to time. From things that are helpful to things that are useful for my plans. I'll just work hard on my tasks and receive gifts later.

Meanwhile, a little earlier. Miroa had descended the mountain with Gwen and entered the village. Even with a large bucket full of water in each hand, her breathing remained perfectly steady. If anything, it was Gwen who looked exhausted.

"Whew."

"Do you... require assistance?"

"No. We're almost there, so... I'm fine."

Is she really fine? Miroa, rarely showing emotion, looked at her with a gaze that held a hint of concern. Gwen added a few words.

"Ah. I'm a knight aspirant, so I can handle this much."

To Miroa's eyes, Gwen did look quite strong. If she were a truly ordinary girl, she wouldn't have even been able to lift the buckets. The fact that she managed to do this meant her talent for physical enhancement was excellent.

"Is that so?"

"Yes! We're almost there, so let's keep it up!"

In fact, Miroa didn't need to exert herself any further. Realizing that, Gwen corrected herself.

"Ah, no, *I'll* keep it up!"

Gwen walked toward the destination, giving it her all until the end. Miroa's gaze lingered on the building before falling to the sign at the entrance.

[Solanium Village Hall]

'Village Hall?' Since she came to fetch water alone, I naturally assumed the destination would be Gwen's house. But the place they arrived at was, unexpectedly, the village hall.

"This is the village hall."

Inside the large building's hall, a crowd of villagers had gathered. It seemed the entire village was responding collectively to the sudden water shortage. As soon as the two people carrying the buckets entered, everyone's eyes turned toward them.

"Oh my, Gwen! Did you fetch that heavy thing all by yourself since this morning?"

"Hehe. I'm a knight aspirant, you know."

"Don't think about working anymore and get some rest. We can have the other able-bodied men do the rest."

Then, a question cautiously shifted toward Miroa.

"But who is the person next to you..."

"I've never seen her before, who is she?"

Miroa stepped forward, bowing respectfully.

"Nice to meet you all. My name is Miroa. I will be living here in the Solanium territory with my master, so although we are meeting for the first time, I ask for your kind cooperation."

Her atmosphere was polite but cold and elegant. The people gathered in the village hall bowed back in confusion. And they intuited something.

"If you say 'master', does that mean he is a noble?"

"What brings a noble to this rural village..."

The other party was a noble. Gwen could explain up to this point.

"Ah, he's a mage who was researching at the Academy, and it seems he came here for recuperation because he was tired of work."

Among mages, there are occasionally eccentric people who move to the countryside. Although he was definitely a noble, they weren't tied together by power dynamics, so the residents usually just ignored them. From the perspective of a noble who wants to rest quietly, there's no reason to cause trouble in the village.

"Ah. Is that so. So he's a mage."

"I've heard stories ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of them coming down with their servants when they take a break from research."

"Such cases have happened often. Hmm."

"This village has also been helped by a mage before."

Everything was fine up to this point. It was just an atmosphere of letting things pass, right until the moment Miroa calmly dropped the truth.

"And Rii, whom I serve, is also the new lord of this Solanium territory."

For a moment, the hall went quiet, as if cold water had been poured over it.

"Gasp."

"H-huh?"

"*Cough, cough!* *Hack!*"

A scream-like sound erupted from Gwen's mouth.

"Whaaat!? W-why are you saying that now!"

"Yes? Isn't it a natural fact that a noble of my master's stature is the lord, without needing to hide it?"

If he's the lord, the story changes completely.

"I didn't know!!"

Why didn't I think that far? Well, this village had been living on its own for a long time. There was no lord, no knight, and no guard to manage the village. There was a story that a great mage had helped the village, but that was something experienced only briefly in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠childhood.

"What do I do? If he punishes me later for lèse-majesté, what do I do?"

But Miroa shook her head firmly.

"No. My master is not the type of person to punish his subjects for such things."

And she recalled the appearance of her master she had seen in front of the bathhouse just a moment ago. Immediately after hearing from Gwen that the village water supply was cut off, her master stood tall, staring into the void. He had been lost in deep thought for a long time. She had seen it clearly. Her master looking worried.

Shouldn't the villagers know this as well?

"My master woke up before dawn this morning and silently cleared the weeds in the farm and front yard by hand. And after hearing from Miss Gwen that the village was suffering from a water shortage, he was deeply pained, fearing the villagers might suffer, and fell into a deep, silent contemplation for a long time."

At Miroa's words, the villagers fell into confusion once again. What noble in this world worries for the commoners? And a new lord who just appeared, at that? Usually, if a new lord appears, that person doesn't even come down to the territory. Buying the territory by playing with money in the imperial capital and then just sending down servants to extort taxes is the average.

"The lord is doing this for us?"

"Yes. The reason I carried Miss Gwen's heavy water instead, and the reason he ordered me to personally look after the safety of the villagers. It was all my master's will for the sake of his subjects."

Miroa could see the atmosphere stirring. It had to be. Her master is completely great. Feeling a heart-swelling emotion inside, Miroa said with conviction.

"This water outage will also be resolved quickly once my master's magic touches it."

However, the residents couldn't easily believe it. 'Magic? Isn't that a luxury item that nobles use when they want to show off?' In this world, magic is useless for the daily lives of commoners. 'It's true that a great mage helped the village, but it's hard to expect that from other mages.' 'And didn't the warehouse burn down when they tried to clear weeds with fire magic back then?' Although it was a village that had actually received help from a mage, even then, the magic itself wasn't very practical.

The village chief hesitated and opened his mouth cautiously.

"I am endlessly grateful for the lord's gracious heart, but... clearing pipes with magic... that is something I've never heard of."

Other villagers had similar opinions.

"Y-yes. If it's the magic of nobles, isn't it something like changing the color of tea leaves or embroidering pretty fireworks in a banquet hall? There are large-scale combat spells, but I've never heard of clearing pipes with magic."

"If you use magic recklessly, the old pipes might burst entirely!"

However, Miroa didn't even budge. Instead, she looked at the residents with cold, confident eyes, as if seeing something pitiful.

"That is not the case. Because the magic you know is not real magic to begin with."

"Pardon?"

At that very moment, someone burst open the back door of the village hall and rushed inside with both arms wide open.

"It's coming out! Water! Water is coming out!!!"