Cain was slowly sleeping in his luxurious special room when there was a knock at the door.
The sun was already up and people were beginning to move outside.
'Good morning!'
After a knock, Enak entered the room with great vigor. Cain picked himself up from the bed, still drowsy.
'Enak good morning ...'
Cain crawls out of bed, rubbing his sleepy eyes.
'Breakfast is already ready, come on down!
Enak said just that and left the room.
'Enak's looking good this morning,'
Cain muttered and changed into his clothes. He had to go to the lord's hall today, so he changed into his plain clothes for now.
When I went down to the dining room downstairs, Himika-san seemed to be feeling better and was already working.
''Good morning. Are you feeling alright now?
When Cain called out to him, he stopped working once and returned it with a big smile.
'I'm all better now. Thank you so much.
I'm glad to hear that. If I have any more problems, I'll cast a recovery spell.
'We can't be that picky. I'll serve you a meal already, please come this way.
Himika led us to the counter where we ate our dinner.
We were immediately served breakfast. The menu consisted of bacon and scrambled eggs, then soup and bread. We ate it up quickly because we were hungry.
'Thank you for the meal. If I finish what I have to do today, I'll go back to King's Landing, so I'll try to come back soon.
Cain told Himica after he finished his meal.
'I see .... Enak seemed to miss you too, and I'll miss you.
Dash came out of the kitchen, too.
'Thank you for your help, Master Cain. If you ever come to the city of Drintle again, please stop by for a meal at least.
'Of course. The food was great, and I'm sure I'll be stopping by again.
And then Enak peeked out from the corner of the kitchen.
He looked like he was about to cry a little.
'Enak-chan, come here,'
Cain beckons Enak in a gentle voice.
'Come again, Onii-chan! When you come to this city, you'll be sure of it.
Enak hugged Cain. Cain stroked Enak's head as it was.
'Of course. Whenever you come to this city, I will come to eat. You will help your mother properly.
'Yes! I'll help you with that.
Cain left the inn as the three of them saw him off. He then headed to the lord's hall for the upcoming meeting.
The guards that were there yesterday were at the gates of the lord's hall, and they were immediately ushered into the office.
''Good morning, Master Cain.''
The deputy, Elaib, greeted me.
''There is still time for you to change into your nobleman's uniform?''
'Well, it's my first time, and I'll be dressed for the occasion.
Cain went into his office and retrieved his nobleman's clothes from his item box and changed into them.
You can check your appearance in the mirror. I'm aware of the innocence of being only ten years old, and I sit in the chair in the office.
''I wonder how I'm going to change this city. The guilds are no good, the churches are charging exorbitant fees, there's a slum, and there are a lot of problems .... And before that, that stone-piled exterior wall is also a hindrance to future development. I have to go back to King's Landing today, and I'll have to come back next week. ...
Cain looked over the documents Ellaeve had given him related to this city's income and expenditure. He could clearly see that the government was subsidizing the operation of the city with an impressive deficit.
Cain had been a high school student in his previous life, so he was stronger than most people in this world when it came to numbers.
As he looked through them, he had a number of questions, which he itemized into a list of questions. Of course, I wrote them in Japanese (...) so that others wouldn't understand them.
On the way, lunch was prepared, and Elaib and I talked about our duties.
'Due to the large number of adventurers in this city, it's difficult to collect tax revenue. We only run the business with sales tax from the inn and shops, but with the subsidies to the church and the consignment to the adventurers' guild, we are inevitably in the red.
After receiving an explanation from Ellaib, Cain looks at the itemized documents and asks questions.
''First of all, about the church, I heard from the lords, it seems they charge too much more than the royal capital, but it's too high for an offering. It's almost ten times higher than the royal capital, what's going on? It's so bad that I'm going to call for a new priest from King's Landing?
'Yeah, that's .... Oh, not many people get recovery magic in churches, so it's inevitably more expensive: ...
Ellaive explains, sweat on her forehead, looking a little flustered.
'So that's where it's different. It's not coming because it's expensive, you know? If you make it cheaper, the number of people would increase and the offerings would increase. And they're even subsidizing it, right? If you're going to subsidize it, I'm sure you're checking the church's income and expenses, but what's going on? Of course you're addressing it to this lord.
Cain asks a series of questions, thinking about the general nature of his previous life.
'Yes, no, ... I have never had the church give me an income and expenditure before ....'
Ellaive paled more and more as she answered the question.
'Then I'll be back next week, can you let me out before then? If we can't get it out, then we'll ask that the subsidy be terminated.
Cain pushes further.
'... yes ... I'll tell the church about that ...'
'And then there's the slums as well, if we can get people to work, the number of people in the slums will go down. I think it's a bad idea because the industry has always relied on adventurers. We don't have enough room inside the city's walls right now, so I'll make a plan to expand the walls. I'll figure that out on my end. We are planning to use the vacant land to start an industry in the city, so I will explain that to you later.
"... Master Cain is very knowledgeable, sir. ... It's hard to believe he's ten years old. ...
Ellaib replies to Cain's question by wiping the sweat off his forehead while behaving suspiciously.
'Well, it's the guild first today, isn't it? Will you be here in a little while?'
''Yes, Guildmaster Lixetu-dono and Sub-Guildmaster Betty-dono are scheduled to arrive.
Cain had never heard of Betty being a sub-guildmaster before. That Gilmouth seemed like a brainiac, but he recognized that Submus seemed to be doing a lot of things, just like the old man in that spit-roasting shop told him, and he kept it in his stomach.
Once the meal was finished, Ella Eve excused herself once and told the Adventurer's Guild to call Gilmouth and Submus when they arrived, and then she went into the office alone.
Cain itemized what he wanted to find out for himself and put it away in the item box.
A little over the afternoon, one of the civil servants came to call him in.
''Cain-sama, Guild Master Lixetu-dono and Sub-Guildmaster Betty-dono are here to see you. Master Elaive is handling them now.
'All right, I'm coming. Is it the receptionist's side?
Yes, he's waiting for you in the parlor.
Cain remembered what he did yesterday at the Guild and left the office, looking forward to seeing what he looked like.
Ellaib was in the parlor earlier, talking to the two men from the Guild.
And I can hear Rixetu's loud voice until outside the door.
''That's why I heard that the guild's training grounds were destroyed yesterday, including the auditorium. So you're busy, and now you want me to show my face because a new lord has arrived! I don't have time for that!
It was what he had done yesterday, Cain realized.
The civil servant entered the room after a knock.
''Viscount Cain is here to see you, sir.
The two representatives of the Adventurer's Guild are sitting on the couch as it is, not taking civility.
Then Cain walks in.
The moment they saw Cain's face, their faces froze.
The person who smashed up the training ground so much yesterday and made the adventurer and submuscle incontinent and unconscious is right in front of them.
Cain sat down on the sofa facing him.
The best way to do this is to have a good time with your friends. It's nice to meet you.
Cain greeted them normally.
Lixetu and Betty were frozen with their mouths open.