Ch.10The Gloomy Black-Haired, Busty Menhera Administrator (5)

“I don’t know what it is, but please get up. This isn’t a place to stay for long. I don’t know what might come out when it hears sounds.”

After I scared them, people came to their senses and got up.

“Follow me. We absolutely must not get separated from each other.”

I took the lead while Mirella stood at the very back to escort the refugees.

While navigating through the winding, complex maze of garbage with the map, Mirella suddenly shouted.

“Up ahead! Be careful!”

When I looked up, something strange was blocking our path.

It had dark skin, a bulging belly, and a short, muscular build.

With a menacing face, tusks protruding upward, and a crude club in its hand—it was a monster.

It was almost as tall as a human, too big to be a goblin, probably a Hobgoblin.

It had something like a brown scarf wrapped around its neck, though I wasn’t sure what it was.

Hobgoblins are known for eating anything, even rotten things, so it probably came to the junkyard looking for food.

They’re not particularly aggressive monsters and don’t usually attack people first, but for some reason, its expression as it blocked our path was extremely suspicious.

If I had to guess, it was probably extremely hungry and planning to eat us.

What should we do about this?

“Move aside.”

Mirella pushed me away and stepped forward.

“Can you take it down?”

“Of course. What do you take me for?”

As Mirella started spinning Vint’s Opener above her head, the Hobgoblin flinched.

Seeing this, Mirella’s expression became triumphant.

Hmm, a fight between a Hobgoblin and Mirella.

Despite its appearance, the Hobgoblin is a weak and cowardly monster.

Meanwhile, Mirella has the best physical strength in our village and knows no fear.

Plus, she has Vint’s Opener, a rare item from the named mob Vint, which gives her buffs to health and attack power.

And that opener has infinite durability, so it will never break.

By this logic, Mirella has a good chance of winning, but I’m still a bit worried.

It feels wrong to have a pretty girl like Mirella fight such a menacing creature.

But if I step in, I’ll die.

Can’t be helped. I’ll have to leave it to Mirella.

I rummaged through my waist and handed her a potion.

“Drink this before you fight.”

After gulping down the potion, Mirella grinned and firmly gripped the opener with both hands.

“Watch carefully, big brother. A strong woman is what protects a household.”

Saying something strange, Mirella charged forward.

Surprised by the sudden attack, the Hobgoblin let out a roar and swung its club wildly.

Mirella’s and the Hobgoblin’s weapons collided once.

While the opener didn’t budge at all, the Hobgoblin’s crude wooden club immediately cracked, and the Hobgoblin staggered greatly.

As expected of an unlimited durability rare item.

But instead of following up with another attack, Mirella turned sideways and started running away.

The enraged Hobgoblin shook the ground as it chased after her.

After running for a while, Mirella stopped in front of a dead-end pile of garbage.

“Mirella! Don’t stand there!”

But the Hobgoblin had already cut off her escape route and was quickly closing in.

Just as the Hobgoblin raised its club, a scene unfolded that made me doubt my eyes.

Mirella curled up tightly and rolled under the Hobgoblin’s legs at an incredible speed?!

Having secured its back, Mirella struck the Hobgoblin’s back of the head with the opener with all her might.

The Hobgoblin, hit hard on the back of its head, tilted toward the garbage pile.

Unfortunately for it, sharp metal scraps were protruding from the garbage pile, and the Hobgoblin, unable to support its weight, finally fell onto those sharp protrusions.

“Gueeeeeeek!!”

The Hobgoblin writhed as the metal scraps dug into its body, and the more it struggled, the deeper they penetrated.

As the Hobgoblin spewed black blood, the refugees grimaced or covered their eyes and turned away.

Mirella jumped and hammered the Hobgoblin’s body once more, and the screaming abruptly stopped.

“Phew.”

Mirella sighed as she put away the opener.

“Did you see that?”

“Wow, you’re really amazing…”

“So it’s okay if I’m not good at cooking, right?”

“Yeah…”

Honestly, I was very surprised.

I thought she was just a young, cute girl, but she just properly hunted a monster.

And she did it with pure physical ability, without any special skills.

Although she had the weapon’s buff, she’s still an underage girl.

How strong could she get from a buff anyway?

This is just Mirella being naturally strong.

Maybe Mirella really is a warrior class.

Warriors naturally start with much higher strength and agility stats compared to other classes.

But if that’s the case, her intelligence stat should be relatively low, yet somehow Mirella is also smart.

What’s going on?

“As expected of the Potion Knights…”

The refugees murmured.

“To think such a young woman could easily defeat such a ferocious monster…”

“Only those chosen by the gods can enter that knighthood…”

I wonder where they all heard such nonsense.

“Let’s hurry, everyone. Mirella! What are you doing?”

“I’m checking if there’s anything useful.”

Mirella was thoroughly searching the dead Hobgoblin’s body.

However, Hobgoblins don’t typically carry possessions, so there was nothing to salvage.

“What’s this?”

Mirella unwrapped the brown scarf-like thing from the Hobgoblin’s neck.

When unfolded, it wasn’t a scarf but a sleek coat.

“It doesn’t look very good. And it smells strange.”

Huh, what? Could that be…?

“Mirella. Let’s take that with us.”

Mirella, who was about to throw the coat onto the garbage pile, stopped.

“Huh? You want to take this? It’s dirty.”

“We can wash it. Keep it.”

If my guess is correct, that’s a Shadow Coat.

It allows stealth and dramatically buffs agility stats—a legendary item exclusive to assassins.

The Hobgoblin probably wasn’t trying to become an assassin by carrying it around.

It must have found one of the items that drops with extremely low probability here in Mestopin’s Junkyard.

This is incredibly lucky.

* * * * *

We safely arrived at the village with the refugees.

The administrator, who had already been notified by me, had prepared to welcome the refugees.

The refugees immediately filled their hungry stomachs and quenched their thirst at the community center.

After the meal, we took them to the riverside makeshift shower facility for bathing.

Black water could be seen flowing out from under the screens.

“Are those the refugees you were looking for, Mr. Jack…?”

“Yes. If we hadn’t rescued them in time, they would have died in the junkyard.”

“That’s truly fortunate… It would be good to let them stay in our village until they recover their strength…”

The administrator, who had been watching the shower facility for a moment, suddenly became dejected again and mumbled.

“But what should we do with so many people suddenly coming in… They don’t seem to have the means to buy houses either…”

“What are you saying? Are you planning to sell houses at full price to those people?”

“Shouldn’t we…?”

“If it were me, I’d just give them away.”

“W-why…?”

“Listen, Administrator. What’s the current population of our village?”

The administrator hesitantly counted on his fingers and gave an approximate population figure.

“With that population, we can’t do anything. At best, we can barely maintain a tribal level by digging the earth and catching fish, just like now.”

“That’s true…”

“For our village to grow, population is most important. No matter how much money we make, it’s useless without people. And what’s our village’s birth rate now?”

The administrator stuttered out the figure.

“If that rate continues, we might be able to upgrade to a city in about a hundred years.”

“I’m sorry… I’m such an incompetent administrator who can’t even manage the birth rate… I’ll contribute by having babies myself…”

“No, no. Who’s asking you to have babies? What I mean is that besides natural population growth, we need an influx of new people.”

The administrator nodded with a depressed face that looked like he might cry at any moment.

“These refugees have nowhere to go. Their homeland was completely burned down by war. Taking them in is beneficial for both parties. The refugees settle down, and we increase our population. For that to happen, we need to offer good conditions for them to settle in our village. What could those be?”

“Um… giving them houses, reducing taxes, providing farmland…”

Well, at least he’s not a complete idiot.

To become an administrator of a direct territory, one must pass the central bureaucratic exam, which is famously difficult.

Having passed such an exam, he must have basic intelligence.

“Give those people houses, Administrator. And provide all the benefits you just mentioned. Make them citizens of our village.”

From the perspective of our village, which has no factors to attract population, we must absolutely hold onto these refugees from the Zilke Republic.

“Come on, Administrator. It’s a decision you can make alone anyway. Meet with the refugees’ representative and talk to them.”

“By myself?!”

The administrator grabbed my arm with a whining voice.

“I’m sorry, but could you come with me…?”

“Me…?”

“I’m alone at the community center… I might make a mistake or get confused…”

After thinking for a moment, I decided.

Rather than letting this anxious, fragile administrator stutter alone, it would be better to go with him.

“Alright. Let’s go together.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry… I’m such an incompetent administrator, I’m sorry… Please scold me…”

“I have no intention of scolding you. Here, drink this Healing Potion.”

Like refueling a sputtering car running out of oil, I gave the administrator another Healing Potion.

“Delicious…”

I’m thinking maybe I should set up regular Healing Potion deliveries to the community center.