Ch.56Promoted to a City (1)

The deputy mayor looked at me and the administrative officer awkwardly, alternating his gaze between us.

“Haha, that can’t be right…? I’ve never heard of an Imperial Civil Service exam passer being assigned to such a small village…”

The administrative officer silently went to his desk and rummaged through a drawer.

What emerged in the administrative officer’s hand was a crumpled certificate of passing.

Bellamy, First Place, 61st Imperial Civil Service Examination.

Receiving it, the deputy mayor examined the certificate from all angles, held it up to the sunlight through the window, and made quite a fuss.

“Haha, well this is…”

After apparently confirming the certificate was genuine, the deputy mayor’s expression turned troubled.

“Written on silver documents… the Empire’s promise… upholding that oath more firmly than anyone…”

The administrative officer suddenly clenched his fist and began singing in a somber tone.

“We… we are the pillars of the Empire… the unchanging order… with the power of the pen… we dream of prosperity…”

The startled deputy mayor reflexively moved his fist up and down, joining in the song.

Apparently civil servants had their own songs, almost like marines.

“Let’s do well…”

“Yes, senior…”

Unlike before, the deputy mayor had become completely subdued and docile.

“So… why did you come here…?”

“Well… *deep breath*… The mayor asked me to discuss the city promotion matter with you separately.”

“Discuss what exactly…?”

The deputy mayor hesitated for quite some time, reluctant to speak up.

He seemed completely intimidated after learning that the administrative officer was his senior by four years and a top exam scorer.

“The mayor proposed to provide benefits equivalent to city status directly from the city, instead of promoting this village to a city.”

I roughly understood the intention.

Our Starting Village is one of many villages under the administrative control of Odelin City.

They hadn’t paid much attention to us before since we were insignificant, but recently we’ve grown rapidly, and if we’re promoted to city status, we’ll break free from Odelin City’s control and secure our own administrative power.

From Odelin City’s perspective, they’d want to keep milking our thriving village while maintaining administrative control.

But that’s ridiculous. If that’s what they wanted, they should have treated us better from the beginning, not now.

“That would be difficult, Deputy Mayor. The proposal is too transparently self-serving.”

The deputy mayor’s expression darkened further at my interruption.

“You probably already anticipated our answer when you came here, right? That unless we’ve gone mad, we wouldn’t give up city promotion after meeting all the requirements.”

“Well, yes…”

“If the administrative officer hadn’t been your senior, this could have been really troublesome. You probably prepared various pressure tactics, but they’ve all become useless now.”

“Haha… there’s nothing like that…”

The deputy mayor continued looking at me and the administrative officer with an awkward smile. Then he stood up.

“I apologize for the intrusion. Ahem… I should have given this more thought… I’ll report back to the mayor.”

Surprisingly, the deputy mayor gave up easily. All because the administrative officer was his senior.

Imperial Central Officials are the elite of elites. They’re a group of geniuses incomparable to modern judges, prosecutors, or civil service exam passers.

In such a place, the hierarchy between seniors and juniors is beyond imagination.

Moreover, our administrative officer is a senior who achieved the highest score among millions of citizens who were selected through multiple rounds.

That’s why the deputy mayor promptly and cleanly gave up everything.

He probably thought he could easily pressure some country bumpkin administrative officer with his rank until he came here.

“By the way, Jack. I’m sorry, but could we talk privately?”

The deputy mayor whispered to me as we left the hall, escorted by the administrative officer.

“What about?”

“I’ll tell you as we walk. It’s very important.”

Though I considered refusing, curiosity got the better of me, so I followed the deputy mayor.

As we walked along the northern road of the village, the deputy mayor began speaking.

“Jack, you’re the owner of the potion shop in this village, correct?”

“Yes, I am.”

“I hear that thanks to your tireless efforts, the village has become self-sufficient and developed to this point. Is that true?”

“I won’t deny it.”

“And they say you dealt with a goblin horde near our city?”

What’s this about? Is he talking about when Liberone killed those goblins back then?

They’re really milking that story, just like the Remugen mercenaries did.

“That wasn’t me, but the Holy Knight who serves here.”

“Ah, is that so? But that Holy Knight seems to revere you greatly.”

Would you look at that? How does this man know so much?

Has he planted a spy in our village?

“And according to recent reports from the guard, you even hunted sirens that appeared near the city.”

“That was also done by the villagers and the Holy Knight. I played no role in it.”

“But those knights from the village—you founded that order, didn’t you?”

I stopped walking.

“Deputy Mayor, I’m sorry, but have you planted a spy in our village?”

“No, no, nothing like that. In such a small village where everyone knows each other’s faces, a spy would be immediately noticed. I’m not a fool. I just heard various stories from adventurers who started from Starting Village and stopped by our city. Please don’t misunderstand.”

That makes sense. If an outsider entered the village through improper channels, we would have detected them right away.

“So?”

“So… the mayor actually had a second proposal.”

“Let me guess—you want just me to relocate to Odelin City? Using various benefits as bait?”

“That’s right. What do you think, Jack? Become the Director of Urban Development for Odelin City. The salary is seventy gold coins per month. You’d be hard-pressed to find such compensation anywhere else.”

“Hmm, is that so… A director-level position for seventy gold coins…”

After pretending to consider it carefully, I shook my head.

“Not enough.”

“Then eighty gold coins. Plus a guaranteed pension after retirement.”

“No thanks. When this place becomes a city, eighty gold coins will be nothing. Why would I go there?”

“Jack, think about it. Even if this place is promoted to a city, what do you plan to do next?”

The deputy mayor stretched out his hand, pointing to our surroundings.

“Starting Village can’t become a city due to its location. What’s around here? Are there comparable cities nearby? Any rare resources? Surely you don’t think you can build a solid economic structure with just pigs and fish?”

“Of course not.”

“And can you trade smoothly with anyone other than Odelin City to the north? Surely you’re not planning to go south or east. Even if promoted to a city, Starting Village can’t escape Odelin City’s shadow.”

“South or east… if necessary, we’ll forge a path.”

The deputy mayor opened his mouth slightly, as if dumbfounded by my words.

“You’re joking, right?”

“I’m not joking. If we didn’t have such capabilities, we wouldn’t have developed this shabby village into a city in the first place. So please stop. I’m not going.”

If this offer had come a little earlier, I would have jumped at it without hesitation.

But things are different now. I can’t abandon Starting Village that I’ve built with my own hands.

“Please tell the mayor this: Regret always comes too late, and our Starting Village will definitely be promoted to a city. And tell him not to even think about interfering.”

“Yes, I understand… It can’t be helped… Then, goodbye.”

The deputy mayor left with his guards along the northern road, making no effort to hide his disappointment.

Did he really think such a proposal would work at this point? He’s more foolish than he looks.

I turned around chuckling, only to scream in surprise.

The administrative officer was hiding behind the adjacent building, peeking at me with one eye!

“What are you doing there?!”

“I was eavesdropping…”

None of the more than ten people in the guard detail noticed the administrative officer following us?

Is he some kind of ghost?

“Jack… you know… I’ll resign as administrative officer…”

As if his cooldown had reset, the administrative officer started talking nonsense again.

“I heard everything just now… Your determination and noble spirit of sacrifice for our village…”

“No, it’s not like that…”

“The more I think about it, you’re more suited to be our village’s administrative officer than I am… So I’d like to transfer my position to you…”

An administrative deputy can be appointed by the administrative officer, but the administrative officer position itself is appointed by the king. His logic doesn’t make sense.

But that doesn’t seem to be an issue for him right now.

“Please become the administrative officer and run the village… I’ll support you and strive to be your reliable life partner…”

“Sigh… here we go again…”

“Everything is already prepared… Since today is a dangerous day, it would be better to proceed with the procedure right away… I’ll personally explain to Miss Mirella and the Holy Knights… I’ll take care of all the laundry, cleaning, and dishes, so everyone will be happy… Since we already share a room, no one needs to move out…”

I reached for my waist, but unfortunately had no potion with me.

So for the entire walk back to the hall, I had to listen to the administrative officer, who stuck right beside me, talk about grandchildren’s names he had picked out—names I had no interest in hearing.