Ch.62Promoted to a City (7)

I returned to the shop and had a long conversation with Mirella.

Mirella opened up to me completely.

She told me she had been thinking about Alreina’s letter ever since she first saw it long ago.

That she was afraid there would be no place for her when Alreina returned.

That she had tried desperately to capture my heart while being right beside me, but I remained unmoved.

That it had been incredibly difficult for her because of this.

“I didn’t even want to say these things. I didn’t want to be a burden on your mind. If you knew what this little girl with no charm was thinking inside, you wouldn’t be able to treat me normally.”

Mirella is a smart girl.

She’s on a completely different level from most children in the slums who live day by day without much thought.

That’s why she was the first to learn how to read and why she helps run the shop.

But there’s something Mirella doesn’t know.

I already knew that Mirella liked me.

I knew she was jealous of Alreina and had been constantly trying to seduce me to secure her own position.

In fact, it was so obvious that anyone who wasn’t a fool would have noticed.

But that doesn’t change how I treat Mirella.

Mirella is a bright and pretty girl, but to me, she’s like a little sister.

No matter how much Mirella tries to show her charm as a woman in front of me, I only find it cute and don’t feel anything beyond that.

The same goes for Alreina.

Still, I can’t just say that directly in the current situation.

If I said, “No matter what you do, you have no charm, so don’t worry about making me uncomfortable,” Mirella might really run away.

But I can’t just keep my mouth shut either. I need to at least make sure Mirella can stay here with peace of mind.

“Mirella. I understand how you feel. I know what you’re thinking and what you’re worried about.”

“That’s why I’ve been acting strange lately. But don’t worry too much. I won’t run away or anything. Honestly, where else would I go?”

Mirella’s sad smile breaks my heart.

“Mirella. First of all, this is your home. That’s an unchangeable fact. No matter how you treat me, you’ll continue to live here.”

“Yeah… thank you.”

“And I think of you as family. Neither of us has a family, we’re both alone. So we loners need to rely on each other.”

“So that means no matter how hard I try…”

Mirella started to say something but stopped herself. Then she smiled bitterly.

“I understand, Jack. I get what you’re saying. I’m fine now.”

Mirella stood up from her chair and spoke in a lively voice.

“Everything’s fine now. I should have talked with you like this earlier, but I’ve been stupidly agonizing over this alone. I feel better now.”

It doesn’t seem like she’s really okay, but I decided not to say anything more.

“Well, I need to go wash up now. It’s so hot I’m dying.”

“Sure.”

Mirella strode out through the back door.

Since Mirella is smart and perceptive, she likely picked up on my unspoken thoughts.

She’s probably saying those things because she thinks it’s the best response to that.

This is quite funny in a way.

I don’t dislike Mirella. In fact, I like her.

But the type of affection I have is different from what she has.

It’s truly ironic that we can like each other yet end up hurting one another.

* * * * *

Sitting in the bathtub, Mirella thought deeply about what had just happened.

Jack had clearly rejected her.

Saying he considered her real family was precisely that rejection.

She thought of him as a man, but he didn’t think of her as a woman.

But now Mirella decided not to feel hurt anymore.

This is Mirella’s home, and Jack is family.

The relief of finally having settled down. That was enough.

Now she wouldn’t care whether Jack exchanged letters with Alreina or not.

She just needed to stay by Jack’s side and keep her own place.

Mirella is a clever girl who doesn’t hold grudges.

With today’s events, she neatly organized everything and tucked it away in the drawers of her mind.

“Mirellaaaa!”

“Eek?!”

Mirella screamed as green arms suddenly wrapped around her neck.

Brasya, grinning like an idiot, hugged Mirella’s neck from behind.

“Can I wash with you?”

“No! Get out! What are you doing? Don’t take off your clothes!”

Regardless, Brasya quickly stripped off her clothes and squeezed into the bathtub.

Because of her voluptuous figure, most of the water in the tub spilled over when Brasya got in.

“Ah, I really hate this!”

“Hehe, I worked up a sweat looking for you, so you should at least let me do this, right?”

“Get out! Get out, you goblin!”

“Quiet down, you red-head!”

The second squad captain poked his head out of the second-floor window and shouted.

“Then come down here and chase away this green goblin!”

“Huh? What are you two doing?! If the bathtub breaks, where will our captain take his bath!”

“As if the bathtub would break…”

With a loud crash, the bathtub shattered.

“Yaaaaaaah!!”

Furious, Mirella started hitting Brasya’s back, but Brasya just laughed and ran away.

“What’s going on?! Ah! Sorry!”

Jack, startled by the commotion, opened the door but quickly retreated after seeing the naked Mirella and Brasya.

It was chaos. And so Mirella was able to completely forget everything.

* * * * *

We’ve been promoted to a city.

That administrative officer’s magician friend came back and delivered an approval document with the king’s seal.

“I received word from the imperial palace. They said if a village applies for city promotion, we should review it as positively as possible.”

“From the imperial palace?”

“Yes. Do you have connections there?”

There was that imperial army special unit’s Major Nerion and the magician who came to deliver the emperor’s reward.

I asked that magician to deliver the royal city application on his way back.

“Hmm, so that’s what happened. Anyway, congratulations. This is now Starting City, and you’ll receive administrative support accordingly. First of all, congratulations, Bellamy. You’re no longer an administrative officer but a mayor now.”

The magician smiled and took the administrative officer’s hand.

Most magicians are sociopaths, but this one smiles so brightly in front of the administrative officer that they must really be close friends.

“Here are the items supported by the royal palace upon promotion to city status, the benefits and authority the city can enjoy, and its responsibilities. Please read everything carefully.”

The booklet the magician handed over was about the size of a thin book. Flipping through the pages, I suddenly felt a headache coming on.

So becoming a city isn’t the end of it—there’s still an enormous amount of work to do.

“Bellamy. Administrative officers will be assigned from the royal palace to establish city administrative authority. They’ll all be under you, so you can use them as you wish.”

“Umm… but what happens to the deputy administrative officer position when we become a city…?”

“Deputy administrative officer? That obviously disappears. An ordinary citizen can’t act as the mayor’s deputy. You’re no longer an administrative officer but a mayor now.”

“I see… So the mayor position can’t be delegated…?”

Seeing the hesitant administrative officer, the magician noticed her intentions and smiled.

“Bellamy. There’s no such thing. The mayor position is always appointed by the royal palace. If you want to make that potion shop owner the mayor, you should just continue as mayor yourself and get his help behind the scenes. That’s better.”

“I guess so… Sigh, I was hoping to quit now. So…”

“You want to have a baby and live happily together, right? You can do that while being mayor too.”

“Umm… when will we see each other again…?”

“Every day.”

“Why, why…?”

“There’s a lot of support needed from the royal palace, so I’ll be stationed here for about a month to open dimensional gates.”

“Really…?”

I was surprised.

This is the first time I’ve seen the administrative officer smile so brightly.

They must really be close friends who can’t live without each other.

Now, what should I do first? Obviously, establish a security force.

When a village is promoted to a city, the existing village vigilante corps can be converted.

Looking up the relevant section, I found that all the knights I currently have can be made into security officers.

And for the security chief… hmm, this is tricky.

The vigilante corps leader can be used, but royal approval is required.

Excluding Liberone since she’s a Holy Knight, it would be good to appoint Adelheid.

The problem is that Adelheid was the Remugen mercenary captain, a thorn in the eyes of both the Empire and the Kingdom.

Then maybe Sir Hostante… no, no. Sir Hostante is too old and has a bad leg.

The royal palace wouldn’t appoint Sir Hostante as security chief unless they were crazy.

But bringing in someone from outside doesn’t feel right either.

It seems better to clean up Adelheid’s identity.

“Excuse me, Magician. I have a question.”

“What is it?”

“You came here genuinely to help our administrative officer, right?”

“Yes, and?”

“Then please help me.”

“With what?”

“I want to transform a wanted criminal into a loyal citizen.”