episode_0006

Early morning.

“I’m starving to death.”

I muttered unconsciously as I rummaged through the kitchen shelf.

All that was left on the shelf was a piece of dry bread.

I’ve been saving it little by little since yesterday, so only half of it remains.

I guess I’ll have to go to the market today.

I don’t know if there will be anything to buy.

In the first place, our starting village has nothing.

Truly nothing.

It’s probably because it’s a village you leave after obtaining basic items when starting an adventure in a game, so they didn’t pay attention to details.

With this situation, the administrative officer has given up on everything and is lethargically holed up in the office, and the village has come to a standstill.

Even the villagers should take action, but the middle class (if it were elsewhere, it would be the lower class) only think about leaving the village, and the poor have no strength at all.

Honestly, I want to leave too.

I don’t need to go all the way to Odellin, but at least it would be nice to go to the Leanso Village in the north.

The Leanso Village I visited during gameplay was at least a place where people lived.

It had basic facilities like a bakery, a blacksmith, a brewery, and a fairly large population, and they grew enough crops to be self-sufficient in food.

But in my situation, even migration itself is extremely difficult.

Because the Potion Association’s sales permit designates the location, I can’t sell potions anywhere else except here.

Even if weak NPC like me without abilities or cheats manages to get to Leanso Village somehow, I can’t earn money.

So, am I supposed to do any hard labor with a body that has only 100 stamina in this kind of world?

I’ll probably get sick and die within a month.

So, I can’t help but stick around the starting village shop due to fate.

I made a resolution to do my best in the given situation, but still, I can’t live like this.

It seems hopeless.

I put on my coat and headed to the shop.

I also took a few potions as gifts.

I plan to visit the administrative officer of the village.

Considering our village, I should be able to confront the administrative officer as a middle-class person.

If there’s something serious to discuss and if I can help for the development of the village, I will.

The village should progress and receive the benefits of civilization so that even incompetent NPCs like me can live comfortably and safely.

I don’t want to live a life where I have to save and eat half-dried bread rolling around in the corner of a shelf.

Change is possible.

Like the poor people catching thieves and creating a knighthood to clean up their neighborhood.

This starting village can definitely change too.

“Administrator!!”

I knocked loudly on the shabby village hall door.

No response.

When I turned the doorknob, the door opened.

Inside was unusually dark and damp.

I wondered why, then realized that blackout curtains were hung on the windows, preventing much light from coming in.

As I entered, the smell of dry dust hit me.

Has there been no ventilation at all?

“Ouch!”

My foot stumbled over something scattered on the floor.

“Are you the administrator?”

“What’s the matter….”

A voice came from the other side.

In the darkest corner inside, a woman with a sullen complexion was sitting.

“Are you the administrator?”

“I am the administrator….”

The woman who answered like that let out a listless sigh.

What’s that about.

“Are you really the administrator?”

As I asked again, the woman nodded slowly.

“Yes….”

A young woman sitting alone in the hall in broad daylight, sighing.

Our village administrator is young and seems to be suffering from listlessness.

Meets both criteria.

She’s the administrator.

“I’m Jack, the owner of the potion shop. It’s a store near the entrance to the slums.”

“Oh, I see…. You’re doing a good job. Giving out potions for free.”

The administrator gave a weak smile.

“But what’s the matter…? It’s not even tax-paying time yet.”

“It’s not about taxes, I just wanted to talk to you, administrator.”

“What kind of talk…?”

The administrator’s tone and expression seemed to drain the strength of anyone who saw them.

It seemed impossible to have a conversation like this, so I took out a healing potion from my bag.

“Here, have this one first. It will restore your energy.”

“You don’t have to give me this….”

Even so, the administrator slowly reached out and drank the potion.

“Mmm…!”

Drinking down the potion, the administrator wiped her mouth with her sleeve.

“Wow, this is really delicious….”

The gray-faced administrative official’s complexion gradually began to regain some color.

Indeed, the potion is invincible.

“Phew, I’m sorry… I’ve made a fool of myself… Please sit down.”

The administrative official, who had regained some energy, gestured towards the chair opposite.

“But could you pull back the curtain first?”

“Oh, the curtain….”

As the blackout curtain was swiftly pulled back, bright light poured in.

“It’s too bright…!”

The administrative official recoiled in horror, covering his face and crouching as if he were a vampire exposed to sunlight.

I thought he might really be a vampire, but fortunately, there was no smoke or anything coming from his body. He seemed human after all.

“I’m sorry… There’s nothing to offer you in the hall….” The seated administrative official apologized with a regretful expression.

“It’s okay. In our shop, we only have half a piece of stale bread. How many people in our village can afford to treat others generously?”

The administrative official seemed embarrassed by my words, shaking his head.

“That’s actually why I came, sir. It’s about food.”

“I’m sorry… I really have nothing to offer….”

After looking at the administrative official for a moment, I burst into laughter.

“I didn’t come here to beg. Please don’t misunderstand. I’m just here to find out why our village is so impoverished, and to see if there’s a role for me to play in addressing that.”

“Is that so…?” The administrative official blushed slightly, looking embarrassed.

“A mere potion seller overstepping his boundaries, but we can’t live like this. I don’t want to live worrying about where to get food for dinner. It’s better to be able to get most things and not go hungry three times a day when living among people.”

“Yes….”

“But our village is the complete opposite. No people, no goods, always lacking.”

“Yes, yes….”

“So I want to find out what the problem is and help as much as I can within my abilities.”

“Oh, yes….”

“What on earth is the problem?”

“Sob….”

Suddenly, the administrative official started to shed tears.

Wait, what did I say?

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry…. I’m truly sorry for being an incompetent administrative official….”

“I never said such a thing.”

“But it sounds like everything’s my fault…. And that’s partly true….”

The administrative official said, shoulders trembling.

The starting village here is a place where all the administrators have failed and fled for generations… Coming here and causing trouble for the residents while pretending to be administrators without any ability… What confidence do they have to endure until the end, causing harm to the residents…

“Administrator. I didn’t call you anything in particular.”

“I’m sorry…! I can’t even offer a cup of tea to the person who came to the office because I’m an ugly administrator…!”

This is serious depression.

The administrator waited calmly for the administrator to stop crying sincerely.

As he tried to remain silent, the administrator stared harshly and sighed deeply.

“I’m sorry….”

“No, Administrator. I didn’t come to hear such words. Here, have another one.”

As he offered another healing potion, the administrator quickly emptied it.

“Ah, good….”

The administrator’s face brightened after drinking two potions in a row.

“Where were we…?”

“What the problem is, and how it can be solved.”

“Oh, right….”

With a smile that lacked strength, the administrator began the conversation.

Our starting village is a very poor place.

Originally located in a remote area, there is no trade, and there is nothing outstanding in terms of production.

The land is barren, so we can’t even farm, and there are hardly any fish in the river flowing next to the village.

The southern tip of the mountain range touches our village, but there are no valuable minerals.

It’s fortunate if monsters don’t appear.

Furthermore, most of the villagers are impoverished, and the rest would be classified as lower-class citizens if they were in other cities.

There is no support from the kingdom or empire, and even Odellin City, which is under administrative rule, has no interest in us.

The adventurers and travelers who spend money here don’t stay for more than a day or half a day before leaving.

In this situation, how can we revive the economy and develop?

Seeing the administrator about to burst into tears again after finishing the explanation, I quickly intervened.

“Well said, Administrator. The most urgent issue in our village right now is undoubtedly the food problem.”

“That’s right…. You won’t die from not seeing an opera, but you will die if you don’t eat….”

Would you like to take a walk around the village with me? I want to check if it’s really impossible to farm here and if there are any other sources of food.

There probably won’t be… If there were, our village wouldn’t have fallen into such ruin.

But there’s always a possibility. We must do our best in the given situation. Just in case, come with me.

I’m so confident for a reason.

It’s because of the knowledge from the original work that I possess.

I speculate that the reason all previous administrators failed is because this is the starting village.

Once you leave the starting village, you can never return.

It’s a place where you don’t need to put in any more effort within the game system.

Before I possessed this body, development here was likely almost impossible for that very reason.

But now, with my knowledge from the original work, maybe I can change something.

I dragged the reluctant administrator outside.

It seemed more like they didn’t believe me, but rather just didn’t want to go outside due to depression.

All the more reason to get some sunlight and meet people.

“I don’t want to…”