Extra: How it's Going in Golen

"An immigration application? Hmm hmm, I see! Alright, approved!"

With a swift glance over the papers brought to her in the village chief's office, Soto stamped her seal without hesitation.

She then moved on to the next document and kept stamping away with the same light touch.

"Um, Acting Village Chief? Are you sure it's okay to let that person immigrate?"

"It's totally fine!"

"Well, in the past, we welcomed anyone who wanted to come because we needed more people, but now Golen has grown significantly… shouldn't we at least be a little more discerning?"

In other words, they now had the luxury of choosing their immigrants—and the need to do so.

They no longer had to accept minor criminals just to fill numbers. And now that the village had wealth, it naturally attracted people with ulterior motives.

Moreover, land was not infinite.

Recently, there had been a sudden surge in immigration applications, yet Soto kept approving them cheerfully without much scrutiny.

Deputy Chief Wozuma, unable to stand her carefree, stamp-happy attitude, finally spoke up.

"It's fine. All the applications sent here have already been investigated. You know that person who's good at that kind of thing? They recently became a villager. You know who I mean, right, Wozuma?"

"Uh? Umm… Are you referring to Amelia-sama? She's currently away."

"Her too, but I meant the girl who married Kusaan, the subordinate of Dolce-san of the imperial Four Heavenly Kings! I've asked her to handle negotiations with her former boss. I've also asked Dolce-san to help with the background checks. So by the time the paperwork reaches here, it's already been confirmed that they're safe to add to the village."

Soto beamed brightly.

"Aren't the Four Heavenly Kings and their former subordinates amazing?"

And she was casually using them like underlings. To Wozuma, just imagining it gave him stomach cramps—but as Acting Village Chief, Soto was truly reliable.

"If any damage is done, we'll just have the sending party take responsibility!"

"Uh… the sending party being…"

"The Empire, of course. Deep pockets and no chance of going under! Perfect!"

What nerves of steel. Wozuma, who had left his previous job due to stomach problems, couldn't help but feel a bit of admiration.

"Is it really okay to treat the Four Heavenly Kings like that?"

"It's totally fine. They came to the village to work. Not using them would be the rude thing. I'm sure Papa would say the same—right people, right jobs!"

"If you say so… But if we keep bringing in too many people, we'll soon run out of residential space."

"No worries there. I already submitted a request to the guild for wall construction and expansion. Having Misha-san around really makes things go smoothly. She's also acting as site supervisor, so the adventurers are working safely and efficiently every day!"

When did she even submit such a request? And once again, she was making full use of the imperial Four Heavenly Kings. Soto truly feared nothing.

… And for some reason, she even referred to the Four Heavenly Kings with -san honorifics.

Wozuma quietly decided to pretend he hadn't noticed.

As a former imperial bureaucrat, he was skilled at ignoring things better left unseen.

Still, putting one of the Four Heavenly Kings in charge of a construction site seemed absurd.

"Um. Acting Village Chief… Is Misha-sama really okay with this?"

"No problem! I told her she can slack off if she wants."

"I see…"

"Yep! We're extending the wall from the starting point in both directions—Misha is in charge of one side, and Kusaan the other. Whoever finishes first also gets to build the gate."

"A wedding gift of a major project for Kusaan!"

Soto added cheerfully.

Wozuma realized—it was a strategy to boost morale by making two teams compete.

"If Misha slacks off, Kusaan will win. Then we can go around advertising, 'Our village carpenter beat one of the Heavenly Kings!'"

"So… you're basically hoping Misha-sama lets him win? And she agreed?"

"Huh? No no, I only told her she could slack off—I never said she had to lose on purpose. I'd never suggest something so shady. Geez, Wozuma, you sound so corrupt!"

Soto teased him with a playful grin.

"So this whole contest hinges on whether Misha-sama's pride lets her lose to Kusaan?"

"Exactly! I also told her, 'If you lose, we'll use it in promotions'. Oh, and no sabotage allowed—if they did that, it'd just tarnish their name!"

"These kinds of competitions should be fair and square!" Soto smiled brightly.

So in summary:

• If Misha didn't work, they'd use her name in promotions.

• If she did work, they'd benefit from her labor.

• If Kusaan won, the project would finish quickly with his sole effort.

• If he lost, they'd still get promotional value out of it.

No matter the outcome, Soto's plans would succeed. And her targets? The mighty Four Heavenly Kings. Wozuma could see the blood of her father, the actual village chief, running strong in her.

"Even if Misha-san slacks off, Kusaan will finish the job. So no problem."

"What if it's a draw?"

"Still no problem! We'll celebrate it like, 'He went toe-to-toe with a Heavenly King!'"

A draw was slightly better than a loss. Got it.

"Well then! While Papa's away, let's grow this village to the size of Tsuia! With full authority delegated to me and the Four Heavenly Kings here, now's our chance to expand!"

"… Are you sure it's okay to expand the village without the chief's permission? I didn't know anything about this until now."

"Haha! This idea actually came from Amelia-san. I told her I was approving lots of immigrants but we're running out of housing. She said, 'Then why not expand housing?' I've got verbal proof!"

Wozuma thought that that was definitely a setup. And he'd been kept entirely out of the loop—no documents, no village gossip, nothing. Likely manipulated on purpose.

Otherwise, there's no way he, the deputy and tavern master—who hears everything—would've missed talk of a wall project.

"Why was I only told now?"

"Ah! Sorry! Totally forgot to tell you! But the construction's already started, so it can't be stopped now!"

"… Understood. Thank you for your answer, Acting Village Chief."

"You're welcome~!"

Apparently, there was no turning back. What a terrifying child.

The sudden increase in immigration requests was no doubt linked to all this too.

"… By the way, where did the materials and funds for the wall come from?"

"No worries! I haven't touched village funds! I'm using my own personal money!"

"I'm very curious how a child like yourself acquired personal wealth enough to build city walls."

"Oh my, Wozuma-san! Trying to learn a young girl's secrets? How bold! I'll make an exception and tell you!"

"Ah—no, never mind."

"Don't be like that! It's a grown-up's duty to listen to a kid's bragging!"

From experience, Wozuma knew such stories only ever led to trouble. He didn't think he'd have to apply that logic to a ten-year-old.

But in the end, he was pressured into hearing it.

"You know Basilisks? The ones that turn creatures to stone?"

"Yes, I know them."

"And you know Treants? The tree monsters that make great lumber?"

"Yes."

"So I thought—what if we turn Treants into stone using Basilisks? Wouldn't that make amazing building material? I sold that idea to Amelia-san!"

"What…?!"

Simple in concept. But who would try—or could even try—such a thing?

You'd need a top-tier tamer to control a Basilisk, access to Treant-infested forests, and workers to move the stone.

Only a nation could manage such logistics. Ah, so that's why she sold it to Amelia—a Heavenly King. In other words, to the Empire. The right customer.

"So Amelia-sama's frequent absences are for that?"

"Yep! She's dealing with specialists sent from the capital. Isn't it fate that two of the Four Heavenly Kings currently in this village happen to be elite tamers?"

Dolce oversaw the whole thing, but Amelia specialized in serpents like Basilisks.

The forests around Mount Tsuia, influenced by the dragon living there, were also rich in Treants.

… Which made it the perfect testing ground.

Treant hunting—and experimentation.

In other words: pioneering and construction.

"Wait—so this wall construction is part of the experiment?"

"Bingo! The expansion collects treantstone and the wall tests it out."

Such efficiency. Wozuma had to be impressed.

Without a doubt, she was the village chief's daughter. Absolutely terrifying.

"Acting Village Chief… you haven't been embezzling any village rewards, have you?"

"How rude. Yes, we're getting lots of subsidies, but I'm using all of it for worker salaries and benefits. I haven't pocketed a single coin."

She even produced a prepared ledger.

Apparently, every worker received brand-new socks daily. Quite the welfare system.

Surely there were more critical supplies to provide… but the only personal expense Soto recorded was a single copper coin—for mailing a letter.

Even that token amount counted as her own money. Technically true, if hilariously transparent.

"… What exactly are you plotting, Acting Village Chief?"

"I just want my parents to praise me for doing a good job—that's all. A child's innocent wish, right? I have to go all out to surprise Papa. It's tough having great parents!"

"I see. Then I'll trust you… for now."

"Well, I'm off to earn some pocket money picking up trash! I finished today's paperwork! What's left can be handled by you and Amelia-san!"

"… Alright."

With that, the Acting Village Chief skipped out of the office, positively gleeful—as if she were off on a treasure hunt.

The reward for her trash collection would, of course, come from village subsidies. But since it was legitimate pay for real work, it wasn't embezzlement. No issues there.

"Could she really have done all this just to create a job for her allowance…? No, surely not…"

Incidentally, in a high-profile state experiment like this, if word got out that a Heavenly King like Misha lost to a regular villager… her pride and honor would take a serious hit.

Which was exactly why Misha had no choice but to work hard now—

Whether or not Soto had calculated that far, Wozuma quietly chose not to think about it.

After all, he was very good at not seeing things best left unseen.