Punishment

To talk about what happened this time—and to make the rounds and greet everyone after returning—I needed a full day to gather information.

… Amazingly, most of the villagers believed that the expansion of Golen Village into a town was something I had planned and had Soto carry out. The rest thought it was led by Amelia-san.

Well, of course no one would think a child made a bunch of adults work and built a town all on her own. It's only natural to assume it was the plan of a responsible adult.

Let alone the idea of a child negotiating with a nation and manipulating one of the Four Heavenly Monarchs into working for her like a pawn. If I'd heard that elsewhere, I wouldn't believe it either.

So, on the night after returning home and while summarizing the info I'd gathered, I called Rokuko and Soto to my room.

With Deputy Chief Wozuma and the others not around, we could have a more in-depth conversation.

"I was seriously surprised, Soto. You made it this big and our DP is increasing like crazy, too."

"Ehehe, I did my best! I expanded it right up to the edge of the dungeon area that Mama had prepared!"

"You did great. Using Misha and the others like pawns in your hand—you're truly mine and Kehma's daughter."

Rokuko patted Soto on the head lovingly. Apparently, they had even slept together last night.

I made sure today was filled with praise, partly to keep her grounded.

"Well, that said, you need to be properly scolded by Kehma for going overboard. Kehma, I gave her plenty of praise, so now feel free to scold her thoroughly."

"Ughuu!"

"You expanded everything without permission, and you know you went too far, don't you? Soto, you're smart. You must understand that much yourself."

"… Uu, yes."

With that, Rokuko nudged Soto toward me.

So she does realize she did something wrong. Alright then, time for a proper scolding.

"Now then, Soto. That was quite a well-thought-out plan, wasn't it? Very nicely done. So, what were you scheming?"

"What do you mean? I only wanted to make Mama and Papa happy, so I worked on developing the village."

"Hah! There's no way that's all there is."

Soto tried to dodge with a smile. She knew she was in the wrong but had no intention of confessing on her own.

I spread out a map, comparing it to the one in the menu function.

"… Hmm. More or less, the walls align with the dungeon boundaries."

"Yes. I heard about it from Mama."

"And what about here?"

I tapped a spot on the map that was inside the wall but outside the dungeon territory—near the gate.

"Oh, that. Sorry, the gate had to jut out a bit due to the terrain."

"This house here belongs to you, doesn't it?"

"Yes. I got one house to use as a warehouse. Since I go on adventures with my friends, I wanted a place near the gate. I also made this area part of my dungeon territory… Since I expanded everything so much, I figured it's okay to reward myself a little, right?"

Right. On paper, she didn't take any money but accepted a building as a reward.

"Well, I'll allow that. But if you're up to no good here, that's a different story."

"No good? Now now, I haven't done anything bad. You can come see for yourself—I'll even invite you to my hideout!"

"You're being awfully chatty. Sounds like you've got something to hide."

When I said that, Soto just smiled and fell silent. So transparent.

"I actually received a tip-off."

"…!"

"If you confess now, I might take that into consideration. What's it going to be, Soto?"

"… Kuh, fine. I'll confess."

Soto let out a sigh, pouting a little as she began to talk.

"My plan had two parts. One: acquire a huge number of socks. Two: increase my income."

She explained that under the pretense of construction, she brought in tons of laborers, including the Four Heavenly Monarchs, and distributed socks to all of them. Later, she recovered those socks under the guise of "garbage collection".

Along the way, she also used requests from the Adventurers' Guild to gain achievements and pocket money.

Then there's the district mayor. The civil official she hired as the mayor of the Karisoto Ward is actually a monster she summoned. One of its bases is in an area she designated as her dungeon territory. So she collects DP from the supporting staff and even gets the mayor's salary.

In other words, acquiring socks and increasing income—that was her plan.

"Oh my. And what's with the hideout? Don't forget that I've been tipped off."

"It was camouflage. The tip-off must've come from Niku onee-san, right? I made the hideout look suspicious to hide my real objective…"

Then I quietly shook my head.

"The tip-off wasn't from Niku. It was from Ichika."

"? Ichika-chan? Why?"

"She said the amount of food you bought was enough to feed a hidden person. Gotta say, Ichika's observant when it comes to food."

"Sh-she's really sharp! She'd make a great spy!"

Soto was visibly rattled. Time to press in.

"Oh, and I also heard from Michiru. Apparently, you invited that loli succubus from the church."

"Y-yeah. It's a secret base for hanging out with friends, after all. Maiodoru-chan came too, and we had tea together… What did Michiru say?"

"She said she smelled Leona's scent on you."

"… Ah, well, I hadn't told you, but… I'm dating Leona-san. So that might explain it?"

"Mhm."

Soto's eyes were darting around.

"You're keeping her captive, aren't you? In the basement, maybe? No—this is my daughter we're talking about. There's probably two or three hidden rooms beyond that. But it doesn't matter. I already sent Suira and the others to search the place. Let's just wait for the results."

"!? U-Using s-succubi is cheating! They can ignore walls!"

"Exactly. They're perfect for finding hidden captives. Why didn't you hide her in your [Storage] Dungeon?"

"… Because if she retaliated, it'd interfere with daily life."

Finally, she confessed. Soto slumped in defeat.

… But this is where the real interrogation begins.

"So. Why are you keeping Leona locked up? It's got something to do with the knowledge of the God of Time and Space, doesn't it? Spit it out."

"Ughh, I already confessed everything!"

"Don't be silly. This is still part of your punishment, Soto. You could say this is where the real punishment begins. I seriously have no idea how much you're still hiding, so I'll wring it all out of you—thoroughly."

"Eeep…"

Yes, until she cries and properly apologizes.

It's a parent's job to properly punish a child who's done something wrong.

… And besides, she probably has plenty of other offenses I haven't even found yet.

For now, I'll keep interrogating her until she says a proper "I'm sorry".