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144 The
Saintess Treatment and Job Change Clinic
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Translator : PolterGlast
The Suzuka Dungeon is
a pretty dangerous dungeon. Level 30 monsters appear on the first floor, Level
50 on the second, and Level 70 on the third. These are not the boss levels, but
the maximum levels of the monsters that appear in the field. This means the
third floor of the Suzuka Dungeon is as brutal as the ninth floor of the royal
capital dungeon. Even the elite unit of the Footscythel family is having a hard
time exploring the third floor. That's how strong the monsters are.
"Hey,
Gandarvan."
"Yes?"
"What if we
explore the third floor—"
"Let's leave that
to your subordinates."
He cut me off before I
could even finish my proposal. I don't mean that I don't want to do paperwork.
But if all I do is paperwork, my body will get dull, won't it? My combat
instincts especially...
"A simple
inspection is fine."
"...An
inspection?"
"You can go to
the dungeon entrance, but you can't go inside."
What's so fun about
that?
"It's fine if you
don't want to."
"No, no, I didn't
say that!"
"Then, I'll make
arrangements for you to inspect the dungeon tomorrow."
And so, here we are,
at the Explorer's Guild of the Suzuka Dungeon.
"They did a great
job building this so quickly."
The building is now
complete, and most of the supplies have been moved in. The items our soldiers
have acquired have already been brought in, so the staff seems to be almost all
here. All that's left is to wait for the official opening of the Suzuka Dungeon.
The opening will be after my wedding.
The building is
attached to the ceiling of the cave and also acts as a pillar. We've placed
concrete blocks and rebar pillars all over the place, and the mages have
reinforced the walls and ceiling, so I don't think it will collapse.
Our soldiers' barracks
are also located in front of the Explorer's Guild. Using this as their base,
our soldiers enter the dungeon every day. When they're at a low level, they
enter the dungeons in the neighboring Zawalifi, the royal capital, and Kerniff
to acquire jobs and level up. When those soldiers exceed Level 15, we have them
use the Suzuka Dungeon as their base. After all, this is my own backyard. I
have no intention of letting this dungeon spew out monsters ever again. I'm
having everyone explore it with all their might.
"Gandarvan. I
want to inspect the inside of the dungeon."
"No."
"Hey, you know.
What's the point of an inspection if I don't inspect the dungeon itself?"
"No."
Is he holding a grudge
against me because I used my authority on him about his family?
Just as I was thinking
that, an injured soldier was carried into the barracks.
"Hey, a casualty!
Hurry with the healing magic!"
Our soldiers are
exploring the Suzuka Dungeon in squads of around six people, and every squad
has a priest. However, a low-level priest can't instantly heal a serious
injury. And there are always several priests stationed in the barracks. There
is always at least one priest-type job holder who is Level 40 or higher. Today,
it's Lilith. She has the Saintess job and is now at Level 45, so she should be
able to handle it.
"Hang in there,
Patricia!"
Huh, Patricia? It's
really Patricia! Did you charge in again?
I guess some people
might remember the clumsy Dragonewt. She was too clumsy to become an archer or
a knight, so she changed to the rare Holy Forgiver job, relying on her
toughness and power. She was playing a zombie-style game, healing herself while
fighting on the front lines, but it seems she overdid it.
"Someone, go and
tell Yamato."
"Yes, sir!"
Yamato must be worried
sick if Patricia is injured. I think she'll be fine since Lilith is treating
her, but I should still let him know.
After her treatment
was finished, Patricia got up and checked her body.
"Hey, Patricia.
You just got healed. Don't overdo it."
"I'm fine!"
I tried to calm down
Patricia, who looked like she was about to go back into the dungeon. She's a
handful.
Just then, it got
noisy outside. Someone was shouting, "Patriciaaa!" It must be Yamato.
The person who burst in, opening the door with a bang, was indeed Yamato.
"Patricia!"
"What is
it?"
"Huh? Oh?
Patricia?"
"So, what is
it?"
"...Uh, you were
about to die...?"
"Lilith already
healed me."
When Yamato saw Patricia
was safe, he slumped to the floor. He must have been in a panic because he was
still in his work clothes. And he should have wiped his tears and snot before
coming in. By the way, what did the person who went to tell him say? Oh no,
he's crying hysterically now. What am I going to do with this Yamato?
"Patricia. I'll
leave the rest to you."
"Huh?"
"This guy came
flying here because he was worried about you. Show him some
consideration."
"..."
I motioned to everyone
to leave the room. The rest is up to the two of them. Good luck, Yamato.
***
I don't know why, but
my precious break... no, my inspection was ruined by Yamato. I've lost my
motivation, so I decided to go back to the mansion. And I found an uninvited
guest there.
"He just arrived and
I was about to send a messenger."
Banarji had a frown on
his face.
"I'm back, but
please keep it a secret."
Fortunately, I came in
through the back door, so he probably doesn't know I'm here. I often use the
back door, but nobles don't, so it should be fine. But it wouldn't matter even
if he knew.
"What are you
going to do?"
"I'll make him
wait."
"Is that
alright?"
"He came without
an appointment. It's only natural for him to be kept waiting."
There should be a
clear distinction between people you welcome and people you don't.
While I was making him
wait, I called my senior retainers and consulted with them.
"I'm almost
certain it's about that matter."
"Yes. It must be
that matter."
Gandarvan nodded at my
words, and everyone else looked like they agreed. The visitor is a priest. He's
the guy named Mephis who came to me before to ask for money to build a temple.
I think he was a first-grade priest.
When I politely
declined his request, the price for job changes increased after that. The price
for asking a priest to treat injuries or illnesses is also ridiculously high in
my territory. In other words, he's the guy who's been harassing me because I
didn't pay for the temple's construction.
Because of that, I
built the『Saintess Treatment and
Job Change Clinic』 in the main towns of
my territory. It's an organization where I'm the director, and Anneliese and
the saintess Lilith are the vice-directors.
The name 『Saintess』 has religious connotations. I don't like religion, but I understand
that people need a spiritual anchor. That's why I decided to create a proper
religion. It's a little debatable whether a religion with me as the director is
"proper," though...
Lilith is critical of
the temple's current way of doing things. She experienced poverty and lived on
the streets. It's only natural that she wouldn't feel any affection for a
temple that doesn't help those in need.
The official name of
the temple is the 『Lyudoon Grand Religion』, and they demand two platinum coins (20,000 Grille)
for a job change. In my territory, they've gradually increased it to 10
platinum coins, which is five times the original price. For the treatment of
injuries and illnesses, they demand a minimum of five platinum coins and extort
as much as they can from the wealthy.
In contrast, the
Saintess Treatment and Job Change Clinic charges two gold coins (2,000 Grille)
for a job change, and three to ten gold coins for a single treatment. The price
varies depending on the severity of the injury or illness. We also have a
health insurance system for the residents of our territory. By paying four gold
coins a year, residents can join the health insurance. Health insurance members
have 90% of their medical expenses and treatment costs covered at the Saintess
Treatment and Job Change Clinic. In other words, they only have to pay 10%. We
have made it mandatory for my retainers and their families to join, and it
seems to be a great help since small children often get injured or sick.
Even small injuries
can provide experience points for the priest job if they are treated. It's not
a good thing for the Saintess Treatment and Job Change Clinic to be busy with
treatments, but it leads to the growth of the priests, which is a dilemma.
We also have a
Saintess Treatment and Job Change Clinic next to every soldier's barracks, so
there are seven of them in Triange alone. Having a treatment facility nearby
seems to give the residents a sense of security. And since it's next to the barracks,
people who try to harass us rarely appear. "Rarely" is the keyword
here, so they have appeared. They were spies from the temple. Of course, we
made those people do hard labor. There's plenty of hard labor to do, such as
road construction and land cultivation, so we welcome them.
As a result of
providing these services to the residents, the Lyudoon Grand Religion rapidly
declined in our territory. The fact that we created a family registry earlier
made it possible to smoothly introduce the health insurance system. When you
provide services to residents, information about the residents is important.
The Saintess Treatment
and Job Change Clinic has four main functions.
·
A place to treat injuries and illnesses.
·
A place to perform job changes.
·
A place to raise orphans.
·
A place for the saintess Lilith to preach to the
public.
Regarding the fourth
function, Lilith's preaching, Anneliese's mother, Marhaleta, also gives
lectures at the same time, which also serves as a countermeasure to prevent
minors from going down a bad path. Since a saintess and a merciful mother are
working together to protect and raise children, it's only natural that the
number of delinquent children would decrease.
Even if it doesn't
completely stop juvenile delinquency, it's suppressed enough that the security
of the territory has improved considerably. The fact that adults can no longer
use children to do bad things is a huge deterrent in itself. We've also decided
to punish adults who force children to commit crimes in our territory. This is
a declaration of our intention not to forgive those who lead children down a
bad path, and last year, after we punished a lot of people, many of them fled
to other territories.
We already have
soldiers patrolling frequently, and the territory is currently experiencing an
economic boom, so we're making progress on employment measures for the poor.
It's likely that my territory is one of the safest in the Oda Kingdom.
***
I kept him waiting for
about three hours before I sat down in front of Mephis. Mephis had a sullen
expression on his face. If he didn't like it, he shouldn't have come.
"Mephis-dono.
What can I do for you today?"
"Are you trying
to make an enemy of the temple, Viscount Footscythel?!"
"What a sudden
thing to say. I have no such intention."
I feigned confusion. A
vein on Mephis' temple was twitching. He seems very angry, but he should
probably do some spiritual training to control his anger.
"That Saintess
Treatment and Job Change Clinic, what is it?! Spreading such a suspicious cult
is an act of spitting on God!"
Not just spitting on
heaven, but on God? And he's calling it a cult. To me, the current Lyudoon
Grand Religion is more of a cult. Even if it had a noble teaching, it has
fallen into a corrupt religion because of its obsession with money.
"Please calm
down, Mephis-dono."
"Viscount
Footscythel is spreading a cult! How can I be calm about that?!"
"But the Saintess
Treatment and Job Change Clinic offers affordable and thorough job changes and
treatments. In addition to that, it protects orphans. Isn't that a wonderful
thing?"
The fact that I'm the
director is a top secret. On the surface, the saintess Lilith is the
representative. The name "saintess" is attached to it, so it would be
inconvenient for me to be the face of it.
"That is the
problem! Those are the exclusive duties of the temple!"
Exclusive duties, huh?
"What do you mean
by that, specifically?"
"Treatment,
job-change mediation, and sermons by priests!"
"Is that so? Hmm.
Then, let's ask the Royal Family if those are indeed the exclusive duties of
the temple."
"Why would you
ask the Royal Family about such a thing?! It's common knowledge!"
"That's not true.
The Oda Kingdom has laws established by the Royal Family. Even if it's not a
law, the story changes depending on whether there's an agreement between the
Royal Family and the temple. I've listened to you carefully, Mephis-dono. I
will confirm with the Royal Family about these exclusive duties, and if there
is no such law or agreement, I will have to arrest you for deceiving me, a
viscount."
"What?! Y-you'll
arrest me?!"
"In the first
place, the chief priest of the temple caused a scandal. So, I'm well aware that
it's dangerous to blindly believe a temple member. I hope you're not a fraud, Mephis-dono."
Mephis' face turned
pale, and he left. He probably realized that he was using the temple's
authority to say whatever he wanted. Detailed Appraisal clearly showed me what
Mephis was doing. Mephis will probably never show his face in front of me
again.
"Well, the Royal
Family should also be ready soon. Shall we get started?"
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