Shashato City had a port.
In other words, the sea was nearby.
A short walk away, there were sandy beaches. While there wasn't much of a culture of beach recreation, the area was used for processing seafood, so it was cleaned periodically. However, that only applied to the immediate vicinity of the city itself. Other stretches of the coast were surprisingly littered with driftwood, seaweed, and other debris that had washed ashore.
It was Miyo who had ordered the cleaning of those coasts and restored their beauty.
I wondered why she had suddenly taken an interest in such a project. I asked Miyo about it when she returned to the Village of the Great Tree for the first time in a while.
"It was one of the measures to deal with the problem of too much wealth accumulating in the Village of the Great Tree. Lady Yoko consulted me and sent over barrels of gold coins at the same time, so I decided to give it a try for the time being. I believe I included this in my reports?"
I had heard she was doing something as a countermeasure, but I hadn't realized it was coastal cleaning. I see.
"However, the spending of gold coins hasn't progressed much. I hired the residents of Shashato City and the nearby Sea Race as cleaning staff, but I couldn't pay them particularly high wages given the nature of the work."
That made sense.
"Furthermore, since I set up food stalls to cater to the workers, I managed to recover eighty percent of the funds."
"Why did you recover it?" I asked.
"Even if you ask me why... the point of the project was to distribute money widely among the residents as a policy..."
"No, that might be true, but you didn't have to go out of your way to set up food stalls."
"It was to make it easier for the members of the Sea Race to make purchases, as they usually don't carry money. The Maruura staff were the only ones capable of responding quickly enough to the demand."
"I see..."
"As a result, the economy of Shashato City—which was being somewhat overshadowed by Village Five—has seen a significant upturn."
Had Shashato City's economy been doing poorly?
"It wasn't bad, per se. However, it is best to take measures before things take a turn for the worse. Magistrate Ifuls asked me to deliver a letter to you, Village Head, regarding this matter."
I accepted the strictly sealed letter from Miyo.
It began with a thank you for cooperating in improving Shashato City's economy. In appreciation, he was waiving the poll tax for everyone involved with Big Roof Shashato. He also mentioned that since he heard I owned a ship, he would waive the port entry tax as well, so I should feel free to make a healthy profit. He offered his help with any future problems and praised the Maruura curry, even hinting that he'd love the recipe. Finally, he most sincerely beseeched me to grant Miyo a vacation.
The content was written in extremely polite, formal language. However, the section regarding Miyo's vacation was written with somewhat erratic handwriting and phrasing. She hadn't threatened him or anything, had she? Miyo insisted she hadn't, so I chose to believe her.
I acknowledged the contents of the letter. The economic boost wasn't really my achievement, so I made sure to praise Miyo for her work.
While I was grateful that he was waiving the poll and port taxes, it meant money would start accumulating again. Still, that wealth would stay with Big Roof Shashato and Maruura rather than coming directly to me, so I decided not to worry about it too much. I didn't have anything to consult the Magistrate about at the moment, so I would simply accept his kind gesture.
As for the Maruura curry recipe, while it started with my original formula, it was now the product of extensive research by Marcos and his team. I couldn't simply hand it over. However, I decided to tell Marcos to prepare to dispatch a cook whenever the Magistrate made a formal request. I wasn't in a hurry; a plan spanning several years would be fine.
There was also no problem with granting Miyo a vacation. I had heard she took a fair amount of time off even without my intervention.
...Wait.
I checked the Magistrate's letter once more. I had noticed earlier that the handwriting and phrasing were only messy in the part about Miyo's vacation. Looking closer, there was a pattern to the distortion. I realized I just needed to pick out the characters that looked out of place. It seemed he had distorted his writing style just to hit a specific character count for the code.
"Please don't let Miyo leave Shashato City, I beg of you."
I stared at the letter.
First of all, why the elaborate trick? "Miyo," I asked, "were you by the Magistrate's side when he wrote this?"
"I was watching over him right next to him," she replied.
I see. She wasn't just "watching" him; she was "watching over" him.
"Miyo," I said. "You've worked hard on various projects, and the Magistrate himself made a request. I'm granting you twenty Reward Medals and a vacation until next spring. However, you must spend your vacation primarily in Shashato City."
"Thank you very much. But may I ask why I must stay in Shashato City?"
"Ah... you're employing the Sea Race for the cleaning, right? It wouldn't be good if the point of contact for negotiations changed suddenly. I'd like you to handle those interactions even during your time off."
"I see. That makes sense. I understand. Um, is it alright if I exchange my Reward Medals before I return to the city?"
"That's no problem. Besides, you've come all this way back home. I'm not telling you to rush back to Shashato this instant. Go to the hot spring area or somewhere and relax for a while."
"Thank you. I would also like to visit Village Four."
"Of course. I'll have the Universal Ship's schedule adjusted to accommodate your travel, Miyo."
"Is that really alright?"
"You've been working hard as the lead for Shashato City, after all. Besides, Tou is the captain of the Universal Ship. He'll actually be happy about the schedule change."
"Ah, I understand. He grumbles a lot, but he always does his job perfectly, doesn't he?"
I felt that description applied to Miyo as well, but I had the discretion not to say it out loud. I knew she had been through a lot of trouble. As a token of my gratitude, I wondered if I should carve a statue of Miyo and send it to Shashato City.
On second thought, that might be a burden to display. I decided against it.
After that, I discussed several smaller matters with Miyo. Most of the conversation focused on the highway plan. Apparently, there was a project to improve the roads and the villages leading to the Demon Kingdom Royal Capital to shorten travel times. Big Roof Shashato had planned to fund the project, but I decided to provide the funds from the Village of the Great Tree instead. I really wanted to find ways to spend our excess money.
I also requested that the money earned by Big Roof Shashato and Maruura be spent within Shashato City as much as possible, perhaps on disaster prevention or stockpiling resources.
Finally, she told me more about the Sea Race. It seemed they still settled disputes with "bravery contests" involving unusual seafood. Miyo had participated in one. She mentioned they were actually quite delicious since they were freshly caught, and that they would be invincible if paired with soy sauce.
"So, what's this?" I asked, looking at the souvenir she brought me.
It was a bundle of slimy seaweed.
Ah, it was mozuku. When I prepared it with vinegar and ate it with relish, Miyo looked absolutely defeated. Apparently, mozuku had appeared during her contest, and that was the point where she had been forced to give up.
"As expected of you, Village Head. I was called the Queen of Strange Eating by the Sea Race, but it seems I was still inexperienced."
The Queen of Strange Eating... Following that logic, did that make me the King of Strange Eating? I was just enjoying the seafood. I felt a little slighted by the title.
Miyo headed off to the hot spring area. She was scheduled to stay there for about six days. I wanted to make sure she was well-rested after all her hard work.
Setting that aside...
I considered a problem Miyo had raised during our talk. It concerned an issue that arose during the coastal cleaning. Because the Sea Race had searched for dirty spots over a very wide area, they had discovered several caves. Ordinarily, that wouldn't be an issue, but some of those caves contained treasure—presumably hidden away by pirates or bandits.
I thought the treasure should go to the discoverers, but apparently, the ownership of anything found during the cleaning work legally belonged to the employer, Miyo. She had given special rewards to the discoverers and taken possession of the items. Since they were obtained during her official duties, she insisted the treasures belonged to me.
I suggested donating them to Shashato City, but Miyo—acting as the Magistrate's proxy—turned me down. She explained that even if I intended it as a gift, it would look to outsiders like the Magistrate had simply seized the treasure. Furthermore, she said the city couldn't accept them because of the expectations of compensation that followed such a massive donation. I wondered if a gift always required something in return, but then I remembered being warned long ago that giving too much can actually crush the recipient. I decided to drop the idea.
Instead, I decided to display the treasures in Village Five. I would include descriptions of where they were found and the names of the discoverers, which would grant them a measure of honor. Additionally, by putting them on public display, the rightful owners might come forward. I wouldn't accept any lies, but if someone had a legitimate claim, I would return the items gladly. I truly hoped someone would show up.
I thought that had settled everything, but one final problem remained. One of the caves didn't contain treasure, but rather the entrance to a dungeon. It was a temple-style structure built by human hands. Judging by the active state of the gargoyles installed for security, it appeared to be unexplored.
As it turned out, the right of first exploration for this dungeon belonged to me.
Hmm. Perhaps I should organize an exploration team and check it out during the winter? Since winter was a time when many people were stuck indoors, I suspected there would be plenty of volunteers. It would be nice if I could join them as well.