Chapter 16 ā
Well, That Changes Things
Camellia reached a satisfying conclusion.
Good. Recruiting my companion is done!
Sure, that newly recruited companion was currently being dragged away by the commander of the knights while crying,
“Waaah… M-My Lord… I want to stay a maid…”
But she had been recruited, hadn’t she?
From this point on, Shushu was officially the Lord’s companion.
Which meant the Lord could level her up however she pleased.
That settles the dungeon side of things for now.
So was it finally time to rest?
What nonsense.
Time to handle internal affairs.
Dark Tower wasn’t just a dungeon-crawling game.
Managing your territoryāknown as Internal Affairsāwas every bit as extensive as the dungeon content.
Which meant…
It was now time for administration.
Not that it’s particularly fun.
It was so uninteresting that most players simply searched online for guides like “Automated Internal Affairs Setup” or “Optimal City Build Order,” copied the recommended settings, and never looked at the system again.
Even Camellia, the veteran among veterans who received private messages from other expert players asking her to review their strategy guides before publication, wasn’t much different.
She paid more attention to it than beginners did, but it had never been one of her favorite systems.
Not because it was difficult.
Or complicated.
The Internal Affairs system itself was actually quite simple.
It was built on a simulation model based on NetLogo, an open-source program often used to simulate social and economic systems.
Once you understood the model and configured the variables correctly, finding the optimal solution was almost effortless.
Honestly, if you knew the parameters, you could practically calculate everything in your head.
The real problem was the interface.
Every tiny adjustment required navigating through countless menus and tabs.
There were so many settings to tweak that the whole thing became tedious.
Of course, the people on the community forums had rather different opinions.
“What’s NetLogo, you nerd?”
“Sounds like another insane graduate student.”
“Seriously, who even are you?”
“Yeah yeah, economic modelingāI totally understand!”
They insisted it was only easy for her.
Honestly, there was no point sharing information with people who refused to learn.
Even if you spoon-fed them the easiest solution, they’d still complain.
Regardless, the important point was this:
Internal Affairs could be annoying and somewhat complicated…
…but compared to conquering dungeons?
It was laughably easy.
Practically free progress.
Camellia spoke leisurely.
“We’ve dealt with the urgent matters. Now it’s time to inspect the territory.”
Jehar looked worried.
“It’s already beginning to grow dark. Wouldn’t it be better to rest for today? I’m concerned Your Lordship may overexert yourself.”
“I only intend to examine the ledgers. Who manages the territory’s accounts?”
Seeing that she had no intention of changing her mind, Jehar gave up trying to persuade her.
“The castle accounts are handled by the head maid. The city’s financial ledgers are maintained by the mayor. I oversee them all. What would you like to know?”
“I’d like to inspect the ledgers personally. Is that possible?”
“They’re stored in the archives and managed by hired clerks. If you wish, they can be brought immediately.”
Camellia nodded.
Although the system window displayed all the important information, she couldn’t rely solely on it.
Just as the Adventurers’ Guild Master had demonstrated, people made mistakes.
She needed to know how the records were actually being kept.
If the process was inefficient, improving it certainly wouldn’t hurt.
“Very well, my Lord. Please excuse me.”
Jehar left the office to retrieve the books.
The moment the door closed, Nethanel leaned forward with obvious curiosity.
“My Lord… can you actually read financial ledgers?”
Hm?
Not understanding what he meant, she simply stared at him.
Apparently her gaze felt intimidating, because his smile became noticeably more awkward.
“It’s just that… personally examining ledgers isn’t considered very… noble.”
“You understand what I mean… don’t you?”
Huh? Really? Nobles aren’t supposed to read accounting books?
After spending countless hours playing the game, this was the first she’d ever heard of such a thing.
Slightly flustered, Camellia decided not to make excuses.
Instead, she answered with complete confidence.
“…That only applies to people who fear losing their authority if others discover their ignorance. Can a Lord truly govern a territory while knowing nothing about it?”
Apparently her 18 Charisma persuasion worked perfectly.
Rather than doubting her, Nethanel looked impressed.
“I believed I could admire your wisdom no further, my Lord, yet today you’ve proven me wrong once again. You’re absolutely correct.”
He couldn’t help grumbling about all the other lords who entrusted every ledger to priests of the Golden Scales and never bothered to look at them themselves.
So nobles really don’t read their own books…
On the other hand, priestsāand especially priests of the Golden Scalesāseemed to deal with territorial finances quite frequently.
If I don’t understand something, maybe I can pretend I’m testing him and ask Nethanel.
Just as that thought crossed her mind…
Jehar returned.
Beside him was a clerk carrying an enormous parchment-bound ledger.
“M-My Lord… I greetā”
The poor clerk was trembling so hard he couldn’t even raise his eyes above her feet.
Camellia interrupted him before he could finish.
“The greeting can wait. Open the ledger first.”
Jehar lightly tapped the floor with the staff he always carried.
A tall reading stand of ivory and ebony instantly materialized.
The clerk hurriedly placed the massive ledger upon it before fleeing the office as though someone were chasing him.
A loud crash echoed from outside, suggesting he’d bumped into something.
Camellia ignored it.
The ledger was far more important.
Let’s see…
She looked down at the open pages.
The numbers were written using wedge-shaped notation rather than Arabic numerals, but she had no trouble reading them.
It’s probably more or less the same as what’s shown in the system.
Thinking nothing of it, she began reading.
Less than a minute later…
Her expression became grave.
The tax records in the system and those in the ledger were wildly different.
What? Why don’t these match?
The population figures alone were nowhere near each other.
And the taxes?
Not a single category matched.
The poll tax was far too low for the recorded population.
Property taxes.
Road tolls.
Hearth taxes.
Well taxes.
Every single figure was inconsistent.
Did they intentionally hire people who couldn’t even do basic arithmetic?
As she mentally recalculated the figures to determine where the discrepancies originated…
She suddenly realized something.
Every number in the ledger was wrong.
Except one.
The final total she was supposed to receive matched the system perfectly.
Wait… these missing amounts…
I think I saw them somewhere in the system window…
She immediately opened the holographic interface visible only to her.
Opening the tax menu, she entered the detailed breakdown.
It was an absurdly complicated collection of numbers.
After switching through several tabs, she gathered every line labeled Operating Expenses into one list.
Exactly as she’d suspected.
The money missing from the ledgerāthe unexplained discrepancies, the mathematical “errors”ā
Matched the listed Operating Expenses down to the last coin.
Operating expenses?
Operating expenses?
How could these random chunks of missing money possibly qualify as operating costs?
Camellia shouted inwardly.
This is embezzlement!
To her astonishment…
The mayor of Needstar and the tax collectors had conspired together to skim tax revenue for themselves.
She was beyond disbelief.
She almost admired their audacity.
This isn’t some ordinary lord.
You’re embezzling money from a monster who’s lived for a thousand years?
How enormous are your guts?
Come to think of it…
Even in the game, the Operating Expenses category had always behaved strangely.
If players neglected Internal Affairs for too long, those expenses would randomly increase without explanation.
When players reported it as a bug, the developers had firmly replied:
“Lord, this is not a bug. Your representatives may occasionally act against your wishes.”
At the time, she’d laughed.
Seriously? You’re calling that “worldbuilding”?
But…
It had been true all along.
It wasn’t random.
Someone had literally been siphoning off the money.
The absurdity of it left her speechless.
Sensing that her mood had changed, Jehar cautiously asked,
“My Lord… is there something wrong with the ledger?”
Camellia tapped the stiff parchment with a fingertip.
“It appears mice have been chewing through these accounts.”
Then she asked,
“Who hired this man?”
“…The position has been passed down by the Lords for generations.”
“Hah.”
Just what kind of work did the previous Lord do?
The answer was so ridiculous she kept tapping the ledger irritably.
Jehar carefully spoke again.
“Are you perhaps referring to… the customary compensation? Please don’t be too angry, my Lord. They aren’t negligent workers.”
“Customary?”
“Compensation?”
Camellia’s voice sharpened.
“They receive salaries and privileges worthy of their positions.”
“And yet it’s considered customary for them to steal even more?”
“Because supervision is difficult, we’re simply expected to tolerate corruption?”
The instant she finished speakingā
The system window flashed.
[Nethanel Pragma’s Affection has increased.]
[Nethanel Pragma’s Loyalty has increased.]
Huh?
Why is that going up?
Confused, Camellia checked the details.
Affection: The Lord respects the laws of the Golden Scales. +5
Loyalty: The Lord respects the laws of the Golden Scales. +1
Respecting the rules…?
Ah… because I refused to tolerate embezzlement.
She glanced sideways at Nethanel.
His eyes were sparkling like stars.
Even his cheeks had become slightly flushed.
Could it be…?
Carefully, she continued.
“Taxes should be used for the territory and its peopleānot to fill someone’s personal pockets.”
[Nethanel Pragma’s Affection has increased.]
[Nethanel Pragma’s Loyalty has increased.]
“Wealthāespecially the wealth of the territoryāmust be managed transparently.”
“This way of doing things is unacceptable.”
[Nethanel Pragma’s Affection has increased.]
[Nethanel Pragma’s Loyalty has increased.]
Seriously…?
If simply saying these things raises his Affection and Loyalty this much…
How much would it increase if I actually fixed the problem?
Whether she liked it or not, Internal Affairs had to be brought under control.
Eventually, there would come a time when she’d spend an entire month inside the Tower.
She couldn’t possibly keep opening the management window every day just to check how much money had been stolen this time.
And now…
Simply doing what she ought to do also triggered double increases in the Affection and Loyalty of one of her key companions?
She had originally intended to solve the matter by merely dismissing the mayor and appointing someone else.
But if that was the case…
Everything had changed.
Camellia spoke decisively.
“Summon the head maid and the mayor immediately.”
