By mid-2nd month of the second summer, all the stewards of Riana’s domain had gathered at the lord’s mansion.

Many of them had sent representatives to the commemorative festival. Those representatives were swapped out with the returning stewards, escorted by the first squad of the knight corps, to reach the domain’s capital.

The stewards had not been informed of the reason for their assembly.

Still, through information they had gathered beforehand and exchanged after arriving at the capital, they had formed some expectations.

During the commemorative festival, the Duke of Riana, Liesel Liselia, announced that the holy coin transport team had already departed from the royal capital. Once the team arrived, the dungeon’s opening would commence.

The arrival was expected by the end of January or early February in autumn, with the dungeon set to be completed by the end of February at the latest in Riana’s capital.

This would inevitably increase the number of people, especially adventurers, heading for the capital.

How would they accommodate these individuals?

And how would they handle any problems that might arise…?

Adventurers often cooperated with each other in dungeons and refrained from causing trouble there, but outside the dungeons, this was not always the case.

Even with basic rules in place, adventurers were still armed groups. In small towns or villages with minimal guards, dealing with them could become challenging.

This required coordination with the knight corps.

While proxies managed duties like tariffs and arranging craftsmen, issues involving armed forces demanded the stewards’ direct negotiations with the lord and other stewards.

Most of those present were discussing these matters, with a few exceptions.

“Is that about the gist of it?”

“Well… it’s not surprising. It’s only because that girl is here… In fact, it would be troublesome if they caught on.”

Walking a step ahead, Liesel turned back toward me, speaking cheerfully about what the individuals in the meeting room might currently be discussing.

The dungeon was already complete, and further exploration of the lower levels was underway.

Beyond us, only a select few—some members of the second squad, executives from the Adventurer’s Guild, and a small number of accomplished adventurers—knew about this.

Even counting them all, there were fewer than a hundred individuals.

None of them would make the foolish mistake of leaking this information.

“By the way, Sera isn’t with us today. Is that alright?”

“Yes. There’s no point in telling her about this.”

When I responded, Liesel gave a wry smile, likely recalling Sera’s performance at the training grounds a few days prior.

At least for now, that girl wasn’t suited for battles against human opponents.

With such an abundance of blessed items and divine protections, gaining more experience might change that in the future…

“That’s true enough. Well, how much we disclose is up to you.”

“Understood.”

Shifting my gaze from Liesel to the front, I saw guards stationed at the door to the meeting room. They wore armor, which was unusual.

Considering who was inside the room, this was likely a display of authority, though it seemed like unnecessary effort.

The guards noticed us, bowed, and called out inside before opening the door.

“Shall we?”

With Liesel in the lead, we entered the meeting room.

◇

The agenda began with matters related to the dungeon.

Handling the influx of adventurers from outside would primarily fall to the knight corps, clans, and warrior groups.

Warrior groups, essentially collections of clans, were tasked with managing themselves.

Even longstanding local adventurer clans were still armed groups.

To manage them, larger coalitions were formed and self-regulated. These were the warrior groups.

Their establishment required the lord’s approval and was limited to three or four groups at most.

Even so, these groups carried significant influence as formidable forces, despite their members officially being commoners.

Leaders of such groups could easily become prominent figures in their regions.

The warrior group leader of “Ragulora’s Fang,” recruited from the royal capital, was one such example.

Currently, Riana’s domain hosted five warrior groups. Three were led by local adventurers who had been active since the Zelkis era. The remaining two were composed of adventurers from outside.

While not outright antagonistic toward each other, the groups were deliberately divided into factions for easier management.

Work was distributed as evenly as possible. For example, the initial dungeon exploration was assigned to a local warrior group, while the subjugation of the Giant Beasts of Riana involved one group from each faction.

This time, since the task involved preparing for incoming outsiders, it would likely be assigned to the external faction.

Another concern raised by the stewards was funding.

While the increase in visitors had brought more money into the region, it wasn’t enough to prepare the necessary facilities for the growing population.

However, this wasn’t a significant issue.

Riana’s domain was exceptionally wealthy—one could even say it had an abundance of money.

With the establishment of the domain and the start of the magical frontier’s development, the collection of magical resources had begun in earnest.

These resources were in high demand, not only domestically but across the continent, and fetched extraordinarily high prices.

Though this prosperity wouldn’t last forever, it would remain stable for at least the next five to ten years.

In the meantime, the wealth accumulated could be distributed to local regions, making it a timely solution.

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Sera ・【Hideout】 +1 【Prayer】【Blessing of Mira】【Wind Garment】・【Floating Orb】 +1 【Shadow Sword】【Scarlet Bee Needle】【Fairy Eye】【Dragon’s Lung】【Amber Sword】【Danrem’s Thread】【Snake Tail】【Ankle Bracelet】【Amber Shield】【Purple Wings】・7 cards

Seriana ・【Range Identification】・【】・28 cards

Elena ・【】・【Green Fang】【Amber Sword】・3 cards

Alec ・【Strong Strike】・【Red Shield】【Fierce Horned Trumpet】・7 cards