Merchant Noble is out (1/3 chapters for today)
Yanna Warden’s Daily Life
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The dazzling sunlight pricked her face. Yanna slightly lifted her heavy eyelids.
“Hmm? Oh, morning already.” (Yanna)
She sat up and moved to the window, peering outside. The streets were bustling early in the morning with adventurers and craftsmen heading to work. After observing the people heading out for a while, she quickly drew the curtains shut.
The room fell dark once more.
She drank a glass of water, soothing her parched throat, and returned to bed. Though the noise outside made it hard to fall asleep at first, she eventually began snoring.
No one came to wake Yanna up. Though Arc had suggested assigning a servant to her, the idea of being cared for was unbearable for the freedom-loving Yanna. She preferred waking when she wanted and working when she felt like it. In that sense, she was content with her current lifestyle.
“Well, I guess it’s time to get up.” (Yanna)
That day, after drifting in and out of sleep several times, she finally began her day around noon. She washed away sweat and dirt at the house’s water facilities, changed clothes, and headed to the administrative office of the Third Town.
“Good morning. Thanks for your hard work, everyone.” (Yanna)
“Good afternoon, Yanna-sama.” (Staff)
She exchanged greetings with the dedicated staff before heading upstairs. Climbing the staircase, she reached the mayor’s office at the end of the second-floor hallway. Inside, Lagonne was processing an overwhelming pile of paperwork at a blistering pace.
“Yanna-sama.” (Lagonne)
“Good morning, Lagonne. Is there anything I can help with?” (Yanna)
“No, we’re fine today. There are fewer applications and petitions, so please take it easy.” (Lagonne)
Lagonne had grown significantly. At first, when she took over as mayor in place of her father, she was an inept young girl. However, thanks to Yanna’s constant guidance, her abilities had greatly improved.
Now, Lagonne managed the workload alone without requiring Yanna’s assistance.
With Lagonne able to handle everything independently, Yanna, whose job had been to support her, now found herself with ample free time. Recently, Yanna was often bored.
She wasn’t lazy, she simply craved freedom. In other words, even if they have a job, giving it up and being able to spend their time freely is what gives meaning to their life, but losing their job and having nothing but free time is just boring.
Having nothing else to do, she decided to step outside and explore the city for the first time in a while.
She wandered through the industrial district in the eastern part of the Third Town.
Factories that used fire for activities like smithing and welding were clustered together to ensure easier containment if a fire broke out. Due to the concentration of such factories, this area was noticeably hotter than others.
While Yanna was observing the factories, she noticed a commotion in the plaza. A group of about ten people was surrounded by craftsmen and adventurers.
It seemed like an intriguing commotion.
Yanna immediately grabbed a bystander and questioned them.
“What’s going on?” (Yanna)
“Ah, Yanna-sama. It’s, well… fanatics.” (Bystander)
“Ugh, not again.” (Yanna)
Not the least bit interesting. Yanna held her head in her hands. Religious conflicts had been a recurring issue, and Mikanda was no exception. Among the Kingdom’s territories, the Third Town was particularly populated with heretics.
Craftsmen, who worked closely with nature, often followed the Natural Faith. Since the Third Town was an industrial hub, craftsmen gathered here from across the Kingdom. Furthermore, while other regions conducted hunts for heretics, Mikanda, under Arc’s policy, maintained tolerance. As a result, craftsmen fleeing persecution brought their families here, and the percentage of Natural Faith followers had continued to grow. Today, nearly half of the town’s population were nonbelievers.
This influx had created a major issue. The Third Town became a target for fervent Holy Church fanatics.
Traveling across great mountain ranges to denounce heretics in Mikanda might seem absurd to ordinary people, yet fanatics kept coming. Despite increased border security, incidents like this occurred about once every two months. Though today’s commotion seemed smaller in scale, some extremists among the fanatics even tried setting factories on fire.
The fanatics stood their ground, delivering a sermon even as they were surrounded by intimidating craftsmen.
“Tormented heretics, you have incurred God’s wrath. Repent at once, convert to the Holy Church, and awaken to the true world!” (Fanatic)
“Go home! You’re disrupting our work!” (Craftsman)
“Get lost!” (Adventurer)
Amid constant jeering, the fanatics continued their denunciations without breaking down. Such courage or stubbornness would be better applied elsewhere.
“Oh, God, forgive these ignorant heretics. They simply fail to see Your majesty.” (Fanatic)
If things heated up further, violence could break out. Though reluctant, Yanna decided to intervene.
“Alright, alright. Excuse me.” (Yanna)
As soon as Yanna appeared, the crowd naturally parted to let her through. She stepped forward to face the fanatics.
“You folks. Do you have residency permits?” (Yanna)
When it came to religious debates, things got messy. Yanna opted to start with administrative procedures.
“Are you the lord of this place?” (Fanatic)
“Yes, something like that. Now, about those permits…” (Yanna)
“You! It’s because you tolerate these heretics that such vile paganism runs rampant! How dare you defy the decree to expel heretics?” (Fanatic)
The fanatic suddenly shouted at her.
This is why I hate dealing with these people. They just don’t listen!
While muttering curses in her heart, she calmly dealt with them.
“The decree to expel heretics has been revoked, you know.” (Yanna)
“Even if the decree has been revoked, it is your duty to eliminate the evil cult! Saying you will go
against God’s will just because the decree was revoked makes no sense.” (Fanatic)
Which one of us is the one who makes no sense?
Since they brought up the decree to expel heretics, she countered with that topic. The conversation wasn’t getting through at all.
“Oh, I see.” (Yanna)
“I’ll report you to the Church and have you excommunicated!” (Fanatic)
“Feel free to do so.” (Yanna)
Despite being a group that caused nothing but trouble, did they really think they would be dealt with properly?
As Yanna gave casual replies, the fanatics grew more agitated.
“What is this? Your sacred devotion to God is only at that level? This is blasphemy against God!” (Fanatic)
They were spouting outrageous logic, saying whatever they pleased.
Yanna, who had been deftly deflecting their words, gradually began to accumulate stress.
Since I have time to spare anyway. At this point, I might as well take them on in their own religious field.
Yanna locked eyes with the man who seemed to be the leader of the group and opened her mouth.
“Well then. Tell me exactly how I have violated the teachings of the Holy Church.” (Yanna)
“Wha—” (Fanatic)
“You’ve been saying that I’m violating the teachings of the Holy Church, haven’t you? State your evidence.” (Yanna)
“Like how you don’t expel heretics.” (Fanatic)
“Where in the holy scriptures does it say to expel heretics? Hey, where? What page?” (Yanna)
“Here it is!” (Fanatic)
Though flustered by Yanna’s sudden counterattack using the scriptures, they hastily opened the prepared holy book and thrust it at her.
‘When the faithful of the Holy Church are endangered by heretics, thou shalt dedicate thy life to the Holy Church.’
“… How does this lead to expelling heretics? Read it properly.” (Yanna)
It referred to fighting when attacked by heretics, but nowhere did it say to expel heretics during peacetime. The interpretation was excessively far-fetched.
“Even if it’s not written in the scriptures, the Church—” (Fanatic)
“So, you admit it’s not in the scriptures.” (Yanna)
“Shut up!” (Fanatic)
“Even if it’s not written in the scriptures, you’re defying the orders of the Church! The Church has declared the eradication of heretics. You, who protect heretics, are unfit for the Holy Church! You’re a heretic yourself!” (Fanatic)
As if triumphant, they began chanting “the Church” repeatedly. However, it had no effect on Yanna.
“Where in the scriptures does it say ‘Obey the Church’?” (Yanna)
“… What?” (Fanatic)
Caught off guard by Yanna’s unexpected question, they froze in place.
“That’s not written anywhere, is it?” (Yanna)
“Th-that can’t be true.” (Fanatic)
“Oh my, you didn’t confirm it?” (Yanna)
“That can’t be true. Of course, it must be written in the scriptures!” (Fanatic)
“There’s no way it’s written there. The Church was established after the Holy Church was founded as a religion. In other words, it was created after the scriptures. How could the scriptures mention the Church? Think about it for a moment.” (Yanna)
Yanna’s elegant retort prompted laughter from the onlookers. When you think about it, “That’s true”, such words were heard.
“This is why I can’t stand fanatics. They don’t think for themselves.” (Yanna)
Saying this, Yanna clapped her hands and declared the matter concluded.
“Alright, alright. The show’s over. Everyone, get back to work. Adventurers, arrest these illegal residents.” (Yanna)
At Yanna’s command, the adventurers subdued the fanatics.
“You’ll pay for this! God’s punishment will definitely fall upon you! Remember that!” (Fanatic)
“Ahhh, ahhh.” (Yanna)
The fanatics, screaming at the top of their lungs while being tied up and dragged away, were ignored as Yanna covered her ears and walked off.
—
When she returned to the administrative office, Lagonne was napping.
It seemed she had already finished today’s workload. A mountain of signed documents was stacked on the desk. To think she had grown capable of handling such a volume of work in a single day was deeply moving.
Even so, Lagonne’s sleeping face was beautiful. Yanna always found herself captivated by it.
While touching her sleeping hair, Lagonne woke up, rubbing her eyes as she turned to Yanna.
“Yanna-sama.” (Lagonne)
“Good morning, Lagonne.” (Yanna)
“It’s already evening.” (Lagonne)
“You’ve finished today’s work already. That was fast.” (Yanna)
“Yes. But the faster I complete my work, the more I make Yanna-sama idle, and I feel a little bad about that.” (Lagonne)
“I’m not idle at all. This town is full of interesting happenings, and I enjoy it.” (Yanna)
She didn’t tell Lagonne about the earlier commotion. She wanted Lagonne to focus on the town’s work. She wanted all unnecessary troubles or incidents to be directed to herself. She would solve them all. Plagued by boredom, Yanna thought like an adventurer.
Yanna gazed out at the city through the mayor’s office window. As the sun began to set, the sky turned orange. Several columns of smoke rose from the factories, resembling ladders to the sky. The white smoke came from extinguishing the furnaces. It seemed the factories had finished their work for the day.
Another day was about to end.
“Looking back, it was a pretty fun day after all.” (Yanna)
“Did you say something?” (Lagonne)
“Let’s do our best again tomorrow.” (Yanna)
“Yes, let’s do our best!” (Lagonne)
Lagonne’s face, glowing orange in the light of the setting sun, shone with a radiant smile.
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