Poncho Becomes a Governor

MISTERLP

It happened just before Souma departed for the Star Dragon Mountain

Range.

On this day, Souma summoned the Kingdom of Friedonia's Minister of

Agriculture and Forestry, Poncho, to the governmental affairs office.

When Poncho entered the room, Souma was seated in his chair, and for

some reason the head maid Serina was standing in the corner of the room.

The presence of Serina, who stood there with a composed look on her

face, seemed to catch his attention, but Poncho first addressed the

provisional king.

"I-I have come at your behest, yes."

"It's good to have you here," Souma answered. "I have a job for you."

"A job, is it?"

Souma unfurled a map of the country on top of the desk. "You know

we built the new city, Venetinova, as a key point for the distribution of

goods, right? In consideration of the city's importance, I decided that,

instead of a magistrate, I would create a new 'governor' post and have that

person manage the city. I plan to entrust it to Weist, who distinguished

himself during the war, but it seems he's preoccupied with the procedures

for changing his domain. That's why, for the time being, I need someone

else to serve as the governor in his place. I want you to do the job,

Poncho."

"Me, manage such an important city?!"

"It's because it's an important city. That, and also because the city has

taken in a large number of former refugees as citizens. If I made the

mistake of leaving it to a prideful noble, there's the risk they would cause

unneeded friction. I want someone with a mild personality, and one who

has ample support from the populace."

"B-But... I lack the experience..." Poncho looked uncertain.

But Souma smiled wryly and gave him his seal of approval. "It should

be fine. I've asked Serina to serve as your assistant. Besides, Komain, who

was formerly the assistant leader of the refugees, is in Venetinova, too.

You know her, right?"

"Y-Yes... Yes. We met a number of times while I was distributing food

support..."

Komain was the young woman who had been the assistant leader of the

refugee camp, and she was the one who'd brought together the former

refugees who'd chosen to cast aside their homelands to become citizens of

the kingdom. Her personality was never timid, even when dealing with

men, and that made her popular. With her help, the citizens would easily

accept Poncho.

"You can consult with the two of them while you work," Souma said.

"I'm counting on you."

Now that the provisional king had told him that, Poncho was unable to

say he didn't want to do it. "Y-Yes. I understand. I'll be counting on your

support, too, Madam Serina."

"If it is my master's order, it would seem I have no choice," Serina said

with a composed look on her face, then bowed. "I will support you to the

best of my abilities."

The fact of the matter was, when Souma had told Serina, "I want you to

go to Venetinova as Poncho's assistant," she had accepted immediately. It

seemed she didn't want to be unable to eat Poncho's food while he was

away from the castle. Knowing that fact, all Souma could do was smile

wryly.

"Well, do your best. Oh, also, I think all the marriage proposals that

have been coming to the castle for you will start to go to that city, so good

luck sorting through all of those."

"C-Come again?" The sudden mention of marriage proposals made

Poncho's eyes go wide and his voice to sound funny. "Th-There've been

proposals for me?"

"Yeah. So, you know one of the reasons for my trip abroad is to

provide an excuse to decline all the requests to meet young women with an

eye to marriage that have been swamping the castle, right? Well, we've

had a number of the same sort of requests for you. For the sake of the

castle, I'd like to have you go elsewhere, too."

"Th-Then, the reason I was chosen to be magistrate of Venetinova was

also..."

"That's part of it, too. I've given you Serina as an assistant, so do your

best."

Having been told that, all Poncho could do was stand there, as if in a

daze.

Some days later, in the office in the governor's mansion in

Venetinova...

"Now then, I'll make a roster of the refugees who've joined us," said

Komain.

"Please do that, yes."

Poncho watched as the girl who had formerly been the assistant leader

of the refugees left the room, papers in hand. This was the last thing he had

needed to give his approval for as governor today.

"Your government duties for the day are finished, but there are still

things that need doing," his assistant, Serina, said.

Poncho, who understood what Serina meant, hesitantly asked, "...So,

how many will there be today? Yes?"

"Five people. A relatively low number," Serina said plainly, causing

Poncho's shoulders to slump.

Whenever his duties were finished, it was time to meet prospective

marriage candidates. The daughters of nobles and powerful merchants who

wanted to marry him were apparently already standing by in the waiting

room. It was a regular work day, so he was getting off with just five, but

on his days off, he was swamped with so many applicants that they had to

form a line.

That was Poncho, the man revered as Lord Ishizuka the God of Food,

for you. He was so popular that he couldn't rest even on his days off. If he

would just marry one of them already, things might settle down a little, but

unfortunately, even with all these offers coming in, not one came to

fruition.

"I'm sorry to put you through this too, Madam Serina," he said.

"This is an order from my master, so don't let it bother you."

Serina accompanied Poncho to all of these marriage meetings. That

was because Souma had asked her to keep a close eye on him and make

sure Poncho didn't fall for a woman or a House that had ulterior motives.

Serina had a cool look on her face as she spoke, and Poncho acted very

obliged to her.

"I'm truly grateful to you, Madam Serina, yes."

"Talk is cheap." Serina turned away, then glanced sideways at Poncho.

"I'd like to see you show your sincerity."

"I understand, yes." With a wry smile, Poncho pulled a certain

something out of his desk drawer. When he placed that long, black thing

on his desk, Serina looked at it intently.

"Is this... seaweed, perhaps?"

"This is a seaside city, after all. I managed to acquire some good

quality kombu. Tonight I'll use the broth from this and eggs to make the

dish called 'chawanmushi' that His Majesty taught me, yes."

"Chawanmushi... What sort of dish might that be?" Her tone was level,

but there was a sparkle in Serina's eyes, and it was clear she was intrigued.

"It's soft like pudding, but it has a taste as deep as the sea, I'm told."

"Ooh... Let's get these meetings out of the way quickly, Sir Poncho."

Serina took Poncho's arm with an entranced look on her face. With

Serina, whose head was no doubt full of chawanmushi, rushing him,

Poncho left the office with a strained smile.

Incidentally, with Serina getting worked up, the bar was about to be

raised for Poncho's meetings with prospective partners, but... that is a

story for another time.

(To be continued in volume 7.)