Published: September 2, 2025
This is Satou. They say it’s tough being a subordinate under an incompetent boss. Of course, sometimes the boss feels the same way about their subordinates...
In a company, you can just transfer or change jobs, but the domain’s residents don’t have that option.
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Just now, upon entering Baron Muno’s Domain, I conducted the usual full map exploration.
Apparently, there’s a soldiers’ garrison at a nearby mountain pass. About twenty soldiers ranging from level 3 to level 7. Beyond that, a sparsely populated flat terrain with small mountains and forests spreads out. It’s larger than Count Cuhanow’s Domain, yet the population is only around 40,000—about a third of Seryu City’s population across the entire territory.
The barony has only one large town, and the rest are settlements with fewer than a thousand people. The town where the baron resides is called Muno City, with just under 20,000 residents.
But there are demons in Muno City. Level 30 demons. They’re hiding in the city, likely causing trouble. It might lead to conflict, so it’s best to stay as far away as possible.
Wait, didn’t Arisa say before that demons who cross worlds are usually executive-class? I can’t imagine this level 30 one being an executive. Will demons increase here as well?
Next, I examined the monsters within the domain. There are no weak monsters below level 10, but stronger monsters above level 10 are scattered in the forests and mountains. Near here, there was a level 24 monster called a war mantis.
Aside from monsters, near Muno City lies a massive forest—30 kilometers in length and 20 kilometers in width—and deep inside, there are wood giants. There are only ten wood giants in total, but their highest level reaches 39, with an average in the thirties.
Another notable issue is the abundance of bandits. I expected it to some extent, but there are groups of about 10 to 30 bandits scattered around. The largest group numbers around 200. Their base appears to be near the edge of the forest where the wood giants live.
A high number of outlaws indicates that public security in the domain must be really bad.
I wanted to avoid going through the barony if possible, but doing so would require going north to the Royal Capital first, then making a large detour to Duke Oyugok’s territory. That would add about two extra months to the journey. Moreover, travel records mention that if caught by snow, one can’t move until spring.
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“Hello, soldier. Are you feeling unwell?”
“Fwaa, it’s nothing. I just feel a bit sluggish today.”
“Is that so? You must be tired.”
“Yeah, you may pass.”
Saying so, the soldier who was sitting in front of the garrison looking lethargic let us through without checking the carriage.
His attire was sloppy enough that a stranger might mistake him for a bandit or thug, but he was officially part of Baron Muno’s army.
“Heh heh~ The lethargy field spell is pretty useful, huh~?”
“Ah, that saved us.”
Leaning against the driver’s seat of the carriage as it sped up, Arisa said proudly. Holding a bottle of stamina recovery potion between her lips seemed rather impolite.
Arisa had used magic to induce lethargy among the soldiers at the garrison, which explained why that soldier was so lazy. Although, since it was early morning, they might have acted that way even without magic.
There was a reason she bothered to use magic.
Preliminary investigations showed that punishments and rewards for the garrison personnel included “murder” and “rape”—like bandits. It seemed they were a lawless group doing whatever they wanted.
It’s better to neutralize them from a distance before they cause trouble. Ideally, they wouldn’t even realize they’d been magically affected. So I asked Arisa to use full power unleashed (over boost) enhanced lethargy field to put the soldiers into a sluggish state from afar.
If there were any magic detection items, that would be a problem, but getting into trouble with these guys would likely cause a bigger issue, so I chose the relatively lower risk path.