The following days after Folsan's disappearance were hectic, the space left behind by top of Flotol's hierarchy meant that there's now a vacuum for leadership, when it came to the church, they already had someone to take over Folsan's place beforehand.

  This made it easy for them to recover their leadership, and just as the head priest predicted, Flutt did a good job after he took over the role of head priest.

  He wasn't as efficient as I wanted him to be and was making mistakes left and right, but at the end of the day, he was good enough and sometimes, the bare minimum is the only thing that's needed to keep the place running.

  The church wasn't looking to expand and Flutt was content on simply serving the people of Flotol, keeping everyone satisfied and happy was what he wanted and he's done a good job in doing that so far.

  With his leadership and the resources I provided— which is to say, I simply hunted down animals for them to offer the villagers. — Flotol has gone back on track and is now on the road to recovery. By my estimate, the morale of the village should be back to peak condition by the start of spring.

  Since the church is active and has their own leader, that leaves room for someone to take over Flotol itself.

  No one stepped up to take the position, I offered it to people like Igant and Jagal and even Wardcruncha, not a single one agreed with my suggestion, which is kind of annoying. I mean, why won't they take up the position?! It's basically becoming Flotol's leader isn't it?!

  "Anyone in their right mind would take it in a heartbeat."

  "Why don't you take it then, Rontress?" Wardcruncha asked and everyone turned their heads. I simmered in their collective gazes, unperturbed, are they stupid? I've already told them I was too young to take over Flotol.

  "Age wise, yes, you're not acceptable but everyone wouldn't bat an eye if you did." Igant spoke like he wasn't smarter than the common individual. I stared at him, he didn't flinch. "You're one of the better candidates to become the next person to lead Flotol and everyone agrees, if you take it up, the process will be quick."

  "And if someone else takes it?" I ask, intending to know why it has to be me, of all people. "What's so bad about some other guy becoming the next leader for Flotol? I'm sure there's someone out there who's competent enough to actually run Flotol smoothly."

  "It's not about making Flotol run smoother, though you can definitely do that." They all nod in agreement like I'm somehow the world's best manager or something? "Instead, it's about who the people will accept as a leader."

  "He's right, the villagers won't just accept some nobody to take over Nogjaf's role, it has to be you." Jagal said seriously, we locked gazes and it was me who looked away. "And not to mention, there will be stress that comes with the situation, what if every time they make a decision they think: what would Rontress think if I do this? Will she kill me too?"

  Kill them?! Why would I kill them?! Are they being serious right now? Okay, that needs to be fixed, "I don't just kill anyone, I did all of that to Nogjaf because he messed with my family, how hard is that to understand?"

  "Well, understanding that will be difficult, especially since you didn't go out of your way to explain yourself the first time and just... Left?" Wardcruncha's following chuckle made me want to tear him to shreds, I swear to god. "There's no way the villagers will be susceptible to your pleas now, they'll just nod along but they won't believe you."

  "Okay, that's not..." Damn it, I thought it was self explanatory?!

  Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

  "Why don't you want to accept the position and lead Flotol Rontress? As far as I'm aware, you do have the ability to lead, I've never seen a business grow as quickly as yours, you were making gold in just a few weeks after starting it!" Igant, trying to keep the conversation back on track and get me to agree at the same time, decided that reminding me of my "business" and complimenting how I managed it would somehow work.

  "Okay, first off." One finger was raised, but I have so many points to say, I won't be satisfied with just putting out one argument. "That business was solely dependent on me, there was no management being done, I offered materials that couldn't be found anywhere and sold it at a low price, that's what made the business succeed."

  Another finger.

  "Two, whatever "techniques" I used to make the business more efficient—" like urging the townspeople to go to our stall because adventurers would buy bowls from them thanks to a discount if they brought their own stuff. "— are so basic that just about anyone can think of them!"

  "Right. Anyone." Jagal murmured.

  "And third, the fact that I had Laself as part of the stall means that adventurers would be more than likely to buy our food! If anything, it's her pretty face that did all the work by attracting the customers!"

  "Laself isn't even all that beautiful." Igant sighed. "You know there's at least 15 girls in taverns who have better bodies and faces than her right?"

  "Don't insult my sister in law like that! I will end you." I growled? Wait what? How do I?.. "ahhhhhhh. Whatever! Point is! I'm not the one who made the stall successful, it's the exoticness of the food and the attractiveness of Laself! Also, it was literally close to the Day of Piling, which means more people."

  "Okay, fine. Let's say I believe you, which I don't, can I ask you a question?"

  "Sure, shoot me."

  "Right, did you plan to start your stall weeks before the day of piling?"

  "... Yes." I look away, slightly guilty. How do I explain to them that doing this is just standard business practice? Like the companies back on earth getting rainbow colored profile pictures and logos on their social media accounts during pride month?

  "So you did help out in its success." Jagal said with a dull voice. He sounded tired. "Are you kidding me? Do you think we're stupid? You can't just pretend that you didn't influence the stall's success!"

  "Okay, fine! Let's say that I did that! What does success in business have to do anything with leading a goddamn village?!" Seriously, what does that have to do with anything?

  "Well, the simple fact is, businesses and villages can be very similar." Wardcruncha said and I stared at him like he's gone insane, really? "The only factor that would mess up running a village is, realistically, greed. And the same goes for businesses."

  "And that makes them similar?" I say with a scoff.

  "No, it's the fact that you have several people working in a small area, putting out resources and giving you income that makes it similar to a business." The mage explained. "Of course, running a village can be more complicated than a business at times, such as the fact that you have to invest your funds on various parts of the village, like a bridge or a road, otherwise things... Slow down? No, the villagers can just make do."

  "He's saying that running a village is a lot less volatile than running a business."

  "I know, Nogjaf." I pinch the bridge of my nose. "I know."

  "With all the points that Wardcruncha has given, don't you think that it is a good idea to become Flotol's leader?" Igant asked me again, I glared at him, he is unphased. "Rontress, I don't think you understand what we're trying to say here: you have no choice but to take up the mantle, otherwise, no one would do it."

  "We know that no amount of explanations and arguments will actually make you take up the role so how about this?" Wardcruncha places both his hands on top of the table and just... Sits still, he's being serious now, I can see that. "You need to become Flotol's next leader, there's no other option besides you."

  "Okay... I am seeing your point." They all smile, ugh, god, I hate to say the next part but I have to anyway. "But I'm not doing it, I just can't, I have things I want to do and running Flotol is not one of them."

  "Then how about you give it to someone in your family? The village will treat them the same way as you and it's not like they'll make all the necessary decisions themselves, they'll probably ask you."

  "And they'll also listen to her." Jagal added another point to his brother's argument, to which Igant nodded at.

  "Yes. More so than a random person."

  "Okay, fine. I'll ask someone from my family to—" my words got cut off as heavy shaking suddenly came upon the house we decided to have a meeting in.

  No... It's not just the house, this is happening in the raft itself?

  "— I think this would have to wait." I stand up and rush to the door.