Helping with Adventurer Party Management - Chapter 366

What kind of governance is appropriate for managing a territory?

While the heated discussion continued, two individuals couldn’t bring themselves to join in: Claudio and Paperino, a pair of priests sent by the church.

The idea of using indicators to measure governance—a concept previously considered immeasurable—was a major shock to them.

Being an excellent young priest doesn’t necessarily mean one excels at priestly duties. Rather, it means they excel as civil servants managing the vast organization that is the church.

Their education was rooted in law-based governance theories, reinforced by religious and ideological teachings. In practice, their main responsibilities involved managing the church’s enormous donations and distributing them through political negotiations.

It was a system where those with the loudest voices and greatest influence received larger allocations. Since this power-based structure had always been seen as natural, they had never questioned it.

Now, in this noisy and cluttered corner of the workshop, a completely different idea was being introduced—a new approach to governance that challenged those familiar principles.

“K-Kenji! Do you know what you’re saying?”

Finally unable to hold back, Paperino shot to his feet.

“Paperino, you must address him as Lord Governor,” someone whispered nearby, but Paperino didn’t hear.

“Don’t you all understand how strange this argument is?”

“What? It’s easy to understand.”

“Oh, I feel like even I can follow it.”

No matter how hard Paperino tried to explain, no one else seemed to see what was so unusual—except for Claudio, who had received advanced civil training as a priest.

Paperino felt frustrated.

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“Paperino, this is a discussion—it’s fine to disagree. What’s so strange?”

I called out to him just as he suddenly stood up.

“This… doesn’t it sound more like a business transaction than governance?”

“Oh?” An unexpected murmur of admiration escaped my lips.

Paperino’s intuition was sharp, even if his words weren’t entirely clear. It was a good observation, so I encouraged him to continue.

“You’ve got a keen sense to pick up on that from the discussion. What made you think that?”

Paperino looked flustered, unsure how to respond after being praised rather than scolded for what he believed was criticism.

“I… I heard that you were given the position of governor by Father Nicolo as a reward for some successful work. Isn’t that right?”

“That’s right.”

“And… well, doesn’t that mean you need to collect enough taxes to match that reward? It sounds like you’re making calculations for that purpose.”

“B… Stop it, Paperino!”

Paperino’s words implied that I had only accepted the governor’s position for financial gain—a thinly veiled insult.

The people around him panicked, tugging at his sleeves, desperately trying to stop him. But it was too late.

“Paperino,” I called out calmly.

The room fell silent, everyone bracing for a harsh reprimand.

Even though he was on loan from the church, Paperino and I still had a boss-subordinate relationship. I had the authority to fire him on the spot.

If that happened, his chances of promotion upon returning to the church would be nonexistent.

But instead of getting angry, I spoke evenly.

“That’s a very interesting observation. You make a good point.”

Everyone stared at me, their faces a mix of confusion and surprise.