Chapter 2: This is the first step!

Erindor, Lugnica, 422 APF

This was bad. This was soooooooooooo bad.

I know I shouldn't be whining about having been summoned to fill up a well-paid desk job but… I was and I was doing it so shamelessly.

Of the many opportunities, of the many jobs I could have been 'forced into' that could by any case be connected to heroism and badassery, I was 'lucky' enough to get coerced into something as dull as ruling a single town.

Maybe I was exaggerating a little in my crankiness, but I was incredibly bummed at the prospect of being stuck in a new, magical world and the only thing I could do is doing paperwork and administering this city, Erindor.

Speaking of the city and the Kingdom it was part of, I admit I was quite elated at the prospect of being in the Re:Zero universe, as I knew most of the known lore about it.

The enthusiasm vanished at the mere possibility that I was merely replacing Subaru in the canon, thought soon banished by the means of summoning that brought me here.

The beggar wizard, Egubert, was the prime responsible of my current predicament as he had more than once bragged about his most successful spell capable of bringing out the best candidates to mayor of the city.

Part of me wondered why this kind of spell had not been used to help out for the Royal Elections in Canon and the answer to that simple dilemma was given out by my new… advisor.

Orestes de Lis was a former commander of the Royal Army back during the Demi-Human War and had been a trustworthy administrator for the city in the period in which the several mayors of the town had been unable to rule.

Oh right, I almost forgot… the mayors here died frequently. If I had to pick out a funny reference, I would say that the job was cursed as much as the DADA post in Harry Potter.

So not only I had to deal with a job I was only theoretically prepared for, but I had to be careful because… it was cursed?

Maybe my predecessors were only dumb enough to die, or maybe it was because this world was kind of RWBY-level kind of dangerous.

Instead of the Grimm, we got the Demon Beasts. Instead of Salem, we got the Witch of Envy-!

Holy cow, I had never made that kind of connection. Sure, there weren't Huntsmen and there weren't Relics from some old deities, but Flugel's mysteriousness does remind a lot of Ozma-

But let us not digress further in mad rambling and let us digress further in 'mad rambling'.

As I woke up in my newest quarters, a minor upgrade compared to my former room (minus Computer or any electric devices), the first thing I notice was the books left by the bedside.

'History of Lugnica' was what enlightened me about my current whereabouts while also expanding a little more on the little detailed lore of the Royal Family.

While it was true that Emerada Lugnica had been denied a state funeral for alleged connections to the Witch's cult, the driving force behind the opposition to her proper funeral was fueled by her inherent cruelty towards the people living in her fief.

From the general insanity to over-zealous following of some of the precepts of the Church of Volcanica, this woman reminded me a little of some other Bloody woman back in England and boy I was happy that she was long deceased in this time and period.

My quick read of the recent history of the kingdom was interrupted by the arrival of the Grand Healer of the city to the doorstep of my new room.

The equivalent of a Chief Physician was surprisingly humble in his manners, seemingly concerned on my well-being as he asked me about my medical information, at least a summarized, feudalized version of it.

I was healthy and a quick checkup proved me right, but I used this opportunity to entertain a chat with the influential 'doctor'.

While I was an utter inept in medical science, I still was knowing of some interesting basis that Feudal society would benefit from, especially the poor.

Concepts like sterilization and clean hands were going to become a must under my rule, especially if I wanted to live a long life.

As the elder left the room with an intrigued look plastered in his face, I was interrupted once more by the gaunt-looking man that was Orestes.

"Mayor Bukharin, the Grand Healer said that you were well and-"

I nodded, groaning a little as I picked myself out of the bed. While it wasn't as comfy as the one back home, it was still something capable of putting me to sleep if I lied on it a little more.

"And I need to get to work, I suppose." The serious man nodded and proceeded to led me through the large hallway in the modest mansion that was now mine to live in.

The office that came with it was absolutely what one would expect to find in a lawyer's room, not a mayor, but I found it surprisingly fitting with what I needed out from an office of mine.

A massive library of books I needed on a daily basis, several maps lying on the desk and the amble wooden furniture that was capable of holding both the maps and the stack of paperwork already there for me to check and sign (or not).

"Ser Orestes, I know that this task might sound a little underwhelming for a man of your stature..." I paused, thinking if it was something I should genuinely ask to a Knight of that rank. "But I would require the service of part of the city's garrison in creating a basic census."

He blinked at the word. "A 'census', Mayor Bukharin?" I nodded at him and took a simple piece of paper that had yet to be stained by ink.

"I need those who usually are responsible of writing down the equipment of the army and the resources available to the city to team up in writing down the names, ages and family groups of the people living in Erindor." I wrote down on the paper my name, my age and repeated my surname to represent my family as an example of the task. "This would help a lot in improving the taxation system and maybe improve everything else too."

He picked the paper, his confusion had yet to falter even through he seemed to understand my explanation.

"I will… make sure to do as you command, Mayor Bukharin-" He paused just a moment. "I would also ask you to consider the possibility of expanding the current militia-"

"Oh, it will be done." I interrupted and kind of panicked a little as I noticed him frown at my quick reply.

"I-I mean, I have already thought of expanding the current garrison with the ever-growing monster issues in the available paths to Erindor." I tried to explain as simply as possible. "But I cannot guarantee an immediate source of good soldiers."

"And what do you have in mind.. if I may ask?" I nodded my permission and voiced my thoughts over the necessity of a proper security force.

"I was thinking of having a training system set for every, able-bodied man in the town to have a proper reaction force." I paused a moment, frowning at how funny I was thinking of the very option my own country had abolished not even two decades ago. "Compulsory military service for six months, every three years."

The idea would have been nuked the moment it would have been brought up to a sensible society… but I was stuck in a medieval-like period and… we needed the manpower to survive in this dangerous environment.

"It..." Orestes blinked, awed by my deduction. "It would work. But how are you going to convince people to-"

"By reducing the taxes and giving bonuses to those who did exceptionally well during the military service, I could entice the young unemployed generation to give it a try and make some bones out of the experience."

"And it would bring them some honor if they do well in their work." The knight added up with the ghost of a smile in his wrinkly face. "It is a most excellent idea, Mayor Bukharin."

I merely nodded, silently gesturing him to leave me with the paperwork and, once I was alone, I sighed tiredly.

My projects sounded all so nice in my head, but it was life itself that was going to impartially judge those as they are applied.

Hopefully I wasn't going to get some bad reputation with the sudden militarization.