I Possessed a Game Where I Die If I Don’t Clear the Tower - Chapter 16

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 16. Now That Changes Things
I reached my conclusion with satisfaction.
‘Excellent, recruitment complete!’
Never mind that my newly recruited companion was being dragged away by the Knight Order Commander while sobbing, “Uuugh… L-Lord, I’d rather be a maid…” I’d still recruited her, hadn’t I?
Now Shusu was my companion. Which meant I could level her up however I saw fit.
‘The dungeon situation is settled for now.’
So now I rest?
That made no sense.
‘Time to manage the domain.’
Dark Tower wasn’t merely a dungeon-clearing game—it was a comprehensive experience that included territorial management.
The domain management content, known as “internal affairs,” was just as vast as the dungeon content itself.
Which meant it was time to shift my focus to internal affairs.
‘Not particularly entertaining, though.’
The content was so tedious that veteran players would search for guides like “Domain Automation Methods” or “Optimal City Development Order,” follow them roughly, and never touch the system again.
Even I—a veteran among veterans who would send messages requesting reviews before other veterans posted their guides—wasn’t exempt from this apathy.
I checked on it more often than beginners did, but it wasn’t a system I prioritized.
Not because it was difficult or convoluted.
Dark Tower’s internal affairs system was fundamentally simple.
*
NetLogo
(open-source software used in social and economic phenomenon simulation research)
—the system was built on a model created by roughly plugging in data, so configuring it similarly meant extracting optimal results was trivial.
Even without direct access, holding the configuration values meant I could calculate outcomes mentally.
‘The real problem is the UI. Every single adjustment requires navigating through countless tabs and tweaking multiple elements. How could that possibly be fun?’
Of course, the community veterans had different opinions.
They’d spout nonsense like “What’s NetLogo, you weeb?” or “(roughly: ‘grad students losing their minds’)” or “What’s this guy really hiding?” or “Oh, I get it, economic model application? Totally understand!” and insist it was only easy for me.
Regardless, you couldn’t share information with the uninitiated. Even if you spoon-fed them the easy method, they’d complain they couldn’t do it.
Anyway, here’s what mattered.
Internal affairs was somewhat complex and tedious, but compared to dungeon clearing, it was laughably simple.
‘It’s practically free content.’
I spoke with an unhurried tone.
“I’ve handled the urgent matters. Now I should examine the domain.”
Zehar Al Rashid responded with concern.
“The day is growing dark. Wouldn’t it be better to rest now? I worry that overexertion might harm your health, my Lord.”
“I’ll only review the ledgers. Who manages the domain’s accounts?”
When I refused to yield, Zehar Al Rashid didn’t press further.
“The Head Maid oversees the Inner Castle accounts, while the Mayor handles the city management ledgers. I manage them overall. What would you like to know?”
“I’d like to examine the ledgers directly. Is that possible?”
“We keep them in the document storage and have hired a Scribe to manage them separately, so you may review them whenever you wish. Shall I fetch them?”
I nodded in affirmation.
While the system allowed me to verify all critical information, I couldn’t rely on it alone to make decisions.
Just as the Adventurer Guild Master had demonstrated, humans were prone to mistakes in their work.
I needed to understand how the actual ledgers were being managed.
If there were inefficiencies, there was no harm in improving them.
“Understood, my lord. Then I shall fetch them at once.”
Zehar Al Rashid left the office, presumably to retrieve the ledgers.
The moment the door closed, Netanel Fragma seized the opportunity, her eyes gleaming with curiosity as she posed her question.
“My lord, do you know how to read ledgers?”
‘Hmm?’
Confused by her meaning, I stared at her face blankly. Perhaps sensing my scrutiny as pressure, Netanel Fragma’s smile grew subtly more complex.
“Reading ledgers directly is considered rather… unbecoming of nobility, you understand?”
‘What? Really? Nobles aren’t supposed to look at ledgers?’
I’d played the game that way, but this was the first I’d heard of such a rule.
Though somewhat taken aback, I—Camilia—chose not to make excuses. Instead, I asserted my authority with confidence.
“That’s a concern only for those who believe that revealing ignorance destroys authority. How could a lord ruling a territory afford to remain ignorant of its affairs?”
My Charm of 18 had done its work perfectly. Rather than suspicion, Netanel Fragma let out something akin to a gasp of admiration.
“I thought I could never again be more impressed by your wisdom, my lord, yet today you’ve proven me wrong. Your words are truly beyond reproach.”
She added a grumble about how she wished other lords—those who entrusted their ledgers to the priests of the Golden Scales and never bothered to examine them—could hear such wisdom.
‘So nobles really don’t look at their own ledgers.’
Conversely, it seemed the priests—particularly those of the Golden Scales—had far more frequent access to territorial ledgers than one might expect.
‘If I don’t understand the ledgers well enough, I could pretend to test Netanel Fragma and ask her questions.’
As I entertained such thoughts, some time passed.
Zehar Al Rashid appeared alongside the Scribe, who carried an enormous parchment-bound tome in his arms.
“M-my lord, I am honored to—”
The Scribe trembled so violently at the mere sight of me that I quickly cut him off.
“Spare the formalities. Open the ledger.”
Zehar Al Rashid tapped his staff—which he always carried—against the floor, and a tall reading stand crafted from ivory and ebony materialized.
The Scribe fumbled as he placed the thick ledger upon it, then fled the office as though being chased.
Something clattered as he left, but I chose not to concern myself with it.
The ledger was far more important.
‘Let me see.’
I leaned forward to examine the open ledger.
The numbers were marked with wedges rather than Arabic numerals, but I had no difficulty reading them.
‘It should be roughly similar to what the system shows.’
Without giving it much thought, I began reading the ledger, but within less than a minute, my expression grew grave.
The tax information recorded in the system and the tax information in the ledger were drastically different.
‘What? Why don’t these match?’
First, the population recorded in the system versus the population written in the ledger showed an enormous discrepancy.
Then did the rest align? Maddening as it was, not a single entry matched.
The head tax was far too low relative to the recorded population. The property tax, toll tax, hearth tax, well tax—all these minor levies were in complete disarray.
‘Did they gather only people who can’t do addition and subtraction to collect taxes? Is that why things are like this?’
As Camilia repeatedly performed mental calculations to reverse-engineer where the accounting had gone wrong, she suddenly realized something.
Every single number in the ledger was a mess, but there was one thing that matched perfectly with the system—the final amount that would end up in her hands.
‘Wait, these missing amounts… I think I saw them in the system window too…?’
Camilia examined the holographic window visible only to her more carefully.
She opened the tax window and navigated to the detailed tab with itemized entries.
It was bewilderingly complex, but ultimately just a heap of numbers.
After flipping through the tabs several more times, she managed to collect all the ‘operational expenses’ items attached to each tax in one place.
As expected, the missing amounts from the ledger, the errors, and the discrepancies from calculation mistakes matched exactly with the operational expenses.
Operational expenses? Operational expenses?
What kind of operational expenses were these irregular, haphazardly chunked amounts?
Camilia wanted to scream internally.
‘This is embezzlement!’
Remarkably, the Mayor of Nidst and the tax collectors had conspired together and were brazenly skimming off the taxes!
Camilia felt something beyond exasperation—she felt a strange admiration.
‘They’re running a protection racket against not just an ordinary lord, but a monster lord who’s lived for a thousand years? How massive are their guts?’
Come to think of it, even in the game, the operational expenses had always been calculated in a somewhat odd way.
If internal affairs were left unattended for too long, they would randomly increase for no reason.
When I’d inquired if it was a bug, the developers had answered firmly.
└My Lord, that matter is not a bug. Your representatives may sometimes act against your wishes.
Back then, I’d thought they were insisting on calling even that a game mechanic.
But it was real. It wasn’t a random event—it was embezzlement!
I couldn’t even laugh at how absurd it was.
Noticing my unusual reaction, Zehar Al Rashid cautiously asked.
“My Lord…? Is there a problem with the ledger?”
“It looks like rats wrote this ledger—there are gnaw marks everywhere.”
Camilia tapped the stiffened parchment with her fingertip as she spoke.
“Who hired this person?”
“…The Previous Lord entrusted him with the work for generations.”
“Ha.”
What kind of job did that bastard Previous Lord do?
As I irritably continued tapping the parchment, Zehar Al Rashid carefully broached the subject.
“Could it be due to customary compensation? Please don’t be too angry, my Lord. He’s not someone who shirks his duties.”
“Customary? Compensation?”
Camilia replied sharply.
“I’ve given him a salary and rights befitting his position, and he still covets more and embezzles? Is it customary to overlook corruption because management is difficult?”
The moment the words left my mouth, the system window flashed.
[Netanel Fragma’s favorability has increased.]
[Netanel Fragma’s loyalty has increased.]
A competent man committing corruption is worse than an incompetent one… wait, why is this going up?
Camilia checked the window with a puzzled expression.
[Favorability] The Lord respects Golden Scales’ regulations +5
[Loyalty] The Lord respects Golden Scales’ regulations +1
‘Respecting regulations? Ah, because I won’t tolerate embezzlement?’
Camilia glanced sideways at Netanel Fragma.
Her eyes gleamed brilliantly, shining like stars. Even her cheeks held a faint flush.
Could it be…?
She continued carefully with her words.
“…Taxes must be used for the Territory and its people, not to line one’s personal pockets.”
[Netanel Fragma’s favorability is increasing.]
[Netanel Fragma’s loyalty is increasing.]
“Money—especially a Territory’s assets—must be managed with absolute transparency. This method is wrong.”
[Netanel Fragma’s favorability is increasing.]
[Netanel Fragma’s loyalty is increasing.]
‘No… if just speaking like this yields this much, how much would it rise if I actually follow through?’
Whether I liked it or not, I had to maintain proper governance.
Eventually, the day would come when I’d have to endure an entire month in The Tower. During that busy time, I couldn’t keep the governance window open and check every instance of embezzlement one by one.
A double increase in a key ally’s loyalty and favorability for simply doing what I should be doing anyway?
I’d intended to replace the Mayor and call it a day, but this changed everything.
Camilia declared firmly.
“…Summon the Head Maid and the Mayor at once.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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