第４０７堀：公園でのお仕事 (Part1)
### Chapter 407: Work in the Park
**Side: Yuki**
"...It's hot."
"Cleena, don't say it out loud."
"Even so, I am impressed by the two of you for not leaving Yuki's side."
"...Please, don't mention it. We can endure it because of the love we hold."
It was just past 1:00 PM in Weed, the lunch hour.
Usually, this would be the time when people on their break would stretch their legs and come to this park to rest.
*Jii-wa, jii-wa, jii-wa-wa-wa...*
The cicadas were singing in a massive chorus, and the thermometer attached to the park's large clock read...
34 degrees Celsius.
It was damn hot.
The concrete paths of the park were shimmering, and heat haze was already forming.
...I really wish it didn't have to mimic Japan in this sweltering humidity, too.
Because of the heat, the park was sparse—or rather, I barely saw anyone at all.
Naturally, when it’s this hot, it’s much more comfortable to stay indoors with the air conditioning on.
I certainly wouldn't come out to the park myself.
I can tolerate the heat of being pressed against my wives, but if it were anyone else, we’d probably be keeping our distance to avoid overheating.
...But if there’s no one here, is this a wasted trip?
Still, since we’ve already come this far, turning back now would make the journey meaningless.
*Sigh.* I suppose I’ll just take a look around.
And so, along with my wives, I stepped into this purgatory of a park.
As expected, there was only an elderly woman sitting leisurely on a bench near the entrance; inside, there wasn't a soul to be seen.
This park is fairly large, taking about 8 kilometers to walk the entire perimeter.
Well, it’s not exactly an 8-kilometer loop; the winding walking paths total about 4 kilometers, and the actual footprint isn't that massive—roughly two square kilometers.
Within that space, there are forests, springs, lawns, playgrounds with slides, and rest areas, which take up about half the space. It’s a great playground for children and a nice walking course for adults.
Of course, there’s no guarantee that someone with ill intent won't try to attack people in a place like this, so the police conduct strict patrols at night and light patrols during the day.
Thinking about that, does it mean the person giving speeches is somehow slipping past those police patrols?
Or has it already been reported to the police?
Well, I’ll go to the police station another day to confirm that.
For now, I’ll just observe the state of the park.
If only to ensure our actions today aren't in vain.
Fortunately—or perhaps unfortunately—we wandered through the park leisurely without encountering any trouble.
Along the way, we spotted a trash can, and Cleena went to dispose of her finished ice cream wrapper.
Perhaps it had already been emptied, as there was no foul odor drifting from it.
I suppose I should be grateful for the scorching heat today.
If people had been eating lunch and throwing away large amounts of trash, the smell from the bins would have been unbearable.
"...This park is strange."
Cleena said abruptly upon returning.
"What's strange about it?"
"...This park is too well-maintained. Setting aside the fact that there’s no litter, the trees and lawns aren't overgrown."
"Ah, that’s true. This park employs professionals specifically for cleaning and pruning."
"They go to the trouble of doing that for a park? Especially when it’s not even a tourist attraction?"
Cleena and Samantha looked puzzled, wondering why anyone would go to such lengths.
Well, it depends on the scale of the park, but sometimes the local neighborhood handles the cleaning.
Besides, there’s usually no reason to spend money on a place that generates little income.
"Because it’s a park of this size, the goodwill of the residents isn't enough to keep up with the cleaning and pruning, just as you two imagined. That’s why we hire staff to keep it beautiful. In terms of the budget, it’s technically in the red, but even though there are few people today due to the heat, residents usually gather here at lunch for picnics or walks. I think providing a place for people to use comfortably and refresh themselves is a net positive in the long run. It’s like the difference between having a dirty park and a clean one."
"...Hmm. I understand."
"Indeed. If a park built with such effort isn't cleaned and becomes dirty, it could become a hotbed for trouble. I suppose it’s part of maintaining public order."
"Well, that’s about the size of it."
In Weed, organizations have been formed to handle the cleaning and pruning of public facilities.
They are, so to speak, professional cleaners.
While they are technically public servants managed by the Weed government, the job includes cleaning toilets and waste collection, so it’s a fairly demanding profession, though the pay is decent.
It’s a job that literally maintains Weed’s cleanliness—its hygiene—so it’s an area we put a lot of effort into.
We explain this thoroughly to the residents so that they never look down on the workers.
However, perhaps because many of them have backgrounds in farming, they don't seem to mind the smell of manure all that much.
It’s a scent that comes with livestock, after all.
Furthermore, washing their bodies and clothes thoroughly is a mandatory duty at the end of their shifts, so their personal hygiene is impeccable, and they are rarely called "stinky" by other residents.
Still, even so, now that proper hygiene concepts are taught in Weed, not many people are eager to take on a job that gets them so dirty.
Since people are free to choose their jobs, most end up in other fields, and it’s rare for someone fresh out of training to apply for this department.
It’s the kind of place people end up at as a last resort.
Seraria and Eris often racked their brains over the constant petitions for more manpower.
Well, for now, there isn't a single idle worker in Weed.
We have an astonishing 100% employment rate.
There are still uncultivated regions within the dungeon, and I need manpower to manage the seaside resort area I created, so we are generally short-handed everywhere.
But that’s the same for other countries.
Now that peace within the Alliance is secured, as I mentioned before, the land we need to fight for is our own.
In other words, we need all the manpower we can get for land reclamation.
This situation was caused by using Weed’s DP function to find crops suited for each country, growing them, and turning them into local specialties if they proved successful.
Because of this, many countries, including the major powers, are cooperating and adjusting things so that the smaller nations don't face economic collapse.
Having a country disappear would be far more troublesome in the current situation.
Eventually, there will probably be trade friction with unclear causes, but that depends on the efforts of each country, and it has nothing to do with me.
Weed basically provides technology and acts as a bridge for trade, earning money through those relationships, so we aren't hated for it.
We primarily earn money through the tourism industry, the food and beverage industry, and the dungeon industry.
Well, the scale is significant, and for the countries that didn't join the Alliance, we are the source of their resentment. And we are currently looking for those people...
"Well, it’s not like we’ll find them that easily."
"That’s true. It’s so hot, after all."
"...Hmm. This, at least, cannot be helped."
"It’s because Weed’s policies are working too well. For countries that want to cause trouble, it’s difficult to act when patrols and public order are this well-maintained."
"Indeed. For activities in the residential districts, the number of people who can infiltrate is limited. If they were looking for suspicious individuals, wouldn't the adventurer district, where anyone can come and go, be a better place?"
"That’s for later. That place is probably crawling with suspicious characters."
"Ah, that’s true."
"...There were certainly many strange people."
"Well, it is an open district, after all."
"So, the priority is to ensure the safety of the residents first, then."