Chapter 85

Mishena, who had almost fainted, finally came to her senses, and the first thing she did was to prostrate herself.

"Unaware that you were the new lord, I have committed a grave impertinence...!"

Like a criminal dragged before a court of judgment, Mishena prostrated herself without a shred of dignity, repeating her apologies. Sōma and Shemul exchanged wry smiles, finding her overreaction a bit exaggerated.

However, from Mishena's perspective, a lord was a ruler who held the power of life and death over her. A mere whim could result in her execution. Moreover, Sōma was perceived as an invader who controlled the ferocious Zoans, making the situation even more precarious.

That such a fearsome ruler was trying to placate her, a mere commoner, only added to Mishena's confusion.

Sōma, realizing that being overly submissive wasn't the solution, puffed out his chest and spoke in a commanding tone.

"Hmm. Then, let's get to it—"

But he quickly reconsidered, changing his tone.

"—Give me a general overview of the town's financial situation."

Shemul's mutter of "You wimp" from behind was ignored.

First, Sōma decided to grasp the town's finances.

In the strategic simulation games he used to play, the most important factor was always money. Whether it was hiring soldiers, upgrading equipment, or developing land, everything required funds.

The same would be true in reality.

Everything cost money, so he needed to quickly understand how much was available and how much could be used freely.

However, Sōma, being just a high school student, didn't expect to easily understand the financial situation. But he also didn't think he could leave it entirely to someone else just because it was difficult.

He needed to know how much tax revenue there was, how much was spent, and what kind of goods were traded.

He thought he should at least make an effort to understand the town's financial situation, even if only to a basic level.

However, Sōma soon realized that this was a naive thought.

When Sōma peered at the documents Mishena opened, he frowned.

The cursive script on the left side was probably the writing of this world. However, he couldn't understand the symbols on the right side.

"...What are these?"

"These are the taxes collected, and this is the expenditure. The far right column is the carryover."

Pointing to the symbols, Mishena answered Sōma, but it wasn't the answer he was looking for.

"No, I mean, these symbols lined up here, like spirals and wavy double lines."

"Those are numbers."

Mishena looked puzzled, as if wondering why he was asking such an obvious question, while Sōma was genuinely surprised.

"These are numbers. —By the way, what number is this?"

Sōma pointed to the spiral-like number.

"That's a thousand. So, one, two, three, four, five. Therefore, five thousand. Next—"

Mishena pointed to a symbol of three intersecting lines.

"—This is a hundred, so three of them make three hundred. Altogether, it's five thousand three hundred."

"Ah~. I see..."

Sōma was both impressed and confused, unsure of what to say. Mishena continued to present more documents.

"Here are the tax records for each village in the domain. For example, this is the tax paid by the village of Kobo. From top to bottom, it's wheat, barley, people—"

"People?!"

Sōma was startled by the unusual term.

Could it be that, as in period dramas, tax collectors took away daughters if taxes couldn't be paid?

"Yes. Given the size of this village, they can provide twenty men for labor each year. However, in most cases, they pay in woolen goods instead of providing labor."

Taxes included not just money and goods but also labor. For Sōma, who grew up in modern Japan where taxes were paid in cash, this was a bit of a surprise.

However, Sōma had forgotten that in middle school history class, he learned about the "rent, labor, and tribute" tax system under the Ritsuryō system, which included labor taxes. Such taxes were not uncommon.

Mishena patiently answered Sōma's amateurish questions without a single complaint, but finance was not something an amateur could understand overnight.

Especially, what hindered Sōma was his lack of understanding of the value of money and goods in this world. He could see from the ledger how many silver coins were left and how much wheat was stored, but he couldn't imagine their actual value.

He tried to convert them to modern Japanese currency several times, but it didn't work, leaving him at a complete loss.

"I was a bit too optimistic..."

Sōma couldn't help but mutter.

It seemed better to trust the financial officials and leave it to them rather than meddle as an amateur.

While Sōma was distracted by these thoughts, Mishena called out to him.

"Lord, are you listening?"

"Ah, sorry. I'm listening."

Sōma, who was about to give up, decided to make an effort to understand, at least a little, out of respect for Mishena's explanation.

He dipped the tip of a sharpened wooden stick in ink and began to take notes, summarizing Mishena's explanations in his own way. Whenever he had a question, he asked Mishena.

"Is this the wheat collected as tax from the village?"

First, he pointed to the column for wheat collected from the village, then moved his finger to the column for wheat entering the town.

"Isn't the amount of wheat brought into the town less than the amount collected from the village?"

"That's because the wheat collected from the village is in bags, while the wheat brought into the town is in carts."

Sōma was confused by Mishena's explanation.

"Huh? It's the same wheat, right? Why count it in bags and carts?"

"Isn't that obvious?"

The wheat collected from the village was in bags, and the unit of measurement was "bags." However, when the wheat was transported to the town, it was carried in carts, and the unit of measurement changed to "carts."

"Wow... The unit changes depending on the location, even for the same wheat."

His renewed determination was about to crumble, but he mustered the strength to continue asking questions.

"By the way, how many bags is one cart?"

"According to the laws of Holmea, one cart is approximately twenty bags."

"Um... One cart is twenty bags, and the number of carts is..."

Sōma struggled to count the numbers, and Mishena watched him with a gentle smile.

At first, she thought this boy was a terrifying person who used the ferocious Zoans as his tools. But as she explained the town's finances and conversed with him, she realized he was a very gentle person, far from terrifying.

Moreover, she felt a sense of respect for his efforts to understand the financial situation, even though he didn't fully grasp it, unlike the previous lord who had left everything to the officials.

"This character means 'wheat,' and this wavy symbol means ten thousand, so one, two, three..."

Sōma was struggling to summarize the information. Curious about how he was organizing it, Mishena peeked at his notes and saw what looked like meaningless doodles. He was probably trying to remember the information using pictures and symbols since he couldn't read or write. It reminded her of a precocious child earnestly imitating adults, and she couldn't help but smile.

Until Sōma said the next words.

"Huh? The numbers don't add up..."

Mishena was taken aback.

However, Sōma, unaware of her reaction, continued to scratch his head, clearly puzzled, and wrote more on the paper.

"They still don't add up."

Mishena broke into a cold sweat.

In fact, Mishena had already been informed by the chief financial officer that the tax revenue and expenditure were off. However, she never expected Sōma to point it out before she could bring it up.

Hastily, Mishena relayed what the chief financial officer had told her.

"Actually, the previous lord, Prince Vritas, instructed us to underreport the taxes to the capital to fund his personal entertainment..."

Sōma nodded in understanding, accompanied by a wry smile.

When he thought of the fat, greasy face of Vritas, whom he had only met once when he captured the town, it made sense.

Sōma listened to the explanation of the new ledger Mishena presented, but soon tilted his head again.

"Huh? They still don't add up?"

"Eh?"

Mishena let out a startled cry.

◆◇◆◇◆

After returning to her usual workplace from the lord's office, Mishena still felt uneasy.

It was about the new lord's comment that the numbers didn't add up. The conversation had been left unresolved when a black-haired Zoan came to consult with the lord, but the lord's tone didn't seem like he was lying.

However, it was hard to believe that someone who couldn't read or write could spot a calculation error so quickly.

With a lingering sense of unease, Mishena decided to take out an abacus and counting stones from the shelf.

The abacus was a board with several grooves, each labeled with numbers representing one, ten, hundred, thousand, and ten thousand. The counting stones were round stones, each about the size to fit ten in one groove.

These stones were used to perform calculations by placing or removing them from the grooves.

At first, Mishena hummed a tune as she calculated, but soon her tune stopped, and her face became serious. As time passed, her face turned pale, and she even broke into a cold sweat.

"The numbers don't add up..."

Mishena clutched her head and began to pace around the room. No matter how many times she recalculated, the amount of tax collected and the amount reported to the capital didn't match.

"Why? Why?!"

The amount of wheat recorded in the ledger, collected from the village and stored in the town's warehouse, naturally had some discrepancies, Mishena thought.

She had a reason to be optimistic.

In fact, it was common for the amount of wheat or woolen goods collected as tax to decrease during the process.

For example, if five and a half bags of wheat were collected as tax, only five bags would be recorded. This was because the unit of measurement for wheat in this era was "bags," and any amount less than a full bag was excluded from the calculation. When the wheat was transported to the town in carts, any amount less than a full cart was also excluded.

As a result, the amount of wheat stored in the town's warehouse was often about ten percent less than the amount initially collected from the villages.

Where did the excluded wheat go?

It was customary for the financial officials to pocket it as a perk, which was a valuable source of income for them.

At first, Mishena thought that was what Sōma had pointed out.

However, her calculations showed that a much larger amount was missing, far beyond what could be explained by the officials' perks.

This was beyond her capabilities, and Mishena rushed to the chief financial officer's office.

"What's the matter, all of a sudden?"

The chief financial officer was surprised to see Mishena, who had been sent to the new lord, return with a worried look.

"Actually, the new lord pointed out that the amount of wheat collected is off..."

The chief financial officer, who had been anxious about what mistake she might have made, was relieved.

"I already explained that. It was Prince Vritas's order—"

"Even with that, the accounts still don't balance!"

The chief financial officer was taken aback by her interruption but quickly became irritated.

"What nonsense. You know that some amount is lost between the village and the town's warehouse."

"But it's not just a little! A huge amount is missing..."

The chief financial officer laughed in disbelief.

"There's no way such a thing could happen. You've been taken in by the new lord. How could a beast king who can't read or write do calculations?"

"But—"

Mishena, whose words were dismissed, tried to convince the chief financial officer, exaggerating her conversation with Sōma.

"The new lord pointed out the calculation error with just a glance at the ledger! It's true! He did it so quickly, just like that!"

The chief financial officer was skeptical.

"Did you bring an abacus?"

"No... There was no abacus."

The chief financial officer laughed derisively.

"Really. Don't joke around. How could you do calculations without an abacus? Ridiculous."

"But it's true—"

The chief financial officer, annoyed by her insistence, snapped.

"Enough! I have a banquet with colleagues soon! Don't bother me with trivial matters!"

He dismissed Mishena from his office, shaking his head and sighing.

"Really. I thought we were caught and broke into a cold sweat."

The fact that the previous lord, Prince Vritas, had falsified the tax records to fund his personal entertainment was undeniable.

However, it wasn't just that.

With a person like Vritas in charge, the officials naturally followed suit, falsifying and embezzling taxes.

"Really. That kid is just bluffing..."

He probably just wanted to test their reaction with a bluff.

The officials, including the chief financial officer, had been careful to avoid detection, deciding which taxes each would manipulate. Moreover, the chief financial officer had taken advantage of Vritas's capture to alter the records, making it appear that all the embezzled funds were Vritas's personal expenses.

It would take a highly skilled financial expert a considerable amount of time to even suspect embezzlement, let alone find evidence. A beast king who couldn't read or write certainly couldn't spot it with a quick glance at the ledger.

The new lord might be good at deceiving the beasts, but he shouldn't think he can deceive humans, the chief financial officer sneered.

However, Mishena's worried expression lingered in his mind.

Since he had plenty of time before the banquet, the chief financial officer decided to pass the time by checking the calculations with an abacus.

At first, he hummed a tune as he calculated, but soon his tune stopped, and his face became serious. As time passed, his face turned pale, and he even broke into a cold sweat.

"The numbers don't add up..."

About the abacus—

The first tool used to aid in calculations was the human finger. Even today, the phrase "counting on one's fingers" exists, suggesting that fingers are perhaps the oldest and best calculating tool.

However, as the numbers grew larger, fingers became insufficient.

As a result, people created various tools for calculation.

Starting from drawing pictures on the ground or arranging small stones, these tools evolved into the "abacus" with beads placed on lines or grooves on a flat board, and eventually into the Japanese "soroban" still used today.

Interestingly, the divination sticks used by fortune-tellers, which are shaken to make a rattling sound, were originally used for calculations.

I once read in a book that the abacus traveled to China via the Silk Road, merged with the divination sticks, and evolved into the soroban. Is that true?

The abacus used in the world of the Destroyer's Child is the same as the Roman abacus. You can find images by searching for "Roman abacus."

About paper—

Since there were questions about paper in the comments, I'll provide some additional information.

There are two types of paper in this world.

First, there is plant-based paper made by pounding and thinning the bark of plants. This is the most common type, and Sōma used it to take notes during Mishena's explanation.

The other type is parchment, made from animal skin. It is more expensive than plant-based paper but is more durable and can be erased and rewritten by scraping the surface, making it suitable for important documents like ledgers and certificates that need to be stored long-term.

I decided not to explain these details in the story to avoid unnecessary information, so I referred to them collectively as "paper."