Chapter 30

"I'm so frustrated. Those guys hurt my precious children."

After presenting the serval beasts to the noble family, I am now back at the inn in town. In one of the rooms, I kept complaining one after another. The feeling of boiling anger is exactly what this is about. When I saw the serval beasts with their horns cut off, I almost lunged at them. I clenched my fists to stop myself from attacking, and my nails dug into my palms, drawing blood.

Suddenly, I remembered a story from my previous life. It was about guide dogs that help visually impaired people. Guide dogs receive specialized training to serve as the eyes of the visually impaired. The first step of this training is to teach them not to bark at any time. If they bark indiscriminately, they cannot work as guide dogs. However, there was an incident where someone pressed a lit cigarette against a guide dog while it was waiting at a traffic light or something. The fur was burned off, and the skin was left with a burn. Despite this, the dog, trained as a guide dog, did not bark. The blind owner, not hearing any barking, did not realize the cruel act that had occurred. Later, when the owner realized what had happened, they were deeply saddened. Normally, a dog subjected to such treatment would become hostile towards humans, but this excellent guide dog continued to support its owner until the end of its life.

Dogs, which have been partners with humans since ancient times, can become such beings with the right training. Perhaps serval beasts can achieve the same level of dedication. Even when their horns, which grow from their heads, are cut off, the serval beasts endure without making a sound. I couldn't help but shed tears.

"Come on, calm down already."

"What, aren't you frustrated, Dad?"

"I'm more worried that the Valkyries with their horns cut off might die early. If the serval beasts we presented die soon, we don't know what kind of punishment we might receive."

Hmm.

Indeed, that could happen.

Unlike me, my father was remarkably calm.

Unlike me, my father, though a farmer with no education, is not unintelligent. He notices things I don't. Especially, he deeply understands how vulnerable farmers are in society. His comment earlier came from that understanding.

The possibility that the serval beasts with their horns cut off might die early.

I hadn't considered this, but indeed, it is a concern. Moreover, I don't even know how long the Valkyries live. How many years can they live? Will they become weak after their horns are cut? I might need to investigate this later, despite my frustration.

Furthermore, my father had other concerns beyond this issue. It was about the land I had cleared in the forest.

If left alone, the forest could encroach on the village. The fact that I, a child, cleared it in a short time must have been unsettling. Probably, it seemed like a terrifying and eerie presence. However, there was an even greater concern. It was a practical issue regarding tax collection.

Farmers mainly pay a head tax per person and a land tax based on the size of their farmland. Moreover, farmers are required to pay their taxes in wheat grown in their fields. Due to the rapid expansion of the land I had undertaken, it was unclear how much tax would be owed this year. In fact, the villagers believed that such an expansion would make it impossible to pay the taxes. The village chief even had a secret plan to seize the fields from me if I couldn't pay the taxes.

This time, we met with the steward of the noble family that governs the land. My father presented a petition he had been thinking about for a long time. He argued that to continue producing serval beasts, we needed to grow Hatsuca in the fields, and the land cleared from the forest could not produce wheat. For the noble family, the production of serval beasts and the development of the forest were highly desirable. They listened to my father's desperate petition and granted permission for the production and sale of serval beasts, as well as formal ownership of the land and the option to pay taxes in money instead of wheat.

Being born to a reliable father was a great stroke of luck for me. Thus, I became the official owner of the land.

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