Chapter 34

"Alus, you've brought back something amazing."

One day, while talking to Father Paulo at the church, he said this after looking at the text written on the parchment.

But what did he mean by "amazing"?

Father Paulo is the one who gave me my name at my baptism. Since then, I occasionally visit the church to learn how to read and write.

In this village, where there's nothing, the only place I've seen proper writing is in the book the priest held during the baptism. Incidentally, both of my parents were illiterate. The church was the best place to learn.

On rainy days when I couldn't go to the fields, I would always visit the church and receive lessons in reading and writing from the priest while glancing at the books.

This time, the priest mentioned it during one of these reading lessons. Usually, we use the books the priest has, but this time, I brought in a piece of parchment with writing on it that I wanted him to see. I had obtained this parchment during a recent trip to the city. I had presented a servitor beast to the Fontana family, and this parchment was issued as a permit for future servitor beast sales.

"Amazing, you mean the permit from the Fontana family?"

"Yes, that's right. But I'm not talking about the sales permit."

"Then, you mean the other one?"

"Yes. This document formally recognizes the land you've developed in the forest as yours."

Saying this, Father Paulo slid a piece of parchment across the table toward me. I had received two documents from Raymond, the steward of the Fontana family. One was about the sale of servitor beasts, and the other was about land ownership.

"My father must have thought ahead. If they asked for wheat as a tax on the land I developed, it would have been a problem. I'm grateful."

"Is that so? It was Assira who did this. However, the significance of this document goes beyond just the tax issue. Do you understand?"

"Um... No, I don't... I don't think there's anything unusual written on it."

The content written on the parchment was minimal. It formally recognized the land I had developed in the forest as mine. Furthermore, the tax for this land was to be paid in money, not wheat. In other words, it only mentioned these two points.

"Listen carefully. First, this document states that the land you've developed in the forest is recognized as yours. Do you understand that?"

"Yes."

"Then, let me ask you a question. Where is the land you've developed?"

"Um, isn't it the place where I cut down trees and cleared the land in the forest?"

"Yes, that's what development means. However, the important part is the phrase 'the land you've developed.' It doesn't specify when, where, or how large the land is. In other words, it includes all the land you've developed so far and all the land you will develop in the future."

"Um, it sounds like a nitpick, but is that really the case?"

"Now, let's add the next part of the content. It states that the tax is to be paid in money, not wheat."

"What's the problem with that?"

"Being formally recognized by the noble Fontana family for the land and paying the corresponding tax, but not in wheat, means that it doesn't have to be agricultural land."

"Right, it's because the land was originally for raising servitor beasts, not for growing wheat."

"No, there's no mention of the land being for raising servitor beasts. In other words, you can do anything on this land without any issues."

"So, what does that mean?"

"In short, you've been treated almost like a noble by the Fontana family."

I don't really understand much about nobles and people in power. I asked Father Paulo many questions afterward.

In the end, I learned that while nobles are landowners, they are not absolute rulers. The Fontana family governs the Fontana territory, but they don't have complete control over it. There are old noble families that have controlled parts of the land for a long time, and the Fontana family governs the land by granting these families certain privileges in exchange for bringing them under their control. The typical payment is in the form of money and providing troops when needed.

From the content of this document, it seems that the Fontana family is treating me similarly to these noble families, according to Father Paulo.

"Why did they give me such special treatment? They wouldn't go that far just because a rideable servitor beast was born, right?"

"Probably, they never imagined that you would own or develop such a vast amount of land."

According to Father Paulo, land is an invaluable asset to many people, but it is also immovable. When I presented the rideable Valkyrie servitor beast to the Fontana family, Raymond must have thought that if I, not the eldest son of a farming family, were to set up independently and go to another noble's territory to produce servitor beasts, it would be a problem for the Fontana family. They would prefer that I continue producing servitor beasts in this land for the benefit of the Fontana family. Therefore, it would be best to formally recognize the land I developed in the forest as my personal property, rather than my parents', to tie me to this land for life.

However, Raymond didn't know about my development capabilities. He never imagined that I could develop land on a scale that could rival a landowner or a noble. As a result, he recognized my land ownership with a simplified document. This means that the more land I develop, the more land I can own and use freely.

In other words, as long as I pay the money, I can do whatever I want on this land. It seems that I had unknowingly changed my job to a noble. Although I have no idea what to do, I decided to focus on doing what I should do.

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