Chapter 89

"Alright, let's start the land survey."

"What's a land survey, Ars?"

"No matter what you say, a land survey is a land survey, Vaito. It means we need to accurately measure the size of the land and determine the potential harvest."

"Hmm. I'll pass. I'm not good at calculations like you."

After I finished spreading brick-making and magic mushroom cultivation to provide jobs for those without farmland, I decided to address the issues of those who do have farmland.

Those with farmland will likely continue farming. Not everyone who can use magic wants to go to the battlefield; many probably want to farm to their heart's content with the agricultural magic they have obtained. However, there is a problem here. The magic I granted, such as [Soil Improvement], will significantly increase the harvest, and this is precisely the issue.

Until now, the village chief would collect and store the village's harvest and hand it over to the tax collector. However, it's impossible to hand over the same amount to me as before. The harvest will undoubtedly increase, and that's only natural. However, simply increasing the amount of wheat to be taxed is not the solution. After all, farmers dislike having their hard-earned wheat taken by authorities. If the amount taken increased immediately after I became the ruler, they would likely be unhappy, even if the harvest has increased.

Therefore, I decided to conduct a new land survey. By measuring the area of the farmland and determining the potential harvest, I can make it clear that the amount of wheat to be paid will change from then on. Additionally, I need to have the land data in my hands, which I currently don't have. I must do this.

However, when I thought about conducting the land survey, I realized I had no idea how to measure the land's area. I didn't even have the surveying techniques required for a land survey. What should I do? I even started questioning whether I needed a tape measure to measure the area, but that would require a very long string.

"Eh... Ars, you were worrying about something like that?"

"Don't say it like that, Kail. Despite appearances, I'm really stuck."

"But it's not that difficult, you know. I think the size of the farmland can be determined by how many times [Land Leveling] has been used."

However, the answer to my dilemma was quickly resolved by Kail. According to Kail, since [Land Leveling] always levels the same area of land, regardless of who uses it, it can be used as a standard. Indeed, that makes sense.

Based on my memory from my previous life, I created the [Land Leveling] spell to level a square area with each side measuring 10 meters. Incidentally, I also created the [Soil Improvement] spell based on the same area, so both spells have the same area. By simply confirming how many times the spell needs to be used to cover each person's farmland, the land survey can be completed. Moreover, even without specialized surveying techniques, the area can be measured.

Thus, the land area in the Valka Knight Territory began to be counted in "sheets," which is the area affected by one use of [Land Leveling].

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"Kail, while we're at it, let's decide on a unit of length."

"Unit of length?"

"Let's divide the length of one side of the area leveled by [Land Leveling] into ten equal parts, and call each part 1 meter. Then, divide each meter into a hundred equal parts, and call each part 1 centimeter. No objections allowed."

"I don't think there will be any objections. It sounds fine to me."

"Let's also decide on units of weight. I'll summarize them in a table."

"Okay, got it. I'll let everyone know."

Once the unit of length was determined, other units could be established based on it. For example, the volume of water in a 10x10x10 cm cube is 1 liter, and 1 liter of water weighs 1 kilogram. This establishes units for volume and mass. Additionally, let's set the boiling point of water at 100 degrees. This way, familiar units can be created.

Thus, common units of length and weight were introduced in Valka. People who previously had a rather vague way of counting things found it relatively easy to understand the values based on my magic, and the standardized measurements spread throughout the Valka Knight Territory.

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