Chapter 40

"Ial, are you really glad you didn't stay?"

"Yes. I've decided to repay you for the rest of my life."

Ial smiled.

The former Felm territory has all become As territory.

And the village I originally came from is now my territory.

It would be a waste to destroy the land I spent years cultivating.

However, it's impossible for me to manage the territory alone.

So I asked all the villagers if they would stay or follow me.

Most of the villagers—children I saved and former slaves—chose to follow me.

By the way, I gave them land.

And most of the refugees who came a year ago wished to stay in the village.

I thought they would want to return to their hometowns...

But apparently, life here is easier.

Still, it was a village where 130 people lived.

It would be a waste for just 30 people to live there.

I plan to send additional people from my territory.

"Well, are the members all gathered?"

Here are Tetr, Soyong, Ruru, Ron, Rozward, Gram, Ial, and Boros and Bartholomew will join us.

"Hey, I feel out of place, don't I?"

"I heard that Mr. Bartholomew has his own territory. I thought your opinion would be very helpful."

I'm a complete beginner at managing a territory.

I don't know anything.

So it's natural to invite a senior.

"Well, first of all... I have no idea what a lord should do. Could you please tell me?"

"It's not a big deal. Basically, maintaining order, magical defense, territorial defense, tribute to King Rosais, and trials. The necessary expenses are covered by taxes. That's about it."

It's not a big deal at all, is it?

"No, it's not easy, but I don't think it's as difficult as you imagine. First, the tribute to King Rosais. Your territory should be exempt for two years."

Yeah, I know.

They said to focus on reconstruction now.

"Also, the taxes are collected by the village chiefs or landlords. You just need to set the tax rate. Well, since the landlords in your territory were all executed, it might be a bit difficult..."

The landlords cooperated with King Felm.

They can't just say they were deceived by King Felm.

They were all executed, and their families were reduced to slavery.

It's pitiful, but they brought it upon themselves.

"Magical defense can be left to the magicians. You seem to have several skilled magicians. However, keep those who can perform soul binding."

In other words, Tetr, Soyong, and Ruru shouldn't participate in constructing the barrier.

They might be able to do it in a small area, but it's impossible to cover the entire territory, right?

Also, for the past ten years or so, some country has been launching magical attacks, but we don't know who the mastermind is.

"By the way, the lower-level magicians who served King Felm. They were in prison, but can I release them at my discretion?"

"That's your job, after all. I think King Rosais left them for that purpose."

I see. King Rosais is indeed great. He's wonderful.

"I'll help with maintaining order and territorial defense for a while."

"Is that okay?"

"King Rosais ordered me to. He's not stupid enough to entrust the border with King Dorgal's country to someone who has only managed a village until yesterday."

Ah...

Right, we border King Dorgal's country.

"Don't worry. King Dorgal is usually busy with wars against King Gilbert and King Faldaum. He doesn't have the time to look south."

Is that true?

If you let your guard down, they might attack.

"Tell me about the trials. What laws should I base my judgments on?"

"Basically, it's up to you. Murder and rape are punishable by death. Theft is punishable by the amputation of the right arm. Minor thefts are punished with whippings or beatings. That's the general standard."

In other words, it's customary law.

Without a proper writing system, it wouldn't make sense to write down the laws anyway.

"So, I'll hear the opinions of the village chiefs and base my judgments on them."

I'm starting to get a sense of what to do.

This seems manageable.

"First, I want to start with a census."

"What exactly will you do?"

"I want to record the gender, age, and property of everyone in the territory on paper."

Not many people can use the Kirisha language.

Therefore, there's no such thing as a household register.

So the village chiefs, who know the village best, collect taxes and govern the territory.

That's how it works.

But this system allows for rampant tax evasion.

There must be a lot of uncollected taxes.

I want to change that.

"But there are only about ten people who can write Kirisha freely, including the leader and Tetr. I don't think that's enough..."

"Don't worry about that. I'll prepare a form. You just need to fill in the numbers."

That would make the calculations easier too.

"Will the forms be handwritten? That sounds really troublesome."

"I have a plan. It's not that difficult, so don't worry."

We can prepare them in large quantities using woodblock printing.

"You have good ideas. Can we do this in our territory too?"

"Sure, but I'll charge for it. And the cost of the paper too."

"Our territory has about 6,000 to 7,000 people... How much paper will we need?"

"Let's see. If we put 20 names on each sheet, we'll need 300 to 350 sheets. At 10 bronze coins per sheet... that's 3,500 bronze coins."

When I answered, Bartholomew held his head.

"You're quick at calculations. 3,500 bronze coins. How much is that in wheat? I've never used bronze coins before."

"I've never bought wheat with bronze coins either... but in terms of salt, it's 20,000 didars (350 kg)."

When I said that, Bartholomew frowned.

"That's expensive. Can you give us a discount?"

"It's tough for us too, but I'll give you a 20% discount as a favor."

We agreed to trade wheat and paper.

This will secure our food supply for the time being.

"Next, the tax rate... The As territory is in ruins due to King Felm's rule. I want to keep the taxes low."

It's also about gaining popularity.

After all, I'm a newcomer.

"But if the taxes are too low, our income will disappear. We need to strike a balance. What's the standard tax rate?"

"Hmm, it varies. If it's just in-kind payments, 60% is the norm. But there's also a method where you collect 30% in-kind and the rest in labor."

According to Bartholomew, in-kind payments can be in the form of wheat, cloth, or local specialties.

Blacksmiths, for example, might have to provide swords or spears.

"Let's go with in-kind payments only. The tax rate will be... 40%? Mainly in wheat."

"What's the reasoning behind that?"

Tetr asked.

"The farmland is in ruins. I can't afford to divert people to labor. I want them to focus on agriculture. King Felm had the border with King Dorgal well fortified, so there are no major construction plans."

"What about paper production and the defense facilities of the capital that were burned in the war?"

"I'll hire people. I'll pay them in grain."

If there's a decent temporary income, people will participate.

Especially widows who lost their husbands or sons in the war.

I'll have them produce paper.

Paper production doesn't require as much physical strength as farming.

For them, paper production, which provides a steady income, is more convenient than the demanding agricultural work.

Besides, I plan to promote the use of the rake.

If paper production becomes a job for widows, the spread of the rake will have less impact.

"Alright, the internal affairs are settled. The next important thing is crop rotation. We need to promote it."

Well, let's start with crop rotation next time. It can't be changed immediately anyway.

"Next, how will we collect taxes?"

"The village chiefs can collect them, and we can recover them. If anyone acts unlawfully or embezzles taxes, we can execute them using the lord's authority."

"That's a good idea."

I'll send my officials and soldiers to the villages to convey my will. The village chiefs will command the villagers accordingly.

The taxes will be collected by the officials and soldiers.

I can trust my companions. They're unlikely to be bribed.

This will centralize power, achieving two goals at once.

Tetr is indeed a genius.

Next, the military.

"What about the soldiers... What will we do?"

Ron... You don't have to use such formal language. Actually, it's a bit sad.

"Well, the leader is now a noble. I think it's important to maintain a certain level of respect. I can't bear the thought of the leader being looked down upon because we didn't use formal language."

"...I never thought you'd think about such things..."

People do grow...

I'm a bit moved.

Well, what Ron says makes sense.

Just because we use formal language, it doesn't mean our relationship will suddenly change.

"So, what's the answer to the previous question?"

"Ah, sorry. I was a bit moved. Let's see, soldiers. First, let's confirm the current number of soldiers."

First, the 30 villagers. All equipped with iron weapons. Very high morale and training.

Next, the Tetr fan club led by Boros, 40 people. All equipped with bronze weapons. Moderate training, very high morale.

This is my current force, 70 people.

Then, Bartholomew's private army, 100 people. About 10 have iron weapons, the rest have bronze. I don't know their training or morale, but they're Bartholomew's soldiers who defeated King Felm's army, so I can expect a lot from them.

They will fight with us for a while.

And 100 from King Rosais. All equipped with bronze weapons. Their training and morale are not high, but not low either.

The expenses are covered by King Rosais.

In other words, if King Dorgal invades, we can immediately mobilize 270 soldiers.

Is this enough?

"How many soldiers does King Dorgal have in total?"

"About 10,000. When he fights against King Gilbert or King Faldaum, he mobilizes that many. Our country, with the cooperation of all the nobles, can mobilize 5,000, but realistically, it's about 3,000. But don't worry. King Dorgal is always at odds with King Gilbert and King Faldaum. It's unlikely that 10,000 will come to our country. The maximum is 3,000."

I see. So we can defend against them if we buy time.

Fighting 3,000 with 270...

"I need at least 500. So, we need 230 more..."

"Conscription?"

In response to Tetr's question.

"Hmm, I don't like conscription."

Conscription is inefficient.

Forcing people who don't want to fight to take up weapons is pointless.

It also reduces the labor force, leading to a decrease in tax revenue.

By the time they're finally trained, their term of service is over.

They return to the ruined land.

In modern times, with the spread of firearms and the idea of national self-determination, conscription makes people think seriously about national defense. But in this civilization level, it's not worth it.

Heavy infantry requires rigorous training.

The people of the As family probably think any lord is fine as long as the taxes are low.

So, no conscription.

Especially in peacetime, we don't need that many soldiers.

"Conscription would create a huge gap in training and morale. At worst, they might just be a hindrance. Our job is to buy time, so I think quality is more important than quantity."

"Wow, for a layman, you understand quite a bit."

Bartholomew praised me.

I don't feel happy at all being praised by him.

"Alright, decided! We'll recruit. It will cost money, but we'll recruit."

"Um, can we announce it when we collect taxes? Brother."

"Sure, that's the way to go."

Putting up signs wouldn't work anyway.

No one can read them.

"Hey, Almus. Didn't you forget something important?"

"Important?"

"Archers. Archers. They're absolutely necessary for defense, right?"

Gram insisted.

I didn't forget, but...

"Bows are expensive and require high skill. I'll increase the number, but..."

In the war on the Adelnia Peninsula, the heavy infantry decides the outcome.

"Cavalry! Cavalry. We need cavalry, right? Brother."

"Horses are expensive. Besides, oxen are more important for farming."

We can't gather enough. A cavalry of ten? Would that be useful?

We need at least 100.

It's like trying to gather 100 kei cars in Japan.

"Also, we need to mass-produce black powder."

It's not easy to make.

It's too late to make it when the time comes.

"Hey, that's amazing. Can you teach me how to make it?"

"...It's a problem if the method leaks. I can't teach you. Besides, it's not something we can mass-produce... and it's not always effective."

When we used it in defense, it was effective because the enemy was densely packed and there were few of them.

When we killed King Felm, we basically won with a surprise attack from behind.

It's effective the first time, but countermeasures will be taken immediately.

Relying on it too much is not good.

We have plenty of materials for black powder.

Sulfur can be obtained from volcanoes, and charcoal can be mass-produced.

We also have a reliable method to produce saltpeter.

But we can't make many spears with the 'Ignition' magic added.

They require high-quality magic stones.

Magic stones are a type of curse stone suitable for magic.

Named by Tetr.

These magic stones are cheap but rare.

No one bothers to dig them up because they're considered trash.

So, gathering them in large quantities incurs special fees and becomes expensive.

It's a troublesome item that costs more to gather than the stones themselves.

Without ignition, black powder is meaningless.

You might think, "What about using a fuse?" But that might not ensure a reliable explosion.

"Is that so? Then it's fine. Teach me when you can mass-produce it."

Bartholomew backed off easily.

"In return, teach me how to make paper."

"I'll teach King Rosais. Don't worry."

It's a bit difficult to keep it secret even after becoming subordinates...

"Next, magic. We need to set up a barrier, right?"

I and everyone else almost starved to death, and Tetr's parents died due to a curse-induced famine.

Considering this, it's clear that we need to focus on it.

"Wasn't it a large country to the north that cast the curse?"

"Yes, the Rozel Kingdom. It dominates the northern part of Adelnia."

King Rozel...

I'll remember that.

"King Felm didn't prioritize barriers, which led to the famine. He had nine high-level magicians, none of whom participated in barrier construction... Would it be enough to release the magicians from prison and use them for the barrier?"

"Not enough. But this country has a national barrier cast by Lady Yuria. So, we only need one high-level magician."

At least one...

Tetr, Soyong, or Ruru. Who should it be?

"Young magicians have energetic souls, making them suitable for soul binding. It's better to keep those three."

But we don't have a high-level magician.

"Lord Almus, I have someone in mind."

Boros, who had been silent, spoke up.

What is it?

"The magician who inscribed sacred runes on Tetr... That old woman was once a magician capable of soul binding. Age doesn't matter for barriers. How about entrusting it to her?"

"That's a good idea."

Yes, let's do that.

It's a bit mean to make an old person work, but...

"Does this mean we're idle?"

Soyong raised her hand.

"No, no, there's a lot for you to do."

First, training other magicians.

Then, making the explosive spears.

Tetr will assist me, so Soyong and Ruru need to support her.

"So, it's the same as before."