Read I Was Reincarnated as a Poor Farmer in a Different World, so I Decided to Make Bricks to Build a Castle

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"What?　What did you say?"

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Don't make me repeat it. From now on, this land is under the direct control of the Fontana family.

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　Some time after I heard the old peddler's advice.

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　A tax collector from a noble family arrived in the village.

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　A so-called tax collector.

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　Basically, the village collects a per capita tax and a tax on the size of the land as wheat.

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　However, it seems that they do not do detailed calculations for each person as they did in the previous life.

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　The village head collects the taxed wheat from the villagers on behalf of the village, and then comes to the warehouse where the wheat has been delivered to be collected.

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　But I am paid by the amount of money, not by wheat.

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　Therefore, a special tax collector was supposed to come to my house separately after visiting the village headman.

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　This time was no different.

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　Since the tax was collected once a year, I had to keep a good amount of money by myself.

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　I had to offer a minimum of hospitality to those who came to my house on business from the nobility, so I cleaned the house thoroughly and prepared food and liquor for them.

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　So far, I have eaten and drank as much as I could, and then received the tax and went home.

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　That was all there was to it.

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　But the tax collector came to me, without drinking a drop of alcohol, and announced the notice from the nobility while holding out a piece of parchment to me.

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　I almost stopped my train of thought for a moment, but I quickly restarted it and read the text written on the parchment.

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　There was no doubt that the following notice was written on the parchment.

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　My lands are to be seized by the Fontana family.

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　All the property and people on the land will belong to the Fontana family.

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　And that they would take me into custody.

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　The parchment is stamped with the same coat of arms as the permit I received earlier.

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　It can't be a fake notice.

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"Wait a minute. What does this mean? I can't accept something like this out of the blue."

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"Shut up. Shut up. This is a decision. If you do not agree with it, we can use force to force you to accept it.

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"No way. ......"

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"And this decision is for your own good. There may be some unsettled elements in the area. It is a necessary step to protect you as you create a valuable beast of burden."

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　Is he perhaps referring to the fact that people from other lands like Gran have settled here?

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　No, not necessarily.

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　The peddler said he had heard some unpleasant rumors.

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　Maybe such an atmosphere was spreading not only among the nobles, but also among the common people.

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　Or perhaps they were simply looking for the right moment to make some kind of accusation.

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　Thoughts keep popping up in my head.

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　What does it mean to protect me?

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　I suppose it makes sense.

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　I was told that a beast that can be ridden will be a strategic commodity.

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　If it were to be stolen by another, it would be a blow to the nobles who rule this land.

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　For that reason, it may be a case of protecting the producer of the beast of burden in advance.

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　But that is unacceptable to me.

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　What would happen if they were "protected" in such a way?

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　Maybe they would be able to make a decent living.

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　But I would not be allowed to leave the place where I was protected even once.

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　If I were really just a child living in a remote village, a child who knows nothing, I might not be dissatisfied.

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　But I am not.

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　For some reason I have memories outside of my village life.

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　Memories of my past life.

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　I wish I could eat better food and look around more freely.

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　I don't want to live like the livestock that only lay eggs under the word of protection.

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　Clang, clang, clang...

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　That's when I was staring at the parchment, drowning in a sea of thoughts.

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　I heard a loud noise that forced my consciousness back to reality.

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　Was it coming from outside the house?

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　The sound was coming from the stables built next to the house.

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　There was also some kind of loud noise coming from the stables, which normally do not make such loud noises.

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　d*mn, what the hell is going on?

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　I swear inwardly, but rush towards the stables to find out what the noise is anyway.

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　I was so surprised to hear the sound of a horse being driven by a horse...

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　What the hell is this?

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　What's going on?

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　When I came to the stables, I saw a soldier with a sword dripping with blood, and my beast, Valkyrie, bleeding from her head, and Kyle lying on the floor in a pool of blood.

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"What the hell are you doing?　What the hell did you do to Kyle?

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"What the hell, kid? You're messing with me too? I'm just saying I'll take that hexenbiest, and this little brat interferes!"

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"Don't play with me. Do you know what you've done?

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"Huh?　What the hell is wrong with you? You want to get hurt too?

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　A soldier extends the bloody tip of his sword toward me.

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　Seeing this, I lost my temper.

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　I've never used magic on anyone before.

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　I had almost unknowingly fired a shotgun pellet at him.

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