'Ial. Are you sure you don't want to stay?
　'Yes. I have decided to repay you for the rest of my life.

　Ial smiled smugly.

　All of the old Ferm territory became the As territory.
　And the village I was originally in is also my territory.

　It's a shame to destroy the land I spent so many years cultivating.
　However, it's impossible for me to manage the territory on my own.

　So I asked the entire village if they wanted to stay or follow me.
　Most of the villagers - the children I saved, and the slaves - now former slaves - followed me.
　I gave them land, by the way, and I gave them land.

　And most of the refugees from a year ago wanted to stay in the village.
　I thought they would want to go back home, but....

　They say it's easier to live there.

　However, that is a village where one hundred and thirty people used to live.
　It's a shame that only thirty people have to live there.

　We're going to send additional people from our territory.

　Well, are we all here?
　Here are Tetra, Soyeon, Lulu, Ron, Rosward, Gram, and Ial, plus Boros and Bartolo.

　'Hey, I feel like I'm the only one out of place here.
　'I heard that Mr. Bartolo has a fiefdom. I thought you'd be interested in my opinion.

　I've never run a fiefdom before.
　I don't know anything.

　That's why it's only natural to invite my seniors over.

　''Well, first of all.......I have no idea what a lord is supposed to do, but please tell me.
　'I'm not doing much. The basics are security, spell defense, territorial defense, tribute to King Rosais, and a trial. The necessary expenses are taxed. That's about it.

　It's not a big deal at all.

　'No, it's not easy, but I don't think it's as difficult as you imagine. First of all, the tribute to King Rosais, your estate is supposed to be exempted for two years by special exception.

　Yeah, I know that.
　Now, they want us to focus on reconstruction.

　'And the taxes will be collected by the village chiefs and landowners in each village. All you have to do is set the tax rate. Well, the landowners in your territory have been executed across the board, so it's going to be a lot of work...''
　The landowners were cooperating with King Ferm.
　So it couldn't just be that they were tricked by King Ferm.

　They were all executed and their relatives were dropped into slavery.
　I feel sorry for them, but they got what they deserved.

　'Leave the spell defense to the sorcerers. You seem to have a number of skilled spellcasters at your place. However, save the ones that can carry your soul.

　In other words, Tetra, Soyeon and Lulu shouldn't be allowed to participate in the construction of the wards.
　I might be able to do it in a small area, but you can't just cover the entirety of our territory with a ward, can you?

　And I don't know which country has been behind this for about ten years now, but there's a country that's been doing spellcraft attacks and calling it what it is.

　''Speaking of which, a low-level sorcerer that was available to King Ferrum. That one was in jail, but I can let him out at my discretion, can't I?
　'That's because the trial is your business. Besides, I think that's what King Rosais left you for.

　I see. That's King Losey, indeed. He's very nice.

　"Security and territorial integrity will keep you safe for a while.
　Are you sure?
　'King Rosais has ordered me to do it. As you can imagine, King Rosais isn't stupid enough to entrust King Domorgal's entire border with the country to a man who until yesterday and today had only ever run a village.

　Oh.....
　Speaking of which, I'm in contact with King Domorgal's country.

　'That's all right. King Domorgal is basically busy with his wars with King Gilbet and King Fardham. He can't afford to look south.
　Are you sure?
　He'll come after you if you're not careful.

　'Ask me about the trial. Under what law do you want me to judge you?
　Basically, it's your discretion. Well, murder and rape are punishable by death. Robbery is the amputation of a single right arm. Petty theft is beaten with a whip or club. That's about it.

　So, in short, it's common law.
　As long as there's no proper letter in the first place, though, it wouldn't be a good idea to show the law in writing properly.

　''Then let's do the trial based on the opinions of the village chiefs.

　I'm starting to get an idea of what to do.
　I think I can handle this.




　I think I'll start with the census.
　What exactly do you do?
　'The s*x, age and property of every person in the entire territory. I want it all on paper.

　There aren't many people who can use the Cilician language.
　Inevitably, there is no such thing as a household register.

　So the village chief who knows the village best collects taxes and is governed by the lord.
　That's the way it works.

　But in this way, they could evade taxes as much as they wanted.
　There will be a lot of tax left over.

　We have to do something about it.

　'But the only people who can write Cilician at will are our leader and Tetra and less than ten of them, right?　I don't think that would be enough...
　Don't worry about it. I'll make up a chart in advance. All you have to do is write the numbers in there.

　It's easier to do the math that way.

　'Are the tables handwritten?　I think it's going to be a huge pain in the ass.
　'I have an idea about that. It's not that hard, it's okay.

　It can be prepared in large quantities in the manner of a woodblock print.
　Woodblock prints.

　"You have a good idea. Can you do it in my neighborhood?
　I don't mind but I'll take the money. And I'll also take money for the paper.
　''Our territory has a population of, I believe, six to seven thousand... how much paper will we need?''
　'Yes. If you list twenty names on one piece of paper, that's three hundred to three hundred and fifty pieces. One piece sells for ten bronze coins so that's three thousand five hundred bronze coins.

　I reply, and Bartolo holds his head up.

　You're a fast calculator. Three thousand five hundred bronze coins, huh? How much is that in terms of wheat?　I've never used a bronze coin, so I don't know.
　I've never bought wheat with a bronze coin but that's 20,000 diddles in salt.

　Bartolo frowned as he said this.

　''That's expensive. Make it cheaper.''
　We're having a hard time too. Well, I'll give you a 20 percent discount since we're socializing.

　It was decided to trade wheat and paper in the first instance.
　That should give us enough food for the time being.

　 So I'll try to keep the tax rate low.''

　At the same time, I'm on the popularity front.
　After all, I'm a newcomer to the game.

　"But keep taxes too low and we lose revenue. We'll need to add on. So what's the market rate?
　Hmm, there's a lot of patterns. If you only want to pay in goods, the basic rate is 60 percent. But instead of paying 30 percent of the bill, you could send them to work.

　According to Bartolo, there are cases where wheat is paid in the storehouse, and there are also cases where cloth and specialty items are paid in.
　The blacksmiths pay for swords and spears, for example.

　Then let's go with the payment of goods only. The tax rate is........40%?　The basics are wheat.
　What's your heart?

　Tetra asks.

　'We need to restore the devastated farmland. We can't afford to send them out to work. I will have them engaged in farming as long as they can. And I don't have any particular plans to work on the border with King Domorgal, since King Ferrum seems to have pretty well defended his border with Domorgal.
　What about paper manufacturing and the capital's defense equipment that burned in this war?
　"We'll go on a hiring policy. We'll pay you with grain as your wages.

　There are people who would participate if they could earn a reasonable amount of extra income.

　Especially widows who have lost their husbands and sons in the war.
　They will be asked to produce paper.

　Because paper production doesn't use as much power as farming.

　It would be more convenient for them to earn a steady income, rather than farming.
　Besides, I'm going to spread the word about thousand tooth handling.

　If paper making is a widow's business, the spread of thousand-tooth farming will have little effect.

　All right, that's enough for domestic politics. The other important thing is the rotation system. We need to spread the word.

　Well, for the time being, the ring-judging ceremony will be fine. It's not something that can be changed quickly.

　Now, let's see how we can raise the taxes.
　'The chief can collect them and we can collect them. Anyone who does anything unlawful or embezzles taxes can be fired by the lord's authority.
　That's a good idea.

　I'm sending every single bureaucrat and soldier to the village. I will make a statement. The chief will lead them according to my will.
　Taxes will be collected by the bureaucrats and soldiers.
　I know I can trust these people. They won't be bought off.

　And we can centralize the whole thing, all in one fell swoop.
　That's my girl. That's genius.



　And now the military.

　What about the soldiers what are you going to do about the soldiers?
　Ron you don't have to use an unfamiliar term of endearment.
　It's a little sad.

　The leader is already a wealthy family. I think it's important to set boundaries. I can't stand the fact that the leader is lambasted by those around him because we didn't use the honorific title.
　''Well I never thought you'd have to think about that...''

　People do grow up....
　I'm a little impressed.

　Well, Ron has a point.
　It's not like our relationship is going to suddenly change when we become respectful.

　So what was the answer to your question?
　Yeah, I'm sorry. I'm a little impressed. Oh, you mean soldiers. Let's see how many you have left, for now.

　First of all, everyone in the village, thirty of them. All own iron weapons. Their morale is very high.
　Next, Boros and his Tetra-loving band of forty men. All of them have bronze weapons. Their skill level is decent, but their morale is very high.

　This is my current strength, seventy men.

　And Bartolo's private army, one hundred. About ten of them are iron weapons, and the rest are bronzes. I don't know the level of skill and morale. But these are Bartolo's soldiers who defeated King Ferm's army from the front, so we can count on them.
　They'll be fighting with us for a while.

　And the hundred that King Losey has entrusted to us. They are all bronze. Their skills and morale are not high. But they are not low.
　King Losey had to pay for it.

　So, if King Domorgal invaded, we would have two hundred and seventy men ready to meet him in a heartbeat.
　How about this?

　What is the total strength of King Domorgal's army?
　'About ten thousand. That's how much I pay when I play Donkeys with King Gilbed's country and King Fardham's country. King Rosais' kingdom could move five thousand if all the great families cooperated. But the truth is, they don't, so we can only move 3,000. But don't worry. King Domorgal has always been at odds with King Gilbed and King Faldum. So it is unlikely that 10,000 will come to our country. Three thousand at the most.

　I see. So we've got enough to intercept them.
　If we buy ourselves some time.

　Three thousand against two hundred and seventy is...

　''I want at least five hundred. Then we'll need two hundred and thirty new men...
　You were drafted?

　I answer Tetra's question.

　'Hmmm, I don't like being drafted, do I?'

　The draft is inefficient.
　You can't force people who don't want to fight a war to pull them in and give them weapons.
　And since you're using your labor force as soldiers, tax revenues will also drop.

　And by the time you finally train them to be useful enough to be useful, their term is over.
　We put them back on the wasteland.

　I don't care if you're doing that at the level of today's civilization, let alone in the modern era when you can kill people by giving them guns and pulling the trigger, plus the idea of national self-determination has become so prevalent that the entire population is thinking seriously about national defense.

　And the heavily armed infantry corps needs rigorous training.
　And the Ath family's lords would think that any lord would be fine as long as the taxes are low.

　There's no conscription, after all.
　If it's an emergency, but we don't need that many soldiers in times of peace.

　There's too much difference in skill and morale between us if we're conscripted. The worst that could happen is that they'll be dragging us down. We're supposed to keep them back, right?　Then I think what we need is quality, not numbers.
　Oh, you know a lot for an amateur.

　Bartolo complimented me.
　I don't know what it is, I'm not the least bit happy about this guy's praise.

　'Okay, I've decided!　It'll cost a lot of money, but we'll recruit.
　'Well, do you think we should call on them when we collect the tax?　Brother.
　Yeah. That's what I'm asking.

　And it's no use putting up a billboard with letters.
　No one can read it.

　Hey, Mr. Alms. You're forgetting something.
　Does it matter?
　Archers. Archers. You'll need them for defense.

　Gram stressed.
　No, I haven't forgotten anything but....

　Bows are expensive. They require a high level of skill. Well, we'll get more of them, but...
　And it's the heavily armed infantry that will win or lose the war on the Adelian peninsula.

　'The cavalry!　Cavalry. We need cavalry, don't we? Brother.
　Horses are expensive. Besides, the cow and horse are more expensive.

　We can't have the numbers. Ten men and the cavalry. How does that help?
　We need at least a hundred.
　That's like saying, "Let's get a hundred light cars like the Japanese do.

　And we need to mass produce black powder.
　It's not easy to make.
　You can't make it after things have happened.

　'That's awesome, isn't it? You gotta teach me how to make that.
　''It's a problem if the instructions for making it are leaked. I can't teach that one. Besides, it's not something we can prepare in numbers... and it doesn't always work.

　When I used it in a defensive battle, I liked the fact that my opponents were densely packed. And there weren't many of them.
　When we took King Ferrum down, it was like we won when we took him by surprise from behind in the first place.

　If it's the first time you see it, it'll be effective, but it will be taken care of soon.
　It's not a good idea to rely too much on it.

　There's a lot of material for black powder.
　Sulfur is readily available from volcanoes, and charcoal can be mass-produced.
　There are reliable ways to mass-produce gritstone as well.

　But it's not possible to make a spear that has the 'pyrotechnic' magic added to it.

　They need a substance called magic stone of high quality.
　Magma stone is a stone that is suitable for magic among curse stones.

　Named Tetra.

　This magic stone is cheap but few in number.
　Because they are trash, no one wants to dig them up.

　That's why collecting a large number of them costs a special fee, and for some reason they are more expensive.
　They are extremely troublesome and cost more money to collect than the stones themselves.

　If it doesn't detonate, the black powder is useless.
　What if you ignite it with a fuse?　You might think, but that might not be a surefire way to explode.

　'Is that so?　Good then. Let me know when you're ready for mass production someday.
　Bartolo pulled it off easily.

　'Instead, teach me how to make paper.
　I'll tell King Rosais about it. Don't worry.

　I'm not going to keep it a secret after you've become my subordinate.



　Well, now for the witchcraft. You have to put up wards, right?

　Me and everyone else nearly starved to death or Tetra's parents died because of a famine caused by a curse.
　With that in mind, I can see why we need to put in the effort.

　As I recall, the great powers to the north are going to put a curse on us?
　Yeah, yeah. The Kingdom of Rozelle. It controls all of northern Adelunia.

　King Roselle....
　Okay, let's remember this well.

　'King Ferm didn't put too much emphasis on warding, which is why there was a famine, right?　As I recall, there were nine high-ranking sorcerers that King Ferrum had in his possession. All of them did not participate in the construction of the wards... is it not enough to release the sorcerers in the prison and put them to work building the wards?
　It's not enough. But we have the guardian's wards that Master Julia placed on our land. So we need at least one high-ranking sorcerer to help us out.

　At least one...
　Tetra or Soyeon or Lulu. Who's better....

　I hear the young sorcerer is a good fit for a soul carrier because his soul is healthy. You might want to save those three for later.

　But he's not there.
　A high ranking sorcerer.

　"Lord Armes. I have a man for you.
　Boros, who had been silent earlier, spoke up.
　'What?'

　"The sorcerer who gave Tetra-sama the Sacred Script that old woman used to be a sorcerer who could carry a soul. Warding doesn't matter how old you are. Why don't we leave it to that old woman?
　That's a good idea.

　Yeah, let's do that.
　It's a little bad enough to make the old man work.

　'Um ... does that mean we're bored?'
　Sojourn raises his hand.
　'No, no, I have a lot of work for you guys to do.

　First the training of other spellcasters.
　Then create the spear of the explosive spear.

　Tetra will be my helper, so I'll have to have Sojourn and Lulu fill in for that.

　So it's the same as before.
　Lulu says.

　Well, that's what I'm talking about.

　And I want more types of animals that can carry souls. Well I'd still like a dog. And an owl or a bat for nighttime scouting.　
　How do you get it?
　'I'll ask the Cilician for help. They're at war all year round over there, and I'm sure they know a lot about that sort of thing.




　That night.

　"Hey, Alms,
　Hmm?　DONG!

　My lips are pursed.

　Tetra stares at me with moist eyes.

　'Are you forgetting the most important part of a lord's job?'
　''Well yes. I'm pretty sure I forgot.

　I grabbed Tetra's shoulders and pulled her to me, taking her lips from mine.
　I pushed her down as it was.