Chapter 17: Rostine Shokai (Back)

Even after the telepathy from “Emperor” was over, the silence was still filling the social room (salon) for a while. Eventually, when someone began to sledge their words, it became an invitation, and the room became noisy as if it had been struck.

Meanwhile, Rubetta stands up from her seat.

“Sir Rostine?”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Tormark. I haven’t brought anything to take notes … I’ll buy it at the reception of the commercial guild soon.”

Because there’s a notice in advance, the “telepathy” that Empress Yuri will do after this will be a long story.  There may be some things that are important to Rubetta and should be recorded. It’s a good time now, so she wanted to prepare what she needed to take notes.

“I see … Certainly there may be something to record in the continuation of the telepathy from the ‘Empress’. If you don’t mind, could you buy me too?”

“I understand”

After leaving the social room, Rubetta purchases writing instruments and paper at the reception desk of the commercial guild. It was just after such a telepathy. But those who worked at the reception of the commercial guild did not seem to be so upset, surprisingly. Since the commercial guild is not an organization belonging to the nation, there is little possibility of being disadvantaged by the “Yuri Empire”. For them, the situation may not be a sense of crisis.

When Rubetta returned to the social room, Ados was brewing tea for two people.

There are always several waiters in the social room, so even if you don’t prepare it yourself, they will prepare drinks if you ask. Apparently something is insisted, Ados always prefers to brew drinks with his own hands.

“Thank you”

“Thank you very much. How much was the price?”

Asked by Ads, Rubetta honestly answers the amount of money it took.

Although there is a difference in age between each other, they have a long relationship with each other, so they have  somehow a careless relationship. However it is preferable that there is no “lending” or “borrowing” between merchants, so even a small amount of money will definitely be paid by Ados, and Rubetta will not hesitate.

And — when the two are finished tasting the hot tea brewed by Ados, the moment has come.

“— Hello, everyone who live in strategic locations city Nildea”

The exact same words spoken in exactly the same tone as before.

Despite this, Rubetta and Ados were surprised at that moment.

(With projected image…!)

Yes, not only the voice but also the video was attached to this “telepathy”. In the view of Rubetta. And perhaps in the sight of Ados too, the figure of the “Empress” who is now telling a telepathy to the citizens is clearly visible.

What do you say — a much younger woman than they expected.

It looks more than 10 years younger than the current Rubetta, and maybe even younger than Rubetta when he inherited the Rostine family from her father.

The magic tool that records images is very expensive, but it actually exists. Rubetta hasn’t seen it yet, but Ados, who handles magic tools at the company, must have obtained the real thing several times.

However, it says that the magic tool can only project the recorded image in the “spherical crystal”.

At least — like what Rubetta is seeing right now. It should never be possible to imitate the image directly in the field of view of others.

“This is the figure of the Empress of the” Yuri Empire “…”

While Ados was staring at her, he soliloquy with a shrunken voice. From the point of view of Ados, who is already old, the empress would be a child-like age. However, on the other hand, contrary to the appearance and voice that still remains young, the empress’s words made him feel the dignity of overwhelming others.

(I see — this girl is certainly an “empress”)

In other words, it’s like a “ruler-like atmosphere”.

Rubetta has met with the King and Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Eldard for many times, and has had the experience of directly facing the Grand Duke of the Principality of Silesia and the Holy King of the Holy Kingdom of Nimun. Even when she confronted any of them, she couldn’t feel such a rich “sign of ruler”.

Such Rubetta can’t even take her eyes off the video even for a moment.

The other party was looking at me, it was too rude to take my eyes off from there. ――― She even thought like that.

Of course, what is currently displayed in Rubetta’s field of view is the “picture”. In reality, Rubetta should not be in the line of sight of her empress.

“When I declared war a week ago, I had a telepathy to the citizens of Nildea like this time, so I think many of you already know this. I would like to say hello again. My name is Yuri, the Lord of the Yuri Empire. ”

After telling that, the “Emperor” in Rubetta’s field of vision bowed down.

“Nah …!?”

“What!?”

The air in the social room shook a lot.

— The existence of “King” does not bow to others.

Even if there is something wrong with you or your nation, you will not bow your head, and even if you lose the war, you will not bow your head even to the prince of the victorious country. That was the appearance of a normal “king”.

Even so, Empress Yuri bowed her head very easily.

Although he was overwhelmingly superior to us. No, it’s as if it’s natural for someone to stand on top and bow down more than anyone else.

“We have suddenly occupied the city of Nildea, and some of our citizens may be worried. Therefore, in the future, we would like to make contact using this telepathy on an irregular basis so that we can keep in close contact with the citizens. Thank you for your cooperation.

As I contacted earlier, my telepathy is only heard by people over the age of 15. Parents are kindly requested to tell their children only the necessary parts about what I have contacted. ”

She said that she will contact irregular times with telepathy in the future, and for Empress Yuri, the act of “sending telepathy to the citizens all at once” is not difficult. It is not difficult to imagine that the strength of the army of the “Yuri Empire” that caused the city of Nildea to fall in a blink of an eye would be terrifyingly high. Apparently, Empress Yuri, who unites the nation, also has unparalleled ability as a magician.

“By the way, I think that the most important thing for everyone living in Nildea is tax. First of all, I would like to talk about that area.

In the kingdom of Eldard, the nation that previously ruled Nildea, it seems that about 60% tax was levied on citizens and about 70% tax was levied on farmers. To be honest, I recognize that this is a strict tax rate for citizens to live in. ”

“HM……”

From the flow of the story, it seems that the tax is going to be lower than before.

Although it is an easy method, Rubetta is impressed that it is wise. Cities immediately after the change of ruler are prone to unstable public sentiment.

Because it will gradually stabilize over time, it is a good way to overcome the unstable period by gaining popularity through tax cuts and satisfying the citizens even temporarily.

Fortified cities like Nildea have a high population density, so the livelihoods of citizens depend heavily on commerce and manufacturing. In such places, even if the tax is temporarily reduced by 10%, the amount of goods circulating in the market will increase significantly, and the entire city will be activated and moisturized.

If buying and selling is activated, the tax revenue associated with the transaction will increase. A part of the reduced tax rate will be returned as a result, so a temporary tax cut of about 10% is not a painful act for the ruler.

“Therefore, we will permanently reduce the tax to about 30%”

“” What …? “”

The words leaked by Rubetta and Ads were exactly the same.

The tax, which used to be “60%”, will be changed to “30%” in the future. Suddenly halving the tax is out of the imagination for both of them.

Moreover, they feel that they heard it “permanently” if they didn’t make a mistake.

“In principle, this does not matter what occupation you are. Whether you are a merchant, a craftsman, or a farmer, the tax will be reduced to about 30%.

In addition, I would like to take some time to squeeze the details of the tax system, so I will make it uniformly tax-free for the rest of this year. ”

“” ……… “”

Rubetta and Ados lose their words unintentionally.

It is not uncommon for a city in the aftermath of the war to be exempt from tax. It’s not uncommon, but it’s simply because you can’t get the tax

Immediately after the war, cities are usually destroyed. Because barriers, streets and buildings are destroyed, causing serious economic and livelihood damage, causing large numbers of deaths to citizens and slow disposal of corpses. The sanitary condition of the city deteriorates at once and the disease spreads.

Even if you tax such a city, it will only make the citizens escape. If you don’t exempt the tax, you can’t rebuild it in the first place.

However, in the case of Nildea, the situation is completely different. After all, the city of Nildea has not suffered any damage from the war.

Although there have been some deaths, I heard that most of them are civilian employees and the remaining ones are sweepers. Whatever you say is — the death of them does not mean that Nildea’s economy will suffer much damage.

If you wanted to get it, you could get it, but exempting the tax … it just doesn’t make sense. Moreover, it is a time when the year has just changed. Promising tax-free this year at this time is equivalent to abandoning the entire year’s revenue.

“However, instead of promising a tax exemption this year and a significant tax cut after that, I would like to ask the citizens for one thing.”

“Mu …?”

Rubetta wonders what the heck is.

The “candy” to be given is too huge, so if it is not a very unreasonable “request”, there is no doubt that all the citizens will be happy to accept it.

“I have one thing I just don’t like in this city of Nildea. It’s a stinking smell that you can feel anywhere in the city. To be honest, I can’t understand the kingdom of Eldard, which hasn’t taken any action, even though the city’s hygiene has deteriorated to the point where it smells so bad.

Fortunately, “Yuri Empire” has the technology to solve this stench problem. So, we are thinking of building a new city just north of what is now Nildea, with a well-prepared city for hygiene issues. ”

(—I see)

After hearing that much, Rubetta finally got the point.

In other words, Empress Yuri is thinking of imposing labor on the citizens of Nildea to create a “new city”.

“… It’s a good move.”

Ados also seemed to understand Empress Yuri’s true intentions, and muttered with some impression.

If it were to build a new city, it would take a considerable amount of time — probably for a period of 3 to 4 years, and there is no doubt that a huge labor force would be required. Therefore, instead of giving a big tax incentive, Empress Yuri would have thought to make the citizens pay the “labor force”.

It is not limited to Nildea, but when it comes to a large city to some extent, the citizens living there always suffer from the problem of bad odors. There will be quite a few people who are willing to work if they are freed from their worries.

On top of that, if two baits, “tax-free this year” and “tax reduction after that,” are hung. There is no doubt that there will be almost no reason why citizens dislike labor.

“Citizens — I would like you to move from this Nildea when this new city is completed. Many people may be attached to the city of Nildea, so I know that I am overdoing it, but thank you for your cooperation.

…… Ah, by the way, regarding the construction of the city, we, the “Yuri Empire”, have a unit that specializes in architecture, so we plan to work on their own. Please be assured that we will not impose any financial burden on the citizens or ask them to provide a labor force. ”

“” … what? “”

“— The city is scheduled to be completed in two months.”

“” — ha !? “”

This time, Rubetta and Ados did not close their open mouths.