Chapter 184
(Kyle
Calendar Year 510: Age 17)
The Beginning of a New Year
Translator : PolterGlast
As the new year
dawned, a New Year's celebration was held here in Teigoon.
"Happy New Year!
A toast to the continued development of the House of Solis and the Demon
Territory Count's domain!"
With the Commander's
toast, the brilliant banquet began. Last year had truly been a year of many
hardships and difficulties, and in a good way, it had become a major turning
point for us.
Gathered at this
celebration were the leadership of the Teigoon area, all the mages, key members
of the administration, the commodity exchange, and the reception center, key
members of the Frontier Knights branch, as well as representatives of the
citizens, the Empire immigrant liaison council, the newly established Imperial
Kingdom immigrant liaison council, and the merchants.
Of course, this
included those who attended the academy and resided in the Royal Capital.
"My, my, to think
I would be welcoming the new year in the domain of the Demon Territory Count. I
have a fine souvenir story to tell. Thank you for inviting my son and me on
this occasion."
As guests of honor,
Baron Bauner, who had escorted the immigrants from the Istoria Imperial Kingdom
from the eastern border and ended up staying past the new year, and Alexis, who
had joined from the Royal Capital, were also in attendance.
"Not at all. I
apologize that it turned out this way as a result of having you wait until our
preparations were complete. Please, at least enjoy the new year here at your
leisure."
Yes, if Baron Bauner
had hurried, it would have been possible for him to deliver them by the end of
the year and return to his own domain by the new year. But this was the result
of his continuing his march with consideration, so that our reception system
could be put in place.
"Um... was it
alright for me to participate as well?"
Have I joined a
celebration where I don't belong? Aura, the former Divine Messenger of the
Istoria Imperial Kingdom, who had been feeling timid, had also come to Teigoon
with Baron Bauner and the immigrants.
"It's no problem
at all. You are no longer a prisoner here. Although I cannot return you to the
Imperial Kingdom, I will guarantee you a certain degree of freedom here. The
soldiers from the Imperial Kingdom who have immigrated are also happy, and I
will introduce you to your new comrades after this, so I would be pleased if
you would deepen your exchange with them."
Saying this, I asked
Lilia to introduce her to all the mages, starting with the Wind Mages. Seeing a
smile finally appear on her face, which had been reserved at first, as she was
surrounded by female Wind Mages of a similar age, I felt a little relieved.
Meanwhile, Marianne
and Ranatoria... were surrounded by the members of the Imperial Kingdom immigrant
liaison council.
"To be in a
country so dazzling, and with so many Divine Messengers, it's like a dream. Our
families are all overjoyed as well. We have no words to thank you, dear Divine
Messengers."
They were crying with
joy.
The 1,300 immigrants
and 500 longbowmen who had arrived in Teigoon after a long journey were, for
the time being, guided by the 500 who had arrived ahead of them. Arrangements
had been made for them to join their respective families in the post town, to
enjoy some sightseeing, and to recover from the fatigue of their long journey.
Later, their new homes
would be allocated after considering their respective wishes, but for now, time
to rejoice in their family reunions and immediate financial support had been
prepared.
"Still, with this
level of treatment for them, we are left with no leg to stand on. What I have
learned here... after returning to my domain, I must consult with Margrave
Hamish and feel keenly the need to promptly implement improvements and adopt
new measures."
From a short distance
away, Baron Bauner, who had been watching the people from the Imperial Kingdom,
let out his thoughts with a sigh. This was because he still had over 1,000
prisoners in his care.
"Father, I have
learned here about a method of treating prisoners that was once practiced,
called the 'Matsuyama Method'. The Imperial soldiers who once invaded this land
are now sweating daily as citizens who support this place.
It's not just the
treatment of prisoners. There is also much to learn about domestic
administration. When you return, please see to the domestic affairs of our
domain along with my elder brother."
"Alexis, you've
completely become a member of the Demon Territory Count's camp, huh? Demon
Territory Count, please, I ask you to take good care of my foolish son. He is
one who has no future in our domain..."
"Yes, please rest
assured. He is one of my few friends at the academy. After graduation, I am
thinking of entrusting him with a suitable position and mission. Please stay
and relax, and if there is anything that might be of reference, please make use
of it in your domain.
Also, the order for
5,000 crossbows that I had received from Margrave Hamish and everyone else is
scheduled to be delivered soon, so I will come to deliver them eventually."
"Already!? The
production capacity of this town is also something to behold. The Margrave is
also eagerly awaiting them, so I will be sure to inform him. In light of that,
after the delivery, I am thinking of having my son temporarily return to our
domain to arrange the coordination of tactics with wind magic."
"Alexis, are you
perhaps going to do... that?"
"Of course! I'll
do it to everyone who can use wind magic, including my father and brother,
without discrimination. Rank has nothing to do with it."
Understanding my
concern, he declared the implementation of the Commander's special training
with a smile. I thought that a father and son should have some time to talk in
private, so I temporarily left their circle.
"Takuhir-sama,
thank you so much for the matter in the Royal Capital. After that, the
representative I dispatched to the capital has informed me that negotiations
have been concluded with both the shop that will be our sales base and the
shops that have agreed to handle our products. I believe we can begin advance
sales shortly."
Miseri reported
happily. As the steward now, she was in the midst of an unimaginable busyness,
and even I rarely had a chance to speak with her properly.
Now that the Hiyorimi
refugees had been settled, and the plans for the towns of Ishtar and Aegis had
been finalized, the allocation of the new citizens from the Imperial Kingdom
and other matters had all been delegated to the respective persons in charge.
What she was currently
pouring her heart into was the grand goal of making the four industries (honey,
sugar, soap, disinfectant) into pillars of revenue, and she was passionately
focused on their development and the establishment of a mass production system
to achieve a profit of 5,000 gold coins annually for each.
Her goal was to
support the Demon Territory Count's domain economically. She was working to
secure an annual revenue of 20,000 gold coins from specialty products and
10,000 gold coins from the gold and iron mines.
If these were
achieved, and tax revenue began to come in stably in proportion to the rapidly
increased population, adding them all together would roughly break even,
excluding development costs. The deficit from development costs couldn't be
helped, but everything else could be run in the black. They were still only at
the very beginning of that process.
"Miseri, please,
don't overwork yourself."
"Yes, if I were
to give up over something like this, my master would laugh at me. I think he's
several times busier than I am, and even in the midst of that, he's been
sending me civil servant candidates."
Yes, the steward of
the Count Solis house (Raymond) was being swamped with work, reorganizing the
administration of the domain that had more than doubled in size, and managing
the new territories.
Last autumn, he had
gone to the Royal Capital himself, held group interviews with civil servant
candidates who had graduated from the academy and those in the private sector
who wished to become civil servants, and had hired over 100 new people at once.
And despite his
intense schedule, he had been sending promising individuals to Miseri.
"Well, my mother
is over there, so if the two of them get serious, they'll probably unleash some
incredible power... Just imagining it, I'm sure it's become something
amazing."
Yes, recently in the
Kyle Kingdom, a situation had arisen that swept away the past frustrations of
those who, simply because they were commoners, had not been given important
positions and had not been able to demonstrate their abilities.
Not just in the House
of Solis, but also in the houses of Margrave Hastburg, Count Gorman, and
Viscount Cornell, hiring without regard to status was being actively promoted,
and talent was flooding into the southern border region of the kingdom.
Riding this wave,
immigration and an influx of people from the central part of the kingdom were
also progressing, and the southern border region of the kingdom was poised for
a great leap forward.
The southern border
and eastern border, which had been distant until now, were also seeing active
trade between their nobles. Large quantities of military horses, a specialty of
the eastern border, were being sold to the southern border, and conversely,
captured arms and armor from the southern border were flowing to the eastern
border.
Both sides had more
than enough capital to serve as a catalyst for economic exchange.
In addition to the
captured goods, the large reward money from His Majesty the King and the
reparations from the Istoria Imperial Kingdom (prisoner return costs) were
being utilized, and the foundation of their domains was being built.
With this, won't we
somehow be able to stand against the Empire invasion in three years? It was a
slightly brighter start to the new year, one where I myself could think so.
***
<Kyle Year 510
Beginning of Year - Remaining Budget>
------------------------------
〇 Personal Gold Holdings
・Carried Over from Previous Year: 12,000
・Income During Period: 0
・Expenditure During Period: 2,000 (Capital stay
expenses, etc.)
Remaining Balance:
Approx. 10,000 gold coins
〇 Domain's Gold Holdings
・Carried Over from Previous Year: 17,000
・Development Expenditure: ▲68,000
・General Expenses: ▲53,100 (Soldier & personnel costs, expenses)
・Honor Reward Payouts: ▲56,400
・Plague Response Costs: ▲1,000 (Includes church)
・Manufacturing Consignment Costs: ▲8,000 (Orders for arms, etc.)
・Loan Repayment: ▲1,500 (Repayment to Margrave)
・Sales Revenue: 14,000 (Goods, arms, etc.)
・Temporary Revenue: 6,000 (Land sales, etc.)
・Revenue from Captured Goods: 4,000
・Honor Rewards, etc.: 375,000
・Prisoner Return Fee: 25,000
・Kingdom Subsidy: 0 (Abolished)
・Domain Revenue: 38,000
※Tax Revenue (Poll tax, trade tax, rent, commodity
exchange sales profit, public ranch sales profit, agricultural products, mining
revenue, etc.)
Remaining Balance:
Approx. 291,000 gold coins
Remaining Loan
Balance: 2,500 gold coins (from the Margrave)
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