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Chapter 262

“Consider yourself lucky.”

“You…”

“I’ll let you off this once.”

“As if I need your permission!”

She ground her teeth in frustration and yelled at me, but I let her words go in one ear and out the other.

Eventually, unable to hold it in any longer, she jumped to her feet, pointed at me, and shouted.

“Pack your things and get to the Valt Plains right now!! Don’t even think about coming back until you’ve checked out what’s going on there and fixed it all!”

“This is oppression. After all I’ve done for you, this is how you treat your dear brother?”

“Excuse me?! I’m a Duke! Did you just talk back to His Grace the Duke?!”

I figured I should stop teasing her.

Melissa looked like her head was about to explode.

If she suddenly declared she was done and disappeared, I’d be the one stuck handling all her responsibilities.

And that’s absolutely not happening.

“Understood, my lady.”

“The compass is pointing to the Valt Plains.”

“Luna, weren’t you supposed to help me…? Ugh, never mind. Just come with me. I can’t stop you from tagging along.”

Melissa let out a groan and buried her face back into the paperwork.

“Once the major issues are solved, I’m seriously going on strike. I want to fall in love and go on dates too!!”

“That’s fine, but if you’re going to date someone, bring the guy to me first. If he’s not stronger than me, forget it.”

“You crazy bastard…”

Still, I had to admit—she never once said she’d abandon her work.

That was admirable.

* * *

Truthfully, there wasn’t much of a major problem in the Valt Plains we were headed to.

“The gate’s working fine.”

A vast, sprawling plain.

The Valt Plains, one of Coral’s two major grain-producing regions, was also the first place I attacked when I crushed Coral’s military.

Honestly, I had no way of knowing how the people of Coral viewed me.

Maybe they were glad that I overthrew their corrupt old king, or maybe they hated me for destroying their country.

You never really know what people are thinking, so I prepared for the worst.

The Valt Plains were actually divided into several regions.

The portion granted by the royal family to Cascadia was just a part of the larger Valt Plains.

That area was called Laskan.

The crops grown in Laskan were mostly wheat and rice.

The former lord had leased out the lands to the commoners and run it under a sharecropping system.

That sort of system wasn’t uncommon, but the problem here was how brutally high the rents were for the tenant farmers.

Now, with the position left vacant, ownership of the land had passed to Cascadia.

Both Melissa and I agreed—we had no intention of excessively exploiting the residents.

The previous lord who had managed the area had already been dismissed, but that didn’t really matter.

From what we’d heard, the man had never actually governed the land himself—it had always been his proxy doing the actual work.

The quality of life for the residents was, to put it mildly, awful.

The Valt Plains were fertile, and the amount of crops harvested was significant.

The fact that people were still living in poverty even with just a fraction taken as tax was absurd.

If the producers themselves weren’t making any money, then it was impossible to develop any consumer base either.

And yet, there was one place in the region that stood out in stark contrast—lavish and glittering.

Like a palace from another world, it was the former lord’s mansion.

“Duke Leon Cascadia of House Cascadia.”

“Ah… W-welcome, sir. We’ve been expecting you. M-my name is Gould.”

A visibly nervous elderly steward greeted me and led the way.

As I walked down a corridor filled with unnecessary luxuries, I casually scanned the surroundings.

All this junk—time to sell it off.

Clearly worried I might find something to nitpick, Gould led me to the office the former lord had used.

As I clicked my tongue at the ridiculously large office, Gould flinched dramatically.

“M-my apologies! I should have prepared better!”

“It’s fine. That’s not why I reacted. Let’s just start with the report.”

I sat on the nearby sofa and skimmed through the documents he handed me.

They contained detailed accounts of the territory’s finances, assets, population, military, and more.

Gould then began thoroughly explaining the current state of the territory.

He’s more competent than I expected.

Apparently, Gould didn’t hold any official position.

He was a long-time local resident of the area, known for being sharp and quick with numbers.

A previous lord had appointed him as an aide.

“You’ve organized this very well.”

“Th-thank you, young master.”

“But isn’t the treatment of the residents here… excessively harsh?”

“Th-that… it was the former lord’s policy…”

This man… maybe I could use him as Melissa’s acting steward.

“The tax rate here is insane. What lunatic collects 85%?”

As far as I know, even 60% is egregious.

But here, they went even further.

It’s a wonder anyone is still alive here.

“W-well… under the current laws, the residents aren’t allowed to freely leave…”

“Enough. First, drop the tax rate to 60%.”

He blinked in disbelief at my words.

“Excuse me?”

“Did you not understand? Lower it to 60%. And eventually, we’ll bring it down to 40%.”

“F-forty percent…?”

“In your opinion, will that make it hard to manage the territory?”

“W-well… it’s doable, but you can’t expect the same profits as before.”

“Profits for the territory, or for me?”

“The latter.”

“And how about the lives of the people?”

“Even dropping it to 60% will make a noticeable difference.”

Quick thinker.

“Then proceed.”

“Thank you!!”

The profits from this place will mostly go toward local development anyway, and anything left after that can come back to us.

Each territory needs to become self-sustaining—otherwise, it’s just a money sink.

Truth be told, 40% still isn’t a low number.

But tax rates in the Lazarus continent aren’t exactly low to begin with.

And if we use the money to create benefits for the people, we can build a solid foundation for the future.

Someday, we might reduce it further.

That was a matter for the future.

The territory that the Duchy of Cascadia had to manage had just significantly expanded.

Still, 85 percent?

That’s outright robbery.

According to the steward’s report, the territory could be run perfectly well even at a 40 percent tax rate.

Up to now, most of the extra funds had gone straight into the lord’s personal coffers, likely used as bribes toward Coral’s upper echelons.

But now Coral was gone, and so were the corrupt officials who used to line their pockets.

Maybe he thought we would continue that exploitation—he flattened himself to the ground at the unexpected answer.

“Such boundless grace… I am unworthy…”

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“Enough. And prepare a full inventory of all the luxury items in this damn mansion. Sell off anything unnecessary and use the proceeds for the development fund. Start by supporting the commoners whose lives have been made difficult by the excessive taxes.”

The larger the land, the more crucial manpower becomes as a resource.

“Do you have a general plan for what kind of development to prioritize?”

“I heard there are a lot of recent magical artifacts that help with agriculture.”

Of course, given how vast the Valt Plains are, they already have some of those devices in place.

But what I meant wasn’t those outdated types.

“I’ve heard the population here has dropped significantly. Even if we’ve lowered the taxes, there’s a limit to how fast the population can recover.”

“Understood. I’ll prepare a budget proposal after confirming the details.”

“Good. Pass on the message to the people on my behalf. Anything else to report?”

He smiled in response to my question.

“No. This much is already more than enough.”

That’s when it happened.

Kuuuuung…

A massive wave of power spread from far away.

Even Gould, who was just a regular person, could feel it—his and my gaze turned in unison toward the source.

“……”

“L-Lord… what was that just now…?”

“Is there anything around here that could cause such a phenomenon?”

“There were reports of a group of Creepers being found recently, but this is far beyond the kind of sound they make when they explode. Oh, come to think of it, that area is…”

“What is it?”

“A forest where ancient ruins lie. There's a statue that’s been there for thousands of years…”

“Carry out what I told you. I’ll go check it out myself.”

Most people seemed to mistake it for just a strong surge of power—but I could feel it clearly.

A compressed shockwave.

The kind that wouldn’t happen unless there was a truly massive explosion.

Melissa had told me not to return until I resolved all issues in the Valt Plains—that is, the Laskan region—but honestly, there wasn’t much to worry about.

Now that the biggest cancer had been removed, Laskan had the potential to self-stabilize with just the right input.

The sound had come from a forest bordering the vast plains.

I could see thick black smoke even from a distance—no doubt that was the place.

What is that smell?

Sulfur?

No, something else. I’ve smelled it before...

[Scent of Sacred Flame detected.]

“Divine Beast Barva?”

[Correct.]

Sacred flame—created by the guardian who once protected the sealed space where Luna had been held.

That celestial flame stirred by the monster’s claws.

That’s the smell.

No idea why I forgot it.

The closer I got to the source of the smoke, the stronger the stench of sacred fire stung my nose.

Unlike the one that had guarded Luna’s seal, this one was a complete Barva.

Upon reaching the area, I saw sacred flames still burning, unextinguished, and claw marks seared into the air itself.

At the center of it all stood an old temple.

Most of it had sunk underground, so the entrance led directly downward.

“There it is.”

To prove my words, the entrance to the forest temple revealed a massive creature sprawled out.

It was definitely a Barva, though already dead.

Judging by the damage, it must have put up a fierce fight before dying.

I stared at the massive armored tiger-like beast, a question forming in my mind.

“Why did a Divine Beast like Barva suddenly show up here?”

I didn’t know enough about the celestial realm to understand Barva’s ecology.

Regardless, it was clear that this creature was the source of the outburst and the explosion.

“This is strange. There’s no way a creature strong enough to provoke Barva is in this area…”

As I spoke, chills ran down my spine.

One possible culprit came to mind.

“…Damn it.”

I rushed into the temple.

GRAAAAAH!!!

Another Barva appeared, blocking my path and drawing its claws.

So, there was still one more left.

I hadn’t expected there to be two Barvas guarding this place—but that wasn’t the important part.

It tore through the air itself, burning everything its claws touched.

But before it could strike again, I dashed into its chest and sliced its body apart with my blade, faster than its claws could move.

Grrrk…

“Get lost.”

I kicked the blood-spewing Barva away and quickly made my way into the temple.

Thwack! Bam! Bam!

The deeper I went, the louder the sound of something being struck violently echoed.

I found the source quickly.

“You… what are you doing?”

The one mercilessly stomping and pounding a statue of an angel to dust was none other than Luna.

“Leon? Why are you here?”

“After all that ruckus, how could I not notice?”

I recognized the statue she was destroying.

It depicted one of the Archangels praised in the Holy Kingdom—Michael, the right hand of God and his arm of divine wrath.

I’d heard about him from the Saintess Nadia.

I approached Luna, who continued kicking it in silence.

“So? Why are you taking it out on that statue?”

“Just smashing every last statue of that bastard I see. That jerk has the most punchable face.”

...Huh.

Maybe I’ll just leave her to it.

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