āO, of- of course, no problem!ā
āWi, with, with pleasure!ā
Alright, we got a good grip!
āThatās why this town isā¦ā
Isnāt it natural that I would be more popular here, being seen as about 13 years old and playing as the older sister?
I mean, Sabine-chanā¦ She just turned 12 years old, right?
She was 10 when I first met her and itās been two years since then.
The height difference between me, which can be seen as a 13-year-old, and her, is hardly there anymoreā¦
Does that mean Iāve already lost to Sabine-chan in terms of femininity?
Sabine-chan, a 12-year-old?
And these boys are about 15-16 years old.
ā¦ā¦Anyway, the information gathering is progressing smoothly.
Because of Sabine-chanā¦
And as a result, the information obtained are as follows:
Apparently, the lord here wasnāt a lousy lord to his subjects.
ā¦But itās not like heās a āgood lordā eitherā¦
He collects taxes at a standard rate and manages the territory in the normal way.
I donāt know about the upper class, but for the common folks, heās a normal lord.
It seems that for the commoners, itās an unexpected good fortune.
However, the infamous imperial invasion robbed the commoners of their fortunes.
Due to the fighting and looting, the crops, money, goods, and the people of the territory suffered great damage, and the management of the territory suddenly deteriorated.
There was some support from the government, but apparently not enough to make up for all they have lost.
So, the lord was busy with his activities in the royal capital asking for loans at low-interest rates from the state, other lords, and large merchants, also taking other measures, which made it difficult to devote time to domestic affairsā¦ Thus, he puts a deputy in place.
ā¦The deputy was the mistakeā¦
āAnd so, the people, especially the farmers, are having a hard timeā¦ā
Eh? I have to ask about that in detail!
āWhat is the tax rate on farmers?ā (Mitsuha)
āYou see, they canāt afford to hire us young mercenaries to exterminate monsters like the mogera moles and the zumo worms, so theyāre in a pickleā¦ā¦
Oh right, weāre volunteers, you know? Weāre just getting pocket change to help the farmers, hahaā¦ā¦ā (Boy 1)
No, even if you act like that, Sabine-chan will find outā¦
And, evidently from this interaction, these two ignored all my words and only talked to Sabine-chan.
Right, the boys only talk to Sabine-chanā¦
ā¦ā¦This is so annoying!
Anyway, when I talked to them, theyād stare at me like saying, āMaid, stay back!ā.
And Sabine is aware of her mission, so she is smiling and continuing her information-gathering skillsā¦ā¦ with a streak of blue veins on her temple.
Yes, Sabine-chan will never forgive those who make fun of or ignore me.
Right now, sheās carrying out a priority mission, so sheās just desperately enduring it.
Sabine-chan, who usually performs perfectly, has been unmasked to the extent that I could notice.
ā¦ā¦In other words, thatās how furious she is.
The only ones who didnāt realize it were the two boys desperately trying to get closer to Sabine-chan.
Right now, the people in this restaurant, the other customers, and the store clerks. All of them have become aware of it.
Of course, there would be no one who wouldnāt get angry if their partner, who was traveling with them, was treated unfairly.
What the hell are these two thinkingā¦?
āā¦ā¦So whatās the tax rate for farmers?ā (Sabine)
āYeah, 75%, apparently.ā (Boy 2)
As you can see, if Sabine-chan is the one whoās asking, theyāll immediately tell her.
And at that high rate, Sabine-chan and I are at a loss for words.
The farmerās tax rate is 40% at the lowest and 60% at the highest.
40% is only possible if the territory has a very lucrative financial resourceā¦ owns a mine, is a commercial center in the surrounding area, or can grow spicesā¦ and if the lord is a good-natured person.
ā¦Which is to say, very rarely.
And 60% is the limit of the tax rate that is still sustainable.
At 70%, this is a special measure for a single year only, when the crops were good but the territory desperately needed the money for other reasons. It is said that if this continues for more than two years, either the farmer or the lordās family will perish.
ā¦ā¦And yet, thatās 75%. Moreover, itās continuous.
āā¦Are they stupid?ā (Sabine)
Sabine-chan says that butā¦
āNo, probably not. Theyāre not stupid, but huge idiots!ā
No, at such a high tax rate, thereās no way farmers can keep up much longer.
Besides, if thatās the tax rate on farmers, I can only imagine the toll tax, the sales tax, and so on.
If itās for the restoration of the damage caused by the empire, then itās counterproductive. That would only lead to the destruction of the territory.
ā¦Are they really insane?
After that, we collected information from these boys, and after a while, they ran out of useful information.
After all, they are only 15-16 years old novice mercenaries. They donāt have that much information about politics.
Besides, the information is based on rumors and lacks credibility.
In those cases, we have to increase the amount of information, compare, and analyze.
So, I sent a signal to Sabine-chan.
The one that says, āTheyāre running dry, letās move onā.
Receiving that signal, Sabine-chan looked relieved, wondering if she could finally finish her opponent.
ā¦Well, it seems like she was holding back quite a bitā¦
āThanks. Now then, weāll take our leave.
Iāll pay for the mealā¦ā (Sabine)
āEh? No, we have many more interesting things to talk about. How about we change shops, we can go to a sweets shop or somewhereā¦ā (Boy 1)
The boys panicked because Sabine-chan, who had been smiling, suddenly turned serious and cut off the conversation.
āBut you two donāt like my Oneesama, do you? I donāt want to talk with someone who shows such blatant ill will towards my beloved Oneesama!ā (Sabine)
I have a āplain faceā with a very ordinary appearance, whereas Sabine-chan is a āfluffy, proper young ladyā. Therefore, the boys thought of me as her maid, so they treated me lightly.
They probably didnāt even think that I was her actual sister, but someone she held in high regard.
And then, we paid and left the store, leaving the two boys who dropped their shoulders in disappointment behind.
The other customers and the store clerks looked at the boys like they were fools for throwing away a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity by their own foolish actions.
Yes, indeed, if those boys had treated the two of us properly, there was a non-zero possibility that we would hire them for a few days, ask them to work as our escorts, or gather information. And, if they worked diligently, I might have given them various preferential treatment after that.
But that possibility is already gone.
Now, on to the next. Forward!