Chapter 256: Shouldn’t We Collect Taxes Even More Strictly So Peasants Have No Energy Left to Rebel? ← What Is This Girl Saying

’Dura-san. For such-and-such reasons, I’m going to Lowblec. I’ll leave these rusted swords here, so please use them as tools for hanging pots or something.’

’Understood. Masaharu-san, the moment I take my eyes off you, you get involved with girls all over the place.’

’Hahaha... It would be nice if the flags were raised in a good direction, but this time I’m not so sure.’

’Ufufu. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens.’

What was that meaningful laugh? Did Dura-san already know what would happen with her space-future-prediction? Since she wasn’t warning me, it meant nothing bad would come of it.

Hmm.

Even though I rescued a princess who was being attacked by villains, it doesn’t feel very fantasy-manga-like. I think a princess should be quieter, more lovely and obedient, and fall for me.

For the time being I had no choice but to take this nameless royal girl to Lowblec.

"Come. Let’s go. Pull the reins."

"That’s the opposite direction. Look. This way. I swear by the Dragon God Lucia that I will take you to a safe place."

Holding the horse’s reins, I started walking toward the royal capital.

"Um... By the way, I’ve never heard of the Dragon God Lucia."

"I swear by Larme and Lyute, but Lucia is a god who is close friends with Larme and Lyute."

"I see. I also swear by Larme and Lyute, but it would be better not to speak the name of the Dragon God Lucia. If you utter it before a bishop you will be suspected of heresy. Be grateful that I do not put you under the Inquisition."

"Ah. So that kind of thing exists. I learned something useful. I swear by the Saint Rafilia and thank you. Thank you very much."

I had indeed been careless.

Speaking the name of an unknown god would make people think I was a heretic. I needed to be careful.

I didn’t know the geography around here, but for now I headed in the direction of stronger Battle Power.

"By the way, why were you attacked? You’re a princess, right? I swear by the sun in the sky that I’m curious."

"There’s no need to swear by so many things."

"Ah, yes."

I kept overusing "I swear by such-and-such" or "I stake it on such-and-such" because it was amusing. If I said "I swear by breasts" it would probably cause misunderstandings.

"The participants of the Christmas Tournament have pitched their tents around Lowblec, have they not?"

"Yes. As expected, those are the tents of the Crito participants."

"Um. As my noble duty, I was distributing bread to them. However, my horse ran wild. I became separated from my attendants."

"I see."

Is she a good person?

Is it charity?

Is she accumulating good deeds for religious reasons—that giving to the poor will let her go to heaven after death?

I don’t know, but giving bread to people is a good thing.

"Country... Are you here to participate in the Christmas Tournament?"

"That’s right. Ah, are you using ’country bumpkin’ as an insult? You shouldn’t say that."

"Why?"

"Well, it doesn’t feel good when someone says it to you."

In modern Japan "Tagosaku" has a certain emotional or scenic flavor and is used in the names of traditional restaurants and izakaya, but originally it was an expression that looked down on peasants.

"Why?"

"Why? You’ll get attacked again by people like those bandits earlier."

"Why. Why did those people, even after learning my name, still not prostrate themselves and instead attack my noble self? I swear by Saint Giorgio, my name is Charlotte du Roi. As expected, lowly people like country bumpkins must have more taxes squeezed out of them and be worked until they can no longer move! Because tax collection is too lenient, they still have the energy left to attack me and do improper things."

"Uwaaah..."

What an incredible thing to say. Squeeze taxes until they have no energy left?

It’s an outrageous argument, but she was probably raised hearing that from her parents.

This must be privileged-class thinking.

If the first heroine I met after coming to another world had been this girl, I might have been fairly screwed.

"Peasants don’t attack people because they still have energy left. Isn’t it because too many taxes are taken and they have no food, so they try to steal from others?"

"Why do they have no food?"

"Well, if they pay wheat as tax, they can’t make bread, right?"

"That’s why I’m giving them bread, isn’t it?"

"Hmm. Do you distribute bread to everyone every day? There are tens of thousands of peasants, and they all want bread every day? Do you give bread even on ordinary days? Or are you only giving bread to the people in the tents?"

"Uum. Then if there’s no bread they can just eat sweets, can’t they?"

"There it is! The line that ranks high among lines you never hear in real life, yet also ranks high among lines you might hear in another world!"

"What are you saying?"

"Sweets also use wheat flour, right?"

"Is that so?"

"Ah. When you only eat the finished product you don’t know the ingredients."

"If there’s no wheat they can just take wheat, can’t they? Aren’t those fields over there full of it? There’s wheat as far as the eye can see, so they can make plenty of bread."

"Yeah. That’s true, but wheat can only be harvested twice a year, and only the tip is turned into flour so the yield is small. Moreover, when it’s turned into flour a little more has to be paid as tax."

"Tax is taken just for turning it into flour?"

"Yes. When they use a windmill or watermill, whether the owner is a merchant or a lord I don’t know, but a little is taken. In the end almost no wheat remains in the peasants’ hands, so they boil tree leaves and eat them. There are also years of poor harvest depending on the weather, and they probably don’t have proper fertilizer. Actually, they’re eating cheaper things like barley or rye rather than wheat. They rarely get to eat wheat bread."

This is bad. I’m more knowledgeable about Naropa than this country’s royalty.

"Isn’t a poor wheat harvest caused by insufficient respect for royalty and nobility and insufficient prayers to God?"

"I think it’s simply caused by the weather."

"What do you mean?"

"Sometimes it doesn’t rain at all, or it rains too much, or it’s too hot, or too cold. That’s something human power can’t do anything about. When the wheat harvest fails, reducing the tax makes the peasants happy."

Agricultural tools and fertilizer also have a big influence, but there’s no point talking about things beyond this country’s civilization level.

"Is that so? But my private tutor says that the peasants are wicked people who pretend the harvest is poor and secretly hide wheat."

"No no, if you look at a peasant’s house you’ll understand. There’s nowhere to hide wheat. People who live in cities might not know, but peasants live in small huts made by simply assembling boards, you know?"

"I hear that wicked peasants hide wheat and gold coins under the floor."

"Poor people’s houses don’t have underfloor spaces; the ground under their feet is just dirt. If they had wheat, they wouldn’t need to attack people and steal like those villains earlier, right? They’d wear better clothes, right? When you return to the castle you wear dresses, don’t you? Commoners can’t buy riding clothes that hide not only the thighs but even the calves the way you do."

"I see. There’s some logic to that. You seem quite eloquent."

"Right?"

I started to feel she wasn’t a bad girl, but her knowledge was extremely biased.

Well, this is probably the normal way of thinking for the privileged class of this era.

A fantasy princess who is kind to the common people simply doesn’t exist...

"Everyone is poor. Even I am naked under this long robe."

"Unable to buy even clothes? Impossible. You must be wearing silk underneath."

"I’m really naked. Want to see?"

"Um."

"Look."

Of course I couldn’t show my cock, so I lifted the long robe and showed my butt and back.

"To actually show your naked body—you are a fellow who knows no fear. I swear by the White Rose, if you anger me, by the next day your head will be hanging from the city walls."

"You’re the one who said you wanted to see my naked body."

"Even so, there’s no need to show your butt. What kind of life have you lived that lets you expose your lower body without the slightest hesitation? The wild rabbits and birds hiding around here must have been quite surprised."

"Animals are naked all the time, so if they see my naked body they’ll think I’m one of them and come closer."

"In that case, even if you’re bad at archery you won’t have trouble finding food."

After leaving the wheat field the grassland continued, and countless tents were pitched. Some had spears with crests stuck in them, and some had horses tied beside them. Probably Crito participants.

Beyond the tent-filled grassland the streets of the royal capital spread out.

It would be pitiful if this girl got attacked again here, so for now I’ll take her into the city.