Chapter 376

The Next Noble
After completing the handover of the Kiblinki Saltas in the city of Corst, we set out for our next noble house.

Our next destination was the household of Baron Degusal.
I wondered what kind of noble he was.

"What kind, you ask? A persistently poor one."

"Poor, you say?"

"He was never granted a wealthy territory to begin with. As his liege lord, I've provided various forms of aid, but his domain’s management never seems to improve. Lily, do you have any good ideas?"

Good ideas, huh?
I wasn’t exactly an expert in territory management.
Maybe I should rely on Alizée for this one.

"If I may be so bold, Marquis Vardmoi, how much tax does Baron Degusal impose on his farmers?"

"Taxes? From what I’ve heard, about 70%."

"That won’t do. He needs to lower it to at least 50%, ideally 40%."

I had no idea farmers paid that much in taxes.
Then again, I never handled tax payments myself—I just deposited my earnings with the Trade Guild, and they deducted the taxes automatically.
Hearing Alizée’s statement, Marquis Vardmoi gave her a skeptical look.
It was no surprise—he had just mentioned the lack of tax revenue, and now she was telling him to reduce the tax rate further.

I was curious how Alizée would respond.

"In a land without a thriving commercial sector, the prosperity of farmers is essential for revitalizing the territory. If the lord is taking 70% of their crops in taxes, the farmers will struggle just to survive. Some will even abandon their fields and flee. That kind of taxation will never bring wealth to the land."

"I see… So that man is only looking at short-term gains."

"Most likely. This is the best advice I can offer from the perspective of the Trade Guild."

"Understood. By the way, Lily, how high were the taxes in your hometown?"

My hometown?
I never really paid attention to that.
But I had heard that the taxes weren’t too high.

"Probably around 20%. And that was only on the money earned from selling vegetables—crops that weren’t sold weren’t taxed at all."

"What!? That low!?"

"Of course, there were separate taxes on land, but… I wasn’t a farmer, so I don’t know the details."

"Hmm… If taxes on farmers are that low, it would greatly impact a noble house’s income. But at the same time, it means the farmers wouldn’t struggle to eat. The question is, what is the ideal tax rate?"

Uh-oh, now Marquis Vardmoi was deep in thought.
Even during our next break, he didn’t get out of the carriage.
According to Young lady Kou, who came down instead, he was muttering to himself the whole time, lost in contemplation.
I guess for a noble, deciding on the right tax rate is a serious matter.

It really made me think… I’m definitely not cut out to be a noble.

What do you think about this chapter?