Fun Territory Defense by the Optimistic Lord (Novel) - Chapter 104 - We Haven't Done Anything Wrong

Chapter 104 – We Haven’t Done Anything Wrong

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Translated by Sylph

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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We hadn’t done anything wrong, but if people started suspecting us of all sorts of things, it wouldn’t be funny.

Thinking that, I sorted and organized the materials and magical beast parts so they’d be easy to count.

Transparency is the selling point of Van-kun’s governance. Fair and square, clear accounting, honest management, finishing touch to the dragon, fine food and delicacies, those are the mottos.

Well, I wasn’t totally sure what that meant, but as long as we disclosed everything and said, “There you go,” it would probably be fine. Then surely they’d say, “What an upright attitude. Someone this honest would never embezzle or evade taxes!”

There could be no flaw in Van-kun’s plan.

Thinking that, I briskly finished the preparations and got us to the point where we could say come any time.

But as the days passed, Bell’s expression darkened more and more. And the magical beast materials kept appearing in the warehouse no matter how much we lined them up.

“Rockscale Serpent, Blackwing Skyfish, Giant Troll… ah, even Red Saber Tigers. Whoa, Black Drake!? That’s a lower dragon, isn’t it!”

Little by little, the materials from larger magical beasts came into view, and in the end even dragon materials showed up.

As I stared in surprise, Bell began muttering in a small voice.

“…It’s just, these magical beast materials and the like still haven’t been reported not only to the royal capital, but even to the Commercial Guild…”

“Huh? Why not?”

When I asked that in confusion, Bell turned a tearful-looking face on me full of grievance.

“…Because the adventurers keep bringing back magical beasts from the dungeon like idiots, and even the Adventurers’ Guild can’t process them all, so they come to our company. Then the Apkallu keep bringing rare ores intended for Van-sama, maybe as taxes, so Espada-sama sorts them and sends some to our company… and then adventurers swarm the weapons and armor Van-sama casually makes… on top of all that, we simply haven’t had the hands to keep up with the materials from the magical beasts being overhunted for city defense… no matter how hard we work, all we can do is skin and strip the materials…”

With that, Bell made a strong appeal for how overworked he was. If I remembered right, reports about hiring employees had been coming up every week, but even so there still wasn’t enough labor.

Now that I looked closely, there were dark circles under Bell’s eyes, and he seemed to have gotten a bit thinner.

“Poor thing.”

“…That didn’t sound particularly heartfelt…”

At my voice of sympathy, Bell, whose heart had been worn completely ragged, made a statement full of distrust in humanity.

No matter how busy you are, you should never end up like this.

“So, the immensely profitable Bell-Rango Company has been falsifying a great deal of its sales, is that it?”

“We’re not falsifying anything!? I told you, we just haven’t had time to process it all! Were you listening!?”

Bell defended himself with obvious agitation.

Laughing, I apologized with a, “Sorry, sorry,” and pointed at the materials.

“Then why not just say these materials are planned for reporting or something?”

At that, Bell crossed his arms and groaned.

“Mmm… there are just so many of them… I don’t know if anyone would believe us… actually, this will be my first time dealing with a Commercial Guild investigation. Or rather, I’ve never even spoken to them face to face.”

“Wait, really? Is it that unusual?”

“No, I think even the Mary Company was probably inspected every year, but the higher-ups in the company handled it, so people like us never…”

Bell answered that with a troubled expression. Thinking about it, that made sense. This was basically like a tax office investigation. Naturally, someone central to the organization, someone who could explain things properly, had to deal with it.

“…Well, it’ll work out somehow.”

Since this was our first time, there wasn’t much point thinking too hard about it. I decided to give up early.

Then Bell looked on the verge of tears again and let out a deep sigh.

“I’m going to keep struggling a little longer. I’ll finish the ledgers for the materials so I can prove we were going to report them. They’re not even half done yet, but still…”

“Sounds rough. Then we’ll gather paperwork on this side that shows how overloaded the Bell-Rango Company is. Have someone compile the monthly tax documents from the company, the hiring reports, and the sales reports for the weapons and armor I made too.”

The moment I said that, Bell made a strained, ugly little sound.

Watching Bell lose color and break out in a cold sweat, I muttered with half-lidded eyes,

“Don’t tell me you’ve been evading taxes…”

“N-no… actually, the opposite.”

“The opposite?”

When I tilted my head, not understanding, Bell let out a dry laugh and looked at me.

“We’ve been paying more tax than necessary…”

“Really? Well, thanks very much, then.”

To think he’d been doing something like that for me in secret. I ought to wholesale him some new weapons and armor next time. Maybe he’d cry tears of joy from all the extra profits.

That was what I was thinking when I suddenly noticed something important.

“Wait. Doesn’t that mean I’m the one who’s going to be suspected the most?”

When I asked that, Bell took on a solemn face.

“…First will be Van-sama. Second will be us, as the ones suspected of being in collusion with you…”

“Do you have any idea what you’ve done to me?”

“M-my apologies!”

When I suddenly started complaining, Bell bowed deeply. I gave a bitter smile and waved one hand.

“I was joking. I can’t get angry since you did it for my sake. But from now on, just pay the normal amount of tax, okay? I’m already getting more than enough money.”

When I said that with a smile, Bell nodded while holding back tears.

The truth was that Seat Village’s revenue was ridiculous. The tax income coming up from the Bell-Rango Company was certainly large, but it was still only part of the whole. To be honest, the profits from selling the magical beasts that the Seat Knight Order and Espa Knight Order hunted while defending the village far exceeded it.

And naturally, the weapons and armor I sold, as well as the ballistas and arrows, were generating enormous profits too.

On the spending side, all essential goods and consumables within the village were being provided by the Bell-Rango Company at prices that actually ran at a loss, and whatever portion of that shortfall remained I was covering out of my own funds. I also paid for the Apkallu’s food, daily necessities, and miscellaneous goods.

There were also the operating expenses of the knight orders, the deliberately high wages set for the knights, the wages of Espada and the others, and subsidies for farmers, whose incomes tended to be lower. Incidentally, I was still paying the head tax for every single resident too, and I had no intention of billing them for it later.

And yet, despite being a territory with social benefits far more generous than other lands, we were still overwhelmingly in the black.

This would be the point where I’d like to say it was all due to Van-kun’s magnificent skill in managing a territory, but in fact that wasn’t really it.

The real reason was that the things other territories struggle with most, roads, walls, buildings, and even infrastructure, were costing us nothing.

That was enormous. Just building walls alone normally takes months and requires throwing massive labor at the project.

That was why our territory was turning a pure profit on a scale no one else could hope to match.

“…Hm? So if we just explain Seat Village’s operating conditions properly, won’t that solve the problem somehow?”

“D-do you really think it will?”

Bell looked at me anxiously when I reached that conclusion.

No, no. Van-kun’s calculations should be flawless.

“Leave it to me. As lord, I’ll take on the Commercial Guild’s investigators personally.”

When I thumped my chest and said that, Bell finally looked relieved.

And after that sort of exchange, just two days later, advance notice reached Seat Village that the Commercial Guild’s investigators would soon arrive.

Until the investigators actually came, the Bell-Rango Company clerks, Espada, Till, and Kamushin all helped too, and we spent night after night up until midnight making documents and filing them.

Honestly, this kind of trouble had been completely beyond anything I expected.

With more than a little tension, I went out to receive the Commercial Guild investigators.

There was still no word yet, but I hoped Arte was doing well. I just hoped she wasn’t pushing herself too hard.