"Please co here to register your citizenship." The soldiers had created a stand to register all the villagers and, with the help of the village chief, the villagers were eager to be a part of the Ardagan family.
anwhile, Noel and Layla were staring at the land that had been trampled by the demons.
"To think you would be able to grasp everyone's heart with just a single al… I guess that's what should be expected from the most popular lord in the four kingdoms." Layla smirked, teasing Noel.
Noel shook his head. "Grasping people's hearts, huh? I did no such thing. I'm rely granting people what they deserve.
"anwhile, I'm still the lord of this territory. If I know how many people are there in my territory, I will know how much tax I should expect and how many soldiers I can conscript.
"That's why this is just my own selfish action. Having unregistered villagers like this simply sses with the system I've created."
Layla's smile turned wry. "Even then, you have managed to give your people sothing that their previous lords can't give. I bet that these people migrated here because their previous lord was too much. Abandoning them, not caring about them, taxing them too much, and so on."
"Yeah. While it's true that I can enrich myself by imposing higher taxes, it will make the people unhappy. At the sa ti, taxing them extrely low will also make the territory unable to function or develop properly.
"Hence, I'm rely giving them the sa amount of tax as others, which is 40%. In exchange, we're granting them protection and developing the area as much as possible.
"It is easier since this territory is new and not a lot of unregistered villages are there."
"40%, huh?" Layla crossed her arms. "In the past, I wondered what the lords were doing with all those taxes. I had seen my fair share of bad lords who taxed people all the way to 70% or even 80% but did nothing to help the citizens. 40% is still a bit higher than the norms, which are 30-35%, but you have given them things that other lords don't."
Noel nodded in agreent. "Yes. I can always enrich myself with the rune technology, so I don't really need it. Besides, my strength alone can give an unimaginable amount of wealth just by going into the demon territory.
"Hence, unlike other lords, wealth is the last thing of my worries. In exchange, it allows to focus on enriching the citizens.
"If my tax is high, I simply have to make the citizens earn more so that when they're taxed, they will still get more money compared to the previous one.
"It's just… Once this land is developed properly, there will be so problems. Then again, at that ti, there might be no need for quick developnt." Noel shrugged.
"That is fair." She nodded in understanding. "Still, you're going to develop this area, right? Not just this village, but also the area around it?"
Noel nodded. "Yes. Of course, the only thing that will be paid by the organization's funds is the developnt of this village. On the other hand, the surrounding area will be developed by the family's fund. We've got quite a bit of cash, you know?"
"From the airship, huh?" Layla contemplated. "I have seen a lot of lords, but at least you help people more than most lords. Besides, you are not as foolish as those selfless lords. They might be helping the children by giving a lot of things, but that makes their family unable to grow and help even more people. You should be proud of yourself."
"Thank you." Noel smiled. "Well, people just want to live. I have personally enjoyed my leisure life in the past, so I know how amazing it was to live leisurely.
"At the sa ti, if people end up indulging themselves too much, the society will collapse.
"It's really hard to govern a territory, let alone the kingdom. Still, I'm blessed because I'm only a lord instead of a king.
"As a lord, I can easily go around my territory and see what they need. anwhile, a king couldn't do such a thing. They could only assu how it was from the report and solved the problems accordingly."
"Are you perhaps…" Layla paused for a mont. "…criticizing the sovereign of this country?"
"Not at all." Noel shook his head. "I'm rely speaking a fact. Whether the reality is the sa or not, it's not up to to make that decision."
Layla fell silent. "I wonder if I should make a retirent ho here for myself? You're going to treat well, right, Marquis?"
Noel chuckled. "Say that after another two decades. You are barely older than , so you still need to work hard for that long before saying such a thing."
"Hahaha. You're so rciless." Layla chuckled. "I hope that you're able to achieve your dream. I'm curious about how you will shape this land in the future. Please don't turn into those bad lords."
"Who knows? People change continuously." Noel shrugged. "Still, I know that I won't be able to do it if I don't survive."
"The demon kings, huh?" Layla's expression turned solemn.
"Yeah."
"As commanded by the Moon Goddess, the Moon Temple will be on the humanity side and fight the demons to the very last man."
"That's very reassuring. Though, I hope so of you can stay behind. If all of you end up dying out there, no one will be able to help the people after that bloody invasion."
"Still, if we don't unleash everything we have, we might not be able to win against them."
"Fair enough." Noel chuckled.
"That's why I'm going to tell you this once. Don't tell anyone else." Layla paused for a few seconds. "The Moon Goddess wants to beco a spirit transcendence. She has promised to teach various things and a path to beco a spirit transcendence. At the very least, this will allow us to have a higher chance to succeed. However, this is a secret because the Moon Temple doesn't wish to be a force that will change the balance of a country."
Noel didn't look surprised, considering Layla had one of the five divine artifacts. He simply said, "Pardon? I didn't hear what you said. The wind was a bit too loud."
Layla chuckled. "Nothing. You must be hearing things. I didn't open my mouth this whole ti."
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