Chapter 19 - ???: Winter? Isn't That Just a Weakling Now?
???: Winter? Isn't That Just a Weakling Now?
Translator : Elizabeth
Chapter 19
Viscount Dalleon, who works as the head of the Second Tax Division at the Ministry of Finance—the institution responsible for collecting taxes in the Empire.
He is something of a celebrity in the Empire. Specifically, as a man of strict principles. He is disliked by many nobles because bribes don't work on him, but….
“Hmm….”
He is a man with more flexibility than one might think. A man who provides opportunities for tax reductions to those who give to others, whether they are rich or poor. He is only hated because there are so few nobles like him; at his core, he is a good person.
Of course, being human, there are things even he finds difficult to accept.
“What on earth is the purpose of those letter-shaped incandescent bulbs?”
It was the fact that every single noble who came to the Ministry of Finance regarding tax arrears had an unusual mana lamp sparkling with their family name attached to their carriage! Outside his office window, the carriages were glittering incessantly.
“They call them 'signage'.”
“So why is that necessary? They could just use the family crest. Why waste incandescent bulbs specifically to hang the family name?”
The so-called ‘Baby on Board’ signs. What Archion had created to prank his biological father was recently spreading as a trend among the nobility.
“That’s why these days, they’re even hanging them with the crest combined. There’s one right over there.”
“Lord of Heaven, have mercy. They use incandescent bulbs that extravagantly?!”
Currently, more than 90% of the incandescent bulbs leaving Enersis were being used for such purposes. Dalleon felt lightheaded. He himself had introduced incandescent bulbs for work efficiency; the Ministry of Finance was currently in the process of implementing them as office lighting.
“They should use that money to pay their back taxes instead!”
“What can we do? For nobles, saving face is important.”
However, his subordinates, in turn, did not understand this Division Head.
“Tsk. Such things should be used to a minimum.”
Despite being a Viscount without a territory, Dalleon lived frugally, excluding the bare minimum required to maintain his dignity. His subordinates wondered where he spent all the bonuses he frequently received, only to find out he donated everything to the church, excluding his savings and living expenses. They were convinced his past life must have been that of a clergyman.
Of course, since he was also human….
Thud!
“Division Head! A delivery has arrived from Enersis!”
“Oh! Has it come?!”
There was one thing he absolutely could not tolerate.
“Finally, I shall escape this wretched cold…!”
The cold. For him, who lived with rhinitis and body aches every winter, winter was a season of calamity…! Therefore, as soon as he heard news of the electric heaters, he ordered them immediately.
“This is it.”
“Division Head? Unlike what I’ve heard, the shape is a bit... different…?”
“Naturally. This is a large heater used for heating a wide area!”
Of course, he had joined forces with the Head of the First Division to send a petition to the Emperor, and used the "sweet" budget he obtained from the Emperor, who was impressed by his hard work. Furthermore, he had used that 'flexibility' of his to send an order form that sneakily mixed in the Emperor's name….
“It would be best to place it there. No, would that be too far from your seat?”
“I think this distance will be fine.”
Archion’s workshop side had been startled and given them priority for the pre-order. The cylindrical heaters delivered this way were placed throughout the spacious Second Division office. Immediately after, Dalleon brought the ‘fuel’ he had prepared in advance.
“Isn't that a Standard Magic Stone?”
“Wasn't that only used for lighting mana lamps?”
“Watch closely.”
In fact, Dalleon was one of the nobles who had attended Enersis’s surprise banquet. Delford, who was screaming with joy due to excessive income, had sent a ‘Help!’ signal to the Ministry of Finance, which Dalleon answered by visiting the banquet.
Click, snap!Woooooong~!
“Whoa!” “My goodness, what is this heat?!”
Naturally, his subordinates were only now experiencing the electric heater that they had never encountered before.
“Hahaha! Division Head, what on earth is this!!” “Damn it…! My body is heating up non-stop!!”
In the Second Division office, which became sweltering in an instant, all the subordinates writhed as their bodies "melted," not knowing what to do. They all realized it. Why the Division Head, who hated the cold, had acted like a lady in love after returning from Enersis!
“It must be the first luxury I’ve indulged in in my life.”
“I understand those words now…!”
While everyone brought their chairs near the heater to melt away, the youngest member of the Second Division—a commoner who had passed the tax official exam—brought a kettle.
“Um….”
“Mm? What is it?”
“I touched it earlier, and the top of that heater was very hot….”
Standard common sense when boiling water was to hang a kettle over a wood-burning stove. However, the rookie placed the kettle on top of the cylindrical heater.
“I thought... maybe we could use it to warm things up like this….”
“Wait?! It can even be used for such a purpose!!”
“Our youngest is so clever!!”
It was a method that, if Archion saw it, would have made him shout, ‘That’s the method my father’s generation used!’ Due to the rookie’s novel idea, even those who brought lunch boxes used the heater as a warmer.
“Young Master Archion probably didn't even think of this use!” “No, he might have expected it from the moment he made the top of this cylinder flat…!” “Indeed, since the Young Master made the incandescent bulbs we use as well.”
The Ministry of Finance employees no longer had to worry about a cold working environment.
“Haaa, haaaa.” “To think I could eat a meal that hasn't gone cold…! Sniff!” “Why are you so moved by just that? Phew, though it is a joy to be able to keep drinking warm water.”
All of them, for some reason, began to feel like granting Enersis some convenience in their tax affairs.
As late winter approached, Archion was currently up in the Capital.
“As I said! It is impossible because we have no cash!!”
“Geez.”
Whether it was Yuringi or Yegacheffe. It was because this damn Marquess family was being stubborn about not paying the money. Things were going so poorly that the party involved, Archion, had traveled all the way to the Capital, yet even the 'Viscount What’s-his-name' who came as the Marquess's proxy was digging his heels in.
“I can't even just crush this guy….”
“What, you hold Professor Anton, the Marquess's precious younger brother, hostage and then spit out such reckless words?! Fine, we Yurinchevs also—”
“You already took that eunuch back to the main house. And… the Lidasid Tower Master doesn't seem to want war.”
“That’s just talk, just talk….”
“Both of you, please calm down for a moment.”
Because of this, an adjudicator from the Imperial family had even come down to mediate the situation. The problem was that the stress was significant because of the Marquess, who would jump into any gap created if Archion got angry to incite war.
“Archion, my lovely disciple.”
“I told you I’m not your disciple.”
“This one is always ready for war! Just call upon me!!”
“I said I don't need a war.”
Furthermore, the Tower Master, seemingly enjoying herself, had been subtly coaxing Archion to start a war since before they came to the Capital. This Tower Master, according to history books, has a record of single-handedly destroying an entire territory.
“Viscount. Let’s talk frankly. The Marquess of Yurinchev has no intention of paying the compensation, right? Honestly, I don't want to start a war with the Tower Master involved either.”
“Ugh.”
For the record, that aforementioned territory had been a Dukedom, and as rebels, they had actually pushed the Imperial family back until the Tower Master actually participated in the war. Of course, after she joined, they were supposedly wiped out in a single day….
“I am the party involved, and I’ve even received word from my father and the Tower Master that I may go to war if necessary. But, should innocent commoners die because of that?”
“Over just a few commoners dying—”
“Think about it. If even 10% of the territory's people die, a year's worth of farming and business will stagger. If it’s a territory-wide war on the scale of a total conquest... I don't even want to imagine it. And beyond that, is there a guarantee that you, Viscount, won't be caught up in it?”
Archion resented the Tower Master. Why did she hand him the right to mobilize an asymmetrical force! Because of that, Archion was forced into an untimely session of coaxing. If war broke out, it was obvious he would be dragged out too.
As Archion coaxed him gently, the groaning Viscount let out a deep sigh and opened his mouth again.
“Actually, the Marquess didn't care if Anton Yurinchev died.”
“He was bait, then.”
“He simply needed a pretext whether he won or lost the duel… It’s just that a brake was applied when the Lidasid Tower Master began protecting Enersis.”
As Archion said, a total territorial war meant the Viscount's own life would not be guaranteed. He also did not want war. However, if he signed a contract promising to spit out all the compensation immediately, this time the Marquess would take the Viscount’s head.
“When paying compensation, a massive 'punishment tax' is also attached to the paying side… that is why the Marquess is even more reluctant. So please, can you not reduce the compensation by the amount of that punishment tax? I beg of you! We will purchase Archion-made magic tools in bulk in the future!”
“I don't know… we have to pay a little bit anyway, don't we?”
Regardless, there was no reason for Archion to accommodate the Viscount. To him, both the Marquess who made him delay his research and his subordinate, the Viscount, were nothing but nuisances! Furthermore, far from researching, they had made him come here and engage in politics—which wasn't even his main field—so how could he look at them kindly? However, killing them was a bit much… his honest desire was for them to live so tightly that they could only afford two meals a day.
“Young Master Archion. The punishment tax is handled by the Second Tax Division of the Ministry of Finance. If you wish, I can call an employee for negotiation.”
“If you would do that, I would be grateful.”
“Thank you!”
In that sense, the mediator’s suggestion was welcome news to both sides. The mediator went outside to call someone, and—
“Young Master Archion. May I ask you one thing?”
“What is it?”
“Regarding that electric heater. Did you perhaps make the top of it flat as a consideration to allow people to warm up food?”
“……Tell me more in detail.”
Archion listened through the Viscount to the unusual way the electric heaters he made were being used. The story was that people were boiling kettles or heating lunch boxes on top of the electric heaters. It was frequently used that way in the Imperial public offices that purchased the heaters, and it had become a trend among the nobles who received them.
At this point, Archion thought,
‘People are the same everywhere.’
“Young Master, what do you mean by that…?”
“It’s nothing. I am simply delighted that everyone is using them well.”
“As I thought, the Young Master had it in mind! So, regarding that, is it possible to purchase an electric heater—”
Archion was quite amused, recalling the old school culture of his past life. Thinking that people thought similarly whether there or here, and being quite satisfied that daily life was becoming more affluent through such things.
While he was shooting the breeze with the Viscount,
Thud!
“I have brought him.”
The mediator brought a middle-aged man.
“Oh? Viscount Dalleon?”
“Haha, Young Master Archion! It’s been a long time!”
It was Viscount Dalleon, the very man who had resolved House Enersis’s tax issues! To think that not just a tax division employee, but the Division Head himself would grace them with his presence? Archion was only puzzled, but for the Viscount proxy, it was a bolt from the blue.
“V-Viscount Dalleon…!”
“I assume you are the proxy for Marquess Yurinchev.”
Wasn't that the notoriously strict Dalleon, Head of the Second Tax Division!! Now that he had descended, he would surely levy the punishment tax properly! Just as the Viscount was despairing that it was the end,
“Very well. Out of consideration for Young Master Archion, I shall waive the punishment tax. And as for the Enersis side… perhaps thanks to the virtue you have built up until now, I can waive it for you as well!”
“Eh?”
“What?”
“I will also extend the tax payment period for other matters. Although further coordination from the Imperial side will be required, I will do my best to ensure that taxes related to the compensation are waived as much as possible.”
He had handed down a truly merciful treatment, quite unlike the usual Division Head Dalleon.
“Waaaaaaah—!!! Young Master Archion!! I shall not forget this grace!!!!”
“Yes, well, I understand, so please let go of my hand.”
“And Young Master Archion. Please deliver these documents to the Count. They are tax reduction documents authorized by the Imperial Administrative Office, for a period of 5 years—”
Archion had unexpectedly become a merciful young man. Simultaneously, he received tax exemptions for the compensation as well as the sale of engineering goods.
Despite such happy events,
“Research, research, research…!”
For him, who was currently suffering from research withdrawal, even time spent sightseeing in the Capital was a waste. Gasping with withdrawal symptoms, he suffered from deep sleep with his dark circles completely gone!! So, as soon as the late winter weather cleared up, he hurried back to Enersis, and—
“My son.”
“Father.”
Archion discovered the mansion had turned into a sea of water.
“Just what on earth have you done?”
“The, well, the boiler exploded….”
An exploded boiler that had a kill switch? Why?
“What did you say you were doing?”
“We were trying to add piping to create a bathhouse... but it shouldn't stop working, so we removed the kill switch….”
Because that switch had been removed!!
While Archion felt a deep anger rising,
“A-actually, it was something the Tower Master forced me to do! I was simply unable to resist the pressure—”
“Delford! After swearing an oath with this one, you dare sell this one out?!”
After hearing that it was a project the elders—who were at least three times, and at most over a hundred times older than him—had conspired to blow up together….
“Both of you, shut up.”
“I’m sorry….” “My apologies….”
He finally exploded.
Archion could not understand. What was so important about a mere bathhouse that they had to blow up the boiler!
“The thing is… Archion, we were trying to implement the public hygiene you talked about….”
“Oh?”
And the words 'public hygiene' came out of his sister, Hermione’s mouth. It was a more thoughtful reason than he expected.
“To wash the residents?”
“Yeah….”
“If it’s for that, then….”
Just in time, the weather was gradually clearing up. At the same time, the stench of frozen street waste and the unwashed residents would fill the streets. It was the perfect environment for an epidemic to break out. Archion did not want to re-experience the non-daily life of the COVID season.
“Public bathhouse. Let’s build it, shall we?”
“Public… bathhouse?”
“While we’re at it, I want to pave some sewage treatment facilities too….”
So, a public bathhouse. As a secondary goal, Archion intended to build a sewage treatment plant specifically for the bathhouse.