Chapter 262
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 262
Chapter Title: Balt Plains and the Holy Flame
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"Consider yourself lucky."
"You..."
"I'll let it slide just this once."
"No, what do you mean you'll let it slide?!"
She ground her teeth in fury, yelling at me, but I let it go in one ear and out the other.
Finally, unable to take it anymore, she shot to her feet and jabbed a finger at me, shouting.
"Pack your bags and get the hell out to the Balt Plains right now!! Check for any problems there and don't even think about coming back until you've fixed them all!"
"This is outright persecution. Chasing away your brother who's worked so hard for your sake?"
"Huh?! Am I the Duke?! Huh?! Talking back to Her Grace the Duke right now?!"
It was about time to stop teasing her. Melissa's head was on the verge of exploding right now.
If she suddenly decided she couldn't handle it and vanished, I'd be stuck dealing with all of her responsibilities.
That absolutely could not happen.
"I shall obey, Family Head."
"The compass is pointing to the Balt Plains."
"Luna, you promised to help me... Haa. Fine. Just come along. What can I do if you insist on sticking to me?"
Melissa turned back to her papers with a groan.
"If I solve all the major issues, I'm going on strike for real. I'm gonna date and go out and have fun too!!"
"Everything sounds great, but if you're going to date someone, bring him before me first. He has to be stronger than I am."
"You mad bastard..."
Still, it was commendable that she wasn't talking about ditching her duties.
Truth be told, there weren't any real major problems in the Balt Plains area we were headed to.
"No issues with the gate's operation."
The vast plains stretched endlessly. The Balt Plains, one of Koral's two granaries, was also the first place I'd struck when I crushed Koral's forces.
Truthfully, there was no way to know how Koral's people viewed someone like me.
They might have cheered when I ousted their deeply hated former lord, or they might despise me for smashing their homeland.
Since you can't read people's hearts, I'd even prepared for the worst-case scenarios.
The Balt Plains were actually divided into several sections.
The portion granted to House Cascadia by the royals was just a part of the broad plains, called the Raskan region.
The main crops grown in Raskan were mostly wheat and rice.
The former lord in charge of the entire expanse had turned it over to the territory's people as tenant farms.
The system itself was common enough, but the problem was that the rents extracted from the tenant farmers had been brutally harsh.
Now the position was vacant, and ownership had transferred to House Cascadia.
Both Melissa and I had agreed we had no intention of exploiting the people excessively.
The previous lord who managed it had already been dismissed and chased out, but that didn't matter.
The guy knew nothing anyway. Reports indicated a proxy administrator had actually handled the territory's management.
There was no way to call the quality of life for the territory's people even remotely good, not even as empty flattery.
The Balt Plains were fertile land, and the yields here were so abundant that it was laughable they'd live in poverty even after paying taxes.
If the producers couldn't make money, how could they invest in creating consumer markets?
On the flip side, there was one place shining extravagantly amid all this.
A mansion built like some isolated palace from another world.
It was where the former lord had resided.
"House Cascadia, Duke's Household. Leon Cascadia."
"Uh... P-please come in. We've been waiting. I-I'm Guld."
An elderly servant, frozen stiff as he spoke of awaiting my visit, guided me inside.
As we passed down corridors still littered with pointless luxuries, I scanned the contents.
These all need to be sold off.
Guld, tense as if afraid I'd nitpick something, led me to the office formerly used by the lord.
I clicked my tongue at the enormous office, and he flinched violently.
"S-Sorry! I should have cleaned more thoroughly!"
"No. It's fine. That's not why. Let's start with the report."
I sat calmly on the provided sofa and skimmed the documents he handed over.
Overall financial flows, asset holdings, population numbers, troops—all detailed meticulously.
Guld then explained each point carefully, reporting on the territory's current state.
More capable than I expected.
Guld apparently held no official rank.
He was a local who'd lived here long, quick with numbers and sharp-minded, so the previous lord had appointed him long ago.
"Nicely organized and thorough."
"Th-thank you, Young Master."
"But isn't the treatment of the people excessively harsh? Too much, even."
"Th-that... was the former lord's policy..."
This man could serve as a proxy administrator in Melissa's place.
"The tax rate is insane to begin with. What lunatic sets it at 85 percent?"
From what I knew, even 60 percent crossed the line badly, and this went even further.
Impressive they'd survived here at all.
"Th-that... By national law, the people aren't free to relocate..."
"Enough. Drop the tax rate to 60 percent first. Then sequentially down to 40 percent."
He stared blankly at my words.
"Pardon?"
"Didn't get it? Tax rate to 60 percent. And we'll lower it to 40 percent afterward."
"F-Forty... percent..."
"From your view, would that hinder territory operations?"
"It... It would be operable, but you couldn't expect the usual revenue."
"Territory standards or mine?"
"The latter."
"And the people's lives?"
"Dropping to 60 percent alone would show noticeable improvement right away."
Quick on the uptake.
"Then proceed."
"Thank you!!"
The revenue from here would mostly go back into the territory's development anyway, and taking the leftovers later wouldn't be too late.
You had to build self-sustaining systems in each territory to stop pointless money drains.
Truthfully, 40 percent wasn't low.
But Razeros Continent's tax rates weren't low to begin with, and channeling the earnings into benefits would open up more directions.
Someday, we could lower it further.
That was a matter for later.
This was the result of House Cascadia suddenly having to manage far more land.
Even so, 85 percent was straight-up banditry.
Per the servant's report, 40 percent was plenty to run the territory.
Until now, most funds outside operations had gone straight to the lord's pockets, used as bribes to Koral's upper echelons. But Koral was gone now, along with the bribe-gobbling elite.
He must have assumed we'd continue the exploitation, because he flattened himself to the ground at my unexpected response.
"Such boundless grace, I have no place to put myself..."
"Enough. And prepare a full list of the luxury items in this damn mansion. Sell off anything useless for a territory development fund. Prioritize aid to those hardshipped by past taxes."
In a landmass like this, manpower was the most precious resource.
"Roughly, what developments do you plan to support first...?"
"I've heard there are a lot of recent magic artifacts that assist farming."
Of course, given the Balt Plains' vastness, such equipment already existed here.
But I wasn't talking about outdated stuff.
"I know the population here has dropped sharply. Even with lower taxes, population growth has limits."
"Then I'll check and submit a budget proposal."
"Good. Announce it to the people on my behalf. Anything else to report?"
He smiled at my question.
"No. This is more than enough."
That was when it happened.
Booom...
A massive wave of power spread from far away.
Even Guld, a commoner, could sense it, and our gazes snapped toward it simultaneously.
"......"
"Y-Young Master, that just now was..."
"Any events nearby that could cause something like that?"
"There've been reports of creeper hordes lately, but this sounds nothing like one of those exploding. Ah, come to think of it, that area's..."
"What?"
"An ancient ruin forest. Where a thousands-year-old divine statue stands..."
"Carry out my orders as instructed. I'll go check myself."
Most people would mistake it for mere strong force, but I could clearly feel it.
A condensed blast. An explosion too powerful to occur under normal circumstances.
Though Melissa had told me not to return from the Balt Plains—Raskan region specifically—until I'd assessed and resolved every issue, there really wasn't much to worry about.
With the biggest tumor excised, Raskan had more than enough potential to self-correct if given the right inputs.
The blast came from a small forest adjacent to the vast plains.
Black smoke billowed visibly from afar, pinpointing the spot.
What smell is this? Sulfur? No. Familiar somehow...
[Holy Flame scent confirmed.]
"Divine Beast Barba?"
[Affirmative.]
Holy Flame—the heavenly fire from the claws of the guardian that protected the space where Luna had been sealed before.
That scent. No idea why I'd forgotten it.
The closer I got to the smoke's source, the more the Holy Flame stench assaulted my nose from all directions.
Unlike the one guarding Luna's seal, this was clearly a fully intact Barba.
Upon reaching the area, unquenchable Holy Flames burned here and there, with massive claw marks gouged into the air itself.
And at the center stood a dilapidated temple.
Most of it was buried underground, with the entrance leading straight below.
"There it is."
As if to prove my words, a massive lifeform dangled limply at the temple entrance in the forest.
Undoubtedly a Divine Beast Barba, but already dead.
It looked like it had resisted fiercely before dying.
Gazing at the enormous, armored tiger-form beast, I felt a question rise.
"Why did a Divine Beast Barba suddenly pop out?"
I knew little of heavenly matters, so judging Barba ecology was beyond me.
Either way, it seemed clear this one had rampaged nearby and caused the blast.
"Strange. There's no reason for a Barba to go berserk around here..."
A chill ran through my entire body mid-sentence. One person who could provoke that came to mind.
"Damn it."
I dashed into the temple.
-GRRROOAAAR!!!
A Barba instantly blocked my path, barring the entrance with its claws bared.
Another one left, huh.
I hadn't expected two Barbas guarding this place, but that wasn't important now.
Its claws tore through the air, incinerating everything they touched as it charged.
But my sword slipped into its guard faster than the swing, shredding its body.
-Grrrk...
"Get lost."
I booted the staggering, blood-spraying Barba away and plunged into the temple depths.
Thud!!! Thwack!! Pow!!
The deeper I went, the louder the sounds of something being brutally pummeled echoed.
I quickly pinpointed the source.
"You... what are you doing?"
The one mercilessly stomping and pulverizing an angelic statue into dust was none other than Luna.
"Leon? Why're you here?"
"How could I miss that commotion?"
I knew whose statue that was.
The Holy Kingdom called it the Great Archangel—God's right arm, the embodiment of divine might: Michael. I'd already heard about it from Saintess Nadia.
I approached her as she silently kept kicking.
"So. Why are you taking it out on the statue?"
"Gotta smash every statue of that most loathsome bastard fucker I see."
Uh... yeah, maybe just leave her to it.