Year 7448, Month 4, Day 8Now then, I wonder exactly what kind of price will be put on it.
"The estimate for this armor came out to be 3,620,000,000 Z per suit."
Hmm. Well I guessed about that much.
I returned ot my original position and knelt down taking the retainer"s pose.
Taking out taxes, bonuses, and wages then my income should be about 3/4ths..I guess roughly 5,400,000,000 for two suits of armor?
"You may raise your head...And also other than an amount of scales equal to one suit of this armor there"s about 40% of the scales remaining. The estimated price of these was evaluated to be 2,762,260,000 Z...This before tailoring them into armor so they"re expected to be made into a similar named item but because the effects of the magic attached to it are unknown. Also, I have no intention of making this portion into armor after all."
In other words..It"s over 7,500,000,000.
However..No, I guess it"s fine. It might be the place to settle on.
"But.."
"But?"
Even though it"s rude I unintentionally asked back.
I wonder what he"s going to say.
I can think of several things but it"s probably that.
"..It"s exceeded 10,000,000,000."
Eh? So it was that one.
Well I guess it"s fine.
"Ha."
Looking strange at my eyes the King made a faint smile before opening his mouth.
"I said I wouldn"t spit any lies. What should I do?"
Hmm. As expected the greatest matter of concern was that.
Though I guess you could say it"s only obvious.
In the end something like armor is just equipment for an individual after all.
No matter how good the abilities are on it there"s a limit.
"Well then, I present the armor and remaining scales this time to the Royal Family."
I wonder if he"ll let himself be tricked?
I tried saying it with as honest an expression as possible.
Well, just in case.
"Hey now, just because I said it would be worth a bit over 10,000,000,000 Z don"t try to change it to paying in kind. As expected it"s not worth that much right?"
The King said while sneering.
s.h.i.t.
If he would have accepted payment in kind then I would have been able to go without paying the 1,000,000,000 in luxury tax...
I thought there might be a chance but as expected I guess that"s no good? No matter what I was underestimating him too much.
"So it"s impossible.."
I made an expression like I was disappointed and looked up at the King.
"Right, this guy, you can"t let your guard down? He tried to cover up the luxury tax."
So he saw through it.
The Queen and his highness Richard are both making bitter smiles on the side.
"No, not at all! There"s no way I was trying to cover it up! I just thought that since it was worth 10,000,000,000 Z then maybe, nothing more! It"s a misunderstanding!"
I said it as if I was fl.u.s.tered but all three of them relaxed their expressions.
"Look, Richard. It"s just as Morin and I said right? This guy would definitely try to make the payment in kind."
The King made a triumphant face while looking at his highness Richard.
"Ha. Certainly. It seems I still need to cultivate my eyes for looking at people."
His highness Richard said to the King while laughing and looked at me.
"Greed-kun. I"ve already heard about the matter his majesty promised to you. However, I think it"ll be quite difficult."
Yeah, I know.
I made an obedient expression while looking up at his highness the prince.
"Certainly the soil is good and it"s easy to raise crops. There"s almost no hills so I think as long as you can cultivate the land then there"s no doubt you would have better harvests than anywhere else in the Kingdom. If you just think about that then 10,000,000,000 Z is an exceptional price."
Right.
His highness the prince changed his expression and tone of voice before continuing.
"However, a conflict always occurs in that area every couple of years. And it"s only been about 100 years or so since people started settling there so there"s a lot of monsters. No matter which land, other than the northern parts which aren"t included in the Dirt Plains and are safe, are dangerous areas to the point where you can"t relax and live in them without guards."
That"s why the army is stationed there, is what you want to say right?
"You understand that there"s that sort of reason behind the price of 10,000,000,000 Z right?"
"Ha. That"s something I"ve already resolved myself for."
His highness the prince looked into my eyes for a short while before nodding and backing off.
"Hmph. Something like that, this fellow should have known it since long ago..Last year, several dark elves have been spotted wandering around the Dirt Plains. I"m sure it was this fellow having them investigate. Right? Isn"t that correct?"
The King said while making an expressions as if everything was on the palm of his hands.
Oh my.
It"s true dark elves stand out after all.
I"m sure they only made some small talk for the sake of the investigation which is easy to forget about but it would still leave an impression that they talked with a dark elf.
"So you already saw through it all.."
In that case there"s no meaning in acting dumb.
"And? Which place do you want?"
"Well then, I"ll state it without reservation...I wish for the territory farthest to the west, Count Riguru"s territory."
I said it respectfully with a smile on my face.
"Hm~m. I could have sworn you would pick the second territory from the east, Count Doresura"s territory though...Can I ask the reason why?"
The King asked as if it was really unexpected.
Well, normally it would be as just as the King says.
It"s going slightly off topic but let"s go over a simple review of the Dirt Plains.
The northern parts of the Dirt Plains. In other words the southern side of Rombert is largely split into the territories of four Counts lined up with each other.
Going from the east they"re Count Erasu"s territory, Count Doresura"s territory, Count Ranseru"s territory, and Count Riguru"s territory.
First, the one further to the east Count Erasu"s territory. It"s said to be the territory with the narrowest area. Additionally it"s the territory with the lowest amount of area that"s a part of the Dirt Plains as well but every part of it other than the Dirt Plains are reasonably cultivated. There"s 5 towns. 11 Villages. Among those 3 are pioneering villages. The portion of the territory which stretches out to the eastern part of the Dirt Plains has comparatively spa.r.s.e forests so it would be the easiest to cultivate the land. However, it"s the one with the worst progress in cultivating. I"ll mention the reason later.
Next, the second territory from the east Count Doresura"s territory. In the ranking for how much progress has been made in the territories it"s number two. Also, out of the four territories it"s said to be one with the largest area. However, even if we say that the territory has been cultivated, the parts of it covering the Dirt Plains are covered in deep forests and because of the monsters living there not much progress has been made to spread it out. The primary source of income is the crops from the cultivated portions of the northern Dirt Plains and the ores mined from the mountainous area. There"s 4 towns. 17 Villages. Among which 7 are pioneering villages.
Then, the second territory that spreads out from the west is Count Ranseru"s territory. In terms of cultivation progress it"s the highest and obviously the area which can be used for farmland is the largest as well, in the north of it there"s a small mountain region that spreads to Count Doresura"s territory in the east which copper and iron are mined as well. The number of towns is 5. 18 villages. Among which 7 are pioneering villages.
Finally is the territory I asked for, it"s Count Riguru"s territory farthest to the west. It"s third in terms of area of the territory. It"s also third in the amount of area the Dirt Plains take up within the territory. Just like Count Erasu"s territory this place as a decent amount of territory outside of the Dirt Plains as well. However, more than half of that is a mountainous district shaped like a scrunched up bowl leading over to Viscount Yoraizu"s territory. The number of towns is the lowest at 3. 13 Villages. Among which 4 at pioneering villages. In the southwest of the territory there"s a mountain called Mount Berosu which acts as the border with Devas and in the north of that while it"s only a bit it"s the only territory among the four which is touching the sea.
Among these Count Riguru"s territory and Count Doresura"s territory are the ones with comparatively long terms of conflict with Devas Kingdom while Count Erasu"s territory and Count Ranseru"s territory have comparatively short terms of conflict compared to that.
Count Erasu"s territory has the lowest amount of territory that"s part of the Dirt Plains but almost all of the territory in the plains is covered in spa.r.s.e trees so since it"s the one that seems easiest to cultivate and the n.o.bles that live on the Devas side of that are considerably ambitious and belligerent that seems to be the reason.
Count Ranseru"s territory has the most progress towards cultivating farmland and is abundant so it"s easy for others to have their eye on it.
Therefore, first Count Erasu"s territory and Count Ranseru"s territory disappeared from the options.
Count Doresura"s territory is the one with the greatest area and along with that it"s obviously the one with the largest area in the Dirt Plains as well. On top of that there"s an already developed mine in the safe northern parts of it.
I thought this was the best candidate at first as well.
However, I changed my thoughts after seeing the results of the dark elves, Kuro, and Mary"s investigation.
While the quant.i.ty is low for each type the mountain in Count Riguru"s territory produces lead, mercury, sulfur, and various mineral resources. Of course, it also produces iron, copper, and bra.s.s as well.
In other words the Count Riguru"s territory is more convenient to me from a mineral resource front than Count Doresura"s territory.
And then there"s another two more reasons.
One is a problem with the lords of each of the towns and villages. The territory with the highest proportion of indigenous lords is Count Riguru"s territory. In other words, you could say it"s the one where I will inherit the largest number of low ranking n.o.bles as well. Among our current members I intend to have several of them elevate to peerage but I"m sure it would difficult for them to suddenly be in possession of a village. The more low ranking n.o.bles they have as seniors in the area the better.
Hn? What if I don"t have enough seats? Isn"t there as much territory outside of Rombert that I want spreading to the south? If it develops to the point of running out of seats then it"s just a matter of invading, stealing the territory, and splitting it up to them.
The other reason is close to a gamble. But, I think it"s got reasonably good chances. Count Riguru"s territory hasn"t been the stage for conflict over these past 7 years. Most likely the next stage will be here. It would be ideal if the conflict occurs before I inherit it then they split up it like usual. Well, for the time being after I inherit it I have no intention of going out from my side but in the case that they attack I"ll use guns or gunpowder or whatever to repel them.
Now then, returning back to the discussion.
It was the reason I chose Count Riguru"s territory.
"I"m sure your majesty already knows but I was born on the Jindaru Peninsula. In order to do trade with rubber products Count Riguru"s territory which is the closest is the most convenient. Also, it"s strange saying this but another major reason is because the frequency for conflicts with Devas Kingdom seems low."
"I see...Hmm, well fine. Even if I leave it to you at soonest it"ll take one year so I"m sure you"re aiming for the next battle to occur during that time."
The King showed a bit of admiration but soon after changed his expression and stood up.
And then, stepped off from the throne and came before me.
"The only ones here are my family after all...Hey, Greed"
"Ha"
"This armor is quite impressive. Not only does it have a magic effect so you don"t feel the weight but it"s also got an excellent defensive effect as armor. To the point where a full suit of plate armor can"t even compete with it."
"Ha"
"That"s why this time I"ll give you a big discount and permit paying in kind."
"Wa ha...Thank you very much!"
So he has a good side. Though it doesn"t suit his face.
"And then..it was a promise. I"m sorry for making fun of your dream back then. It seems I was mistaken. Sorry about that, forgive me."
"..Of course there"s no problem."
So he remembered?
When the King said that, hearing it her highness Queen Morairu made a faint smile while looking at his back.
Fufu...
I had to desperately resist my face loosening up while still prostrating myself.
"There"s still the matter of withdrawing and taking over from Romiosu and his subordinates that I"ve appointed as Count Riguru. Starting in the summer of next year you"ll be Count Riguru. Don"t be negligent in your preparations until then.."
Count Riguru Alan.Greed is it.
There"s still plenty more to go after this!