Chapter 56: The Sugar and The Taxes

Today’s blasts ended without any problems, except that it was almost late in the day because it took a surprising amount of time.

With that, I was free until the recapture of Broken, which was going to held 6 days later.

Before that, I had to meet the mayor to get permission to grow sugarcane.

When I went to the Decibator Guild for the meeting, the mayor arrived right in time.

「Excuse me. I have a little request to make. 」

「What? I’ve confirmed that your rank will go up to C. If you have other questions you must go to the Photoren Guild. But I’m sure it will go up.」

「Why not do it in the Decibator Guild? 」

「Ah, yes. That’s because the adventurer rank is only a decoration in Decibator. The color of the Guild card changes from the C-rank, but for that reason, we didn’t have enough room to carry equipment and materials. We would waste them in vain.」

Was it in the past tense because I now transported it all together?

Even so, I wondered why a card would reduce the equipment of the Guild…

「Well, that’s not the request. I’m thinking of growing sugarcane on an island, so I’d like permission to do so.」

「Sugarcane? As far as agriculture is concerned, it should be under the jurisdiction of the Commerce Guild, right? 」

「Yes. But for sugarcane, people told me that I had to talk with the mayor, so I came to meet with you to talk about it. 」

「…I don’t know what to say upon hearing your request. No matter how much Kaede help us recapture Broken, I can’t allow it if it’s something that might cause damage to the city. 」

Well, as a ruler of the city, the response was natural.

「How many kilometers should I stay away to avoid negative impact? 」

「Ah well….In the case of sugarcane, the affected distance is about 200 km, and in the case of an island, the distance is the sea, so it should be 40 km away from the front line. 」

The distance was probably the radius of the sugarcane influence.

It seemed to be one-fifth in the sea, but it was still quite far…

「Is the front line the boundary between the place where I cut the trees and the place where they’re intact?」

「Generally speaking. If you cut the trees, until the monster countermeasures from there become stable, it will be a place where you can stably suppress the monsters. 」

「In other words, now it’s Decibator, and if we recapture Broken, it will become part of Decibator? 」

「Yes, that’s right. 」

「The island I’m planning to use is about 60 kilometers from Decibator. I don’t think it’s that close to Broken.」

「Well, then there is no problem. It’s okay if you use an island more than 40 kilometers away from both Broken and Decibator. If you want the procedures to be quick, I’ll write you a letter of acceptance, so you can take it with you. 」

Oh, I got permission.

The application could really go ahead now, well, if the other government offices did not complicate things.

「I would be grateful if you could do that. By the way, when and where should I go at the beginning of Broken’s recapture? 」

「Have you not heard yet? In the morning, 6 days from today, you can pick up your luggage at the Photoren Guild and come straight to this Guild. 」

While saying that, the mayor took out something that resembled a paper, wrote something on it, folded it in four and went into the back.

A little later, the mayor appeared and gave me the letter. It was engraved with a blue magic circle, and a quartet of paper was tightly closed as if glue was applied.

The magic circle pattern had a coat of arms as previously seen near Decibator.

Was it like a sealing stamp on a letter?

「Is it paper? 」

「Hmm? This? Oh, this is monster skin. It’s a little pricey, but it will cost more if you carry heavy writing tools. I don’t like to waste money. 」

Monster skin…Was it something like parchment?

「Thank you very much. See you in 6 days. 」

「Yes, I’m counting on you. 」

I thanked the mayor and left the Guild.

It was not night yet, so it was better to go back to Photoren and deliver this paper to the Commerce Guild.

Giving it early should lead to a quick permission.

So I went back to Photoren, the same way I came a while ago.

With my current MP, it seemed that I could exceed the speed of sound, but since the damage to the surroundings would be serious, I had few opportunities to use it.

Still, the acceleration was different from before. It took less than 3 minutes to get on subsonic speed.

As a result, I arrived at Photoren in less than 40 minutes.

I went straight to the Commerce Guild.

Unlike the other guilds, there were only two reception desks at the Commerce Guild.

I spoke to the receptionist who was closer to me about the matter.

「Excuse me. I received a letter from the mayor of Decibator, what should I do? 」

With that said, I showed the letter with the magic circle.

「It’s definitely from Decibator. Please wait a moment. 」

Soon after, the receptionist withdrew to the back, and a chubby and calm man appeared.

I didn’t know if he was actually the branch chief because he looked too calm.

But it seemed that he was the actual head of Photoren’s Commerce Guild branch, the person whom I tried to speak to during last time.

「Oh, are you Kaede-san? Is that letter about the effects of your agricultural endeavor on monsters?」

「Yes, a part of it, but I was able to get permission. 」

While saying that, I handed the letter. The branch chief held a magic stone over the letter.

Then, the magic circle changed from blue to red, and the letter was unlocked.

The branch chief read it and nodded lightly. Then, he said.

「I understand. I can give you permission, but is it okay for us to talk about taxes? 」

It was pretty quick, much faster than expected.

Originally, it was said that permission could be given by one person, but perhaps he wanted it as a reference opinion.

It was possible that he wanted someone to pass on the responsibility in the event of damage.

I kept the letter after he read it in my pocket.

「Ah, may I bring Mercia? I think Mercia will take care of that matter, not me. 」

「I understand. I will wait for you. 」

It would not be a funny story if someone inadvertently asked for tax evasion while I was on an adventure or traveling.

Even in certain games, tax evasion was a bad karma. I would be chased around by bounty hunters and guard men as if I were a big criminal.

Even Japanese tax offices were scary. Of course, I would not be killed, but on days when they inadvertently used the tax evasion, I would have to pay an additional interest of nearly 15% a year, and even if I went bankrupt, I would not be able to escape from the tax.

In short, one should pay the taxes firmly.

Mercia was at Maple Company, probably because the supervision of the dismantling of monsters was over.

When I looked at the clerk in the corner of the store, I thought that she was training her staff.

「Mercia, are you free? The branch chief will explain about taxes because I got permission to grow sugarcane.」

「Yes, I’ll go with you now. Then, please do exactly as I said. 」

『Yes! 』

After I told her about the matter, Mercia gave instructions to the clerk and then followed me.

It seemed that it was a rookie education.

When I hurried back to the Commerce Guild, the branch chief waited for us near the entrance.

「Would you like to hear the explanation? 」

「Yes, I will also participate for the time being. 」

「I understand. Let’s go to the back room. 」

While saying that, the branch chief entered one of the rooms in the back at a slow speed given his physique. After we had entered the room, he made it soundproof.

「It will take a little, so please sit down. 」

After seeing Mercia and I sit down, the branch chief began to talk about the conditions.

The story wasn’t as long as I expected, but it was not short either.

However, the talk included some crushing small loopholes, but the important points were summarized as seen below.

The company was said to be able to take 20% of the gross profit minus the amount determined by the number of employees.

The fixed amount varied depending on the class. 10,000 Tael per month per slave and 20,000 Tael per month per general employee got subtracted.

In short, the tax would be cheaper if we hired a lot of employees.

In addition, 1000 Tael per kilo was added as a tax to sugar.

However, even this was considerably cheaper. It seemed that if one imported sugar from abroad, the charged amount would be 10,000 Tael per kilogram.

It was normal to impose taxes on imported goods from abroad, but due to the nature of sugarcane, it was necessary to manage the cultivation of sugarcane properly.

Finally, a 20,000 Tael tax would be brought in per month for the port usage fee when using a ship, depending on the size of the ship I ordered.

Whether this tax was delicate or not, did not matter much since from the payer’s point of view it didn’t change the whole situation.

That was all for taxes. He then started to introduce a person who was familiar with sugarcane cultivation.

It seemed that person was interested in sugarcane cultivation because he was the grandson of a person who used to grow sugarcane near Decibator.

Not only was he interested, but he seemed to have heard about the technology from his grandfather. The mayor said that this person could be useful for us.

He seemed to be an ordinary farmer in a small village a little further from Photoren.

It was a 3-year contract, and the price was a whooping 10 million Tael including fees.

「…Isn’t it quite expensive? 」

「Technology that makes money is expensive for everyone. Even if you sell things, you can make new things, but you can’t sell information twice.」

「Are you confident about whether or not you can persuade him? Actually, I don’t know much about that person. 」

「I guarantee it. 」

Even if you say that you guarantee it…

Did Mercia think I’d decide on this matter? I didn’t participate in the negotiations. I just sat down and listened.

「So what if we did what he told us, but we don’t succeed? 」

「Well, I can’t make up for the loss, but what about reducing the reward to 1 million? 」

「Will he take 1 million? 」

「Yes, the Guild aside, he also has a life and house expenses. 」

Well, it would be a terrible story to bring the farmer with us and say, “You failed, so there is no reward.”

Okay, let’s move things ahead.

「I understand. Let’s wrap this talk. Can I pay with the Decibator card? 」

「There is no problem. Thank you for your time. 」

I paid for it, then opened a store account in the Commerce Guild and deposited around 500 million Tael in there.

Preparations for sugarcane cultivation were going well.

Speaking of which, I didn’t raise my rank in the Guild, so I decided go to the Photoren Guild later on.

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Kaede didn’t raise his rank yet, and something will happen, which will make him take advantage of it.

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