Dungeon Defense (WN)

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I looked down at Parsi as I waited for an explanation. Parsi was holding his head up slightly while prostrating like the other villagers. This was so that he could respond to me accordingly.

This guy……he definitely has a knack for politics. Despite looking like a bulldog. 

‘I could probably use him if he learns how to read.’

It was a little unfortunate. I had an urge to send him off to study. Parsi was the same age as Laura. In other words, he was 17 years old. He was young, but he was also at an awkward age to start learning something. Well, people are usually able to effectively learn new things before they’re thirty. Let’s think about this slowly.

Parsi got up.

“Let me guide you inside first.”

“All right. Lead the way.”

I was led to a nearby wooden house. It was the village chief’s house. It was a rather shabby place for the person with the most authority in the village to be living in. This meant that he wasn’t someone who cared about needless extravagance. Hm. I like him even more now.

I spoke as I sat down on the floor. Parsi let out a deep sigh after he sat down comfortably. Overall, the way he held himself made it clear that he didn’t know the rules of etiquette. Despite this, it didn’t bother me or feel unsightly to me.

He would gladly act servile if I demanded it; however, we both knew that there would be no sincerity in that. I want to be sincere with you since I believe you are qualified to receive my sincerity. ―Every bit of Parsi’s demeanor gave off this impression.

“Things have become messed up.”

“It doesn’t seem like another adventurer party caused a problem.”

“A couple of other villages conspired together and leeched off of your land.”

Parsi made a serious look.

I’m sorry, but I don’t know what the problem is.

“My land? You are not talking about my Demon Lord Castle, are you?”

“I am talking about the villages that were destroyed because they worked together with the adventurers. They had fields they were cultivating. People from other villages took over those fields.”

“Hmm.”

I put my hand on my chin. I contemplated the severity of this incident.

I thoroughly pillaged all of the villages that conspired with the adventurers. I distributed the provisions I took from them to the villages that were on my side. That was as far as the reward and punishment went. Everything else that wasn’t mentioned obviously belonged to me. Therefore, this meant that those villagers plundered my belongings…….

“Just punish the perpetrators. Furthermore, it seems that none of the citizens of this village took part in that crime. Mm. I feel like the apology is more excessive than the crime itself…….”

“Damn it. It would be great if stealing from you was all they did. Unfortunately, it was the village chiefs who took the lead and goaded their villages to cultivate your land. Those village chief bastards even went as far as to apply taxes on those fields as if they belonged to them.”

Wow.

I scowled.

“Are they insane?”

“They’re insane.”

Parsi nodded. I now understood the severity of the situation.

I relaxed my posture and shifted my legs into a more comfortable position. One should make their bodies as comfy as their minds have become agitated. This was what this meant.

“What was the tax rate?”

“Seven-tenth of their harvest.”

“Christ……they really were crazy bastards.”

They took 70% of the harvest as tax. They went beyond normal thieves. Of course, taking 70% of one’s harvest is a very common occurrence in this era. You could consider it to be normal. It was so normal that a lord that only took 50% as tax would be praised as a lord brought down by the heavens.

The issue is the fact that this tyranny is only allowed for landowners. The village chiefs acted like the landowners of my land. In other words, they sinned against the lord. They committed treason.

I clicked my tongue.

“Tsk. A village does not have only one or two people. I am certain that hundreds of people did not conspire together to trick me. Did the village chiefs perhaps lie to them?”

Parsi’s eyes opened wide.

“How’d you know? Jeez. You could probably make it big as a fortune teller.”

“Put the needless banter aside and explain.”

“The village chiefs apparently told their villages that they were going to give the tax to you.”

They even fabricated documents? This was getting better and better.

All of the mountain villages had submitted to me. They had an obligation to report to me whenever they cultivated land. They call this a reclamation report.

During medieval times, there was a belief that all land belonged to the king. You couldn’t cultivate however you wanted just because there was a lot of land. You had to give a detailed report about the who, what, when, where, and how of the land that was going to be cultivated.

In this era, how much farmland a territory has determined the strength of the nation……. If you start cultivating land without giving a report, then it wouldn’t be surprising if people accused you of revolting. Village chiefs aren’t for nothing. Village chiefs are the ones who keep ledgers of income and expenses and report to the lord about cultivated land.

Despite all of this, these village chiefs decided to flat out not give reclamation reports. To make matters worse, they kept the taxes that they were supposed to give to me for themselves. This wasn’t something you would do if you had a brain.

It was needless to say that they deserved to be executed.

“I must have seemed like quite the pushover to them.”

A corner of my mind went cold.

It was settled that the village chiefs were the masterminds, but that wasn’t the problem. This problem could very easily grow to an exponential size. 

I could already think of two charges off the top of my head.

What were you guys doing while the village chiefs from the villages over were committing treason? Even if the village chiefs were lying, the other villagers cooperated either way. How should I punish these villagers? Do I have to punish their entire villages? ……This isn’t a joke. I might have to punish every mountain village indiscriminately for guilt-by-association. 

To put it simply, this meant that I would be losing workers.

Currently, I have a total of 5 villages under my wing. Even if I decided to only punish a single village’s worth of humans, I would be losing one-fifth of my total profit.

I had to wander about outside due to the war and now an incident like this had occurred immediately after Laura nagged me into managing my territory. What did I do to deserve this?

If I apply guilt-by-association, then I would be losing workers. Nevertheless, if I decide to only punish the village chiefs, then I would be harming my dignity. The lord is the law of the land. The lord’s dignity is the law’s dignity. There is no power in a land where the law stands on unstable footing……. What should I do?

Parsi spoke up carefully while I was busy contemplating my options.

“For starters, we already took the heads of those village chiefs.”

“What? That’s good!”

I clapped.

A justification is required if I want to prevent them from being implicated. I need an excuse that would put into consideration circumstances that made it clear that they were not involved. Parsi took care of the village chiefs that had committed the crime. He personally dispatched the traitors. What political options were available now?

It’s a good thing that he took care of the traitors; however, it wasn’t right of him to punish the traitors on his own without receiving the lord’s permission. There are merits and demerits, so now I have to figure out how I’m going to punish Parsi as the lord and judge.

I can’t praise Parsi here. I’d be giving him judicial power if I did. I absolutely have to punish Parsi in a situation like this.

However, I have to punish him on the outside while actually forgiving him on the inside.

I grinned as I spoke.

“I will now order you to lower yourself.”

“I will bow a hundred times in gratitude for your mercy.”

Parsi grinned as well.

“I should emphasize my authority as the lord so that something like this never happens again. You sneaky cur! Confess! I am certain that you have already decided what you will give up on.”

“I will offer my water rights.”

Parsi responded coolly.

Water rights was the rights to use reservoirs like waterways for farming and so on. For farmers, this was more important than their lives. For example, if there’s a year of bad harvest, then farmers would have no other choice but to latch on to lords or priests who have water rights.

Lords and priests would allow them to use the waterways at the price of having their taxes increased by 20% for the following year. Farmers would have no other choice but to accept this exchange with teary eyes for the sake of surviving that current year. Simply having access to a stream could make you wealthy in an instant.

The fact that he would give something as important as water rights to me would make his loyalty seem impressive on the surface, but…….

“What reservoirs are there even here? What a contemptible thing to offer.”

It’s obvious, but there’s only a shabby mountainous area around my Demon Lord Castle. Infrastructures like reservoirs don’t exist here. There are only a couple of small streams here and there.

Even if I gain possession of these small streams, the villagers would have to tacitly take care of the streams themselves anyway. If I apply taxes on the streams, then the villagers would immediately revolt. Gaining ownership meant that I could step forward as the mediator if a couple of farmers were to start arguing about whose turn it was to use the streams.

All flash and no substance.

“Would this not be the best thing to offer? Hehe.”

Parsi smiled slyly. I was probably making the same face.

Even if they didn’t also commit treason, the other villages ultimately neglected the matter. Normally, it would only be right to wipe them all out due to implications; however, they quickly dealt with the traitors. I have to give them an appropriate punishment as the lord of the region.

I will order them to offer something up to me. They will all be moved by my magnanimous punishment. They will vow their loyalty to me again and offer their water rights in return for my magnanimity. I will accept this and promise to not give any additional punishment in regard to this incident.

Parsi and the villagers will be able to maintain their lives and I will be able to preserve my authority as the lord. It’ll be a win-win.

“I have a good idea to add to this.”

“Oh? What is it?”

“It is about the fields left behind by the destroyed villages. How about I hand them over to you guys under the condition of giving me 70% of the profits annually? You and the other village chiefs can determine who to give the fields to.”

Parsi was moved.

“Wow. Are you showing us consideration since our situation might become worse due to the prohibition?”

“Of course, I will only be giving them to you. You must properly distribute them fairly yourselves. Only then will you guys be able to maintain your dignity.”

“Additionally, your reputation will also skyrocket by opening up private land to the farmers. We’ll be happy to have more access to land and you’ll be happy to receive more taxes. In other words, mutual benefit. I now understand why you’re a Demon Lord.”

I shrugged.

“Well, this much is normal.”

“But there is still one problem left. Even if you settle it like this with the villages that didn’t take part in the treason, what will you do about the villages that did? Their village chiefs may be dead, but that doesn’t seem like enough as punishment.”

“Hmm.”

I’ve been thinking about that as well. What should I do?

“Hm. I do have an idea of my own.”

“I am looking forward to it. What is it?”

“To be honest, you have only promised us one thing. To stop goblins from invading. That’s it. Since they have gone against the promise they made with you, then can’t you ignore the promise you made with them?”

I let out a gasp of realization.

“I can order the goblins to attack them!”

“That’s right. Don’t attack them too aggressively, hehe. Just enough. If you play with them enough, then they should be able to grasp the severity of their situation on their own. O Your Highness Demon Lord, please forgive us for we have sinned. They’ll come to you crying like this.”

“Ah ha. I can generously forgive them at that time. I’ll increase their taxes by 10% and use them for some forced labor.”

The implications would be written off for those villagers. They will probably believe that they’re being let off the hook lightly. In the end, every problem will be solved with only the village chiefs being killed and no one else being caught by implications.

“A splendid plan! This is a splendid plan! You have a good head on your shoulders!”

“Haha. You are praising me too much. I can’t compare to Your Highness.”

“Hahaha.”

Two men were sitting in the corner of a house laughing slyly. If someone saw us, then they would probably call us perverts. It didn’t matter, however, since we were busy feeling overjoyed. Referentially, politics are fun because of moments like this.

***

TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter. It’s now that slow period where I can’t think of what to say here. I end up just sitting here for a solid 10 minutes trying to think of something. I feel like if it goes beyond 5 minutes, I should just do the usual “Head empty, got nothing to say”.

Welp, I’ll see you guys in the next chapter.

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