Three days passed after the deal between Free and Marin was made and today carriages and adventurers came to collect the harvest, Free sat under a tree with a paper, he write down the villagers name and their payments as villagers were putting the cabbages on the carriages.
Sylvia and Rael approach him, Rael had a grin in her face and Sylvia face was slightly flushed.
"Free" she said, looking at the paper in his hand.
"Hmm?" his head turn to them, Rael handed him a letter. Free reads the letter slowly, then he look at Rael again. "You want to retire?" he mutters, Rael gave a nod. "Okay i'll handle all the work from here on".
"Wha- i mean are you going to handle all this alonw!?" she said her face twisting to shock, Free nodded calmly while writing down another villager name on the list. "I thought you would ask who will take over my position!".
"Ohh yeah forgot about that" he said, scratching his head, he stands up from under the tree. "So who's taking over your position?" he asked, Rael smirk and she pointed toward Sylvia who was fidgeting.
"She will take over?" she yelled, Free paused, his head turn to Sylvia and then to Rael who was still smirking mischeviously.
"S-i mean- will, no...!" Free's confusely stared at Sylvia and she nods, he pinch the bridge of his nose and thought for a moment. "You really....want to" he asked.
"Yes,i want to do it....alongside you" she said with a blush, Free looks away, his cheeks slight flushed.
"CHIEF!!" the villagers called out, there was now a line of them waiting for him to write their names.
"Yes!" Free quickly left the spot and he start to count and write the villagers name in the paper.
In the evening the villagers were now all gathered, only those who farm cabbage. Free stare at the list of villagers and the line of carriages filled with cabbages. Just then Marin arrived with his carriage, with a golden paper on his hand and a the villagers slowly line up.
"Okay everyone line up, you will receive your money" Free calmly said, and the villagers obeyed, Marin gave him one of the golden papers he had and Free hold it to the crowd of villagers. "Okay everyone. This in my hand is a golden paper, lord Marin will give each of you, this. All you need to do is take this to the guild and show them and after that you will receive your coins" a wave of excitement passed through the villagers seeing the golden paper.
"That is really a golden paper, i heard only nobles have them!!!" a lady said, staring at the golden paper shining by the rays of the sunlight.
"Yes, and only famous and rich merchants can have them too" a man said, his eyes sparkle at the shining paper. "This is an honour!" he screamed before falling unconcious.
'It's like they have seen some god' Free thought to himself before handing the paper to Marin and Marin write some numbers and letters on the paper and hand it one of the villagers waiting in the line.
"You're not fanning over it, chief Free" Marin said, handing another villager the list. He glance at Free who was standing under the tree discussing with Rael and Sylvia.
"Okay so from now on Sylvia will be the new financial manager of the village"Free declared, he opens a scroll of the village documentary and he remove Rael's name and put Sylvia's name on it.
"Yay! Congratulations dear!" Rael congratulated Sylvia, she pat her shoulder with a gentle and warm smile. "Work hard okay".
Sylvia nodded, she both her hand on her chest, a bit nervous but Free gave her a reassuring smile. "I-i...wil do it!" she said.
"That's the courage" Rael said giving her and Free a tight hug.
"I'll go see what's happening therel Free said, walking Marin. "Hey, how is the payment going?" Free asked, Marin head turns toward him.
"It is good, the villagers aren't pushing so i didn't have trouble asking their names" Marin answered, Free glance at the peoples then at the golden paper on Marin's hand.
'Maybe they're calm because of the golden paper' Free thought, staring at the line, he gave a faint smile. "Hey Marin why do nobles use golden paper anyway?l Free asked curiously.
"Because nobles are rich and vaults are risky so the kingdom made this system to make sure the noble documents and their gold are safe, they keep the nobles record how much he had saved and how much he have used, also not only this paper but also this penl Marin said, showing the pen to Free. It was golden with green ink. "Only the nobles assiatant and the nobles can have it, only two are produce because sometimes the lord himself cannot come".
"So basically it prevents from nobles getting rob and the peoples messing with the golden paper because the ink is different" Free said, Marin gave a nod and hands the last villager the check.
"Yes, that's correct ans law about this golden paper is very strict, you got caught messing and you're straight up punished" Marin said, he writes in something in the golden paper and hands it to Free.
"Tax?" Free said, he scans the paper and it was 3 platinum gold. "Wait 3 platinum! Isn't this like 36 gold coin?!".
"Figures, this village is high in population so this much is expected" Marin shrugged, unfazed by it.
"This is why the nobles wanted this village so badly" Free mutters, holding the check carefully in his hand.
"Yes and to your knowledge, the tax for people is twenty percent of their total income and the chief gets 6 percent and the other fourteen goes to the kingdom to built better roads and bridges and pay for the orphans education and provide food for them" Marin said, Free nodded placing a hand on his chin and counting the number of peoples that sold their cabbages.
"It's great our village is not too poor or corrupted" Free said, Marin nodded with a sad face.
"Yes, the former chief choose the right person to look over this big village" Marin said, Free confusely tilt his head. "Your village provide highest tax in this kingdom even surpassing some towns. Many villages under nobility are either corrupted from inside or the lands are too infertile for them to Farm, kids starve and many suffer due to hard labour everyday, they are slave of both nobility and poverty " he said with a low voice, Free listen quietly understanding the wight of the words, he glance at Sylvia who was still with Rael.
At that time Free realized, his villages wasn't just big. It was powerful, fertile and surpassed some towns in tax, and that was what nobles are aiming. Not only harvest and area but also slaves.....
To be continued....