"What now? What now?
"Don't make me say it again. From now on, this land shall be under the direct control of the Fontana family."
About a while after listening to the old peddler's advice.
A taxpayer from a noble family came to the village.
The so-called tax collector.
Basically, the village collects head taxes and taxes according to the size of the land as wheat.
But it doesn't seem to be a fine calculation for each person, as it was in the previous life.
The village chief, on behalf of the villagers, collects taxable wheat from the villagers and comes to the warehouse where they paid it.
But I'm paying for the money, not the wheat.
For that reason, I was supposed to come to my house to collect taxes separately from the village chief.
It was the same this time.
Since taxes are collected once a year, you must keep that amount for yourself.
I cleaned the house thoroughly, prepared food and alcohol, and waited, because I had to provide minimal hospitality for the work that came from the nobles.
Until now, I will eat and drink appropriately and then receive taxes.
It was supposed to be just that.
But the taxpayer who came, without drinking, told me a message from the nobles, trying to stick out the parchment.
All of a sudden, I had to shut down my thinking circuit for a moment, but I immediately restarted and read the script written on the parchment.
It undoubtedly contained the following circular:
The Fontana family will take my land.
Everything and people on the land will belong to the Fontana family.
It was about protecting my identity.
The parchment is engraved with the same crest as the permit I received before.
I don't think it's a fake notification.
"Hold on a second. What does this mean? All of a sudden, I can't accept this."
"Shut up. This is a decision. If you defy me, you can force me to do it."
"Oh no...."
"Besides, this decision is for you. It is possible that there are disturbed people in the area. It's a precious service beast, and it's a necessary measure to protect you."
I wonder if you're telling me that a stranger like Gran has settled here.
No, not necessarily.
The peddler said he heard bad rumors.
Despite the nobility of the family, that atmosphere may have spread even from the standpoint of ordinary people.
Or were you simply looking at the timing of some kind of conjecture?
Thoughts come to mind one after another.
What does it mean to protect me?
I'm sure it makes sense as an argument.
It was said that the ridable Service Beast would be a substitute for the Strategic Supply level.
If anything else were taken, it would be painful for a nobleman to rule the land.
For this reason, it may be another case to protect the beast producer beforehand.
But that's unacceptable to me.
What happens if you are "protected" in that way?
Maybe we can make a decent living.
But isn't it going to be a life where you won't even be allowed to step out of a protected area?
If I were a child who was really just a resident of a remote village and knew nothing, I might still not have been dissatisfied.
But I'm not.
For some reason, I have memories other than life in the village.
Memories of the previous life.
I want to eat something better, or I want to look around freely.
I don't want to live like a livestock that only lays eggs with the word protection.
Gatan, Don, Dogashan.
It was when I was staring at the parchment and drowning in the sea of thought.
I heard a loud noise that forced my consciousness back to reality.
Is this from outside the house?
I heard a noise from the stables next to the house.
I can hear even louder from the stables that aren't supposed to make that much noise.
Shit, what's next?
I rushed to the stables to see what the noise was, even though I made a mistake in my heart.
What the hell is this?
What is the situation?
What I saw in the stables was soldiers with bloody swords, Valkyries, my rider bleeding from my head, and Kyle lying on the bloody floor.
"What are you doing?! What the hell did you do to Kyle?!
"What a kid. Are you going to fuck with me, too? I'm just saying I'm going to get you that beast, and this kid's bothering me."
"Don't joke. Do you know what you did?"
"Huh? What are you? You want to hurt your eyes, too?
A soldier who stretches the tip of his bloody sword towards me.
When I saw him, I got tingled.
I've never used magic for anyone before.
I almost unconsciously bumped Shotgun into him.