"Ars, you've come back with something amazing"
It was one day when I was talking to Father Paul in church.
I saw the text written on parchment and Father Paul has said so.
But wow, what does that mean?
Father Paul and I are the ones I got named at the christening.
Then I come to church once in a while.
That was to learn the letters.
The only book I saw decently the letters in this unspeakable village was the one the priest had in his hands at the Baptist ceremony.
By the way, my parents were both illiterate.
The best way to learn was to go to church.
The day it rained and I didn't go out into the field, I visited the church, and the priest gave me a lecture on letters to the side of the book.
This time, the priest mentioned it when he lectured on the letter.
I usually use the priest's book as a teaching material, but at this time I brought in a parchment with a letter on it when I wanted to have a little look at it.
The parchment was what I got the other day when I went out to the city.
It was given to the Fontana family as a service beast and issued as a license for future service beast sales on that occasion.
"Wow, you mean that Fontana family permit?
"Yeah, that's right. Even so, I don't mean a sales license."
"No? You mean the other one?
"That's right. I'm talking about this document that officially recognizes the woodland as yours, Ars."
So, Father Paul offers me a piece of parchment all the way over the desk.
There are two documents I received from Mr. Raymond, the housekeeper of the Fontana family.
One was about selling servant beasts, the other about owning land.
"My father distracted me. He said he would have trouble if the land he pioneered were asked for wheat as a tax. Thank you."
"Really? Ashira did it, didn't she? However, the awesomeness of this document is not just about taxes. Do you understand?
"Uh... no, I don't know... It shouldn't have said that much about it."
There are only a few things written on that parchment.
Officially admitting to me the land that pioneered the woods north of the village.
Furthermore, the land shall be taxed with money, not wheat.
If I say so, it is only written on these two points.
"Okay? First of all, this document says you recognize the land that pioneered the forest as yours. You know that, don't you?
"Yes."
"Then here's the question. Where is the land you pioneered?
"Huh? No, isn't that where you cut and tidied the forest trees?
"That's right. That's what pioneering is all about. But what matters here is the text of the land you pioneered. This doesn't say when, where, or what size. That includes all the land you've pioneered and all the land you've pioneered."
"Um, sounds rational, but will it?
"Now, the following text is added here: It's about paying taxes in money, not wheat."
"Is there something wrong with that?
"Officially authorised by the Fontana family, a nobleman, to take possession of the land and pay taxes according to the land. But it is not wheat. That means there's no problem even if it's not farmland."
"Uh, yeah. It wasn't originally to make wheat on the land to grow the servant beast."
"No, there is no notation anywhere for a land to raise a servant beast. That means that whatever you do on this land, you have no problem."
"I mean, what do you mean?
"At last, the Fontana family told me that you would treat them very closely."
Thank you. I can't stand being told about nobles and powerful people.
I asked Father Paul about things he didn't even know afterwards.
So, in the end, what I found out was that nobility is the ruler of the land, but not the complete emperor.
The Fontana family has ruled a land called Fontana territory, but they don't have full control of that territory.
Some of them have long ruled some lands, and they rule them in the form of adding them to their umbrellas instead of giving them some privilege.
It is common, he said, for consideration to be paid money and so on, and for soldiers to be used as a force in times of need.
And as far as this paperwork goes, Father Paul wants me to say that he's making me apply the same treatment as that fancy family.
"I wonder why they gave me such special treatment. You don't go that far because you have a servant beast that you can ride, do you?
"Maybe you never dreamed Ars would have this much land, or be able to pioneer it."
According to Father Paul, land is an irreplaceable asset to many, but there is also the aspect that it is immovable that cannot be moved with it.
This time, I offered to the Fontana family a servant beast named Valkyrie that I could ride.
So, as a Fontana family, Mr. Raymond should have thought this through.
I am not the eldest son of a farmer, and I am in trouble when I go to another land ruled by another nobleman, where they produce servant beasts.
At any rate, I want you to continue to make servant beasts in this land for the rest of your life, in the interest of the Fontana family.
If so, all you have to do is formally own the land that pioneered the forest to feed the servant beast, not my parents.
That should tie you to the land for life.
But Mr. Raymond didn't know my pioneering powers.
No way, you never dreamed you'd have the power to pioneer a land large enough to possibly name it a landlord, a luxury family.
As a result, the abbreviated text recognized my land ownership.
To that end, I was granted the right to own more land and to use it freely.
Which means I don't care what I do as long as I pay for it in this land.
Apparently, I had a job change to a fancy family before I realized it myself.
That said, I have no idea what to do.
In the meantime, I just remembered to do what I had to do.