The explosive increase in tax revenue as a consequence of the population increase, commercial development, and the influx of Mercenaries and Adventurers!
“Heh.”
Weed made a straight face. The corners of his mouth threatened to rise, and the muscles in his face spasmed as he tried to hold back a smile. He was so happy he wanted to roll around on the ground, but he had to maintain his lordly image, especially in times like this, to save face.
“It’s nothing much. Tsk, tsk… It’s such a primitive and rural village.”
Weed, who was rejoicing with furrowed brows and quivering cheeks, revealed a rotten expression!
It was particularly good that the monthly offerings to the Church of Freya had been reduced from 15% to 9%.
“Seems like it was automatically adjusted as the income sum increased.”
More was spent on offerings, but the percentage had decreased with the increase in income.
As the budget increased, there were steady investments into culture, military power, economic development, and village maintenance. Since there was also an explosive increase in beginners, Morata could now be called a respectable, mid-size city.
“Granted, I’m still not getting much tax money compared to the number of people…”
Even on the street Weed was on, 86 out of 100 people were beginners.
Low taxes, adventure, free hunting grounds, and the Tower of Light sculpture. Beginner players were skyrocketing thanks to the positive feel Morata radiated.
“The more these beginners raise their levels, the greater the tremendous growth in taxes!”
He had rosy hopes for the future. They were happy thoughts only a Lord could harbor.
Of course, Morata also had many disadvantages.
There were no other churches besides the Church of Freya. It was very unfortunate that players who wanted to become Clerics had a narrow selection.
Technological development was low, and the quality of weapons and armor was low because there weren’t many Blacksmiths. Since the amount produced each day was also limited, all the weapon and armor stores were sold out by morning. The beginners had a lot of complaints because even the beginner weapons in stores had to be sold at premium prices. Mapan aimed for that niche market and was mostly importing weapons to earn big bucks.
Weed didn’t worry too much. “To deal with the scarcity, Blacksmiths will probably increase later.”
To do things like adjust weapons, maintain armor, or reinforce gear, a Blacksmith’s existence was necessary! Since Blacksmiths were receiving as much respect as Clerics, there would gradually be more of them.
Despite many shortcomings, the beginners, who loved adventures, were growing while helping each other out.
Weed also stepped outside the village boundaries. In the breadbasket, wheat and barley were growing rapidly. The wheat, blessed with fertility by the Church of Freya Priests, had so many grains that their stems started to bend. There was also a significant number of people who held pickaxes and were going off to mine in the nearby mountains.
“I’ve got to earn at least a copper.”
“We need money to live, dear.”
“We can’t even hunt as much as we want with the weapon prices this expensive.”
“The weapon prices are still better — the armor prices are really unspeakable.”
“Phew, maybe it wasn’t a good idea for me to choose the defensive Warrior. I’m gonna be hunting with a Freya Church Priest anyways.”
Even beginners were carrying pickaxes and were on their way to the mines. Even if one weren’t a miner, pickaxing could be done by anyone, especially by Warrior, Swordsmen, or Knight wannabes with robust physiques. Beginners were going to the mines with slumped shoulders in order to earn money.
“This is a highly desirable sight.”
The corners of Weed’s mouth rose at last. The flawless re-emergence of that rotten smile!
That the exploitation was rolling smoothly was no different from evidence that Morata’s economy was healthy.