The Tax Reduction Proposal

To present the proposal to Queen Tianis, we needed to shape that rough idea into something concrete.

No matter how good the content was, a vague concept wouldn't communicate anything to the audience.

We pulled Kanon and her subordinates, the bureaucrats handling the census, into the discussion, refining and distilling the plan.

In the process, we anticipated the questions that would likely come up and worked the answers into the proposal.

Normally I'd do this kind of work alone, but having more people sped things up considerably.

On top of that, perspectives I'd never considered would come up, which reminded me that no matter how capable one person is, there are limits to working solo.

It also helped that the bureaucrats were genuinely talented.

"Master."

"What is it?"

The core of the tax reduction proposal had taken shape, and we'd moved into the stage of hammering out the details.

This was no longer Yohane the merchant's domain.

Best to leave the finishing touches to them.

That was when Azu came over.

She'd been staying out of the way in a corner the whole time, but… had something happened?

"Kanon-san fell asleep."

"Ah, well, she was clearly at her limit. She looked just like Ramiza-san right before she passed out."

"It was a wonder she was still conscious at all."

Before I'd noticed, Kanon had slumped over her desk and dozed off.

Come to think of it, her presence had faded partway through. She must have finally run out of steam.

She probably hadn't slept in ages, so she'd simply dropped off.

Given how she'd looked, I wouldn't be surprised if she hadn't been eating properly either.

"For now, line up some chairs to make a makeshift bed and lay her down. She must be dead tired. There should be at least a blanket somewhere in the room, so drape it over her."

"Got it. I'll have her rest in the corner."

Kanon was often treated coldly, unlike her liege Queen Tianis, but her patriotism and loyalty were the real deal.

The least we could do was show some respect for that.

Azu lined up the available chairs with practiced efficiency.

She staggered them so that even if Kanon rolled over, she wouldn't fall off.

Thinking of improvements without being told… not bad.

She lifted the slumped Kanon from the desk, supporting her from the side, and laid her on the makeshift bed.

Kanon was fast asleep and showed no signs of waking.

She probably wouldn't stir from anything short of an earthquake.

Once the blanket was draped over her, only quiet breathing remained.

She'd worked hard. She deserved at least this much rest.

In the meantime, we'd push forward with as much as we could.

"Advisor Yohane, could you come here for a moment?"

"What is it?"

I moved over when one of the bureaucrats called me.

Apparently, the proposal package was complete.

It was polished enough to be submitted directly to Queen Tianis and taken straight to the assembly.

It was laid out so logically and concisely that you'd never guess it had originated from the simple notion that a tax cut would make everyone happy.

This was a feat Yohane simply couldn't have pulled off.

"By the way, how do all of you feel about taxes going down?"

"In favor, of course. Bureaucrats we may be, but plenty of us come from common backgrounds. It benefits us too, so we put our backs into preparing this. Now if only we could get some time off as well. Ha ha ha."

It was a hollow laugh.

Once this was done, I'd ask Queen Tianis to give them an extended break.

"We've done everything we can. Advisor Yohane's plan will solve a lot of problems. Now it all comes down to whether it gets accepted…"

"Her Majesty Tianis will accept it without question. She's understanding of commoners and she's a kind person. Plus, the proposal clearly lays out the benefits for governance as well. The real issue will be what comes after: the House of Lords."

If the Citizens' Assembly was the lower house, the House of Lords was the upper house.

Without the House of Lords' approval, even the king couldn't freely conduct state affairs.

There were apparently exceptions during emergencies, but… the point was, nothing moved until it cleared that body.

"That place is like a den of demons. Only those with noble titles can qualify as members. I can't count how many Citizens' Assembly proposals have been struck down there."

"Before coming here, I'd assumed the king's word was law."

"That's a common misconception. They say the king is merely the greatest among lords, and there's truth to that. Though, when royal power was at its height, it was apparently a different story. A single royal decree could settle everything. The royalist faction is now the majority, and most of the populace supports Her Majesty Tianis, so… the House of Lords probably won't oppose this recklessly."

It always came down to political power dynamics.

No wonder Queen Tianis looked exhausted every day.

I seemed to recall her venting once about how her proposals kept getting shot down one after another in the beginning.

"Standing around worrying here won't change anything. I'll take this directly to Her Majesty. Ideally, I'd like someone to come along…"

Someone better at explaining than Yohane would be preferable.

"I'll go."

"Kanon-san, you were awake?"

Kanon, who'd been dead asleep, rose to her feet and walked toward us.

She was a little unsteady, and Azu moved to support her, but Kanon waved her off.

"I was entrusted with this by Her Majesty. If not me, then who? I slept a little and feel better. The rest of you, take a break."

She snatched the documents and headed for the door.

There was no stopping her once she got like that.

The fact that she'd told the bureaucrats to rest showed she'd recovered enough to think about those around her.

But if she'd dozed off even after taking Ramiza-san's special tonic, she had to still be fighting serious drowsiness.

I thought she should just stay in bed, but that was simply who Kanon was.

We hurried after her with Azu so we wouldn't get left behind.

The hour had passed evening and was approaching night.

Queen Tianis should still be awake, but would we be able to see her?

Kanon headed not for the office but for Queen Tianis's private chambers.

At this hour, she must have already finished working for the day.

Honestly, I thought this could wait until tomorrow.

Maybe that thought simply hadn't occurred to Kanon.

… Well, if it wasn't possible, the queen would just say so.

The guards blocking the corridor checked our faces and let us through without issue.

Kanon stopped in front of the room's door and knocked twice.

"Your Majesty, it's Kanon. Is now a good time?"