Tax Cut Approved

Finn was still asleep the next day.

She hadn't woken up, but there didn't seem to be anything wrong with her condition itself, so I left her care to Azu and the others as planned and headed to the royal castle.

I made sure to tell them to call a doctor if anything happened.

It was probably just exhaustion and a cold. It was rare for Finn to be pushed this far.

Alexia would be coming along as my escort.

I'd thought she didn't need to since she must be tired, but when she pointed out that trouble always came when you least expected it, I couldn't argue.

"We've got a little time to spare, right?"

"Yeah. We just need to arrive before noon. What's up?"

"I want to drop this off at the blacksmith."

Alexia made the suggestion, cloth-wrapped battle axe in hand.

A weapon they'd obtained from the Dragon Zombie, apparently.

It was old and corroded, unusable in its current state.

But if anyone could do something about it, it would be the master blacksmith.

"Sure. We have time for that, so let's stop by."

"Thanks."

"Sir, everything is ready."

"All right, let's go."

Orleans had gathered and brought the paperwork.

The three of us left the house.

We cut through Kassad's market and arrived at the smithy.

Ever since I'd bought Azu as a slave, we'd had all our equipment maintained here.

The master could be difficult, but his skills were second to none.

The front shop was still closed, so we went around to the workshop in back.

The master should already be working by the time the sun rose.

Sure enough, the sound of a hammer striking iron rang from inside.

After a few knocks, the clanging stopped and a booming voice told us to come in.

"Pardon the intrusion."

The moment we stepped inside, the heat hit us like a sauna.

I couldn't take it and opened the gate.

Cool air rushed in from outside.

"Well if it ain't the tool shop kid. Been a while since you showed your face."

"Old man, I don't care how hot you want it in here. Keep this place sealed up and you'll pass out."

"I'm used to it. I'm fine."

Sure he was. He was drenched in sweat.

The master reached for his water pitcher, but it was empty.

I pulled a canteen from my storage bag and poured water in. He drank it down like it was the most delicious thing in the world.

"Ahh, that's good. So what brings you here this early?"

"We got another weapon from a monster and wanted you to take a look."

"Oh?"

I had Alexia bring out the battle axe.

She unwrapped the cloth, revealing its full form.

"The hell is this? Thing's ancient. If this were just an ordinary iron weapon, I'd be thinking about melting it down."

"That's what I want you to check, including that. You can figure it out, right, old man?"

"Hmph. Trying to provoke me, are you?"

The master picked up the battle axe.

It was incredibly heavy, but he lifted it with one hand.

He slowly grabbed a file and started grinding away at the handle.

"… Hmph. I see."

He showed me where he'd filed.

… A beautiful blue metal was exposed right there.

Despite having been filed down, there wasn't a single scratch mark.

"It's only beat up on the outside. The inside's still solid. Strip off the corroded layer and polish it up, and this might turn into something."

"Then I'll leave it to you, old man. You love looking at new weapons, right? I'll pay your rate, of course."

"Hah. If you weren't a regular, I'd have tossed this right back at you. But after that Sealed Sword Grungaus, I figured it's better I handle it proper than let some hack ruin a fine weapon. Now get out if you've got nothing else. I'm busy."

We got kicked out in the end.

But the master had clearly been motivated, so he'd definitely come through.

The question was what the result would be.

Since it came from a zombie, it might be cursed.

From there, we headed to the royal castle.

Not a cloud in the sky. The sun was shining brilliantly.

Did the Church of the Sun God and that sun actually have anything to do with each other?

Without the sun, humans, no, all living things couldn't survive.

So deifying the sun made sense.

And yet, how had it turned into such a terrifying religion?

We passed through a portal and arrived at the Royal Capital.

From there, we made our way to Queen Tianis's office in the castle.

The capital was livelier than ever.

We'd arrived a bit ahead of schedule, but… the queen herself was slumped face-down on her desk, not moving an inch.

"Your Majesty. I came because I heard the emergency session of the House of Nobles has concluded."

"Uhhhhng…"

A groan that could have come from a zombie, followed by limbs flailing about.

"I'm so tired… I need healing. I want to be comforted in Anatia-neesan's bosom."

"What are you saying? Anatia-sama is in Alsarm working."

"I know that. That's why I'm lamenting."

"Oh my, is my chest not good enough for you?"

Princess Yupe, who was standing nearby, folded her arms in front of her chest with a dissatisfied look.

"Slightly insufficient."

"Hey. Just because mine are a little smaller…"

"Now, now. So how did it go?"

"First, the Finance Minister didn't show up. Despite being notified of an important meeting to amend the current tax code. He sent his right-hand man, the Chief of Staff, instead. That's the head of the actual operations."

"Is that so? I was sure he'd come in person."

"So was I. He hasn't appeared publicly once since the throne passed to me. But I haven't heard of him falling ill, either. You met him, right, Yohane?"

"Yes. He tried to use a honey trap and bribe me. I declined, of course. He seemed healthy enough, though."

Honestly, it had been a little tempting. If I hadn't owed Tianis-sama my loyalty, I might have accepted.

No, even then, it'd be better not to serve under a man like that, a walking bundle of schemes and machinations. Being used up would be the most likely outcome.

"He hasn't been coming to the castle either, so I actually haven't been able to speak with him once. His subordinates are doing their jobs, though, so operations haven't stalled."

"Sabotage, perhaps? So what was the result?"

The conversation was drifting and starting to turn into venting, so I steered it back on track.

She had a lot of frustration built up. Anatia-san had probably been her sounding board when she was around.

Hard to be that vulnerable with Princess Yupe, I supposed.

"The tax cut passed. They grilled me mercilessly, nitpicking every little detail and bombarding me with questions. But thanks to the solid proposal you and Kanon's team put together, the final conclusion was that it was entirely possible to boost the Royal Capital's economy."

I'd honestly expected it to be shot down.

The Finance Minister still had that much influence.

And yet he let our proposal through as if looking the other way…

"They kept poking at the tiniest details over and over. I'm exhausted."

"Well, that is their job."

"I thought the job of a queen was to make decisions."

Her Majesty looked completely wilted.

"In any case, that means we can start moving toward implementation. The sooner the better. The earlier we start, the sooner we'll see results."

"I'm tired, so you handle the details."

"Sigh…"

Honestly, this woman.