Nobody Sleeps Except for Naps

Together with the bureaucrats including Kanon, we began taking concrete action toward the citizen tax reduction.

What needed to be done had already been decided, so all that remained was execution.

However, the preparation turned out to be far more demanding than expected.

It felt like what we'd done for the concert, but on a much larger scale.

First, we set a deadline and notified the residents of the Royal Capital.

This took the form of an official proclamation, with signboards placed in prominent locations.

It was somewhat old-fashioned, but there was no better method for reaching as many people as possible.

Those who saw the signs would immediately tell friends and family, and from there the word would spread through gossip.

Within a few days, there wouldn't be a soul in the capital who didn't know.

You can't stop people from talking, after all.

The volume of inquiries gave us a good sense of the response.

The most common question was "Is this real?", so we reaffirmed it in the name of Her Majesty the Queen.

There was no more credible statement than that. As long as the royal family's authority held, anyway.

Fortunately, we didn't need to worry about that.

We set up a temporary tax collection site in the castle grounds.

Someone suggested having multiple sites since a huge number of people would show up, but the idea was rejected due to security and space constraints.

We'd also need to transport the collected taxes.

The Treasury Bureau's stance was neither cooperative nor obstructive.

They'd handle any necessary procedures promptly, but when asked for actual cooperation, they'd find all sorts of ways to decline.

Revenue collection wasn't their department, they said. Expenditures were their purview.

This was undoubtedly on the Finance Minister's orders.

In the end, once work started, there was no time to go home and we ended up staying overnight.

I'd sent word to Azu and the others. Apparently Finn's condition had improved, but it would still be a while before I could return.

And then, at last, tax collection day arrived.

We'd set aside three reserve days as well.

From now on, the citizens of the Royal Capital would be paying their citizen tax.

A large signboard had been prepared in front of the collection site with the following notices:

• Those who pay the citizen tax will receive citizenship along with voting rights for the Citizen Assembly.

• This tax reduction applies to the citizen tax only. All other taxes must be paid through the standard channels. If timely payment is difficult, please consult the Bureau of Internal Affairs.

• Those who hold citizenship but are unable to pay the citizen tax this period may apply for an extension.

• Along with citizenship renewal, provide the tax collector with your current address, name, and family members. Providing false information may result in revocation of citizenship.

That was the gist of it.

Our true objective of obtaining an accurate, up-to-date census was kept under wraps, while this year's tax collection would also be completed.

There would be gaps, but once we had an accurate master registry, we could fill in the holes over time.

No more relying on a census full of falsified, inaccurate information.

"Wow, look at all these people."

"Every person in that line is a resident of the Royal Capital."

"Each and every one of them makes up this city."

I answered Princess Yupe's exclamation with a weary voice.

The crowd at the concert had been enormous, but the line now stretching through the castle grounds surpassed even that.

I started imagining how much money we'd collect, then stopped before I could be overwhelmed.

Running a country sure was lucrative…

Tax money just flowed in whether you did anything or not.

Not that it made me want to be king.

Watching Her Majesty, it didn't seem like a fair trade.

And you couldn't spend the money however you pleased.

At last, tax collection began.

I stood by in the rear to deal with any problems that came up.

For privacy, residents were ushered in one at a time by guards, where they'd pay their tax and provide the information needed for the census.

It was a mess at first, but once everyone got the hang of it, the line started moving much faster.

Even so, some people were furious about having to wait for their turn, so I had Alexia patrol with the soldiers to keep fights from breaking out.

She could restrain people without injuring them, and her title as an upper-rank adventurer would keep people in line.

(To ordinary folk, upper-rank adventurers were practically monsters in their own right, apparently.)

There was no shortage of people offering bribes to skip ahead.

I couldn't allow that, obviously, but I did permit proxies.

As long as the required tax was paid and the information could be provided, it didn't matter if it was a slave or a servant doing it.

The bureaucrats worked in shifts through the entire day, but it still wasn't finished.

Cutting things off would have caused an uproar, so continuing through the night was a miscalculation on our part.

The one saving grace was that allowing proxies had generated less frustration from residents than expected.

The collected money and checks were periodically stored in the national treasury.

By the end of the first day, even with the reduced rate, we'd already surpassed last year's citizen tax revenue.

Part of that was due to taxes that had gone uncollected because of fraud, but there were also far more people than expected seizing this opportunity to obtain citizenship.

"How's everyone holding up?"

Her Majesty popped in from time to time, given the scale of events.

Each visit she'd also arrange for food distribution and water rations, making her popular with the residents.

The cheers were louder when Princess Yupe came, though… I'd keep that to myself.

As the person in charge for this operation in my capacity as Royal Advisor, I had to stay awake and watchful for trouble at all times outside of brief naps.

It was more grueling than launching a new business. Keeping your hands busy made time fly, but that wasn't an option here.

I'd talk with Her Majesty and Princess Yupe from time to time, but they weren't always around, and Alexia was out on patrol.

Orleans was the taciturn type, silently handling the administrative work.

In other words: I had to stay awake, but had nothing to do.