Helping with Adventurer Party Management - Chapter 373

After reaching a common understanding on the indicators for managing the territory, I offer a few points of caution.

“We are about to create new indicators for managing the territory, but we can’t ignore the existing ones. Claudio, in standard territory management, what numbers should we be tracking?”

“Yes. The foundation of territory management is taxes, so we will track records of donations. Then, there’s the population. The church keeps birth records, so we can use those to estimate the population of the villages. As for security and safety, we can refer to requests made to circuit judges or the Adventurers’ Guild,” Claudio, who has been educated in traditional territory management, answers smoothly.

“I see. Understood. However, through our discussions, it’s clear that some of the records are unreliable. Can anyone point out why? Paperino?”

“Yes. Regarding the population, there may be workers who have migrated from nearby villages. Also, in terms of security, there’s a high possibility that some incidents within the village were resolved without involving the circuit judges or the Adventurers’ Guild.” Paperino, who received similar education to Claudio, answers without hesitation.

“Hmm. Anything else?”

“Could there be taxes that are being collected but not recorded? Like undocumented taxes?” Sara quickly adds.

“That’s possible. Head tax, hearth tax, forced labor—those kinds of things need to be investigated as well.”

“From the perspective of the village’s finances, we also can’t overlook the amount invested in developing the village’s fields.”

“Ah, good point, Rodolf.”

Perhaps it’s due to his background as a former noble—Rodolf, who was sent by the military, seems to have a strong interest in land development.

“There might also be hidden debts within the village,” adds Luc, also sent by the military and originally a merchant.

Debts between villagers, debts owed by the village to outsiders, or even internal debt held by the village itself—it’s certainly necessary to investigate these financial relationships. If villagers have been deceived by outside merchants and burdened with high-interest loans, revitalizing the farming village will be difficult.

“Alright, that just about covers it. As expected, we can’t make any concrete plans until we clarify the village’s current financial situation. It would be helpful if we could get those numbers from the previous magistrate, though…”

“Well, it’s difficult to say, but it seems we won’t be able to get exact numbers,” Claudio responds with an apologetic tone.

“Right. In that case, we’ll have to conduct a thorough investigation ourselves.”

“Yes! We’ll do it!”

Claudio and Paperino, along with the two priests sent by the church, are clearly motivated.

This is exactly why the discussions we’ve had were worthwhile.

The newly assembled officials, who were once a haphazard group, have begun to function as an organization that supports the governor, thanks to three days of collaborative work and inclusive dialogue.

I’m starting to feel confident that the training and development of these officials are on the right track.