I thought about the new menu.
I thought about it, but I couldn't let myself forget the original reason for my visit to Village Five. This was a meeting to discuss countermeasures for the taxation crisis that flared up every autumn in this town.
The meeting was supposed to take place in a conference room in Yoko's Mansion, but since that room had been converted into a storehouse, we looked for a Japanese-style room. That was also full.
"What’s available?" I asked.
"The reception room for welcoming foreign nobles," came the answer.
So, we settled in there.
The participants were myself, the Acting Village Head Yoko, Village Five's Head of Military Officers Hii, the Village Five Head of Civil Officials Roku, and Nana, who was in charge of intelligence. We could have held this in the Village of the Great Tree, but since I wanted to see the state of the harvest here, we stayed in Village Five.
"I understand the sentiment of wanting to pay more taxes... well, do I? I feel like I might, but Village Five has its own independent sources of revenue. We don't need to rely heavily on taxes from the residents," Yoko explained, summarizing the current situation.
Simply put, the residents were desperate to pay taxes. However, as far as Village Five was concerned, any more money was unnecessary. The Tax Collectors caught in the middle were the ones suffering.
"Indeed," Hii added. "We've instructed the collectors to accept only after appearing extremely reluctant, but the pressure is taking a toll on their mental and physical well-being."
I see. To be honest, I found it hard to understand the desire to pay more taxes. Furthermore, I struggled to grasp the idea of an administration not wanting to receive them. But once it was explained, I was convinced.
The people eager to pay weren't doing it for the sake of the tax itself; their goal was to contribute to Village Five. If they wanted to help, they could have simply participated in the village's public projects, but not everyone who applied could be accepted. Thus, they raised their voices, demanding to at least be allowed to pay taxes.
On the other hand, the administration didn't want the money because they couldn't spend it fast enough. One might think they could just save the surplus, but it wasn't that simple. While an administration has the right to collect taxes, once they do, they have a duty to distribute those funds.
It is an obligation. Taxes are not meant to line the personal pockets of civil servants. The administration is merely entrusted with the distribution of the wealth collected from the people. Therefore, whatever is collected must be used. Certainly, saving for large-scale projects or disaster relief is necessary, but fundamentally, taxes are meant to be spent. That is the nature of the system.
"We use the gold collected from the residents to enrich the village and strive for further development. The policies set by the Village Head and Lady Yoko are magnificent. I shall do my utmost to assist in these efforts," Hii said.
Roku followed up. "If we simply hoard the taxes, the economy will die. Money must be used."
"However," Roku continued, "though we want to spend it steadily, our budget is already firmly planned out for the next five years."
"Even so, we’ve been trying to find ways to use it," Yoko said, her eyes looking far off into the distance. "We've poured funds into unscheduled housing for new residents, unexpected road maintenance, a Village Five Cleaning Operation, and a surge in Security Team recruitment. We've even been building forts and shelters in the forest to increase the survival rate of adventurers. Yet, despite all that, the gold in the vault just keeps piling up."
"When money accumulates like that, people usually start thinking of ways to steal it, but the members of the Village Council are beyond reproach," Nana reported. "They are so terrified of being exiled from the village for misconduct that they handle the treasury with extreme meticulousness. Not a single copper is wasted."
Normally, this would be a heartening report, but Nana looked a bit disappointed. I told her she shouldn't go wishing for corruption.
"The reason gold accumulates in Village Five is because every bit of tax stays here," Roku said, spreading documents across the table. "Normally, we would need to pay about half of it to the central government, but..."
Village Five was located within the Demon Kingdom, but it was treated as an independent power. Therefore, it didn't owe taxes to the Demon Kingdom.
"If we could pay taxes to the Demon Kingdom, it would solve most of our financial problems. But that raises the question of what the Demon Kingdom can actually provide for Village Five in exchange. By the way, when I subtly brought the subject up with Lord Randan, he tearfully threatened me, claiming that if we paid them taxes, the Demon Kingdom would surrender completely to the Village of the Great Tree."
Tearfully threatening... wait, surrender? Why would it come to that?
"If they receive taxes but can't provide anything in return, it leads to rebellion," Roku explained. "Normally, the benefit would be relying on the Demon Kingdom's military, but their army would struggle to cull the Magic Beasts and Monsters on the North Side of Village Five. For the defense of this town, we have Lady Pirika, the Security Team, and Master Zabuton's Children."
Roku looked up at the ceiling, where several of Zabuton's Children were perched on the beams. So, you guys were sitting in on the meeting too, huh?
"If we called for a few of Kuro’s children as well, the defense would be ironclad. And even if the absolute worst happened, Lord Draim lives nearby."
If we called Draim, Graffaloon and Rusty would probably show up too.
"In any case, given the combined strength of the Village of the Great Tree and Village Five, the Demon Kingdom sees no point in sending an army. I suggested we could just frame it as them 'protecting' us to save face, but Lord Randan just told me not to think of anything unnecessary and ran away."
I-I see. Well, let's try not to bully Randan too much. It seemed Tiselle was already giving him enough headaches.
"Fine. Let's set the hoarded gold aside for now," Yoko said, turning a look toward me that clearly meant she was counting on me. "The Village Head will think of a way to use it eventually."
The Village of the Great Tree was also sitting on way too much money, though. Oh, Nana? Did you have something to add?
If it's left to me, the tax revenue will increase? Look, let's just ignore the fact that the Shrine and the White Swan Races brought in a massive, unplanned amount of income for Village Five this time.
Erm, returning to the subject at hand.
The Village Five Tax Collectors were struggling because people insisted on paying taxes. However, Village Five wanted to avoid accepting them. Since the goal of those residents was contribution rather than the payment itself, simply telling them that excessive taxes were a nuisance to the town's management should have worked—after all, they didn't want to obstruct the village.
However, even if that saved the Tax Collectors, the residents' desire to contribute would remain unfulfilled. I didn't think it was right to just ignore those feelings; we needed to acknowledge them.
"That's easy to say, but how?" Yoko asked. "Even if we start more projects, it's meaningless if those people can't participate."
Don't overthink it, Yoko. If they want to pay taxes because they want to contribute, then...
I presented my idea. "How about a Cash Grab?"
The Village Five administration and the Tax Collectors would issue a Wooden Board Ticket to anyone who paid the correct amount of tax. The ticket would serve as an entry pass.
With one ticket, you could have one turn at a rotating lottery machine called a Garagara. A ball would drop out, and its color would determine whether you won or lost. The odds would be set at one in ten—one hundred winning balls for every nine hundred losers.
The losers would get a participation prize: a single Medium Copper Coin. The winners, however, would advance to the next stage: the Cash Grab!
They would be given the chance to grab as much money as possible from boxes. We would have Large, Medium, and Small boxes, since hand sizes vary by race. The Large box would mostly contain Small Copper Coins with a few Medium and Large ones mixed in. The Medium box would be mostly Medium Copper Coins with a few Large ones. The Small box would be mostly Large Copper Coins with a few Silver Coins.
All of this would be Village Five's own money. After measuring the participant's hand, they would be assigned a box. Then, the Cash Grab began! They could only use one hand. They had to pull the coins out and place them on a tray to win them. The tray would lead into a slider-style coin counter that would instantly display the total.
And here was the final choice. The winner could take the cash home, or they could pay it as tax. If they chose to pay it as tax, their name and the amount would be posted publicly!
We decided to implement this system.
"It's a massive success," Nana said, looking at the Cash Grab Venue with a look of pure bewilderment.
"And almost everyone who grabs the cash is choosing to pay it as tax..."
Maybe the public posting was the key. They seemed to be competing over the amounts. Fufufu.
Through the participation prizes, we could return a small amount of tax money. If someone won and took it home, that was fine too. If they paid it back as tax, it was Village Five's own gold, so the treasury didn't actually increase. I thought it was a pretty good idea, if I do say so myself.
"But won't this fail to stop people from swarming the Tax Collectors?" Nana asked.
I had instructed the collectors to give a Different-colored Ticket to anyone who insisted on overpaying. This special ticket offered no participation prize and no option to take the cash home—it was strictly for the Cash Grab and immediate tax payment. The crowds might not diminish, but the collectors wouldn't have to spend their days running away anymore. I'd also issued a stern warning against threatening or kidnapping the collectors, so I didn't think things would get out of hand.
"I see..." Nana looked at the venue again, her expression turning complicated.
"What is it?"
"Oh, nothing. I don't think anything bad will happen, but I was just thinking that our Village Head certainly comes up with strange things."
Hahaha. I'll take that as a compliment.
As for the tickets, we were repurposing the automatic branding machines from the White Swan Races. Since they were serialized, fraud would be difficult. We'd probably just have to change the design every year.
"The wooden boards for the tickets. They're made of compressed wood scraps, aren't they? That's quite clever."
I’d thought of that to avoid the hassle of dyeing them when we made the Different-colored Tickets. It would be a waste of good lumber, after all. The Mountain Elves were currently having the time of their lives brainstorming other uses for the compressed material.
Michael-san, upon seeing the Cash Grab Venue: "Honestly, Village Head, I told you to call me whenever you were starting something new!"
Michael-san, upon seeing the Ticket Made of Compressed Wood Scraps: "Ugh, this is too much—in a good way. The business opportunities are so overwhelming it actually hurts."
A resident at the Cash Grab: "Did you hear? Someone pulled a Silver Coin out of the Large box!"
The Village Head, the culprit who put the Silver Coins in: "I just... well, I put them in every box, actually."
Nana, who had reached a state of total resignation: "At least it wasn't a Gold Coin. I'll take what I can get."
Tax Collector A, who just wanted to be left alone: "We aren't just handing these out like candy, right?"
Tax Collector B: "Indeed."
Tax Collector C, who wanted to lose weight: "I'm still being chased by people who want tickets, but at least I'm not being kidnapped anymore. I'll call this a win!"
A Village Five Civil Official, a few days later: "Wait, because everyone wants the tickets, they're all paying their taxes exactly on time and in full... Is our net balance actually increasing?"