On December 9, Jin approached Elsa after breakfast.

"......What's wrong, Brother Jin?"

"Uh,...... yeah. Well, I was thinking of going to Erza's parents' house today."

Elsa tilts her head when she hears this.

"Why?"

"Why ...... do you mean ...... that I'm going to say hello to Elsa's parents?"

"Oh, ........."

Elsa finally understands what Jin meant and blushes.

"Well, you see, I haven't greeted Erza's ...... mother even once. And since Elsa is already a baronet, it's not right for her to call herself my sister, is it?

"Well, that's..."

While we were talking in the hallway, a flustered-looking Reinhardt came in.

"What are you two doing here?　I heard that His Majesty is making a royal tour today!

"What?

A royal tour is a tour by the emperor. The light-footed emperor was coming to our region for the end of the year 3457.

"......Erza's parents' home will be after that."

"...... hmm."

Therefore, the Reinhardt residence and the village of Kurtz were hurriedly preparing for the welcoming ceremony.

At 11:00 a.m., the carriage of the Empress Gerhard Hilde von Rubies Shawlo arrived at the village of Kurtz.

Her Imperial Majesty, the Emperor Shoro!

The guards' voices rang out, and the carriage doors opened.

First, the attendants and escorts, Degauze, the Minister of Magic and Technology, Flora, a female knight of the Kingsguard, and the secretary, alighted in turn. Last was the queen.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome!

The emperor addressed the saluting villagers and turned to Reinhardt.

"Sir Reinhard Randall, I see that you have ruled this land well.

"I am deeply honored."

And then the Empress, protected by the Kingsguard, went to Reinhardt's mansion, Lankenh?user.

"It is a very nice house.

The emperor's tone of voice returned to its usual tone as he settled into the reception room of Lankenh?user's mansion.

In attendance are Degauze, Flora, a female knight of the Kingsguard, and her secretary.

"DeGauss told me about the new ship. Reinhardt, Erza and Jin, thank you for your hard work.

Then the Empress looked at Reiko.

"You haven't changed, Reiko."

The Empress spoke to Reiko, who was also an honorary squire, in a friendly manner.

"...... I am an automata. It is my duty to remain as such as long as your father wishes.

Then Bella, the maid automaton, brought me a cup of tea.

"Thank you. ...... Reinhard's automata, right?"

"Yes. My name is Bella.

"Yes. You have a nice automaton.

The tea is first sipped by the Minister of Magical Arts and Technology, Mr. DeGauss.

"It's quite a tasty tea, isn't it?

Hearing this, Flora, the secretary, and the emperor also drank the tea.

"It's really delicious!

"I am honored."

They enjoyed the taste of the tea for a while, but the Empress, in her position, could not take it easy.

"I came to see Sir Reinhard Randall because I heard that you have implemented the family register in practice.

"Yes, indeed."

Reinhard had been working on the family register since he became the lord of the village of Kurtz.

"I will ask you to write a detailed report later, but I wanted to get a general idea of what you were doing.

"In brief?"

Yes. The difficulties and points to keep in mind when making a family register. More importantly, what is the purpose of making a family register and how do you intend to manage it?

It is a difficult project to introduce the management of residents using family registers in a society that, unlike modern Japan, does not have the concept of a permanent domicile or certificate of residence at all.

Above all, it would not go smoothly unless there were advantages for both the lord and the inhabitants.

"If you just make a family register and collect taxes based on it, there will be residents who do not declare their income, won't there?"

A system that only benefits the lord's side will not work, the emperor said.

"Yes. "Yes, I have thought about it. First of all, I gathered all the residents and held a meeting to explain the system.

"Yes, and?"

I said I wanted to make a ledger with the residents' names, dates of birth, and addresses.

"Did they have any objections or complaints?"

The Empress guessed, and she was right.

"Yes, that's right. Then I explained the benefits to the inhabitants.

"That's what I want to know."

<

Asund, the capital of the Kingdom of Egelea, also has a prototype of the family register system, but the reality is that it does not function well in a capital city with so many comings and goings.

In addition, the knowledge of <> is at elementary school level, so he may not be a good enough leader. But Reinhardt was with Jin and had more advanced knowledge.

The Empress did not know this fact, but she came to him, assuming that he was doing something different just because he was Jin's friend.

"I thought about welfare."

"Welfare, you know."

Welfare. It means to provide the minimum level of happiness and assistance to the residents.

But the residents would not understand the word "welfare", so I gave them a concrete example.

The Empress nodded silently.

"In the case of crimes such as theft or violence, those who are listed in the family register are given priority. On the other hand, if a person is caught committing a crime and is not listed in the family register, he or she will be given a heavier punishment.

"Oh, I see."

"Next, if you are in trouble, those who are listed in the family register will be consulted. We'll also lend you up to 50,000 Talls without interest for up to six months.

"That's a bold move."

Unlike in Reuthert, 50,000 Tol is a lot of money in the village of Kurtz. A family of five could survive on it for four months.

"Yes, this one was kind of ...... for lack of a better word, <>."

Reinhardt added that he was there to show them the good side of the deal, to make them feel like they were in the right.

"In fact, before lending the money, I made them do a thorough background check and made sure that they would tell me what they were going to use it for and the results of the use. If the results were unclear, we would immediately return the loan or seize it.

"So, how did it go?"

Yes. ......"

In the month we started, there were four loans, and one of them was suspicious, so we checked it out and found out that he was going to use it for gambling.

"So, we decided to ban people who committed such fraud, and as a result, there have been no similar incidents since then."

"I see. So now that we know exactly what is subject to taxation, it is harder for us to hide the harvest, and in the end, this leads to an increase in revenue, right?

Yes, that is correct.

In any territory, the peasants want to reduce the amount of tax they pay, while the lord wants to take as much as possible, and there is a deep gulf between them. The only place where there is no gulf is the village of Kaina in Jin.

By creating a family register, the tax amount would be made clear and this gulf would be bridged.

"I have a general idea. You can give me the details in your report. We don't have much time."

The sundial outside the window read noon.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to have lunch."

This is Jin. The emperor's eyes widened for a moment because it was not from Reinhardt but from Jin, but the next moment he smiled.

"Well, that's nice of you. I will look forward to it, Sir Jin Nido."

Jin Nido left the reception room and gave instructions to the old man through Reiko. The contents were <>.

And it was done immediately.

Reiko, help me. ...... or rather, I'm going to have you do most of the work."

"Yes, I'll take care of it."

Reiko rents the kitchen of Reinhardt's house and makes miso soup. The ingredients are toppopo and onion.

The kitchen staff knows how to cook white rice, so there is no need to worry.

The rest of the menu was left to the chef.

"Well, what is this soup?　No, it goes well with rice!"

To Jin's relief, the emperor liked the miso soup.