Chapter 11 – A territory in name only
“So I received a territory, but…..”
I spread out a map on a table and checked it with Elysia.
“Tialus….ah, there it is!”
Elysia pointed at the south-east of the continent.
Since she lived in a monastery she can read it seems.
She read out loud the name of Tialus written on the map, then tilted her head in confusion.
“Tialus province? Formerly one of the eleven provinces of the empire according to this note.”
“Yeah. It’s a territory that used to be part of the Luxia Empire before it became Holy Luxia Empire. Currently it only belongs to the empire in name only, without anyone actually governing the place. Now, it’s a place overrun by wild monsters.”
“Eh? That’s….”
“It’s likely there aren’t even any people living there. No tax collector is being sent from the capital either.”
Well, it wasn’t likely that they would hand me a territory that had any kind of worth.
Elysia had a difficult expression on her face.
“But, how do you intend to rule a place like that?”
“There is no real need to do that. Nobles basically spend all their time at the capital as long as their territory is stable.”
During peacetime they leave the actual governing to a relative or subordinate.
Of course, lords need to pay taxes to the emperor.
However, only if there are people living there.
Since no people live within Tialus, there is no need to pay anything.
Though Margraves don’t need to pay taxes to begin with, since their role is to defend the borders of the empire.
“Then there is no need to even visit Tialus, right?”
“Yeah, no need, but….”
“But?”
“We might as well visit it this once. I want to make some more money too, so we might as well go on a trip.”
I’m a lord of a territory now, so I have a legitimate reason to leave the palace for extended periods of time.
“I don’t mind of course if you want to stay here instead, Elysia.”
“No, I will accompany you! I will stay by your side, Alec-sama, be it a monster infested place or anywhere else!”
Elysia gave an immediate reply with no hesitation whatsoever. She even looked excited for some reason.
Elysia spent most of her life working at the monastery. Even if she went outside, it would’ve been somewhere still within the city.
So she must be curious about places outside the imperial capital.
Well, it’s not like I left the capital that many times either….
That being said, I don’t plan on going too deep into monster territory.
That would be too dangerous, so I intend us to stay near the border.
“That’s reassuring. Then we should prepare for the trip.”
I can store our luggage in my 《Pandora’s Box》.
If possible, I want to have a horse for travel.
I can use 《Teleport》 while there are no people around, but I won’t be able to use it overtly on crowded main roads.
I would like to have guards with me as well, but I don’t know if I can 《Teleport》 with too many people. I don’t want to show my magic to others either, so I think I will just take Elysia with me.
“Anyhow, we need to buy a few things. Elysia, let’s go into the city.”
“Yes!”
So the two of us made our way to the commerce district of the imperial capital.
he’s gonna buy the horse huh