Epic Of The Demonic Sage

Chapter 59 - Viscount Drew

Lucius had not seen Count Gabriel furious since he got to this world either, although he had seen him being serious. He wondered what could have made him act like this. But he didn't walk out of the library outright, as it would be rude.

He waited for them to go away before standing up.

"I think we can end our lesson here for today as well," Kain said, knowing that it was now time for him to leave as the situation here may be getting out of his status.

Lucius nodded knowingly and left along with Kain. On the way out, he met Kiana who had a concerned look on her face.

"What happened?" Lucius questioned.

"One of the nobles… has decided to separate his territory from the land of Etara." Kiana stated.

Lucius furrowed his brows, as he was unable to understand what exactly was the problem with this.

"Can you explain more?" Lucius asked.

"Let's continue ahead. I'll explain on the way… besides, I think the Count will announce it later himself, anyway." Kiana replied.

"Alright…" Lucius said with a nod.

"The land of Etara is basically the main domain of the goddess Etara. Any god that has its headquarters in a specific place would make that place its domain. For the goddess Alana it's the capital of the Grantz Kingdom instead.

The Land of Etara has been united since its creation thousands of years ago. Even when it didn't come under the rule of the Grantz kingdom it was still called the Land of Etara. Since then it has only grown in size but has never decreased." Kiana said.

"So that means… that noble separating his territory from the land of Etara is essentially blaspheming the goddess?" Lucius asked.

Kiana shook her head at this and spoke, "no, not exactly. There is no rule that equates this to blasphemy, nor is there any penalty to this. The only thing is that this has never happened before and now that it has… that too under the reign of Count Gabriel, it would become a blemish on his reputation.

He would be the first count to have his territory reduce in size in this way. While other nobles lose territory from time to time, it is usually due to them falling in rank, selling it, or simply dying out. A noble voluntarily leaving a territory like this is unheard of." Kiana replied.

"Then why is he leaving it? What is the benefit to it, anyway?" Lucius questioned.

"He will no longer be paying tribute to the Inanis family, nor the tithe to the temple of Etara." Kiana answered.

Lucius had an expression of realization on his face. He had seen things like this many times in his past life and understood exactly what it was.

'So rebellion against the ruling authority and claming independence… wasn't the Barrom clan the same…' Lucius thought to himself.

"If he is claming independence won't the Grantz kingdom attack him?" Lucius further asked.

"No… he is not claiming independence from the kingdom. He is simply saying that he will not be part of the Land of Etara. Saying that his land will now be called differently." Kiana answered.

Lucius went silent for a moment and thought about it.

"And who is this noble who dares to do this?" Lucius questioned.

"Viscount Drew of Roldan Family." Kiana answered.

Lucius felt like he had heard this name before and tried to remember where.

"Isn't he from the second strongest family in the Land Of Etara?" Lucius said.

"Yes… that is why it is problematic. Roldan family contributes about 30% of all tributes and a lot of trade routes pass through their lands. If they leave the Land of Etara, all the trade agreements will have to be remade. The negotiations will take a long time and the businesses will be hit." Kiana replied.

Lucius could now understand the greater implications of this entire thing. The Count could let go of the tribute that they get, but the trade agreements getting nullified would cause a lot of problems to the commoners of the land.

And every noble that is a good politician knows that unhappy citizens are the bane of their existence. They would need to placate the matter quickly or it may cost them a lot in the long term.

Even Lucius was worried now as a lot of his plans needed money, money that he was going to get from the Inanis clan, of course. If the Viscount was going to leave the Land Of Etara, he would be throwing a wrench into Lucius's plans too.

"There must be some disadvantage to him leaving the land of Etara, won't he?" Lucius questioned.

"Indeed, there are disadvantages. Because the trade agreements will be nullified, the merchants won't be able to pass over his land either. This would stop supply to his territory too. But for this, he has already figured out a solution… which is just to give them a free entry and not taxing them.

Along with this, he would also be losing out on the protection offered by the army of the Land of Etara. But being the second biggest family, they have their own personal army as well." Kiana answered.

Lucius nodded his head and saw that they had already reached the dining hall. Opening the door, he saw the hall was empty thus he went and took a seat. He couldn't help but continue thinking more about the matter.

Lucius realized that what Viscount Drew was doing was pretty similar to what the smaller nations from his previous world did. These nations had very small populations and did not have many sources of revenue.

So to address this, they would not charge tax on the businessmen and merchants, promoting them to do business here. In turn they would gain a community base and could then change the laws in the future to gain benefits.

Since the merchants would have a customer base there too, they would continue to sell in the nation and would not mind the tax as it would often be lesser than the other bigger nations.