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Vol 05 Chapter 158: The First National Census

Along with the development of the Subject Rights Chart, the first national census was conducted.

Until now, in our country, the population was independently surveyed by each patrician, or it was conducted irregularly, such as during a change of kings. The land, for the most part, had not been measured until I became king.

However, in such a situation, it was impossible to distribute subject rights, and would be difficult to advance the military reform as well.

If we don’t understand the wealth of our citizens, we cannot determine whether a person should be a light infantry soldier or a heavy infantry soldier. Therefore, it was decided that we should investigate everything at once.

Of course, this required an enormous cost.

The cost amounted to fifty talents. Considering our annual income is a thousand talents, it is a significant burden.

Since it is impossible to conduct this every year, it was decided to carry it out every five years.

「Your Majesty, the results of the national census have been released.」

「Thank you, Raymond. Let me see it.」

I spread out the paper with the census results.

Total Population

Subject rights holders and their spouses and families: 354,569

Limited Subject rights holders and their spouses and families (Autonomous Cities): 34,452

Citizen rights holders and their spouses and families (Allied Cities): 68,904

Slave Population: 42,567

Total: 500,492

Gender Ratio

Men: 46%

Women: 54%

Age Distribution

1-15 (Minors): 35%

15-30 (Adults): 30%

30-40: 25%

40-50: 7%

50 and above: 3%

Total: 100%

Military Age (15-40): 55%

Total Military Strength (excluding Autonomous and Allied Cities): approximately 90,000

Assets and Status

First Class (Royalty, Nobility): 1%

Second Class (Quasi-Nobility, Big Landowners, Merchants, Cavalry): 5%

Third Class (Plebeian Landowners, Heavy Infantry): 74%

Fourth Class (Tenant Farmers, Light Infantry): 20%

Land Distribution

King’s Directly Controlled Land: 65%

Noble’s Controlled Land: 35%

◇

「I see… The population is higher than I expected.」

There are as many as 500,000 people. …No, maybe this is about right?

The previous surveys were sloppy, and recently, our territory has significantly expanded.
It’s not unusual.

And we also know our total military strength. About 90,000.

Of course, it’s not feasible to mobilize all 90,000 at all times. At most, around 40,000 could be moved for two or three weeks.

For a longer period of time, it would be better to mobilize a maximum of 10,000.

Even so… Seeing it laid out like this makes it easy to understand. I can grasp the state of our country at a glance.

For example, the gender ratio. There are 8% fewer men than women.

Generally, women tend to live longer, so it’s normal for their proportion to be higher… But such a large imbalance is likely due to men dying in wars.

The number of deaths in a single war is small, but if it happens every year, it creates a significant skew.

Well, If Fisher’s Principle1 is correct, it will return to normal in about ten years.

Another interesting point is the slave population. 8% of the population are slaves.

I’m not sure if this is a lot or a little. Is this a healthy number?

Even if 40,000 slaves were to revolt, with a total military strength of 90,000, it would be easy to suppress them.

It’s not a critical number.

A bit of a problem is the land.

About 35% of the land is under the control of the nobility. The revenue from this land is enormous.

I would like to nationalize it and centralize its control as soon as possible, but…
It’s impossible right now.

「Anyway, once the codification of the laws is complete, we will be ready to issue the subject rights.」

It’s taken about ten months to get to this point. We should be able to finish within a year.

「Sigh… Finally, I can take a break.」

Raymond lowered his shoulders.

I placed a heavy burden on Raymond.

In truth, I wanted to assist him, but Raymond insisted that I get some rest. He said he would handle this himself, and that I should focus on what I could do as king.

In other words, he was telling me to produce an heir as soon as possible.

While Raymond sacrificed his sleep and worked tirelessly, I spent my time diligently with Julia and Tetra, trying to conceive a child.

It was painful for me to think how hard my loyal vassal worked to give me some rest.

Well, not that Raymond’s face came to mind during sex. That would defeat the purpose.

Unfortunately, it seems my seed isn’t very lively, as neither of them has shown any signs of pregnancy yet. For Raymond’s sake too, I need to succeed soon.

◇

「Almus, there’s something I want to show you.」

One day, Tetra tugged on my sleeve. Her face was faintly flushed.

「Did something happen?」

「Just come with me.」

Following Tetra, I stepped into the backyard. There, a large magic circle was drawn on the ground, with a sizable crystal placed in the center.

Around the magic circle stood five women holding staves—magicians or, more accurately, mages.

「Begin.」

At Tetra’s command, the five women thrust their staves into the ground marked by the magic circle. The circle began to faintly glow.

The light gradually intensified, and soon, even the crystal began to glow. The glow of the crystal grew stronger and stronger.

「Stop.」

The magicians withdrew their staves from the ground. Tetra walked briskly to the center and picked up the crystal.

「Look at this.」

「…It’s cloudy.」

The crystal that had been transparent a moment ago was now clouded white.

What is this?

「This is the completed version of the magic power accumulator. It can store as much magical power as a crystal of this size.」

Tetra spread her arms wide to demonstrate. It was about a meter in diameter.

「That size?」

This crystal is about ten centimeters long and five centimeters wide. If that’s true, it’s a significant technological breakthrough.

「Yes. This can hold all of my magic power.」

「By the way, how many of these crystals would it take to store Julia’s magic power?」

「About ten thousand, maybe?」

Is she even human?

「And Almus, for you, it would be about this much.」

Tetra indicated the size with her thumb and index finger.

Yeah, I get it. I don’t have much magic power. Thanks for making it clear.

「Can this crystal be reused?」

「In experiments, it withstood up to ten uses. The magic power inside halves in about a month.」

That’s impressive. If we have several of these, we can use powerful magic. Our military power would soar.

「It’s not as incredible as it sounds. First, you need high-purity crystals. Then, it takes about five days to convert a crystal into a magic power accumulator. And then…」

Tetra held the crystal in her left hand and waved her staff with her right. Flames erupted from the tip of Tetra’s staff, forming a fireball about a meter in diameter.

Tetra launched the fireball high into the sky. It shattered and vanished in the air.

「Look.」

Tetra thrust the crystal towards me. It had turned transparent again.

「It’s empty now. It can only be used for one spell.」

Hmm… Indeed, it might be more efficient to produce black powder instead.

A fireball may have a visually impressive impact, but its actual destructive power is surprisingly small. A fleeting burst of flame without mass won’t kill anyone.

「But I worked hard.」

Tetra blushed slightly, pressing her azure hair against my chest.

「Praise me.」

「Good girl, good girl.」

I stroked Tetra’s delicate hair and hugged her tightly.

「For now, could you produce about six of these? With that many, we might be able to use magic strong enough to break down city walls.」

「Yes, understood. I’ll think of a more efficient method.」

With that, Tetra lifted her face from my chest.

◇

Two days later…

「Hey, Almus. Come here for a moment.」

Julia tugged on my sleeve, her face beaming with a smile.

「What is it?」

「Just come with me.」

I followed Julia to her room. As soon as the door opened, a sweet scent enveloped my nose.

「You still have that strange smell in here.」

「You get used to it.」

Julia said this while bringing over a jar from the table.

「Try a little of this.」

「Is it safe?」

「Of course. I’m still alive, aren’t I?」

Well, if she’s fine…

I put a bit of whatever was in the jar into my mouth. It seems to be forcibly sweetened with honey, resulting in a bizarre mix of sweet and bitter flavors that is quite unpleasant.

「My body feels hot…」

「It’s a mixture that can restore magical and spiritual energy. Results may vary by individual.」

That’s an incredible invention!

「See? Isn’t it amazing? So…」

「Good girl, good girl, right?」

I placed my hand on Julia’s head and patted her. She pressed her head against my chest, looking content.

Supporting Julia’s weight, I continued to stroke her head.

After a while, she seemed satisfied and stepped back, her face slightly flushed.

「It’s kind of embarrassing… Tetra does this in public all the time…」

「She doesn’t care about what people think. By the way, what are the ingredients for this potion?」

I asked cautiously. Julia gave me an adorable smile.

「It’s made from ‘magic herb,’ a potent narcotic.」

「What kind of stuff are you feeding me?!」

TN: The Fisher Principle is a theory proposed by geneticist and statistician Ronald A. Fisher that explains why the sex ratio in most sexually reproducing species is approximately 1:1, and how the ratio tends to recover even after a particular event skews the ratio toward one sex.