Grouch Gamer

Lord Yosemite

Marquess Jonas Yosemite is 35 years old. He is a brunette with blue eyes in elegant gold and black suit. Five years ago, his father stepped down and handed over the land.

His wife, Sarah, is a blonde green eye who supports him to keep improving his Territory. Sarah is the second princess. Jonas was fortunate to have met her at the academy and fallen in love, not because she is a princess. It's because they both mesh well together. She is working hard to help both admirers of her life, husband, and father.

Jonas and Sarah have two sons, 19 years old and 15 years old. Sarah wants to try a few more times to get one girl, at least. She is imagining two boys dotting over their sister. Today, Jonas just got back from visiting all the villages and cities in the Territory.

Sarah met Jonas at the door with their butler Sebastian. Sebastian is the twenties typical looking butler.

"Welcome home. Love!" (Sarah)

"Thank you. I'm tired because of the trip. I need to see my father. Is he in?" (Jonas)

"Yes, he is in the library. Should I prepare some tea?" (Sebastian)

"That sounds good, Sebastian. Bring some sweets to go with it." (Sarah)

Sebastian took off to get everything ready as Jonas and Sarah were walking towards the library holding hands. They walked in on Senior Yosemite was readying a book on the couch. Both sat down on the opposite couch.

"Jonas, how is the territory doing?" (Senior)

"The Territory is doing good. My travel went smoothly. On my way back, I ran into an interesting girl. She was an Elf looking for an inn. I guess she ran into some adventurers in the forest that told her about Yosemite Town. The adventurer that was escorting me ended talking to her. She kept her distance from the carriage. She ignored the transport like she didn't care. She asked about the rabbit deal we have at the gate. The adventurer conformed about the agreement. She then asked if adventurers have to pay to get in the town. The adventurer said everyone has to pay. She said it was stupid. I was curious why she thought it was stupid. I thought she would be like others and is cheap to pay. I decided to record the conversation. I started the recording and asked her. I would like you two to tell me what you think." (Jonas)

Sebastian walked in and placed the tea and sweets on the table between both couches as Jonas started playing the recording. Even though the record was only 20 minutes, Senior and Sarah kept quiet and thinking.

"She didn't know who you are, even though you were talking?" (Sarah)

"No, I watched her. She was always on alert. I turned my enhance senses and found out that she would look towards the direction that noise would come from in the forest." (Jonas)

"She probably sensed that you're not a threat. I read the story. Inside the story, it talked about the black guild. The guild wasn't criminal with no members but lots of members. They had an underground facility. The law of the facility is trade information. Anyone had access to the facility. That is if they knew about it. At the front desk, there was a Homunculus. You can ask her for information. She will indicate if she has the knowledge and how old it is. Then she would as if you want that information. Suppose you say yes, you present information for that information. If she already knows about it, she will say no deal already knows it. You can continue presenting different facts until there is a deal.

After reading this story, I always wondered if it was true. It bugged me. Our kingdom doesn't hunt for information. Let's go back to what this girl said. A merchant goes to different villages and trades; They aren't nobles. The people would tell them lots of stuff. The merchant could report to the merchant guild the essential parts. Then information could be delivered to us. We don't care if the farmer had a child but do care if they are deprived of food or equipment. Dead people don't pay taxes.

When she said grunt, I'm guessing she is talking about Infantry. When she's talking about etiquette, she is talking about the mindset. All of our troops are nobles, second or third sons, and daughters. They have a protocol in their blood. Commonwealth wouldn't be able to learn it 100%. To fight in a war, they could learn it. That's like 10% of etiquette we learn. If they could do it, that would be a great help in war power. It's not that we are planning to go to war." (Senior)

"I think the concept is easier to imagine then set it into motion. We are a prideful bunch. The other troops wouldn't like it. The idea of not charging entrance tax for guild members and the charge percentage of profits isn't a bad idea. I can see merchants delivering items to the soldiers escorted by the adventurers. In all, it's not a bad idea. It would be a pain to get the whole kingdom to change." (Sarah)

"My Lord, permission to speak?" (Sebastian)

"Go for it, Sebastian." (Senior)

"The concept of tax being percentage might look good for the poor but suck for the rich. 25% of a small amount isn't that much to someone who makes five small gold coins a year. That's smaller than 50% of a farmers crop. 25% will look a lot to someone who makes 100 large gold coins a year. Some of the merchants make lots more. The only way to figure out how much profits a merchant makes is to go by value—last year's value of items and coins minus this year. If you place the same across the board, they can't cry about it. The merchant guild wouldn't like it one bit. Your talking about more taxes then we get now." (Sebastian)

"Hahaha, this is interesting. I wonder what my father would think about it? Isn't it next month that we will visit him. Let us present this story to him and the prime minister." (Sarah)

"I agree! I want to see his face. Just let me know about it when you come back." (Senior)

"I will father-in-law." (Sarah)