"We're magicians. Why are we being made to do this kind of hard labor?" A mage carried building materials as he muttered in complaint.
"Enough, shut up. Isn't Mr. Mel working himself? Or is the pay not generous enough?" The other mage had few complaints.
Compared to when Exar had been ruled by the church, it was already good enough that mages like them had not been driven out of their homeland.
After spending this time together, they had found that the Commoner Army truly were not bad people. Their military discipline was strict, and unlike the previous noble armies, they did not prey on men and women alike.
Although many of these mages complained, no one actually left, because they had truly received generous compensation.
In the nation ruled by the Bernardo Merchant Guild, commerce was flourishing. The Bernardo Family's bank had now become the nation's central bank, with wealth continuously flowing into it as strings of numbers.
But compared to all that money, Mel knew that money had to circulate, and distribution needed to be more reasonable as well. Otherwise, they would not be entering a capitalist society, but heading toward destruction.
Commercial taxes could finally be put on the agenda: a progressive tax system, where the higher the income, the heavier the tax, with wealthier merchants taxed more heavily.
Under such circumstances, some merchants would naturally flee. But where could they run? Whether Gard or the Duchy of Wilen, Mel would conquer them sooner or later. If they fled to the Kingdom of Krun on the western continent, it might simply take a little longer.
"Inspectors are patrolling throughout the country, and mages are dealing with the extermination of fleas and rats. I think education should be put on the agenda as well. To promote universal education,