For some reason, Allen found that after inviting Ymira, he no longer had a moment to spare.
Every morning, Marnid brought a host of young officials carrying stacks of documents to queue outside his door and report the year's income to Allen.
This included tolls paid by passing caravans, with the main revenue coming from the High Pass and the Old Forest Road.
Next came the various shops in town, along with income from sales of honey candies, dairy products, and fruit wine.
Looking at the thick ledgers, Allen suddenly felt a headache coming on. It was not that he could not understand them; sorting out the figures before him was hardly difficult.
After all, he had received a reasonably complete education and spent a few years working in an office.
After a short period of adjustment, he could already make sense of everything and discuss some plans for the following year with Marnid.
For example, they could raise taxes on certain goods while lowering them on others, keeping commerce relatively stable within this territory of tens of thousands of people.
Allen was certainly not the sort of lord who fixated on gold and silver. He did have some understanding of the importance and purpose of taxation.
What gave His Majesty a headache, however, was how utterly tedious this work was. He had not dealt with anything like it in nearly a decade.
For one fleeting moment, Allen suddenly realized that being king did not feel all that different from going to work.
Naturally, an entire morning was nowhere near enough to finish discussing all the different sources of income.
With excitement written all over his face, Marnid left Wendry Castle with his subordinates, saying he would return the next morning.
In fact, the former merchant obsessed with making money,