Magicraft Meister Part 1

"Now, I have something to tell you."

After the bath and dinner had been served, Reinhardt and his family arrived at the hotel.

Reinhardt gathered his party, that is, Jin and Reiko, Elsa, her nanny Meane, his butler Adberg, and his bodyguard Hermann. He gathered his butler and two maids of honor in the same room.

He is in serious mode.

"It's about this village."

Reinhardt looked at Jin,

"Have you noticed anything?"

Reinhardt looked at Jin and asked, "Have you noticed anything? Jin thought for a moment,

"Yes, I thought the village was not very active.

Reinhardt nodded his head,

Reinhard affirmed, "Yes, it should be. After all, this is a village where only old people live.

Reinhard said. Jin heard this and frowned,

"Is such a place depopulating too ......?

He muttered.

"Really?"

Elsa asked Jin. He looked doubtful.

"Oh, yeah. The gradual disappearance of people?

"Yes."

Reinhardt took over,

"To maintain the population, each couple must have at least two children. Elsa, do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Considering the infant mortality rate, the military service, the plague, etc., I'd say three is a good number for the government."

Jin gradually understood what Reinhardt was trying to say.

"To put it simply, this is a village that can no longer sustain its population.

Reinhard then began to speak with a slightly pained look on his face.

"About 20 years ago, the neighboring Kingdom of Cerroa was messing around with the surrounding countries.

He interspersed some light words, as if he was trying to soften the seriousness of the story.

"Well, only the previous king of Celuloa himself would know the truth of that, but since I can't ask those who are under the ground, I can only speculate.

He glanced at Erza and Meene,

"It is generally said that he wanted to expand his territory, but that is no small reason."

Reinhardt took a breath,

"I wanted to swallow all the kingdoms on the continent.

He said, "I wanted to swallow all the kingdoms on the continent.

"That's the Unifiler's ......."

When Jin said this, Reinhardt shook his head.

"That's right. The Unifiler philosophy was already in place at that time. The current King Selroa seems less ambitious than his predecessor. But in fact he is more ambitious than his predecessor, in my opinion. The previous king was easy to understand, but the current king is ...... hard to read, to be honest. But he has not lost his ambition to rule other countries. He is probably building up his power right now."

Then he looked at Erza again,

"So, the previous King of Cerroa attacked the Kingdom of Egelea and the Kingdom of Franz for 3 years, from 21 to 18 years ago to be exact. Our Kingdom of Shoro was not particularly attacked, perhaps because we are not a descendant of the Kingdom of Dinar. But there was a time when we had to send troops to the Kingdom of Cerroa for defense.

Then Jin notices.

"I see. So that's the reason why this village became depopulated during that period.

"Well, that's how it is. And Elsa, I heard that it was during this period that your father achieved his success.

When Reinhardt said this, Meane's expression seemed to distort for a moment, but no one noticed.

"My father..."

"Yes. My uncle told me that when he was in the Kingdom of Egelea as a captain of the expatriate garrison, he stopped an army more than three times the size of the Kingdom of Selroa's and minimized the damage to his friends and to the nearby residents."

"Wow, Erza's father must be an amazing man."

These words came from Jin's honest feelings, but Meane's face twisted even more when she heard them. But as usual, no one noticed because he was lying face down.

"Many soldiers and soldiers died in the battle against the Royal Army of Selroa, and among them was Count Luis ...... Kuzma's father, I heard.

Jin was satisfied with this explanation.

"Ah, is that why Count Kuzma took over the family at such a young age?"

Reinhardt nodded his head with a hard expression on his face.

"Yes. And soldiers were drafted from all over the place. This would have been one of them. It seems that every man between the ages of 20 and 40 who was able to fight was drafted at that time.

If you count backwards, those who were over 40 then are almost 60 now, so it makes sense that this village is full of old men.

"I heard that some units were organized by village. And there must have been units that were wiped out. This village was one of them."

Reinhard said with a sigh. Jin also felt gloomy, but he asked a question.

"Then what about the wives and teenage children of those who were drafted?

Reinhardt looked sad when he was asked this question,

"They abandoned their villages.

"Abandoned," he said, "......."

"This place is north of the capital of the Kingdom of Egelea. If the army of the Kingdom of Selroa attacked, it would surely become a battlefield. Fortunately, the house is still standing and was not exposed to the fire, but the mothers with their children evacuated just in case."

"............"

Silence filled the room.

"I'm sorry to be a little heavy-handed, but, Elsa, you're 17 now. But, Elsa, you're seventeen now, and I thought you should know a little something about the world, especially back then when your father was involved."

Then he turned to Jin,

"Jin, I wanted you to hear this because I wanted you to know, but also because I wanted to hear your opinion."

"Your opinion?"

"Yes. You said earlier that the villages are depopulated, right?　So you have seen or know of such villages and settlements elsewhere, right?　If so, I would like to know if you know of any measures taken by the government in such cases."

Reinhardt is also a member of the aristocracy and a member of the ruling party.

In reality, this world is suffering from a population shortage. He thinks it is necessary to find a way to alleviate it.

When Jin was told this, it brought back memories of a TV program he had seen when he was on Earth, which focused on marginalized communities.

"Yeah, right..."

Jin spins his words in his memory.

First of all, industry. If you can't make a living there, you can't attract people.

"Well, that's a good point. Keep going."

Reinhardt agrees.

"If the place is not attractive to young people, it will be difficult for them to move here.

There is a surplus of land in many areas. It would be nice to have a reason for people to want to live here.

"I understand that. What exactly?"

Jin recalls the news that some municipality was doing this,

"A tax reduction in the beginning, maybe, or a percentage reduction for five years or so."

I modified it to apply to this world and explained.

"I see!　So you want them to settle down during those five years. That's a good idea.

"And then we could reduce the taxes somewhat, depending on the number of children born."

Reinhardt's face lit up with admiration,

"Excellent. That's what I was thinking too. Jin, I think you have a talent as a politician, don't you?

He exclaimed. Jin shook his head,

"No, no, I'm just a guy who makes things.

Don't be too sure," he said hurriedly. After that, we talked and exchanged opinions.

After that, we exchanged various stories and opinions and retired to our rooms as it was getting late at night.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

That night, Jin was unusually deep in thought as he lay on his bed.

(I can make various things because my predecessors gave me all of them, right?)

He turned over in his sleep.

(I can't take credit for explaining to Reinhardt and the others how great I am, because I was educated in modern Japan.)

I'm a little hazy.

（What am I supposed to do with myself?)

Jin, who had been running around like crazy, doing whatever he wanted to do, was pondering what he should do in this world for the first time since he came here.