Lieselotte seemed to notice something all at once, and with a worried look, she turned to Yuri.
"Even if the beauty elixir is reserved for nobles, you do mean to sell the soap and shampoo to commoners, don't you? Is it really possible to reproduce anything of the same quality here in the barony?"
The question made Yuri pause.
...She has a point. Could we really reproduce the same quality here?
Many households grew soapwort, but as far as soap on the market went, the main options were tallow soap for laundry and the Imperial soap favored by the nobility. Imperial soap used olive oil from the Empire's southwestern reaches. It was highly moisturizing, but it dissolved easily in water and had the drawback of a short shelf life. The soap Yuri procured through the Merchant Gift, on the other hand, used caustic soda, which meant it saponified quickly and was easier to produce. It was hard as well, which made it convenient to carry around. Better still, it required only a fifth as much per use as Imperial soap and lasted far longer.
The problem was that this world had not yet developed the Leblanc process, so there was no industrial way to produce caustic soda. It could be made from salt through alchemy, but salt was a luxury item known as "white gold," costing two obol copper coins for a single lium—about four hundred and fifty grams. Since an ordinary laborer earned only one or two obol copper coins a day, salt was by no means cheap for common folk. To begin with, alchemy itself was one of the Gifts, and few nobles possessed it. And even if they did, whether a noble would actually do a craftsman's work was... highly doubtful.
Yuri explained as much to the still-worried Lieselotte.
"It might be difficult to make the exact same thing, but if we plant camellia groves in the barony and press the oil from mature trees, we should be able to secure most of the materials. And I can still procure the special powder through the Merchant Gift, so I think we could make something far cheaper and better than Imperial soap."
There was confidence in his voice, but a little uncertainty as well. If he used the Merchant Gift to procure soap base and moisturizing agents, then added recovery items like potions, ether, and elixirs, he ought to be able to create something plenty attractive. Still, nothing could be known for certain until he actually tried it. With that thought on his mind, Yuri found himself turning his attention to the other product as well.
"I think the soap will work out somehow, but shampoo may be a little more difficult."
"Why is that?"
Ophelia asked, sounding faintly disappointed.
"I just can't think of a way to make something better than what we already have."
Yuri answered apologetically. In this world, there was no such thing as commercially sold shampoo. What people generally used instead were homemade mixtures—egg yolk blended with herbs like rosemary or lavender, or concoctions made from goat's milk tea, vinegar, honey, and the like.
"I see... What a shame, when it feels so wonderful to use."
Ophelia's shoulders slumped slightly, and from somewhere nearby came the small murmurs of Chloe and Lily, who had been listening in.
"W-we'd like to try it too..."
"At the salon, we can just use the shampoo we buy in, and maybe we can look into rebottling it for sale. And Chloe, Lily, don't worry. I'll make sure there's some in the harem baths, so you can tell me what you think afterward."
When Yuri smiled at them, both of their faces brightened at once.
"R-really? We're allowed to use it?"
Chloe's delight shone plainly in her eyes. Lily, too, had flushed pink, wearing a shy but eager expression.
"M-may I... try it too...? To think I wouldn't have to crack an egg over my head... it feels like a dream."
"And that means I won't have to brush Lady Celine's hair a hundred strokes every day anymore..."
For some reason, Margaret said that with deep feeling, even dabbing at the corner of her eye. Yuri stared, startled, and inwardly offered Margaret his sympathies.
Long hair really is a lot of work...
Once that little commotion had settled down, Ophelia brought up another concern.
"And how do you mean to address the other disparity problem? If commoners who earn hard currency from the soap workshop start buying up the food supply, things could turn disastrous."
She looked at Yuri with grave concern, and under that sharp gaze he asked, a little thrown off,
"You mean because the food supply in the barony is already shrinking?"
"Yes. It is only a possibility, but... if the poorest are driven into starvation, they may even attack farmers, shopkeepers, and workshops."
It was Lieselotte who answered in Ophelia's stead, her tone weighty. Her words hinted at how unstable the situation in the barony really was, and the air in the room tightened at once. Yuri frowned and asked thoughtfully,
"Why has the food supply fallen that much in the first place?"
At that, Chloe raised a hand with a trace of hesitation.
"Um... may I speak?"
"What is it? Do you know something?"
When Yuri prompted her gently, Chloe lowered her gaze a little and replied,
"I checked the estate ledgers and tax records, and it turns out that over the past few years, a great many farmers have left the territory. Crop yields have fallen quite sharply as a result... I believe the tax burden may simply be too heavy..."
When Yuri asked what the taxes actually looked like, Chloe laid them out for him: a "donation" to the Church of Stellar Guidance equal to one-tenth of the harvest; a crop tax of one-fifth; seed grain for the following year and food for the family to be secured from the remaining three-fifths; then, if any surplus was sold at market, a market sales tax of one-tenth of the proceeds; a five-percent transaction tax on every sale; an entry tax of roughly one percent on the total sale price of goods brought into the castle town; a market-use tax of no less than one-fiftieth of sales, depending on the stall's location; a poll tax of one silver coin per year for every adult over fourteen; and a farmland-use tax of at least five silver coins a year, depending on acreage.
"...Isn't that just outright extortion?"
Yuri's eyes went wide, and he muttered the words with plain sympathy for a tax system harsher than anything he had known in his previous life. Ophelia listened to Chloe's report with her eyes lowered for a while in thought. Then she slowly raised her face and looked at Yuri with quiet composure.
"Other territories are in much the same condition. My family's lands may have been somewhat lighter, perhaps, but I believe they were much the same."
Her tone was calm, but something more complicated seemed to lie beneath it.
"Seriously? Then that leaves them with almost nothing. It's exactly that old line—you work and work, and life never gets any easier..."
Yuri said it with a frown, as though some unpleasant memory had resurfaced. Ophelia smiled for just a moment at his reaction, but there was a trace of sadness in it.
"Yes... In many territories, that is exactly the state the farmers are in. They work desperately, trying to leave even a little of their crop in their own hands. But there is scarcely any surplus, so the next year becomes more of the same. They wear themselves down, and in the end they leave the land... It is a vicious cycle."
Hearing that, Yuri raked both hands through his hair and blurted, "This is awful!" The more he thought about how things had come to be this way for the farmers, the more frustrated he became. Then, all at once, he remembered the days in his previous life when his boss had dumped work on him, he had missed the last train, and he had to take a taxi home. Past midnight, ramen had been his only comfort.
"The problem is... the tax burden is far too heavy. And then there's how to circulate the hard currency we bring in within the territory. And the barony as a going concern... how do we keep it growing on a sustainable basis..."
Muttering to himself, Yuri shut his eyes and sank deep into thought.
"I thought I could use a sixth-sector model and funnel money back to the farmers, but it's impossible unless I tackle tax reform and secure a stable food supply at the same time..."
He rubbed at his sideburn with his thumb and let out a deep breath. One problem after another rose in his mind.
"If we don't earn hard currency, eventually our cash flow is going to break down. But if we do earn it, the wealth gap just widens. Even if a handful of people get richer, it means nothing if some toilet-paper panic leaves us without food..."
As Yuri murmured that and finally opened his eyes, he realized Ophelia and Lieselotte were both watching him with worried expressions.
"Oh—sorry. I got a little lost in thought."
Trying to reassure the two of them, Yuri said that, then turned to Chloe and gave her a light bow together with his thanks.
"Thank you for telling me. Thanks to you, Chloe, I finally understand what we're dealing with."
At that, Chloe hurriedly rose to her feet and bowed her head deeply in return.
"On the contrary, I was the one who spoke out of turn. I'm honored if I could be of some small use to you, my lord husband."
There was relief in her voice.
Yuri let his gaze move over them all once more—Lieselotte, Ophelia, Chloe, Margaret, and Lily in turn. Lieselotte tilted her head in puzzlement and asked,
"Is something the matter?"
"No, I was just wondering whether some good idea might come to me..."
Yuri answered while scratching the back of his head in slight embarrassment.
"Solutions do not present themselves so easily simply because a few people have put their heads together."
Ophelia looked at Yuri with open exasperation. Every territory was burdened by the same kind of problem. It was such a deep one that scholars had argued over it for years. Her expression all but said, If answers were that simple, no one would suffer in the first place...
"If we were thinking only in terms of agricultural distribution, then at the very least, reducing the tax burden might be the soundest course..."
"But the Reberk Barony relies heavily on taxes collected in the form of crops, so it will not be so simple."
Lieselotte wore a troubled expression as she continued.
"If only there were some other way to collect taxes..."
After a few seconds of silence, inspiration flashed through Yuri's mind like a lightbulb suddenly turning on.