Chapter 32: Signing

New World, Fortis Kingdom, Port of Ship Construction Department.

The ship used by Hashirama and the others was finally slowly starting to land nicely at the Ship Construction Department's harbor dock. Everyone is now in the hull of the ship getting ready to get off the ship. Everyone immediately got off the boat and immediately started walking towards the royal palace.

"That building…" Elizabello II's gaze suddenly turned to the second type of house building that had just been completed.

"That building is one of the development projects our kingdom is currently undertaking, King of Prodance" Lowellmina introduced with a smile, "The house itself is one of three houses currently under construction. The house that the King of Prodance is currently looking at is the second type house that we will later give to the citizens of our kingdom"

"Given?!" Elizabello II, Dagama, and Iru immediately exclaimed with faces full of surprise.

"Of course" Lowellmina nodded, "There is also one other house to be given. This house itself was the exclusive home for the first 2000 people who became citizens of our kingdom. They will be given better treatment than other citizens."

Lowellmina's gaze then looked at the very large and spacious building that was more magnificent than the building seen by the King of Prodance before, "Look at the building over there, King of Prodance"

Elizabello II immediately turned his attention to the direction of the first ripe house building.

"What do you think about the building?" Lowellmina asked with a smile.

"A very luxurious building and also very large" Elizabello II praised.

"That building is a building of the first type of house and also that building is the residence of the higher-ups of our kingdom. In addition, every royal family who will later establish a cooperative relationship with us will also be given one for them to use as a resting place when visiting here."

Elizabello II, Dagama, and Iru were quite surprised to hear this.

They continued walking towards the royal palace while Lowellmina helped the Prodance King give some direct explanations. It didn't take them long to arrive at the front yard of the royal palace.

"This…" Elizabello II's gaze was slightly taken aback by the number of neatly arranged dining tables.

"This is an area that we specially built for workers to pick up food. Usually they will eat at 6 o'clock in the morning, 12 o'clock in the afternoon, and 6 o'clock in the evening. They are free to eat anything. The dishes they eat are also the same as the dishes eaten by us. Because the one who prepared the dish was the Royal Palace Chef"

"This treatment…" Iru muttered with a face hard to believe.

They continued to enter the royal palace. When Elizabello II, Dagama, and Iru entered the royal palace. The three of them were immediately greeted with a very luxurious and classy interior. The three of them were immediately stunned by such a sight.

Lowellmina then turned to look at her companions, "I will take the King of Prodance and the others to meet His Majesty. His Majesty is currently waiting for his presence in the Guest Room" Lowellmina's gaze then turned to Hashirama, "Hashirama, Your Majesty has asked me to inform you so that you can take our royal flag, our Royal Eternal Pose Special, the booklet, along with the documents of the treaty. cooperation in His Majesty's office."

Everyone nodded.

Lowellmina's gaze then turned to Elizabello II, "King of Prodance, please come with me. His Majesty is waiting for us."

"Okay." The Prodance King nodded.

Lowellmina immediately took Elizabello II and the others to the guest room, Hashirama went to carry out the tasks assigned to him, while the others did their own thing.

It didn't take long for Lowellmina and the others to finally arrive at the guest room.

Lowellmina immediately walked towards Ars who was waiting on the sofa and immediately saluted, "Your Majesty, the King of Prodance and his higher-ups have arrived"

"Thank you for your hard work, Iowa" Ars smiled then immediately walked towards Elizabello II and the others, "Hello, our first meeting. Introduce my name is Ars. I am the King of this Fortis Kingdom" Ars immediately extended his hand towards Elizabello.

"Hello too, King Fortis. My name is Elizabello II, I am the King of the Kingdom of Prodance" Elizabello II immediately returned the greeting then continued, "I want to thanks King Fortis for previously helping us in solving war problems and also agreeing to the cooperation we want to build beforehand"

"No need to thank me. We both need each other. Apart from that, we also benefit from each other." Ars said with a smile.

Ars' gaze then turned to the two people behind Elizabello II, "The two of them?"

"The two of them are the top brass of my kingdom. To my left is Dagama. He's the tactician of the Prodance Kingdom while the one on my right is Iru. He is the Commander of the Prodance Kingdom's army."

"Hello, nice to meet you" Ars immediately stepped forward while extending his hand in a friendly manner.

"Nice to meet you, King Fortis" Dagama immediately returned the greeting, "I would like to thank you for helping our kingdom. If it weren't for your help, our kingdom might not exist today."

Ars just nodded then looked at Iru and stretched out his hand, "Nice to meet you too"

"Nice to meet you too, King Fortis" Iru returned the greeting smiling with a smile then continued, "I also want to thank you. With your help, no troops from our kingdom were injured in yesterday's battle."

Ars nodded then looked at the King of Prodance, "How about we sit down to talk while waiting for Hashirama to come with the signing documents?"

"That's a good idea"

Ars and Elizabello II immediately took a seat on the sofa while Dagama and Iru stood behind Elizabello II and Lowellmina stood behind Ars.

"King Fortis, I want to ask you something." Elizabello II started the conversation.

"Please" Ars nodded.

"I wonder if your kingdom has currently opened a purchase for shipbuilding?" Elizabello II asked in an excited tone.

"Boat?" Ars asked confused about this.

"Sure" Elizabello II nodded, "I really like the ships built by your kingdom. Your ship is very luxurious and elegant. The technology on board is also very advanced compared to other ships."

"Ah, I see" Ars nodded, "Too bad, King of Prodance. At the moment we still haven't opened the sale for the ship as our Head of Ship Construction Department and Deputy Head of Ship Construction Department are still involved in the building and infrastructure construction projects of our kingdom. This also causes us to still not be able to open the business."

"So. that's a shame~" Elizabello II sighed.

"There is no need to be sad, King of Prodance. There is a possibility within this year. It is likely that our Ship Construction Department will be up and running soon. At that time, the King of Prodance could place orders directly. Also, in the future there will be many variations of the ship that we will build besides the ship you used before."

"That sounds really good." The Prodance King nodded.

"By the way, I heard from Iowa that you guys have a desire to set up a wood selling business. Is that true?" Ars asked with great interest.

"That's the plan" Elizabello II nodded, "If I may ask, is it okay for us to do it?"

"Don't worry. You guys can do it. It can also help you increase the income of your kingdom and also it can increase the income of our kingdom. With the high income of your kingdom, you can prosper the citizens of your kingdom. I hope the King of Prodance always remembers this. I want to build a cooperative relationship with a kingdom because the kingdom prospers its citizens. If the kingdom doesn't do that, I won't do it. And if the King of Prodance did such an act. I apologize. Our cooperative relationship agreement will be immediately cancelled."

"I see, King Fortis. I will remember this well"

It didn't take long for Hashirama to enter the room. Hashirama immediately handed over the documents that he brought to Ars, "This is the document that Your Majesty asked for"

"Thank you" Ars nodded and immediately pushed the document to Elizabello II along with his writing instrument, "Please check it first. If there is an error in the writing in the document. Please tell me. So we can change it right away."

Elizabello II nodded and immediately took the document that was given to him and examined it. Felt that there was no mistake in the agreement that was there. Elizabello II immediately signed the document and then handed it back to Ars. Ars immediately signed the document and handed the document back to Hashirama.

Ars then stretched out his hand towards the front, "With this our kingdom is bound by a cooperative relationship. I hope we can work well together from now onwards."

"I hope too" Elizabello II excitedly reached out his hand to return the greeting.

In this way the Kingdom of Prodance and Kingdom of Fortis officially established a cooperative relationship!

Ars then handed the signing document to Lowellmina then asked Hashirama to hand over the Fortis Kingdom's Special Eternal Pose and booklet then hand it over to Elizabello II.

"Those two items are our Royal Special Eternal Pose and the booklet that records all the den-den mushi numbers belonging to the higher-ups of our kingdom. I hope that the King of Prodance can take good care of the Special Eternal Pose since it would be very troublesome if the Special Eternal Pose fell into the wrong hands."

"I will definitely take good care of this" Elizabello II said seriously.

"Good" Ars nodded then continued, "Then regarding the booklet. The book recorded the number of our royal den-den mushi. If the King of Prodance needs help or wants to place an order for goods. Please just call at one of the dignitaries of our kingdom. We will immediately help and prepare all the things needed"

Elizabello II nodded and immediately kept the two items carefully.

"Next is the flag of our kingdom. Because you have chosen to establish a cooperative relationship with our kingdom through a territorial protection cooperation relationship. Then raise the flag of our kingdom in your territory. However, you do not need to raise it higher or equal to your kingdom's flag. Just fly it in a location that can be seen by anyone when it comes to your kingdom. It can help to inform that the Prodance Kingdom is currently under our kingdom's protection. Usually if we just build a cooperative relationship, I will not give our flag to be flown in an area that is not our territory. However, since you asked for territorial protection. We have to do it" Ars then looked at Hashirama "Give them our flag"

"Okay" Hashirama nodded and immediately walked towards Dagama since Iru was currently holding a suitcase carrying the flag of their kingdom. Hashirama immediately handed over the flag to Dagama which he received with care.

"Did you bring your flags?" Ars asked with great interest.

"We brought it" Elizabello II nodded and looked at Iru, "Please give me our flag"

Iru nodded and immediately walked towards Hashirama then handed the flag to him. Hashirama immediately held the flag carefully.

"You can go keep the flag in my study. Put that flag next to the Ryugu Kingdom's flag."

"I understand." Hashirama nodded and immediately left the room.

"The flag will be flown later when the fellowship building is ready for use. Later, when the time comes, we will contact you along with the people from the Ryugu Kingdom. We will both fly our flags in time there. Besides, we might as well talk about some things together. It's like cooperation." Ars paused and continued, "I think it's fine for your kingdom to establish a cooperative relationship with the Ryugu Kingdom. The Ryugu Kingdom itself is an empire built by the fish-man race. They have many advantages in the ocean for example for seafood fish and others. You can try to build cooperative relationships with those related in this field. Our kingdom is also building cooperation with them through the food ingredients sector. They excel in the oceans and are excellent contributors to seafood ingredients. If you build a cooperative relationship with them. The availability of marine food ingredients will be sufficient. Besides that, there are many things that can be found in the ocean such as energy sources and various other things."

Ars paused for a moment and continued, "We as humans are certainly not a feeling that has full power over the ocean. We find it difficult to fully explore the ocean area. However, in contrast to the fish-man race. They are born in the ocean and have the ability to explore the ocean."

Elizabello II's eyes immediately lit up and was excited to hear this.

"Your Majesty, I think we can do that" Dagama suddenly said, "Especially because of the expansion of our empire. We will need a lot of food supplies as well as various other things. We can establish a cooperative relationship with the Ryugu Kingdom to resolve this matter."

"However… Before you two decide on this. Please tell me your wish to cooperate with the citizens of your kingdom." Ars suddenly came in, "Even though you two see an advantage in terms of this cooperation. I'm afraid, many citizens of your kingdom will not accept this cooperation. You should also know the discrimination that the fish-man race suffers from."

"I think so too." Elizabello II nodded seriously.

"What about the citizens of your kingdom, King of Prodance? Do they know about this cooperative relationship?" Iru suddenly asked.

"They already know about it and we have told them about it. They had previously felt strange about it. However, after we reassured them. They immediately accepted it very well and didn't mind the cooperative relationship even though they are currently welcoming people from the fish-man race" Ars paused and continued, "If you intend to establish cooperation with the Ryugu Kingdom. You explain the benefits of cooperating with them such as the availability of abundant foodstuffs and others to the citizens of your kingdom. Besides, if your kingdom wants to have a good income. You guys are trying to cooperate with the Ryugu Kingdom as well by giving them the right to open a business in your kingdom."

Ars paused for a moment and continued, "Through the business, your empire can get as much incoming income as it does through goods income tax. In our own kingdom there is something called goods tax and import tax. Everyone who will do business in our kingdom their merchandise will be subject to goods tax. We will collect a tax of 5% of the total price of the goods which have been successfully sold to consumers. Then there is also the import tax, where the tax is a tax paid by someone to the kingdom if that person opens a business and brings goods from outside the kingdom. For example, there is someone who wants to open a business in our kingdom such as a clothing business. However, the clothes are from outside our kingdom. Clothing sold by the person may be subject to an import tax of 5% of the total selling price. Then also add 5% of the goods tax which means the clothes will get a 10% tax. The tax will later go into your royal income."

Ars paused again and continued, "Don't be afraid to tax the citizens of your kingdom. Because the tax itself is also money that can build your empire. However, you also cannot give taxes arbitrarily just like the World Government gives taxes to the kingdom at large costs. You can manage your royal taxation matters as your royal income. However, you should also not rely too much on taxes as your source of income. Because the tax itself is the lowest income that can be obtained or only as a support fund. You can think of other ways to get or increase the royal income you have."

Ars stopped back and continued, "I will take the example for the empire built by us. Apart from taxes which are the source of our kingdom's income. There are also many things that we can use as a source of income, such as the sale of the wood we produce and also rice which is currently in the process of growing. In the calculation of each month, at least in the sale of timber produced by our kingdom. We can produce as many as 50 to 100 billion berries. Meanwhile, in our rough calculation, for the sale of rice we can get a profit of 45 to 60 billion berries per month"

Elizabello II, Dagama, and Iru took deep breaths in shock hearing this. Because for their own kingdom. In order to be able to get an income of 50 billion berries it must take 1 full year even to collect this they have to work hard to do it.

"What I'm giving this example is just some of the revenue from our kingdom. Our kingdom itself still has many ways to get royal income such as electricity payments, water payments, selling cow's milk, selling chicken eggs, and also various other things. At least, through my rough calculations. If all of our current departments were running, every month our kingdom would earn 300 billion berries to 500 billion berries."

Elizabello II, Dagama, and Iru immediately fell silent when they heard this.

"You don't need to be surprised like that" Ars paused for a moment, "The territory your kingdom has is huge and if you can make good use of your territory. It's not impossible to have income like our kingdom. Only you yourself are always focused on earning royal income through taxes but not trying to rack your brains on how to increase your empire's income."

Hearing this made Elizabello II, Dagama, and Iru very embarrassed.

"Then… King Fortis. Can you tell me what to do?" Elizabello II asked shyly.

Elizabello II is older than Ars. However, their way of thinking is very different.

"The first thing you should pay attention to is the tax issue. Taxes are something important. Although the income taxed is relatively low, however, the income from the tax can also be a support for a kingdom's funds. In our own kingdom, we divide taxes into four categories namely payroll taxes, building taxes, goods taxes, and import taxes. Salary tax is a tax that must be paid by someone who already has a job with his salary already included in the taxpayer. Our kingdom requires a person to start paying taxes once his salary has hit the 1 million berry mark. While payroll taxes also have several levels. The higher the salary earned by the person. Then the tax required on it will be higher. Then there is the building tax. This building tax is a tax that must be paid by someone who owns a building in his name. This tax itself is paid annually. Everyone who has taxes in his name is obliged to pay as much as 2% of his total annual income. Meanwhile, if someone owns two buildings that stand in his name, he must pay 4% of his total annual income. The more buildings that stand in his name, the more taxes he has to pay. Our kingdom only limits each person to only 5 buildings in his name."

Ars stopped for a moment at the same time Hashirama had returned and immediately stood behind Ars.

"As for the goods tax and import tax, I have explained before. If you wish, you can try to use our kingdom's tax policy."

"Is it okay if we follow the policy?" Elizabello II asked excitedly.

"No problem" Ars nodded, "If you want to follow him I have no problem with that. However, we recommend that you share this and your purpose for implementing this policy. So that later the citizens of your kingdom don't feel strange and complain about the policies you set." Ars paused as well, "Also, you can follow the rules and policies set by our kingdom. I have no problem with that except for the salary issue. Our own salary is better if we manage it individually without following the salary from other places. Because our income is also different from each other"

Elizabello II nodded seriously.

"Then, you can also build a business run by your own empire. For example, the business of selling wood which you will later buy from our kingdom. You will certainly get a very large profit from this income. Also, later on, you can try to build other additional businesses such as selling rice and others purchased from our kingdom. The price of rice that we will sell is cheaper than the market price. You can later sell the rice at a price below the current market price. Even though it only has a price difference. However, people will definitely prefer to buy goods at lower prices. That way, your royal income will increase compared to before."

Ars paused for a moment and continued, "Also, if your kingdom's income increases. Don't keep the money just for yourself. Don't just use that abundance of money to have fun like someone who has forgotten himself as well as the Tenryuubito. The income you get is used to improve the quality of life of your people. Give a salary that can meet their needs. Besides that, if you can build a place that can attract the attention of citizens or foreigners visiting your kingdom so that later you can use the building as a source of income."

Elizabello II who heard the suggestions and input from Ars immediately felt that there were many ideas that appeared in his mind.

"Before you deny that. It's best to talk to the higher-ups of the kingdom. Even though you are a King. Better to ask for their advice and income. It was the best decision. I usually make a decision, I often do it through meetings with royal officials. I will take their income then take the best opinion for us to use. The same goes for tax and other policies. Almost all of them are policies that are obtained from joint talks."

"I understand." Elizabello II nodded seriously.

"Okay. Cooperation talks have been completed. There was still plenty of time for lunch. Would the King of Prodance want to accompany us to tour our kingdom? Incidentally the house that will be used by the residents is ready to be used. We can all see him on this trip."

"That's a great idea" Elizabello II said excitedly, "I'm also interested in seeing it"

Ars nodded then looked at Lowellmina, "Lowa, you go and save the document then also tell Shiina to call the people who will get their house quota. Tell them to prepare their stuff. They will soon occupy the house that has been promised to them. Meanwhile, if the workers who get the current quota are still working. You go tell Kaijin and Myrd that I'm giving them the day off."

"I understand." Lowellmina nodded and immediately left to carry out the task.

"In that case, King of Prodance, Master Dagama, and Master Iru. Let's go"

"Okay" Elizabello II nodded and couldn't wait to see the luxurious building he had previously seen.

The five of them immediately walked out of the room and then continued their journey to see the construction of the Fortis Kingdom together.