Chapter 24: The Enviable National Subsidy

Fortunately, just when “everyone” — and everyone did not include Luo Yan — was worried that this arrogant Mr. Harold Olson might fly into a rage, his reaction surprised them all.

After twisting his facial muscles a few times with great effort, Mr. Harold Olson finally managed to relax his expression, and at the same time made it turn serious… and you had to admit, there really was a kind of solemn and dignified quality to it, if only he didn’t look so annoyingly smug.

“Um… respected Is… uh… Isaiah Thomas, first of all, congratulations on becoming the newest Moonlight Battle Aura talent of the Davoma Empire. Here I extend to you my most sincere congratulations, and please forgive my earlier impatience. In addition, I would like to introduce to you the rights you now enjoy~~”

After carefully straightening his appearance, Harold Olson said in a serious manner, his respectful tone and fawning expression making it completely impossible to imagine that just a few minutes ago he had been spouting nonsense there, insisting that this “Istvan Ares” or “Isalen Toras” was nothing but a joke.

Luo Pei and Old Strom both curled their lips at the same time, while Luo Yan revealed a faint, knowing smile. This was the difference between a “politician” and a “statesman.” Although both possessed the “weathervane talent” of changing their stance as easily as turning a page, and the “two-faced attribute” of saying one thing while meaning another, the latter clearly did it more skillfully, at least managing not to trap themselves in an awkward position.

In short, it was the difference between being a prostitute and whether or not you bothered to put up a chastity plaque for yourself…

Harold Olson didn’t notice the expressions of the others at all. His attention was probably entirely on Isaiah Thomas, with no time to spare for “irrelevant people.” He gently tugged at the front of his formal robe, his expression shifting once more, and spoke slowly with a hint of restraint: “Next is a very, very exciting piece of news!! Respected Isaiah Thomas, it is my great honor to announce on behalf of His Majesty Pat Riley III, the great ruler of the Davoma Empire, that you have officially become a Third-Class Honorary Lord of the Davoma Empire. This title cannot be inherited, but aside from that, you enjoy all the noble rights of the Davoma Empire~~ Congratulations!!”

After delivering this long speech, Harold Olson immediately began clapping enthusiastically, but his performance seemed like a one-man show. Not only did Luo Pei, Luo Yan, and Old Strom fail to join in, even Isaiah Thomas himself showed no expression at all, as if he hadn’t the slightest idea what the “exciting news” he had just mentioned was supposed to mean.

At this, Harold Olson felt thoroughly bored as well, and could only mutter a few curses about “country bumpkins” under his breath, then straightened his back and continued: “Next, in addition to receiving the imperial title, Your Excellency Isaiah Thomas, as a newly awakened Moonlight Battle Aura talent, you will also enjoy several other rights… First, starting now, you will receive a monthly living subsidy of 5 Gold Plangs provided by the Empire. As your professional rank increases, this subsidy will continue to grow.”

“Second, you may claim any five mu of unowned land anywhere within the Empire as your personal fief. After claiming it, please register with the Imperial Land Administration. In addition, as your professional rank increases in the future, your fief may continue to expand.”

“Third, starting now, you will receive material subsidies worth 50 Gold Plangs every year from the Empire. Specifically, this includes two sets of garments made from fine Dinghu silk, one set of standard imperial fine-scale armor, three sets of full standard low-ranking imperial officer equipment (including gloves, boots, belt, field pack, and so on), one standard imperial Hulan war blade or one standard imperial Nasir longsword. In addition, you may receive one fine imperial war horse — of course, this is a one-time grant, not one every year. However, as your professional rank increases, the value of this subsidy will also continue to grow.”

“Lastly, starting now, if you attend any imperial national academy, you will receive exemption from tuition and miscellaneous fees. Furthermore, the Empire will provide you with favorable scholarships and student loans. If you have any specific needs, you may also make requests to the imperial authorities, and they will do their best to assist you.”

The string of rewards and subsidies went on and on, taking a full ten-odd minutes to list, and combined with Harold Olson’s aria-like, melodious cadence, it gave one the feeling of sitting in an opera house watching a grand performance. However, the audience was truly uncooperative — even after the “show” ended, no one clapped.

Well~ setting aside Mr. Harold Olson’s embarrassment for now, as far as Luo Yan was concerned, he really did treat the whole thing as watching a play.

To be fair, as a potential asset, the treatment the Davoma Empire gave to Isaiah Thomas — or rather, to Moonlight Battle Aura talents — was already quite generous. But then again, Luo Yan had already been a Level 7 Magister back in his day, so naturally he looked down on this kind of “apprentice wages.”

First, there was the “Honorary Lord” title. This was originally a compromise product of the Empire. The Davoma Empire had been founded for nine hundred years, and over time the number of nobles had become overcrowded. It wasn’t that the Empire was stingy about a title, but rather that granting nobility meant granting fiefs. A baron’s fief required at least 40 to 50 knight’s fees (one knight’s fee being the amount of land needed to support one knight). If you carved off a piece here and a piece there, after a while, how was His Majesty the Emperor supposed to maintain his own standing?

And so the “Honorary Lord” title came into being — one could enjoy all noble privileges, but without fief or inheritance rights… In Luo Yan’s view, this was nothing but a chicken rib: for a noble, the most important rights were none other than “fief” and “inheritance,” yet these were precisely the two things missing. You got stuck with the noble reputation for nothing and still had to bear noble obligations — might as well be a free citizen and live more freely.

However, the actual situation was not quite like that. This was mainly because a Wizard only needed to reach Level 3 to directly receive the imperial title of “Baron,” so Luo Yan was simply a well-fed man who didn’t know the hunger of the starving — although the two most important foundations of nobility, “fief” and “inheritance,” were missing, there were actually plenty of people willing to spend a fortune just for an “Honorary Lord” title. Setting everything else aside, just the nobles’ preferential treatment in commercial tax exemption was enough to make many wealthy merchants green with envy. Not to mention all the conveniences in daily life, and that feeling of being a cut above the common folk. In short, in this kind of class society, a noble title representing one’s status was enough to make most people yearn for it with all their hearts.

As for Luo Yan’s judgment through his tinted glasses, we’ll keep silent and not comment. In his view, even the second item, “living subsidy,” and the third item, “fief claiming,” that Mr. Harold Olson had mentioned were nothing more than content designed to make up for the economic sources that the “Honorary Lord” title lacked.

But regarding the “living subsidy” portion, even someone with Luo Yan’s biased evaluation couldn’t say much — at the current price levels of the Davoma Empire, in a remote place like Talim Village, a family of three might not even spend one Gold Plang in a month. Even in the most prosperous part of the Imperial Capital, five Gold Plangs a month was enough for a person to eat their fill and not worry about the cold. Of course, whether you could eat well and live comfortably was another matter entirely.

Anyway, no matter how you looked at it, this subsidy measure of the Empire could at least be called humane — it wasn’t just empty official rhetoric. But as for the other item, “fief claiming,” Luo Yan’s evaluation was simply two words — “what a scam~~” oh~ it should be three words!

“Claim any five mu of unowned land anywhere within the Empire” — it sounded quite generous, but in reality it was no different from a scam. Think about it: the Davoma Empire had been founded for nine hundred years. Any land that could still be called “unowned” at this point could basically be linked to idioms like “desolate and withered,” “barren mountains and vicious waters,” “poor and remote villages,” “not even a blade of grass grows,” “wasteland,” and other such godforsaken phrases. Did you actually plan to go claim five mu of land in the middle of the Champs Elysees Avenue in the Imperial Capital? Just see if someone would jump out and teach you a lesson about minding your own business.

As for the latter two items, in Luo Yan’s view they were merely routine arrangements. The fabric made from Dinghu silk was indeed quite nice, especially the coral blue and chestnut red colors — bright, beautiful, glossy, and smooth, truly top-grade. But if you wore those clothes to a noble gathering, you’d just be asking to be laughed at. And as for things like “standard imperial fine-scale armor,” “standard low-ranking imperial officer equipment,” “standard imperial Hulan war blade,” and “standard imperial Nasir longsword”… they all had the word “standard” attached to them. Did you think cheap goods could be any good?

On the other hand, Luo Yan thought that things like the “fine war horse,” “tuition exemption,” “scholarships,” and “student loans” were quite practical. A good horse was definitely a man’s desire, and following the famous saying of the current dynasty’s Grand Ancestor, “knowledge is wealth,” the various public and private schools of the Davoma Empire had all maximized their “wealth.” Regardless of how the students fared after graduation, the exorbitant tuition fees had already made the academies “worth every penny.” This measure of “tuition and fee exemption” was undoubtedly a timely rain, at least reducing “investment risk.”

The teachers who possessed “wealth” all got rich; who cared about the students who were buying “wealth”…

Having thoroughly mocked the Empire’s rewards in his heart through his tinted glasses, Luo Yan patted Isaiah Thomas beside him with great satisfaction. The newly awakened Moonlight Battle Aura talent seemed not to have snapped out of this series of “surprise blessings” yet, still in a half-dazed state. But Luo Yan understood completely — back when he had first become a formal Wizard, he too had been startled by the Empire’s “generous” subsidies and rewards. Speaking of which, the treatment the Empire gave to Moonlight Battle Aura talents was actually close to that of low-rank Wizards, which was enough to be called a “generous gesture.” This showed just how highly they valued this kind of promising potential stock!

[However, all these subsidies and rewards were nothing but an appetizer wine. Luo Yan smiled coldly as he watched the impeccably dressed Mr. Harold Olson. Having been through this once before, he naturally knew what the real main course was.]

On this side, Mr. Harold Olson, having finally seen what he wanted to see, revealed a satisfied smile. Confidently smoothing his hair, he began speaking with great enthusiasm…