Ch.252[Chapter 252] Peaceful Daily Life

After having breakfast, Sir Dominic took a quick shower, changed his clothes, and left home.

Sir Dominica had asked if he might want to rest a bit more, but Sir Dominic said he would rest after resolving all the pressing matters at hand.

And the most urgent matter was receiving compensation from the Executive branch.

Sir Dominic looked at the message sent by the Executive branch once more.

“Sir Dominic has been confirmed as a victim involved in this incident, known as the Pixelation Terror Attack, and is entitled to the following compensation.”

Sir Dominic looked past the basic consolation payment of 2,400 Gacha Stones and 30,000 Credit, along with 150 T5 equipment enhancement material selection vouchers and a ★★★ furniture exchange voucher, to the additional compensation selection section.

It was a system where he had to choose from more than ten options, but Sir Dominic was contemplating between two choices.

They were [Free Skin Creation Voucher (1 time)] and [Free Live 2D Creation Voucher (1 time)].

The Gacha Stones needed for skin creation were roughly between 1,000 and 2,000 Gacha Stones, so it seemed like a fairly reasonable compensation.

While the free skin creation was quite an attractive offer, Sir Dominic’s attention was completely focused on the Live 2D creation voucher.

“Live 2D, huh. Come to think of it, that’s also an option.”

Sir Dominic took out his character card from his pocket.

On the front of this character card, which included citizenship, credit card, and various other miscellaneous functions, Sir Dominic was naturally depicted.

However, perhaps because Sir Dominic had rarely updated this card, the portrait section currently showed an image taken when he was at tier 2.

“I guess it’s about time to change my portrait.”

Sir Dominic muttered as he put the character card back in his pocket.

It seemed that Sir Dominic had already completely made up his mind about the selection reward.

“Alright. Let’s go… Hmm?”

Sir Dominic was about to head to the Gachaland city area through the portal in the forest when he noticed there was a letter in the mailbox in front of his house.

Sir Dominic briefly wondered why there was a letter here, but then realized that having a letter in the mailbox wasn’t strange at all.

“The rules of Gachaland are so chaotic that I end up questioning even the most obvious things.”

Sir Dominic chuckled at this odd happening and took out the letter from the mailbox.

The letter was in a very ordinary white envelope, but when he turned it over, he saw blue stripes on part of the border.

“Let’s see… It’s from the Executive branch.”

Sir Dominic opened the letter on the spot and read its contents.

[GTS – Gachaland Tax Service]

[We are holding your first half-year taxes hostage.]

[If you do not pay by the deadline below, another hole will appear in the amount of your tax.]

[Our conditions are as follows:]

[* Note: This condition applies after applying the comprehensive tax rate of 12.7% based on the top 24% income bracket, and after all tax deduction benefits have been applied.]

[* Amounts less than 10 units are rounded down.]

[13,760 Gacha Stones, 403,820 Credit, to be paid within one month of this letter’s arrival.]

[If it’s difficult to come in person, you can also pay online through the guidance on the Tax Office website.]

[If you delay payment beyond one month, you may be subject to a fine of up to 10 times the amount.]

“What on earth is this?”

Sir Dominic carefully examined the letter, unsure whether it was a ransom note from kidnappers or a tax payment notice sent by the Executive branch.

He even wondered if it might be a voice phishing scam disguised as a tax notice.

However, after looking at the back, Sir Dominic could confirm that this letter was indeed a tax payment notice sent by the Executive branch.

There was a QR code, and when he scanned it, it led him to the Gachaland Tax Service.

After confirming that the tax amount he needed to pay matched the amount written in the letter, Sir Dominic carefully folded the letter and put it in his inventory.

Since he was already on his way to the Executive branch for the compensation issue, he could just pay the tax right after receiving his compensation.

“By the way, does being in the top 24% mean I’ve earned that much?”

Sir Dominic tilted his head, pondering about the percentage he had just seen.

But soon, Sir Dominic nodded.

Sir Dominic was tier 3, and in Gachaland, tier 3 accounted for roughly the top 23% to 40%.

Thinking about it that way, while he was in the upper ranks among tier 3, it wasn’t an unusual figure when looking at the overall picture.

“Seems like I’ve earned quite a bit.”

Come to think of it, Sir Dominic was making quite a tidy profit from the card pack exchange shop, and thanks to his appearance in the indie game Enchant, he was also receiving quite sweet incentives.

Although it was slightly past its trend now, considering the sales volume of Sir Dominic’s doll, Little Sir Dominic, Sir Dominic had quite a high income among tier 3 players.

“And yet the tax is only this much.”

Sir Dominic blinked at the tax rate of about 12% to 13%.

Like the Ferallant saying that you can avoid death but not taxes, he had thought there would be taxes in Gachaland too, but he didn’t expect such a low tax rate.

In Ferallant, there were basically no taxes applied to knights and soldiers.

Instead, serfs had to pay nine out of ten harvests as tax, and ordinary citizens had to pay taxes amounting to 50% plus additional miscellaneous taxes.

Sir Dominic had spent most of his life on the battlefield, so he was relatively free from taxes, but he had occasionally seen people paying window tax, roof tax, door tax, and even soil quality tax depending on the quality of the land.

Of course, being a knight didn’t mean not paying taxes at all.

More precisely, they were collected in a different way, namely through religion.

Basically, knights had to offer 1/10 of their income as a tithe, and after confessing about taking lives on the battlefield, they had to pay a certain amount of money as penance for that sin.

For someone like Sir Dominic who rampaged on the battlefield, the more he fought, the more penance he had to offer, so in reality, Sir Dominic was essentially paying 30-40% of his income as tax.

Given that background, Sir Dominic had expected Gachaland’s taxes to be around the same proportion.

He had thought the tax rate might be a bit lower due to the flourishing commerce, but he hadn’t expected it to be this low.

While thinking about taxes, Sir Dominic had already arrived at the Executive branch.

Everything that had been ruined by the previous attack had been restored, but one streetlight was folded in half, as if someone had crashed into it while driving.

Sir Dominic looked at the folded streetlight and the car embedded in it, emitting black smoke, as he entered the lobby of the Executive branch.

“Welcome! We are the Executive branch, always putting Gachaland’s citizens first. What brings you here today?”

“Ah, I’m here about compensation. And I’d like to resolve a tax issue while I’m at it.”

“Compensation and taxes! You can receive your compensation right next door. For tax issues, you’ll need to visit the Tax Office. Due to staff shortages, we’re providing maps instead of guides. Is that alright with you?”

“That’s fine.”

Sir Dominic nodded.

He wondered why a guide or a map was necessary just to find another department, but soon realized that the corridors of the Executive branch were like an ant colony maze, so he accepted a map.

As the name “simple map” suggested, Sir Dominic received a map that only properly indicated the path from the lobby to the Tax Office department, which he stuffed into his inventory before heading to the compensation table right next door.

“Welcome… If you’re here for compensation, could you please tell me your name and name… no, that would be redundant. Could you tell me your name and tier?”

“Sir Dominic of Ferallant. Tier 3.”

“I see. Tier 3 Sir Dominic of Ferallant. Let me see… Yes, here it is. Since Sir Dominic is a victim of the anomaly, you can choose two items from the selection rewards.”

Sir Dominic blinked at those words.

After checking the message on his phone again, he realized that there was additional compensation for victims of this incident, written in very small letters almost at the end.

So I worried for nothing.

Sir Dominic scratched his head sheepishly, recalling how he had been deliberating between the skin and Live 2D on his way out of the house.

“I’ll take the free skin creation voucher and the free Live 2D creation voucher.”

“Yes, just a moment… Yes. Fortunately, this was the last free skin creation voucher.”

“…? Was there a limited quantity?”

“Yes. The compensation notice message should have stated that some items may be closed early on a first-come, first-served basis.”

Good heavens. Sir Dominic marveled at how many traps could be hidden in a single message as he received the compensation from the Executive branch employee.

The compensation went directly into his inventory.

“Yes, you’ve completed the receipt, and to confirm that you’ve received it, could you please sign here?”

Sir Dominic signed the paper handed by the employee and then left the compensation table.

Whether Sir Dominic had lined up at a good timing by chance, dozens of people started lining up behind him after he left the table.

“Now I just need to resolve the tax issue… Hmm?”

Sir Dominic suddenly raised his head and looked around, feeling a chill running up his spine.

With his ears buzzing and his heartbeat so loud he could hear it, Sir Dominic focused intensely, trying to find the source of this eerie feeling among the many people passing through the lobby of the Executive branch.

Behind such a focused Sir Dominic, someone’s hand reached out.