Jircniv sighed. He did that a lot, but never more than when a communication from Ainz Ooal Gown came to him, it always made his heart race and his brow sweat...he could never predict the monster he now served and had given up trying.

Being candid with himself...his rule had become easier since he could direct objections to be presented to the monster himself...and almost without exception, resistence melted away.

He paused before breaking the seal of the message that had just been delivered to him, and remembered a rare time when resistence had NOT melted away. A noble had objected to a tax that was being levied on goods of his region that would help to pay an annual tribute to the Sorcerer Kingdom...

'I object your majesty,' Count Yvas said firmly, 'the goods my lands produce generate very little profit, the work of my artisans, who produce hand crafted jewelry of the highest quality, may be very valuable...but the cost of importing the raw materials and the taxes on those and the cost of transporting the results to such distant places for sale to the few who can afford them...eats up most of the revenue. If you levy this tax, you will destroy my estate.'

Jircniv leaned forward and put his chin on his fist, and said, 'The tribute must be paid, all others have made concessions of some sort, and now you must, but if you wish, you can speak with the sorcerer king himself and argue for an exemption.'

The noble paled, but surprised Jircniv by saying, 'Then I will do so, if this passes, my people will be destroyed and me with them. If the only way to avert that is to speak to the sorcerer king, then I will.'

Jircniv had not been sure which was more surprising, that he was willing to speak to that monster in person himself, or...that the noble mentioned his people's wellbeing before his own. If the man survived, Jircniv promised himself he'd see a good future for that particular noble if it were within his power.

A few messages later, and a meeting had been called, Count Yvas showed shocking fortitude at the awe inspiring wealth and luxury of the Sorcerer King as he approached the throne, and even greater courage in that he could advance despite the array of monsters assembled in the throne room. The minister of finance for the empire by contrast...had simply fainted straight away, and two monsters had to pick him up bodily and deposit his unconscious form behind the two nobles.

Ainz waited until they came near and knelt before him, after which he said, 'Raise your heads, and speak your minds.'

Jircniv, being the senior servant, went first. 'Majesty, in raising money to tribute to your greatness, I have imposed a few minor taxes around my empire, and while most make no objection to paying, this man has taken issue, and wishes to appeal to you directly.'

Ainz nodded, 'Who is that behind you?'

'That is our finance minister, I brought him here to help account for the imperial budget so that you would know we were not negligent in our obligations or imposing upon your authority to simply raise more money without need...it seems however...your greatness was to much for him, and he has fainted, I pray you be merciful to him for any offense this may cause.' Jircniv said, inwardly wondering if only two...or if only one...or if any...would go back to the empire today.

Ainz nodded, 'No harm done, this is a bit impressive, the work of my friends and I...I will take his fainting as a compliment, rather than an insult...now...Count Yvas wasn't it? Please, speak your mind.'

The count's words spilled out of him in a torrent as he accounted for his costs, expenses, the value of his people's works, and the impact such a tax would have on them, and gradually Ains began to understand...and when the words stopped...Ainz laughed, he laughed long and hard, confusion and shock appeared on the faces of the nobles before him.

Inwardly, though they'd never know it, Ainz was grateful for the long history of his world, and for his undead nature...and for the massive library from which he could draw...which had given him the books on economics that he had studied in the quiet hours alone in his room.

'I see your problem, my dear vassals...know that I do not wish your poverty, I wish your prosperity, if the tribute imposed upon you is to great, you should tell me of your troubles, I cannot draw blood frome a stone, or money from where there is none...but before I begin, please wake your finance minister, he should probably be aware of all this.' Some frantic shaking was interrupted by Demiurge simply saying, 'Wake up!' in the voice that, two years earlier, had forced all of Jircniv's party to kneel. A moment later, the three were kneeling together as Ainz spoke.

Inside his head, Suzuki Satori was very glad this was something he could address, as an office worker, he well understood the intricacies of money, and that experience had lent itself well to his growing understanding of economics...and the books of his library contained the knowledge of 12,000 years of human economic theory and development...which he proceeded to dump upon people who had only 600 years of history behind them, and most of that spent just trying to not be eaten.

He explained the use of capital and investment, tax centralization and collection, voluntary compliance, standardized weight for coinage, and how regulations worked to incentivize behavior on the marketplace...and for good measure he offered to send his undead to build roads, and his runesmiths to enchant them against damage, in exchange for a share of the trade increase that he predicted would result...and to offset that from the tribute due...and then for good measure he said...

'Count Yvas, you appear to be quite proud of the work of your artisans, and as you can see from this room, I value beauty and artistry quite highly, too, you have displayed courage in coming here for the sake of your people, this suggests you see value in them, and when a mere mortal sees enough value in something to risk the scant life he is limited to...I take notice.' Yvas swallowed but said nothing.

'So with that in mind,' Ainz said, 'If you have the space on your estate, I will establish a school for artisans there, to be administered by yourself and those you appoint, your artisans will select student applications from around the empire and all other lands I control, to be funded in part by the sale of student goods, the pricing tiers to be set by averaging teacher appraisal of quality against the student's year of study, we will cut the cost of transporting these goods over roads by the use of an undead guard to accompany a merchant using an 'enhanced floating board' spell we have developed from a more primitive version, allowing for the transportation of goods totalling about five times the usual cargo limits.'

As he spoke, the eyes of the finance minister who just received an intro to economic's course, were so wide that it seemed their wideness was the only thing keeping them from closing in another fainting spell. Jircniv was inwardly conflicted as he realized the enhancement that was coming to his realm from a revolution in economics and trade, delighted at the wealth he would receive...but frustrated that he had been bested again by the monster...or god...before him.

Yvas however...was in tears as Ainz continued to dole out benefits that would enrich his domain for generations...especially when Ainz mentioned lowering taxes on raw materials transported over distance, and compensating for the difference by using undead labor to reduce production costs in the mines themselves...and the Jircniv saw the sparkle in Yvas eyes at the mention of a grand school of artisans, even through his tears, his eyes shone like stars. '...And when your first generation of students has grown into masters of their craft, I trust you will make no objection if I require that their 'graduation' be marked by working for me on a project somewhere in my lands?' Yvas didn't even hesitate in his assent.

The memory faded as Jircniv continued to contemplate the sealed message, all that had taken place four years ago, Ainz had personally gone to create the school...literally...he had cast a spell...and a massive complex had emerged from the ground as if it had been just hiding there, waiting to be revealed, numerous nobles had been in attendance, the catering provided from the Sorcerer Kingdom had been a powerful incentive...as had connections to both one another and to the noble who was bound to become supremely wealthy and influental as a result of this new institution. The roads had taken only two months to complete, and the enchanting mere days...and now the road to the capitol...which had appeared as a monument to the finest work of the empire...looked like a child's imitation...the enchantments to the roads done through runecraft, kept them free of rain and snow, and nobody had been able to so much as damage them, even by intent, as Jircniv learned when a rogue priest in a fit of rage, called the road an abomination of god, and summoned angels to attack it...and failed so miserably that the fellow had taken his life on it so that it would be stained with holy blood...only to watch in final futile frustration as the blood poured out...and the road seemed to simply...reject it...and the blood ran off the road and into the dirt.

The school thrived and the first students were now the first graduates, and they had built a spire in E-Rantel with countless intricate designs, and a plaque in front of it proclaimed it to be the work of students of the school...this first project result became a popular gathering place for other artists...and some of the second term of students were drawn from those who came to show off their own work, and who caught the eyes of school administrators seeking talent. The coffers of the empire grew even as the taxes declined, and the fixed rate of tribute according to imperial net had kept Jircniv calm about meeting the Sorcerer King's expectations, along with submitting an annual finance report to show his wealth was not being squandered...it was so effective at keeping him honest...that Jircniv instituted the same practice with his nobles, requiring finance reports and regularly auditing them looking for discrepencies.

Now...another message...he wondered how Ainz planned to outclass him this time...and with a deep breath, he broke the seal...

So...thanks for reading, this is the first fanfiction I've ever done, not really sure if I'll continue this one or not or if it will be a vignette, but either way, I hope you enjoyed it.