Powell and Johnson don't know what kind of situation the Butchers are facing, but if they are asked to pay 100 percent of the tax, they will never do it. All the money of the two of them was taken out to buy goods, and they couldn't pay taxes if they wanted to.

A detour to infiltrate the Banshee Castle became the only option. The two of them had to hurry, or the daily interest rate of the loan shark would undo all their efforts.

The Buch Tax Police knew that they could not block all the areas of passage, so they controlled all the means of transportation in the villages and towns along the way. Without a tax payment certificate with magical effects, the merchant could not even rent an ox cart.

If you want to smuggle and smuggle, you have to rely on two legs.

But it's hard to walk even by walking. In order to collect taxes, the tax police of the Butch family are constantly patrolling.

From Fog Town to Stone Beach Town to Banshee Castle, a hundred kilometers of road can toss two people to death. If it weren't for the early warning from the air, they would have been caught a long time ago.

More than 100 kilometers of wild roads, in order to avoid the tax police team, the two of them could not enter the village and town for accommodation and rest, so they could only solve it in the wilderness.

Usually, the two of them have a lot of respect for the Buchi family in the Banshee Castle, and they feel that they are a model of the nobles of the Northlands. Patriarch Friedman Buche is a mainstay of resistance to the monsters of the Black Forest, a heroic figure that cannot be discredited.

Right now

"Damn Friedman, how can he be so despicable for money, we are loyal to him, isn't it just to take some funds as capital to start a small business, everyone does this, why don't you let us make some money"

The two walked all the way and scolded all the way, and their hearts were furious.

Originally, the carriage was two days long, but Powell and Johnson had to walk for a full ten days, and they had to lug a bulky suitcase. By the time they arrived outside the Banshee Castle, both of them had lost a lot of weight.

"I've never been so embarrassed and tired. Don't let me find a chance, or I'll get revenge on the damned Buch. This inhuman tax must be abolished. ”

It's too hard to hide along the way. Johnson stopped talking about his love and loyalty to the aristocracy, and he wept blood in his heart when he thought about the overpaid daily interest for the delay in time.

When you arrive at the Banshee Castle, you have to be inspected when you enter the city gate. The wizard of the Buchi family was in charge of squatting, and almost made the hard work of the two of them fall short in the end.

Relying on Johnson's illusions, he barely got by. The two of them were exhausted when they entered the city, but they still insisted on going to the wizard's tower in the city first and selling the goods before they could feel at ease.

It's just that when I entered the city, the situation was even more wrong.

"Powell, don't you think the market is a lot sluggish?"

On the way to the Wizard's Tower, Johnson noticed that the streets of the city were deserted. The only pedestrians were in a hurry, but the guards and sheriffs who maintained order were everywhere.

There are always small traders and vendors in the streets and alleys, and now they have disappeared without a trace.

Beggars and displaced people are a sight to beg and homeless people. As long as none of the sheriffs noticed, they would sneak out and do some work of begging and stealing. I can't see it anymore.

The few shops in the market were unpopular, and the shopkeepers cowered behind the door and looked around, staring at strangers when they appeared, as if they were ready to close at any moment.

Powell and Johnson couldn't help but speed up their pace and hurriedly walked a few steps faster. The two arrived at the Wizard's Tower in the Banshee Castle, and before they could enter, they ran into a group of people coming out.

The leader was Inisa, and Her Royal Highness the princess showed an angry face and rushed out with a very fast pace. She was followed by a number of Duchy retinues, many of whom held the hilt of their swords or their staffs, and none of them looked good.

The two unlucky guys knew something was wrong, and hurriedly hid to the side. Even the always noisy Dudu closed his mouth and shrank behind his master's shoulder to probe his head.

It's just that Inisha came out and stared at Powell, and paid special attention to the wooden suitcase he was holding in his hand. She only glanced at it, and then asked in a cold voice, "How much is the goods from Coldwind City?"

Powell was just a secret agent, and he didn't dare not answer in the face of a group of high-ranking people in the Duchy of Os. He honestly said that the box was filled with magic materials from Coldwind City, and as for the price

Powell turned his head to look at Johnson, and the two exchanged messages in an instant. In the end, Johnson gritted his teeth and quoted a price: "Your Royal Highness Princess, if you need it, five thousand gold coins will be fine." ”

Inissa hummed and strode away. An attendant stepped out behind her, took out a bag full of magic gems, weighed it in his hand, and threw it to Johnson, taking the wooden suitcase with her.

The whole process took less than a minute, and the goods that had been shipped so hard changed hands.

When the princess and her party left, Powell and Johnson were relieved.

The two of them hurriedly opened the gem bag, and after a while, they shouted loudly that the gem in the bag should be worth six thousand gold coins, which was more than they expected.

"Great, great, this time I finally didn't run in vain and made a lot of money. I said don't buy any iron tools, buying and selling magic items is the most profitable. Johnson laughed happily.

The two of them have gotten the benefits and are in a good mood. Powell urged: "Let's go, go and pay back the loan shark, the daily interest is fifty gold coins, I really can't stand it." ”

The loan shark was borrowed from the wizards of the Wizard's Tower, and the collateral was Johnson's Illusion Cottage. The two continue into the tower and find the usury wizard who opened the spell shop, and they are about to pay off the accounts.

Seeing the two of them come back with a smile, the wizard of the spell shop was also amazed, first asking them what they had bought in Coldwind City, then lamenting that they could avoid the search of the tax police, and finally

"What about the goods?"

"I met Princess Inissa when I first came in. She generously bought the goods, but she didn't make a counteroffer, and added a lot. ”

"How much gold does she pay you?"

"A gem worth about six thousand gold coins."

"It's only 6,000, and I can pay 10,000 gold coins according to the type and quantity of your purchases."

what

Powell and Johnson were originally rejoicing, but now they are dumbfounded at the same time.

The wizard of the store also beat his chest, "You two stupid, didn't you feel that something was wrong when you entered the city, the city was preparing for war, you didn't find out"

The two unlucky guys were even more stunned, only Dudu poked his head out and muttered: "The situation was so strange at that time, I found out that something was wrong." But I just won't say it. ”

Powell hurriedly explained: "We encountered a lot of trouble all the way back, and we were tired to death, so we thought about getting rid of the goods and exchanging them for money as soon as possible." Her Royal Highness the Princess is willing to buy it, so we will naturally sell it. Why is the city ready for war?"

The shop wizard sighed and shook his head, "You two have been away for more than half a month, and a lot has happened in the Banshee Castle. The Buchi family was to impose heavy taxes on the trade routes, and the other nobles in the city strongly opposed it.

The exiles of the Duchy of Oss also traded heavily with the north, and the profits from trade were an important source of their income, and they were also very averse to collecting taxes.

Wizards in the city also don't like to collect taxes, as this directly drives up the price of spellcasting materials.

However, there are contradictions between the various forces. For example, Her Royal Highness the Princess wants to negotiate a quota of magic goods with the wizarding group in the city, but the wizarding group has just rejected her.

In addition, more than a dozen cities in the Northland were extremely embarrassed by the dumping of Victor Hugo's goods, which caused a large amount of precious metals to be lost, not only the price of food rose, but also a huge financial shortfall.

Now that winter is the time of food shortage, a series of problems have detonated one after another. The atmosphere in the city suddenly became tense. Speaking of which, this is all caused by Victor Hugo, and this guy hurts us so much if he doesn't fight. ”