Section XVII

"And that idiot just hung up?" the other asked in a contemptuous voice.

This is one of the more upscale taverns in the city of Brasía. Although in the eyes of many people, taverns are the kind of places where a full house of rough people gathers and is filled with the smell of inferior perfumes, inferior tobacco and spirits, there are indeed some special taverns for the wealthy. The soups and napkins are clean, the halls and boxes are always quiet, and the people who come and go here are polite. And now, Lyle is in such a tavern.

He ostensibly came for a drink, but in fact, from the moment he was seated, he hadn't touched the food and wine in front of him. The entire box is divided into two parts by a curtain hung in the middle, which ensures that two people can have an unhindered conversation without seeing each other. At this moment, the man who was talking to Lyle was hiding behind the curtain - it was the mysterious man in the carriage before.

It can now be heard that the mysterious person is a woman.

"Yes. At that time...... The short sword in his hand...... Pierced his own head at once. Lyle replied as he recalled. The screams of Yara's death still send chills down his back.

"Who told you to solve this problem with violence?" the voice behind the curtain let out a cold snort. "If violence solves this problem, will I let you do it? Won't I go find a few assassins...... At least a few hooligans to solve this problem?"

"Yes...... But...... That's when Yara offered to do it, and I thought it was a good idea......"

"That Ashrufat is a mercenary. Do you know what kind of people the mercenaries are? Although they are all shameless hooligans, if they want to survive on the battlefield, they must have some fighting ability, right? In addition, they are cruel and hard-hearted...... Do you think you guys can beat him with a few playboys who have nothing but to drink and gamble? It's a gamble with far more risks than benefits, and you're not surprised to lose. ”

The mysterious man spoke in a mean tone, and his words were even more ruthless, but Lyle could only be submissive.

"But he must be eliminated anyway...... I can go to some reliable people, as long as there is a suitable opportunity...... Just a little bit ......"

"There's no need to do that anymore. The mystery man replied uninterested. "The reason why you want to do it is mainly because you want to quietly handle everything properly, and the key is not to attract the attention of anyone who cares. Since you didn't take care of this matter...... Now nine times out of ten, it has been taken by surprise. At least the Countess of Marianne knew it. We must switch to the second option. Next month, just next month, the Countess Marianne will be out of the house...... And the sheriff who has a good relationship with her will be transferred. Then it's time to act......" The mysterious man's voice became cold. "As for you, it's useless anymore!"

"Wait a minute...... I ......" Lyle's expression changed dramatically, and he tried to explain, but he couldn't say anything for a moment.

"You mean the debt you're due in a few days?" said the mysterious man scornfully. "Don't worry, I will still deliver the dog food on time. Because in the future, you may need to come forward and do a little bit of garbage cleaning...... But that horse of yours...... Hmph, if nothing else, you might as well switch to a horse that suits you better. ”

Then, the sound of the door opening from behind the curtain was heard. Lyle knew that the other party had left. Although this is a room, there is also a door on the other side of the curtain.

He bowed his head in frustration. As mentioned earlier, there was food and wine on the table in front of him that had never been touched, so Lyle grabbed his glass in anger and drank it down.

"Damn!" what turned out to be a simple little thing that he was good at turned into a nuisance that he couldn't solve. He was ready to enjoy the fruits - the rich reward was already waiting for him to pluck like the fruit on the branches of a roadside tree. But now this beautiful future is completely over.

"Damn! Ashrufat!" he cursed softly at the name. If it weren't for this guy who came out of nowhere, things wouldn't have come to this point!

Wait a minute...... Suddenly, Lyle remembered something. He wasn't stupid, and after the initial anger had subsided, he immediately realized he had a chance. As long as he can get things done......

Indeed, force is a mistake. He should have used more ingenious and appropriate means...... Lyle suddenly laughed, if he wasn't alone in this box, maybe others would think he was crazy. But he didn't care about that at the moment, he had an idea! And a good idea.

"Ahh

It's already winter, and the first snow of the winter has fallen a few days ago. Although the first snow has melted, the wind blowing in the face at this time is not like a knife, and it definitely makes people's skin cold.

The three of them stood on the top of a hill, looking out at the vast land around them.

"Ahead, it's the mountains. Xingke pointed ahead. "The mountains in this area belong to us. ”

"It's really big. Ashrufat said heartily. He originally thought that the two sisters' estate was not very large, but in fact it was somewhat unexpected. If you add this mountainous area...... The two sisters own land that is not inferior to those of the little lords.

"Big doesn't mean useful. Xingke said lightly. "There is very little land available for farming...... There is also not much land available for grazing. For example, this mountainous area...... It is of little value other than a limited supply of game meat each year. ”

"Actually, I've heard ......," Hoshimi interjected. "There used to be gold mines here. ”

"It's just a legend. Xingke replied disdainfully.

"It's true, my aunt has said this before. It seems that a long time ago someone organized a team to explore minerals in this mountain......"

"And then?" asked Ashrufat.

"Then they found out that the vein lacked excavation value. Hoshimi replied. "Although it is indeed a gold mine, the amount of burial is small, the burial is relatively deep, and it lacks development value...... They even found some traces of nezumi activity. Considering various factors, this place was eventually abandoned. ”

"Nezu-man?" Ashruphat repeated the title.

"An intelligent creature that lives in the realm of the Underworld, half human-like and half-mouse-like. Hoshimi replied. "I used to ...... when I was in the academy," and when she said this, she noticed that her sister was looking at her fiercely, so she immediately realized that she had slipped her mouth and quickly stopped.

"A small vein that lacks value...... "Ashruphat didn't notice the mystery in Hoshimi's words at all. "According to Gruny's law...... Presumably, the royal family collects one-third of the tax on any mineral proceeds. Because of this, it becomes worthless......"

It was only after a few seconds that he realized what he had just said inadvertently. He knew the law? No, he should have studied Grunney's law. In any case, he has come all the way here to get married, and it is normal for him to know something about this place. It's ridiculous if he doesn't know anything about the law.

At the foot of the hill is a winding road. The road is not particularly wide, but it is well paved and paved with gravel. So there won't be too much mud on a rainy day and not too much dust on a sunny day. At this time, four or five horse-drawn wagons carrying goods could be seen passing by the road.

"This is supposed to be your land, right?" said Ashrufat, gesturing along the road. "This road. ”

"Yes. Xingke replied. "It's all ...... here," her voice was a little regretful. Although the land belonging to their sisters is large, most of it is unusable. If such a large amount of land was all arable land, or even meadow that could only be grazing, then the two of them would be completely rich in the small place of Brassian City.

"Why can't you collect taxes?" asked Ashrufat. A few more carriages appeared at the end of the field of vision, and it was evident that this road was a fairly important trade route. "Like setting up a level or something. ”

"There is no right to collect taxes...... We are only landowners, not lords. Xingke replied. "Besides, even the lords can't collect taxes, because the merchants pass through here simply because they don't collect taxes here. If taxes are levied here, they will not hesitate to go the other way. Aunt Mary was a lord, but she hadn't thought about it at all. ”

"Another way......" Ashruphat repeated.

"That's right, if one road doesn't work, then go the other way. Therefore, setting up a tax collection checkpoint will not only fail to receive the road purchase money for this checkpoint, but will bring commerce in the territory to a standstill. On the one hand, it cannot be replenished by external materials, and on the other hand, it cannot collect commercial taxes. So everyone can only give up. In the entire province of Acanea, aside from the territories directly under the royal family, there are probably more than 600 large and small lords. Unless these 600 or so families can come together in a unified way, the establishment of tax collection checkpoints is completely empty talk. Of course, even if we really unite, it doesn't work. Because the royal family still has many direct territories, unless the queen also joins this alliance, no one wants to buy road money. ”

"I see. Ashrufat pondered. Although it is said that the road tax cannot be collected, because of the passage of the trade routes, the merchants will inevitably bring goods, money, and other commercial taxes to the city. For lords or satraps, this can also make up for it. The only ones who suffered in the process were the remote lords, or landowners like the two sisters. But there's nothing they can do about it.