Greedy Merchant

After hearing Sauron Knight question Mills, Xian breathed a slight sigh of relief and signaled Berg with his eyes to quickly hide among the crowd, lest the Hunter label above his head be seen.

He could tell that beneath Sauron Knight's cold exterior, he still sided with the villagers of Fruit Basket Village—or rather, he didn't want to hand over the coins collected as taxes.

"He who makes a claim must provide proof." This was a principle that had held true since ancient times.

As long as Mills had no evidence proving those taxes were the money stolen from him, the matter would undoubtedly be brushed aside.

"Well..." Mills looked troubled.

"Sir Knight, what if I can't prove it?"

"Then leave my lord's territory immediately. For the sake of your profession, I won't hold you accountable for delaying the tax collection." Sauron Knight's voice was icy.

"Supreme Creator, open Your eyes and see how cruel this world is to Your people!"

At those words, Mills immediately beat his chest and stamped his feet in grief and indignation, though a hint of cunning flashed through his eyes.

"Sir Knight, please inspect the taxes you've collected. Aren't they just like this Copper Sol of mine, with a tiny scratch on the reverse side?"

Having vented most of his urge to perform, Mills pulled a Copper Sol from his robe and handed it to Sauron Knight, brimming with confidence.

Every truly outstanding Clay Merchant left a unique mark on his own coins, even if it was only a Copper Sol. Just as the experiences recorded in Franken's Merchant Diary, the timeless classic written by the Clay People sage and great merchant Franken, had said.

That sage's coins had been stolen by vile thieves, yet both the lord and the knights had sided with the thieves. In the end, the sage relied on his unique mark to prove that he was the owner of the coins, successfully recovering them and punishing the ugly thieves.

Coins don't recognize people, but Clay People's coins do.—Franken

Sauron Knight took the Copper Sol and examined it carefully. Sure enough, he found a nearly imperceptible, minuscule scratch on the back of the Copper coin.

His brows knitted tightly at the sight.

"You lot, bring me the money bag." Sauron Knight ordered.

The attendants quickly carried the bag of money collected earlier from the carriage to the knight.

Sauron reached into the bag, grabbed a handful of coins, and inspected them closely.

This one had a scratch. This one too. This one didn't. A moment later, Sauron Knight fell silent.

After examining them, he found that more than half the coins in the bag bore scratches on their reverse sides identical to the one on the Copper Sol Mills had provided.

That meant these taxes had most likely indeed been coins the villagers had robbed from him.

Deep down, he didn't want trouble in the territory, nor did he like this Clay Merchant named Mills—especially when his profession was the infamous Liar Merchant.

But lying was a merchant's privilege, not a knight's.

"Most of these taxes are indeed coins that were stolen from you."

After a moment of silence, Sauron Knight suddenly spoke.

The moment those words came out, the surrounding villagers' expressions instantly turned panicked and uneasy.

Some villagers wanted to explain that the coins had been bestowed upon them by a noble Prince, but the people around them fiercely covered their mouths.

Because before this, Village Chief Robert had already given the order: His Highness didn't wish for his identity to be revealed. If anyone dared disclose any information about His Highness, their entire family would be driven from the village to wander!

In this cruel world, making a farmer wander was no different from sentencing them to death.

Xian, who had been watching from within the crowd, was so startled he nearly stood up.

He never would have imagined that someone could be this idle, leaving a mark even on a single Copper coin.

Still, from the perspective of a crooked merchant, this fellow was quite qualified.

Heroes under heaven were as numerous as crucian carp crossing a river—so many of them!

For no apparent reason, that sentence suddenly flashed through Xian's mind.

"Hahaha! I told you these coins were mine!"

Mills burst into laughter, then eagerly stretched out both hands to take the coins from the money bag.

Whoosh! A flash of cold light streaked through the air as Sauron Knight drew his longsword and stopped Mills.

"Sir Knight, what are you..."

The merchant was frightened back several steps by the gleaming blade, his expression uncertain and alarmed.

"Since your coins were stolen, go ask the people who stole them from you for them!" Sauron Knight said calmly.

"These are taxes I collected for my lord in my capacity as a knight. If you dare cast covetous eyes upon them, prepare to face my sword."

"Don't worry. It's swift enough to grant an enemy a painless death." Sauron Knight lightly flicked the longsword with a finger, and the blade immediately let out a clear ring.

Feeling the undisguised cold killing intent from the other man, Mills's face instantly turned ugly.

He realized that even if he proved the coins belonged to him, he couldn't possibly get them back.

They had already been handed over as "taxes." As a knight, Sauron could never return the "taxes" to him, because that would compromise his duty.

Damn it, damn it! This bastard knight doesn't understand honor at all. How am I supposed to make up for my losses now? Mills cursed madly in his heart.

How could these dirt-poor farmers possibly have money to repay me? Unless they sell—

At that thought, a gleam suddenly flashed through Mills's eyes.

Farmers might not have money, but that didn't mean they weren't worth money. Besides, this village had more than just farmers. He vaguely remembered that the villain who had shot an arrow at him possessed the Profession Blessing of Hunter.

Mills swiftly scanned the crowd, his gaze moving across one terrified face after another like a fishing net.

Unfortunately, under Xian's silent signal, Berg had long since crouched down and hidden among the crowd. Mills's search ultimately ended in failure.

"Nothing but farmers. Could that Hunter have been hired by them?"

Mills thought angrily. With Sauron Knight here, he couldn't sell all the villagers into slavery, but taking only a few farmers might not even cover the travel costs to the Slave Capital!

Just then, the corner of his eye caught sight of a young girl among the crowd. After that, he couldn't look away, staring at her fixedly like a wolf.

What a beautiful girl! Mills couldn't help praising in his heart.

Her golden hair cascaded over her shoulders like a waterfall, every strand seeming to have been kissed by sunlight and gleaming with a soft luster.

Her deep azure eyes were like a clear sky reflected on a lake, as though they could see through one's heart, yet they brimmed with purity and innocence.

Although she wore only an incredibly rough linen coat, the faintly exposed snow-white skin and rose-petal-soft lips were still enough to make any man drool with desire.