The Hero Who Set Out on the Road

Cold, bitter chill, hunger, and fear—those things were enough to extinguish most people's questions about everything. But Ganatica did not care about his own desperate situation.

In fact, compared to worrying about himself, Ganatica was more concerned about those pitiful yet kind wanderers. The boy sincerely wanted to help everyone without a home, so even though the cold wind squeezing through the cracks in the plank shack made his teeth chatter, Ganatica still asked Pandora earnestly:

"Why? The farmers in my hometown seem to face the same problem. The wheat grown in the fields is undoubtedly enough to feed the entire town, but after it is sold, the money earned cannot even feed half of them. Wheat spoils if it is kept too long, so the harvested grain still has to be sold..."

At that point, Ganatica scratched his head in confusion. It was clear that this boy, whose thoughts had differed from those of the numb poor since childhood, had long harbored doubts about such matters. He simply had never encountered a "teacher" capable of answering his questions before.

But now things were different. The girl sitting before him—Pandora—could answer all of the boy's questions "perfectly."

She barely needed to think or pause. With ready-made information in her mind, Pandora quickly began explaining it to him.

"Because of the nobles!"

The girl spoke in a grave tone.

"In this world, the poor have to pay 'taxes' to the nobles for every item they sell. If a noble is somewhat merciful, they might only take thirty percent of the poor's money as tax, and under special circumstances, they might even reduce or waive those taxes!

"But if a noble is not merciful—if they are even cruel and greedy... then taxes of fifty percent or seventy percent may appear. In that