Invitation and Murder

Lorist looked at the surging crowds along Imperial Avenue and asked Duke Kemais in puzzlement, "Didn't you say His Majesty the King was going to levy a thirty-percent residence tax on the merchant guilds? All the merchant guilds have fled. Why are there still merchant shops everywhere here?"

Duke Kemais laughed. "You've misunderstood, Locke. The residence tax doesn't refer to these merchant shops. It refers to merchant guilds that establish their main headquarters in the Imperial Capital. His Majesty the King intends to collect thirty percent of their annual total sales as tax. That's what forced those merchant guilds to move their headquarters to Vadenas City.

"As for the merchant shops along Imperial Avenue, each has a territorial noble backing it. Their only tax is a ten-percent consumption tax; there are no other taxes. After all, His Majesty the King can't simply reach into the pockets of the territorial nobles under him and take money, can he? Being willing to pay ten percent in consumption tax is already a sign of respect for our king.

"Besides, His Majesty the King often comes up with all sorts of excuses to make us merchant guilds offer tribute money as proof of our loyalty to the Imperial Krison Royal Family. If Imperial Avenue weren't the liveliest and most prosperous commercial street in the Imperial Capital, and if setting up a shop here weren't profitable, everyone would never be able to endure His Majesty the King's endless exploitation. We just treat it as throwing a few bones to a wild dog—paying to avoid trouble, so long as we can get a few mouthfuls of broth."

Lorist shook his head. He had to admit that the Second Prince's prejudice against merchants ran deep. Like a traditional territorial noble, he probably viewed merchants as people with