"Royal Army Captain?"
Fujitora's eyes moved slightly, then he tilted his head and used the powerful Observation Haki to capture all the abnormal auras in the village, his brows gradually furrowed.
It's not that there are no villagers in the village, it's that the villagers are all hiding at home for unknown reasons.
However, with the appearance of this Royal Army, figures appeared one after another in many closed houses.
Although Fujitora couldn't see what these people looked like, with the help of Observation Haki, he could still clearly distinguish that most of these people were old, weak, sick, and disabled, and their breath was unstable. It was obvious that they had not had a full stomach for some time.
As more and more villagers came out of their homes, the originally deserted village suddenly became lively.
After a while, hundreds of villagers gathered in an open space at the entrance of the village, trembling as they looked at the majestic Royal Army soldiers in front of them.
Standing on horseback in front of the Royal Army soldiers was a young man wearing silver armor with a sword at his waist.
After scanning all the villagers present in a condescending manner, the young man immediately rode forward and said coldly, "I am Royal Army Captain. This time I come to Keen Village to only do three things, tax, tax, tax!"
"I believe you have all received the news that His Majesty the King is about to go to Holy Land to participate in Reverie. Of course, things like Reverie have nothing to do with you pariahs, but His Majesty the King also needs to bring Heavenly Gold to pay tribute to Holy Land Celestial Dragons."
"You live in the territory of the Orleans Kingdom, so you will naturally bear the responsibility for this..."
Before Captain could finish what he said, a "rebellious" voice suddenly came from the crowd of villagers. "Master Captain, didn't you come to collect taxes last month? Also, after you collected Keen Village's taxes last month, twenty years later, we... how can we still have the money to hand it over!"
"Yes, I did come here once last month, but it was the wedding of His Highness the Prince. It is a supreme honor for you to let untouchables like you contribute to His Highness the Prince's wedding! How dare you complain here without knowing what is good?"
After a slight pause, Captain suddenly raised his voice, "Someone, take this person down!"
Following Captain's order, two soldiers immediately rushed into the crowd and captured a young woman who had just been talking among the crowd.
Before the two soldiers could catch Lucia in front of Captain, a little girl rushed out of the crowd. The little girl cried and shouted while desperately hugging the thigh of one of the soldiers, "You Let go of your sister, I won't allow your sister to be taken away! Wuwuwu, you are all bad people. You have already beaten Aqua's mother to death, why do you still want to take away Aqua's sister? Wuwuwu--"
"Please, please let my sister go."
"You--" The soldier who was hugged to the thigh was instantly furious. He simply drew his sword out of its sheath and shouted, "Seeking death!"
Before he finished speaking, the soldier raised his sword and struck down the little girl hugging his thigh.
"Aqua!"
At the critical moment, the young woman who was grabbed by the two soldiers suddenly broke away and immediately pounced on the little girl.
At the same time, a cold shout came out in time, "Stop!"
The soldier's heart trembled when he heard this order. He immediately stopped the slashing sword in time, turned around, knelt down on one knee with a thud, and shouted respectfully, "Your Highness."
The person who spoke up to stop the soldiers in time was a young man who looked to be in his early twenties. He was dressed in an elegant dress and showed nobility in his movements.
The noble prince ignored the soldiers and went straight to the young woman.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, I didn't expect that there is such a beauty in this little Keen Village!"
The noble prince came to the young woman as if he had discovered prey, his eyes flashed with a breathtaking light, and his calm tone contained an order that could not be disobeyed, "Get up and speak."
"You are not allowed to take my sister away!"
Before the young woman could react, the little girl who had been rescued in time suddenly broke away from her arms, raised a dirty face and stared at the noble master, "Aqua is not afraid of you."
The noble prince waved his hand to stop the soldier who was about to teach the little girl a lesson, and said with great interest, "I remember you, you were the one who stopped Royal Army from coming to collect taxes last time, and you also said that you have an uncle who is...Navy Marshal?"
"What? It's been a few months, why hasn't your uncle Navy Marshal come to pick you up yet?"
As soon as the noble master finished speaking, a group of the Royal Army soldiers standing behind him burst out laughing.
"Pfft hahaha--"
"If your uncle is Navy Marshal, then my father is Five Elders, hahaha."
"By the way, do you know who Navy Marshal is?"
Seeing the soldiers suddenly bursting into laughter, Aqua lost his confidence and felt so aggrieved that he almost shed tears.
Seeing this, the young woman next to him gently held him in her arms and said softly, "Aqua Don't be afraid, my sister is here!"
After saying that, the young woman immediately looked up at the noble prince and said calmly, "Your Highness, let's make a deal!"
"Oh?" Your young master became interested and nodded happily. "Tell me about it, I like trading!"
The young woman did not hesitate and simply said, "I heard that there are villagers in other villages who use people to offset the tax because they cannot pay the tax! If possible, I am willing to use myself to offset the taxes of the Keen Village villagers and Aqua!"
Without waiting for the noble prince to react, the young woman added, "To be honest, I am not a pariah, but a noble from the royal city of the Orleans Kingdom! As a member of the royal family, you should know about an incident that happened in the palace hall half a year ago. A noble minister was expelled by His Majesty the King for proposing to reduce taxes and relieve the pressure on the people. This noble minister is my father!"
Having said this, the young woman took out a silk scarf from her arms and tied up her messy hair, revealing a beautiful face that was still charming without makeup.
"What an unexpected bonus!"
Looking at the young woman who had tied her hair into a ponytail to reveal her true appearance, the princess could no longer suppress the curve of her mouth and laughed loudly, "This prince... does not accept this deal!"
"Because you are worthless after losing your noble status!"
"Of course, you can exchange one for one!" Your princess suddenly approached the young woman, grinning with a trace of bloodthirsty, "You can choose one of these untouchable families to not have to pay taxes. If the others cannot pay, they will have to pay with their lives!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the Royal Army soldiers present suddenly scattered in all directions, drew their swords out of their sheaths, and surrounded hundreds of villagers who had gathered in this open space.
"You--"
The young woman was furious and instinctively protected Aqua beside her.
Just then,
A shout came suddenly, "Stop it!"
The sudden shouting instantly attracted everyone present. The noble master and Captain standing behind him also looked back at this moment.
In the direction of the village entrance, Joanna wearing a navy uniform walked quickly in front, and Rear Admiral Fujitora holding Cane Sword followed slowly behind her.
"Navy?"
Seeing the two people's attire, Royal Army Captain and all the soldiers showed shocked expressions, while your princess kept her smile and did not take Joanna and Fujitora into consideration at all.
Before the two of them could get closer, the noble master immediately rode up to meet them, laughing loudly and saying, "Why, your navy can't wait too much? Don't worry, your navy will definitely have its share of Heavenly Gold!"
Hearing this, Joanna, who was walking in front, was completely stunned, and then turned back to look at Fujitora blankly, "Master Rear Admiral? What is he talking about?"
Fujitora smiled and signaled to Joanna to be calm. He came straight to Joanna and raised his head slightly. He locked the noble master with Observation Haki and said unhurriedly, "I am Fujitora, Marine Headquarters Rear Admiral!"
"I came to the Orleans Kingdom today on orders to investigate matters related to Heavenly Gold!"
"Lord Marshal has an order. Starting from this year, Heavenly Gold policies need to be rectified to a certain extent. All Affiliated Nations are not allowed to waste people and money because of Heavenly Gold, let alone use the name of Heavenly Gold to impose taxes. Any Affiliated Nation that levies taxes after one year must be subject to naval supervision and investigation!"
"Huh?" Your princess' eyes instantly turned sinister, "What do you mean? Is the Navy going to interfere in Affiliated Nation's matter?"
"You can understand that!"
Fujitora nodded lightly, "I just heard a villager say that your country has collected the tax revenue from this village twenty years later?"
"So what?" Your Excellency smiled coldly and said, "What can you do to me?"
"I am the prince of the Orleans Kingdom!"
"Don't say that Keen Village will be taxed twenty years after it is received, even if it is one hundred years after it is received, they must still contribute to Heavenly Gold!"
--