Tax Crisis Forces Flight

Tax Crisis Forces Flight

Every mage filled their territory with magic traps, some lethal, some nonlethal, generally to guard against thieves.

After all, every mage stored large quantities of valuable Magic Materials, along with precious Magic Notebooks and books. These things were often small in size but immensely valuable, making them the easiest targets for thieves.

Setting traps and breaking traps had been an ongoing contest for thousands of years, one neither mages nor thieves could escape. But these intruders did not seem to be thieves trying their luck, because they had failed to break even the most basic warning traps around the Ancient Castle.

When Amber Xiu emerged from the Ancient Castle in a robe that covered his entire body, he saw only a young man and woman. Both were dressed in rags. The man lay in a pool of blood, his thigh pierced through by several spikes and practically ruined. The girl was desperately trying to drag him away, but she could not move him at all.

The moment she saw Amber Xiu, the girl let out a terrified scream.

Amber Xiu flicked a finger, sending out a Sleep Spell that shut the girl up and knocked her unconscious.

Then Amber Xiu slowly walked over to the man and asked, "Why did you trespass into my estate? Didn't you see the sign at the entrance saying, 'No Trespassing, Magic Traps Inside'?"

The man was trembling in terror as well. Few ordinary people could see a lich without being afraid. A legendary lich naturally possessed a Fear Aura. Though it was not as effective as a Nightmare Knight's, it was still more than mortals could bear.

Pressed by Amber Xiu, the man endured the agony and said, "I... can't read."

Amber Xiu: ...

"Even if you can't read, didn't your Lord tell you that this is Lich's Territory?" Amber Xiu asked again.

The man had lost too much blood and was already extremely weak, but he still squeezed out the last of his strength to say, "Lord Lich, I can offer you my Life and Soul, but please spare my Sister. We're Fleeing for Life. We only entered your estate because we had no other choice. We truly didn't mean to offend you."

"You're Fugitive Slaves?"

Only escaped slaves would flee so blindly that they dared enter even Lich's Territory. They had probably thought the tales of liches were merely something Lords used to scare people, so they had planned to hide inside the Ancient Castle.

To Amber Xiu's surprise, the man explained excitedly, "No, we're Freemen. Lord suddenly imposed a Tax Increase. Our family had already paid everything in full, but then he suddenly doubled it. We couldn't afford it, so he wanted to sell my Sister to a brothel!"

"A sudden Tax Increase? Did you offend Lord?" Amber Xiu asked.

The man continued, "It's not just us. The entire county, even several nearby counties, have raised taxes drastically. Quite a few Freemen have already been sold into slavery."

Amber Xiu was astonished. The Alchemist Council should not have allowed such a thing to happen. Could it be that they themselves were on the verge of bankruptcy?

That was very possible. Their plan to create a new race had failed, and they had likely lost more than half the wealth accumulated by Alchemy City. The elves of the Silver Moon High Court had taken advantage of the situation, massively raising the price of Raw Materials for potions. Alchemy City probably had many routine orders it could no longer fulfill, and the resulting compensation would only worsen its losses.

Those alchemists who spent all day staring at bottles and jars had probably slapped their heads and chosen to raise taxes across the board, hoping to survive the crisis through tax revenue. The lesser Lords below naturally followed the Alchemist Council's lead and pushed the burden of taxation onto the lower classes.

"Have many Freemen already fled?" Amber Xiu asked.

"Many. I know more than a dozen..." Before he could finish, the man fainted. The massive blood loss had pushed him to the brink of death. If Amber Xiu left him alone, he would gain another piece of experimental material.

But when he thought of the large number of Freemen fleeing here, Amber Xiu suddenly had a new idea.

Magic energy burst from his fingertips, and a Healing Spell fell upon the man.

The pierced thigh began to heal rapidly. The spikes were squeezed out by newly grown flesh, and the lost blood was replenished by the spell as well.

A moment later, the man woke up.

Seeing that his wound had completely healed, the man hurriedly knelt before Amber Xiu. "Thank you, Merciful Lord Lich."

Amber Xiu let out a sinister cackle, then said, "Thanking a lich? It seems your mind hasn't fully cleared yet. Do you think I'll just let you go? You dared invade Lich's Territory, so you should be prepared to leave behind both your Soul and Corpse."

"No, my lord, please..." The man knelt on the ground and begged bitterly.

Impatient, Amber Xiu cast a Silence Spell on him, shutting him up completely.

"Don't be so anxious. I'll give you a chance to live, but only if you complete the task I give you."

Amber Xiu snapped his fingers, and two bizarre skeletons appeared. They were skeletons because they were made entirely of bones. They were bizarre because they were not human-shaped skeletons at all. They looked like Skeleton Dogs, except where their skulls should have been, each had an arm with only three fingers.

What kind of strange creature could have left behind such a skeleton in life?

The two strange Skeleton Dogs picked up the sleeping girl, placed her on their backs, and followed Amber Xiu.

The man looked at Amber Xiu's retreating figure and at his Sister being taken away. He could only force himself to follow. He did not have the slightest courage to resist, afraid that he might become a corpse the next second. At least Lord Lich had healed his wound. He seemed rather reasonable. Perhaps there really was a chance he could survive.

Clinging to that faint hope, the man followed Amber Xiu into the Ancient Castle.

Amber Xiu led the two of them directly to his laboratory, then ordered, "Stand to the side. Don't speak unless I ask you a question."

After saying that, he ignored the man and returned to his experiment table.

Amber Xiu took out a Memory Crystal and hung it high in the laboratory. This was a common Magic Item that could record images and sounds. Amber Xiu activated the crystal with magic, then said, "Undead Creature Appearance Modification Experiment, Session 176."

"For a long time, we have habitually made skeletons in upright walking forms. Two hundred and six bones make up a complete Human Skeletal Form, but without the connections of muscles and fascia, every bone must rely on Soul Power to remain tightly joined.

"Just one toe has two joints. To make a skeleton stand on two feet, the soul must consume a great deal of energy for real-time calculations, constantly balancing forward, backward, left, and right. I believe these are all unnecessary burdens..."

Starting from the assembly of the bones, the Memory Crystal clearly recorded every step Amber Xiu took.

(End of Chapter)