Charm Technique and Transit Tax

At the gate of Kali Town, the Inspector, a slightly overweight middle-aged man in charge of collecting taxes, berated the soldiers beside him, "Mayor really raised you for nothing."

"Are you working for the Lord of All Things? Are you kind priests!"

"Are you doing charity?"

"That group of small merchants who just passed, you shortchanged them by at least one shilling in taxes."

The Inspector cursed carelessly, disregarding his image, "I put you at the town entrance because you understand the prices of nearby crops and the prices of industries within the town. Because you are all sharp people, who knew you'd all be like wooden statues."

"Do you know that if we collect taxes well, we can get rich. Who will the extra money go into their pockets?"

"Stop doing charity."

"Look, another sucker has arrived. Let me show you how to collect transit tax."

The five soldiers guarding the town gate exchanged glances.

One soldier looked indignant, "But... sir, that's just a carriage. It looks like only one person is inside."

"They aren't here to do business in our town, how can you charge them transit tax?"

Transit tax was actually a type of commercial tax.

Setting such taxes was an art.

Because if the commercial tax was too high, no small and medium merchants would be willing to come to your town, and you wouldn't gain anything, essentially shooting yourself in the foot.

But if the commercial tax was truly too low, far below that of neighboring towns, then you were truly the sucker.

It was practically paying an intelligence tax to the Lord of All Things.

However, passing travelers generally didn't have to pay transit tax, because travelers coming to your town would definitely spend money, they would definitely eat and stay.

The fact that they came to your place already contributed to your town's economy.

Only a few extremely peculiar land lords and nobles would tax travelers passing through their territory.

Ultimately, their territory would become desolate, a lonely wilderness, avoided by everyone passing by.

The Inspector rolled his eyes at the soldier, "If you follow the rules, you won't accomplish anything. If you dare to talk nonsense again, you'll be removed from this post and sent to guard the public toilets in town."

The soldier's face turned pale, and he dared not speak.

The Inspector said to the other four soldiers with a cold smile, "It's precisely this kind of carriage with only one vehicle that is good for collecting transit tax."

"How many people can fit in one carriage? I'll say at most five people."

"One of them is the maid driving, who has no combat power."

"I bully the weak and powerless like this. We need to be fierce, squeeze them, and if they don't comply, we can even resort to killing them and taking their goods."

The soldiers had various expressions on their faces.

In this world without cameras or telephones, killing people and taking their goods, as well as destroying bodies and covering up evidence, was very simple.

And the nobles and soldiers collecting taxes often played the role of bandits when there were few people around.

Alicia, the maid, stopped the carriage at the town entrance. Her young son looked at the soldiers, feeling a little scared.

"Watch carefully, learn from me." The Inspector walked towards the carriage, lifted the curtain, and his eyes swept over the interior, but his mouth moved first.

"Hmm..."

"Transporting chili peppers, I think you should pay at least 10 shillings in tax."

The soldiers not far away heard this and thought, "He's truly ruthless."

"This is practically robbery."

"It's clearly bullying."

Inside the carriage, four people looked strange.

Black Wolf and Leili had never imagined that they would be robbed at the entrance of a town one day.

It was normal, though. If they had gotten out of the carriage, they would have looked like elite warriors, and who would dare to trouble them?

The Great Witch, on the other hand, looked at the Inspector with a gaze that said, 'You have great courage to commit suicide.'

Yveta was stunned for a moment. Where were the chili peppers in the carriage? Then he realized that someone was trying to rob them.

Trying to rob this carriage full of... warriors, demon hunters, witches, and wizards?

??

After the Inspector saw the people inside the carriage, his first reaction was, 'Hmm, there are indeed only four people inside.'

Plus the maid driving outside, making a total of five people.

He guessed correctly. He was truly an experienced middle-aged warrior.

The Inspector completely ignored the child Alicia was holding.

In his eyes, boys under seven years old were not people and could be ignored.

Then, the Inspector's heart skipped a beat, and he realized something was not quite right.

There were indeed only five people.

This situation feels a bit off.

He saw Rayleigh carrying a short sword, his hands calloused from swordplay, and his pupils constricted sharply.

He saw Black Wolf with an exaggerated greatsword on his back and a sharp dagger at his waist, wearing the distinctive leather armor of a Demon Hunter, and his mouth fell open.

When he saw the Hearthstone Witch, he almost cried out.

A witch!

And Yveta, adorned with glittering accessories, clearly of no ordinary status, made the middle-aged warrior's heart grow cold.

A witch, a Demon Hunter!

They were actually going to enter this small town of just over two thousand people!

And he had actually approached this dangerous carriage!

Heaven!

Lord of All Things, please bless me. From now on, I will definitely pay you an 'idiot tax' every day...

No, I'll donate to the church every month.

The Inspector trembled all over, terrified. He wanted to shout for the five soldiers behind him to come to his aid. He wanted the sentry to use his whistle to notify the City Guard.

He opened his mouth, his tongue moved, and the sound was about to pass through his throat and escape.

Hearthstone Great Witch: "Your Majesty."

At this moment, Yveta spun the ring on his right little finger twice while chanting an incantation.

The square black jade on the ring flashed with an eerie luster as it spun.

The Inspector subconsciously looked down at the ring on Yveta's hand. Then, a strange look flashed in his eyes. His brown pupils were quickly contaminated by the black ink, turning completely black, and then returned to brown.

The Inspector's fat face contorted a few times, and finally, his expression became slightly vacant.

Hearthstone Great Witch congratulated Yveta: "Your Majesty, you have successfully used your first Devil magic."

"The Charm Technique has now controlled his mind. He will act according to your will."

Yveta looked at the Inspector. After using this ring, he knew that this kind of Devil magic item could only be used once a day.

But now the Inspector was indeed different. His fierce and menacing expression was gone. His face, full of fat, looked almost cute with his vacant expression.

This guy was like a dog caught by himself with a ring toss, completely obedient.

He felt a faint mental connection with him, allowing him to issue very vague commands.

At the same time, he realized that this connection was quite weak. The spell's effect would automatically wear off after half a day.

Also, if this guy were suddenly subjected to external stimuli, he should also break free from the mental control.

Furthermore, his vacant expression made him too easy to see through.

But it was enough.

After all, as long as they could enter the city without trouble.

The Inspector said blankly: "Checked. There's nothing wrong inside the carriage, no goods, and those sitting inside are all honored gentlemen who cannot be offended."

"Open the town gate and let the distinguished guests pass."

The soldiers not far away were stunned, looking at each other. For a moment, they didn't open the gate because the order was too strange.

Just a moment ago, the Inspector had vowed to demonstrate his art of collecting taxes.

The next moment, his attitude had completely changed.

The Inspector turned around, got out of the carriage, and shouted angrily, "Why aren't you opening the gate quickly!"

"Do you dare to disobey an Officer's orders! Do you all want to clean the latrines?"

The soldiers quickly went to open the gate.

Inside the carriage, Black Wolf and Rayleigh marveled at the effect of the Charm Technique.

This spell was too powerful!

Yveta suddenly had a thought: he was short on money.

Since he had already manipulated the Inspector, he should make the most of him and squeeze out all his value.

Under Yveta's instruction, the Inspector pulled aside the carriage curtain and said respectfully, "My lord, this is all the money I have—12 shillings and 8 pence."

"Please accept it."

Yveta smiled and took the cloth bag he handed over.

And so, the carriage slowly drove through the opened town gate. After entering the town, not only did they not pay a single cent, but the Officer here even gave them 12 shillings and 8 pence.

After the carriage left, the five soldiers looked at the Inspector with expressions that suggested he had gone mad.

Didn't you say you were going to teach us how to make illicit money?

Why are you, Officer, giving money to others?

Are you paying an idiot tax to the Lord of All Things?

A soldier suddenly felt that this officer was probably having a fit of madness. He had to seize this golden opportunity.

If he didn't do something while the officer was acting crazy, he wouldn't be human.

He rubbed his hands together and said, "Sir, my family is also short on money. Could you give me some money too?"

"You've already given money to random passersby. I'm your trusted subordinate."

"You can't forget about me..."

The inspector's eyes widened, as if he was meeting the soldier for the first time. He even took two steps back. "You want me to give you money? Did I hear that right?"

"How dare you ask me for money!"

"Are you crazy, or is there something wrong with my ears? Who gave you the guts to ask me for money!"

"I didn't give any money to any passersby."

"As for you... you'll be cleaning toilets from now on!"

The soldier was about to go crazy. What was going on!

He felt like crying but had no tears. "No, no, no... Sir, it's a misunderstanding, a complete misunderstanding..."

What the soldier didn't know was that Yveta had directly dispelled the Charm Technique after entering the town.

If he maintained the Charm Technique state for too long, it was inevitable that someone would notice, so he simply dispelled it.

After dispelling the Charm Technique, the inspector naturally regained his senses and was no longer dazed.