Paying Taxes, Militia Protection

The next morning.

"What's going on with those Divine Grace Knights and nobles who worship good gods? Why haven't they sent anyone out to maintain order yet?"

Lohr, who had not slept all night, sat behind the manor gates with dark circles under his eyes and yawned.

Sounds of fighting had occasionally drifted through the streets last night, making his heart pound.

He could only light three candles in the most conspicuous spot in the living room to show that someone was inside, hoping no one would force their way in.

At this moment, he yearned for order as he never had before.

He was only a twelve-year-old boy. With at least half the town dead because of their faith in the gods, he did not dare take money outside to buy fish.

He could only wait for order to be restored before making any moves.

Tap, tap, tap—

Suddenly, footsteps approached from afar.

Lohr listened carefully. There were at least three people.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The visitors pounded hard on the door several times and shouted:

"Is Mr. Rox home? I'm Cotri."

Cotri was the steward of Baron Radev, the town's only baron. Every year at the end of the year, he was responsible for collecting commercial taxes from merchants like them.

Now, the task of confirming which merchants in town had survived had clearly fallen to him as well.

"Uncle Cotri, my parents have already gone to the Divine Kingdom."

Lohr immediately opened the door, glanced at Cotri and the two militia members behind him, and spoke with a sorrowful expression.

He looked sad on the surface, but inwardly, he was even a little pleased. Having an acquaintance still alive would make his plans much easier to carry out.

"Little Lohr, you should be happy. They will live forever in the Divine Kingdom of the God of Wealth."

When Lohr opened the door, an imperceptible flicker of disappointment passed through Cotri's eyes before quickly vanishing. After offering a word of comfort, he asked:

"What are your plans from now on? Will you inherit your parents' work and continue making salted fish?"

If possible, he naturally wanted to rob Lohr outright and obtain more gold coins. However, the two militia members accompanying him were not merely there to protect him.

"Of course!"

Lohr nodded firmly, pulled two burlap bags from his clothes, and handed them to Cotri.

"Uncle Cotri, this bag contains this year's commercial tax. Please pay it to the baron in advance for me."

"The other bag is a small token of thanks for Uncle Cotri and the two militia uncles, for taking the trouble to come all the way here so early in the morning."

"If all goes well, it will be doubled next year."

Lohr had no choice but to give this money, because the steward knew exactly how much property his family possessed.

All he could do now was gamble that the steward would not disregard the baron's reputation, abandon future profits, and choose to kill the goose that laid the golden eggs.

From every angle, Lohr had thought things through extremely carefully. His chances of winning this gamble were high.

Upon hearing this, smiles immediately appeared on Cotri's face and those of the two militia members behind him.

Cotri took the two bags, opened each one for a look, and nodded in satisfaction.

"Good. I believe that with your talent, Lohr, everything will go smoothly."

One bag contained the standard commercial tax of five gold coins, which Cotri did not dare touch.

The other held one gold coin and eight silver coins, more than three times the usual five silver coins.

Even after splitting the eight silver coins between the two militia members following him, he would still get one gold coin. It was a huge profit.

Not to mention that it would be doubled next year.

"Which one of you will stay here and protect little Lohr for a few days?"

Cotri turned around, divided the eight silver coins evenly between the two militia members, and asked.

I won the gamble!

At the sight before him, Lohr's heart finally relaxed.

Order was his only shield right now.

"I'll do it." A young red-haired militia member stepped forward first.

The other militia member could only withdraw the foot he had already raised, feeling somewhat regretful.

This little fellow named Lohr seemed generous and sensible. Protecting him for a few days would probably bring some additional benefits.

"Fine. Then Clysis, you'll stay here and protect Lohr for the next few days. When I return, I'll report it to the militia captain."

Cotri nodded, patted Lohr on the shoulder, and smiled.

"All right, we still need to check on several other households. Go back and get some rest first."

With that, he left with the other militia member.

"Uncle Clysis, you haven't had breakfast yet, have you?"

Seeing Clysis's exhausted expression, Lohr immediately gave a shy smile, led him inside, and asked.

"Indeed, I haven't."

Clysis rubbed his stomach. He had spent most of the night suppressing the unrest in town yesterday.

Before he even had time to sleep, he had been dragged along to help the steward investigate the population. He had not had even a moment of leisure.

"Then I'll make some breakfast."

Lohr led Clysis into the living room and had him sit down. Then he ran into the kitchen, boiled a pot of water, and tossed in two salted fish.

He also took out four slices of white bread, casually spread some butter on them, stacked them in pairs, and placed them on two silver plates.

Before long, a pot of soup and two breakfasts were ready.

When he carried the two servings of bread and a bowl of soup into the living room, he clearly saw Clysis's eyes light up with anticipation.

That was only natural. Ordinary free commoners did not usually eat white bread, which cost one silver coin per pound.

They generally only got a little of it each year on Divine Grace Day.

Salted fish soup, on the other hand, was nothing unusual, since this was a coastal town.

"Uncle Clysis, this is yours." Lohr pushed one of the plates over.

"Thanks, little Lohr." Clysis thanked him, took the plate, and began eating in large bites with an expression of enjoyment.

"It's only right. After all, I'll have to rely on you to protect me over the next few days." Lohr smiled.

As he spoke, he forced down his discomfort and picked up his own bread to eat.

Without a doubt, the stuff was not to his taste at all.

But there was no helping it. This world only had these conditions.

Once he became strong enough in the future, he could make some changes. For now, he should forget about it.

A tree that rises above the forest is sure to be toppled by the wind.

"Uncle Clysis, how are things outside now? I didn't dare leave the house at all yesterday."

After breakfast, having become somewhat familiar with Clysis, Lohr began asking about the situation outside.

A trace of envy appeared in Clysis's eyes as he said:

"The devout believers of the Great God of Light, the God of Life, the Dark Goddess, the God of Wealth... their souls were all taken into the Divine Kingdom. There are more than twelve thousand empty bodies left in town."

"Unfortunately, I worship the God of War, so I was not accepted."

"Some who worship other gods did not enter the Divine Kingdom either."

Lohr fell silent. You're actually regretting it? You should count yourself lucky to worship one of those genuinely kind gods.

According to material he had read in his previous life, when the gods entered their final struggle, half of them chose to absorb the souls of their followers in exchange for one final act of vengeance, dealing tremendous damage to the wizards.

The other half chose to let their followers live.

"So there are more than eight thousand people left in town now?" Lohr asked.

There had originally been more than twenty thousand people in town. With more than half gone, there should still be over eight thousand people left.

He just did not know how many of the fishermen who had supplied his parents were still alive. If there were too few, he might have to find another source of goods.

"No, there are at most a little over seven thousand left."

Clysis punched the table angrily. "Some despicable scum took advantage of yesterday's chaos to burn, kill, and loot, harming a number of innocent people."

"From yesterday afternoon until nightfall, following the baron's orders, we found those scum and killed them."

"Little Lohr, to be honest, I'm quite surprised those scum didn't pay you a visit."

"Maybe I was just lucky?" Lohr said with a shy smile.