"Go! Hurry, they're coming back again!" a child called to his companions.
"The knights are running back again? It hasn't even been half an hour. Have they already run all the way around Nafu City?"
"Stop talking and hurry up. If we're too slow, they'll run past us and we won't get to see them." The child quickly pulled his companion toward the city gate.
Some of the adults with nothing to do also followed. These past few days, they had not been awakened by the alarms in their homes, but by the sound of the knights running outside the city gates. Every morning around five or six, orderly shouts rang out from beyond the gates.
"One, two, one!"
"One, two, one!"
Outside the city gates, a group of knights in heavy armor marched forward with strange steps. Though their gait looked odd, they were astonishingly fast, covering dozens of meters in the blink of an eye.
Behind them, Hant, the Knight Captain, also wore massive, heavy armor and chased after them with a whip in hand.
"Run faster! If you fall behind, you'll get a taste of my whip!"
After that shout, the little brats in front sped up considerably, and Hant smiled in satisfaction.
This Cultivation Method had been the Movement Technique the lord had given him back then. He had known it was not to be underestimated, but he had never expected it to be so effective. These youths were carrying nearly a hundred pounds of armor, yet they could already match horses running at full speed.
If they took off their armor, they would be even faster than professional assassins. And it was not just their speed; their agility was nothing to scoff at either.
Hant licked his lips as he watched the youths running their hearts out ahead of him, then suddenly accelerated after them.
With a flick of his whip, he left several agonizing welts in front of the lagging few, painful but not enough to leave injuries.
Then he ran backward, swiftly darting to the very front of the formation as he shouted, "Take a good look! Even running backward, I'm faster than you! Put some more effort into it and keep running!"
The youths answered in unison, "Yes!"
Only then did Hant nod in satisfaction, inwardly thinking, Good thing I stay up every night practicing this Cultivation Method. Otherwise, I wouldn't even be able to keep up with you little brats.
The youths being chased by Hant's whip did not feel the slightest resentment. Most of them had originally come from villages and were not pampered like the children of wealthy families. Besides, this had always been their dream. They could hardly wait to throw themselves into it, so how could they possibly grow sick of it?
Moreover, their captain had told them that the two Cultivation Methods they practiced had been specially developed by the lord for them.
No other place had such Cultivation Methods—methods that allowed people to rapidly cultivate Battle Aura and a Movement Technique that increased speed and agility.
All of this filled their hearts with immense pride and honor.
Hmph! What do you have over there? We have two Cultivation Methods personally developed for us by the lord! Not only can they quickly cultivate Battle Aura, but they can also increase our speed. Your backwater territory definitely doesn't have such miraculous Cultivation Methods, does it?
Under this mindset, everyone's pride in and sense of belonging to the viscount's territory gradually rose. Their loyalty to Claire did not increase much, however, because it had already nearly reached its peak after they had been recruited as knights.
Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap!
The knights' footsteps gradually faded, and their figures slowly disappeared from the townspeople's sight.
"Ah, they ran past again. They're so fast! They can run that fast even in such heavy armor." One child instantly lost his excitement.
"I'm so jealous of them. I want to become a knight like them someday too!"
"Hmph, you can't do it. I'm the one who'll become a knight like them!"
"I can! You can't!"
"Obviously I can! You can't!"
"Then let's duel!"
"Bring it on!"
The two children grabbed wooden sticks and began brawling, but before long, their mothers arrived and beat the two underage knights until they cried.
"Waaah, just you wait! When my mom isn't around, we'll duel again!"
"It's a deal! Waaah!" The other child wiped away his tears as well.
"One, two, one!"
"One, two, one!"
Bang! A loud slap struck the table. Baron Eugene frowned and said, "This is infuriating. Don't those knights get tired of training every day?"
"Hmph, I think he's warning us," Lord Wilbur said coldly.
"That's more than just a warning. He's already started making moves against us," another noble lord seated across from him added.
All the nobles of Nafu City and several major merchants had gathered in this room. Even the government officials who had originally served under Claire were present.
"Exactly. Didn't he shut down Baron Eugene's clinic before? Everyone in Nafu City knew that clinic belonged to Baron Eugene, yet he shut it down without showing the slightest respect. He even returned all that money to those lowborn commoners."
After Claire collected the medical fees, she did not place them in her own treasury. Instead, she handed them over to Tax Official Robin to handle, having him return the Gold Coins to those who had previously visited the clinic for treatment.
"Hmph!" Baron Eugene let out a cold snort. The very mention of it infuriated him, and he slammed the table again. "What kind of viscount is he? He doesn't even know how to be a noble! Instead of standing with us, he's mixing with those lowborn commoners. I even heard that he gave some speech at the city gates a few days ago. What a joke! Nobles are nobles—can they possibly mix with those lowborn commoners?"
"Baron Eugene is right. That damn viscount can't even be a proper noble. We weren't unwilling to give him some money to spend after he returned, so why did he have to come after us? He even appointed some lowborn commoner as some damn Tax Official. I truly can't understand what he's thinking."
Over the past few days, Robin had led people to inspect every store and entertainment venue under these nobles. He had forced them to make up all the taxes they had evaded. Watching the Gold Coins in their hands flow into someone else's pockets, these miserly nobles wanted nothing more than to swallow Claire whole.
"Let's not talk about that for now," government official Frank said. "That Tax Official has investigated me too. I was the one who issued those previous decrees raising taxes, and we all split the money collected among ourselves. He took all the account books. In a few days, he'll probably find out how many Gold Coins we embezzled. So tell me, what should we do?"
"You were the only one who issued those decrees. Don't try to pin this on us," Lord Wilbur immediately said, trying to distance himself from the matter.
The other nobles also shut their mouths, unwilling to get involved. After all, you issued the decrees; we didn't force you to issue them. As for the money, how were we supposed to know it came from those lowborn commoners? You gave it to us, so we took it. What did the increased taxes have to do with us?
"You!" Frank pointed at the other man's nose in fury and cursed, "Didn't you take that money too?! Now that something's happened, you want me to bear it alone?! Fuck you!"
Lord Wilbur wanted to retort, but Baron Eugene stopped him.
"Enough. Is there any point in arguing like this? Frank has a point. We all took the money. If something happens, he definitely won't let us off!"
Lord Wilbur wore a bitter expression. "Then what do you think we should do?"
A cold glint flashed through Eugene's eyes as he said icily, "Since we can't solve the problem, then solve the person who discovered it!"
The nobles present were all stunned. "You mean we should get rid of that new Tax Official?"
"Yes! Exactly!"
Everyone seated there exchanged glances, and faint smiles appeared on their faces.
Frank suddenly interrupted, "No, that will only delay things temporarily. If we want to truly resolve this matter, then we need to..." As he spoke, Frank fell silent, but everyone knew what he meant.
Baron Eugene narrowed his eyes. "Do you know he has that Magic Weapon?"
"Even the strongest lion sleeps sometimes, doesn't it?" Frank replied with a smile.
"Hahaha, true!"
For a time, the room was filled with cheerful laughter. They seemed to see themselves returning to the happiness of their former lives.
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