Seven Steps Away, Gun is Fast...

Back by the carriage, Claire asked as she stepped aboard, "Doesn't our viscountcy collect taxes only once every six months?"

Regan was also taken aback. As the Griffin Family's steward, he had certainly needed a thorough understanding of the viscountcy before coming here.

"Yes, our viscountcy does collect taxes once every six months."

"Have all the taxes they collected been handed over? How much was it in total?"

Regan recalled, "They were all handed over on time. Over the past five years, the annual tax revenue was roughly between fifteen thousand and twenty thousand Gold Coins."

However, when the viscountcy still had Magic Ore being mined, its annual income had been around several million Gold Coins. Back then, Viscount Griffin had not cared much about these ten or twenty thousand Gold Coins in taxes.

"Oh." Claire responded softly, his tone neither warm nor cold.

But Regan still detected his young master's displeasure. He felt deeply unhappy as well. Sure enough, after the viscount had left the territory, those subordinates had bared their bloodthirsty fangs. They dared embezzle the viscount's property and even impose taxes on their own!

In the wheat field, after picking up the ten Silver Coins that had been thrown onto the ground, the woman revealed a faint, happy smile. Those ten Silver Coins could keep her family of four fed for the month.

But she quickly suppressed her smile, took her child's hand, and hurried away.

Her younger daughter, Melly, looked up at her mother and asked, "Was that Big Brother a bad person?"

Kellan muttered from the side, "I think he was pretty nice. He even gave us money."

The woman's face immediately hardened. "You think someone is a good person just because they give you a little favor? Don't forget what I told you. Those nobles are all wicked people who devour others whole. Even if that person gave us money, he's only a slightly better bad person."

But Melly did not understand what her mother meant by a slightly better bad person. She merely stared at the Silver Coins in her mother's hand, swallowing as she asked, "Mom, can we buy candy now that we have money?"

"Eat, eat, eat. All you know is eating." The woman poked her daughter's head. "We need to save this money in case those nobles in the city come up with some other way to raise taxes. Then at least we won't go hungry."

Melly covered the spot on her head where she had been poked. A wave of grievance surged from her heart, and tears streamed uncontrollably down her face. She flung away the hand her mother was holding and ran off.

"Hmph! Mom's the bad person! That Big Brother was willing to give me candy, but now that you have money, you still won't buy me brown sugar candy. You're the worst! I'm never being nice to you again!"

The woman watched her daughter shake free and run away. Her eyes flickered, and though she opened her mouth, she still could not bring herself to scold her.

Kellan immediately comforted her. "Mom, don't be sad. Melly is still young. I'll go bring her back. You go home first."

The woman nodded, and Kellan ran after his sister.

After traveling in the carriage for a little over an hour, Claire finally caught sight of Nafu City's outline.

It was a city enclosed by towering walls built from hard stone. Though it looked new and imposing from the outside, even better than the cities in some counties, Claire could still sense a trace of decay. They were nearly at the gates, yet there was not a shred of life to be felt.

Nafu City had flourished during the mining of Magic Ore. Once the Magic Ore had been exhausted, the city rapidly declined. Many of its original residents moved elsewhere, so it was no wonder Claire sensed such desolation.

At the city gates...

Regan furiously shouted at Hant before him, "What? Your captain has business and can't come? The viscount has returned! What could possibly be more important than this?"

Hant, the vice-captain standing before him, could only smile apologetically, though inwardly he thought, He's refusing to come precisely because the viscount is here.

Regan pointed at the knights opposite him and cursed them out. Only after venting most of his anger did he turn and enter the carriage to explain.

"Young Master, I don't know what is going on with their captain, but he couldn't come. The sun is about to set. Why don't we return to the Baronial Manor first? Otherwise, we'll miss dinner."

Claire wore an amused smile. "What business could he possibly have? He clearly wants to give us a show of force."

Regan froze. He had not considered it that deeply just now, but after his young master pointed it out, he finally understood.

Anger surged through him. He was just about to turn back and curse those people again when Claire stopped him.

Claire stepped out of the carriage and stood atop it, looking down at the more than fifty knights opposite him.

When the more than fifty knights saw Claire, they all unconsciously lowered their heads and greeted him respectfully, "Lord Viscount!"

Claire nodded and looked at Hant, the vice-captain standing before the knights. He said indifferently, "Send someone to tell your captain to take his time with his business. I have plenty of time to wait for him."

Hant raised his head to look at Claire. He was stunned by Claire's exceptional appearance and bearing, taking several seconds to recover before sending someone to report to the captain.

Inside the military camp...

"Huh? He said he'll wait for me to go over?" A mocking smile appeared at the corner of Dean's lips.

"Then tell him I still have things to do. Have him keep waiting. Let's see how long he can wait."

More than ten minutes later, the knight who had left earlier came running back.

"Captain, Lord Viscount said he has plenty of time. No matter how long it takes, he is willing to wait for you."

"Hahaha, is he too scared to enter without me? What a little brat." Dean took a sip of the wine beside him and laughed. "Let him keep waiting. It's only been a few minutes. The show of force hasn't been enough yet."

During the wait, Claire did not appear anxious at all. Regan, on the other hand, paced back and forth in worry, hating that so-called Knight Captain to the bone. How dare he slight the young master so openly!

After one or two hours, the sun was nearly setting, and the towering city walls were bathed in the lingering glow of dusk.

That knight came running back again. "Captain, Lord Viscount is still waiting for you. He said that if you don't go, he'll keep waiting."

"Looks like the time is about right. Let's go."

The knight who had been reporting the news finally breathed a sigh of relief. If this continued, none of them would get dinner.

Claire lay on his side in the carriage, lifting the curtain and staring at the city gates outside, seemingly lost in thought.

"Young Master, that Knight Captain has arrived," Regan reported quietly.

Claire finally stopped staring into space. He jumped down from the carriage and narrowed his eyes at the Knight Captain approaching him.

Dean had an imposing presence. As a Silver Knight, he could frighten wild beasts with his aura alone. Yet this little brat before him was unaffected by it?

"My apologies, Lord Viscount. I had some matters to attend to, so I arrived late. Please forgive me!"

Although Captain Dean's words sounded respectful, anyone could hear that there was not a trace of respect in his tone. Instead, it carried a provocative edge: I deliberately came late. What can you do about it?

"It's fine, it's fine. You should finish your business first." A cheerful smile appeared on Claire's face as well.

Dean was disdainful inside. Sure enough, he was just a child. A little intimidation and he had backed down.

But Claire's next words made his jaw drop.

"Since you're so busy, you should stop being Knight Captain for now. After all, we can't delay your important business, can we?" Claire said calmly.

Dean's eyes immediately widened. He had never been someone of calm temperament, and upon hearing this, he jumped up in agitation and pointed at Claire's nose as he cursed, "What right do you have to remove me from my position?!"

"Knighthoods are granted by nobles in the first place. As a knight of the Griffin Family, isn't it perfectly normal for me to remove you from your position? Besides, judging by your attitude today, you are clearly unfit to be Knight Captain. You actually made me, your lord, wait. Is that something a Knight Captain should do?"

Claire was indeed speaking the truth. A knight's rights and obligations were granted by nobles. Appointment or dismissal was merely a matter of one sentence.

"You can't! You can't remove me from my position!" Dean went hysterical. Since the viscount from two generations ago had gone to the royal capital, the knight captaincy, which was originally not hereditary, had passed down from his grandfather to him. He could not accept losing the position so suddenly.

"I never take back what I say. You have been removed from your position. Now get lost." A trace of coldness showed in Claire's eyes.

"What right do you have to remove me? I was born to inherit the position of Knight Captain. I am one now, and I will be one in the future!" Dean's aura began to ripple.

"I said, get lost!" Killing intent flashed in Claire's eyes. This was his first day in Nafu City. He would not allow any accidents.

"You're the one who should get lost! Nafu City is my territory!"

Dean roared, drawing a greatsword from his waist. Red Battle Aura rose from his body, quickly covering him completely before winding around the greatsword. At that moment, he resembled a wild beast that had lost its mind.

Seeing this, Vice-Captain Hant's faint red Battle Aura also surged forth. He chased after him from behind. "Captain, no! You can't attack Lord Viscount!"

If a viscount died in his own territory, and at the hands of his own knights, then none of them could hope to live. The nobles of other territories would surely hang these rebellious knights publicly at the city gates.

Hant's shout brought Dean back to his senses. Cold sweat broke out on him as he realized how foolish his actions had been. Even if he could kill Claire now, he would not survive the pursuit of the other nobles.

Even if he killed him, he could not do it in front of so many people. He was still in Nafu City, after all. There was still room to turn things around. As he thought this, a glint of killing intent flashed through Dean's eyes.

Claire shrugged and chuckled. "Don't dare?"

Dean suppressed his fury and restrained himself from responding.

Seeing that it was no longer interesting, Claire waved behind him. "Then let's go, Regan."

Regan then led the horses toward the city gates, while Claire followed beside him at an unhurried pace. As the two passed each other, Claire suddenly called out to Dean.

"Hey!"

"Huh?" Dean turned around instinctively.

Bang! Everything was swallowed by that single deafening sound.

The Battle Aura surging around Dean vanished in an instant. His entire body tilted backward and fell. Looking down, the distance between Claire and Dean was exactly within seven steps. As the saying went, beyond seven steps, a gun was fast; within seven steps, a gun was both fast and accurate.