Praise the Viscount! (Please Bookmark and Vote!)

Not long after waking the next morning, Claire heard a knock at the door.

Regan had already learned his daily routine inside and out. He knew this was exactly when Claire would wake up.

After following Butler Regan downstairs, Claire was soon served a beautifully arranged breakfast. The taste, however, was rather average. Perhaps Claire simply was not used to the local cuisine, or perhaps it was the gap between coming from a nation famous for food and arriving in this other world.

Since no maids had been hired yet, Butler Regan had personally prepared the entire breakfast. As a butler, Regan could be said to have mastered every skill needed for life in the castle.

"Has the steward arrived?"

"Young Master, I had him wait in the sitting room early this morning. You may receive him after breakfast."

"No need. Have him come in now." Claire tossed a piece of sliced meat into his mouth.

"Yes, sir."

Before long, Regan led a middle-aged man inside. The man's clothes were far from neat, even somewhat filthy and disheveled.

But after glancing at the man's fingers, Claire sneered. There was not even a trace of grime beneath his nails. Did wearing dirty clothes prove he was dutiful and poor?

Frank's heart tightened at Claire's sneer. He had heard about what happened yesterday. This newly arrived viscount had killed the Knight Captain on his very first day. That had been a Silver-ranked knight, while Frank himself was merely an ordinary man who had not even cultivated battle aura.

Terrified, he immediately dropped to one knee and greeted him in a trembling voice. "Good day, my lord Viscount. My name is Frank. I have managed the taxes of the viscount's territory these past years. You may ask me anything you wish to know."

Claire said nothing and slowly ate the food on his plate, but to Frank, it brought boundless terror. That sense of the unknown was simply too frightening.

About five or six minutes later, Claire had nearly finished breakfast, while Frank remained kneeling on one knee. Beads of sweat the size of beans had already formed on his face from fear.

"Let's go. We'll talk in the meeting hall." Claire walked out of the dining room.

Regan followed close behind. Only then did Frank dare stand up. If he had still harbored thoughts of concealing anything when he first arrived, he no longer dared to hide a single thing. This viscount, barely more than ten years old, was nothing like the easily fooled child he had imagined.

Claire sat in the main seat and listened to Frank's report below. Though he still wore a pleasant smile, inwardly he was cursing up a storm.

Good grief. Paying to enter the city was one thing, but even getting married and having children required taxes? Was this some otherworld version of family planning? What was worse, the original system of collecting taxes once every half year had been changed to once a month, without reducing the amount owed. The burden had been increased sixfold, along with all sorts of bizarre taxes. In short, they had devised every possible way to squeeze the commoners dry.

After finishing his general report, Frank was already drenched in sweat, but he did not forget to defend himself. "My lord Viscount, those were all decrees issued by the previous two stewards. They have nothing to do with me."

Claire collected himself, waved a hand, and said, "Leave. Remove all those miscellaneous taxes, leaving only the most basic ones. Also, change tax collection from once every six months to once a year."

Frank staggered out of the Baronial Manor, not even daring to look back. When he finally came to his senses, he discovered that his back was already soaked with sweat.

"Young Master, don't you have a Magic Weapon with tremendous power? Why not just..." Regan raised his hand and made a slicing motion across his neck.

Regan did not believe for a moment that the steward had not embezzled funds. And those previous two stewards he mentioned—were they not his father and grandfather? How could he say it had nothing to do with him? It had everything to do with him.

Claire leaned back against the soft sofa and gazed at the ceiling. "He's still useful. No rush. Oh, and hire a clerk this time. Someone who can read and do arithmetic."

"Yes, sir!" Regan bowed.

Regan stepped back half a pace, then suddenly stopped as though remembering something.

"Young Master, Hant raided the former Knight Captain's home and sent over all of his assets—more than fifty thousand Gold Coins."

Claire chuckled. Hant was a clever man. He would take the initiative to handle such things without needing orders.

Still, the Knight Captain had several tens of thousands more Gold Coins than Claire, the lord of the territory, had in his own little treasury. That was truly ironic.

Claire waved his hand. "I understand. Go get busy."

Claire's orders were swiftly carried out. That was thanks to Dean, who had offered up his life yesterday. Otherwise, that steward would likely have dragged things out through open compliance and secret defiance, becoming the first martyr to give his life for the viscount's territory.

At the city gates, hundreds upon thousands of commoners had gathered, staring at the two newly posted notices above.

"What does that say?"

"They're not raising taxes again, are they? If they raise them any further, my family won't even be able to afford food."

"Hurry and find someone who can read. The taxes are already too high. If this really is another tax increase, then even if our families have lived here for generations, we'll have to move somewhere else."

"Exactly. These nobles are nothing but man-eaters who do not even spit out the bones. My poor little sister was starved to death during the last tax increase," someone said bitterly.

For a moment, the city gates grew noisy and crowded as everyone denounced the nobles' evils.

"He's here! I brought Uncle Robin! He used to live in a big city, so he can read!" A thirteen- or fourteen-year-old child dragged a middle-aged man with rolled-up sleeves into the crowd.

The crowd quickly made way. They sincerely respected Uncle Robin, who could read. Besides, he never acted superior just because he was literate.

Robin wore a wry smile as he walked to the two notices posted on the city wall. He had been working peacefully at home before being suddenly dragged here.

"Uncle Robin, hurry and look. Are they raising taxes again?"

At the mention of taxes, Robin's expression immediately turned serious. "Don't rush. Let me put on my glasses first."

After taking out his glasses, Robin narrowed his eyes and carefully read the notices. Then his expression became utterly exaggerated. His mouth fell open, and his eyes widened as though he had seen a ghost.

"It's over. Even Uncle Robin has been scared senseless by this tax increase."

"What are we supposed to do? My family has already run out of food. My mother is sick, so we've already lost one source of income. Now there are more taxes. We can't survive." A young girl dropped to her knees and began to cry. She was too young, and the shops in town would not hire an inexperienced girl like her.

"Poor Yuna."

"Damn those nobles. I've completely lost hope in Nafu City."

The crowd sighed again and again. Quite a few people had already decided to leave Nafu City and seek a living in another noble's territory. At least they might survive there.

"Uncle Robin, what exactly does it say?" The little boy reached out and tugged on Robin's sleeve.

Only then did Robin recover from his shock. He slowly turned to face the crowd and took a deep breath. What was written there was something he had never encountered in his entire life.

"What I'm about to say may scare you."

"We've had our taxes raised so many times already. We're not afraid. Just tell us, Uncle Robin."

"Taxes have been reduced!"

"So what if taxes have been reduced? What's the big deal?"

"?!"

"Uncle Robin, say that again. What?!"

"Taxes have been reduced! The viscount has returned from the royal capital to his territory, and he has exempted most of our taxes!" Robin threw up his arms and shouted, tears filling his eyes. In all his life, he had never seen or even heard of taxes being reduced.

"What?!" The crowd was stunned. "Is that true? The lord has returned, and he's reducing our taxes?!"

The commoners who had lived here for decades had almost never seen their lord. They only remembered that they had a lord living in the royal capital when their elders mentioned him.

"It's true!" Robin said excitedly, carefully explaining each of the new tax laws Claire had issued.

At once, the crowd erupted into wild joy. Everyone cheered, and some even began dancing in the streets.

"That's wonderful! We won't have to pay to enter the city anymore!"

"We won't have to pay to get married either!"

"We won't have to pay because our wheat grows too tall!"

"I'm going back to the village to tell everyone this good news!"

"Yes! I'm going to tell my father, who's working in the fields!"

"Everyone, wait!" Robin called out and stopped them again.

"What is it?" Everyone turned back, thinking Uncle Robin had overlooked something.

"There's another notice I haven't mentioned yet. It's from the viscount, recruiting maids and clerks. When you head back, spread the word in the villages as well."

The people who had already run some distance hurried back and gathered around him again. "Uncle Robin, tell us more about the pay and requirements."

Robin was delighted as well and explained the benefits and requirements in the recruitment notice one by one.

"Meals and lodging included, plus ten Silver Coins?! If I weren't a man, I'd want to go too."

"You could go if you can read and do arithmetic."

"Then forget it. Those crooked words look like ghost scribbles. Who can recognize them?"

"Ah!" Yuna, the girl who had been crying earlier, suddenly let out a cry. Covering her nose, she sobbed, "Uncle Robin, can I work as a maid at the Baronial Manor?"

Robin walked over and gently stroked Yuna's head as she cried. Poor Yuna was his neighbor, and he had watched her grow up. Seeing her like this made his heart ache.

He gently patted her head and comforted her softly. "You meet the age requirement, so you can try applying."

"Can I really do it?" Tear tracks covered Yuna's face, making her look especially pitiful.

"Of course. The viscount is so kind, and you've always been hardworking. You'll definitely make it," everyone encouraged her.

Then someone suddenly shouted, "Praise the Viscount!"

The others quickly joined in. "Praise the Viscount!"

"May the Lord protect you forever!"

"You are the lamp that lights our darkness!"

"Your good name shall spread throughout the four seas!"