Helmut: The Forsaken Child - H.F.C Chapter 311 (Part 1):

Azer, with a serious expression, suddenly became aware of the group’s gaze and scratched his head.

“This is quite a heavy topic to discuss in front of guests. You’ve come here to relax, after all. No need to spoil the mood by hearing something that might make you uncomfortable.”

Helmut’s group was set to stay here for about a month.

Since Sian’s family, being spirit mages, was well-off, hosting such guests for a while wouldn’t be a burden. The only concern might be the two demonic beasts.

Rather, in such a rural village, visitors like these were so rare that they deserved to be treated as honored guests.

It’s true that the newly crowned king of Veneta was putting pressure on Greencana, but the situation wouldn’t develop significantly during that month.

“If it’s something confidential or uncomfortable to share, please don’t feel obliged to tell us.”

Charlotte spoke up. She was taking Sian’s village’s troubles seriously, more so than anyone else.

After all, for someone as diligent as her, it seemed like the duty of the Duchess of Renosa who had accepted the invitation.

Even though this was just an unofficial visit, her ingrained sense of responsibility had not changed.

“It’s not exactly confidential. They’re just unilaterally harassing us. Well, alright then. You’re Sian’s junior, right? the young lady named Charlotte, was it? You’re a noble?”

They hadn’t yet revealed that her name was Charlotte of Renosa.

Given how Sian had been constantly criticizing Renosa, it felt a bit awkward to reveal it now.

Charlotte hesitated for a moment before nodding.

“…Yes.”

“Then you must know well about the nature of nobles.”

If there was anything that embodied nobility, it was Renosa. Charlotte once again nodded slowly.

“Yes.”

“Then let me tell you the situation. I’m not asking for help; I wouldn’t burden a guest with that.”

Sian abruptly interjected.

“What’s the new king of Veneta like? Did he make any demands on Greencana?”

“Yes, they demanded taxes from us.”

“Taxes? Doesn’t Greencana not pay taxes to the Kingdom of Veneta?”

This village itself, having been developed by clearing the mountain range, was essentially a tax-free zone. Azer nodded.

“That’s right. Greencana is only part of Veneta’s domain, not a village belonging to the Kingdom of Veneta. But the new king of Veneta officially sent people here just a month after his coronation. Royal knights and some sort of advisor, carrying official documents and all.

For a small village, that was quite a reception. Seeing how far they went, I didn’t think they’d back down easily, so we were prepared to pay some money if it became an issue. We do benefit from being part of Veneta, after all. But…”

“Were the taxes excessive? How much did they demand?” Sian asked.

“About 80% of the entire village’s income. It’s an absurd amount. We don’t make much money in this rural village, but being a family of mages, our Rodril’s income accounts for most of the village’s total income.”

Alea summarized.

“So it’s an extremely high tax for such a small village.”

“Yes, it’s unfair. Their logic is that we should pay that much because we haven’t paid taxes until now, and on top of that, there would be a twenty percent increase every year for ten years.”

“That sounds like they’re just picking a fight,” Asuka said incredulously. If it were him, he would have chosen to respond to the fight and clash head-on. However, Charlotte shook her head.

“There must be a reason for such an unreasonable demand. They must want something else.”

“That’s what it seems. It’s not that we can’t pay. But it’s such an absurd amount that we can’t possibly agree to it.”

“Anyone would feel the same,” Charlotte added.

At this point, it was no different from robbery. But the problem was that the target of this robbery wasn’t weak civilians, but the spirit mage Rodril.

A spirit mage who could fight and win against a country. It made one question whether the new king of Veneta was in his right mind. Surely, the new king must know something about Rodril.

“So I asked. I said it was incomprehensible why they were demanding such an excessive amount. I asked if there was something else they wanted. But they said no, just pay the taxes. Naturally, we said we couldn’t.”

“What was Veneta’s response?” Sian asked.

“They threatened that we would pay the price and then withdrew. The next week, a blockade order was issued to all surrounding villages. They publicly announced that any village trading with Greencana would be severely punished. In fact, an herb merchant from the neighboring village who came to buy herbs from our village was later dragged to prison.”

Charlotte picked up the conversation.

“It seems Veneta had planned this from the start. It must be troublesome for you.”

“Yes, we can’t always cross the mountain range, and Greencana is a village that needs to buy, sell, and trade goods, but that’s been suddenly blocked. It’s become completely inconvenient. There are useful things produced in Greencana, and we have trading partners, so other villages are also very dissatisfied, but the Veneta royal family is being too harsh. There are people who would be willing to trade secretly, but if they’re caught, they’ll be dragged to prison, and we can’t drag others into trouble for our sake.”

“Of course,” Charlotte nodded.

“Since Terra can’t leave the village, a few of us spirit mages, myself included, have been traveling to other countries, pretending to be traders. Thankfully, our village has everything we need to survive. Otherwise, we’d have dried up by now.”

As long as they could solve the problem of food and living, they could be self-sufficient.

There were difficulties, but Greencana was a village established by Rodril.

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