Book 5: Chapter 23
Normally speaking, elves pay taxes and give offerings by providing goods, unlike humans who pay money towards the national treasury. The people responsible for collecting them are referred to as tax officials. There is a tax official delegated to every village and they collect taxes once every month. The tax officials should be collecting taxes after the celebration this time. In that case, this village doesn’t have much time left.
It was now dark.
I took some of the residual charcoal from the dog’s fur and contemplated the situation. I’m feeling a little confident now, as I’ve managed to find what I was searching for but the previous incident with the church taught me a lesson; don’t go questioning the target until you have absolute confidence. More so, because we’re in the enemy’s den this time. If something happens to me this time, I might not get as lucky as I did with the church.
Not to mention that I don’t have Nier by my side. I miss Nier’s cold expression more than anything right now. If she were here with me right now, I’d be able to pursue this matter boldly.
Since when did I start trusting Nier so much? It must’ve been when we went through life and death together I guess. Perhaps I’ve relied on Nier just as many times as the countless number of times we went to dangerous places together. We can trust one another precisely because of that. As long as Nier is by my side, I can be fearless.
Of course, the same goes for Lucia, except I’m not too willing to let Lucia risk herself again as Lucia’s abilities aren’t as advanced as Nier’s.
“Brother, do you still have any other problems?”
“I can’t get over the feeling that I haven’t gathered enough evidence.” I looked at the charcoal in front of me and continued, “Though this charcoal is cold, that doesn’t prove it wasn’t burnt before. I can’t be absolutely certain about it… Let’s treat it as though we don’t know anything before I can be absolutely sure. The place might still be in operation for all we know.”
“Uhm…”