Chapter 26 The Second Goal

  Looking at the merchants swarming around him, Dean silently reminisced.

  According to his memory, the late Ficharlun Knights' commander would soon provoke a battle among several merchant groups, resulting in a great harvest.

  Of course, this plan wasn't thought up by him, but rather his partner ——

  "Hello, two horse-drawn carriages, four people, a total of one silver corner!"

  The tax collector had the sentry inspect the carriage in front of him and said this while pointing to the money bag being held by two soldiers.

  This pouch was originally a sack, stuffed to the brim with coppers and a few silvers - Thiel's taxes on merchants weren't high, one copper per person, three for a wagon; compared to the prices in the Emerald City, which were calculated in silvers, this place was cheap to the point of being pitiful.

  But even so, businessmen will still complain.

  "Sir, last year two horse carriages only needed five copper coins!"

  The merchant who was paying out the money put it into the purse in front of him while expressing his discontent.

  "This is the order of Baron-sama... After all, next year's Til town needs to repair roads and walls, although Baron-sama has already worked hard to save again, but still needs everyone's help!"

  With an apologetic smile, the tax official slightly bowed his head; and such a friendly attitude suddenly made the merchant feel honored and flustered, gesturing with his hands and speaking incoherently: "Moldr, sir, please forgive my impolite questioning!"

  "It is my duty to answer your questions about taxation!"

  Mold said, bowing his head slightly again.

  Once again, the friendly attitude not only made the merchant in front of the tax officer full of gratitude and willing to pay, but also subsequent merchants were the same. Even the most stingy merchant would not say much when facing such a tax officer; after all, as a baron's tax officer, being able to explain things to these merchants was already a great honor, let alone with such courtesy.

  The status of merchants is determined by money, and the merchants who come to places like Tiel to collect goods are, with a few exceptions, obviously not very rich, in other words, they don't have much status.

  The merchants lined up in front of Dean one by one to pay taxes and enter the town, and soon it was Dean's turn.

  "Alone?"

  The tax officer looked at Dean with suspicion.

  "Yes, sir, I'm from the South and I'm looking for some opportunities!"

  Speaking with a Southern Three Counties accent, Dean gave a humble bow.

  Perhaps others may be deceived by Mold's appearance, but Dean absolutely won't, he is very clear about what the other party is doing.

  After all, the partner of the late Sir Fothergill, the commander of the Knights Templar, was none other than the tax official standing before him, Lord Mord.

  Dein remembered very clearly that when he first received the news from the spy under the Grand Duke, he was shocked in his heart. If it weren't for the conclusive evidence, Dein wouldn't have believed that Mold would be a partner of that bastard Pots. However, after flipping through the materials obtained from the spy, he ridiculed his own ignorance.

  Mord, the tax collector of Tyl, was originally a knight attendant of this generation's Baron of Tyl. Due to his diligence and loyalty, he became the tax collector of Tyl and later became a knight after being "baptized". He then distinguished himself in the Blood Moon War and married the baron's daughter. After the death of the Baron of Tyl and his son, he inherited the title of baron.

  Of course, this is only the information that ordinary people know; according to the true information, the 'death in battle' of Baron Thiel and his son was naturally written by this tax official, and even a year later, the death of the baron's eldest daughter was also written by him. Even his knighthood was obtained by first colluding with the Knights Templar to get money, then using the money to bribe his way into getting the opportunity for a knight's 'baptism'.

  And the tax officer's ending was not much better, he tried to get close to the female grand duke with some tricks, but was eventually killed by the well-prepared female grand duke.

  Recalling everything about Mold in his mind, Dean still had a humble expression on his face. He nodded at Mold, indicating that he would pay the tax money. Immediately, he took out a copper coin and walked towards the money bag.

  Every year, there are not a few businessmen from the three southern counties who come to this small border town near the snowy forest, seeking opportunities to get rich, and even in the team in front of them, there are several.

  So Modell wouldn't find it strange.

  "If there's anything you need, come find me. As the tax collector of Tir, I'll be happy to serve all of you travelers!"

  As Mold said this, suddenly, several southern merchants including Dean were frightened; of course, Dean was pretending, but he pretended to be very much like it, even the Mold in front of him didn't notice anything; and when Dean entered the town of Tyr, he didn't linger at the entrance of the town, but began to look for an inn - although his goal was Mold, and he knew where the only inn in Tyr that included a tavern and restaurant was, Dean still spent some effort before entering the inn like those southern merchants who came to Tyr for the first time.

  Wow!

  As soon as the door of the inn was pushed open, a wave of heat rushed forward, driving away the chill on their bodies. Dean and the southern merchants walked towards the large fire basin placed in the center of the hotel lobby, where the charcoal had already been burned to a deep red, emitting waves of hot air, and the fireplace on the side provided a comfortable temperature for the entire hall.

  "I'm Hack, welcome to Snow Bear's home, what can I get for you?"

  A tall and robust middle-aged man with one right hand missing asked in a bright voice.

  "Is there a room available?"

  A southern merchant asked.

  "A single room is five copper coins a day, while a bed is one copper coin a day. Food needs to be paid separately by everyone!"

  Hak rattled off the prices at top speed; after all, he had long since memorized this speech, having repeated it to numerous unfamiliar customers every year.

  "Give me a single room!"

  Dean spoke up first.

  "Me too!"

  "Me too!"

  As soon as Dean's voice fell, those Southern merchants immediately reacted and opened their mouths to speak; however, Huck waved his hand, pointed at Dean, and said: "Except for this gentleman, you only have a bed!"

  "I can add money..."

  A southern merchant was speaking, but before he could finish, he was grabbed by the collar of his shirt with Hack's left hand and lifted to his face. The copper bell-sized eyes stared at each other, shouting: "The rules of the Snow Bear family are mine to say! You're not welcome here!"

  As he spoke, the tall innkeeper lifted the southern merchant as if he were a small cat and threw him out of the door.

  But such a move won the applause of those businessmen sitting idly in the taverns.

  "Good job, Hack!"

  "True enough, 'Principled Hack'!"

  "Let's have a drink for Hack!"

  ……

  The landlord's ferocity and the jeers of the merchants in the tavern left several southern merchants at a loss, ultimately choosing to compromise.

  Although single rooms are comfortable and safe, they are clearly powerless in the face of such 'principled' bosses.

  But Dean, who had long understood this, maintained a smile - Hack, the owner of Snow Bear House; however, ten years ago he was the deputy commander of the Knights of Ficharen. If it weren't for the failure of the first knight's "baptism" and the inability to accumulate enough gold for the second "baptism", and because he lost his right hand in a battle with bandits, completely cutting off his path as a knight, the current Knights of Ficharen would not be controlled by someone like Pots.

  Compared to the likes of Pots, Hack is a qualified knight despite his short temper and other flaws. Although he doesn't have an official knighthood or a fiefdom, he can still run an inn with guaranteed integrity - Dean, who had fought alongside him in their original memories, trusted him completely.

  So he chose this place as his temporary foothold in Tiel Town.

  Of course, the real reason is that Hack had served as a servant of the previous Lord Thiel and was once the deputy commander of the Fitcher Knights. If anything happened, except for the lord himself, the ordinary town guards would not dare to be presumptuous here.

  After all, many of them were trained by Hack himself back in the day.

  And that was exactly what Dean needed - although he had already done enough backup plans, but if the real unexpected happened, it could undoubtedly get a buffer here, and he would have more preparation; after all, the tax officer was not as easy to deal with as the late Sir Fetchlen, the commander of the Knights.

  Even if the tax officer has not reached his peak at this moment, Dean did not underestimate him in the slightest; after all, he himself had not returned to his peak state, let alone that from start to finish, this tax officer relied on his 'wisdom' rather than strength.

  Although such 'wisdom' was evaluated by the female grand duke as 'small cleverness', Dean would not underestimate this small cleverness - because, relatively speaking, at least before being exposed by the female grand duke, this tax officer had a fairly promising future.

  Of course, it's all in the past!

  How about now?

  As they walked down the hallway towards their room, Dean chuckled softly behind Hark.

  PS: I'm a bit down, so please support me~~~ Hope you can collect and recommend it~~~