Chapter 62: Tax Demon
Several days had passed since the ambush.
Fortunately, everything had been far more peaceful since then.
The wounded were recovering as well, though the atmosphere had taken a hit.
Clear anger and sadness lingered among the knights and soldiers, each feeling utterly betrayed by the baroness’s actions.
Roderic, however, hadn’t been focusing on that at all.
Just like before, he mostly locked himself away inside the carriage, burying himself deep in the System’s Archive.
There’d been one particular subject he’d been researching nonstop.
’The Ironhart family.’
Now that Roderic was planning to start the territorial war earlier, they would be a big problem.
’I’m confident I can deal with Margaret and the Deres Barony,’ he thought. ’At least, once my preparations are complete, that is.’
But his ex-fiancée’s family was a whole other story.
As a viscountcy, they’d have far more resources and soldiers.
If they intervened in the war, the situation could quickly grow outside his control.
’Surely there’s some way to get rid of them temporarily?’ he thought, browsing through yet another page. ’It doesn’t even need to be for long.’
Unfortunately, nothing useful appeared.
Roderic searched through scandals, territorial disputes, trade agreements and even the Ironhart Family’s individual members.
There were certainly a lot of weaknesses.
Just none that could accomplish what he needed.
Eventually, the sunlight outside began disappearing.
’Fuck...’ he cursed, rubbing his tired eyes. ’If only the damn Archive understood exactly what I was searching for!’
...
Another whole day passed by.
They’d only just set off on their journey again when Roderic’s loud voice echoed through the carriage.
"I HAVE A LIFELINE!"
His eyes practically sparkled as he stared at the blue screen in front of him.
It had taken hours and hours of searching, but he’d finally found one!
’’What a great start to the day!’’
Adrenaline ran through Roderic’s veins as he stared at the screen in disbelief.
It felt almost exactly like being the first to find a game-breaking exploit back on Earth.
Roderic shook his head slowly while letting out a few chuckles in sheer disbelief.
’’Oh, you greedy bastards,’’ he muttered between chuckles. ’’You really screwed yourselves this time.’’
He paused, rereading the text on the screen just in case.
’’Four hundred thousand gold coins in unpaid taxes,’’ he finally said. ’’Even the devil himself wouldn’t dare pull such a trick!’’
He quickly continued reading through the information.
The scandal wouldn’t actually be exposed until several years into the future.
Until then, the Ironhart Family would continue secretly withholding part of the taxes they owed the Royal Family.
And the reason they could get away with something so ridiculous?
’The Second Prince.’
Roderic almost laughed when he saw the name.
According to the Archive, the Second Prince had been using his influence to keep the entire matter hidden.
’Oh, this is perfect,’ he thought, rubbing his hands together. ’No, this is better than perfect!’
And why?
It was because Roderic knew exactly who would love to hear about that.
Hell, it’d be stranger if he didn’t after reading for days!
After a moment, Roderic forced himself to calm down.
’Four hundred thousand gold is several years from now,’ he thought, letting out a quiet breath. ’Obviously they won’t owe that much yet.’
The Ironhart Viscountcy made roughly forty thousand gold coins each year.
And unlike back on Earth, taxes in this world were literally heavenly.
The Royal Family only demanded around twenty-five percent of a territory’s annual income.
’Which would be around ten thousand a year for them,’ he thought. ’Granted, they do grow more powerful later because of the Second Prince...’
Roderic’s fingers began tapping against his knee.
For a moment, he tried calculating the amount they owed at the moment.
But it didn’t take long before he shook his head.
’’Whatever,’’ he muttered, grinning widely. ’’The exact amount doesn’t matter.’’
Whether the Ironharts currently owed a hundred thousand or two hundred thousand gold coins wasn’t important.
All that mattered was that they owed something and that they were part of the Second Prince’s faction.
Roderic’s grin widened even further.
’Oh, how I love it when siblings keep each other in check,’ he thought. ’I’m sure the First Prince will gobble this information right up.’
Leaning back with a satisfied sigh, Roderic stared up at the carriage ceiling.
’All I need to do is send him a letter once we reach Valemont territory.’
After that, the First Prince could decide how to deal with the Ironharts himself.
As long as they were too busy dealing with the consequences to interfere with the Deres Barony, Roderic couldn’t care less.
’That’s one problem dealt with.’
Roderic closed the Archive and just relaxed for a moment.
It was the first time since arriving in this world that he didn’t desperately need to do something.
Traps were being made, his personal knights were training, his own strength had grown considerably and he’d even set up the right political circumstances.
And honestly, that was a strange feeling.
’Have I actually gotten ahead for once?’ he thought, closing his eyes. ’And all that when there are still two days of the journey left...’
After a moment, Roderic let out a soft chuckle.
Of course, there were still countless things that needed to be done.
But none of them required his immediate attention.
For now, he could finally use the Archive for what he’d originally been most excited about.
’It’s time to search for ways to improve,’ he thought.
There were countless opportunities inside the Archive that could strengthen the Whitemane Barony.
Whether it was finding talented knights, mages, merchants or even things that could develop the territory itself, like the sense test.
And for the remaining two days, that was exactly what Roderic did.
Whenever he wasn’t training or sleeping, he buried himself in the Archive, often staying up the entire night out of excitement.
...
KNOCK! KNOCK!
’’Young master?’’
Roderic’s eyes slowly cracked open.
’’Mhm...?’’ he groaned, rubbing his face. ’’Edmund?’’
Edmund’s voice sounded from outside the carriage once more.
’’You should probably wake up, young master.’’
Roderic frowned sleepily.
’’Why?’’
’’We’ve arrived in Marquis Valemont’s territory.’’