Fifty-six: You can’t just expect to make easy money—smart folk always outwit you.

“What? Kyle’s village attacked by monsters?”

Marquis Bairoroad’s younger son, Zaid Gandar von Bairoroad, lifted his head with a grin at the sudden report interrupting his tedious chores.

“W-what in the name of the gods!?”

The report came from Javir, the resident alchemist, who’d just walked into Zaid’s chamber on another errand.

A top-tier female alchemist who’d accidentally turned herself into a childlike figure after a failed rejuvenation elixir.

“Quiet, Javir.”

“S-sorry, my lord! But you must hurry—help must be sent at once!”

Javir flustered, fumbling, sweating. Never seen him so rattled before—but Zaid sighed, voice flat.

“Why?”

“Why? There’s an army here!”

"These soldiers are here to defend the village. Why should they be pulled for Kyle?"

"S-sorry! But that’s—!"

"Shut up for a sec, Javir."

Zaid turned back to the messenger.

"So, the village was wiped out?"

"No! They repelled the attack on their own!"

"Hmph. Is that so..."

"Scared you, didn’t I?"

Javir exhaled, relieved, while Zaid just slumped his mouth into a flat line.

"Was it really nothing special?"

"No, well, word is there were over three thousand cockatrices..."

"What?!"

"Wha—?"

"Wait. That’s gotta be a damn lie."

"Still just a report. Could be mistaken."

"Hmph. Then it’s a lie. Go verify the facts."

"Yes! Sending a squad right away! Permission granted?"

"Granted."

"Understood!"

The messenger saluted and shot out the door. The sound of hooves from the squad waiting outside thundered in.

"hmph. Cocatris was a real pain, huh?"

"Indeed. Individually, they’re manageable by adventurers of decent strength. But the petrification breath? That’s the real trouble."

"Three thousand of those? Don’t kid me. Still… petrification breath, huh? One breath and the whole army turns to stone? That’d be a mess."

"Ah, that’s a misunderstanding."

"What?"

"The degree of petrification depends on how much of the breath you inhale. Unless you gulp it down in massive amounts, it starts at the fingertips and toes—slow, gradual. Less air in, smaller area affected. Takes time."

"Is that how it works?"

"If it turned to stone in an instant, the world’d be ruled by cockatrices."

"True enough."

Jabir crossed his arms over his flat chest, thinking.

(He’s around, so anti-stone and stone-prevention potions aren’t a problem—though the ingredients are a bit of a hassle. No, those adventurers from that town could probably gather them without a second thought. Either way, thousands of doses? That’d still fall short…)

"Whatever it is, as long as you’re safe, Kyle-sama. And him too."

"…Hmph."

Zaid returned to his chair, not bothering to hide his irritation.

"Anyway—tax revenue! How come, with all these inns springing up like weeds, we’re not seeing any real income!?!"

"Not that it’s low."

"True, it’s not low… but if it scaled with the number of inns, and the number of wagons passing through, then it’d be low, wouldn’t it!?"

"Ah… well…"

Jabir (Legal Lolita) lets out an exaggerated sigh directly at Zaid.

"The cargo on wagons passing through this town—most of it's from Akindō Trading."

"So what?"

"Tell me, who was the guildmaster of the inn guild in this village?"

"Akindō, right?"

Jabir (Tiny Madame) lets out another long, drawn-out sigh.

"That's right. Wagons carrying Akindō goods staying at Akindō inns? Doesn't it make sense they'd get a discount? Think about it."

"...Huh... Ah, ah, aahh!?!"

"Of course it's not full exemption—just standard discount rates. But the income drops in proportion to the number of inns and wagons. Makes sense, doesn't it?"

"W-What? That's ridiculous! H-How does that even work!?"

"You're the one who approved the establishment of the inn guild in Akindō, Zaid-sama."

“Wait! You’re saying it’s my fault!?”

This could be considered a fair measure of merit, wouldn’t you say?

Jabir started explaining, looking thoroughly annoyed.

You could say he’s lured a whole flood of merchants into a frontier that’s never seen a soul before.

"Yeah... I see."

Since the destination was Goldendown, it probably didn’t affect us much.

Jabir forced the words that nearly slipped out back down his throat.

The village’s grown quite a bit since its first days. Think you can hold your head high now?

So, huh...

Zaid looked only slightly satisfied, but for now, he let the matter drop.

Then we should definitely take the toll fee.

"Lord Zaid, I've told you countless times before—this is the most foolish plan of all."

Why the hell! Every single day, there’s some idiotic flood of wagons coming and going! The toll revenue alone would be serious money!

Then why bother building a checkpoint here? They’ll just go around it and be done with it.

You don’t get it! This place is already a full-fledged rest stop! Goddamn it! You can’t just skip the only village within the dangerous stretch that offers supplies and a break!

Jabir (looks like a little girl, brain of a genius) lets out another exasperated sigh—counting how many times she’s done it today is pointless.

"By all reason, yes. In a dangerous frontier, sleeping rough is already tough. Any caravan that’s been traveling for weeks would want to stop, wouldn’t they?"

"Exactly! So they’d pay a toll just to stop!"

"Mm. But that’s where the problems start."

"Problem, you say?"

"Exactly. Normally, tolls mean cash or some percentage in goods, right?"

"True."

"Right now, most of what those merchants are hauling in their carts is volcanic ash and lime."

"Uh?"

"If I were Akindoo, I’d demand the toll be paid in kind."

"What happens then?"

"Without Goldendoon around, nobody’d buy that ash and lime. It’d just pile up in villages by the ton."

"..."

Seemed like Zaid finally got the picture.

"I’ve already learned the method for making alchemical hardstone from him—could be useful if I tried."

"Then why not just sell it?"

"It's impossible. You need a certain level of alchemist for that. Gathering even a few alchemists—especially rare ones with the mark—is already tough enough. Try making alchemical hardstone here in this village, and all you'll get is a useless lump."

"What?"

"Right now, the only way is to place an alchemist at the site where the hardstone will be used, bring the materials there, and create it on the spot."

"Then why not have Jabir do it here in the village?"

"I serve Zaid on the condition that I'm allowed to conduct my research freely. Of course, I'll lend a hand with matters like this."

"…Gah."

Zaid remembered his pact with Jabir. He could only swallow his words.

"Which is why I must return to my research. I have to go over that report he sent."

"Wait! Then how the hell are we supposed to raise the tax revenue!?"

"That's the lord's job, isn't it? Come back when you've got something clearer to talk about."

Ignoring Zaid as he tried to say more, Jabir—the transmuted alchemist child—walked away without looking back.

"Seriously... can't you grow up a bit, Zaid-sama?"

Letting out a sigh of relief, Jabir—the lolita crone child—glanced absently at the empty sky.

"Feels like I'm being laughed at, for some reason... weird, huh?"

Just your imagination.

"Thousand-line Flash Strike" > (sensen sensen sensen) yeah w

Kinda dumb move, really w