Chapter 76

A bit complicated, a Leighton explanation session.

We were sitting in a corner of the guild, in a partitioned rest area.

It seems that if we applied, we could rent a small private room, but Tetrat refused, saying it wasn't a conversation that required discretion.

"Where should I start...?"

"Right. How about we start with why you ran away from Clarisen?"

When Leighton said this, Tetrat fell silent and began to think, looking down.

Eventually, it seemed her thoughts were organized. She slowly began to speak.

"I left Clarisen to expose that town."

"Is it doing something wrong?"

Leighton laughed as if amused.

"Do you mean a monster tamer...? You know what that is, right?"

"A magic user who controls monsters, right? Like in the hero's story..."

Indeed, one of the hero's party members was a monster tamer who rescued a lost companion and returned them to the hero.

"No, no, monster tamers do exist. There are two in Essen... or three if you count the spirit users."

"Yes. And now, there's one in that town."

"Hmm. I thought they were all in the capital or nearby... Is it unknown?"

"My childhood friend."

Tetrat whispered with a heavy heart. Her clenched fists had turned white.

"There's a monster hunting request from Clarisen..."

"Ah, I know. Just wait a moment."

Leighton stood up and headed to the bulletin board where the hunting requests were posted. He tore off one of the papers and returned, waving it in the air.

The three of us peered at the paper on the table.

"Is this it? The extermination of the Trenchworm that appears in the forest near Clarisen. The reward is..."

Leighton was about to read the amount when he was surprised. He couldn't help but exclaim loudly.

"Five copper coins!?"

The Trenchworm, a large snake-like monster that lives in the forest, is like a dragon without wings or hands.

It can bite through rock and move underground, suddenly emerging to attack its prey.

While not as powerful as a dragon, it is still a troublesome monster for ordinary people.

To hunt it for five copper coins is clearly too cheap. It would be much safer and more profitable to gather herbs instead.

"That's clearly an unfair profit."

Nodding, Tetrat continued.

"The monster tamer controlling this Trenchworm is my childhood friend."

"Is your childhood friend threatening the town?"

After saying this, he realized it was wrong. Tetrat was not trying to expose the monster tamer but the town.

As if to confirm this, Tetrat shook her head.

"No. That child doesn't want this. It's not that child's will."

"Not that child's will... Ah, I see. So, the town..."

Leighton whispered quietly and nodded.

Then, the next words out of his mouth were unexpected.

"I understand. It's a more boring story than I thought."

"Huh?"

At these words, Tetrat froze and then weakly asked.

"The solution is simple. In addition to dealing with that child and the monster, Miss Hedron can post a hunting request with a fair price. That will solve the problem."

Leighton said this in one breath and then turned to me.

"Well, what about you, Crow? I'm going to lend a hand..."

"Wait, I don't understand what you're talking about..."

Interrupting Leighton, who was about to cut off the conversation, I couldn't help but speak up.

I still didn't understand. Yet, Leighton seemed to have grasped the situation and proposed a solution. What exactly did he understand from our conversation?

"Oh, right. I forgot, this is a topic far removed from you. Although, it's also distant for most explorers."

Leighton sighed and continued.

"Right. I'll explain this part instead of Gustav. Is that okay?"

"Um, sure, that's fine..."

I glanced at Tetrat, who was trembling, not in anger but in frustration.

"Miss Tetrat..."

Leighton smiled at Tetrat with a kind expression. Then, he repeated what he had said before.

"Right. If you post the request and deal with your childhood friend... What do you mean by that?"

Tetrat asked quietly, as if trying to suppress her anger.

Leighton tilted his head, as if not understanding, and asked in return.

"Under the pretext of a monster, the town is making an unfair profit... or rather, the residents are enriching themselves. That's what it is, right?"

"Yes... but..."

"Then it's a simple matter. If the monster is gone, or more precisely, if the means to safely use the monster are taken away, it can't continue. Removing your childhood friend and the monster from the town, and getting a third party to confirm safety, will solve the problem."

Tetrat swallowed hard.

"So, that's the solution. Any more questions?"

"I understand what you're saying... but..."

Tetrat still seemed to want to argue but couldn't find the words.

Leighton, no longer interested in Tetrat's silence, began to educate me.

"Do you know about the country's tax system?"

"...No, I'm not well-informed."

Suddenly talking about taxes? There must be a connection, but I still couldn't see it. Come to think of it, do I even pay taxes?

"Well, it's understandable. It's not something residents of the slums or frontier villages are involved with."

"To put it simply, residents of this country pay taxes to the city they live in and to the country. Whether you pay through the guild, like us, or declare it yourself varies from person to person."

"My share is handled by the guild, right?"

Surprisingly, I was also a taxpayer.

"That's one of the guild's roles. Every time you complete a request or sell materials, a portion is deducted. But that's not important now. What's important is the portion the city pays to the country."

"Frontier villages, for example?"

"Yes, that's important. The answer is no. Frontier villages are not required to pay taxes to the country by law. Once a village with a certain number of residents in the Holy Territory has been established for twenty years, it is promoted to a city and then begins to pay."

"Until then, there's no need to pay. So, it seems better not to be promoted."

Is there any benefit to being promoted, even if it means giving up preferential treatment?

"Once promoted, you gain the right to request knight deployments and have guards stationed. All paid for by the country. There are other benefits, like having a guild branch established."

"Oh... So, the country will protect you."

Once officially recognized as part of the country, you receive protection from the country.

"Clarisen has been receiving these benefits for several years now."

Of course, the benefits are not just that, Leighton added.

"So, what does this have to do with her childhood friend, the monster tamer?"

"There's also a tax exemption system in this tax system."

A tax exemption system. Just the words suggest that there are conditions under which you don't have to pay taxes...

Does this have something to do with the monster tamer? No, earlier, he said "the pretext of a monster." Could it be...

"If there's a monster nearby, you don't have to pay taxes...?"

Leighton clapped his hands and smiled.

"Correct! More precisely, if there's a troublesome monster living in the nearby forest that requires defense, or in special conditions like wartime, you can be exempt from taxes. ...Now, do you understand the situation in Clarisen?"

Indeed. Finally, I grasped the situation.

"...Yes. I'm sorry for being slow."

"That's fine. You and I have different levels of prior information. It's understandable that you couldn't figure it out."

Smiling, Leighton reassured me, and he still looked like a good person.

According to Leighton's explanation, which made the situation more complex, in simple terms, a large-scale tax evasion was taking place in Clarisen.

Tetrat's childhood friend was making the monster appear near the town, and Clarisen reported it to Ilane. Using this as a pretext, they were evading taxes.

The taxes that should have been paid were being embezzled by someone in the town... or a significant number of people, based on the conversation.

Since Tetrat had come to this town to expose it, it meant that it couldn't be resolved internally in Clarisen. It must be a serious situation where self-purification was no longer working.

However, if that's the case, why not seek help from the country?

"...Then, there should be tax collectors. Why not report the situation to them?"

I suggested, but Leighton dismissed it with a teacher's smile.

"There are tax collectors, but... Miss Hedron, haven't you already been there?"

"...Yes. The day after I arrived in Ilane..."

Tetrat, who had been silent, whispered regretfully.

"It's a large sum, but to the big city, it's just a small amount of tax from a small town. It can be crushed with a little effort. The tax collectors are using it for their own profit."

"Being bribed...?"

"Yes, just a small amount that we overlook."

Leighton put his hand to his chin and muttered with a bored expression.

"Not just the tax collectors. The exploration guild and the guards are also involved in the cover-up. Clarisen is built on top of the small crimes they each commit."

Leighton picked up the hunting request paper on the table and waved it again.

"Then, how do we..."

Solve it? I was about to ask when I realized.

Leighton had been clearly indicating the solution all along.

"That's why I said. This crime is built on top of small, easily blown away crimes. If we can provide solid proof that the monster is gone, that will be enough. That's why it's boring."

His face, saying this, looked like the face of a bad person, similar to Mr. Gustav's.

"So, Miss Hedron, please post the hunting request for the Trenchworm in the forest today, or even now. I'll go and kill it tomorrow."

"Huh?"

"Huh?"

My and Tetrat's voices were in unison. We were stunned by the surprise.

"Hmm? Oh, right, what about you, Crow? I think I can handle it alone, so you don't have to come."

"Wait, ...what? Are you taking that job?"

I interrupted and asked.

Based on the previous flow, I thought Leighton would give Tetrat advice and then leave it to her, but it seems that's not the case.

"When did I say I wouldn't take it?"

"You didn't... say that."

Indeed, he never said he wouldn't help.

Leighton narrowed his eyes and said to me as if advising.

"It's impossible for a stonecutter to not act against such small villains. It's just a matter of acting immediately or later."

"I see... That's what you mean..."

As a stonecutter, Leighton will act.

To punish the boring villains. Like a hero of justice.

If that's the case, I, who was taken in by Mr. Gustav, must also act here.

"I'll go too."

I can do something.

I'll help Mr. Gustav, even if it's just a little.