■ True Education □
Helen’s house was located at the edge of the village, so it took quite a bit of time to arrive.
And the tax collector, as if he had already accomplished his purpose here, was exiting Helen’s house with a plump bag in hand.
I blocked his path after seeing that.
“Stop.”
Then, with a “Huh?” and a turn of the head, the tax collector seemed to recognize my face from the tavern earlier and spoke with an irritable expression.
“You’re that young man I met at the tavern. What do you want with me?”
I glanced briefly at Helen’s face standing behind him before speaking.
“It’s nothing much, but I think you should come with me for a bit.”
At this, the tax collector snorted with a smirk.
“Judging by your tone, I doubt your intentions are noble. I am a tax collector employed by Lord. And what you’re doing now is obstructing official duties.”
After hearing this, I shrugged.
“The lord who extorts double the nation’s set taxes—what kind of lord is that? He’s just a thief.”
At this, the tax collector’s face twisted into a fierce scowl.
“You insolent fool! You speak freely because your mouth runs loose!”
He then waved the staff he held in his right hand.
A basketball-sized orb of fire coalesced in the air.
It was Fireball, the common magic of the Fire Element.
It came hurtling toward me like a missile at great speed.
I thought, ‘For someone who seems so rigid for a mere bureaucrat, he must have been a retired mage.’
Helen, watching all this from behind, screamed in terror.
“AAAAAAHHHH!”
Of course, I wasn’t some mediocre mage who could be taken down by a measly second-tier spell, so I easily deflected it with a flick of my hand.
Psshh!
The Fireball vanished as if nothing had happened.
Seeing this, the tax collector appeared flustered.
“You blocked my magic with one hand?!”
His line was so clichéd it made me sigh involuntarily.
“Shall I block it with two hands then?”
At this, the tax collector clicked his tongue.
“Hmph! So you’ve learned some magic somewhere, but I am no less than a Fourth Circle Magician! A country bumpkin mage like you is nothing to me!”
Well, well, it seems someone doesn’t know who they’re talking to.
Just because I’m on vacation and not wearing my robe, does he really think he can disrespect me?
I read the flow of mana gathering around the man with my eyes and interfered with it.
It was the ‘Eye of the Wind’ technique I learned from Master three years ago.
Having reached the Seventh Circle, my mana perception surpassed that of ordinary mages, allowing me to interfere with the flow of mana in the atmosphere.
Most mages draw external mana into their bodies, process it into another element, and use it as magic. If someone interferes with that flow, they cannot construct the magic formula.
Magic is like a complex mathematical formula; imagine suddenly introducing an unknown variable.
“The mana is dispersing!”
Due to this trickery, the tax collector seemed bewildered as his attempts to cast spells only resulted in the mana dissipating into the air. He began wildly swinging his staff around.
“Is that enough now?”
“Did you do this?! What sort of sorcery is this?!”
“So, what sorcery did I use?”
Since I didn’t feel the need to humor his nonsense, I casually evaded his question and approached him.
“Don’t come closer!”
The man tried to ward me off by hastily swinging his staff, but alas, I was a former military mage.
“Ugh!”
Twisting the hand holding the staff, I quickly subdued him and pinned him to the ground while asking,
“What’s your lord’s name?”
With an enraged expression, the tax collector replied,
“Do you think you’ll get away with this? With just a word from me, this whole village will— AAAAH!”
“Just answer the question. Isn’t that simple?”
Is it a trait of third-rate villains to avoid direct answers?
As I pondered what to do with this stubborn man, a good idea struck me.
“If you don’t quiet down right now, I’ll shut down your magic circuits.”
He hesitated!
Seeing him immediately calm down confirmed the effectiveness of the threat.
Clearly, those who believe magic equals power respond well to threats of shutting down their magic circuits.
“What… What do you want?”
“I just said it. Tell me the name of your lord.”
“Will you let me go if I tell you?”
“It doesn’t seem like you’re in a position to bargain.”
As I said this while forming a spear of ice in my right hand, the tax collector hurriedly spoke up.
“Baron Dornel! It’s Baron Dornel!”
“Baron Dornel?”
A name I’ve never heard before.
Actually, since Oz has a strong central government, there hasn’t been much need to worry about local nobles.
Anyway, upon deciding that I’d deal with Baron Dornel first when I return to the capital, I said to the tax collector, who was kneeling beneath my knee,
“Go back and tell them that the Chief Financial Officer will soon conduct an audit. If they’ve committed any crimes, they’d better prepare themselves.”
Saying this, I pulled out a business card from my pocket and tossed it to him. It was my ‘real’ business card, bearing the insignia of the Governor’s Office of Ozma.
Even a rural bureaucrat should be able to distinguish this, right? Upon checking the name written on the card lying on the floor, the tax collector trembled violently.
“The Demon King’s watchdog, Partarth…?!”
“You know well.”
Until moments ago, the tax collector had been arrogant, but now, with a pale complexion, he alternated between staring at me and the card before finally bowing his head deeply.
“I’m sorry! I didn’t recognize your esteemed presence!”
“No, it’s understandable that you wouldn’t recognize me. All you and your employer need to do is take responsibility. If you illegally collected double the taxes, surely you enjoyed wealth and luxury from the surplus meant for the central government. Just pay the price for your crimes.”
“Y-yikes! Please, show me mercy just once!”
“No. I have no intention of showing mercy. Go back.”
Saying this firmly, I cut off the conversation and looked at Helen and her daughters, who were staring at me with astonished expressions.
“The conversation that took place here is a secret?”
As I said this while placing a finger over my lips, the three women nodded hesitantly.
I then used magic to lift the protesting tax collector, who was clinging to my pants and crying, and returned the money pouch hanging from his waist to Helen.
“Anyway, it’s ill-gotten tax money. Take it back.”
“…Thank you, Caldlasth.”
Upon hearing Helen’s words, I gave a casual shrug.
“What’s friendship if not for times like these? Anyway, I occasionally use connections like this.”
Afterward, I wandered through the village and returned all the taxes collected by the tax collector to the villagers.
Of course, some people worried about repercussions, but when I told them that someone would soon come from the capital to punish the lord for illegally collecting taxes, they half-believed me and accepted the money pouches.
In any case, it was the right thing to do.
As the tax collector fled the village like a runaway, I warned him not to even dream of fleeing in the dead of night.
Even if he escapes abroad, we’ll track him down and recover his assets.
The tax collector, with an expression that couldn’t be discerned as either crying or laughing, promised to accept his punishment.
Whether he actually will remains to be seen.
In any case, he won’t dare meddle with this village again.
“Schneizel sure raised a fine son.”
“They say the house and land he lives in now were all bought by his son. He must be rich.”
“Is Caldlasth married yet? Maybe we should send a marriage proposal?”
“Ah, stop it. Stop it. I heard he has five beautiful wives.”
“Two of them are maids, right?”
“In any case, Caldlasth is clearly the most successful person in our village. Rich and happily married.”
Thanks to this, the villagers started gossiping about me, but I had to endure such side effects.
After all, no one in the village knows that I am the same person as Chief Financial Officer Partarth.
That’s why I used a pseudonym in the first place.
Once the commotion settled down, I found myself eating dinner at my father’s house again.
Only ten years ago, it was just the two of us eating together, but now there were so many people who could truly be called family.
It’s amazing how long life goes on.
“There’s no one else in the world who solves tax problems by beating up a tax collector.”
“I simply chose the easiest and fastest method.”
Saying this, I chewed on the meat with a shameless expression.
“Father, please have some of this.”
“Ah, thank you.”
Just as Barnett was carefully observing from the side and placed a grilled fish onto Father’s plate at the perfect timing, Father smiled and expressed his gratitude.
I looked at this scene with slight amusement and mentioned something that had just occurred to me.
“By the way, I’ll be returning to the capital tomorrow.”
This startled Father.
“Already?”
While eating broccoli, I replied,
“Three days is more than enough. It took three days just to travel here from the capital.”
Considering the round trip takes a week and the stay is only three days, it’s honestly a losing proposition.
That’s why I rarely visit my hometown.
“In any case, I’ve confirmed that Father is doing well with my own eyes, so this unworthy son shall return to work. Besides, having us around makes it hard for the two of you to enjoy yourselves, doesn’t it?”
As I said this and subtly glanced at my stepmother, she blushed and slightly hunched her shoulders.
Then Father sighed regretfully and said,
“If that’s truly your intention, there’s nothing I can do.”
“Ah, but you’re not really planning to have another child, are you?”
“…”
“No, why won’t you answer? You’re making me anxious.”
But Father remained silent and continued eating without responding.
It seems Father’s plan for a second generation was serious.
I guess I’ll leave now.
