Faced with Jason's questioning, the soldier nervously swallowed hard. He deliberately avoided Jason's gaze, lowered his head, and said nothing.
Seeing his reaction, Jason immediately knew there was something fishy going on. Pretending to be furious, he said to Mati,"Mati, these people actually dared to change the tax system on their own. Arrest them and behead them as a warning to others!"
The soldier was so frightened by these words that his soul nearly left his body. He immediately dropped to his knees before Jason and cried out,"My lord, spare my life! Spare my life! I was only following orders!"
"Following orders?" Jason said coldly. "The Southern Territory has always collected taxes quarterly. Yet you dare to collect them monthly. Tell me—who has such audacity to instruct you to oppress the people like this?"
Jason's tone was sharp as he questioned the soldier.
"T-It was Lord Kailida," the soldier replied, trembling. "Ever since Lord Kailida became the City Lord of Sagosi, he changed the rules, turning taxes from once per quarter into once per month."
"I was wondering why a city as large as Sagosi had such a small population," Jason said. "So that's the reason!"
Having seized such an important handle against Kailida, Jason was ecstatic inside, though his face remained stern.
"Get lost! If I ever find out again that you're collecting taxes monthly, I will show no mercy!"
Jason continued, addressing the soldiers.
"B-But, my lord… if we do that, we won't be able to explain ourselves to Lord Kailida!"
In the soldiers' hearts, Kailida was far more terrifying than Jason. Compared to disobeying Kailida, they would rather offend Jason.
Jason shot the soldier a sideways glance and said,"What? Lord Kailida's words carry weight, but mine—as the newly appointed Deputy City Lord—don't?"
"That's not what I mean, my lord! You've misunderstood! I truly didn't mean that!" the soldier hurriedly explained."It's just that Lord Kailida is our primary commander, so it's hard for us to act otherwise…"
As he spoke, his voice grew softer and softer until it faded away completely.
Jason could understand their predicament and didn't want to make things difficult for them anymore. Softening his tone, he said,"Don't worry. I'll speak to Kailida about this."
Seeing Jason say this, the soldiers had no other choice but to agree. They fled the place as if madmen, desperate to escape.
The family that had just been spared came before Jason and fell to their knees, saying,"Thank you, my lord, for saving our lives!"
The family of three kowtowed repeatedly to him.
Jason quickly stepped forward and helped them up one by one."It's fine, it's fine. You don't need to do this. Don't worry—since I've come here, I'll see justice done for you. I won't allow them to arbitrarily collect taxes anymore."
Looking at the pitiful family, a wave of sorrow rose in Jason's heart. After all, he himself had come from a poor background. He knew all too well how difficult life was for impoverished families.
After chatting with them for quite some time, Jason and his group finally left.
Shaking off that heavy feeling, Jason burst into laughter and said to everyone,"I didn't expect to catch one of Kailida's weaknesses so quickly! Hahaha!"
Mati immediately said,"In that case, Young Lord, shouldn't you inform Lord Dawn right away?"
"Of course," Jason replied happily. "Kaladi, hurry and write a letter to my father. Tell him about this."
Kaladi thought calmly for a moment before saying to Jason,"Young Lord, I think telling Lord Dawn right now might be a bit rash. We don't have sufficient evidence yet. It would be more appropriate to gather some proof before informing him."
Weilian also echoed this sentiment,"Yes. If we rashly tell Lord Dawn now, and when he personally comes to investigate it doesn't turn out that way, wouldn't we be embarrassed?"
After hearing the siblings' words, Jason thought it over carefully and felt they made a lot of sense. He nodded and said,"Mmm! Not bad, not bad. You've got a point. Then let's wait a bit longer."
Jason looked up at the sky and continued,"It's already getting late today. Everyone get some good rest tonight. Tomorrow, we'll go meet that kid Kailida."
In high spirits, Jason returned to the castle to rest.
However, Jason and his group had made a fatal mistake.
They had severely underestimated Kailida's influence in Sagosi.
Just as Jason's party was smugly returning to the castle to rest, Kailida's attendants had already received the news and reported it to him.
Upon hearing it, Kailida frowned and said,"This is no small matter. If Dawn finds out, the consequences will be disastrous."
His attendant glanced around cautiously. Seeing no one else nearby, he lowered his voice and said,"Then should we just go all the way—get rid of Jason tonight, dump his body in the wilderness, and if Dawn asks later, we'll say he went missing?"
Kailida remained silent for a long time before finally saying,"It must be handled cleanly. Don't leave behind his three little followers either—deal with them all."
The attendant chuckled softly and said,"My lord, rest assured. I guarantee I'll handle this beautifully."
Hearing this, Kailida looked at him intently and said,"Vino, you're my favorite attendant. If you accomplish this task today, I will reward you heavily!"
Upon hearing Kailida's words, Nord said excitedly,"My lord, don't worry! I will not fail my mission!"
Kailida nodded in satisfaction and said,"Good. Go now. I await your good news."
After Nord withdrew from the City Lord's grand hall, the smile on Kailida's face instantly vanished, replaced by icy coldness. He turned toward the darkness behind him and said,"Moshan, what do you think of this matter?"
"My lord has always acted with caution,"a hoarse, powerful voice came from the darkness."The decisions you make are never wrong."
From the shadows emerged a towering figure nearly one meter and ninety centimeters tall, broad-shouldered and thick-waisted, clad in pitch-black armor. The jet-black armor, combined with his scarred, fleshy face and naturally intimidating expression, along with the massive two-handed greatsword over one and a half meters long strapped to his back, made one shudder at a single glance.
This man was Moshan—the only A-rank Rage Master in the Southern Territory besides Dawn himself. He had once been discovered by Bard and secretly recruited under his command.
With his A-rank rage talent, Moshan was no weaker than the somewhat older Dawn. He was now a crucial pillar supporting the Bard father and son.
...
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Here are a few fan-fic titles that I've recently uploaded on my Patreon:
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(End Chapter)