Peach and Wanri were attacking two lizard-like monsters in the grasslands.
Kousuke, Mitsuki, and Nana watched them from a short distance away.
They were on standby just in case something happened, but the monsters weren’t strong enough to defeat Peach.
By the way, Wanri had shapeshifted, so she seemed to be struggling with handling the unfamiliar weapon.
The monsters they were facing were called Blue Lizards, measuring over five meters in length.
Despite their appearance, they were fast and would charge forward, making them a challenge even for intermediate adventurers.
However, Peach, who was facing them, was completely toying with the two Blue Lizards with her speed, while also covering for Wanri who was flustered.
Wanri also seemed to be getting used to handling her weapon compared to the beginning, and was gradually landing more accurate attacks.
“I thought about how it would go at first, but it looks like we can manage, right?”
Due to Wanri’s confusion, Peach had been pushed back by the two Blue Lizards, but now they had the advantage.
“That’s right. Peach also seemed to be struggling with the follow-up, but she’s completely gotten used to it now.”
Mitsuki nodded at Kousuke’s observation.
Nana was sprawled at Kousuke’s feet, showing her belly and being petted. She had completely lost her wild nature.
“Ah, aren’t they going to land the finishing blows soon?”
The moment Mitsuki said that, Peach thrust a dagger into the neck of one of the Blue Lizards.
Almost simultaneously, Wanri also delivered the finishing blow to the other Blue Lizard.
As a first battle, it was a pretty good outcome.
Most importantly, it was significant that they were able to properly confirm their teamwork.
As if sensing that the two had landed the finishing blows, Nana suddenly got up and ran towards the Blue Lizards.
“Oh, hey, wait…!”
“Do you think you can get some of the spoils?”
Mitsuki said that while chuckling.
In the end, Nana couldn’t get any of the spoils.
The meat of the Blue Lizard was also useful as food, so it could be sold.
More than anything, Kousuke’s single word, “You’ll get fat,” made her stop pestering him.
Kousuke felt the painful gazes of the women, but managed to brush them off.
After that, Kousuke and the others joined in and hunted ten Blue Lizards before returning to the town of Eiren.
On their way back, an event, in a sense, as expected, awaited them.
***
In front of Kousuke and his companions stood nearly ten men, including the one who had bothered them yesterday, grinning and waiting.
They ignored Kousuke and his group trying to enter the town, and deliberately went around to stop them.
“Hey, wait. Before you enter the town, you need to pay the tax.”
Kousuke, who didn’t understand what was said for a moment, stopped.
“…Huh? Tax?”
Kousuke, who had never heard of such a thing, looked bewildered.
“You don’t even know that? In this town of Eiren, adventurers have to pay a certain amount to the lord to operate.”
“I haven’t heard anything like that.”
“Of course not. This is common sense!”
While they were talking, other adventurers were passing through the town gate.
“Other adventurers are passing through though?”
“Yeah, they’ve already paid.”
Kousuke looked at their suspicious claims with a look of exasperation.
“I can’t really trust that. Besides, what is this tax?”
“Huh? Tax is tax. Adventurers should just pay it quietly!”
Kousuke couldn’t help but sigh at the absurd story.
“I have no obligation to pay someone who can’t even explain what kind of tax it is. Besides, you can’t even prove you’re a real tax collector, can you? No idiot would pay money to someone like that.”
The women nodded at Kousuke’s sensible reasoning.
Seeing this, the men around them were about to start cheering, but the man in the center stopped them.
Still grinning, he spoke with an air of confidence.
“So, if I can prove it, that’s fine?”
“Of course. And you need to be able to explain what kind of tax it is properly.”
“…Hmph. I’ll come collect it later, so be prepared.”
With that, the man instructed those surrounding Kousuke to let them pass.
“Is it alright~? They don’t seem to have given up, though.”
Peach asked, looking at the men still at the gate.
“Yeah. They’ll probably find some other excuse. Those kinds are persistent.”
“I know, right~?”
“Is it an excuse?”
Wanri asked with a confused look.
“Well, who knows? Given their attitude, they might actually be collecting taxes.”
“That’s right. They seemed used to it, and the people around them looked like ‘here we go again’.”
“They’ll come again?”
Kousuke gave a wry smile at Wanri, who made a face and asked.
“Those kinds are persistent. They’ll almost certainly come again.”
“That’s right. And there seemed to be something fishy going on.”
The man in the center, the one who had bothered them yesterday, had a strangely confident look on his face.
Perhaps he really was playing the role of a tax collector.
Based on the previous exchange, it was certain that some troublesome event would await them when the man made his next move.
***
After settling their requests at the Public Guild, they returned straight to their inn.
The inn where Kousuke and his group were staying was frequented by adventurers, so on the first floor, which served as a dining hall, adventurers were exchanging information.
As Kousuke and his group were about to have dinner, the same man from before appeared again.
However, this time, a neat-looking man was with him.
The group headed straight for the table where Kousuke and his companions were sitting.
“Are you the ones who refuse to pay what you owe?”
As soon as he stood before Kousuke, the neat-looking man spoke.
Around him, the men from before were grinning.
“…And you are?”
“Oh, my apologies. I am Achilles, serving Lord Amidio of this land.”
Achilles said so and took out a document from his pocket.
It seemed to be a document proving he was a tax collector.
Kousuke had no way of knowing if it was genuine.
“So? Achilles, why are you here?”
“Oh, you haven’t heard from this man? You are to pay the proper taxes.”
“I asked him the same thing? I want to know properly what this proper tax is.”
If it was a tax that should be paid, he wouldn’t hold back.
However, he wanted to know exactly why it was to be paid.
Furthermore, Kousuke’s persistent questioning had another reason.
“What is it like…? Well. Do you know about the activity tax?”
“Activity tax?”
“Yes. It’s the activity tax. It’s a tax established mainly to permit adventurers to operate within the territory.”
As Achilles said that, the man who had caused trouble behind him wore a triumphant expression.
He probably thought he could definitely collect taxes from Kousuke now.
“Is this tax unique to this territory?”
“No. It’s not just this territory; other regions have it too.”
What Achilles was saying wasn’t a lie.
Besides the territory ruled by Amidio, there were other neighboring territories that levied similar taxes.
And that was precisely why some adventurers paid it without question.
Unaware that they were being deceived.
The next chapter will explain what this activity tax is.
The reason why Kousuke was so persistent will also be explained next time.
I couldn’t finish it all in this chapter.
