The Tax Collector

Even after the Temple Knights cleared out of the plaza, things remained hectic.

The Kingdom's tax collection delegation arrived in town almost immediately.

Upon reaching the plaza where the crowd had gathered, they were visibly taken aback by the state of destruction.

"I am Jacob Bertrand. I've come as a tax collector, but… what happened here?"

An armored knight spoke up.

It seemed the Kingdom had its knights double as tax collectors.

The town representative and the head of the Adventurer's Guild, the highest-ranking people present, stepped forward to explain the situation to Jacob.

He seemed puzzled by the business about the bronze statue, but the mention of Temple Knights got a clear reaction.

According to Jacob, Temple Knights of the Church of the Sun God had been freely coming and going throughout the Kingdom as of late, and trouble was beginning to brew.

The Church of the Sun God had spread its faith widely through the Kingdom.

Because of that, their comings and goings hadn't been heavily restricted, but that was apparently no longer sustainable.

Action against the Church of the Sun God would be taken soon, he said.

At the very least, Temple Knights freely crossing borders would become much more difficult.

The troubles elsewhere, though, hadn't been nearly as bad as what this town had experienced.

Colluding with the lord's son to bleed the townspeople dry through taxes, then funneling that money into building a statue.

Jacob was dumbfounded.

"Normally, something like that would be unthinkable… Taxes haven't been remitted since shortly before that statue was built. It's safe to assume the lord's son and the Temple Knights were embezzling."

After confirming the details in the plaza, Jacob decided to head to the lord's manor with the guild master and town representative.

He told the crowd to disperse.

But before leaving, his gaze fell on me, holding Azu in my arms.

"I'm told you and yours fought the animated statue and drove off the Temple Knights. Is that true?"

"Yes, Jacob-sama. Though we had help from many other adventurers."

"I see. Must have been quite the battle. Hm, what's your name?"

I looked at him and spoke.

"I run a tool shop. My name is Yohane."

Jacob seemed only mildly curious; that was the end of it.

Though he did glance at the statue, cleaved cleanly in two, and murmur a single word.

"Impressive."

Praise meant for Azu.

I wished she could have heard it, but she was still out cold.

Once Jacob and his people left the plaza, the crowd, at his urging, agreed to break up and head home for the time being.

Adventurers praised our efforts before heading off.

The townspeople lingered and talked among themselves for a while, but eventually they were gone too.

The guards had scrambled to disappear the moment they spotted the tax collectors. With their backers gone, their future looked bleak.

Azu still hadn't woken, but I could hear her breathing softly.

"Is Azu going to be alright?"

"Yes. She simply collapsed from exhaustion. She's just a bit tired."

"I see… What was that, though?"

I'd caught a glimpse of Azu's right eye.

Her iris had shimmered with a rainbow hue, completely unlike its usual blue, and during that time, Azu had carried herself like a completely different person.

Severing a Temple Knight's arm through his armor, cleaving a bronze statue in two.

No matter how strong Azu had become, feats like that should have been far beyond her.

She'd struggled just to scratch the statue before.

"I'll explain everything once things have settled down."

That was all Elza would say. She clearly knew something.

Elza doted on Azu more than anyone. If she was asking me to wait, then wait I would.

Alexia let out a sigh.

"So how long are we standing around here? If we're going to let Azu rest, she'd be better off in a bed."

"Fair point."

At Alexia's words, I stood up.

I was still carrying Azu, but she weighed next to nothing.

For someone so light, she'd fought incredibly hard.

We headed home. From what I could see along the way, the mood in town already felt lighter.

The shop was already open. The employees had gotten everything ready.

When I asked if they hadn't gone to see the commotion in the plaza, they said keeping the shop running was more important.

Gutsy bunch.

I left the shop to them and headed upstairs.

I laid Azu in bed and pulled the blanket over her so she wouldn't get cold.

"She will wake up, right?"

"Yes. But she might sleep through the entire day."

"Got it. You two should rest as well."

"I'll do just that. I was firing spells nonstop and the drowsiness is…"

Alexia didn't finish her sentence before face-planting onto her own bed.

"I'll rest too, then."

"Yeah. I'm exhausted myself."

Once I confirmed Elza had lain down, I left the slaves' room.

I walked into my own room to find Finn drinking coffee.

My secret stash of beans, no less…

"Welcome back! Sounds like it was rough."

"Rough doesn't begin to cover it. I nearly died."

"Ahahaha!"

Not funny.

"Well, glad you made it. As promised, I gathered all the documents in the lord's manor and organized them so that tax collector will find everything right away."

Right. I'd given Finn an additional job: infiltrate the lord's manor again.

There'd been a risk that the Church of the Sun God's people would destroy evidence when they pulled out.

With the Temple Knights having retreated, the manor was likely empty now.

If the collusion between the lord's son and the knights was exposed, this town would improve dramatically. At least, I wanted to believe that.

Finn drained the last of the coffee.

"See ya. Call me anytime."

The moment the words left Finn's mouth, there was no trace of anyone in the room.

I was at my limit too.

I collapsed onto my bed and fell asleep instantly.