Powell and Johnson didn't know what kind of situation the Butch family was facing, but they would definitely not do it if they were asked to pay 100% of the tax. They spent all their money on purchasing goods and couldn't pay the tax even if they wanted to.
Taking a detour and sneaking into the Banshee Castle became the only option. The two of them had to hurry up, otherwise the daily interest rates on loan sharks would wipe out all their efforts.
The Buch Tax Police knew that they could not block all traffic areas, so they controlled all transportation in the villages and towns along the way. Without tax certificates with magical effects, merchants could not even rent an ox cart.
If you want to smuggle illegally, you must rely on two legs.
But even walking is difficult. In order to collect taxes, the Bucci family's tax police team is constantly patrolling.
From Dense Fog Town to Stone Beach Town and back to Banshee Castle, the journey of more than a hundred kilometers would be exhausting for the two of them. If it weren't for Dudu warning in the air, they would have been caught long ago.
There are more than 100 kilometers of wild roads. In order to avoid the tax police, the two of them were unable to enter villages and towns for accommodation and rest, so they had to deal with it in the wilderness.
Normally, the two of them respect the Butch family of Banshee Castle, and consider them to be a role model for the nobles of the North. Patriarch Friedman Butch is the mainstay in resisting the monsters in the Black Forest, and is a hero who cannot be slandered.
Now.....?
"Damn Friedman, how could he be so despicable for money? We are loyal to him, but aren't we just using some funds as capital to start a small business? Everyone does this, why don't we also make some money?
?”
The two of them were scolding each other as they walked, feeling furious in their hearts.
Originally, the carriage journey took at most two days, but Powell and Johnson had to walk for ten days, dragging a heavy suitcase. When they arrived outside Banshee Castle, both of them had lost a lot of weight.
"I have never been so embarrassed and exhausted. Don't let me find a chance, otherwise I will definitely take revenge on the damn Butch family. This tax that is against humanity must be abolished."
It was too hard to hide along the way. Johnson didn't even talk about his love and loyalty to the nobles. He was weeping in his heart thinking about the extra daily interest he had to pay because of the wasted time.
When they arrived at the Banshee Castle, they had to undergo inspection before entering the city gate. The wizard of the Butch family was responsible for guarding, which almost made the two people's hard work come to nothing in the end.
Relying on Johnson's illusion, they managed to get through. The two of them were exhausted when they entered the city, but they still insisted on going to the Wizard's Tower in the city first and selling the goods before they felt at ease.
But once we entered the city, the situation became even worse.
"Powell, do you feel that the market has become much depressed?"
On the way to the Wizard's Tower, Johnson felt that the streets in the city were quite deserted. The only pedestrians were in a hurry, but guards and constables maintaining order could be seen everywhere.
There are always some small traders and hawkers that can be seen in the streets and alleys, but now they have disappeared without a trace.
Beggars and homeless people are even more of a sight in the city. As long as the police officer doesn't pay attention, they will sneak out and do some begging and stealing. Now they can't be seen anymore.
The few shops in the market were unpopular. The shopkeepers huddled behind their doors and looked around. They would stare at strangers when they appeared, as if they were ready to close at any time.
Powell and Johnson couldn't help but quicken their pace and hurriedly walked a few steps. They arrived at the Wizard's Tower of Banshee Castle and met a group of people coming out before they even entered.
The leader was clearly Inisha. Her Royal Highness had a furious look on her face and rushed out at a very fast pace. Behind her were many followers from the Principality of Os. Many of them were holding sword hilts or clutching staffs, and no one had a good look on their face.
The two unlucky guys knew something was wrong and hurriedly hid aside. Even Dudu, who was always noisy, closed his mouth and huddled behind his master's shoulder to poke his head around.
But when Inisha came out, she stared at Powell, paying special attention to the wooden suitcase in his hand. She only glanced at it and asked in a cold voice: "Did you get it from Cold Wind City? What kind of goods? How much did it cost?"
"
Powell was just a secret agent. He didn't dare not answer a group of high-ranking people from the Principality of Os. He honestly said that the box contained magic materials from Cold Wind City. As for the price...
Powell turned to look at Johnson, and the two exchanged a lot of information in an instant. Finally, Johnson gritted his teeth and quoted a price: "Your Highness, if you need it, five thousand gold coins will be enough."
Inisa said "Hmm" and strode forward to leave. An attendant walked out behind her, took out a bag full of magic gems, weighed it in his hand, threw it to Johnson, and took away the wooden handbag.
box.
The whole process took less than a minute, and the goods that had been transported after so much hard work changed hands.
When the princess and her entourage left, both Powell and Johnson breathed a sigh of relief.
The two people quickly opened the gem bag and cheered loudly after a moment - the gems in the bag should be worth six thousand gold coins, which was more than they expected.
"That's great, that's great. This time I didn't go in vain and I made a lot of money. I just said don't buy any iron tools. The most profitable thing is buying and selling magic items." Johnson laughed happily.
The two of them finally got their profits and were in a good mood. Powell urged: "Go, go, go and pay off the usurious loan. The daily interest is only fifty gold coins. I really can't stand it."
The loan shark was borrowed from the wizard in the Wizard's Tower, and the collateral was Johnson's illusion cabin. The two continued to enter the tower, found the loan shark wizard who opened the magic shop, and had to pay off the account.
Seeing the two people coming back with smiles on their faces, the wizard in the spell shop was also very surprised. First he asked them what goods they bought in Cold Wind City? Then he lamented that they could avoid the tax police team's search, and finally...
"Where's the goods?"
"I met Princess Inisa when I just came in. She bought the goods generously without any counter-offering, and even added a lot."
"How much gold did she pay you?"
"A gem worth about six thousand gold coins."
"Only six thousand? Depending on the type and quantity of your goods, I can pay ten thousand gold coins."
What......?!
Powell and Johnson were originally happy, but now they were dumbfounded at the same time.
The wizard in the store also beat his chest, "You two idiots, didn't you feel something was wrong when you entered the city? The city was preparing for war, didn't you notice?"
The two unlucky guys were even more stunned. Only Dudu stuck his head out and muttered: "The situation was too strange at that time. I noticed something was wrong. But I just didn't say anything."
Powell hurriedly explained: "We encountered a lot of troubles on the way back and were exhausted, so we wanted to sell the goods quickly for money. Her Highness the Princess was willing to buy it, so we naturally sold it. Why is the city preparing for war?"
The shop wizard sighed and shook his head, "You two have been away for more than half a month, and a lot of things have happened in the Banshee Castle. The Butch family wants to impose heavy taxes on the trade routes, and other nobles in the city are strongly opposed.
The exiles of the Principality of Os also have a large amount of trade with the north. Business profits are their important income, and they are also very averse to tax collection.
The wizards in the city also don't like to collect taxes, because it directly drives up the price of spellcasting materials.
However, there are conflicts between the various forces. For example, Her Royal Highness the Princess hopes to negotiate the magic commodity quota with the wizard group in the city, but the wizard group just rejected her.
In addition, more than a dozen cities in the North were in great distress due to Victor Hugo's product dumping, which resulted in a large loss of precious metals. Not only did food prices rise, but there was also a huge financial gap.
Now that winter is the time of food shortage, a series of problems have exploded one after another. The atmosphere in the city has suddenly become tense. It is said that this is all caused by Victor Hugo. This guy will cause us great suffering even if he does not fight."