The Margrave's "discipline enforcent" continued after Gaun City.
He received lavish entertainnt whenever he entered a city.
Sotis there were no issues and he would leave after just a few drinks.
Other tis he would smoothly accept and pocket massive bribes.
Cases like Gaun City where he chopped up the administrator and his subordinates were rare.
However, bloodshed did occasionally occur.
So how did he distinguish between cities that would see blood and those that wouldn't?
Naturally, I had no way to determine this, and even the Margrave who only briefly visited cities couldn't tell at a glance.
He must have received information in advance.
There would be administrators and cities that had crossed acceptable lines.
For those whose cris were moderate, the Margrave would only give light rebukes.
Administrators who had heard about Gaun City would turn pale and beg forgiveness just from that.
He would punish administrators who had toed the line dangerously.
The typical punishnt was completely draining their money.
Whether that money went into the Margrave's pocket or the Empire's treasury, I didn't know.
Cities that had crossed the line too far would definitely see blood.
After traveling together for about ten days and passing through several cities, I noticed sothing interesting.
Before bloodshed, the Margrave would always call for Rahan and Dana.
Then Rahan and Dana would maintain their weapons before entering the city.
Today was like that too.
Before entering Badangje City.
Rahan and Dana were quietly sharpening their blades.
Dana was maintaining her daggers, and Rahan was cleaning the grease from his chain.
I startled them.
"Saat!"
"Ah! You scared !"
Dana jumped in surprise.
Rahan seed even more startled, but amazingly didn't make a sound even when surprised.
'Are you two going to slice soone up again?'
"Slice? What a brutal way to put it."
Dana said with a sullen expression.
'Such good loyalty.'
"..."
Rahan gave a bitter smile.
Dana spoke without smiling.
"We do it because it's our job."
They really do seem to follow the Margrave's orders well.
In my view, their skills are at an exceptional level. The more I watch, the more I think so.
Perhaps only a great noble like the Margrave could command such talents.
Rahan slightly raised his hand to point at his neck.
Rahan and Dana had tattoos on their necks.
At first I thought they were wearing chokers and had bizarre fashion sense, but they were magically imbued tattoos.
Rahan made sign language.
He raised his fingers in front of his mouth, repeatedly pinching and releasing his thumb and index finger.
'If the Margrave just says the word.'
Then he gathered his fingers together, kissed them and spread them wide.
'Bang, we explode.'
I know, I know.
Rahan had already told .
Though Dana scolded Rahan, what could she do about becoming friends with him?
The Margrave had obtained their loyalty through a brutal thod.
It was the wearing of bomb necklaces.
If the Margrave spoke the activation word, Rahan and Dana's necks would explode and they would die.
Wouldn't he get quietly assassinated in his sleep for doing such a terrible thing?
But Margrave Sareb had prepared for that too.
'Even if the Margrave dies, we die.'
Good heavens, even if the Margrave's breath stops, their tattoos would explode.
That was quite a thorough arrangent.
'Then what if the Margrave dies naturally? Or suddenly from a heart attack...'
Dana made an expression saying well, nothing we can do about that.
Their remaining contract period was 7 years. The Margrave promised to release them after that.
Hearing that story, sothing suddenly occurred to .
'But I just thought, maybe the Margrave won't keep his promise. Maybe when the ti cos he'll say he doesn't want to release you and instead just slice you up...' Read new adventures at empire
Even I thought it was a very sharp deduction.
I expected Rahan and Dana to make a fuss, but.
'You're right.'
Rahan is really good at bitter smiles.
We had such a conversation that day.
Sure enough.
Blood ended up being spilled in Badangje City.
However, the situation took a nasty turn.
==
The cri of Badangje City's administrator was embezzlent of taxes.
His cri was evading taxes that should have gone to the imperial court.
Actually, among the various cris that administrators commit, this is surprisingly common.
And tax evasion is judged by how much was evaded.
In that sense, Administrator Jalo's cri warranted death.
The amount was enough to warrant executing three generations of his family.
Even tax diversion needs to be moderate for it to be overlooked.
Even Margrave Sareb was dumbfounded reading that report.
"This, he must have stashed it sowhere, we need to recover it."
Badangje City was quite wealthy thanks to its unique fur industry.
But problems could be felt from the mont we entered the city.
The people were starving and unfriendly.
From what I heard, the tax rates were cruel.
What was he planning to do with all that diverted money?
Dana and Rahan found it suspicious and investigated further.
And they discovered where that enormous sum went.
"It seems he used it for his daughter's dical treatnt."
"What? What kind of treatnt needed that much money?"
"It seems to be an incurable disease."
Incurable diseases are widespread.
And attempts to treat incurable diseases always end up burning through massive amounts of money.
Though unfortunate, Rahan couldn't help but recall.
The young daughter he had with Dana.
That daughter he still vividly rembers, who died from a fever.
'How should we handle this?'
"What's there to handle?"
Rahan probably asked such a question because he was feeling depressed.
"If we can't recover the money, we'll have to at least skin him to save face before His Majesty."
Whatever Administrator Jalo's circumstances, the Margrave's thoughts didn't change.
Dana and Rahan silently obeyed.
Administrator Jalo probably sensed his crisis from the start.
He tried to subdue us instead by putting paralyzing powder in the drinks.
However, neither the Margrave nor Rahan and Dana touched the drinks.
The soldiers who dared try to capture the Emperor's inspector beca pieces of at.
The sll of blood and entrails thoroughly soaked the governnt office's central corridor.
Dana personally subdued the administrator.
The Margrave raised one finger.
It ant to break one finger.
Crack.
"Aaaaargh!"
Administrator Jalo scread.
His face was sunken at the cheeks.
His appearance wasn't that of a corrupt official who had sucked a wealthy city dry to the bone.
"Jalo, my friend. We had a relationship, didn't we? Why did it co to this?"
"Please... please."
"What do you an please? How could you embezzle taxes that should go to the national treasury like that? You can't have spent it all. Hand over what's left."
"There's nothing. Nothing at all."
"Stop lying."
And another finger.
Crack, and another scream.
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