To the elder and Kyle,
As a result of the Trials we played, your village won’t need to pay taxes for the next hundred years. Hope that gives you all some peace of mind as you keep up the hard work.
On another note, I was made the new owner of the City Forgotten by Time. I received a summons to the capital not long after. I’m going there now to meet with House Sarenza.
Sorry to leave all the fieldwork to you guys, but here’s some coin to help you out. I’ve got way more than I could ever need, and you’re bound to have better uses for it.
Noor
✦ ✦ ✦
Only the signature at the end was written in a messy scrawl, and the name it depicted was one the elder remembered well. Things were entirely as he had suspected. Kyle and Shin, who’d read the message over his shoulders, were too stunned to even speak. Never had such a short letter contained so much absurdity.
“A... A hundred years...” the elder murmured at last.
“You said they took part in the Trials to contend our village’s taxes, right?” Shin asked. “To win an entire century of exemption, though...”
“E-Even if we accept Noor’s explanation, as implausible as it sounds, he also claims to be the new owner of the City Forgotten by Time!”
“He never mentioned that to me...”
“He also says he was summoned to the capital to meet with House Sarenza! Wh-What is the meaning of this, Shin?!”
“D-Don’t ask me! How should I know?!”
“Elder,” Kyle interrupted, “there’s another letter inside. I think it’s from Lady Lynneburg.”
“N-No time to waste, then! Let me read it!”
No sooner had Kyle retrieved the second letter than the elder grabbed it and pulled its contents from their envelope. There were several sheets of ornamented paper in all, and the handwriting on them was methodical and precise.
✦ ✦ ✦
Dear Elder, Kyle,
First, please allow me to apologize for the brevity of this missive. Circumstance has rendered me painfully short of time.
As you are well aware, we partook in a Trial, under House Sarenza law, against the former proprietor of the City Forgotten by Time. We proved ourselves the victors and were able to secure your settlement a century of tax exemption.
In the process of our contest, Instructor Noor—whose funds we borrowed to participate—was able to turn approximately seven billion gald, to use the domestic currency of Sarenza, into ten trillion, two trillion of which we used to purchase the City Forgotten by Time. As it stands, the entire establishment, even its employees, now belongs to him.
We enclose herewith a portion of the remaining funds. As you can imagine, it puts nary a dent in Instructor Noor’s total wealth, so please use it for the benefit of the village. Furthermore, please note that the exemption we agreed upon with a representative of House Sarenza concerns your settlement, with no other stipulations.
Thus concludes my report. Once again, I apologize for its brevity. I wish for your and everyone’s good health, and the continued prosperity of your village.
Yours sincerely,
Lynneburg Clays
✦ ✦ ✦
The letter was rather detailed, despite its claim to the contrary. Its overall message was essentially the same as Noor’s, but the extra information only added to the madness.
“N-Noor is worth ten trillion gald?!” The elder gulped, his consternation redoubled. “Even against House Sarenza...how was such a sum even attainable?! No, wait... More importantly...”
So preposterous were the letter’s contents that the elder was quickly sobered. He spent several moments deep in thought before turning to the young man beside him.
“Kyle...”
“Yes, Elder?”
“Your opinion, if you please. It says here that our settlement has tax immunity. Would the exemption hold even if we took on more people?”
“That was the implication, yes. If our exemption is for the settlement as a whole, then its population shouldn’t matter.”
“I-In that case, where do we draw our borders? These days, I consider our land to be the rough area around our homes and fields, but as more and more people move in...”
“If we take Lady Lynneburg at face value, the agreement made with House Sarenza specified our ‘settlement’ and nothing more. That should mean we can expand as much as necessary.”
“I see... A-And what about our assets? How much of them is going to be taxed, do you think? I doubt we have a blanket exemption—would that not be too convenient?”
“Well, nothing in the letter goes against the idea...”
“I suppose.”
“In fact, I think we can view the lack of stipulations as a free pass of sorts.”
The elder pondered for several moments. “Indeed, I think so too.”
For a time, the pair returned their attention to the letter, taking the lull as a chance to catch their breath. Then the elder spoke again.
“Another question, Kyle—one that has been bothering me for some time now. The name Lynneburg Clays... Does it not sound familiar to you?”
“She and her companions said they came from the Kingdom of Clays to the north. I simply assumed she was a member of the royal family there.”
“I see, I see. Yes, that would make sense. It explains her elegant demeanor, for one thing. Oh, and how she managed to procure the Wellspring Pipe, a national treasure in the truest sense. To think a member of the Clays royal family took on a Trial for our sake, competed against House Sarenza, and won us blanket tax immunity for the next century.”
“Indeed, that was how it happened.”
Several more moments passed in relative calm before the gravity of the situation struck the elder with all the force of an earthquake. “Hawawawawaaa?! My word, my stars, my beard! Th-This is no time to stand about! Kyle, send the messengers!”
“Send them where?”
“To all the nearby settlements! No, to all our brethren in Sarenza! We need to discuss this face-to-face! The fate of the beastfolk’s next century rests on our meeting!”