The group of troops bearing the symbol of Abrum Town’s forces was approaching from the main road that connected the village to the town. The one leading them was a king stage cultivator.
Aldrian wondered why this group was approaching the village at this mont.
"Young master, is there sothing wrong?" the village head asked when he saw Aldrian fall silent.
Aldrian then looked at the village head.
"Village head, I can sense a group of people wearing armor bearing the symbol of Abrum Town’s troops, just like the guards at the town’s gate, approaching along the main road. The one leading them is a king stage cultivator."
The village head and other villagers widened their eyes.
"The symbol of Abrum Town’s troops? They must be from the town’s authority," the village head replied and facepald.
"They might have co to collect the war taxes. I forgot that today is the day they collect taxes."
The others showed irritated expressions.
"The war taxes?" Aldrian said.
"Yes, young master. Since the war with the devils started, the authority of the town has been applying war taxes to all the villages near Abrum. In the na of supporting the war, they collect not only energy stones but also our harvest and livestock," the village head continued.
"Those bastards only know how to collect taxes but not how to protect us. They take most of our harvest and livestock, leaving us with very little, which forces us to make the journey to the town to buy even food that we should be able to produce ourselves," one of the villagers comnted, and the others agreed with him.
Aldrian nodded in understanding, and this also answered one of his questions.
Why would the villagers buy food like rice almost every day when they could produce their own food? From what he had seen, the villagers here were capable of processing the harvest from their farms by themselves.
Now it made sense. The war taxes left them with very little, making their lives much more difficult. Their stock was not enough, and they had to buy expensive food in the town.
Aldrian knew that it was the right of the territorial authority to implent such laws during a war.
However, the authority should understand the situation of its citizens and their hardships. They could not simply seize taxes when these people were already struggling, as if they did not care about their lives.
Moreover, the authorities here did not even do their job of protecting the citizens within their supposed area of responsibility.
They did nothing when there were bandits, and it was suspected that the bandits had connections with them. They failed to do their duty and instead only made the lives of the citizens more difficult with their tricks.
This kind of authority did not deserve to lead or collect taxes.
"I see. Well then, lucky . I happen to have so business with them. This makes things easier, since they are coming here themselves," Aldrian said, which left the others confused.
"For all of you, you can go back to your own houses. Do not think about the taxes and just continue your activities for today," he added as he looked toward the villagers.
"Young master, you have already done so much for us. We feel bad that you have to take care of this problem as well. Moreover, this is the authority of the town, which has connections to the Beruin family," the village head said.
"Yes, young master. We do not want you to get into trouble with the Beruin family. They are truly an influential family," one of the villagers said.
"Young master, I know you are strong, but the Beruin family is a behemoth existence with great influence in this kingdom. We do not want you to run into trouble with them," Valuk also said.
Seeing their worries, Aldrian smiled. "Thank you for your concern, but you don’t need to worry. I already have plans for them," he said as he then looked toward the main road.
"The behemoth existence? A noble family? Well, too bad. I don’t care about sothing like that."
After waiting for a while, the group from the town finally arrived. They also brought several carriages, which Aldrian thought were used to transport the taxes.
The one leading them was a blond-haired middle-aged man with king stage cultivation. The mont they arrived at the boundary of the village, the blond-haired man stopped his horse, followed by his convoy.
The leader seed confused when he saw the villagers gathered together, and then he noticed a stranger among them.
He narrowed his eyes. He could not sense any cultivation from this man, but the man might be hiding his cultivation.
’Is this the man ntioned in the report?’ he thought.
"Welco to Arsun Village, Sir Henrik," the village head greeted the leader.
The leader looked at the village head. "Village Head Rokan, we have co to collect the war taxes. We hope that you will cooperate with us and allow my troops to inspect your village. Additionally, with the developnt of the war, the town lord has ordered conscription. We will select n who are still able to fight to join the troops in the war against the devils."
Hearing that, the villagers were shocked. Aldrian also frowned.
Conscription? The people of this village?
That would be sending them to their deaths!
The n of this village were mostly ordinary mortals, and these people wanted to send them to fight in a war against the devils?
There was no other purpose.
They would be nothing more than cannon fodder. They would surely end up dead!
"Sir Henrik, but most of our n here are mortals without cultivation. How are they supposed to fight the devils?" the village head asked reluctantly.
"That will be decided by the commander of the troops. How you fight is not your concern. This is compulsory, and if you don’t obey, there will be punishnt," Henrik replied with mocking expression.
"You don’t need to know much and just obey. Village head Rokan, you can stay here since your abilities are still needed, but if you keep complaining, you might as well join the troops," he added.
The villagers gritted their teeth, but none of them said anything. This scene made Henrik smirk.
’Yes, you should just stay silent and not bark. That would make our work easier,’ he thought, then looked at Aldrian.
"You, who are you? Where do you co from?" he asked.
Aldrian did not answer imdiately. He looked at Henrik with a calm gaze instead, a gaze that made Henrik feel uncomfortable.
Henrik could not help but feel that sothing was wrong, and his expression turned angry.
"I am asking you a question," he said once again, and this ti he released his aura. The pressure made the villagers tremble with fear, even though they were not the target. The aura of a king stage cultivator was too much for the villagers here.
To them, it felt as if they were facing a higher existence. Like a god.
The aura itself was focused only on Aldrian, as Henrik wanted to intimidate him.
He wanted to put Aldrian in his place.
However, he was stunned when he saw that Aldrian’s expression did not change. In fact, it looked as if Aldrian did not feel anything at all. It was as if his aura was nothing more than a breeze of wind to him.
Seeing this as a challenge, Henrik wanted to increase the pressure.
However, he then saw Aldrian wave his hand softly, as if he were chasing away a fly.
Instantly, all of the aura’s pressure disappeared, allowing the villagers to breathe in relief again.
Henrik widened his eyes in shock, and before he could say anything, Aldrian had already spoken.
"It’s truly unbecoming for a king stage cultivator to show intimidation in front of mortals. Do you feel powerful by showing your might here?"
Henrik finally understood that Aldrian was not soone simple and felt wary. His expression turned serious as he ignored Aldrian’s mocking question.
"Who are you? State your identity. Even if you are soone powerful, you are still inside the territory of the Beruin family. There are rules that you must obey," he said.
"Obeying rules, huh? That still depends on whether I think they are worth obeying," Aldrian replied.
"Making the lives of common people difficult while you don’t even do your job? Why should I obey rules made by authorities like that?"
Henrik gritted his teeth and then he shouted to his troops, "Prepare for—"
"You had better watch your next move. Once you point your sword at , you will not even realize the mont your soul enters the underworld. I don’t care about the consequences, and if you want to try , go ahead," Aldrian said in a calm yet threatening tone.
Henrik’s words stuck in his throat as his instincts scread danger.
If he really pointed his sword, he might die!
He did not know if Aldrian was bluffing or not, but looking at the current situation, his life was already at a crossroads.
He was almost certain that Aldrian was far stronger than him, and the first victim if he made the wrong choice would be himself.
Would he bet that Aldrian was only bluffing about the consequences?
He didn’t want to gamble with his life.
As he was still confused about what he should do, he then heard Aldrian speak again.
"Bring to your lord. I would like to speak with your lord."
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