Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage

Chapter 766: Cancers Within II

CH766 Cancers Within II ***

With that in mind, the sequence of events that had led to the domain’s current predicament became painfully obvious to the husband and wives.

Even so, they continued listening to Milton in case an even more foolish decision had been made by one of the previous domain lords or magistrates.

Milton continued.

"When the war against the beasts was raging and had reached a critical stage, the commander of the Stronghold at the time, Marquis Bramford, requested that the domain lord organise a supply corps to maintain the flow of provisions to the front lines. This would allow the Stronghold to redeploy soldiers who would otherwise have been assigned to the logistics duties.

"With the pressure of the war mounting, the Marquis pushed the domain lord into accepting an agreement with Castin Town. The agreement stated that, due to their inability to farm their lands, the domain would suspend tax collection from the town and provide replacement farmland to the families of the garrison members so they could continue agricultural activities."

Milton’s expression darkened.

"Years after the war ended, Castin Town still refused to pay taxes. Whenever the administration approached them, they argued that since they had not been provided with replacement farmland, they remained exempt from taxation.

"The truth, however, was that the administration had attempted to allocate new farmland to them on numerous occasions over the years. The garrison families simply refused to accept it, claiming that the proposed lands suffered from ’suspected’ berserk energy contamination.

"They insisted that they would not accept any land unless they personally confirmed it was safe."

’A group of peasants dictating terms to their domain lord...?’

Alex suddenly chuckled as though he had just heard the greatest joke in the world.

"What did the domain lord do at the time?" he asked.

"It happened during the reign of Baron Dick, who was largely viewed as a subordinate of Viscount Dunhill and Marquis Bramford. Since the Marquis had personally brokered the agreement, the Baron did not dare violate it. He allowed Castin Town to reject the replacement lands, which in turn allowed them to indefinitely delay paying their taxes," Milton replied.

"Just to be clear," Alex said, leaning forward slightly. "Did the domain lord during the beast tide willingly agree to the arrangement, or was it the Marquis who effectively forced the entire deal through?"

\"The domain lord never verbally agreed to it. However, it didn’t matter. Marquis Bramford was the commander of the Stronghold at the time, and the leaders of Castin Town were among the strongest powers within the domain. The domain lord had little choice but to allow it to happen," Milton said.

"So, he never actually agreed to it?" Alex pressed.

"Yes." Milton nodded, still unsure where Alex was going with this.

"Good. In that case, he wasn’t as foolish as I initially thought." Alex nodded.

Milton looked confused.

Eleanore took it upon herself to explain.

"No noble has the authority to issue binding rulings within another noble’s domain. Even the Emperor would not do so directly. Instead, he would compel the domain lord to make the decision himself.

"Since the Marquis pushed the arrangement through without the express consent of the domain lord, the agreement lacks a proper legal foundation."

"Especially since the Marquis had no direct authority over this domain. The territory belongs to the Empire and is administered through its rightful domain lord. The Marquis has no right to push an agreement for it," she added.

It was akin to the ruler of one country attempting to pass laws that were legally binding within another country.

The notion was absurd.

Whether a barony or a kingdom, every fiefdom possessed its own authority structure and could only be governed by its rightful ruler, regardless of how powerful an outsider might be.

"So, what is the current state of Castin Town?" Alex asked.

"The town is controlled by five clans who use their influence to ensure that only members of their family are appointed as garrison personnel. Other families descended from the original garrison members have gradually been sidelined and suppressed. As a result, virtually all the land rights and privileges associated with those positions are concentrated within those five clans.

"Using that advantage, they established a system in which nearly all economic activity within the town passes through them. They exploit their tax-exempt status to avoid paying taxes to the domain magistrate while collecting their own share of the profits from everyone else," Milton explained.

"That’s not a case of the town paying no taxes," Eleanore remarked. "It’s a case of them paying taxes to the wrong people."

"It is an open secret among everyone, but the five clans possess a force powerful enough to rival the magistrate’s own. In many ways, they also appear to be backed by the Stronghold.

"Even worse, people from Castin Town have spread throughout the other settlements within the domain and now occupy many influential positions. If a military operation were launched against Castin Town, we fear that these branch members in other settlements could incite unrest, possibly escalating into a civil war.

"The administration’s hands are tied," Milton said.

"What a mess." Alex shook his head. "It is precisely this kind of indecisive, wishy-washy leadership that allowed the problem to grow into what it is today."

He leaned back slightly.

"Send a messenger to them. Inform them that a new domain lord has taken control of the Frontier March—one personally appointed by the Emperor himself.

"Inform them that I am ordering them to pay the backlog of taxes owed to the administration. Only after those taxes have been paid will we discuss the matter of the land.

"The payment of taxes to the domain lord supersedes all other obligations.

"If they refuse, then they will be seeing me very soon—and not under pleasant circumstances."

"Sir Count, if the message is phrased this way, they will be even less likely to comply," Milton cautioned.

"That’s exactly what he wants," Zora replied.

"Cancers like these have a habit of hiding. Let them expose themselves. Once they do, we can remove the entire problem in a single stroke."

"Let’s hope the leaders of Castin Town are reasonable enough to understand their situation," Alex said with a smile. "But if they can’t... then I wouldn’t mind teaching them a lesson about the cruel realities of nobility."

The smile sent a chill down Milton’s spine.

So much so that the old man nearly rose from his seat.

At first, he thought it was merely his imagination.

Then he noticed something.

The young noble’s eyes had changed.

The gem-like ruby-red pupils had become a deep, unsettling crimson, resembling fresh blood.

Milton did not understand what he was seeing.

His wives, however, did.

Calm Madness!

***