Chapter 13
Chapter 13
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: House Prices
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After becoming the Guard Commander.
A month had passed.
During that time, Jin had been following me around like a leech.
Thanks to him, whenever I tried anything shady, he'd pop up out of nowhere scribbling on paper, forcing me to turn down every bribe.
And that bred jealousy in me.
I couldn't take bribes, but everyone else could? No chance.
I couldn't stomach that even after I was dead and buried.
So, fresh as Guard Commander, I implemented special measures to stop the guards from taking bribes. Now I'm dead certain there are no corrupt scumbags left around here.
Take a bribe, you go straight to jail and get processed by the book. Obvious stuff.
Around here, taking bribes means... losing a hand.
Once we stamped out the bribery culture, the guards started hauling in all those back-alley thugs who'd been lurking in the shadows.
Maybe it just burned them up that the criminals were living better than we were?
With Vain's public safety stabilized like that.
My workload had shrunk a ton.
"This is manageable."
Jin looked startled at my casual mutter and asked back.
"Pardon?"
"Nah, just talking to myself."
Jin, my secretary and bodyguard, stuck to my side practically all day long.
The way this guy stared at me with those sparkling eyes was seriously unsettling.
Why's a grown man lighting up like that over another dude?
"Yaaawn... Feeling all languid."
Glancing at the clock, still plenty of time till lunch, I mused.
This salaried thief gig ain't half bad. Might as well plant my flag here for good.
Guards wiping out criminals on their own initiative.
Plus a nice, fat paycheck.
"Oh, right, Commander. Mail from the Finance Ministry's tax office."
"Yeah?"
Jin got up and brought me the letter.
-Rip...
I tore it open roughly and read the contents.
"Huh?"
The letter was a tax collection notice.
Pay up your house taxes. Fair enough if you own a place.
But.
"What the hell is this?! Why's it so damn expensive?"
The number was absurd. I was floored.
"Oh? Yeah, property tax deadline's coming up soon."
I shot up from my seat and laid into Jin.
"Hey! That house we scored last time. The tax is ridiculous!"
What kinda property tax eats two months' salary?
And it's due by end of this month? Total shock.
"Oh? The house you picked has sky-high taxes."
"Huh?"
"All those windows, plus huge road frontage. Taxes are bound to be brutal."
I snapped at Jin for spouting such nonsense.
"What kinda bullshit tax is that?"
"You don't know about Window Tax and Road Tax?"
Window Tax? Road Tax? What the hell?
Gate Tax, sure—as guards, and even before, we'd seen it plenty on the roads.
But...
Window Tax and Road Tax were total news to me. I asked Jin about them.
"Window Tax? Road Tax? What's that?"
He answered with a blank look.
"Huh? You had no idea and still went for that house?"
"How the hell would I know?!"
"Ah... so that's why..."
Jin looked a little pale.
He rolled his eyes, thinking.
"Well... Window Tax scales with the number of windows. Road Tax is based on how much road frontage you've got... Both are pretty steep."
I was so dumbfounded it turned to rage as I grilled him.
"What? Why do idiotic taxes like that even exist?!"
Jin made a troubled face at my outburst.
He scratched his cheek lightly.
"'Cause... it's Grand Duchy law?"
"Argh..."
Hold up. If taxes are that killer... maybe the house price is dirt cheap?
Worried my money pit of a house might actually be a bargain, I asked Jin, voice trembling.
"So, what's the house worth?"
Jin rolled his eyes again, pondering.
"Last I checked, under 10 gold."
10 gold?
I'd heard normal houses start at 150 gold and up.
"Insane...!"
I couldn't wrap my head around it. I bolted from my seat.
"Commander, where to?!"
"Real estate office!"
I dashed to the real estate office in a panic...
And despaired at their answer: current listing, 8 gold.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The Grand Duchess's office.
Finance Minister Goethe visited the room where she personally reviewed documents to manage the nation.
"Your Grace. Report on this month's tax revenue."
Luna scanned the papers Goethe brought.
Surprise flickered in her eyes.
"Taxes came in heavy this month? Festival boosting trade, maybe?"
Festivals ramp up logistics, so taxes follow suit—that's what Luna figured as she asked. But Goethe just shook his head.
"No, Your Grace. Gate Tax revenue is way up from last year. You'll see on the back page."
At the Finance Minister's words, the Grand Duchess flipped the page. A year-over-year revenue comparison table jumped out.
And... seeing the massive spike in numbers, Luna narrowed her eyes.
"Taxes haven't been collected properly until now."
Her short words carried icy fury.
"Correct. Looking at the last five years' audits, it's reasonable to say they barely got collected at all."
"Who handles Gate Tax collection? I'll deal with the culprits myself."
Goethe flinched at her chilling tone.
"The current person in charge is Guard Commander Aiden."
Only then did Luna piece it together.
She recalled the letter from the squire Jin, whom she'd assigned to Aiden not long ago.
[Refused bribes from countless merchants trying to underpay taxes at the gates.]
"The previous guy, Bill, was the problem. Execute him on my direct orders."
How much effort had Luna poured into stabilizing Vain's revenues as the capital of the Grand Duchy?
To learn it was all because Bill slacked on collections—she wanted to cleave his head off herself...
But a Grand Duchess playing executioner and lopping off heads? Bad optics.
No...
'Wasting my blade on trash like that ain't worth it.'
"Which brings me to this, Your Grace. How about promoting Guard Commander Aiden?"
Luna frowned at Goethe's suggestion.
She'd planned to reward him anyway, but Goethe bringing it up first felt like he had an angle.
"Merit deserves reward, naturally."
Goethe flashed a subtle smile at Luna's grudging agreement.
"Word is, Your Grace's Financial Secretary post is open?"
"It is, but..."
The Grand Duchess's secretary advises at her side.
Meaning daily face time, working right by her office.
But secretary?
As unease stirred in Luna at Goethe's sudden push.
He beat her to it.
"The Finance Ministry recommends Guard Commander Aiden for Financial Secretary."
"What...?"
'See Aiden every day?'
Lately, Luna thought of Aiden every night.
Not love, but memories of that night—more accurate.
After their first time together, she could never go back to how things were.
Every night, she'd relive it and indulge in guilty solo pleasures she couldn't share.
But... see him daily?
Even a woman as icy as her couldn't dodge the embarrassment.
"Ahem... that's..."
Goethe felt puzzled seeing Luna's faint blush.
He'd expected ready acceptance.
Never figured the Grand Duchess—who hands out rewards generously despite her cold demeanor—would hesitate.
'Something between those two?'
But Luna quickly reverted to her frosty mask.
She spoke slowly.
"Very well. I'll consider your recommendation."
Flustered as she was, Luna quashed her girlish feelings with cold logic.
A skill she'd honed naturally to survive since childhood.
Always suppressing emotion with reason.
That was her secret to making it this far.
Goethe nodded at the Grand Duchess's words.
"My thanks."
As he promptly withdrew, Luna's mind swirled in chaos.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ In the carriage heading home.
"Ugh..."
I'd gone to the bank, taken out a loan, and paid the taxes.
"What am I gonna do?"
Paid this year's taxes, and already next year's loomed like a storm.
This time, short ownership period helped me scrape by...
But next year? Taxes?
Really worth blowing two months' salary on taxes? I had to wonder.
Shouldn't have picked that house.
Could've just gone with Charles or Jin's picks.
"C'mon, buck up, Commander! It's just money—what's the big deal? Worst case, sell the house!"
Jin, talking easy since it wasn't his problem.
"I tried listing it for sale, but..."
The real estate guy was floored when he learned I owned it, then gave me this pitiful look.
[Commander Aiden, you know how long that house has been listed?]
[No?]
[Full ten years. A house going for 10 gold? There's a reason.]
The owner stared like I was the world's saddest sap.
[Previous owner ditched it 'cause taxes crushed him, even after court auction, took ten years to sell. Don't hold your breath.]
At those words, a single tear rolled down my cheek.