Blood tax

Chapter 12 Journey Companion

Two days have passed since the bloody battle that took place deep in the mountains.

Griffith returned to Izmir Town with the militiamen from the town, and after a brief inquiry, he rented a farmhouse and stayed there temporarily.

The militiamen in the villages and towns suffered heavy casualties, and this was no longer a simple goblin attack.Coupled with the fact that the dead body was actually resurrected, this case will be classified under the category of black magic cases that need high attention, and finally reported to the Magic Association.

The official Beyonders have arrived, and they will take over the investigation of the incident.This morning, Griffith needs to go to the town hall to make a face-to-face report.

Washed clothes and armor are placed by the pool.The damaged mail has been easily repaired in the town, but the leather armor worn on the outside is seriously damaged, and it becomes even more ugly after being reluctantly repaired.

Griffith had to pay 7 silver langs in addition to the repair fee to have the tinker coat the leather armor with a layer of black paint.After paying for repairs, paint, housing rent and food, there were only three silver men left in the already slack pocket, and even the travel expenses were not enough.

The days after leaving the battlefield were not easy at all.Griffith couldn't help but feel a little nervous, and began to look forward to when the town would issue a quest reward.

"Good morning," Galadia stuck her head out of the room, and greeted the apprentice knight standing in the yard with a buoyant face to the warm morning sun, "Did you sleep well last night? The mayor should have already Compensation is calculated."

"Well, I'll set off later," the apprentice knight wore only a plain shirt, picked up the bucket and poured it into the water tank, "By the way, how is your mission?"

What magical item needs the elves to investigate in person?Why did the attackers use rare monsters like goblins and corpses to hunt her down?When she came out of the goblin's lair, Galadia didn't seem to have anything...

"Hmm~ still--okay--," the elf watched inexplicably as the apprentice knight put down the bucket, picked up an axe and started chopping wood, "what are you doing?"

"As you can see, chopping wood." Griffith tilted his head.

So what are you doing chopping wood in the morning... Galadia looked at the yard that had been cleaned, the water tank filled and the pile of wood chopped up: "Why are you helping the landlord aunt sweep the floor, chop wood, and fetch water... Didn't we pay?"

"Shouldn't it be?" The apprentice knight looked back with wide eyes, "After all, we are staying at someone's house."

"It shouldn't be!" Galadia walked out while rubbing her long black hair, approached Griffith and looked at him, "I see! Actually, you were transformed from Brownie!"

"what is this?"

"That's the snail girl!"

"What is this?"

……

In the battle to rescue the village and clear the goblins, including the militia captains of Izmir and Manisa villages, thirty or forty militiamen were killed, of which ten were killed by the goblin trolls .

Most of the goblins' heads are counted in Griffith's name, and the total rewards after settlement are...

14 gold florins 10 silver lang.

这是他击杀的146个哥布林、1个哥布林萨满和1个哥布林巨怪的赏金。其中哥布林的赏金为7金弗罗林6银郎，哥布林萨满2个金币，巨怪战果奖赏5个金币。

Some of the goblins were supposed to be the results of the Manisa villagers' battles, but they were all brought back by Griffith without making a claim.

The accountant in the town watched the apprentice knight count two bounties, and walked out the door silently.Griffith was left to sit face to face with an investigator.

This person does not seem to be of high sequence, and his age is also getting old.Generally speaking, black magic cases require more than two investigators to assist, but I don't know why only one came.

"Well, do you have anything else to add?" the investigator asked while slowly flipping through the detailed report.

Griffith replied: "I suspect that this is not an incident of a demon attacking the village, but a conspiracy against Miss Galadia. The mastermind chose evil and easy-to-manipulate creatures such as goblins and corpses. It should be trying to eliminate the clues of the investigation as much as possible, and at the same time avoid the signs of the mobilization of power and ambush being noticed by the elves and her clansmen."

After the battle, Griffith thought carefully about the events before and after.If you want to hunt down Galadia who is acting alone, hiring a group of Beyonders to ambush is the most effective way.

However, divination and divination often find these obvious signs.Not to mention that the elves are the dependents of the Moon God, and ordinary ambush can easily be detected by their keen inspiration.

If I were to carry out the hunt, then I would try to involve Galadia in a large-scale incident and hide the real target of the attack... Griffith's mind turned back and he unconsciously conceived the evil plan.

Wait, what am I doing! ?After a while, Griffith suddenly realized his maliciousness and hurriedly stopped his sinful thoughts.

Thinking of the graceful and beautiful figure of the elf, the apprentice knight felt that his thoughts just now were too absurd.He subconsciously pulled his neckline and sat up straight.

The investigator, unaware, continued to read the report.

"I think it is necessary to investigate the social relations of the mage apprentice Isis in detail, he does not have the ability to create goblins and living corpses," Griffith calmed down and continued, "In addition, I applied to investigate Galadia Miss's message. Even though she was the real target, the casualties in the incident were all humans."

"Okay," the investigator said noncommittally. "We will investigate, but we don't have enough manpower. There are a lot of evil things flowing into the interior from the east."

Griffith hurriedly said: "I will go north along the Eastern Avenue, please send an announcement to the Beyonders along the way to assist in the investigation."

"I know," the investigator closed the report with a blank expression, "disband, second-level captain."

……

Taking the reward from the town, Griffith walked to the tavern in the town.He and the elf made an appointment to discuss the distribution of the bonus there.

The heavy purse felt familiar.When he was on the Eastern Front, Griffith had a lot of harvests, but he couldn't save money.Expensive health-enhancing potions and herbs, personal weapons and armor, contraband, and miscellaneous expenses quickly drain soldiers' wallets.

"Take your part," said Griffith, pushing the gleaming gold and silver coins in front of the elf. "Thanks to your archery, the battle with the goblins would be impossible to win. We're half and half. ."

"Actually, I hate the smell of human currency~" Galadia pushed back most of the money, leaving only a gold coin in her hand, "Aren't you going to Bayeran? There is money there. Place. This is your reward for helping me. Are you really just a second-tier apprentice knight captain?"

"No doubt," Griffith replied, "Sequence 9."

"Human junior non-commissioned officers, who can't use magic, can kill so many goblins at once, and also kill a goblin troll~ This is unreasonable! It doesn't feel right!"

"My weapons and armor are almost damaged, and the loss is huge." Griffith felt distressed when he thought of the money he spent.

"Don't mention your broken equipment," Galadia shook her head, "What will you do after you go to Bayeran?"

"Report to Earl Larmor, I'm Thutoral, and I'm going to Homonwarts in the fall," Griffith counted the gold and silver coins briskly again, "If you want to go somewhere else If so, I can escort you for a ride."

"Aha? Homonwarts, hello, classmate!" Galadia raised her eyebrows happily, "I'm also enrolled in the fall, we can travel together! Then, I'll go do some errands for a while. See you out of town. Remember to rent a carriage."

Such a coincidence!Watching the elf put on the cloak and walk out of the tavern, Griffith's mood brightened.It's unbelievable that something so pleasant.

……

Izmir is a convenient seaport town where cargo ships and merchants gather from all directions.Here they trade goods to replenish their supplies before embarking on their journey.

But today's Izmir is extraordinarily lively.The shops along the street were decorated with colorful ribbons that Griffith had never seen before, and the shopkeepers and clerks seemed to be wearing their best clothes.Not only did the town not darken due to the casualties in the battle to encircle the goblins, it became more beautiful overnight.

Is this a holiday?

"Mr. Apprentice Knight, it's great that you're fine!" Some familiar and pleasant voices sounded immediately, and the tall figure of the waitress who introduced the mission to Griffith was walking around among the crowded customers, serving them Large glass of ale.She suddenly found Griffith sitting by the window and ran over happily.

"I heard that you made a lot of sacrifices to destroy the goblins. I'm also worried that you have suffered a misfortune like the captain. It's great that you can come back safely."

Before Griffith could thank the waitress for her concern, the tavern manager had already shouted from the other side of the bar.

"Tina, serve the gentlemen at that table!"

"Come on!" The waitress smiled like a flower, and Lara Griffith pointed his arm to the large wine barrel by the bar, "Won't you come and sit for a while! Today's ale is half price!"

"Well, good," Griffith nodded, "a glass of ale, is there any festival in town today?"

Griffith's question just came out.There was a loud horn from outside the tavern.

Then came the second horn.

As the third horn sounded, a flood of cheers swept the city.

"Athana of the Eastern Legion has won a great victory!"

"The war is over!"

"Master Wang will return in triumph in the near future!"

A burst of cheers resounded through the sky.The guests in the tavern cheered and raised their glasses to congratulate each other.

The war is over!

There was an unreal feeling in Griffith, who had returned from the front one step earlier.

It didn't take long for Krista, Golona, ​​and many, many familiar friends to sacrifice.In the few days after he left the front line, he was still rolling in blood with goblins and living corpses.

"Are you going to Bayeran for the Triumph?" Tina ran back quickly, shoving a mug of ale into Griffith's hand.

"I was ordered to return to Bayeran, but I don't know if I will participate in the Triumphal Ceremony." The apprentice knight has not yet been freed from his thoughts.

"It's so good!" Tina was already infected by the joyful atmosphere, she looked at the jubilant sea of ​​people outside the window with her toes, "I'm going to Bayeran to find my cousin, he has a tavern there, fighting After canceling the food rationing, the business will be very good!"

"Really?" Griffith didn't expect the girl to go to the distant capital. "It's a long way to go there, and it's not safe for you to be alone."

"Long live the king!"

"Long live the great King Mark Aurelius Antoninus and the invincible Eastern Legion!"

The guests in the tavern cheered, jumping on the table, raising their glasses and drinking wildly.Shouts of joy muffled Tina's voice for a few seconds.

"Hey! What's not safe!" As the guests in the bar hugged, sang and danced together, Tina didn't have to work for the time being, she put her arm on the apprentice knight's shoulder, and said confidently, "You set out from Bayeran, fought a battle at the end of the world, and then went back the way you came. Now that the battle is over, I'm not even a quarter of the way from here, I just have to wait. There will be regular sailing boats for a period of time! It's okay, it's okay!"

(End of this chapter)