Chapter 08
Walter led the trainees through a corridor lined with imposing stone pillars.
They were on their way to the third course.
The floor was made of polished marble, and tall candlesticks along either side cast a soft glow over the passage.
Although they were still inside the Carserium Training Center, the place was every bit as grand as the banquet halls of the imperial palace.
Why are we here?
Ethan couldn’t quite adjust to the sudden change of surroundings.
Before they had arrived, Walter had ordered them to remove their respirators.
Of course, they were still wearing their mana stone restraints, but his command alone had been enough to make Ethan and the other riders uneasy.
Meanwhile, Walter, the very man drawing everyone’s resentful glares, looked around at the riders with a faint smile.
I’m getting sick of that expression of his.
After everything Walter had put them through with his indiscriminate and ruthless methods, Ethan couldn’t afford to let his guard down.
“Some of you might be wondering why a place like this exists inside a training center.”
Walter slowed his pace as he spoke.
“Is it just for show?” one of the riders asked.
“If it were just for show, you wouldn’t have any reason to be here. This enormous mansion, which now serves as a training center, was confiscated from Count Lloyd. He refused to recognize the unification of the Astar Empire and continued to evade his tax obligations until the very end. Back then, his family had accumulated an extraordinary amount of wealth.”
“S-So this was confiscated too?”
Ethan was so astonished by the sheer scale of it all that he could barely keep his mouth shut.
Yet that small remark was enough to ease the tense atmosphere somewhat.
Amid the change in mood, Baluk hesitantly spoke up.
“Um… I heard the mortality rate is seventy percent. So what’s so good about becoming a tax collector that people are willing to risk their lives for it?”
The moment Walter heard the question, he chuckled.
However, every trainee immediately perked up their ears.
Some of them had undoubtedly been wondering whether the rewards were worth the risk.
“The benefits? There are plenty. First, tax collectors are divided into three ranks, from First Class to Third Class. Most remain Third-Class collectors, but even they have greater authority than ordinary knights or administrators. Once you reach Second Class, you’ll have enough influence to make things happen in a small city.”
“Then… what about First Class?”
Baluk asked again.
“First-Class tax collectors…”
Walter smiled meaningfully before continuing.
“If they set their minds to it, bringing down a noble house is child’s play. They can even decide whether to grant tax exemptions at their own discretion.”
Gasps of astonishment spread among the trainees. One of them looked at Walter in disbelief.
“Does that mean they’re second only to the emperor in power?”
“Not quite. But that’s precisely why most nobles, apart from the emperor himself, despise tax collectors. They can control the nobles’ wealth and power at will.”
At that moment, Ethan was reminded once again of just how extraordinary First-Class Tax Collector Lowfang truly was.
He occupied a position that ordinary people could never hope to handle.
Seeing how engrossed everyone was, Walter continued his explanation.
“As history will tell you, countless incidents have occurred because of tax collectors. Does anyone know what nobles have done to pay their taxes?”
Walter paused and glanced around.
The trainees were deeply interested in the question he had posed.
“Passing their tax burdens on to impoverished farmers was the bare minimum. There was even one noble who burned down an entire city to destroy the evidence. Some nobles went so far as to sell off their own territories and flee.”
“Are there any incidents we might have heard of?”
“Hmm. The Fifth Prince’s Rebellion comes to mind.”
“That… happened because of a tax collector?”
One of the trainees asked in a shocked voice.
Walter nodded and continued explaining.
“A tax collector uncovered the prince’s illicit assets. When the prince couldn’t pay the taxes owed, he started a rebellion. In the end, the prince was executed, and the noble families who had supported him were ruined.”
The trainees wore uneasy expressions.
It was the moment they realized that being a tax collector wasn’t simply about wielding great authority. It also meant surviving amid constant danger.
Walter smirked at their reactions.
“I understand your concerns. But you can worry about that once you’ve actually become tax collectors. Right now, what’s important is getting through the trials in front of you, one at a time.”
Before them stood a massive door.
It was made of metal and exuded an overwhelming sense of weight.
Walter pushed it open, revealing an even deeper darkness waiting to swallow the trainees on the other side.
The third course began in a room covered in intricate geometric patterns.
The walls, floor, and ceiling were densely engraved with designs that gave the room a mysterious atmosphere. Countless objects were arranged in the center.
Along one wall stood an orderly display of various weapons.
There were long, slender rapiers, single-edged daggers with keenly honed blades, heavy battle axes, well-balanced longswords, and even long halberds.
Every weapon had been meticulously maintained, each seeming to carry its own aura of lethality.
Geometric patterns were engraved on the weapons as well.
“These antiques must be worth a fortune to collectors.”
“Just how much tax did he owe for them to confiscate all this?”
The trainees murmured among themselves, marveling at Count Lloyd’s wealth and the tax collectors’ ruthless methods.
As Walter had explained earlier, Count Lloyd had refused to recognize the unification of the empire and continued to evade taxes until his entire mansion was eventually confiscated.
Walter folded his arms and surveyed the participants before explaining the training exercise.
“The goal of this trial is to develop the insight necessary to see through cunning deception.”
He studied their reactions before continuing.
“There are two ways to complete this trial. The first is pattern analysis. The objects in this room are covered in numerous designs, but certain patterns appear in groups of exactly three. Your objective is to identify those matching patterns. If you succeed, you’ll be exempt from training for an entire week.”
Flinch!
Every single trainee reacted.
Not one was immune.
I can rest. I can finally rest.
By this point, the light in their eyes was slowly turning into something bordering on madness.
Watching their reactions, Walter smiled and explained the second method.
“The second method is crest identification. You must find a specific object engraved with the coat of arms of a noble house that I showed you before the trial. If you succeed, you may take one of the objects in this room as your reward.”
The participants quickly began weighing their options.
A week without training or a rare and valuable prize?
Right now, taking something useful would be better than getting some rest.
Ethan chose the second method.
The objects here were treasures that couldn’t be found in ordinary markets, and anything bearing the authentic crest of a noble house would be even more valuable.
Let’s see.
Ethan focused and began analyzing the patterns one by one.
After examining them for some time, he spotted a familiar crest on a necklace resting on the shelf to his left.
It was the crest of House Lloyd.
Just as Ethan reached for the necklaceā
Whoosh!
Rebecca moved at almost exactly the same moment.
She seemed to have realized that the necklace was genuine as well.
She drew a rapier from the wall and thrust it toward Ethan’s neck at incredible speed.
Thud!
With a powerful stomp against the floor, Ethan’s figure vanished.
“…!”
Rebecca’s eyes widened.
Where did he go?
Just as she instinctively began scanning her surroundingsā
“What’s wrong with you all of a sudden? Have you been drinking?”
A low voice tickled her ear.
A chill ran down her spine.
Rebecca swiftly twisted around.
Standing behind her was Ethan, looking completely at ease.
So this is what movement looks like when your body has been tempered by Hittite Body Tempering Technique. He’s incredibly fast.
Her mind began calculating at lightning speed.
Rebecca herself had become fairly proficient in the Hittite Body Tempering Technique, but she hadn’t mastered it to anything close to Ethan’s level.
Moreover, despite his astonishing speed, his footsteps had been almost completely silent.
At this level, he might have been an assassin in the past.
Rebecca came to that conclusion and decided it was a reasonable assumption.
It was difficult to guess what any of the riders gathered here had done before joining the training center, but the tax collectors must have selected them because they saw some kind of potential in each of them.
From that perspective, Ethan possessed a talent anyone would covet.
How annoying.
Rebecca glared at Ethan, her expression growing increasingly irritated.
“I’ve been thinking this for a while, but I hate people like you more than anyone else in the world. People who have everything.”
The moment she finished speaking, her rapier shot forward at an unusual angle.
Its speed and trajectory were unpredictable.
Without hesitation, Ethan drew a dagger from the wall.
He deflected the sharp tip of her rapier at an angle and took a light step backward.
Then he replied in a calm voice.
“Don’t dismiss my efforts as talent. You’re the one who hasn’t worked hard enough.”
His dagger clashed with Rebecca’s rapier once more.
As tension filled the airā
Clang!
Their fight began in earnest.
The trainees watching the battle glanced at one another and muttered among themselves.
“That’s brutal.”
“I wonder who’s the strongest among the riders. This should be interesting.”
“I bet one silver on Ethan.”
“I bet two silver on Rebecca.”
For a brief moment, their sparring match even turned into a betting contest among the spectators.
Ethan’s dagger swept through the air with a sharp whistle just as Rebecca’s rapier flashed into motion.
The thin, deadly point shot toward Ethan’s neck.
Whoosh!
Ethan instinctively lowered his body to evade the thrust, then immediately pivoted to attack her flank.
But Rebecca seemed to have anticipated his movement. She swung her blade at once, and its tip grazed his cheek.
A slight stinging sensation followed as a small cut appeared, but Ethan paid it no mind.
She’s fast and utterly relentless.
During the training period, Ethan had come to realize that Rebecca wasn’t simply reckless. She possessed the audacity to do whatever it took to achieve her goals.
Even if her choices were unreasonable, she was the kind of person who never regretted them.
Just as she’d acted the instant she recognized the necklace’s crest, she had a knack for turning a mere suspicion into a certainty.
Whenever her red hair fluttered in the heat of battle, an unwavering determination shone in her golden eyes.
With that personality, she’d make a pretty good tax collector, but…
Excessive decisiveness could sometimes lead to disaster.
Ethan believed Rebecca wasn’t simply a reckless person who charged ahead without thinking. With just a little refinement, she could become the perfect tax collector.
The problem was figuring out how to guide her in that direction.
Then, suddenly, he remembered the necklace’s crest.
The necklace she’d picked up moments earlier. It certainly bore the crest of a prestigious noble house, but something about it was subtly different.
The distinction was so delicate that it was almost impossible to notice.
A faint smile appeared on Ethan’s lips.
That’s it.
“Urgh!”
Ethan swung his dagger with all his strength. With a powerful metallic clang, Rebecca’s rapier flew through the air.
As her balance faltered, Ethan seized her wrist in one swift motion and twisted it.
“Ugh…!”
She tried to resist the sudden contact, but Ethan was already moving faster than she could react.
He closed the distance between them, invading her personal space in an instant.
Their faces were almost touching. Their warm breaths mingled.
Rebecca’s eyes widened before her face gradually flushed red.
“You… what are youā”
Tap.
Without a word, Ethan placed the necklace on top of her head.
“This is fake.”
Rebecca’s golden eyes wavered in bewilderment.
But Ethan merely curled his lips into a slow smile and said,
“Let’s not waste our energy fighting each other. Let’s keep searching diligently.”
