Chapter 175 Magic Tax Doubled If the King Dies...
Shu Xin was already waiting in the conference room—after the classroom was moved to the cultural and educational area, the conference room returned to its original purpose. Shu Xin had also specially changed the layout, adding two large floor-to-ceiling windows.
Because the treehouse was fitted with cardamom glass, Shu Xin inquired with the Tree of Life and learned that it had no effect. So she also installed cardamom glass on the Flower Castle. At this moment, bright sunlight streamed through the glass windows and fell onto the Flower Fairy's elaborate and gorgeous skirt, making the magical fabric made of the Tree of Life's leaves shine brightly.
This time, Shu Xin made no attempt to disguise herself. She sat calmly on the wooden chair, waiting for the patrolman to arrive, with the little lamb that Xi had transformed into in her arms.
To be honest, Shu Xin thought the patrol envoy wouldn't come. She didn't expect that the harvest month was almost here, but the patrol envoy came. Could it be that the patrol envoy was going to stay in the Land of Sin to spend the harvest month and take away this wave of magic tax as well?
Before the patrolman even entered the Land of Sin, the demons in the war zone discovered his whereabouts. Upon being notified, Shu Xin arrived at the conference room early and instructed Mei Meilin to boil water and prepare dried fruit tea.
Fruit tea is a new drink recently developed by Shuxin. It is made by brewing freeze-dried berries and dried cherries coated with sugar powder and magic powder with boiling water. The taste is not much different from fruit sweet soup, but it is more convenient to use and cook. Most importantly, you can put ice cubes in the cup, so it is refreshing and cool.
On the conference room table sits a plate of dried fruit coated in powdered sugar and magic powder, and a plate of stacked, glistening ice cubes. Next to them, on a tray, a small wooden pot with a base surrounded by flints holds boiling water that is bubbling away.
After dropping a few pieces of dried fruit into the cup, Shu Xin summoned a water balloon from the pot. The sweet aroma of fruit wafted through the air with the rising steam. Then, she added a few ice cubes to the cup, stirred it a couple of times, and the previously steaming water began to emit wisps of cold air. This astonishingly rapid cooling was thanks to the magic powder mixed in with the sugar on the dried fruit—
This powdery magical material, which contains no magic but is named "magic powder" by the Tree of Life, is an indispensable ingredient in various recipes. Shu Xin only discovered its astonishing magic conductivity when she was researching dried fruit tea.
For example, when Shu Xin casts a spell with her magic wand, she inputs 100% of her magic power. However, depending on the wand's rank, an additional 5% to 50% of the magic power is consumed during the transmission process, and the spell's duration is extended by 5 to 50 seconds. But if she inputs magic power into magic powder, as long as there is sufficient free magic power in the air, its magic power transmission efficiency can reach 200%, and the spell's duration is directly shortened to less than one second!
Shu Xin tried drawing a magic circle with magic powder. The magic took effect almost as soon as she input magic power. It was activated instantly. The intensity of the intermediate magic circle drawn with magic powder was also far greater than usual. If this were used in conjunction with a magic wand to release magic, it felt like the magician's combat power would double!
Shu Xin took a sip of the refreshing fruit tea and let out a comfortable sigh. Anyway, she was going to stockpile magic powder as a strategic resource. She had also communicated with Peng Peng An, and after this harvest month, the flower fairies of the patrol team would start practicing using magic powder to cast spells.
When Shu Xin had drunk about half a cup of fruit tea, an unfamiliar patrolman followed Peng Peng'an and flew into the conference room.
Upon seeing the radiant flower fairy seated in the hall, Sissis was completely stunned. Could there really be royalty in this land of sin?! Could royalty also be exiled for their crimes? But he hadn't heard a single word about it!
Shu Xin sized up the new patrolman. Compared to the icy female patrolman Kakalin from her memory, this male flower fairy had long orange hair and light blue eyes. His slightly upturned lips and curved eyebrows made him look like he had a smile on his face. He looked very gentle and kind. However, their height and build were not much different. Both patrolmen were more than half a meter tall.
Sissis quickly regained his composure, put on a smile, introduced himself, and then stated his purpose directly:
“I’m very sorry to have taken up your precious time, Your Highness. I was only notified at the last minute. Kakalin has gone missing, so I will temporarily collect the magic tax from the Land of Sin during the last harvest month on her behalf.”
Shu Xin paused, Kakalin has disappeared?
After a moment of silence, Shu Xin spoke up: "We have prepared the share of the magic tax, but how could Kakalin have disappeared... Patrol officers only patrol within the kingdom's territory, right?"
Sissis, still smiling, replied, "A large number of extraterrestrial magical beasts will appear in the kingdom's territory before and during the harvest month. Every year, more than five patrolmen will die or go missing. Please do not worry, Flower Castle is absolutely safe. If Kakalin is not found before the next harvest month, a new patrolman will be in charge of the patrol route in your territory."
Shu Xin was speechless for a moment.
Sissis was silent for a moment, then lowered his eyes slightly, as if he were somewhat guilty: "There is another matter I need to inform you of. The magic tax share of the Land of Sin will be doubled. This is His Majesty the King's order."
Before the flower fairy could speak, the tax collector roared, "Doesn't His Majesty the King know the state of magic in the Land of Sin?! Her Highness the Princess—"
“Alright, Pengpeng’an,” the flower fairy interrupted the tax collector in a calm tone, “Sissis is just a patrolman; he cannot change His Majesty the King’s will.”
Sissis composed herself, raised her head again, and smiled: "Thank you very much for your understanding, Your Highness. However, His Majesty the King has also issued another decree: if you are willing to come with me to the City of Garnar, His Majesty the King will exempt the Land of Sin from all magic taxes from now on."
The flower fairy sitting at the long table showed no change in expression. She simply nodded slightly and said, "Please give me some time to consider. Sissis, you've come all this way to the Land of Sin. Nonori, take him to the restaurant to eat something and rest. Pengpengan, go to the underground warehouse and check the inventory to see if we can pay double the magic tax."
Nono responded and led the patrolmen away. Pengpengan also left angrily, leaving only Shuxin in the conference room, along with the little lamb lying obediently on her lap.
Wagging its tail, Xi raised its head excitedly: "It's time! Let's take the demon army and fight together! Let's drag that king who does nothing but collect taxes off his throne and kill him! Shushuxin, you'll be the king!"
Shu Xin pinched the lamb's mouth shut with one hand, silencing it, and picked up the cup with the other, gulping down the fruit tea in one go. She then took a fork and stuffed the softened dried fruit into her mouth, chewing as she lowered her head, deep in thought.
Shu Xin swallowed the dried fruit without tasting it, and sighed, "If only it were that easy."
Lifting the lamb up, Shu Xin looked into the lamb's big, bright, blinking eyes: "You also know that the Tree of Life is a fragment of the Creator God's divine essence, right?"
Before the lamb could answer, Shu Xin said, "The king must have done a lot of things. At the very least, the thick black fog that isolated the Kingdom of Ganar from the human territory was definitely not naturally formed."
Releasing the lamb, Shu Xin leaned back in her chair and sighed again:
“Alright, let’s do a simulation based on your idea. We’ll take the demons to the royal city. Let’s not even talk about whether we can kill the king. Let’s just assume we can kill him easily. Once the king is dead, we won’t have to collect the magic tax anymore. But will the magical beasts from the outer continent disappear along with the king? I don’t know, but there’s a high chance that the black mist that separates the river elves and humans will disappear along with the king.”
She closed her eyes and continued her deduction: "The best-case scenario is that the king dies, the outer continent monsters disappear, the black mist still exists, and the river elves and humans live in peace. Then, as long as we develop slowly and have enough confidence, we can consider going into the human's territory and searching back the bodies and souls of the river elves that were taken away."
Shu Xin opened her eyes, her expression calm: "But this is only the most ideal situation."
"If the king dies, the outer continent monsters disappear, and the black mist dissipates, then history could very well repeat itself, especially since this time the demons have appeared alongside the riverside elves. Humanity's reasons for sending troops will then appear righteous and just. If the king dies, the outer continent monsters don't disappear, but the black mist does, then it will be a double whammy of internal and external troubles. The demons are powerful, and the snow tribe will be loyal allies, but we can kill a hundred phantom monsters, we can kill a thousand humans, but what if there are ten thousand or even a hundred thousand phantom monsters and humans?"
Shu Xin gently shook her head: "I can't gamble."
The little lamb kicked its legs in frustration: "So we just have to put up with it! Double the magic tax! This month it'll be double, next month it'll be triple, the month after that it'll be quadruple, and then it'll be five, six, seven, eight times—we don't even know what that guy wants so much magic for!"
“Yes…we still don’t know what the king is going to do with so much magic…” Shu Xin stood up, holding the lamb, and walked to the French windows. She looked at the thriving territory and smiled. “However, the arrival of this patrolman has actually revealed a lot of information to us. The most important point is that the king cannot leave the royal city.”
Xi didn't quite understand: "Why do they say the king can't leave the capital? Is it because the patrol came but the king didn't? That seems normal."
“I always thought the king was unaware of the situation in the Land of Sin,” Shu Xin explained, “but the king’s decree brought by the patrolman was quite clear: either pay more magic tax, or I return to the royal city. The former shows that the king is well aware that the Land of Sin can pay more magic tax, while the latter means that the king knows I am still alive.”
“River elves really have very high requirements for magic concentration. After leaving the Flower Castle in the royal city, I almost died in the carriage. I only survived because I found you on the road and relied on the large amount of magic you released.” Recalling the scene, Shu Xin sighed. “If I hadn’t met you, I’m afraid I would have really died on the road.”
The little lamb broke free from Shu Xin's arm, landed on the ground, transformed into human form, and opened its arms to comfort her.
Shu Xin chuckled and relaxed into Xi's embrace, continuing, "Shu Shu Xin is actually a descendant of a modified elf, but after becoming a flower fairy, she almost died due to the low concentration of magic. As a true riverside elf, the king's requirements for magic concentration are probably even higher, which is why I said the king cannot leave the royal city."
"Not being able to leave the capital doesn't stop us from collecting taxes like crazy!" Xi was still frustrated. "So, does that mean we can only pay double the magic tax?"
Shu Xin smiled and said, "Of course we won't pay! That's double the magic tax! Not only will we not pay it, we'll only pay half of it. Anyway, the king can't come here~"
Xi's eyes widened: "Huh? Huh!"
The patrolman, who was sitting at the dining table hungry, had no idea what decision the master of the territory had made. He watched as the servants of the Flower Castle, each taller than the last, brought him the food. Sissis thanked them despite their cold looks, then picked up his knife and fork and began to eat eagerly.
Although he didn't know what food was on the plates and in the soup bowls, it all smelled delicious. He was so hungry that he even wanted to take a bite with his fork. He could eat anything as long as a bowl of stones wasn't served!
Although Meimeilin and Lililian disliked the patrol envoy, they still cooked a proper meal. However, they did not prepare any refreshing cold dishes or provide any chilled drinks. Forget about the refreshing snow dragon fruit ice cream. All the dishes served were steaming hot.
Nonori naturally saw through the cooks' little scheme, but he didn't expose them. He simply introduced the dishes on the table to the patrol officer and then took his leave.
Sissis swallowed hard, her curiosity piqued by the unfamiliar food on the table. Was acorn bread made from acorns? Acorns are so bitter and astringent, yet this bread smelled sweet. How was that possible?
Sissis reached for the bread, but it was so hot that he almost dropped it. He wanted to use his innate magic to cool the food down, but then felt it would be impolite. He looked around but didn't see anyone.
Come to think of it, no one wants to see a red uniform. With a helpless shrug, Sissis drew his staff and sped up the food on the table. Seeing that no more steam was coming out, he began to eat.
The acorn bread was soft and sweet, the acorn soup was smooth and delicious, and the clover custard was fresh and tasty. Finally, there was even a dessert. The small, round cookies piled on the plate had a very rich nutty aroma. Sissis swallowed and took out her space stone to put all the cookies inside—Manmanli would definitely like it!
On this trip back to the capital, he could also visit home. He wondered if his and Manmanli's first child was a girl or a boy. Judging by the time, the child should be about five months old. As Sissi put away the space stone, he couldn't help but smile. He hoped it was a girl, with beautiful green eyes like Manmanli's.
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Author's Note: Offering sincere apologies, I've added an extra thousand words – a "Wild Goose Descending on the Sandbank" style apology.
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