Chapter 75 - 68: Conspiracy
Chapter 75: Chapter 68: Conspiracy
"He’s prepared to pay 10 Gold Coins. I don’t think you have enough," said Mary’s father.
"Ten Gold Coins?" Little John’s eyes widened in disbelief. ’Is he starting a bidding war?’
"Father, you can’t do this." Mary ran out of the house and stood by Little John’s side. "I’m not a shovel or a pickaxe head. You can’t do this."
"Shut up. You’re my daughter. He’s willing to pay 10 Gold Coins, so of course I’ll choose the higher offer," the burly man said dismissively.
"Is this how you treat Mary?" Little John said angrily. He knew the man had never cared for his daughter. He’d even pulled her out of school after less than a year, claiming that being literate would make her more valuable.
"How I treat my daughter is my own business. If you can produce 10 Gold Coins, I’d be more than happy to marry her to you," Mary’s father said with a smirk.
Little John stared at the miser laughing in front of him. ’He looks like a pig.’ He was so angry he wanted to run the man through. "Mary is a person, not a piece of merchandise."
The man sneered but didn’t reply.
Furious, Little John pulled the Pocket Watch from his breast pocket and SLAMMED it on the table. "This should be enough, right?"
"Huh?" Mary’s father stared in surprise at the Pocket Watch on the table. He recognized it; the tax collector had one just like it, and he’d heard it was extremely valuable.
"Jack." Mary snatched up the Pocket Watch. "This is for your boss’s use. It’s not yours."
She thrust the Pocket Watch back into his hand, looked him in the eye, and gave a slight shake of her head.
"So it’s not yours after all. I thought you might have stolen it from somewhere," the burly man chuckled mockingly.
"I can leave it here as collateral. I’ll come back for it when I’ve earned the money," Little John said through clenched teeth.
"That could work. But you’ll have to pay a storage fee. After all, this is a very valuable item, and I have people coming and going all the time. If it were to get lost..." Mary’s father drawled.
"No, Jack," Mary said earnestly, pushing him aside. "Don’t do this. You can’t use your boss’s things as collateral."
"But Mary..." Little John tried to persuade her.
"Your boss trusts you, that’s why he gave you the Pocket Watch. You can’t betray that trust." Mary shook her head, then turned to her father and pleaded, "Father, I’m begging you, just let me marry him. I love him. Do you really want to see me marry that ugly man, only to be beaten to death a short time later?"
"No, my daughter, of course I don’t want to see that happen. But he must prove his financial stability. Only then can I be sure you won’t suffer after marrying him," the burly man said with a smile.
Listening to the man’s sanctimonious excuses, Little John was seething with rage. ’Everyone in the village knows what a shameless, miserly personality he has. The things he sells are not only expensive, but he also skimps on materials. Many people would rather walk to the next village to buy farm tools than let him earn their money.’
"Father, if I can’t marry him, I would rather die right now, or go become a nun at the Church." Mary stepped forward bravely, her chest puffed out.
A sharp SLAP echoed as the burly man struck Mary hard across the face. "You’re my daughter, and you’ll be my daughter even in death."
"You..." Little John started forward, but Mary held him back with all her might.
"Get back in the house!" the burly man roared. After holding Little John back, Mary, with tears in her eyes, clutched her cheek and walked back inside with her head down.
"You just wait. There are still a few days before winter. I’ll earn the rest of the Gold Coins right away," Little John snarled, glaring at the man and gnashing his teeth.
"Excellent, excellent. I also think a young and promising man like you, Little John, will have no trouble with such a small sum." Mary’s father immediately changed his tune. "About that Pocket Watch, you really can leave it with me as collateral. Don’t worry, the fee won’t be expensive."
"In your dreams." Little John spat out the words and stormed out the door.
Outside, a few apprentices who saw him emerge immediately resumed their smithing with a CLANG, CLANG, CLANG. No one said a word.
Mary’s father followed him out the door. Watching Little John’s retreating figure, he muttered to himself, ’Could that kid really scrape together 10 Gold Coins? Right, his family owns land, so they might have some savings. I should go over to the other party and raise the price again.’
With that, he went inside, grabbed a cloth cap, and prepared to leave. Before he left, he scolded his apprentices: "Focus on your work, or you won’t be eating tonight."
...
"Sir." Underbite, a man blind in his left eye, ran into the room. "Mary’s father just came to see me."
"Hmm, what did he say?" the tax collector asked calmly, playing a few cards from his hand.
"He said Little John is willing to pay 10 Gold Coins, but he needs a few more days," Underbite said, bowing and scraping.
"Is that all?" The tax collector tossed two Silver Coins to him. "Did he say anything else?"
"That’s it. He asked me how much more I could offer." Underbite caught the Silver Coins, rubbed them on his clothes a few times, and grinned as he stared at the patterns on them.
"That old bastard is just as I expected." The tax collector laughed shrilly. "You go tell him you can offer 20 Gold Coins."
"Twenty? Sir, isn’t that a bit much?" asked a burly man who was playing cards with him, turning his head.
"It’s not much. We’ll give it to him now and get it back within two years. After all, when it comes to taxes, what I say goes. It’s not like they can go straight to the Count." The tax collector played two more cards.
He had brought his men out to collect taxes today, but he’d barely visited a few houses. His real purpose was to check on Little John’s situation. Seeing that his opponent seemed confident, the tax collector had no choice but to raise the stakes to make Little John give up.
"Thank you, Sir." Underbite giggled foolishly, then hurried over to pour the tax collector a glass of homemade fruit wine.
"And just like we agreed, on the wedding night, you knock Mary out. I get to go first," the tax collector said, taking the glass and having a drink.
"Yes, yes, of course, Sir," Underbite said with a nod.
"Sir, won’t that be risky?" the burly man asked, tossing out a card.
"Risky? I’ve had my eye on Mary for a long time. She comes to my house every day to pick up laundry. That face, that figure... If I didn’t have to worry about appearances, I wouldn’t have bothered with all this damn scheming." The tax collector turned and spat out some fruit pulp. "Besides, I’m in charge of taxes for all the villages around here. What are they gonna do, rebel against me?"
"I’m talking about Little John. I heard he became an Adventurer," the burly man said after a moment’s thought.
"So what if he’s an Adventurer? He’s not a Knight. He just tags along behind others and hacks at a few goblins. You’ve all seen those things—tiny little creatures with skinny arms and legs. They can’t even take a single kick from you. If that’s all he’s fighting, how strong can Little John be?" the tax collector said dismissively. "Or what, Hound? Are you, a highwayman, actually afraid of some kid who can’t even hold his sword steady?"
"Sir, I’m just worried he’ll cause trouble," the burly man, Hound, said with a laugh.
"What trouble could he cause? If he dares to try anything, you just kill him. I’ll report that he tried to rob the tax collection, and his entire family will be hanged."
"Still, you have a point." The tax collector nodded slightly and threw down a few more cards. "Little John may be simple-minded, but Mary has a mind of her own. We’ll need to keep a close eye on things."
"You," the tax collector ordered Underbite, "watch Mary closely for the next few days. Don’t let anything go wrong. I’ve waited this long; don’t let it all fall apart at the end."
"Yes, Sir," Underbite said with a bow. "I definitely won’t spoil your fun."
"And that’s my play." The tax collector threw down the rest of the cards in his hand, exclaiming excitedly, "I win again! Pay up, pay up."
The other three men sullenly pulled out their Silver Coins and placed them in front of him. The tax collector happily scooped them up and said, "He’s just an Adventurer. Yangjiao Town is full of them. If we really want to, we can spend 20 Silver Coins to buy a live goblin with its ears cut off, stab it a few times, and get the ’experience’ for ourselves."
He took a sip of fruit wine and PTUI, spat out the pulp.
"Another round."