"Pay taxes?" Salin was a little dazed. Ever since he put on the mage robe, he slowly got used to the days of not paying taxes at the city gate.
"Nonsense, the three of you together are bigger than me, of course you have to pay taxes."
Salin then looked at the soldier who stopped him. The soldier was not very tall, but he was very strong. He did not wear metal armor, and his leather armor was like a bag used to cross water. The soldier had a long beard, long eyebrows, and his face looked like some kind of ape.
"How much?" Salin did not pester him. He had to follow the rules when he was in someone else's territory. As long as they all paid, he did not care even if it was thirty or fifty gold coins.
"You are a mage, so the entrance tax is doubled, one silver coin. The other two are also one silver coin."
Salin was very sensitive to the numbers on money. One silver coin was already very high in his eyes. Generally, the city would only levy this kind of tax on horses and carriages, and one or two copper coins at most for pedestrians.
Was there something wrong with this princess's brain? How could she add such a high entrance tax? No wonder the mercenaries left far away and refused to enter the city. How could they do business like this?
Salin did not have silver coins, only gold coins. He took one out and gave it to the soldier.
The soldier threw the gold coin into the box next to him, waved his hand and said, "Go, go."
Salin looked at the box and did not say anything. One gold coin was equivalent to ten silver coins. He had been deducted eight silver coins. If he had time to argue with this soldier, he might as well hurry to see the idiotic princess.
He did not even intend to keep the green dragon's magic core, so he did not care about these few silver coins.
"Excuse me, how do I get to the princess's house?" Salin smiled and expressed goodwill.
After the soldier received the money, he became kind and pointed at the road. "Walk ten blocks from here, turn right, walk another two blocks to the left, and you will see it."
"Thanks." Salin nodded and pulled Silva and Neris out of the city gate.
Shika and Neris had been forced by Salin to learn the Qin language in the past two months. Neris also had to learn the common language. Now both Silva and Neris had made great progress. Silva could speak, and Neris could write.
"Salin, it seems like we've been cheated of 8 silver coins." Shika said unhappily. When she first came out of the village, she only had a few silver coins on her. Now that so much money had been deducted from her one trip into the city, it made her heart ache.
Nelis also stammered, "M-master, no, no, why don't I go, go, go bite him to death."
"Shut up!" Salin scolded angrily. Although there were few people on the street now, the people who came and went could hear Nelis's words. Trouble comes from the mouth. If his words caused some trouble, he wouldn't even know how to deal with it.
Kushui County was very strange. The streets were spotless, and the people walking by looked very carefree and luxuriously dressed. The quaint houses on both sides of the street had an indescribable charm to them. If one paid close attention, they would find that almost all of these houses were decorated with magic.
This place was as quiet as a village, and it was more luxurious than a noble's castle.
The further he went, the more surprised Salin became, because he met many Magicians along the way. Even though they were all White Robed Mages, this was still something he could not accept.
In Scotia, only the bustling big cities had mages. For places like Salin's hometown, it was already good enough to have apprentices. There were as many Mages here as flies.
Not only were there many Mages here, but there were also many Swordsmen. And these Swordsmen were obviously not mercenaries. They all wore long robes and carried Qinyin's eight-sided sword on their waists. Their expressions were unyielding, and they would not show humility even when they encountered Mages.
Salin liked the city because it was noisy, prosperous, and filled one's heart. In the crowd, even loneliness would be washed away. But in Kushui County, he could not feel the aura of a city.
This place was orderly, and no one would make a noise. It was frighteningly quiet.
The street was very long. Salin and the others walked for several miles, walked ten streets, and turned right. This street was even quieter, and there was almost no sign of pedestrians. Both sides of the road were planted with double rows of trees. The trees were tall, straight, and luxuriant. The sun was almost completely blocked, and the bluestone road under their feet exuded a slight chill in the shade of the trees.
A carriage came toward them, the sound of horse hooves hurried, and it was very fast. As it approached Salin and the others, the golden bell outside the carriage shook, making a crisp sound.
Salin suddenly understood why he was uncomfortable. This city was very beautiful, and every detail was so enchanting, but this city was incomparably arrogant. This arrogance was not aimed at anyone, and it did not even care who you were.
This arrogance was like the carriage's golden bell. It did not mean to be arrogant, but it pierced Salin's hidden inferiority in the depths of his heart.
The street was very wide, and the carriage would not hit Salin at all, but Salin still subconsciously moved to avoid it.
The person driving the carriage was wearing an ancient brocade robe. His chin trembled slightly, as if he was nodding to Salin in thanks. Salin turned his head and did not look at him, feeling depressed. You're just a driver, do you need to dress so extravagantly? Even Viscount Guge could not bear to wear this kind of brocade. Damn it, Qinyin has nowhere to spend his money.
But I have money. Salin touched the Blessing Ring on his hand. The ring still contained a pile of extremely rare gems, and his heart was much more balanced.
After walking two streets and looking left, they could indeed see the princess's residence in the distance. Because there were no other buildings nearby.
Nelis's expression was originally relaxed, but when she saw the tall residence from afar, her expression immediately became serious. This residence gave her the feeling that it was the cage that had trapped her for tens of thousands of years. As long as she entered, she was afraid that everything would be beyond her control.
This residence imitated the style of the Fourth Dynasty, mostly using bricks, tiles, and glass. The courtyard walls were tall, but there were ventilated diamond-shaped tiles on the upper part of the walls. The main door was closed, and there was a side door about a hundred meters to the right. The fallen leaves in front of the steps were not swept, and the stone stakes used to tie the horses had been eroded by time. The original patterns had long been worn away.
Unfortunately, this kind of antique could not be bought even with money.
There were no guards at the door, which was different from Scochenya. The noble residence of Scochenya wished that there could be thousands of troops and horses in front of the door to show off their prestige.
Walking up the steps, they entered the door. On the left side of the door was the gatehouse. As soon as Salin and the others crossed the threshold, someone inside said, "Who is it?"
Salin was a little confused. Was the security of the princess's residence so lax?
Salin was still clear about the ranks of the nobles in the various countries. The princess of the Qinyin Empire could only be the daughter of the Emperor. After being conferred the title, she was equivalent to a first-rank marquis. All the taxes within a hundred miles of the Kushui County belonged to the princess alone, and she might rule over more than ten towns. This was not the kind of title bestowed by the Clyde family, but real power.
If there was a war, the princess could lead tens of thousands of soldiers, and was no different from a duke.
Feeling nervous, Salin pushed open the half-closed door and entered the gatehouse. The room was not big. The window was half open, and there was a table. Behind the table, there was a young man reading a book. Seeing Salin enter, he put down the book, looked up and asked, "What's the matter?"
"Requesting to see the princess." Salin looked at the young man, and found that there were faint elemental fluctuations in this young man's body.
He was actually a magic apprentice? And someone who could produce elemental fluctuations was at least a high-level magic apprentice. A high-level magic apprentice could become a level-one magician in a few years. Wasn't it too extravagant to use him as a gatehouse?
"Did you bring your name card?"
"No."
"Did you have an invitation?"
"Also no."
"Then why are you here? Get out, get out. " This young man did not care at all about Salin's identity as a Magician. He raised his voice slightly and began to chase him away.
"I was entrusted by someone," Salin said as he took out the badge left behind by the Qin Yin swordsman and put it on the table.
Seeing the badge, the young magic apprentice became serious. He picked it up and said, "Wait here."
With that, he left the gatehouse and walked out.
Salin did not dare to walk around, and could only endure in the small house. He glanced at the book the magic apprentice had left on the table. There was no title. He flipped the book over, and it was a book on magic written in the Qin Yin language.
"Don't run around." Salin told Neris and Sicar, and he found a chair to sit down and flip through the magic book.
The book was old, made of ordinary paper. Every page was densely packed with words, and there were even symbols marked in red ink between the lines.
It was indeed the most common type of general knowledge book. The highest level of experience introduced in it was level-one magic. Salin quickly flipped through the book. The last few pages were about meditation.
In Salin's opinion, this meditation was crude, but there were more annotations. Many of the annotations were wrong, and only a few involved the real law of meditation.
The apprentice soon returned, followed by a Magician. Seeing Salin flipping through his book, the apprentice was not angry, and only said to Salin, "Just follow him."
Salin put down the book. The Magician nodded to Salin and said, "Come with me, the princess is waiting."
Salin glanced at the magic mark on the Magician's white robe. Like himself, he was also a level-one Magician. The Magician led Salin and the others out of the gatehouse and into the depths of the mansion.
After passing through who knew how many courtyards, Salin was brought to a house facing the water. This room was unusually spacious. There were no walls on the side facing the water, and all were open windows.
Outside the window, the water rippled, and the wind blew in, extremely cold.
In the middle of the room was a table only half a meter high. A woman sat on the floor behind the table, and there were a few maids serving her. There were only four simple types of celadon cutlery on the table.
The woman's back was facing Salin, and her long hair hung to her waist, as black as silk. Salin's heart tightened. For some reason, he felt a little uneasy. He could not see the woman's face, but it made his breathing quicken.
The woman wore a gown, and her long skirt was only made of cotton, without any adornment. Just looking at her back, she seemed a little frail. Salin could not help but feel pity for her. Not because of the cold wind blowing into the room, but because of the indescribable loneliness of the woman's back.
"Princess, I've brought him." The Magician lowered his voice as much as possible, as if afraid of disturbing the peace here.
"Mm, you may leave." The woman spoke, but her voice was mellow and rich with texture. Salin held his breath, not knowing how to speak.
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