Ariel frowned immediately when she heard the word "law". Although she didn't know what the content of this law was yet, judging from the current atmosphere, it was probably not a good thing.

After seeing that Ariel did not speak, but listened silently, the tax officer took a slow breath and began to say——

"As the winner of the guild championship battle, President Ariel, you have also met His Majesty the Crown Prince, right? I don't know... have you met His Majesty the Emperor?"

Ariel shook her head slightly.

The tax officer continued: "When I set off to collect taxes in the three provinces of Margin Province, Tianhong Province, and Diliao Province, I received a report that the situation was speeding up. The Emperor of the Blue Bay Empire, His Majesty the Blue Bay Twelve, has already

On September 2, 1304, he passed away sadly in Hanhai City. Your Majesty... he passed away peacefully."

Upon hearing the news, Ariel was slightly startled, and then estimated the time in her mind.

He passed away on September 2nd, and it is only September 21st now. In just nineteen days, the news was able to spread from Hanhai City to this marginal province. This speed can be considered very fast.

In response, Ariel exhaled a long breath, took off the hat on her head, held it in her arms, and said: "Although I have never met His Highness the Twelfth, from the few words I said in daily life, I can

I feel the gentleness and kindness of His Highness the Twelfth. His Highness is a great monarch, and I am deeply saddened by this."

The tax collector also lowered his head in silence. The elf girl next to him and the two adventurers who looked like guards behind him also lowered their heads in silence.

After a minute of silence, the tax official stood up and said: "I believe it won't be long before the official documents will be sent to Pelican City. By then, Pelican City may need to make certain preparations to decorate the city.

Make some changes."

Ariel nodded with a serious face: "Thank you, Mr. Tax Officer, for reminding me. Is this the case?"

The tax officer sighed and said, "If possible, I really want to say that this is just one thing."

"Due to the death of His Highness the Twelfth, our Crown Prince has naturally become the next emperor of our Blue Bay Empire, His Highness the Thirteenth King of Azure. Of course, His Highness the Thirteenth King of Azure has ascended the throne.

Everyone knows that it is a matter of course, and no one thinks there is any problem. But the problem is...but..."

After a moment of confusion, the tax official raised his hand, patted his thigh, and said -

"The problem is that less than three days after the death of His Highness the Twelfth, His Highness the Thirteenth signed a series of decrees. Among them, there is a decree regarding all adventurer guilds in the Blue Bay Empire.

.”

Ariel felt her heart suddenly thump. She held her breath involuntarily and stretched out her hand to slowly caress Napa in her arms.

"That is, the tax on adventurer guilds will be converted from the previous cumulative tax rate to a fixed tax rate. In other words, all adventurer guilds, regardless of their contribution to the town, whether they are profitable or not, and regardless of their

Whether the number of employment problems has been solved, etc., the income tax rate of 50% of the previous year will be levied."

At that moment, Ariel thought she had heard wrong?

But after this feeling of surprise only lasted for a moment, she immediately understood the reason, and her originally nervous mood quickly calmed down at that moment.

However, facing the tax official in front of her, Ariel still showed a shocked expression on her face. She opened her mouth and widened her eyes: "50%?! That high?!"

When the tax officer saw the surprised Adventurer's Guild leader in front of him, he shook his head helplessly and said, "Yeah, I'm surprised too...how could the tax rate be raised so high all of a sudden! Ariel

President, have you received any news before? Are there any traces of this... before?"

Facing the look in the eyes of the tax official in front of her, Ariel felt that she still needed to remain a little vigilant.

She frowned, touched her lips, and said: "Well...there were actually rumors before that the Crown Prince...no, the current Emperor hopes to disband the Adventurer's Guild as much as possible and use its power to

All of them were gathered into the imperial army. This kind of news... Mr. Tax Officer, haven't you heard of it before?"

The tax official slowly exhaled and said: "There are indeed some rumors about this kind of news among the people in the market... In fact, everyone is usually nervous about this kind of thing. But... President Ariel, you

Do you really not know this kind of thing?”

Ariel thought for a while and asked tentatively: "What should I know...?"

The tax officer slapped his thigh and said, "Do you need to say more? It's just about you!"

Ariel: "Me?"

Tax Collector: "Yes! Think about it, you won the guild championship in one go last year! Everyone must have been surprised at first, but that battle was indeed very exciting. But later, as the second emperor of the empire, you

The incident about the prince's mistress gradually came out, and those guilds, if they were a little impressed by you for winning this game at first, then basically felt that your Mermaid Song should be the default one to win."

Ariel frowned slightly and began to think about the problem.

Tax Collector: "Of course, there's nothing wrong with you being the default winner. Think about it, during the Guild Championship, various news about His Majesty's desire to abolish the Guild had already spread. If it were someone else,

If we win the guild championship, everyone will basically treat it as a carnival before disbanding, and everyone will be panicked."

"However, the guild founded by you, the mistress of the second prince, won the championship. After the competition, your guild received an award from His Majesty and was able to return here as a champion. After such a situation,

Everyone began to speculate that the previous rumor that the guild was going to be disbanded was just a rumor? Because if the guild was really going to be disbanded, how could it be possible for you, the Mermaid Song, to leave such a good promotional material unharmed? According to the usual practice, it must be

Is it necessary for you to tell me personally that Mermaid Song is disbanded?”

Hearing this, Ariel smiled bitterly.

The tax officer's guess was really accurate. The current emperor had really said this. After winning the decisive victory, Ariel immediately announced the disbandment of Mermaid Song, which was considered to be an opening for other guilds.

A good start, and its various demonstration effects.

But later, due to the emergence of the elemental machine, the emperor needed Ariel's power to develop the elemental machine, and the development of the elemental machine definitely required the power of the Song of the Sword Mermaid, so her guild was allowed to remain.

But now it seems that the emperor's idea of ​​disbanding the guild has not changed...

"So, everyone is relieved. More than half a year has passed like this, and just when everyone is preparing to continue living in peace and contentment, His Majesty's decree was suddenly signed, catching many guilds off guard.

Unprepared. It should be said that this year's round of taxation can directly cause some guilds with poor revenue to go bankrupt immediately."

"President Ariel, look at the current situation. I can guarantee that this year's tax collection will be very chaotic. On your side... please don't embarrass me..."

Ariel thought about these questions silently in her heart. After the tax collector in front of her finished speaking, she finally understood what his words meant.

Although, Ariel doesn't want to embarrass anyone.

But now that the law has been signed, is Ariel really required to directly use half of the guild's operating income to pay taxes in order not to embarrass the tax official in front of her?

Ha, no matter how you think about it, it’s impossible!

When she thought of this, Ariel still smiled on the surface, but her fists under the table were slowly clenched.

Really... really! That Emperor!

Although Ariel also agrees that the current Blue Bay Empire needs reform, many places need to be adjusted! Especially now in the face of the constant attacks of the Ora Empire and the disaster years caused by the domestic drought problem, there are people who have lost their land everywhere.

The refugee groups formed by farmers, and the riots that broke out among the villages... But under such circumstances, directly cutting the knife on the head of the adventurers' guild, which is used to maintain local security, is almost equivalent to a certain extent.

, and it was still a big cut of 50% in one go...

Is this really good?

Is that Menglang Bilan... really crazy because he just became emperor and wants to achieve political achievements? Or is it some irresponsible administrative bureaucrat who put such irresponsible policies on his desk?

While thinking, Ariel slowly let a slightly sad and embarrassed expression appear on her face to match the current atmosphere.

The tax official in front of him saw Ariel's current expression. After thinking about it, he also said: "President Ariel, what are your thoughts now...?"

Ariel raised her head, frowned tightly again, and said: "Well... Mr. Tax Officer, I have to say that this is too sudden. I don't know what to do in a short period of time...

...You see, I have even calculated the taxes before, and have prepared many things. I have even taken out the special taxes and are waiting to pay them together... But now you suddenly tell me about taxes

Adjusted to 50%...the adjustment was so big all of a sudden that I couldn’t handle a lot of my work."

The tax officer nodded again and again, and said with an apologetic face: "I know, I know! President Ariel, I know all this! Oh my... this is really difficult... I also understand that you are

I feel at a loss after suddenly learning about this matter. This is really... Oh, so, this is why I rushed here in a hurry. I just hope to inform the Margin Province and Tianhong Province of these things as soon as possible.

and three guilds in Diliao Province, so I hurriedly came here without waiting for October. I hope you haven’t settled the accounts yet, so as not to do useless work. From this point of view... Well, President Ariel, you really

It's so excellent. I can only apologize for the wasted effort on your part..."

apology?

If you could get paid just for apologizing, Ariel felt that she could apologize to anyone she saw every second! The posture of apology can be as standard as it needs to be, and it can be as polite as it needs to be.

Politeness! It would be really great in a world where you don’t have to pay for just apologizing! Now that I’m apologizing to you, can you, the tax official, not charge you, and just get out of here with the tax you calculated?!

Ariel suppressed the anger in her heart and continued to maintain that gentle smile on her face. She tilted her head and thought about it, then said: "Master Tax Officer, this matter of yours is really too... surprising.

So I may need some time to deal with it properly. Even the taxes need to be recalculated, etc... Look, do you want to go and take a rest first?"

Seeing that Ariel did not refuse flatly, the tax officer was obviously relieved. He nodded quickly and responded: "Of course, of course. Recalculating taxes also takes time, I understand that.

In addition, I have a little suggestion for you."

Ariel was stunned for a moment and said, "Suggestion? What suggestion?"

The tax official paused for a moment, looked at the elf girl next to him from the corner of his eye, and said: "That is, you can calculate the taxes slowly, or even a little slower. It doesn't even matter. You don't have to do the tax calculations.

You have to pay it to me, and someone will naturally accept your taxes when the time comes."

Ariel suddenly became alert, but the smile returned to her face again: "What does this mean?"

Seeing Ariel smiling, the tax officer also laughed and said: "Hahaha, you will know what it means soon. So...Okay, President Ariel, about your Mermaid Song

I have told you that it is over. In addition, there is also the tax of Pelican City. I believe that if the tax of Mermaid Song needs to be adjusted, the tax of Pelican City also needs to be adjusted, right? I understand this very well.

understand."

How is this understandable? Isn’t it just a roundabout way of telling myself that there can be false accounting here?

Only Ariel, who is both the guild leader and the mayor of Pelican City, can do this kind of thing.
To be continued...