Chapter 48: The Guy Who Evades Taxes!

"My lord Steward, I said there would be a huge quantity of beast hides today, and the people of Stormhold have truly arrived!" Nell's face was full of excitement.

"Cheer up! If we complete the required quantity today, I will give you a bonus!"

"Yes, my lord Steward!"

The Stormhold party pushed through the crowd and approached. "Which of you is the caravan steward?"

"My lord, we are the stewards of the Tulip Caravan, Doro!" Doro hurriedly stepped forward.

"Hello, Steward Doro. I am Thomas, the civil administrator of Stormhold. This is our lord of Stormhold, my lord Gervas!"

"Greetings, Lord Gervas!" Doro hurriedly greeted him with a warm face; after all, the other party was his great savior.

Otherwise, in ordinary times, the Tulip Trading House was, after all, the caravan of the Tulip Duke's family, so there was no need to be so eager.

Gervas nodded, and Thomas continued: "My lord Doro, our Stormhold has brought over a thousand beast hides this time. Will you purchase them at a ten percent price increase, as we said yesterday?"

"Of course, my lord!"

The rest was simple.

The Tulip Trading House's purchase list was posted in the town square, so one only needed to count the quantity according to the corresponding prices.

It is worth mentioning that because Gervas's beast hides were all intact, without any extra wounds or damage, the price was calculated at the highest rate.

"Lord Gervas, your Stormhold actually has such an exquisite hunting team! These furs are not only incredibly fresh but also completely intact. How is this achieved!"

Counting and inspecting the furs took some time. Doro invited Gervas to sit in the inn and asked the innkeeper to bring tea and snacks.

During this process, the strangeness of Stormhold's furs naturally became the main focus of Doro's curiosity.

For instance, they were fresh enough, and the vast majority of the hides were equally fresh, indicating that this large batch of wild beasts was hunted simultaneously.

Secondly, the furs were too intact, almost without any damage or flaws.

This left the well-traveled Doro wondering how it was done.

Gervas naturally would not answer whatever Doro asked.

He immediately changed the subject. "Steward Doro, besides this purchase, will your Tulip Trading House continue to purchase beast hides in the future?"

Although disappointed at not getting an answer, Doro dared not show it. "Of course, Lord Gervas. However, a premium is not available every time. This time, it is mainly because one of our major clients urgently requested a purchase, so we helped by offering a reward!"

"So, does this mean we can cooperate long-term?!"

Doro's eyes lit up. "Lord Gervas, will Stormhold have so many exquisite beast hides in the future?"

Fur products do not lack sales among the kingdom's noble circles; the better the fur, the more the noble lords and ladies like it.

Therefore, if Gervas consistently had wild beast furs of such quality, Doro would certainly be willing to cooperate.

"That is correct. Although the quantity cannot be guaranteed, the quality of the vast majority will be similar to today's, all being undamaged furs!"

"Lord Gervas, if this is truly the case, I can apply to the Southern Region Head Office located in Eagle City to specially open a caravan route to and from Stormhold!"

"Of course, the interval of the caravan's travel needs to be determined by the quantity of goods. At least four hundred to five hundred pieces are required for each trip!"

Gervas understood, and this was also his purpose.

Communication and trade in this world basically rely on caravans.

With caravans traveling back and forth, Stormhold can become more prosperous.

Although, according to the requirement of four or five hundred hides per trip, it might take more than a month for one to come, this is at least a good start.

Next, the two discussed details of the caravan travel, such as the guaranteed minimum quantity of hides to avoid the caravan running empty.

And also the discounts and exemptions on transaction taxes in Stormhold.

Finally, Gervas reduced the buying and selling taxes for the Tulip Caravan in Stormhold by two-thirds.

That is, reducing the original ten percent to four percent.

When the two had discussed enough, the hides were also counted.

The total value of the hides finally reached eighty-three gold coins.

However, Gervas did not plan to take these gold coins back; instead, he exchanged them all for supplies.

In the blink of an eye, the eighty-three gold coins returned to the hands of the Tulip Caravan,

exchanged for dairy cows, oxen, sheep, chickens, and ducks.

And also iron, seeds, medicinal herbs, cultivation potions, and so on.

In short, not a single copper coin was left, showing that developing a territory is very costly.

After the transaction was completed, Gervas was about to leave when he suddenly saw a caravan member named Nell enter the room.

"My lord Steward, another team has arrived outside, bringing more than fifty hides. They stated they have even more hides, at least two hundred pieces, but they require us to conduct the trade outside the noble territory!"

"Which territory are they from?"

"My lord Steward, they didn't say, but I just heard some serfs discussing that they saw them traveling on the border of Stormhold!"

"Could they be refugees from the Chaotic Wasteland? Tell them we can trade outside the territory, but we will bring enough guards!"

"My lord Steward, I told them, and they had no objection; they only requested to trade outside the territory!"

"Good!" Doro nodded, then turned to Gervas: "Lord Gervas, agreeing to trade with refugees makes me look foolish."

"However, it is not just our Tulip Trading House that trades with refugees. Even if we don't do it, other caravans will!"

"Steward Doro, you don't need to explain; I understand!"

Afterwards, Gervas, carrying the goods, directly left Kane Town.

However, upon reaching outside the town, Gervas split the group into three waves.

Among them, Lawrence led fifty guards to protect the caravan and return to Stormhold.

Knight Mi Gen, along with another knight, disguised themselves and returned to the town.

Gervas himself, accompanied by Lei Meng and the remaining three knights, headed toward Viscount Beckett's territory.

"Knight Mi Gen, you two remember: just trail behind and follow the tracks from a distance. Those guys are likely a group of professional hunters; if you follow too closely, you will definitely be discovered!"

"Yes, my lord!"

Subsequently, Knight Mi Gen and another knight turned back together toward the small town.

All they needed to do was follow and monitor the transaction between the Tulip caravan and that group of hunters.

Steward Doro believed that group of hunters were refugees fleeing the Chaotic Wasteland.

However, Gervas, who possessed intelligence, guessed that they were likely the hunters who had been hiding on the southeast side of his Storm Domain all along, as mentioned in the reports.

After all, such a large batch of beast hides was something few refugees could produce at once.

They were too poor; as soon as they had a harvest, they immediately exchanged it for food, so how could they have piled it up for so long?

And as for such a group of 'tax evaders,' Gervas was certainly going to root them out.