Bounty Mercenary Group
Chapter 50 - 50 50 Settling Accounts

50: Chapter 50: Settling Accounts 50: Chapter 50: Settling Accounts It turned out that once everything had become an established fact, no arithmetic algorithm could alter the result.

If the result had changed, there was only one possibility: that an error had occurred in the calculation process.

Violet wracked her brain, dumbly sat on her chair and stared at the result before her.

It aligned perfectly with what the elderly housekeeper had said.

She looked out the window and murmured to herself, questioning how could this be happening.

However, the focus of the elderly housekeeper and Kars was entirely different from Violet’s worries.

They watched Violet, right beside her, as she used symbols belonging to another world, seemingly writing a magic spell, and came up with the conclusion.

This process was like witnessing an unbelievable magic trick happening right before their eyes.

They were so astonished that they couldn’t speak.

It was only after the elderly housekeeper heard Violet’s murmuring did he cough and start to explain.

If they explained the results to Violet before a certain conclusion was reached, it would seem like a forced explanation.

But after Violet calculated the same result using her unique method, which they could not comprehend, it was the right time to explain.

“I believe team leader Violet has reached the answer.” He spoke first, affirming Violet’s calculation results, seemingly meaningless at first.

This made Violet come back to her senses and realize what she was doing.

She hung her head, looking at the answers before her.

Each piece of data was consistent.

If they were grossly falsifying accounts…no, they didn’t need to.

Then where was the problem?

Violet completely ignored the elderly housekeeper, staring at the answer she’d written on the scratch paper, her brow furrowed.

Her chilling response had created a heavy atmosphere briefly.

This left the elderly housekeeper a bit at a loss.

The explanation that he wanted to give had reached the tip of his tongue, but he couldn’t get the words out.

What was the reason?

Violet, lost in deep thought, paid no attention to the suddenly awkward atmosphere around her.

She kept examining the figures listed on the paper over and over again, frowning and lost in thought.

Just then, a huge number caught her attention, making her realize something was amiss.

That number was the security tax that the mercenaries had to pay after hunting magical beasts!

She pointed at the amount of gold coins, equivalent to one third of the bounty for a mission, and asked, “Why, after hunting magical beasts, do we have to pay such a heavy security tax?”

Her abrupt question stunned the elderly housekeeper for a moment.

However, he recovered quickly as this was exactly the issue he wanted to bring up.

“Team Leader Violet’s wisdom is truly admirable.” This time, after the courtesy formalities, he didn’t indulge in any redundant talk and continued.

“In the Empire, there was once a rebellion by mercenaries, who amassed a large sum of gold coins by hunting in the Demon Beast Mountain Range.”

“With the money, they nearly bribed their way into the Imperial City as they managed to bribe the empire’s armies.

As a result of this event, Francis the Twelfth ordered the collection of this tax.”

At this point, he paused for a moment, glancing at Violet, who commanded a powerful armament.

The elderly housekeeper didn’t want his words to lead to any disastrous consequences.

However, he noticed that Violet’s expression remained unchanged.

At this point, he felt relieved because some things seemed to fall into place now.

To avoid Violet noticing his pause for a few seconds, he continued speaking as if he were merely resting after a lengthy talk.

“Likewise, to prevent potential rebellions from large mercenary groups, so each mercenary in such a group had to pay an even higher security tax.”

Finally, Violet had managed to untangle her thoughts amongst the complex numbers, her eyebrows relaxed.

According to the housekeeper, the reason her expenditure was outpacing her income was all because of this damn security tax.

This wasn’t being paid by the mercenary group.

Instead, every single mercenary had to pay separately.

This method bypassed the problem of a mercenary group concealing its numbers and secretly expanding.

Even if Violet separated her subordinates to establish a new mercenary group, they would still face heavy tax after accepting a mission.

Comparatively speaking, unless Violet broke down her subordinates into the size they were when they first joined the mercenary group, she would always face a financial deficit.

Violet knew that she couldn’t do that, just like she couldn’t discharge her mercenaries.

Who would destroy a weapon just because it is too sharp?

Violet clearly understood that the future of Black Crow Castle required a fighting capacity capable of competing with regular armies in order to protect her base.

Therefore, an above-board method to reduce tax expenditure was impossible.

So, what remained was only one option, to play dirty!

Although as a liberal arts student, Violet was not well-versed in these taxes and levies but she knew that if she was facing an authoritarian empire, there were countless methods to deal with it.

Thinking of this, even she didn’t realize the dangerous gleam that appeared in her eyes.

This gaze caught the elderly housekeeper’s attention and his body became rigid.

The woman in front of him was no ordinary person.

That kind of gaze, the experienced housekeeper had only seen it in the eyes of generals who commanded massacres!

He had underestimated her.

How could she possibly be content with a meager annual income of a mere million gold coins from a few small towns around?

She is someone who might bring a bloody storm.

Thinking of this, the housekeeper could no longer control his expression, which was usually as stoic as an iceberg, his face darkened substantially.

Violet put down the pen in her hand and asked, “What if I don’t pay this money?”

The housekeeper gave an honest answer, “Then this shortfall would be reported to the mayor by the tax officer.”

“Then the mayor conveys it to their superiors.

If rebellion is suspected, would the army suppress the rebellious mercenary group?”

Violet cut off his speech, appoinding the completion.

“Exactly,” he affirmed.

Getting the affirmative response, Violet scoffed, “But what if I were to have the mayor as a guest here at the castle, then they won’t…

have time to send a message, right?”

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