CHAPTER 411: CHAPTER 350: NIGHT RAID (PART 2)

"　　*As an ordinary person with no abnormalities, upon hearing his own ’meow,’ the sentinel from the Gold Oriole family fell under the control of the ’Nightmare Invader.’ Under its influence, he directly ’dreamed’ of a kitten.*

*This dream cat, which invaded reality by leveraging his soul, easily knocked unconscious everyone in the duty room and left a pile of cat footprints in the house.*

*When the main bureau sent people to investigate, if the investigator was not careful, as long as the memory of this sentinel matched, the direction of the investigation would be directly misled, or even steered towards some ’cat transformation’ Anomalous Object.*

*Even if no result was found at the end, and it did end up back at him, with this nonexistent target, his suspicion would be indirectly washed away somewhat. This was his second method to elude suspicion, following the alibi provided by the coachman.*

*And as the saying goes, where there is a first and a second, there will be a third and a fourth. As for his third backup plan...*

"　　*Time to work!*

*After fiddling with his button and bringing out the Black Goat, Leon pointed to the still brightly lit main building in the distance, and said calmly,*

"　　*Come! Help me find someone!*

"　　...

"　　"Crackling..."

*Even though it was past midnight and dawn was creeping on the horizon, there were still people who had not entered deep sleep and were busy at their desks.*

*After filling more than half a sheet of stationery with elaborate, flowery script, a tired-looking man folded the paper in half and handed it to the secretary standing by the side of the desk.*

"　　*Go, seal the letter and stamp it. Tomorrow, deliver it along with my warrant to the Mining Guild!*

"　　"Understood."

*After carefully securing the letter handed over by the man and processing it as requested, the equally weary-looking secretary straightened up and asked,*

"　　Mr. Leonard *sir, after your letter is delivered, do we continue to maintain ties with the Mining Guild as we did last time, or...?*

"　　*Don’t bother maintaining ties, they’re of no more value.*

*After pulling another document from the pile on the desk and glancing at its signed name at the bottom, the man named Leonard frowned and said,*

"　　*Earlier, I fully supported the Mining Guild’s request to use a tax reduction policy to entice them to mine in Merino County. Merino County’s spice orchards are our Kuco Family’s biggest competitors.*

"　　*Since both mining and spice cultivation require a lot of water, as soon as the mines open in Merino County, they’ll start competing for water with a few major spice orchards there. This will suppress our competitors and also reduce the Kingdom’s spice production, driving up spice prices.*

"　　*This was the real reason I supported the Mining Guild, not because those miserable miners themselves have any value. Now that they are holding warrants and going off to mine, we need not waste more effort on them.*

" *Ah, understood!*

*Having noted down Leonard Marquis’ instructions, the secretary hesitated briefly before speaking with some hesitation,*

"　　*But those miners from the Mining Guild have already clashed several times with people from Merino County because of this matter, resulting in seventy or eighty deaths. If it escalates...*

"　　*Then let them go to the Princess of Ashito. She is the one who encouraged the policies of the Energy Guild, so naturally, she should take responsibility.*

"　　*Moreover, she always wanted to bypass the Treasury and Parliament to find a source of revenue that doesn’t require approval to fill the army’s funding pit. These citizen-formed industrial guilds are the ones who most support her and even donated enough to arm two regiments.*

"　　*If a few more people die this time, it might awaken those ignorant fools to the fact that the game between the royal family and the Treasury is not something they have the right to interfere in. It might even be a good thing.*

"　　*And who placed this letter on my desk?*

*After skimming through the earnest petition letter, Leonard’s brow furrowed tightly, and he said with displeasure,*

"　　*The Weavers’ Guild actually submitted a petition, crying to me that they can’t make a living and hope to get some tax relief... If their taxes are reduced, what about this year’s municipal needs? The greenery in the Church District and the Arcades should have been renewed last year; if we don’t collect their taxes, where will I find the money?*

"　　*Well, the Weavers’ Guild there is indeed having some difficulty...*

*After flipping through the corresponding materials, the secretary cautiously reminded,*

"　　*Six years ago, after the loss, the Kingdom lost two maritime trade routes, including the one for transporting textiles, making it difficult to sell many things. This led to the closure of several weaving workshops.*

"　　*Although the northbound land route, co-managed with your... with that family, can still transport textiles, the Kingdom of Ashito heavily taxes them, resulting in very low profits. So, they may indeed be struggling a bit...*

"　　*Why are you talking so much today?*

*Leonard squinted slightly, a cold light in his eyes, looking at his secretary with a menacing demeanor,*

"　　*Did the Weavers’ Guild give you money?*

"　　*They did, a bit... But these facts are also true.*

*The secretary chuckled awkwardly, then spoke,*

"　　*You know, the Weavers’ Guild is made up of many small and medium workshops, which indeed can’t compare with wealthy big merchants. Even a slight change can easily topple them...*

"　　*Then let them bear it!*

*Leonard snorted and said,*

"　　*I don’t care about you taking money, but tax reduction is absolutely out of the question!*

"