The Villainess That Was Once A VRMMO player - CH 67.4

There were several hundred people in the city who picked up the treasure and boasted about it to those who could not pick it up at bars and other places, causing them to be envied. They were sent to the mines to make up for the lost treasure.

That much is an issue, but it’s not a major one. As long as the treasure was made up for, the 10% tax rate increase would end in a few years.

However, one person’s action could cause a small issue to have a significant impact on the kingdom.

“Yes, leave it to me!”

A fluffy blonde girl replied cheerfully with a beaming smile.

It all started a few months ago during the Dauphin’s expedition to the Devil’s Forest. No, there had been several areas in the country where the springs had dried up more than a decade ago, reducing the bounty of the forest and making it difficult for crops to grow, but this was not seen as a major problem since crops were growing well around the royal capital.

According to the magicians and spirit users who investigated the situation, the number of spirits decreased in the affected areas, while the number of spirits increased in the areas surrounding the royal capital.

The latest problem was that the number of spirits in the area leading from the Royal Capital to the Demon Forest has been decreasing to an unusual degree, and crops have begun to wither in some areas due to the decrease.

In response to the recommendation of the crown prince and his entourage, the order was given to Alice, the [Beloved Child of The Spirits] and daughter of the baroness, to restore the spirit power.

“Spirits, heal the land in this area!”

When Alice went to the land and called out to the spirits, water gushed from the dry wells, the withered crops grew fresh leaves, and the inhabitants began to praise Alice.

“Let’s go look around the rest of the country anyway! I’ll give you a discount now!”

The reward for one location was three large gold coins. The lords of each region added more to the price to get her there first, since Alice’s visit would fertilize even the ordinary land.

But while the land seemed to be temporarily enriched, over time the springs and wells dried up again, and the forest lands lost even more of their vitality.

The spirit users were troubled by the complete absence of spirits from the land, and the farmers asked their lords to lower their taxes because they could no longer grow crops, but the lords refused, forcing the people to pay even heavier taxes to finance the return of the [Beloved Child of The Spirits].

The people who suffered the most were the subhumans who still remained in the area.

Although the subhumans had already fled the area around the capital, there were still many subhumans left in rural and remote areas. They used magic to stop disasters, made weapons and armor as well as high-quality ironware necessary for daily life, and used their strong bodies to do hard work that could not be handled by humans.

Even if their lives were somewhat difficult, they remained in this country because they believed that their disappearance would cause trouble for the human commoners.

However, the nobles and lords brought up the order to capture the subhumans, which had been issued before by the government, and forced the subhumans to pay a tax nearly double that of humans.

The tax rate was 90%. Those who could not pay were captured, and their property confiscated, and young men and women were sold into slavery to the nobility.

Most of the subhumans left the city at night with their families, and some lost their lives fighting to save their fellow slaves.

With the disappearance of the subhuman population, part of the economy began to stagnate, and in a country where only the royal capital prospered, people’s dissatisfaction swelled, and the country began to be greatly burdened by the darkness.