Chapter 284: Robbers in the Delusional Land

"Two and a half tons?!" Ron looked at the corpse on the ground, then at the Elf’s expression to make sure she wasn’t kidding. "For this size? Are their bones made of iron?"

"No, but some of the more warlike Centaur Tribes would claim their bones are made of swords and their hearts are forged from iron," Jilannis shrugged. "Don’t confuse this corpse with the example I’m talking about. This centaur is barely two meters tall. The one the empire captured was much taller and stronger."

"To capture it alive, my subordinates had to use nearly twenty times the calculated dose of anesthetic to knock it out. According to the subordinate I had in charge of seducing it into compliance, she had the centaur completely smitten. It drank cup after cup of drugged wine like it was nothing. In the end, she was practically adding a few drops of wine to a cup of powder, and he still ’downed it in one gulp’ and said the wine was exquisite."

"And you still killed him in the end?"

"As a ’test animal,’ we actually treated it very well. We were even planning to resurrect it after the research project was over," the Elf Grand Mage recalled. "But when the Priest from the logistics department tried to revive it, it firmly refused the call of the living world."

"We could only respect its wishes and bury it in a dedicated cemetery."

"Probably afraid you’d schedule another round of experiments for it..." Ron muttered, turning to Sera. "Alright, let’s talk about this one. Sera, any conclusions?"

"No," the barbarian stood up. "Only clues. This was an adult centaur, and it belonged to a tribe. The tracks and hoofprints around here that haven’t been completely covered up can confirm my theory."

Sera led Ron and the others on a few laps around the area. Sure enough, a set of messy hoofprints disappeared into the jungle in another direction. "He worked as some kind of Hunter," she said, "but we didn’t find his main weapon. We only saw some arrows and a broken bow."

"My guess is they migrated here from the Gobi Desert over by Fromm, ran into some kind of opponent, and fled in disarray after failing to win, leaving this corpse behind."

"Before I came to Fromm, I spent some time wandering the Gobi Desert with the rest of the Ocher Tribe. There were definitely centaurs active in that area. But I can’t be sure if he was one of them."

"You mentioned an opponent. Can you determine what kind of creature fought the centaur?" Victoria asked.

"Unfortunately, no," Sera kicked the corpse on the ground. "But it probably wasn’t a wild animal. This ’scar’ on its stomach was definitely made by some kind of sharp weapon."

"Don’t you have a way to make the dead talk? Why not just ask him directly?"

Victoria raised her hand, but quickly lowered it again. "I can’t. I’m unable to awaken him—the Magic failed."

"Why?" Now it was Jilannis’s turn to be curious. "I recall that Communication with the Dead only requires the corpse to have a mouth and not be one of the Undead Creatures. This body seems to meet the conditions perfectly."

"Besides what you mentioned, there’s one more requirement," the Priest’s expression was grim as she looked at Ron. "The corpse has been the target of this Magic within the last ten days. Just recently, another Caster has already called upon this centaur’s corpse!"

"It must have been the ones who defeated the centaurs!" Sera slapped her thigh. "Ron, you have to go back quickly and tell Klade and the others to heighten their security! It’s very likely these people haven’t gone far!"

"Then you, Delaford, and Seymour Quest’s group will coordinate with the goblins and root them out as soon as possible!" Ron nodded, ready to act immediately. "Jilannis, do you have any reconnaissance Magic? Can you help us out in that regard?"

"A trivial matter, but I don’t know who you’re looking for, and preparing the Magic again takes time," the Grand Mage thought for a moment. "How about this? Why don’t I use another method—if we can find the other centaurs, won’t we be able to find out what happened here all the same?"

"But I am a bit curious. There’s nothing particularly strange about this, is there? Centaurs themselves are a scattered and arrogant species. It’s perfectly normal for them to have friction with other races during their migration."

"Besides, this isn’t even within the borders of your village or territory. If a great Lord has to manage even this sort of thing, you’ll work yourself to death."

"...You were a Lord for a while, too. When bandits appeared near your territory, did you not deal with them at all?"

"Of course not," Jilannis said with shocking matter-of-factness. "As long as they paid enough taxes to the city-state and guaranteed my research funding, I couldn’t be bothered with what they did."

"T-Taxes?" It wasn’t just the people present who were stunned to hear that word; even the goblins who could understand the Common Language were frozen in place.

"Of course. Murder and robbery—how could I let them get away with tax evasion on that kind of no-cost business?" Jilannis seemed extremely pleased with this ’virtuous policy’ of hers. "This was a measure that not even the empire had implemented at the time. I invented it—pretty genius, right?"

"Highwaymen had to pay taxes. Whichever region the crime occurred in, I’d have the taxes collected from the robbers and bandits in that area. A portion was returned to the person who reported the crime as ’recovered’ stolen goods, and the rest was used to keep the city-state running or to fund my research."

"Uh, how did you ensure those villains would pay taxes to you?" Victoria found this completely incomprehensible. "I’m sure their willingness wasn’t very high, right?"

"Of course not. So when my subordinates couldn’t collect the taxes, and might even get killed in the attempt, it was my turn to step in personally," Jilannis twitched the lion head on her shoulder. "A small demonstration of my power, and they would naturally work themselves to the bone for me."

"I didn’t even need to kill anyone to make an example of them—that would have reduced their efficiency."

"But when we were traveling, it seems we didn’t see any bandits, did we?" Ron looked at his companions and the goblins, who all gave affirmative replies—the round trip had been very peaceful.

"I think even bandits have brains," the Elf glanced back, but Klade’s chariot was already completely out of sight. "Even those Civil Servants in Carolina would be scared of your group. You think those bandits would dare to have designs on you?"

"But of course, you’re the Lord now, so I’ll play by your rules," Jilannis extended her left hand, and the phantom image of a magpie quickly appeared in her palm. "Since you’re unwilling to collect taxes from them, as per our agreement, I will help you find both sides of the conflict."

"However, unless it’s absolutely necessary, I hope you won’t need me to use lethal force, alright?"