Don't Burn Them! Even Witches Have Value!

”...Since when did digging the ground require paying taxes?”

”Just now.”

Lynn didn’t blush and his heart didn’t skip a beat. He self-righteously extended his hand forward again.

”Oh, Goddess of Wisdom above, I’m just a scholar conducting academic research. Do I still have to pay taxes for this?”

”Of course.”

”...This is really... Fine.”

The man who called himself a scholar stood up and was just about to rummage through his backpack for something.

Lynn got a clear look at an emblem on his chest—

An open eye looking down over a forest and the earth.

He searched through his memories, but had no clue what it represented.

As a former top-tier noble, this body had some understanding of the academic factions within Milan’s borders.

Even his private tutors had included distinguished elders from several factions.

But not a single emblem in his memory corresponded to the one before his eyes.

Was it an obscure, unknown little faction?

Or was it not local to Milan?

However, the man spoke Milanese very fluently, not like a foreigner at all...

”Then, Your Excellency, I’ll give you three copper coins. May I continue my research?”

Looking at the copper coins in the other party’s hand, the corners of Lynn’s mouth twitched.

Was he dismissing a beggar?

However, Lynn’s original intention wasn’t truly to use this to suddenly levy a massive tax on this foreign scholar.

After swiftly stuffing the coins into his own pocket, he smiled and said:

”It was just a joke. What kind of lord would inexplicably collect a large sum of money from a passing scholar?”

The other party opened his mouth and looked at Lynn’s pocket again, seemingly very much wanting to say something.

But in the end, he still fell silent, only forcing a smile onto his face.

”You said earlier that you were researching the black stones of this place. Why?”

Lynn glanced at the bag by the other party’s feet. Inside were many fine, crushed black stones.

These pitch-black stones had no mining value whatsoever. They were just the unique stones of this region.

They were even related to legends of an ancient magic curse.

Could he be researching curses?

”This... Haha.

Actually, it’s just because this kind of stone only exists here.

And I’m a stone enthusiast. I’m interested in all kinds of stones that can be carved.

So I came here specifically to study these.”

Oh, so that was how it was.

Just an ordinary scholar who loved stones, whose research purpose was solely based on an interest in carving… right?

”The travel expenses for making a special trip here would cost much more than acquiring a piece of black stone through other means, wouldn’t it?

How strange. Why come all the way here?”

Lynn smiled gently, but his eyes narrowed slightly.

”Uh, this...”

The scholar’s gaze darted away slightly.

”But I understand.

It’s because the honored guest not only loves black stones, but is also curious about the scenery of this place.

As such, you came specifically for a tour.”

Lynn picked up the conversational thread he had brought up himself and smilingly provided an explanation.

”Eh? Yes! Right, that’s exactly it.”

The scholar nodded repeatedly.

”Exactly it, my foot. Who would have a broken enough brain to come tour this dump?”

”Ah? This...”

The scholar, having fallen into Lynn’s conversational trap, immediately became embarrassed.

Lynn, who had already seen through the other party’s anomaly, took a step forward and rubbed his chin.

”Listening to your accent, you don’t sound like someone from our Northern Border. Could you be from the Royal Capital?”

”This... Do I have to answer that?”

The other party, having been tricked once already, was clearly much more alert now and refused to answer this question.

”Then you’re a vagrant of unknown origin. As the lord, it’s legal for me to detain you temporarily, and after that, I’ll send you to the district court.”

”Tsk... I’m from the coastal region.”

”I’m from the ’coastal region’ you speak of. We call our hometown the Glorious Imperial Shore District, and Imperial Shore is also the regionally recognized term in Milan. Only someone who has never been there would speak like you do.”

The second round of confrontation also ended in Lynn’s victory, and he pressed his advantage.

”Don’t say that you’re from the Royal Capital again. You don’t have an authentic Royal Capital accent either...

Concealing your identity time and time again, there’s a high probability that you’re not Milanese. I guessed right, didn’t I?”

Lynn narrowed his eyes.

”You know, the Empire has been very strict about supervising outsiders recently. If I suspect you of espionage...

Even if you go through with the process and don’t go to prison, you would still be deported.”

Then, he changed his tone.

”You can rest assured, I’m not someone who understands academics very well, and I’m not interested in your results.

I’m just very curious about what exactly you’re researching...

But don’t try to deceive me. I might not understand academics, but I understand human nature very well.”

The scholar sighed softly.

”I thought I spoke Milanese well enough.”

Actually, he did speak it very well, it was just that he spoke it too well, without a single hint of dialect or accent.

”My name is Theodore, and Your Excellency’s guess is correct.

I’m not Milanese.

To be precise, I’m not from World Island either.”

This world had a super-massive continent known as the World Island.

Incidentally, Milan was a coastal empire located in the northwest of the World Island, possessing relatively strong regional influence.

”I come from the Kingdom of Britannia, and I’m currently traveling the world to realize my subject research.”

Britannia. Lynn recalled this place’s name for a moment.

It was a medium-sized island nation separated from the Milan Empire by a vast sea, composed of four adjacent islands of roughly equal size.

The origins of their faith were identical to the Church of the World Island, but they had deviated during the Great Schism of the Church.

(ED/N: Schism: strong disagreement among members of an organization or group that makes them divide into separate groups)

Although they hadn’t gone so far as to become open heretics, they were still outliers.

Lynn had already had some conflict with the Church because of Elysia’s matter.

In order to avoid acquiring another bad reputation and hindering his future grand development plans, he should immediately expel the other party.

Just as Lynn started calculating in his heart how to report the scholar to make the other party look more like a spy in order to obtain a bounty, Theodore continued speaking.

”The central problem of my research is how to reduce the cost of magitech devices.

To be precise, it’s to reduce the cost of magic ore.”

”...What?”

Alright, there was a change of plans. There was no harm in listening to more of the young scholar’s thoughts.

One of the main reasons why magitech devices developed so slowly was the lack of magic ore.

Currently, the largest known ore vein was located in the Church’s holy land—Mount Malnar. And it was the only one of its kind.

Under the Church’s control, magic ore on the market was extremely scarce, and thus, it couldn’t meet the basic demands for development.

”Ever since I came to Milan, I inadvertently heard the legends of this cursed land.

It’s said that pitch-black stones were born from ancient magic.

In fact, the so-called magic ore is essentially also a crystallization born from magic, although its formation conditions are difficult to investigate.

As such, I made a special trip here to conduct on-site research and investigation of the black stones.”

Speaking up to here, he paused, a hesitant expression appearing on his face.

He seemed to be struggling with whether or not to continue speaking.

In the end, Theodore sighed and still chose to tell the truth.

”Sigh, although Your Excellency’s speech is somewhat... peculiar?

But I believe Your Excellency is a smart person.

My current research progress has already proven that the structure and superficial properties between black stones and traditional magic ore are extremely similar.

But if one wants to consider the effects of both on magnetism, astral energy, and cosmic energy, more research is needed.

Therefore, I need the assistance of Your Excellency, the lord of this place.”

The Three Energies Theory was a popular doctrine in Britannia, which wasn’t quite consistent with the mainstream Elemental Theory...

But the main point wasn’t this.

Lynn only knew one thing right now—

His territory might have a mine!

——————————————————

T/N - We have some more world building in this chapter. Also, I knew it. Black stone is unique to the Blackstone fief, surely it has some undiscovered usage. As for why no one has discovered the black stone’s potential? Well, it seems like the development of the magitech technology is being suppressed by the Church, so black stone’s potential being untapped is believable enough.

In fact, this might be the reason why that priest was eying this territory, and he even hinted at the MC to give up the land to the Church to pay for the territory’s overdue taxes.