I Don't Agree to the Terms-Chapter 1054 - 554: Opportunities—It’s Enough to Have Them, Don’t Be Too Picky

"Then, I'm afraid it was the Devil's Envoy who deceived you. Look around, is there any place to make a fire?" Wu Mu said solemnly.

"Of course, it's the stove..." Isso responded instinctively but quickly realized that there was no stove in this cabin.

He clearly remembered that the stove was made of iron.

This was a very unreasonable place; even if this cabin was abandoned, the original owner wouldn't leave an iron stove here.

In the eyes of commoners, an iron stove is a luxury, as iron has always been a scarce commodity.

"The Devil's Envoy is truly terrifying, making me feel a false warmth." Isso was also shaken, lucky to have escaped swiftly, or he might have perished in the cold. It was indeed the Lord and the Lord's protection that allowed him to escape death at the hands of the Devil's Envoy.

"That's right, you should thank the Lord. Without him, you'd be a corpse inside the cabin by now." As Korsi's retainer, Wu Mu's loyalty was evident.

"We've found nothing; we must quickly return and report to the Lord."

Wu Mu knew that this time a significant action was likely to be taken. He had heard of matters involving the Devil's Bloodline but never within the Thorny Lion Territory.

This time, the situation was more serious than ever; it was not the Devil's Bloodline appearing near the territory but a Devil's Envoy, far more terrifying than the Devil's Bloodline.

He had heard that a Devil's Bloodline user could release a giant fireball, burning a horse alive.

But afterwards, the fallen one with the Devil's Bloodline also turned into a dried corpse in an instant, apparently punished by the Lord of Dawn for using the Devil's Bloodline, which caused their death.

At that time, the story spread widely.

"Yes, the wilderness is too dangerous, and if there are other Devil's Envoys, we cannot cope." At this moment, Isso was also very afraid.

He secretly regretted it; he should not have sold out Gu Shanhai.

But thinking again, if he had not exposed the Devil's Envoy, how could he have won the Lord's forgiveness and become a tax officer in the Thorny Lion Territory?

This was a blessing in disguise.

Wu Mu glanced at Isso, actually holding contempt for him. If not for Korsi's orders, how could he have spoken to this mere commoner?

He even heard that Korsi planned to promote this commoner to a tax officer, which was utterly ridiculous. He didn't know what this commoner offered the Lord to earn such an honor.

It's known that the children of nobility are nobility, the children of knights are knights, and the children of tax officers are tax officers. A commoner like Isso should remain a commoner for life, no matter his descendants; it's surprising he's managing to rise.

'Hmph, surely he thinks he's no longer a commoner after receiving the Lord's honor.'

'A commoner who can't even count properly, how could he possibly fit to be a tax officer.'

In his heart, Wu Mu despised Isso greatly. Even with the Lord's honor of becoming a tax officer, he would never integrate into their class, only to be scorned as a "mud-legged," continually isolated and oppressed, eventually losing his position.

Let this commoner understand what it means to be beneath them.

Wu Mu never expressed these thoughts, hiding them deeply, and even if wanting to suppress, he would not act directly. As a house retainer of the Lord, second only to the Lord and the Lord's Wife, and below the lord's offspring, he would not dirty his hands dealing with Isso personally.

He would even behave amiably in front of Isso, showing a good-natured appearance, demonstrating to share a broad mind like the Lord's.

Handling Isso's situation was naturally a task for others to undertake.

Isso never considered such matters, and naturally, he couldn't think of it.

Being illiterate and young, how could he understand these sordid dealings, let alone imagine targeting due to such matters?

Now, his mind was filled with the awe-inspiring scene of becoming a tax officer.

He had seen tax officers, leading people with a show of force collecting taxes door to door, as part of the upper tier.

"Alright, stop overthinking, we need to start moving." Wu Mu said, mounting his horse and galloping away with the other knights.

Isso hurriedly chased after them on foot, panting, while the knights showed no intention of waiting for him.

Arriving on foot, naturally, he would return the same way.

As a commoner, he couldn't possibly afford to keep a horse, and even if he could, he wasn't allowed; only the Lord could own horses.

'When I become a tax officer, maybe the Lord will grant me a horse, then I could proudly ride back to the countryside; that would be quite the sight.' Isso thought, using it as motivation.

Horses were owned by the Lord, allocated for use by high-ranking members of the territory. Wu Mu's horse wasn't even his own, but the Lord's. Some tax officers would also receive a horse as a symbol of status.

Thinking this far ahead, Isso already felt troubled.

'If I have a horse, how will I maintain it? My home is too small, it can't house a horse, and I've heard that feeding a horse is expensive, I couldn't afford it.'

'Then I better decline; even without a horse, I can still be impressive as a tax officer.'

Ultimately, Isso resolved that if the Lord insisted on giving him a horse, he would refuse it. Otherwise, if he couldn't afford to maintain it and the horse died or got sick, the Lord would surely thrash him.

Indeed, although the horse belonged to the Lord, the adoptee would bear all expenses during the care process, and any incident with the horse would lead to punishment.

Other knights and tax officer families, inheriting their professions over generations, had accumulated wealth, easily maintaining a horse and even offsetting penalties with wealth if a horse incident occurred.

Isso had none of these things.

With these thoughts swirling, he realized the knights on their horses were gradually disappearing from his view.

He couldn't possibly outrun well-trained horses, more nourished than he, and he had already run a round coming here. Without restoring his strength, Wu Mu had already finished the investigation, ready to return, so by now, he was losing energy.

Slowing down, he surely couldn't keep up with the knights' pace.

This left him with an undeniable sense of bitterness in his heart.

The wilderness was rife with beasts that could claim his life, not to mention the roaming Devil's Envoys; encountering one would certainly be his end.

Lost in his thoughts, suddenly his foot hit an empty spot, and he tumbled downwards.

His head knocked against a stone, and before pain could register, his consciousness faded to black, and he fainted.

When he awoke, Isso felt a throbbing pain at the back of his head, with only darkness ahead.

"Is this some kind of pit?" Thankfully, Isso could see the faint light from above.

The good news was the possibility of exiting; the bad news was his injuries seemed severe, he could smell the blood on him, though it had already dried.

"Moreover, what is this thing?"

By the faint light, Isso discovered a bracelet on his hand, vaguely appearing green.

He couldn't quite grasp what it was.

However, he knew he didn't originally have this bracelet; it must have appeared after he fell into the pit and lost consciousness for unknown reasons.

"Could it be a magical curse?" Isso was frightened by his own conjecture.