The witch thought I am a Demon God-Chapter 574 - 330: The Idol in the Marsh (Two-in-One)_1

With Ivita’s consent, the Hearthstone Witch led the Dark Lady of Light away from their original location, intending to find a secluded spot in Maple Town to sign a pact with Hell.

By the time Kamizuki had brought Commander Kennedy to the alley, Ivita had already resolved matters and brought both the little girl and her mother out of their house.

As for the body of the girl’s father, they voluntarily chose to leave it behind.

After enquiring, Ivita uncovered that the girl’s name is Carut.

In the alley, Ivita whispered to Commander Kennedy, "You handled this well, not bringing soldiers and avoiding panic. I’ve taken care of everything. There is another body, though. Find a couple of people to dispose of it in the wilderness."

Commander Kennedy hesitated, "Sir, shouldn’t we find his family to identify the body and get a priest to hold a funeral?"

Carut’s mother, clutching Carut tightly, let out a cold laugh. "Thanks for your kindness, sir, but some people don’t deserve your sympathy. He abandoned me and our child first. Sworn on the God of All Things, we owe him nothing."

Ivita told Commander Kennedy, "Have Carut go to Wilson, then have Mr. Wilson take her to see Juno Fowall and Alabi."

Just like that, he now had four students.

Yet the dream of these four students advancing to fully-fledged wizards anytime soon felt like nothing more than absurd fantasy.

This mounting pressure left Ivita feeling quite tormented.

"If there’s nothing else, I’ll be taking off," Ivita said to Kamizuki behind him. "Come along with me to Viscount Joseph’s territory and the Death Swamp."

Kamizuki promptly followed.

The Hearthstone Witch had gone to Maple Town to make a pact with the demon, the Iron Mountain Knight was still healing, Wilson was playing host to Governor Rolof of Giant Port, the Ranger he’d recruited earlier and the two knights from the Persopolis Family were still on Volcano Island, while Commander Kennedy, his direct commander of local troops, was needed here. The shortage of reliable assistants left Ivita only able to find a student like Kamizuki to serve as his aide on the trip to Viscount Joseph’s territory.

A thought suddenly struck Ivita’s mind. He turned to address the Dead Cow Wizard, lurking in silence in a corner, "The Hearthstone Witch isn’t at my side at the moment, I need a competent wizard to serve as my aide."

"Stay with me."

The Dead Cow Wizard looked as though he wanted to burst into tears.

He knew he couldn’t escape this fate.

And thus, from a free wizard, he’d transformed into a wage-worker wizard.

The Dead Cow Wizard had no other choice but to follow Ivita and the others, albeit reluctantly.

They first visited Maple Town’s outskirts at the post station stable, selecting three top-class riding horses. As Ivita was a Lord, the stable master didn’t take any money but requested that the Lord return the horses.

Normally, Ivita planned to take nothing from the common folk to avoid leaving himself vulnerable. But after learning that hiring a top-notch riding horse costs as much as five pence per day in Maple Town, he first scolded the landlord for his greed then immediately accepted the stable master’s offer to lend him the riding horses for free.

Outside the post station, the cheerful stable master, Rode, sent off Ivita, Kamizuki, and the Dead Cow Wizard, adding, "We also provide ordinary draft horses, riding horses, and warhorses. For a warhorse, the daily rental fee is 19 pence."

"If you need it, my Lord, we could lend it to you for free. Asking in return only for your patronage in the future."

Rode, the stable master, understood well that conflict is often unavoidable in his business, so it’s crucial to maintain a good relationship with the Lord to avoid losses in the future.

Ivita furrowed his brows, "The prices for the horses here are exorbitant, almost several times higher than the rest of the continent."

Rode, the stable master, instantly realized that Ivita, being from the mainland, wasn’t familiar with their local customs. So, he put on a victimized act, "But sir, we’re on an island. We don’t have local horses, so the prices are high."

"We pay our commercial taxes on time every year."

"A tenth of the income as commercial tax, in addition to the personal security tax and land tax we pay each month."

He was reminding Ivita that his profiting from high prices also led to larger tax revenues for Ivita.

Yet as Rode, the stable master, continued his explanation, he began to look genuinely aggrieved, his eyes glimmering with unshed tears, "On top of that, we have to pay an additional forage tax to purchase feed for the horses. Plus, your town’s former mayor established an extra tax a decade ago—the horse manure tax."

"We have to provide half of the manure produced by our horses at the stable free of charge for the lord’s fields in the town."

"Additionally..."

Ivita, mounted on his horse, fell silent. All this time, he was the true predator, it seemed.

The rampant levying of excessive taxes appeared to be a common problem here due to the island’s occupation by pirates.

Ivita remained silent for several minutes. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

When Rode, the stable master, finally looked up and tentatively asked a few more questions, Ivita replied, "Alright, I’ll return the three top-class riding horses to you tonight."