The Final Straw IV

Once Kanna lied on Carolyn's bed, Carolyn took out a small jar with ointment from her luggage, opened it, and placed it on the chair near the top of the bed where Kanna's head was.

"Since you can't stay for the night, I'll only use the scent of the ointment. This might hurt at first, but after the initial pain, you'll feel much better. Are you ready?"

"Mmm."

Given that she had already come this far, Kanna allowed Carolyn to do as she wished.

Less than an hour later, Kanna was sleeping soundly. She grunted at first, but over time those grunts became soft moans and then eventually steady breathing. If Carolyn used the full extent of her massage techniques, then Kanna would be sleeping dead like a log, but in her current condition she would likely wake up in another hour or two. Kanna had stiffness in places different from farmers, but it was in no way less severe. For now, Carolyn could keep her active, but eventually no treatment would be able to stop the accumulation of her fatigue.

Carolyn wished she could do something about the economic status quo of Vernum City, but at the end of the day, she was just a village girl. The domain of nobles and taxes was outside her reach.

After waking up, Kanna exclaimed about how refreshed she felt and thanked Carolyn before leaving the inn. They didn't know when the next shopping trip would be, but Carolyn told Kanna to visit her if she needed another massage.

Following a peaceful Altaday, Sunday started with major news.

"Official notice! Official notice! New tax rates have been posted!"

Carolyn was getting ready to head to work, but this news was too important to ignore. She usually got ready early, so she had plenty of time to spare. On a normal day, the streets would be fairly empty at this time, but when Carolyn came down to check the nearest noticeboard, there was already a large crowd passing by outside the inn.

"Did you hear the news, Carol?"

When Carolyn turned towards the voice, she found Mila approaching from behind in a casual blouse and pants with her hair touching the top of her back. This was the first time that Carolyn had ever seen her outside of her work attire, but unfortunately she couldn't take the time to appreciate it.

"Yes. About the tax increase, right?"

"Right. Though we can't predict exactly when it'll happen, the notice is always on a Sunday, so one of us usually heads to the noticeboard in advance. Today is Marco's turn, so we just need to wait for him to return with the news."

"I see. Are the streets usually this crowded when the tax changes are announced?"

"Only recently. When the first of these recent tax hikes was announced, it just caused a minor stir, but once taxes kept increasing, everyone became eager to find out about the latest tax hike. Even those who can't read rush to hear about it from those who can. We can't stop the prices from going up, but we can at least prepare for it once we know by how much."

As she listened to Mila, Carolyn could tell that she was unsettled as well. She didn't show it much in her body language, but her eyes couldn't conceal the turbulence in her heart. This was the first time Carolyn was witnessing the announcement of a tax hike, but she also began feeling nervous because of the atmosphere.

As if choked by their own feelings, no more words were exchanged between the two as they watched the front door. It was hard to feel the passing of time, but both quietly stayed in place until Marco returned through the front door.

""Marco!""

Surprised to hear his name from both of them, Marco flinched, but he knew what they wanted to hear.

"I read the notice. They've finally raised the residency tax."

Carolyn and Mila gasped at the news. After a few days in the city, Carolyn knew about what taxes had been affected and that residency tax was one of the few that had been untouched. As the name suggested, all households of residents had to pay residency tax based on the size of the household. Households that failed to pay the tax had their resident status stripped from them, placing them at a position lower than travelers and slightly better than slaves. They were refused the aid of law enforcement and emergency medical assistance, along with other benefits, but still maintained their freedom. There was only one place inside the city for people like that.

Raising the residency tax was equivalent to increasing the amount of people forced into the slums, so it was rarely done, but it had been rumoured that such an event was inevitable based on the frequent tax increases. According to Marco, sales tax, entry tax and exit tax had also been raised and by higher amounts compared to residency tax, but the difference in impact would still be huge. You could afford to eat less and stay inside the city, but not paying the residency tax could be the deciding factor between life and death.

"What do you think will happen now?" Carolyn asked.

"I've only heard stories about what happens when the residency tax gets raised, so I'm not sure. But, there'll definitely be some trouble."

Mila's response appeared ominous when paired with her grave expression. Since she wasn't a resident, Carolyn wouldn't be directly impacted by the increase in residency tax, but she likely wouldn't be able to evade the indirect effects.

"Marco, we need to talk to Ma. Carol, be careful on your way to work."

"Okay."

Without another moment wasted, Mila dragged her brother away, leaving Carol alone in the passage. As she had grown fond of the family, she hoped they would be able to pull through these difficulties, but all she could do was express her support.

Given the circumstances, Carolyn was also worried about Kanna, but she didn't know where to find her at this time of the day, so she decided to check on her during lunch.

"How am I supposed to pay rent...?"

"What are we gonna do for this month...?"

"It's done. I'm done for..."

"Those damn nobles!"

On the way to work, Carolyn saw many disturbed by the recent news. Most seemed depressed or resigned, others expressed outrage and a few laughed maniacally. It was no surprise given the news, but due to her nature, Carolyn was heavily affected by this atmosphere. She knew how to separate herself from the negative emotions that whirled about, but it was impossible to show her usual smile.

The atmosphere at work was similar, but there were less intense reactions. The Continental Courier Service paid its employees well, so most could still maintain a decent standard of living. Others might view them as privileged, but they knew that they were only a few tax hikes away from poverty.

Carolyn tried not to show her thoughts while working, but Rome could still see through her.

"You alright, Carol?"

"Yes, Mr. Rome. Is there a problem?"

"Not really a problem, but you look worried about something. I'm guessing the tax hike has something to do with it."

"Yes. My apologies. I know I'm not supposed to let personal matters interfere with work."

"No, it's fine. You're a little slower than usual, but I don't see a drop in quality. We can talk about it if you want."

Since he had already picked up on her worries, Carolyn decided to share a portion of them with him.

"Well, thanks to you I should be fine financially, but I'm worried about the inn."

"Oh. Boss Margaret has always been stubborn about raising prices and accepting donations, so I guess they would be in a bad position. Tell you what, I'll pay her a visit sometime this week to see if I can help."

"Really?"

"Of course. The Boss has helped me out a lot after all, most recently with sending you to me. It's the least I could do."

Carolyn appeared glad to hear this news, but in her heart, other worries remained. When it was time for lunch, Carolyn went straight to Green's Housing Supplies, but received shocking news.

"She doesn't work here anymore?"

When she arrived at the store, there was a sale to get rid of excess stock before relocating outside the Amber domain. According to the manager, Kanna had been offered a position at the new location that came with paid transportation for herself, but she refused. After receiving the pay for her work so far, Kanna returned her uniform and left the store.

Carolyn could guess that she refused because of her family, but she didn't know how she would manage going forward. Carolyn also checked Sebas' cafe, but Kanna hadn't shown up there since the day started and he didn't know where she lived, so she had no other leads. Carolyn wanted to keep searching, but she had no idea where to go next and if she aimlessly continued the search, there was a high chance she would end up going over her lunch break. Therefore, after asking Sebas to pass a message to Kanna if she stopped by, Carolyn dragged herself back to work.

After mechanically finishing her work for the rest of the day, Carolyn tried searching for Kanna once more, but her efforts bore no fruit. There was a saying that no news was good news, but not knowing how Kanna was doing ate at Carolyn's heart like a termite on wood.

Carolyn returned to the inn shortly after sunset with a defeated expression, but there was a terrible sight awaiting her.

"Ma!!!"