Tax evasion would lead to an investigation, and in this era, tax audits were conducted using a very simple method. At the end of every month, the City Hall would spend a month organizing accountants to perform a ten-percent random verification of all tax filings from the previous month. They would check for fluctuations in tax amounts over the last few months and verify if there were discrepancies in the names of the payments. If the fluctuations were significant and the payments were problematic, specialized City Hall officials would pay a visit to conduct an audit or calculate production costs through methods such as inspecting gas meters.
Although it sounded complicated, in reality, only tax-paying entities like detective agencies—where precise business verification was inconvenient—needed to be particularly careful. There were indeed some loopholes for tax evasion, but Shade had no such intentions; after all, he was running a legitimate business.
At the tax department next to Blackstone Security Company, it took half an hour to complete the filing process. This time, Shade declared taxes for the past two months, paying a heavy sum of 7 pounds and 14 shillings.
This was no small expense. If Shade could maintain this level of income every month, his annual taxes would barely reach three digits, exceeding the income level of the vast majority of people in this city.
Looking at it this way, the profession of a detective was actually quite promising.
"Where did you buy this maltose?"
Next to the North District tax office was the Blackstone Security Company. Shade had visited Iluna before, so this wasn't his first visit. The cat on the first floor of the security company remained very enthusiastic toward Shade, but to prevent the cat at home from becoming unhappy, Shade didn't pick it up this time.
Iluna met Shade in the first-floor lounge of the security company. At the time, Shade had a magazine tucked under his left arm and a tin box containing yellow, gel-like maltose in his right hand. The candy was only at the bottom of the box; it wasn't actually very full. The box had no lid and the edges were slightly rusted, with two short wooden sticks, slightly thicker than chopsticks, sticking out of it.
"Also, weren't you going to resolve your commissions? Looking like this now, it's as if you've spent the entire morning idling around."
As she spoke, Iluna eyed Shade's current appearance suspiciously.
"If you pay taxes exceeding a certain amount in one go, they give you some gifts. These candies were given for paying taxes. The gifts include, but are not limited to, two copies of this morning's newspaper, a box of maltose, three raw eggs, a wooden pen holder, a bookmark stamped by the City Hall, and a brass whistle. Oh, the last one was gone, otherwise I would have taken the whistle; that would probably be good for teasing cats," Shade replied.
These gifts were meant to encourage tax payment; anyone paying over five pounds on the spot could choose one item at random. The value of the gifts was not equal; for example, once the candy in Shade's hand was eaten, the square tin box could serve as a pen holder. Thus, he had simply picked a box of candy, and seeing that Iluna was interested, he handed it to her.
"Shade, do you still think I'm a child?"
The seventeen-year-old girl said with a smile, taking the candy and placing it on a nearby table, looking quite pleased.
"Then what about the magazine? Why are you interested in a magazine about ladies' fashion? Is that a tax reward too?"
As she spoke, she reached out to take the magazine tucked under Shade's arm. Shade instinctively wanted to hand it over, but he immediately remembered the contents.
"No!"
He raised his voice slightly
"This is... a book I borrowed from the Black Raven Library! Yes, it cannot be shown to others."
Iluna nodded, though she found it strange that Shade reacted so strongly.
Subsequently, Shade briefly explained his itinerary for the morning and told Iluna about the two matters he had already resolved.
Regarding the dead young ghost, Iluna felt no particular sentiment; such things were not uncommon. As for the peeping incident that followed, Iluna also found it a headache
"We can't interfere in the affairs of ordinary people, but since the other party came to us for a commission, I think the Captain will find a way to solve it. Honestly, money is really hard to earn."
"What methods does your Captain use?"
"That's hard to say; it mainly depends on whether the other party is obedient."
Thus, Shade stopped inquiring, as the remaining matters had nothing to do with him.
Of the three commissions Iluna had given him, only the last one remained: the merchant selling spices in the north of the city.
The other party had no fixed shop but appeared in some square in the North District of Tobesk, much like the small vendors in St. Delan Square.
Since the first two commissions weren't major events, Shade considered the third matter to be an ordinary event as well, treating it as a stroll to clear his mind for the day.
After bidding farewell to Iluna, he took a carriage to his destination at a leisurely pace. Along the way, he chatted with the driver about recent prices. Midsummer was coming to an end, and the prices of cheap fruits like apples remained stable, meaning children from commoner families could occasionally afford them.
Tobesk's Anthem Square was one of the more prosperous squares in the northern part of the city. It was said that the name originated from the early days of the city's establishment to commemorate a certain bishop of the Peace Church who composed a hymn here, though for some reason, it wasn't named after the bishop himself.
The north of Tobesk was the lower city in the conventional sense. Unlike St. Delan Square, which was primarily residential, Anthem Square was the largest trading center in the north. The square was accessible from all directions, surrounded by the Three Cats Inn, Hunter's Bookstore, the "All-Cure" Herbal Shop, Madame Shulan's Dress Shop, and even a blacksmith shop with a sign reading "For the Upper Class," which helped people repair cooking pots and sharpen kitchen knives and scissors. As for the square itself, it was teeming with vendors selling various sundries, fruits, vegetables, and meats, as well as gang loan sharks and various performers.
People from the villages and towns around Tobesk—such as those from the village where Mr. Corps, who provided corpse materials for the Ring-casters, lived—would center their activities around Anthem Square upon entering the city.
The upper class was the upper class; the poor and the rural villagers existed in the same space as them, but they absolutely did not lead the same kind of life.
Despite being in the lower city, Anthem Square was even more bustling than the city center. No noble ladies or fashionable gentlemen were to be seen here; there were only people in patched clothes walking to and fro.
Women wore headscarves and aprons, carrying vegetable baskets as they compared the goods they wished to pick; children, who looked as if they hadn't washed their faces in a long time, ran barefoot and played in the streets, dodging strangers with a hint of fear; crude, burly men in black shoes held liquor bottles, complaining to their companions about their misfortunes in life; and beggars by the walls seemed entirely disconnected from the surrounding noise and the clanging of the blacksmith shop, curled up on straw mats, leaving only when the homeowners shouted curses at them.
This was the Outsider's first time here, and the overwhelming variety of sights left him slightly dazzled. Although the streets and the square were dilapidated, the place was vibrant. Compared to the people living in St. Delan Square, the people living here seemed to exist in a different world entirely.
"So Tobesk has a place like this."
The Outsider's eyes widened as he stood at the edge of the square, turning his head to look at everything around him. The air was a mixture of low-grade tobacco, fermenting food, and rotting fodder, and various sounds rushed into his ears, together forming a complex background noise.
Previously, he had only seen this place on the map left behind by Detective Spyro. On that map, which was filled with dense information, there were even markings on how to find streetwalkers, loan sharks, and entrances to underground casinos in the vicinity.
"If I want to experience more of this world, I should actually spend more time wandering through places like this."
The sense of shock brought by this scene was not any less than the shock the Outsider felt when he first stepped out and saw the streetscapes of a foreign land.
The Life Ring within his soul rotated slowly, and brass-colored Enlightenment elements were accumulating. This indicated that this scene had sparked more insights into civilization for the Outsider, who was still unfamiliar with this world.
Compared to the people of this world, the Outsider possessed a unique advantage in his contemplation and comprehension of civilization. However, this advantage was not the application of literature and fairy tales like that of Dorothy and Princess Lacia, but was more akin to Old John's—a comprehensive understanding of civilization as a whole.
(End of Chapter)