Levi's chest was burning with rage.
They didn't collect it when the Black Snake Knight was alive, but they started to collect it when he died, right? He even said that he would be exempted from late fees for his father's contribution.
But in the end, his rationality calmed him down.
Regardless of whether these laws were good or evil, after all, laws were born to protect the interests of rulers.
It could only be said that weakness was the greatest sin in this world.
"This is a large sum of money. I can only pay in installments." Levi said.
"Sure, then we'll have to add interest for the delay. In addition to the taxes that Black Water Valley will have to pay in the next ten years, from now on, Black Water Valley will pay 150 gold coins to the church every year. After ten years, the taxes shall be paid normally." The priest said calmly. This was equivalent to the church's usury.
In fact, usury was also a source of income for the church. It was impossible to support the church with only one-tithe taxes and indulgences.
"Alright." Levi agreed. He could not go against the church yet. Even though he would have to pay the church 1500 gold coins in taxes in ten years, he could only accept it. The old man had already calculated everything. He clearly wanted his territory. Levi could only agree temporarily and could not resist. However, who knew what would happen in ten long years?
..
After signing the contract, the priest swaggered away with Knight Glimmer.
Levi narrowed his eyes. The killing intent in his heart spread, but it was suppressed by his own rationality.
Sir Fred sighed.
"Why don't the two of us find an opportunity to kill Abraham in the next two days? With our cooperation, it won't be difficult to kill Knight Glimmer." Sir Fred suddenly said.
"It's useless. If Abraham dies, the church will send other priests. It's meaningless unless we can kill all the Radiant Knights." Levi said.
"Money is not a problem. I'll just hand over 150 gold coins a year. However, one day, I'll take back all this money with interest." After saying that, Levi returned to his cultivation state. He was too weak now. Other than saying harsh words, there was nothing else he could do.
Whether it was the church or the Wild Boar Gang, they were all bullying him because he was weak. After all, Sir Fred was almost fifty years old, and his physical strength was gradually declining. On the other hand, he was still young and had not grown up yet.
Levi's method was to endure.
It was useless to be angry. This was the rule of the world. How could an egg fight a rock head-on?
Ordinary people would not be able to defeat a tiger even if they were extremely angry. How could he, who was not even an official knight, fight against a giant like the church?
"I have the proficiency panel. My future is bright. I can't lose my life because of a moment of impulsiveness."
"The most important thing now is to become an official knight."
After the incident with the church, Levi worked even harder on his cultivation.
He had never worked so hard in his previous life.
Cultivating the Black Snake Breathing Technique, comprehending the Frost Wolf Breathing Technique, forging, managing the territory, and countless things weighed down on Levi, leaving him no time to rest.
Year 1006 of the Holy Brilliance Calendar, the warm month.
This was the most comfortable time of the year in Black Water Valley. It was neither hot nor cold.
It had been two months since Levi started practicing the Frost Wolf Breathing Technique.
Just as Levi was about to give up on the Frost Wolf Breathing Technique, he finished cultivating it as usual. Suddenly, he felt a familiar feeling. It was the same feeling he had when he first learned the Black Snake Breathing Technique.
Levi was ecstatic as he opened his proficiency panel.
Levi --
[Black Snake Breathing Technique: Level 3 (6467/10000)]
[Frost Wolf Breathing Technique: Level 1 (1/1000)]
[Golden Cross Slash: Level 3 (7000/10000)]. Special Effect: Advanced Vibration
[Beast Taming: Level 3 (Maximum). Special Effect: Wild Heart
[Forging: Level 3 (4123/10000)]. Special Effect: Fine Grade Certainty
...
"I finally learned it!"
Levi jumped up in excitement. Once it was recorded in the proficiency panel, the rest would be much easier.
He had not been so excited for a long time because this meant that he could learn the breathing techniques of other bloodlines without the need for other noble bloodlines.
It was just that the time taken to learn it was a little long, but this was not a problem.
As long as it was on his panel, he would cultivate it to the limit sooner or later!
Levi was full of confidence. He suddenly had an idea.
When he had the strength, he would think of a way to collect all the top-notch knight breathing techniques in the world. Whether it was strength type, speed type, endurance type, or defense type, he wanted them all!
In that case, even if he could not become a wizard, he should be able to stand at the top of the world by relying on the accumulation of a large number of breathing techniques.
It even surpassed the achievements of a Legendary Knight! He would become the well-deserved god of the world, the king of the century!
For a moment, the haze of being robbed by the church was swept away.
"Hehe, old dog Abraham, just you wait."
Levi struck while the iron was hot and continued to cultivate Frost Wolf Breathing Technique.
Just like that, the days passed.
At the end of the Month of Flowing Fire, Levi personally led the team, bringing along the armor and weapons he had forged during this period of time, to the Shining Tavern in Icewind City. As promised, he made a deal with the unknown knight, still in the name of White Wolf Geralt.
There were a total of six sets of premium plate armor and nearly 100 knight swords, which were sold for less than 300 gold coins. Unfortunately, he did not meet the knight who sold ambergris. Levi went to the Jade Chamber of Commerce, but they were still out of stock.
In the end, he could only bring the gold coins back to the territory. In an instant, he had 300 gold coins in his account, solving the tight financial crisis in the territory.
However, the iron ore in the territory was completely depleted.
Levi had no choice but to search along Black Water Valley based on the limited knowledge he had in his previous life. After spending a lot of time, he finally found a small exposed iron mine dozens of miles upstream of Black Water River, finally solving the ore crisis.
In order to maintain the supply of iron, many of the militia in the territory were arranged to mine, chop wood, burn charcoal, and make iron. The number of blacksmith apprentices had also increased.
Levi planned to make the forging industry an important pillar industry in his territory while ensuring the stability of basic agricultural production. The ordinary knight swords and shields would be forged by Little Milan and other blacksmith apprentices, and the most important armor would be forged by Levi himself. When Little Milan became an official blacksmith, he would snatch the old blacksmith Toby back, and he would be able to relax a little.
Just like that, from mining, burning charcoal, and smelting, to the final forging, the division of labor was clear. Under such high-efficiency operations, the production of weapons and armor finally increased by a lot.
Of course, Levi would not treat his subjects unfairly. The most outstanding blacksmith apprentices would receive a salary of 1 gold coin a year. This made the apprentices who had never seen gold coins happy and full of energy.
During the Month of the Furnace, the territory had forged four sets of armor and fifty knight swords.
When it was the Month of Wheatfield, it was the season of wheat harvest.
When the wheat harvest was completed, Levi was pleasantly surprised to find that in the first year of the new policy, wheat production had increased by 5%.
This was an unprecedented increase.
As expected, in this era, the best way to mobilize productivity was to motivate the labor force with a full tummy.
Apart from that, Levi's Frost Wolf Breathing Technique was also progressing very quickly. Frost Wolf Breathing Technique also had its own secret medicine, but compared to the Black Snake Secret Medicine, the Frost Wolf Secret Medicine was much simpler. The main ingredient was wolf meat.
There was plenty of wolf meat in Levi's castle, and he ate it every day.
With an ample supply of wolf meat, the Frost Wolf Breathing Technique advanced from level 1 to level 3 in just four months.
The double blessing was that Levi's Black Snake Breathing Technique had also made substantial progress!