Reborn as a Mind-Reading Empress
Chapter 67: Collectors [Bonus - ]

Chapter 67: Collectors [Bonus Chapter]

[Why is Her Majesty so keen about this? Is she beginning to worry that Valeria might not be as progressive as it seems because of what she saw today? This is just Prudencia. We just conquered Prudencia recently so they are probably still recovering. Add bad leadership and guidance from Gulliver and it led to this. But Valeria is generally a rich empire. She would not see these scenes if we had visited the other dukedoms first.]

Raymond was misunderstanding her once again. She just wanted the problems in Prudencia and Safiro revealed as soon as possible so her mind would be at ease.

Nadia and Odette’s thoughts had been bothering her so she had to get this over and done with today if possible.

"I’ll be fine in just a few more minutes," she assured them. She rested a bit and when she was feeling fine, she decided it was time to depart.

"Then, shall we head to other parts of Prudencia?" Alwin inquired.

[She looks like she wouldn’t back down anyway. Why convince her to stop?] Alwin was resigned to his fate.

"Yes," she agreed quickly since she was very much curious about what other parts of Prudencia would be like if the capital itself was obviously suffering from financial constraints.

Alwin teleported them several times to various parts of Prudencia and Arabella understood why Odette wanted to earn money and help just like her brothers do.

The capital can be said to be doing very well when compared to other parts of Prudencia.

Outside Prudencia’s capital, the people were suffering from food shortages and overwork. It wasn’t a pretty sight.

Further, the last area Alwin teleported them to, a county, was hit by a widespread flood after heavy rains, and the crops were ruined. And due to the diminishing harvests in the previous years, the food shortage became much worse. There were also casualties from the flood.

The people were also visibly thinner due to limiting what they eat despite having to work a lot.

It was already the second major flood in the county since from the information they could gather, it also flooded in spring when the snow and ice melted.

The irrigation and drainage system in the area had problems and it caused the flooding to recur. Plus the water from the river and things got worse when the heavy downpours came and the water levels rose.

[Why wasn’t this reported to Riva? There was even no news or rumors about it. We could have sent help to the victims of the flood and some food supply and medicine for the people.]

Raymond grimaced. He didn’t like the sight he was seeing either. Even Alwin and Rendell were so surprised that they didn’t hear about this.

"Do the other territories in the Empire suffer like this too?" Arabella blurted out before she could stop herself.

She was so taken aback as well. She felt so bad for the people. She had never seen something like this in Lobelius or in her past life. But perhaps that was because she was almost always just in Riva. She didn’t know what was truly happening in the Empire beyond what she knew from reports.

"Definitely not, Your Majesty. We would have done our best to help the people here if we received news about this. But not a single report had reached Riva," Raymond instantly explained.

[We can’t have the Empress thinking that Valeria is a horrible place. Lobelius is a rich land so she must have never encountered this her whole life.]

"I see. Then there must be a problem with Prudencia’s leaders then?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. Since Marquess Gulliver’s family is even occupying the Prudencia residence in Riva, I believe the Marquess had been abusing his powers in other matters as well. We could assume he took over the seat of the ruler for himself," Alwin concluded.

"Yes, I believe that is also the case, Your Majesty. Please rest assured that we will investigate this matter and send help as soon as we can," Raymond seconded.

[If this was reported to Riva, then the attention of the ministers would increase the possibility of the Marquess’ underground activities being revealed so he probably stopped the information from leaking. He probably controlled the information being sent outside Prudencia. No wonder the people looked wary of new faces. The Marquess must have imposed some kind of heavy punishment for even the nobles not to speak up.]

"I see. Please do. These people need help."

Arabella agreed with Raymond’s thoughts. The nobles wouldn’t have just taken it all if Gulliver didn’t put a leash on them. The same is true with Odette and her brothers. They were the Royal Family but they put up with it so there must be a reason.

The people were busy going about with their daily lives when all of a sudden, a bell was rung from the count’s home.

"The collectors are here!!!"

Someone screamed and all of a sudden, everyone was in a panic. All the shops were quickly closed and locked up. And even the people working instantly headed home.

’What’s going on?’

All of their thoughts were filled with fear and having to prepare the tribute.

’The tribute again? So someone comes to collect the tribute?’

"What are you standing around for? Hurry home and hide this lady," one of the elderly ladies passing by said.

"Why?" Arabella asked covering her face.

"You still don’t know? If your family cannot pay the tribute with money, they will take you away. Those who were taken never came back. Hurry home and hide. You have such beautiful hair. They would surely take a liking of you."

"Yes, thank you," Arabella responded.

’Do these collectors just take any lady they like?’

Thanks to the cloak, the elder only saw her hair but she was already given such a warning. Her face was not even revealed. She tried to listen to the noise of the people’s panicked thoughts in her head despite the dizziness it brought.

[We have to hide!]

[We have to pay the tribute as soon as possible so they would leave immediately!]

[I have to warn my daughters!]

[Where are the children?! They have to hide!]

Raymond glanced at the entrance of the county and led her between two shops where there were no people and Alwin teleported them to the nearby forest.

"Your Majesty, let’s stay here and observe in the meantime. This looks fishy and rather alarming," Raymond said and she fully agreed.

They stayed in the forest since it had a clear view of the county.

From there, they saw a group of about twenty men armed with swords enter from the front gate.

The men spread out in pairs of two and began going from house to house. And every time they knocked on a house they were given money.

They didn’t look like bandits or anything but it was clear that they were collecting money from each house for whatever purpose it was.

.

.

.

A/N:

Happy New Year Everyone!!!

Thank you very much for all of your support this year!

Looking forward to your support next year as well.

I hope you enjoy the festivities and welcome the new year happily!

. . .

BTW, as this year ends, here’s an update of this book’s rankings:

*Rank 15 for Win-Win Rankings of New Books.

This was achieved thanks to all who unlocked privilege Chapters. We have 321 unlocks. Thank you so much for your support. I am looking forward to more unlocks in the future. Encouraging everyone to avail of Privilege Chapters. It’s your choice though. Hehe. Thanks much in advance!

*Rank 48 for Collection Rankings.

Thanks much for everyone who added this book to their library! Feel free to share this books to your friends if you liked it. Hehe

*Rank 72 in Golden Rankings.

As of uploading this Chapter, we have 117 Golden Tickets so far. To everyone who gave their Golden Tickets, thank you very much. Unfortunately we have not met the target yet. But no worries as long as I receive more, and the TARGET is reached, I will still MASS RELEASE several Chapters on Valentines Day.

SPECIAL MENTION to Leila, george_mathew, and Sarah_He for the most Golden Tickets contributed! Thank you!

*Rank 489 in Power Ranking for all books in general

This is already high considering I have just began publishing this book recently and there are so many books in WN. This is thanks to everyone who sent Power Stones. Thank you very much for your support! I’m looking forward to more Power Stones next year as well. Let’s aim higher together! Hehe

SPECIAL MENTION to the following for the most Power Stones given: 1st: chris_tine_7938, 2nd: Ashe_Ville, 3rd: sinfull_6478, 4th: april_tempest, 5th: R_I_T_H_U, 6th onwards: Lovely_Sharma_7471, MCdarksaint8220, Tia_Aldahrawy, Faith_Oluwaseyi, and many more. Thank you!

And. . .

*For the MOST CONTRIBUTIONS, SPECIAL MENTION to the following who have the TopFan badges: Gold: elorinczy, Silver: sinful_6478, Bronze: pacheevue

SPECIAL MENTION to the following who closely follow in most contributions as well, ranking from 4th-10th respectively: AnnieMay, Leila11, Ghostofsparta321, Sarah_He, Ajai_11, george_mathew, Jackie_Lock_1707.

Thank you very much for your contributions! Looking forward to more next year!

Thank you very much for all the gifts as well! Looking forward to more next year too. Hehe.

. . .

I may not be able to mention everyone’s names but I am thankful to everyone who’s reading and supporting this book! Thanks much for your support everyone!

I pray more blessings for you next year!

Happy New Year!