"Chief, Lindon has come" One of the villager informed Donald at their house.
"About time he came. Joe, Theo you both go and bring all the groups who haven't gone out yet to hunt and place them near this place as insurance in case that sly bastard has other plans." Donald then told Julie to bring the tax collected.
"Uncle Donald, about that Lindon, is he strong?" Alex asked as he calculated the chances to assassinate him on the way to the city. His mother had always said to him that the best enemy is the dead enemy. The more days your enemy lives, the more danger they would pose towards you and also to those around you.
After thinking for some time, Donald said "From what I have heard, he is in the 7th stage of Body Tempering realm. That is the realm where the cultivator can use the Qi accumulated inside of him and send it out of the body to attack and defend. The distance their Qi can travel is different for each cultivator, for some it is 3 to 5 meters or more. This range can be increased through practice or by cultivating to higher realm."
"Uncle Donald, if Lindon is really the mastermind behind all of our troubles, than don't you think it's better to, um, you know kill him so that our family can stay safe." Alex asked after some thinking.
Donald looked weirdly at him but then he sighed and said "It's not easy to kill him. First of all he is stronger than both Jack and I combined. Even after we powered up so much these days, I am still not confidant that both of us can kill him. The most we can do is fight him equally and not get killed. Not to mention he has guards around him when he is outside the city."
"And let's say by chance we kill him then what, we will just offend the City lord if he comes to know that we dared to kill his subordinate. It's not worth the risk and that is why I had sent Jack to Willy Yandell. If he accepts the graded weapon than he will protect us from the pirates and Lindon will have hard time giving us trouble without any valid reason." Donald said while lamenting on his own strength that is still not enough to protect his loved ones.
Alex made up his mind and said "Uncle if I say that I have the means to assassinate Lindon without getting our own identity out in the open, then what will you say"
Donald stopped in his tracks and looked seriously in the eyes of Alex "If you can kill Lindon without anyone knowing than of course I have no problem but that is only if your means won't hurt any family members."
"Alright then listen…"
Donald was speechless after hearing his plan...
…
Meanwhile Lindon's group was making their way up to the village head house.
Lindon who was walking in the front of the group had a heavy frown on his face. As Lindon walked he saw groups of people standing outside in the open waiting for him.
This was the first time Lindon saw Donald but he could guess he was the new village head that Jon had told him about and as he guessed Donald came forward and said "Welcome Mr.Lindon, I am the new village head Donald. You must be tired from travelling, please first come and have lunch with us"
'Did the pirates not attack the village yesterday, why are they not nervous or showing an ounce of fear? If they did then as part of the deal those pirates should have looted everything valuable. But why is he so relaxed. Its looks like the former has happened' thought Lindon.
"No need, I still have to go to two more villages as I intend to reach the city next morning. You bring the tax money for this month" Lindon said while suppressing his anger at those pirates for backing out on their deal but he still has one more move that will be enough for dealing with this guy.
"As you say Mr.Lindon, here this is the tax money for this month that is 50 gold coins." Donald said as he gave him a pouch filled with copper, silver and some gold coins as gold coins were not circulated around villages that much because of their rarity.
Lindon was now sure that those pirates had not done their work. But he still took the pouch in his hand as laughed inside his mind and said "Good but where is the war tax."
Donald frowned and said "War tax?" but then he thought of something which made his body shiver 'These bastards… they have it planned all along.'
Lindon smiled "Well, last month I had informed every village head that Lord has ordered to gather war tax and if someone was not able to give the mentioned amount then that village head would be beheaded in front of everyone as he was not able to complete his responsibility and his family would be sold as slaves. So tell me new village head did the previous head not tell you about this, not that it's my business as I only carry out Lords order given to me. So don't waste my time with your useless excuses tell me straight if can give the war tax or not"
Donald screamed in his mind but he still said with a poker face "How much is the war tax"
"For this village it's 35 gold coins" Lindon said while smiling.
Taking a deep breath, Donald turned and looked at Julie to bring the required money from their hunt.
Lindon also saw this which made his heart to sink. He couldn't believe what he saw next. That beautiful woman came out from the house with a pouch and gave it to Donald who in turn handed it to Lindon.
"Here take this; it is the war tax for this month. Fortunately, we were able hunt some valuable beast these days which made us avoid today's embarrassment. Please tell me if there's anything else that you need." Donald said as he laughed inside his head hysterically and also thanking god for saving them from this danger they would have fallen.
'Dammit, how could this happen, why is there luck so good. You all are nothing more than lowly slaves, why don't you just die as planned. But this is not the end, let's see how you will stay alive when I have my friend in the Lord's army to conscript you and your close friends to the frontier in the upcoming war.' Lindon got very angry inside but he didn't show it on his face.
Lindon felt like his face has been slapped twice, first by those pirates not keeping their end and second when his trap was so easily destroyed.
Without saying anything else, he turned and left with his group not wanting stay one more minute here.
Alex was hiding on a rooftop at a distance where he could still hear everything. He was there so that he can help if that Lindon did something unexpected. 'This guy is definitely a snake, someone who plans in the dark. If something is not done now then the next time we may not be so lucky.' Alex decided to carry out the plan now.
When Donald saw Alex coming back, he told him that they can go at once when Jack arrives.
"Alex after what had happened today I am now very much assured that this guy cannot be left alone or he will bring a great disaster to our family. But guy's like him are not just one or two, we will find many more like him, so the best way to deal with them is to be stronger than them and also have more authority."