The Necromancer's Church Management Manual

Wendy took the money, turned around and went into the inner room. Then came the sound of rummaging through drawers and cabinets, which Gard heard very clearly at the door.

The store manager seemed used to it and explained casually, "Wendy is very dedicated to her work, but since taking over this shop, she has never properly cleared out the inventory. She just throws the goods away as soon as they arrive, and when you really need to find them, you have to search frantically."

He glanced up at Gar, his tone becoming more lively: "Kid, while she's looking for something, why don't you take a look at the intelligence first? I guarantee you'll be interested in what's going on inside."

Garr nodded, opened the intelligence report, temporarily ignoring some minor matters and business opportunities, and focused his attention on the records of major events in Black Twilight City over the past year.

Year 8 of the Shard calendar

On October 27, Zane led his troops into Black Dusk City and officially inherited the territory.

On October 30, Zain immediately led his troops to the Black Gold Society's stronghold to carry out a purge.

On November 3, the Black Gold Society backed down and returned the right to taxation to Zain.

Year 9 of the Shard calendar

On January 4, Zain adjusted its tax rate, increasing it from 20% to 25%.

On April 11, Zain adjusted the tax again, raising it from 25% to 30%.

...

On July 3, a small-scale riot broke out among the patrolling knights' squires, which was quickly suppressed by the regular knights, who crippled the rioters.

On August 7, the large chamber of commerce, the Rose Guild, announced its withdrawal from the Black Twilight City market.

...

On November 17, Zain imposed another tax increase, raising it from 35% to 40%.

From the third line onwards, Garr began to lose his composure.

Hey bro? You're in an unfamiliar place, why don't you stabilize the situation first instead of going head-to-head with the local bullies?

And they even managed to get the black money to relinquish power?

"How about that, are you surprised?" The shopkeeper saw Garr's astonishment at a glance and sneered, "A force that the former earl wouldn't dare to touch, your brother came and found that the territory's finances couldn't allocate a single penny, so he flipped the table and led these dozens of guards straight to the Black Gold Society's headquarters to cause trouble."

"Then why did Zane later adjust taxes to such an outrageous level?" Gal was even more puzzled as to why he would raise taxes by 20% in just one year. "The key is that he also successfully made the Black Gold Society back down, didn't he?"

"Oh, he was lured into gambling by the owner of Melison and is now drowning in debt," the shopkeeper said with a mocking tone.

Huh? Could it be that the reason for this crazy increase in taxes is because Zain has become addicted to gambling?

That's...that's not surprising.

Andrew had also been addicted to gambling before, and lost tens of thousands of gold coins in one go.

The immense pressure forced him to travel to the capital and steal from the royal treasury in order to pay off his debts.

Zain is probably in the same situation, except he's raising money by increasing taxes.

Gar was speechless for a moment. It's true what they say, birds of a feather flock together. These two brothers are a real comedian.

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Finally, after rummaging through everything, Wendy took out the summoning scroll containing the Necromancer's Artisan and placed it on the table.

"Welcome back next time." Then, she acted as if to see her out, plopped back down, and went back to drawing her magic circle.

The shop manager looked at Gal and shrugged: "Do you need anything else? If not, I'm going back to the shop too."

Garr picked up the magic circle scroll, and after confirming that he had obtained everything he needed for the trip, he left Wendy's shop.

However, he didn't rush to leave the gray area. Instead, he wandered around for a while and finally stopped in front of the Black Gold Casino.

His body instinctively stirred with excitement, an urgent urge to rush into the casino, but Gal's rationality far outweighed this instinct, and he didn't take a single step forward.

Speaking of which, Andrew gambled here, didn't he? Sure enough, gambling dens are never poor. Even though it's an underground gambling den with a small flow of people, its decoration is more luxurious than the War Temple in Gussenburg.

Just as Garr was sighing, the casino doors opened, and several men in fitted butler's uniforms led a masked man to the front.

The masked man was wearing almost nothing but his undergarments. He was thrown to the ground by the people from the gambling den, landing face down with his buttocks in the air.

One of the butlers walked up to the masked man, half-squatting down. A sharp dagger, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, was in his hand. It stood out coldly and sharply in the dim gray light. He licked the dagger, his tone carrying a subtle threat:

"You have three thousand dragon-patterned gold coins to pay back within a month, or your fingers might be in danger when we come to collect the debt!"

As he spoke, he swung the short knife in his hand forcefully, embedding it in the floor between the masked man's fingers.

"You should know that Mr. Melison doesn't owe you anything."

The masked man stared in horror at the short knife that was only millimeters away from his fingers. He suddenly felt a chill run down his spine, and his whole body began to tremble.

"I...I know the rules. I'll go back and raise the money now. Please let me go!"

"Get out of here!"

After receiving a satisfactory reply, the butler stood up, went behind the masked man, and kicked him mercilessly in the buttocks.

The masked man rolled over to Garl's side with a thud, rubbing his buttocks with a hissing sound. After a few twitches, he got up from the ground and dusted himself off.

Then he noticed the man in black robes standing to the side.

He was already in a bad mood. He had just raided a baron's territory and only got a hundred gold coins. So he rushed to the gambling den that night to try and get revenge.

As it turned out, his luck with gambling was really bad today. In no time, the hundred gold coins seemed to have grown legs and disappeared into someone else's pocket. He was so angry that he choked on his water. In his anger, he borrowed several thousand gold coins to continue gambling, but he lost them all and was kicked out of the gambling den.

He saw the man in black robes looking at him, and suddenly the anger he had felt in the gambling den inexplicably rose again.

Damn it, I can't afford to mess with the Black Gold Society, how dare you look at me like that, you little Karami?

Already annoyed, he decided to teach the man in black a lesson:

"What are you looking at! Haven't you ever seen this before..."

Then, he froze. In the dim light, the face hidden under the black robe was faintly visible. It was a face that was both familiar and unfamiliar, so familiar that the masked man's breath caught in his throat.

Time seemed to rewind to nine years ago, and those eerie pale gold eyes almost filled his heart with fear.

He swallowed hard, his mouth slightly open, and blurted out the identity of the man in black:

"Ann...Brother Andrew?"

Gar glanced at the hairy black mole on the masked man's lip, and at the pair of downcast yet arrogant eyes beneath the mask, as well as the way the man addressed him.

This made it hard for him to believe that the person in front of him was his foolish younger brother.

"Zane, long time no see. You don't seem to be doing very well."