Eight days have passed, Ikku decided to help a lord collect taxes from a small farming village up north. Anne seems pleased by his choice. Vera speaks up. "Can I come along?"

The group head out to the small farming village. Apparently, the Lord has owned the village for some time but rarely visits it. 

As they near the farm, they notice a group of thugs blocking the road. One puts out his hand to have them stop.

Ikku decide to stop and speak to the group.

"Well, well…what do we have here?" says the thug who had his hand out.

"Maybe they're merchants," whispers another thug nearby.

The first thug appears to be the leader, and he tells the other thug to be quiet. Then he asks Ikku what your business is here.

"We've been sent to collect taxes by the Lord of this village.", said IKKU.

"There is no Lord of this village…and any taxes are collected by us…for protection, of course," says the head thug.

He looks over at his men, who are heavily armed. "In fact…I think you owe us a tax for the safe passage we provided you on this road."

"What are you talking about?", said Vera.

The head thug replies, "We offer protection for this village and the surrounding area. You know…to prevent bandits from robbing you."

One of the thugs laughs.

"There is no Lord of this village…and any taxes are collected by us…for protection, of course," says the head thug.

He looks over at his men, who are heavily armed. "In fact…I think you owe us a tax for the safe passage we provided you on this road."

Ikku shouts, "We aren't paying you any tax!"

"Well then…I guess you'll just have to pay in another way," the thug says, smiling.

Everyone attacks the bandits...

Ikku fight back and forth with the bandits, Arlo and Anne manages to kill one of them, and Vera manages to severely wound one of them.

All of the bandits are dead or too injured to continue. They have won the battle! Ikku find a hundred Gold Pieces on the head thug's body. It must have been from taxes he collected.

The group arrive at the village. It's in a sorry state. Many of the buildings are abandoned, and Ikku see few crops growing in the fields. Several villagers have bruises, as if they've been beaten.

One of the villagers approaches them; she seems to be in charge. "Can I help you?" she asks.

Anne looks around and slowly nods. "Yes…Lord Rylo sent us to collect your taxes. You're several months overdue."

The villager suddenly looks angry. "That pompous arse…he expects us to pay our taxes? Does he have no idea what we go through?"

Arlo frowns. "Please explain…we're only the messengers."

"More like collectors…" Anne whispers.

Arlo gives her a look to not cause trouble.

The villager calms down. "Sorry, my name is Tuin. I'm the mayor's daughter here. We've been besieged by bandits for months now. We wrote Lord Rylo to send us support…guards…Gold…anything, but he seems to ignore our letters."

"They harass all the merchants on the road, forcing them to pay a protection tax. We used to have merchants come daily to buy our goods, now most refuse to visit now. They also occasionally rummage through our homes and steal our goods. A few of us tried to fight back, but we don't have the proper weaponry to fight them."

"Damn bandits," Arlo says angrily.

"Hmm…so these bandits are the reason you haven't paid your taxes to Lord Rylo?" asks Anne.

"Mostly, yes," she replies. "The bandits make it almost impossible to do so…but even then, we aren't too happy with Lord Rylo's oversight of the village."

Ikku said, "I'm sorry for your situation…but we came here to collect the taxes, nothing more."

Tuin glares at Ikku. "If we pay the taxes, we'll have nothing left, and our village would be in ruins. The bandits already stole most of our valuables."

"Understandable, how about half then?", Ikku said.

"That would be more reasonable…but…no…" She searches for the right words. "I don't think you’re listening to what I'm saying. Paying the taxes would be the end of this village for sure."

"Not necessarily; maybe the bandits would leave," Ikku reply.

"I doubt it, and even if they did, what's stopping them from coming back?" she asks. "Tell Lord Rylo I'm not giving him anything."

Ikku responded, "Perhaps…we can take care of your bandit problem."

"That would be great!" she exclaims.

"Very well, we shall do it." Ikku said.

Tuin goes to tell the others the good news.

The village offers little in the way of services. Most of the skilled craftsmen and merchants left a long time ago. A few farmers remain. Some of the villagers dig in the dirt, looking for anything to eat.

 The group goes to the healer's tent. Inside, she has a few herbs and a potion for sale. The healer tells them that her healing herbs can restore wounds sustained in battle. Her potions can dull pain, allowing you to fight longer than usual. After buying herbs, Ikku notice some farmers attempting to plow their land by hand. Apparently, the bandits stole most of their equipment and horses. The farmers are appreciative of the group's help.

Now, the group are pointed in the direction of the bandit camp.

They approach the bandit camp peacefully…

When the bandits see them, they immediately jump up and grab their weapons. A few even point their bows at Vera. One of the bandits, whom Ikku assume is the leader, says, "State your business."

Ikku asked, "Are you the bandits that have been ravaging this village?"

One of the bandits laughs. "You say 'ravaging,' we say 'protecting.'"

Two of the bandits take a couple steps forward, making Anne move her hand closer to one of her daggers.

"I think it would be best if you left…before it gets bloody," says the bandit leader.

Ikku said, "We came here to make a deal."

This surprises the bandit leader. "A deal…what kind of deal?"

Ikku responded, "You've taken too much from the villagers. How are they supposed to pay their taxes or even work the land? You need to give them a way to support themselves."

The bandit leader chuckles. "You seem to care a lot about those villagers…what's it to you?"

"Seems like the logical choice is to keep the village sustainable." Ikku said.

The bandit leader rubs his chin. "I suppose we can give some of the equipment back."

One of the bandits complains. The head bandit looks at him angrily. "Frank…what the hell do you need a wagon and a bunch of pitchforks for?"

The bandit can't give a good response, so he simply shrugs.

The bandit leader gives the village some of their tools and supplies back. They keep the horse and most of the crops, however.

Vera said, "That isn't enough…you need to give back more."

The bandit leader starts to get tired of you giving him orders. He motions for his men to attack…

The bandits fan out and attack everyone…

The bandit leader points to Ikku and charges.

He swings his axe; Ikku try to dodge, but it ends up hitting his shoulder hard.

The bandit leader gives Ikku an unexpected kick. Ikku fall to the ground hard, landing on pots, glass items, and other various goods. He dropped his weapon. Now, IKKU see a few objects around you.

Anne and Arlo are busy fighting the other bandits!

Ikku picks up a shard of glass, but it ends up cutting his hand. The bandit charges forward, and Ikku attempt to hit him with Ikku's makeshift weapon…

Ikku's attack misses the bandit leader. Luckily, he managed to defeat the bandit leader. When the other bandits see their leader fall, they quickly run away in fear.

The group left in the abandoned bandit camp. Vera notice some supplies and valuables lying around, more than likely stolen from the village or gained through ill-gotten means. Now, the group decides that they could take it or leave it for the villagers.  Ikku took 1000 gold pieces, Arlo takes the farming equipment, Anne takes the valuable gems, and Vera takes the horse.

The villagers are quite pleased when they see you. They offer to pay 100 in taxes to the team. Lord Rylo was expecting two thousand.

Anne asked, "Can't you pay more?"

The villagers think for a little while. "Perhaps 350 Gold Pieces?"

Anne repeats, "That still isn't enough…you can do better."

Lord Rylo replies to Anne, "How about…500 Gold Pieces?"

Ikku said, "All right."

Lord Rylo is upset that the group were only able to collect 500 Gold Pieces. He refuses to pay them anything, despite the fact that they took care of the bandit problem.