Rumour

"Yawn!!! Good morning Astra."

< Good morning, master. > 

"Oh, when did I return to the inn." Sakura looked around and noticed that she had returned to the inn. She couldn't remember walking back.

< Since you fell asleep in the forest last night I bought you back. >

"Oh! thanks."

Sakura stood up from the bed ready to go down and get some breakfast. She stretched her limbs on the way. Since her mana was replenished she felt better. And since it was a new day her strength and stamina also increased. 

"Aunty, can I get my breakfast?" Sakura asked the inn aunt. 

"Sure, dear. Just a moment. Take a seat."

"Thanks."

Sakura went a took a seat on a nearby empty table. The day seemed to be vibrant as the morning sunlight seeped through the window and the exit door. The air was a little chilly which complemented the slightly warm sunlight.

'So, what should I do today.' 

< How about going around town and trying out different cuisines? > 

Sakura thought for a moment. Astra was right. Since she was rich why not try out different food around town? It was an exciting idea since she heard something about magically enhanced food the other day.

'Sure let's do that.' 

With that, Sakura decided to try out various foods from around town and later do some more artifact creation with the word magic. 

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After taking her sweet time with breakfast Sakura proceeded into her room and put everything she needed into her bag. The inventory was cool and all but it just felt more fun to carry things around rather than putting them into the inventory. She did have the heavy things in the inventory but she didn't have many things to begin with.

With everything done Sakura took her Polaroid camera on hand Sakura set off for another day of touring the city.

The morning streets were a little tame. At least compared to yesterday night's hustling and bustling streets. In fact, there were really few people around the streets. The morning breeze was hitting the skin cooling it down while the sweet sunlight warmed the skin. It was a weird feeling that Sakura couldn't describe. Not to mention the smell in the air was foreign as always. Reminding her that this isn't Japan. 

Sakura walked past the various closed shops time curiously taking pictures of things she didn't recognize. 

However, as she walked through the town she noticed there was much less activity. Not to mention the atmosphere felt odd. 

"Is something wrong?" Sakura wondered. The townspeople felt restless.

"Hey, mister," Sakura asked a stall owner who was packing up his stuff. 

"Uh! Sorry miss, we are not open..."

"No, I am not here to buy anything. I was just wondering why everyone seems so restless?" Sakura asked. 

The stall owner seemed a little hesitant. He looked left and right to make sure no one was listening. He then said in a low voice, "You see kid, the city lord has raised the taxes for the second time this month." 

'Is there a problem with that?'

< Raising taxes frequently means the territory's economy is struggling. It could also imply a war is coming. > 

'Oh, that's a problem.' Sakura furrowed her brows. 

It was indeed a problem. She didn't want to mix herself in random warfare. 'Hope whatever is happening won't affect my sightseeing.' She thought to herself. 

After a little bit of intel gathering Sakura resumed her sightseeing. However, this tax-raising problem seemed to be more problematic than she initially thought. Most of the stores near the central town were shut down or in the process of being shut down. Sakura did get to eat in some restaurants but the gloomy atmosphere was becoming more apparent around town. This of course bothered her fun time. After all no one would enjoy a meal if the atmosphere around them were tense. 

Regardless, Sakura tried her best to ignore everything. She could technically go and help the situation of the town but after the previous incident with Cedric, she decided not to mingle herself with complicated things. Going out of the way to help random strangers would bring her more pain. 

'Astra, what do I do now? I have tried all the open food stalls.' Sakura complained. There weren't many open stalls to begin with. 

< In this situation there aren't many things that could be done. > 

"Sigh, Let's just go back and create some artifacts." 

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"What is happening! why are the townspeople complaining?" Fredric shouted at the top of his lungs.

"My lord you have raised the taxes so much that the public is complaining." The newly appointed butler said with some difficulty. Indeed it was the case. But being young and new to the job the newly appointed butler was having trouble controlling the panic in the general masses. What was just a tax raise became mass panic by mid-day. Sure there would be panic when the tax was being raised twice a week. But this was too much panic. It's as if someone was spreading rumors of an upcoming war.

"Damn it!" Fredric quickly sent a message to the knight's captain to look into this matter as well as calm down the public. Things were just escalating that quickly. If the previous butler were alive he might have solved the problem but since he is dead and the new butler wasn't as good Fredric had to take everything by himself. 

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"Hm?" As Sakura entered the inn she noticed a bunch of people lining up at the counter where the inn aunt giving them money. 

"Aunty, what's happening?" Sakura asked the inn aunt at the counter.

"Oh! Sakura dear." The inn aunt looked apologetic. "You see we have to close down the inn for some day." 

"Huh?"

"I am really sorry but there seems to be a war upcoming. So, we are heading out of town. You should head out too. Or else you will get caught up in this mess. Again dear, I am really sorry."

"No, no it's alright." Sakura tried to cheer up the aunt. 

The inn aunt seemed to give a troubled smile, " Dear would you like some meat paste soup. We have a lot of them left since the guests are leaving."

"Sure."

Sakura drank the soup while looking at the customers taking their refunds at the counter. Things seemed to be escalating faster than the speed of light. Just this morning Sakura strolled the gloomy town. But things seemed to have escalated into a mass panic. It was barely noon at this moment. 

"Well, there goes my sightseeing plan down the drain." 

Sakura finished the soup and went to her room to pack up. She didn't have much luggage to begin with. She just put all of them into her inventory since she didn't feel like holding a bulky bag at the moment.

With a final goodbye to the inn lady Sakura went on her way to find another inn for staying.