Copper Town.
By late morning, the railway administration building had acquired a new purpose.
Felicia sat behind one of the counters with several ledgers stacked around her. A wooden box for payments rested beside her right hand while prepared work slips lay to her left.
The line outside stretched well beyond the entrance.
An elderly farmer stood before her with his weathered cap held against his chest.
"Lord Vincent saved my grandson and got medicine for my wife," he said. "I am forever indebted for His Lordship’s grace."
Felicia’s pleasant smile slightly faded.
"Oh no, that’s troublesome."
The farmer looked at her in confusion. "Pardon?"
Felicia did not explain what she meant by that. She examined his record and pulled out a work slip instead.
"The Lord doesn’t like debts, and since you feel so indebted, we’d like you to work at the southern warehouse. You’ll be inspecting grains for contamination. Work there until sunset, and Lord Vincent will accept that labor as a complete repayment for the assistance you’ve received."
The old man was dumbfounded.
"The Lord... he wishes me to repay such a debt?"
Felicia’s pleasant smile returned. "The county’s conditions have forced the Lord to not be charitable, I’m afraid."
The old man blinked, then nodded. "I understand. It’s just work until sunset. This is still nothing compared to what he’s done for my grandson. I’d still be indebted to him."
Felicia continued to appear pleasant and warm, but the Railguards nearby could hear her silence, loud and clear at that.
They looked at the old man with visible pity in their eyes.
Felicia took out another work slip and handed it to the old man.
"We’d like you to taste test the grains as well. There’s a major risk of dying from contamination, but I’m sure that this will help you feel less indebted to the lord."
The old farmer stood still with the two slips in hand.
"Next," Felicia said.
A Railguard took the farmer away. The old man was still staring at the work slips while being dragged, wondering whether feeling grateful had become a crime or something these days.
The next resident that appeared before Felicia was a mother accompanied by two daughters and a small boy.
She hurriedly placed four copper coins before Felicia.
"One for each of us."
She had heard rumors on what was happening, and the best solution to resolve these matters.
The officials accepted a payment as low as a copper coin for repaying what the House had done for them.
They apparently just had to be sincere and feel that they weren’t indebted.
All of this was strange, but if that’s how things worked, the mother had no problem paying for herself and all of her children!
Four copper coins was nothing.
Felicia accepted one copper coin from the four and pushed the remaining three back.
"You cannot repay another person’s debt," she said.
The mother’s brows furrowed. "But they’re my children..."
Felicia had a professionally warm attitude and responded, "I understand your concerns, but they’re still three separate people. They need to pay for themselves."
The woman looked troubled.
Felicia turned toward the eldest girl.
"Do you have money, young one?"
The girl shook her head.
The mother hurriedly handed her a copper coin. "Give it to the polite Madam."
The girl looked at the coin, then at Felicia, and reluctantly handed it.
Felicia smiled. She took the coin and asked, "The Lord helped you with food and shelter. With this coin, do you think you’ve paid properly for it?"
The eldest girl knew a bit about food prices. She had roughly eaten thrice at the shelter, and those meals were definitely more than a copper coin’s worth.
She looked at Felicia. The green-haired lady’s aura was comforting and made her feel secure.
The girl did not feel like lying to such a nice person and shook her head. "No, Madam. I think we need to pay more coins."
"Oh no..." the girl’s mother almost fainted hearing that. ’Why’d you say that!?’ She exclaimed in her heart.
Felicia gave the girl the coin back and ruffled her head. "Can you read numbers?"
"Yes.
Felicia handed her a work slip. "You can count ration tokens for two hours, and you’d have paid for everything."
"Really?" The girl was happy to know she could work and pay.
Felicia nodded.
The girl was overjoyed and told her mother about how they don’t need to actually spend money to get food and shelter. They can just work!
The mother could only look at her helplessly.
The younger girl then appeared before Felicia.
Once again, the mother tried to make the girl give Felicia a copper coin, but Felicia’s aura was so cozy that a similar situation repeated.
The younger girl was sent to fold clean medical cloth.
At last, the lady’s youngest child, a boy no older than six appeared before Felicia.
Even with two failures, the mother still handed the copper coin to the boy and asked him to give it to Felicia.
The boy stared at the coin, then at Felicia, then back at the coin, and at last at his mother.
He could see her staring at him with a helpless expression.
The boy knew they were poor, and that this coin meant a lot to his mother.
He gave the coin to his mother, then rummaged through his pockets to take out his most treasured shiny pebbles.
He placed them on Felicia’s palm. "For food..."
His gaze did not leave the four different colored pebbles.
Felicia’s gaze was fixed at it.
The mother looked at it with a slightly shocked expression.
The Railguards were dumbfounded too.
The mother was about to take the stones away from Felicia’s hands when she heard a soft chuckle.
Felicia was laughing, and in the midst of it, asked, "Do you feel these are enough to pay for the food you’ve been given?"
The boy had a troubled expression hearing that.
He looked at the pebbles for a few seconds, then unwillingly took out a small seashell from his back pocket and handed it to Felicia.
"For food," he said again.
"Your payment is accepted. Do you feel there’s any more debt left between you and Lord Vincent?"
The boy was slightly pissed after giving away his treasures and said, "No!"
He was afraid the nice lady might demand for more.
He didn’t understand debt, but he understood that he had paid enough for himself!
"Very well," Felicia gave the child a wooden token as proof for his payment then placed the pebbles and shell in a separate small container.
The mother was relieved to see the officials didn’t punish her son for such an audacity.
She quickly took him and left to see her girls off to their workplaces.
Things proceeded peacefully afterward.
Until a merchant approached the desk.
He wore a costly coat and looked increasingly irritated as Felicia checked his record.
She checked the ledger before looking up.
"Your warehouse received protection under Lord Vincent’s personal orders during the infestation."
The merchant tossed a copper coin onto the desk.
"There. Done."
Felicia glanced at it.
"Do you sincerely believe this settles what was done for you?"
"I sincerely believe this entire circus has wasted enough of my morning."
"Is that so?" Felicia pushed the coin back. "Then I’m afraid I cannot accept it."
The merchant’s expression darkened.
"You drag respectable citizens here, demand repayment, and then refuse their money?"
"You do not believe you owe Lord Vincent anything. Handing me a coin while thinking otherwise accomplishes nothing."
"I don’t owe that little drunkard anything. Protecting this county is his family’s responsibility."
Everyone around became noticeably quieter.
A Railguard shifted forward to restrain him, but Felicia raised one hand and stopped him.
"You genuinely believe that?" She asked.
"Yes."
"Then you may leave."
The merchant stared at her suspiciously before scoffing and turning away.
"At least someone in that useless family finally did what we pay them for."
Felicia’s eyes remained on his back.
"Sir," she called him.
The merchant stopped.
"Your refusal to repay Lord Vincent was your choice, but insulting him like this?"
She shook her head and turned toward the nearby clerk.
Felicia turned toward the nearby clerk.
"Reclaim his warehouse and terminate his businesses operating under D’Arc authority."
The merchant immediately turned around.
"What?"
Felicia stared at him with the same warm smile as before and continued, "Purchase whatever useful inventory remains at its original value and transfer it to the county, then issue a notice stating anyone doing business with him will be heavily penalized."
The merchant’s face rapidly reddened. He stormed toward Felicia’s desk and slammed his fists on it.
"You spiteful bitch! You’re threatening to destroy my livelihood because I refuse to bow before some worthless drunkard brat?"
The entire hall fell silent.
Felicia did not answer the merchant immediately.
She suddenly remembered Silver Town, specifically the time when she questioned the young master once and how the young lady had reacted regarding it.
She had served the young lady faithfully for years, yet Vanessa still made it perfectly clear that that disrespect toward Vincent would make her put a spear through Felicia’s head without hesitation.
Felicia had understood her place immediately.
So what exactly was this merchant?
He crossed a line that was unforgivable by the young lady’s standards, and as her maid, how could Felicia just let him leave so easily?
Felicia’s smile became warmer.
"I understand."
The merchant frowned, not understanding what the woman meant.
Felicia stood and walked around the desk.
"Refusing payment was one matter. Insulting the officials of House D’Arc was another. But you went as far as insulting the Lord..."
The merchant’s expression twisted. He was about to curse Vincent again when Felicia stopped before him and continued,
"You’ve left me with no reason to be more lenient with you."
Felicia’s smile suddenly seemed really cold.
The merchant took a step backward.
"You—"
"You were offered payment. You refused it. You were offered labor. You refused that as well."
Felicia shook her head as if it was quite regretful, and she was a little disappointed.
"You people don’t deserve a single coin from me and I refuse to work for you!"
Felicia nodded.
"I know."
She then looked directly into his eyes.
"That’s why... there’s only one thing left that can be taken to settle the debt permanently, and it’s the one thing that belongs entirely to you.."
From the way Felicia spoke, the merchant knew that something was about to go really wrong.
His face went pale and he was about to turn around and run when Felicia smiled and continued,
"Your life."
The Railguards barely saw her move.
Thud!
The merchant’s head turned completely and fell first, then his limbs and body followed.
Every cut was neat, and blood flowed out only after a few seconds from the body parts.
Nobody inside the administration hall made a sound.
Felicia looked down at the body for a moment, then calmly returned to her chair and straightened the ledger.
"Remove him."
Two Railguards hurried forward.
Felicia turned to the next page.
"Next, please."
The next resident approached immediately and answered every question with remarkable sincerity. He did not hesitate to pay or work to clear his debt.
The person behind had the same sincerity.
From that moment onward, the collection proceeded far more smoothly.
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