In the restaurant Kettle, the owner, looking gloomy, prepared the local dishes for Vane. The taxes had already been paid—if he didn't do business, it would be a waste.
"It's kind of dragging you into paying taxes, boss."
"It's not that unlucky. You ordered a lot—after deducting taxes and costs, it's not a loss."
When the owner finished everything, he sat straight down across from Vane and the others and opened up.
"You know, this church… it used to be fine. But starting a year ago, it changed."
"Whether a shop opens or not, whether there's a fire in the stove or any income at all, you still have to pay business tax and cleaning tax—and it's once a day."
"And if you live in town, you also have to pay head tax. I used to have my wife and kids helping in the shop—I sent them all back to the countryside."
Those who farm pay farming tax; those who trade pay trading tax.
The key is that church taxes and kingdom taxes are separate—in other words, they have to pay two sets of taxes.
Besides operating taxes, there are also personal taxes, holy water taxes…
These heavy taxes have driven many people out of the city and back to the countryside. But now the church is gradually stretching its hand out; even hiding in the countryside won't last long—unless you run abroad.
"They're coming more and more often. Everyone only dares to do business when the priests aren't around. If this keeps up, seven days a week, sooner or later they'll be here every single day."
Vane asked, "With taxes this heavy, what happens if someone can't pay?"
Kettle glanced at the door to make sure no one was eavesdropping, then answered softly,
"Houses, land, even furniture will be seized by the kingdom as tax payment… If there's nothing left, they arrest people."
"Of course, some people resist. They injure the priests, and then they're directly treated as heretics and hanged or burned to death."
Vane and Meowth exchanged a look. This country had extremely high raiding value—by any measure.
"In two days it'll be Holy Water Day. In the King's Holy City they'll hold the Holy Water Festival. If you pay, you can use holy water to irrigate the holy tree. It used to be once a year, and the holy water was cheap."
"Now it's once a month, and the holy water is especially expensive… and it's mandatory."
Kettle's voice grew louder—he'd clearly been holding this in for a long time.
Ka-zi~
The sound of the door opening appeared again.
"I think I heard someone speaking ill of the church's Holy Water Festival!"
The priest and two knights returned. Mainly because today the other people in town had prepared in advance and there wasn't much oil to skim, they turned back to see if they could squeeze something out of the outsiders.
And they just happened to hear Kettle's blasphemous words.
"Lord Priest, you heard wrong! I was saying the vegetables I bought yesterday were too expensive! You heard wrong, you heard wrong!"
"Hmph! You won't confess and even try to deceive me, a priest. One more crime added—confiscate all your property!"
The priest had finally found an opportunity—how could he let this rich guy run? And he wasn't satisfied; he immediately turned the spearhead toward Vane.
"And you! Outsiders who slander our church are also on the road to death! Seize all the wealth on your bodies!"
The two church knights came straight up to drag away the owner and Vane.
"Geh heh heh heh~~"
Puchi~ puchi~
A huge swarm of bats flew out of Meowth's body, instantly filling the restaurant and sealing off the retreat.
"Where did so many bats come from?!"
"Help!"
The three people who had been so imposing a moment ago instantly turned into mice, cowering in the corner.
Part of the shadow bats gathered and became two shadow hands. A big pair of scissors flew out of Meowth's body. The shadow hands picked up the scissors, and with a few snips, cut off the shadows of the three people.
The three shadows struggled wildly but to no avail. In the end, the three themselves were also seized by the bats and dragged into Meowth's body along with their shadows.
"Geh heh heh heh~~ So bold. Just right—I'm short on shadows."
Although he was no longer obsessed with creating powerful zombies, the ability of the Shadow-Shadow Fruit to cut people's shadows was one of its greatest features. With enough shadows, Moria's fruit power could be used even more strongly.
All the agents imprisoned inside Meowth had their shadows cut off. There's no sunlight inside Meowth's body either, so there's no need to worry about them being burned to death by the sun.
"Demon! Demon!"
Moria's appearance did look a bit like a demon, and with his eerie abilities, after the priest shouted twice, he passed out directly.
"Trash shadows. Using them to make zombies would only make trash."
Moria looked down on the priest's shadow a bit—the quality was worrying.
...
"W-what happened…"
Kettle had originally been an atheist. The scene in front of him really made him doubt whether gods existed—after all, he had just seen a "demon."
"Don't be afraid. It's just Devil Fruit abilities."
"Devil Fruit~~ So it really is the great secret treasure of the sea… But you should still leave quickly. In the Holy Church Nation, attacking clergy is a serious crime. Even if you're Devil Fruit users, you won't be able to withstand the country's army."
The army still gave people a powerful impression. The owner knew they were formidable, but he didn't think these people could contend with an entire army.
"Don't worry. Since we've come to this island, the one who should be worried is the king here."
...
The King's Holy City.
A city with an extremely strong religious atmosphere—you can't even tell where the church ends and where the palace begins.
The king is the greatest believer in this country. He simply converted the palace into a church.
"What a pity—believing in gods yet lacking a heart of compassion."
"Indulgence, greed, indulgence in desire… no restraints at all, yet still thinking you can live forever, thinking you can go to heaven after death to keep enjoying yourself."
Inside the treasury of the King's Holy City.
This treasury has three gates: a solid wood gate, a massive stone gate, and a huge iron gate. Once these three gates are closed, only a few mice could pass through the ventilation holes.
Outside the three gates, there are more than a dozen church knights on guard—defenses could be said to be airtight.
But even such a tightly guarded treasury is basically nonexistent in front of the Through-Through Fruit and the Clear-Clear Fruit.
After entering the treasury, Baccarat immediately activated the Vision-Vision Fruit ability to create a large amount of light, making the entire treasury incomparably bright.
A large group of people and Pokémon hidden inside Meowth's body immediately filed out.
"We're getting rich again—so many gold coins."
"Amassing wealth this insanely and still wanting to go to heaven after death? This king is simply daydreaming!"
Vane glanced at the treasury. "Take the gold coins and gemstones. Don't take the paper Belly."
The gold coins and gemstones were mostly the king's own accumulation, while the paper Belly was what the kingdom had scraped from its people.
Not seeing any Devil Fruit made Vane feel very regretful. How could such a large kingdom possibly have no fruits?