#eldafire

With Processus dead, it was up to Adraria to resume his work with collecting the taxes the next day. Ergalla had written up a list with the remaining names and the amount of gold they owed. She looked at the names with a sense of dread. If a villager was behind the murder, it was likely that they had not paid yet. In case of emergency, she carried a dagger of her own and knew an arsenal of protective spells but she was relieved that Socucius did not debate her when she requested a guard to follow her.

Vodunius Nuccius lived right next to the station. Adraria planned to begin with his house and then work her way through the main street before moving on to the waterfront shacks. There must have been a method to the way Processus had gone about with his visits, but to Adraria it seemed like he had picked houses at random. It would have been easier to locate suspected murderers if he had moved in a straight line.

There was no reply when she knocked on Vodunius's door. She waited for a while in case he had been asleep and needed to get dressed before answering the door, but then knocked again with more persistence and called for him. There came no sound from inside. The guard took her place and began to bang on the door with his gauntleted hand. At this the door to the next house popped open and the Altmer Eldafire peered out at them.

"You can bang all you want on that door, he's gone off to the mainland and won't return."

Adraria blinked. Gone off? She was quite sure that he had not applied for a travel permit. He would not have gotten one either as long as he had a remaining tax debt of 87 septims. "Did he happen to mention where he was going?"

"I prefer to stay out of people's business," Eldafire said. "I suppose you were planning to visit med next? I was about to complain since you seemed to have forgotten about me. Why, Arrille got a visit two weeks ago already. It's almost like you don't want my money."

"I'm sorry about that, Madame, but we are here now and would like to collect 130 your septims."

Eldafire let them inside and started counting her coins meticulously on the table. If she had truly waited for them for weeks, she was poorly prepared for it Adraria thought but said nothing. The Altmer lady had a lot on her mind and did not hesitate to voice her thoughts. "Sometimes I wonder what exactly I'm paying for. The main road is still unpaved, the bridge is rotting away and there are bandits on the loose that no one is doing anything about."

The guard was about to speak, but Adraria cut him off with a cough. She had learned the hard way that people who had set out to complain, it was best to just let them. Soon enough they were out of the door again with 130 septims in the bag.

"What if it was Vodunius who killed Processus?" the guard said as they walked up the muddy main road towards the bridge. "Why else would he have run off in such a hurry? It can't be a coincidence."

"Be that as it may, but I don't think it's good if we assume that the murderer is gone," Adraria said. "We need to stay vigilant."

The next name on the list was Fargoth. She had not interacted with the Bosmer much, but Ergalla had warned her that he could be troublesome. There was also the fact that Processus Vitellius was found with 200 septims, which happened to be the sum paid by Fargoth's neighbor, Draren Thiralas. Fargoth only owed 111 septims and from the looks of his house, he seemed to be doing rather well for himself, but when Adraria knocked on his door a weak voice came from inside telling them to go away.

"Fargoth? I'm afraid this cannot wait. My name is Adraria Vandacia and I am here to collect your taxes."

The door opened a notch. "I have nothing left. You Imperials have already taken everything I own!"

Could Processus have been here already and not had time to take note of it before he met his demise? It was a possibility. "I'm sorry, but according to the records you have not paid your taxes yet."

"Taxes, taxes, taxes! Is that the only word you know?"

"I am an Imperial tax collector."

"There it was again! Tax, tax, tax! You know what it is? Taxing! Why won't you give a poor mer a moment of peace?"

"I will leave you alone when you have paid."

"Hrisskar says that too and it's a filthy lie. However..." The Bosmer darted inside and came out with a few bottles.

"One bottle of flin and one bottle of greef. It's worth more than 111 drakes."

"How do we know you didn't fill them up with your own pi..."

Adraria cut off the guard. "No, that won't do. Taxes are paid with money."

"But if you sell them you get the money."

"It is not possible." First off, even accepting the bottles could count as a bribe, especially as they were offered with the intent of making her depart from regulations. Second, the reason flin cost a fortune these days was because a huge tariff had been slapped on all imported alcoholic beverages. This was wrong on too many levels to even consider. "Tell you what... I will give you one more day. You may sell those bottles yourself for all I care, but I cannot accept them from you like this."

"Fine. See you tomorrow." He slammed the door shut.

Adraria took a deep breath and backed away from the house. "Alright. Moving on. To the waterfront."

"Are you just going to let him bully you like that?"

"Clearly he had no gold to pay with."

"Then he should be thrown into the dungeon in Fort Pelagiad."

Eldafire has been referenced from time to time on this blog as Wenselyr's sister. She is, specifically, his older sister, and has born the brunt of the repercussions for his actions through the years.