Tivin had said before that Milo was an old acquaintance, so Kino pretended to be enthusiastic and shook hands with him: "Good morning, my friend, thank you for your generosity. My soldiers and I will keep it in our hearts."

"You're welcome." After shaking hands, Milo was about to withdraw his hand when he suddenly felt his arm tighten and his hand was pinched by Kino.

Kino's hands are very soft, and they feel like marshmallows when held.

Milo tried to pull it back twice, but failed to pull it back. He didn't understand what it meant, so he tentatively asked: "Mr. Civil Affairs Officer?"

Kino stood against the sun, with shadows all over his face. All he could see was his pair of amber eyes that narrowed into crescents with a smile, and opened up from time to time, giving people an invisible sense of oppression.

Just when Milo was at a loss, Kino suddenly spoke: "My friend, your hand is injured."

Milo looked down and saw that there were two dark scars on his tiger's mouth and on the knuckle of his middle finger. This must be what Kino was talking about.

He smiled helplessly: "Hey, I was bitten by my son. God, I must have been cursed to have such a son."

He signaled the caravan guards to open the curtain and took out a boy with a short stature but an abnormally large head.

Judging from his tilted head, thick lips, constant drooling, and distracted eyes, he must be a demented child.

I just don’t know if this is some kind of chromosomal abnormality, such as Down syndrome, or a real “curse” that exists in this world.

"Although he is a cursed child, he is still my child after all. I will take care of him personally every day. When I was feeding him a few days ago, he bit me, which left this scar on my hand.

"Mirror caressed his son's face lovingly, and the latter kept licking and licking, and when he touched his mouth, he actually made a biting move.

But he seemed to recognize his father, and the bite wasn't too harsh.

"I want to convey my regrets to you." A strange cold light flashed in Kino's eyes, but it quickly disappeared.

Kino walked to the carriage and smiled helplessly: "Let's get back to business. Captain Tivin said that he had already inspected the goods. But you should know that salt crystal smuggling has been rampant recently and the border pressure is very high.

I have to check it myself, I hope you can understand."

Milo nodded: "Of course, please do."

Kino randomly checked the goods in the convoy. They were very ordinary. They were just rice and some dried meat from overseas. There was no trace of salt crystals.

"Paladin Centurion." He called a bearded man.

Paladin came over. He was a centurion from Xilin Town. He commanded hundreds of soldiers. In theory, his status was second only to the civil administrator.

Kino pointed to the rice and dried meat and said, "Please take a few bites."

Paladin didn't say anything more, grabbed a handful of rice, stuffed it into his mouth, chewed it, and ate a few pieces of dried meat.

Kino: "Is it salty?"

Paladin shook his head.

Kino pulled off a piece of shipping cloth and handed it over: "Trouble."

Paladin didn't look very good, but he didn't contradict him in public. He put the cargo cloth in his mouth and sucked it.

"Is it salty?"

"No."

When Kino and Paladin were inspecting, Milo was very calm, followed them, answered questions truthfully, and was very cooperative.

After the inspection, the goods were clean and in good condition.

Kino smiled and said: "Thank you for your cooperation, you are a good businessman."

Milo nodded: "It's always been like this~"

"But I have a question." Kino pointed to the goods behind him and asked doubtfully, "These rice and dried meat are very common, and the market price is not high. You hire 14 caravan guards for one trip, plus the in and out

Can you make money from the travel expenses?"

Milo said with a smile: "I have a few big aristocratic customers. They have unique tastes and like to eat this kind of overseas rice and dried meat. Therefore, they will buy these goods at several times the market price. It is quite profitable in one trip."

"Okay, let's go, I'll take you to get the seal stamped." Chino made a gesture of invitation.

Back in the room, before Kino could say anything, Milo closed the door and walked over. He took out the heavy purse from his arms and handed it over. He smiled flatteringly and said, "Sir, this is the gift money for this time. It's just a small amount."

Thank you very much for your continued care.”

Kino took the money bag, opened it and took a look. There were more than 100 "Silver Moons" inside.

The "moon coin" is the official currency of the Kingdom of Doguland. The front is engraved with the king's portrait, and the reverse is the laurel flower, the emblem of the royal family.

Monthly coins are divided into gold, silver, copper, and iron according to their materials, and represent different values.

Due to the different levels of science and technology, it is difficult to compare the purchasing power of money in the feudal era with modern economic analogies. Chino cannot draw a unified conclusion in a short period of time. He has to go to the market to have an in-depth understanding to find out.

But there is a data for reference. Kino's annual salary as a civil administrator is 50 silver moons. This bag contains his 2 years' salary.

Moreover, judging from Milo's tone, this behavior has been happening for a long time.

Unexpectedly, my former "me" was actually a person who liked to take bribes.

Kino chuckled lightly, took the money bag and put it on the table, motioning for Milo to sit across from him: "What would you like to drink?"

"Sorry, my caravan and I still have to go on a journey. I hope to leave directly after getting the signature. Please allow me to visit you next time."

"It is a very foolish thing to refuse the good intentions from the civil affairs officials."

Hearing this, the smile on Milo's face froze, and he did not dare to disobey anymore. He sat down and said, "Then, please allow me to drink a glass of water."

"As you wish." Kino brought him a cup and a kettle and poured him a glass of water. "My friend, I wonder if you have heard of a word - casual acquaintance, which is used to describe people who have not a deep friendship and are not very familiar with each other.

Friends who understand each other. I’m curious, do you understand me?”

Milo hesitated for a moment and said, "I understand better."

Kino: "Then do you know my responsibilities?"

"Know."

"Tell me."

Milo coughed slightly and said slowly: "Xilin Town is a town under the Twilight City in Fenghuo Province. You are the civil affairs officer here and are responsible to the administrator of Twilight City. Your main job is to maintain the daily operations of the entire town and personnel changes. Here

There are a total of three hundred-man teams, all under your command, responsible for guarding the border and inspecting illegal smuggling, especially salt crystals."

Kino clapped his hands and exclaimed: "You know me better than I do. It would be a pity not to be a civil affairs official."

"You are joking..."

"Now that you know the current smuggling problem, you must be able to understand my approach."

Milo pursed his lips: "I understand. However, let me say a few words. My caravan has always entered through Xilin Town, and you have always checked it before. There has never been any problem."

Kino shrugged: "The problem is that salt crystals cannot appear out of thin air. Now all production channels in the country are controlled by the royal family, but there are still a lot of salt crystals on the black market, which can only be smuggled from abroad."

Milo nodded: "I understand."

Kino's eyes slowly became deeper: "Then the question is, there has never been a seizure report at any border crossing, including Xilin Town, and every caravan is clean. What is going on? Do the smugglers have any

God help?"
Chapter completed!