CHAPTER 95

THE DOMINEERING YOUNG LORD

  Observing Hans's lack of hesitation as he launched an attack on the Guard Knight in front of the large crowd without a trace of fear in his eyes, the Knight who had been speaking earlier stepped forward. He recognized that anyone willing to take such risks must either be reckless or have a formidable background. Thus, he introduced himself as Sebastian, a Warrior Knight ranked 56 and responsible for overseeing four villages in the area.

Hans calmed himself, pointing at the tied raiders and guard knight alike, "Now Mr Sebastian, care to explain how these scums are still breathing in your presence," he asked, mocking the knight, "Being you a 56-grade Warrior knight, overseeing the security of our county, did the count cut your salary or something?"

  Sebastian shifted his gaze beyond Hans and noticed that three out of the six subordinates responsible for the village were bound. He bowed his head in acknowledgement, realizing that it was a classic instance of corruption where the higher-ups had been bribed to overlook such crimes. However, he could not tolerate the embarrassment and decided to discuss the matter with Hans.

"It appears that you have apprehended the fugitive human traffickers on our behalf and mistaken my knights among them. On behalf of the Guard Knights, we express our gratitude to you," Sebastian stated, slightly tilting his head slightly to look at Hans, but was taken aback when he saw the boy grinning wickedly, sending off negative vibes. However, his concerns were soon dispelled as Hans let out a sigh and spoke, "It appears that you are correct."

  Sebastian was relieved, even though some of his men had lost their lives, it seemed as though the boy had no intention of escalating the situation any further. However, the discomfort from his earlier grin lingered in Sebastian's mind. And just as he was about to issue an order, he saw the girl grabbing hold of Hans's hand and heard her say, "What are you doing? You know what was really happening." He looked, observing Hans's next action with concern.

But Hans replied in a loud voice that he intended to be heard by everyone

"Suppose I force punishment on the corrupt officer," he said looking directly into Delimira's eyes, "then after finishing their sentence they might come to their posts again and then they will definitely harass the citizens more in retaliation. We should not force these people into more miserable life, Deli."

  His words were heard by everyone, and some of the guard knights felt ashamed for protecting the corrupt individuals who tarnished their profession's reputation. It was a highly respected job that many aspired to, and the corrupt officers were dragging its prestige down. So Sebastian made up his mind to thoroughly Pummell the bribed knight, after Hans’s departure.

  And those words have a different impact on Delimira, understanding that rashly interfering might only add to the villagers' suffering. However, she couldn't shake off her frustration at being powerless in the situation. She also found it odd that Hans was not his usual self, as she knew he typically didn't care about the plight of the villagers. This left her wondering about his true intentions, repeatedly asking herself the question. Just then, she heard Hans speak to Sebastian.

"What will these criminals face"

Sebastian replied,

"They will face the charges of human trafficking and larceny, with a minimum of five years of jail time."

"And the one you are protecting," asked Hans turning to the three knights.

Sebastian said nothing for a while then replied aggressively

"I will make sure that the responsible person will not be able to eat or wipe with his hands for a long time."

"hmm…but what if I insist on harsher punishment."

Sebastian has to protect his underlings, even if they were corrupt, they were his.

"I don’t think that is possible, you have already killed many of my men and several raiders too."

"Fine, then."

Sebastian sighed in relief and asked the child,

"Now please tell me, who are you so I can compile my report."

"I am from the Edenberg Mansion, on a surprise visit to our territories, but people protecting the place are as shit as I heard."

The limping knight beside Sebastian looked at the child and said,

"Why did the mansion send a child and how do we know you are not lying?"

Hans looked at the knight menacingly and said,

"The same child has you on his knees, interrupt me again and you will lose that mouth of yours." looking at Sebastian, he added, "Call everyone that came here with you."

  Hans had felt many people outside so he wanted to see how many of the knights came here and on Sebastian's signal everyone came in. There were more than fifty knights, and Hans neither had the means nor any desire to fight this number. He looked at the party of knights and asked,

"Since you saw the flare, you must have brought a communication orb with you to report to higher-ups, bring that here. I will prove my identity right now."

  Sebastian signalled again, he too wanted to confirm his identity and a knight came with cautious steps, recalling this child was capable of using some sort of trap spells. He took every step very carefully and handed over the communication orb to him. Hans only remembered two orb patterns. He contacted Rudolf first but the unreliable old man was not answering. "Tsk," clicking his tongue, he mumbled in annoyance "He is as useful as a dog’s tail." So he contacted Aldrich, his acting guardian, the orb got connected and the recipient asked,

"Who is this?"

" It's Hans - "

"Young Lord, where are you?"

"Sir Aldrich, It's urgent, come pick me up."

Hans passed the orb to Sebastian and said,

"Here my credibility, Tell him the location"

  The mention of "Young Lord" caught almost everyone's attention, leaving them startled yet still unsure of the child's identity. The knight provided Aldrich with the precise location for opening a temporary SpaceDoor. Since it took some time to establish the connection and create the portal, Aldrich immediately began working on it. The guard knights looked at Hans with suspicion, and the one who had brought the communication orb knelt down and respectfully asked, "May I ask who you are, young master?"

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Hans grinned and said,

"Finally someone sensible in this forsaken guard post, I am Hans EdenBerg. Probably the future lord of these lands."

  As the villagers heard those words, they saw some hope in improving their situation and the rest of the knights stepped down from the horse in haste, they were in dilemma, the people carrying Edenberg's name were very bad news and if it was true then all of their head would fly the moment head knight of the mansion stepped in. Sebastian was the one who was getting more anxious, he had insisted on protecting his corrupted knights in front of the Edenberg, thinking he was just some noble. The backlash this decision was going to bring him was as clear as day. He knelt quickly and said,

"Please forgive me for not recognising you Young Lord".

  Hans just smiled, finally seeing what he wanted from the start and rose from his chair, walking to Dewlimra he instructed, "I told you to put your hood on, Winters." Delimira compiled quickly, not refuting a word. She thought of his actions, calculated from the start, turning the ordeal into an early way to reach the destination. Meanwhile, Sebastian remained on his knees since he had not been asked to stand up yet. Ignoring him, Hans glanced at the entourage and asked, "Who is next in line after Knight Sebastian here?" sending an early foreboding doom to Sebastian's already anxious mind.

  A man came forward in Hans's response, "I am the second in command here, Young Lord." he said, however, Hans ignored his introduction too and instead, commanded him to register the complaints and problems of the villagers and resolve them promptly. He also added that he would send someone to cross-check the progress.

  The Communication orb lit again and his holder passed it to Hans. It was Aldrich again, informing him that a temporary SpaceDoor will open in approximately two hours. as Sebastian and the corrupt knights heard those words, their doubts became clear, since opening a SpaceDoor required vast wealth, they understood the child before them was the real deal. Hans acknowledged Aldrich and returned the orb. He turned around, intentionally showing the back of his white robe that carried the coat of arms of Parv to the knights, and asked Sebastian,

"Even after seeing this, you still don't know who I am, Sebastian?"

  Looking carefully, he belatedly recognised the Gryphon with a sword and started sweating bullets in the cold weather. An Edenberg with Parvian connections, he did not have to think twice since he had seen the elven war up close. Agony washed over Sebastian and Hans got amused seeing this. "Parvian name really carried fear," he thought and added his salted words to his injury,

"I intentionally wore this to let you know who are you messing with, you are going to soil your pants soon, Sebastian."

  Earlier Sebastian thought there would be some repercussions but now he could not guess what his fate will be in the two hours. as he was diving deeper in agony, Hans went into the house they stayed the night to rest for two hours. With Aldrich coming to pick them up, there was no need for any more concern. He had almost three months to himself and he was just glad that this month-long training was ending in just three days.

  Delimira apologised to Hans for unknowingly causing more trouble and Hans just stared back at her in contempt. It was not that he was afraid of anything but she did not know how big of a headache she had avoided just because there wasn't someone stronger.

Two hours flew by and Hans felt the change in mana, a prelude for SpaceDoor opening, he stood up and said to her,

"That's our cue."

As he came out to only see Sebastian still kneeling, his sight lead him to another man and he happily greeted him,

"Oh, sir head knight, you don’t know how happy I feel to see you."

"The feeling is mutual, young Lord, what happened, I was informed that you went missing."

"Yeah, something like that."

"No, my daughter keeps asking me if there was news of you, every hour."

Hans scratched his head and said,

"You did not tell her yet."

"Yes, I came for you first, Count is not receiving, either."

Hans replied with a sarcastic tone,

"Yes, my old man is VERY RELIABLE."

Aldrich looked at Hans’s clothes and said,

"Oh my! Those clothes suit you better, young lord."

"Yeah, I do think so."

Aldrich asked about the situation and Hans told him everything about meeting the Parvians in short and the things that happened in the village. Aldrich replied in a solemn voice,

"What do you want to do then?"

"These knight association bastards think that they can walk all over me."

"Young lord, I am also part of the Knight association"

"Oh, then, these guards post bastards think that they can walk all over me."

  Hans said to Sebastian, "Hey Sebastian of grade 56, look at the people who you were protecting." And as Sebastian raised his head to them, the orca vines that kept them tied, slithered towards their necks and painfully beheaded them while Hans continued, "Know your place, you bastard."

  It was true that Hans would not have been able to kill them if Aldrich was not present but he finally felt good after killing the corrupt knights while borrowing the dominion knight’s presence. Hans was not about doing justice but would do anything to make him comfortable and leaving the corrupt knights would have given him a lump in the throat.

Sebastian saw his knights as they were painfully beheaded, he couldn't care less about them now, his own life was in danger but Hans patted his shoulder and added,

"I won’t kill you but whenever I see some corruption, I will think of you and who knows, I might pay a visit or two to vent. So live with some dignity so I might change my thoughts about you."

Sebastian saw those sharp eyes, staring at him as Hans threatened him, his words tightened his heart as he lowered his head. And seeing him like this, Delimira who was just behind Hans, asked him, " I thought, he would die the moment your head knight come"

"Killing is almost the answer to every problem but it is still 'ALMOST:'" he emphasised in the later part and added, "I'm not some psychopath, murdering people right and left"

Delimira looked at him in bewilderment,

"Tell those who died just now"

"Naah, they deserved every last bit of it"

Pointing to Sebastian she whispered,

"Then why spare the one who allowed it to happen."

"Cause if I end him here, what are the odds that it will not happen again, at least this way, our poor Sebastian will think three times before allowing this again," Hans justified, adding, "Fear is a very powerful tool Winters, one should know how to wield it properly."

Delimira not expecting words of wisdom from Hans's mouth asked in surprise,

"Who taught you these things,"

"Professor Walter said it once, as foolish as he is but I've to admit he said pretty darn things sometimes - "

Aldrich interrupted their chatter and said to Hans while glancing over at the girl beside him,

"Oh, this must be Lady Aredhel’s daughter."

"Yes"

  Then hurry young Lord, we are literally emptying our coffers on opening the SpaceDoor. Hans looked at the unstable portal and even before he stepped in, the queasy feeling came back to him. He sighed as there were no options.

  As the trio prepared for the departure, the villagers gathered to bid their farewell to the child who saved them from their painful misery. But it was not possible if Delmira did not risk her life, exposing herself and forcing Hans to take action so they appreciated her more. It was the first time in her life to receive genuine appreciation from someone so she was enjoying the hero treatment, forgetting her troubles for a while.

Hans urged her to come swiftly and when he took a step into the unstable portal. Something flashed before him.

Notice : An Unstable SpaceDoor is detected, unlocking a Privilege “INGRESS”

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