Lucas went into a village near the Royal Capital shortly after he was banished from the Royal Capital. He rented a room in an inn, there were not a lot of people in the inn. Most of the diners at that night were local villagers and the rest were travellers. Lucas ordered a meal to eat and at the same time listened to the conversation in the room. The news about the coronation of the new Queen had spread to this village, many welcomed the new Queen. They hoped she was able to put down the rebellion and return the kingdom to a peaceful time.

The conversation in the inn was about the daily lives of the people of the village and the conversation about the daily activities of travellers. Lucas sat alone at a table, observing the surroundings. He saw a group of villagers eating, a group of travellers chatting while eating their meals, and a group of men with rude manners. They talked loud and were rude to the server, they even disturbed the other patrons.

One of the men suddenly grabbed a female server. “Kyaa” shrieked the girl.

“Oho, that's a nice sound. I bet you sound better in bed.” The man groped the girl’s chest.

“Please, no.” The girl tried her best to free herself from his clutch.

“Come on, I’ll pay you for your service.”

A man came forward. “Sir, please let go of my daughter.” It was the inn's owner.

“Huh, who the fuck are you.”

“Let go of her, now!”

The man let the girl and she immediately ran away from him. The man who was visibly angry walked closer to the inn owner. He immediately punched the inn owner right in the face. The owner fell down to the floor in an instant, the man then kicked him repeatedly. The owner’s wife and daughter watched him get beaten up in horror.

“Pl-please let him go,” said the daughter with a pleading voice.

The man did not heed her plea, he kept kicking him. The other patrons inside the inn were just looking at the helpless owner getting beat up. No one seemed to care to help him.

“Hahhhhh, pathetic,” said Lucas loudly.

His shout stopped the man from kicking the owner, he turned to look at Lucas. “Who the fuck are you?”

Lucas was about to eat sliced meat. “Ugh, now that I look at your face, my appetite has gone away. What an awful face,” mocked Lucas, smirking. He put the sliced meat down on the plate.

“Bastard!” The man ran toward Lucas, ready to punch him.

“If I were you, I wouldn't do it,” warned Lucas.

“Die you bastard!” The man clenched fist flew into Lucas’ face. However, it missed because Lucas, easily, dodged it.

“That’s a close one.”

In retaliation, Lucas punched him right in the gut. The man held his stomach in pain. His friend immediately went to help him fight Lucas–there were 4 of them. In the sight of the man’s friends surging forward to him, Lucas regretted his decision. Not that he could not beat the group of thugs in here, rather it was a hassle for him. He was hoping for a quiet and calm night.

Lucas immediately kicked the first person in the groin and punched his face; he fell down to the floor immediately. The second person tried to punch him, Lucas dodged the man's punch, grabbed his arm and head then slammed his head at the table. The last two were taken down with ease as well. Lucas didn’t break a sweat fighting them.

He looked at the five of them, all of them were lying on the floor and writhing in pain. “What a pain. All of you should have behaved properly.” he looked at his table and his meal was in a mess “Ah, my food.”

Lucas stepped on one of the man's hands, and a cry of pain was heard from the man. Lucas said, “Listen here chumps, I want all of you to leave this inn at once. My day is ruined because of all of you making a mess here. Get up and pay your bills before leaving.”

All five of them stood up and walked to take their belongings; Some of them were still in pain. Lucas watched them carefully, one of the men left coins on the table to pay their bills. “Wait, I want all of you to apologise to the owner and his family.”

At first, they were hesitant but fear of getting their ass kicked again overcame them. One by one, they apologise to the owner. After they left the inn, a cheer erupted, the patrons were cheering Lucas’ bravery in dealing with the rowdy people.

“Ah.” Lucas was speechless, he had forgotten they were people in there. He awkwardly smiled at the other people. Just smiled and waved, he remembered the words his uncle taught him.

The inn owner was able to get up and he walked to Lucas. “Thank you, sir. I don't know what would happen if he kept kicking me.”

“Well, you better think before doing anything, that man and his friends looked like trouble since the first time I saw them come in here.”

“Ahaha, I too think that as well, but I can’t just turn customers away. And, they were harassing my daughter, what kind of father would let his daughter in trouble.”

“You’re right. I would do the same if I were you.”

“Do you have a daughter? You looked young.”

“No, I don’t have any, and yes, I am young. But, I do have a sister so I can understand your feelings. ”

“Ah, what a good brother. Your sister must be lucky.”

“Yeah, but now she is far away.”

“You’re a traveller?”

“I am.”

“Amazing, where are you going?”

“Anywhere the wind blows me to.”

“Ahaha, you must have a lot of stories to tell. I’d like to hear it someday.”

“I’ll be glad.”

“Ah, right, pardon me, my name is Owen, owner of this inn.”

“I’m Lucas.”

“Thank you, Lucas. Ah, right, I will make you another meal.”

“No need, I’m full already. Although, I would accept your strongest drink to be sent to my room.”

“Of course! I will send it to your room. Please, have a rest.”

Lucas returned to his room. He was hoping for a quiet dinner, but it didn’t happen; Some vagrants just had to make a mess in the inn. Before he left the Royal Capital for the village, he told one of the shadows about it and ordered him to tell Bianca about where he was going. When he was resting on the bed, a call came from his PCD. He checked his PCD to see who was calling him, it was Bianca.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

“Hello, Duchess?”

“Duchess? Stop calling me that.”

“What do you mean? You’re a Duchess now, it’s only proper for me to call you that.”

“And you’re my commander and the eldest of the House of Lorien, in this place.” countered Bianca.

“So? The fact is that you’re a Duchess. Anyway, why are you calling me?”

“Abo–”

“Oh, someone is coming, later Bianca.” Lucas hung up the call. He heard someone knocking on the door. Lucas let the person come in. It was the owner’s daughter.

Lucas didn’t know her name, she came inside with a bottle and a glass on a tray. “This is your order, sir,” she said as she put the tray on the table in the room.

“Thank you.”

The girl shyly said, “I-i want to thank you for what you did before.”

“It’s nothing, I’m used to dealing with those kinds of guys.”

“You’re strong and kind, sir.” The girl walked to the door and closed it. “I wanted to show my thanks by serving you tonight,” the girl flirted at Lucas.

Lucas kept a poker face, he observed the girl. She had a cute face and her shoulder-length short hair complemented her face. It had been a while since Lucas slept with a woman, the last time he did it was at Lorien with Sophie. The girl loosened up her clothes to entice Lucas and she had a flirty expression on her face.

“Hah… Fine, It’s been a while since I slept with a woman. Come here, bring the drink as well,” said Lucas, accepting the offer. The work he had done since he arrived on this planet occupied him to the point he was a little bit stressed out and exhausted. Having her tonight would help unwind his exhaustion.

“But, there is only one glass.”

“Your mouth will be fine,” flirted Lucas.

That night, Lucas and the girl spent the night together. His stress and exhaustion were gone while he played with her. Lucas had never slept with any other woman except for Sophie–his fiance. It was a new experience for Lucas to sleep with another woman and he enjoyed it so much.

When he woke up, the girl was still asleep beside him. He carefully got up and put on clothes and went out of the room to eat breakfast. The dining room was quiet, there were only a few people eating breakfast there. Lucas sat at a table and the owner’s wife came.

“Good morning, I hope my daughter didn’t trouble you much,” said the wife. It seemed she knew what her daughter did.

“She was helpful. I was a bit stressed out and having her last night was great.”

“Ahaha, I see. It’s great that you are having a fun night. Then the breakfast is beef stew and slices of bread, I’ll bring it to you.”

“Thank you.”

Lucas ate breakfast. The stew tasted good and the bread wasn’t stale, but it was hot and soft, fresh from the oven–the breakfast was great. After he ate breakfast, the owner’s wife told him about a pack of wolves outside the village in the woods that had been terrorising the village. Lucas offered to take care of the wolves, and she agreed.

In the woods, just outside the village. Lucas was looking for the wolves, he brought his own sword and a bow and arrows he lent from the inn. He observed the grounds, branches and trunks to look for clues. Wolves usually went in a pack, so going there alone was a foolish decision. Lucas at the time he was offering help didn’t think it through.

He thought he might be able to take several cuts and bites before he went down. He kept searching for clues about where the wolves were. Finally, he found a carcass of an animal, it was huge, bigger than a cow. He inspected the carcass and determined it was a fresh one, so fresh as if it just got killed recently.

Suddenly, something jumped from behind bushes, and Lucas instinctively dodged it. It was a wolf, the wolf was growling at him. Shortly after, the growls grew louder and he saw multiple wolves surrounding him.

“Just my luck.”

Lucas drew his sword to fight against the wolves. There were 10 wolves, and as good as he was in melee combat if he was outnumbered there was little chance he went out unscathed. There was a stand-off between him and the wolves, none of the wolves wanted to fight him first, as if they knew Lucas could easily kill them.

An arrow struck one of the wolves, Lucas was confused and startled. Before he could look around to see who shot the arrow, the wolves surged forward to attack him. He defended like a lion, one by one he struck them with his sword. Lucas was an expert on swordsmanship, since he was a child he was taught to fight without his gun. The arrows kept coming as well, helping him take down the wolves. With a strike through the throat of the last wolf, the fight had ended. Sweat dripped through Lucas' chin, he rubbed the sweat off his face and looked around.

Lucas heard a rustle and footsteps coming behind him, he turned around and saw a man with a bow and arrows in hand.

“Hello there,” the man greeted Lucas.

“Hello. Thank you for the help.”

“Don’t mention it. It was a coincidence that I was here.”

The man told Lucas his name, Rodrigo. Rodrigo asked Lucas what he was doing here and Lucas answered he was helping the village near the woods. Rodrigo and Lucas chatted for a while, Rodrigo asked Lucas if he could take the wolves for himself, and Lucas let him take them.

Lucas parted from Rodrigo after that, however, he felt something was not right. Since he entered the wood earlier, he felt the presence of something or someone. Could it be Rodrigo, but why? thought Lucas. Lucas did not think much of it and leisurely walked back to the inn.

When he arrived at the inn he saw a man just outside the inn. He wore a cloak, but Lucas could deduce the man was a knight. He wondered if there was a noble inside the inn, but why would a noble be in this village? He entered the inn and saw a robed person, the person was facing away from the entrance of the inn, but Lucas could deduce that the person was a woman.

The owner's wife came to Lucas in a hurry and said, “Lucas, that lady over there was looking for you.”

“Really? Thank you.” Lucas walked to the table where the robed person sat. As he walked closer he wondered who it could be–Bianca, Ariana or Sarah. When he got closer, he saw a sliver of white hair on the person’s hair.

“Duchess?” Lucas called the person. She turned her face to look at Lucas and it was indeed Bianca. She had an annoyed expression.

“Stop calling me that!”

Lucas laughed. “What do you want?”

“What now? You are banished from the Royal Capital, how should we continue our mission to take over the world?”

“Umm… like we have discussed before?”

“But, you were kicked from the Royal Capital!”

“But, you’re not.”

“What?” Bianca was dumbfounded.

“It doesn’t matter if I can go to the Royal Capital or not. There are 6 of us and 4 are nobles of this kingdom, and you are the highest of all of us.”

“So, you want me to do the work?”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

“Hah… Fine, but make sure you tell me if I did something wrong or lacking.”

“You’re more than capable Bianca.”

“Thank you, but I want you to go to Petersburg.”

“Why?”

Bianca was annoyed once again. “What do you mean why? What are you going to do while I’m doing your work?”

“Uh… having fun?”

Bianca sighed. “Listen, I want you to be my representative there, I want you to take care of the problem there. In other words, while I take care of this kingdom, I want you to support me through the Duchy.”

“You’ve grown up, Bianca.” Lucas smiled proudly.

“I’ve grown since years ago!”

“Alright, I’ll do it. I’ve been meaning to do some experiments on a smaller scale as well, the duchy would be a great place. When should I leave?”

“In 3 days, you will leave there with Count Krazniv, the father of late Duke Novgorod’s wife, as well as Duke Aruburn’s army.”

“Alright, I’ll prepare myself.”

“Meet them outside the Royal Capital in 3 days, okay.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

“Stop that!”

“Then, I’ll be taking Max with me, is that fine?”

“Why? What about Ariana?”

“As I said before, I wanted to do some experiment, that’s why I need Max and you need Ariana more than me, she was in charge of the kingdom’s administration reform, you know.”

“Alright, fine. I’ll tell the others. Is the food here good?”

“Yes.”

“Alright, let’s order something.”