The entirety of the inn's clientele went completely silent, such as even breaths became naught more than a whisper. Krill was the only one who was chuckling to himself upon seeing the expression on the young man's and his companions' faces. He was looking forward to what the captain was going to do next.
Farmer crushed the remaining heart in his hand and tossed it to one side; making it land at the feet of one of the soldiers. Then he began walking to another soldier extremely slowly, cracking each one of his knuckles as he did so. His face was calm and he carried himself with an aura of intense slaughter which froze the blood of the veteran soldier who had the illusion that he could see his reflection dying in Farmer's violet eyes.
"You… Stop right there!" Suddenly spoke up the silk-robed youth. He tried to keep a relaxed composure, but his trembling voice betrayed the fear in his heart. "Do you know who I am? I'm Lenion Nightsky, the city lord's son! Do you know what will happen if you lay a hand on me or anyone of my men?"
"I already killed those two. Might as well make sure no witnesses remain." Nonchalantly brushed him off Farmer.
"Wait! Wait!" Lenion raised his hands seeking for some mercy and even had the urge to kowtow to Farmer. In fact, that's exactly what he would've done if there weren't any locals still in there. "That's water under the bridge! A trifling thing! It doesn't matter! Just let us go, and we'll leave things be." He said with a face full of smiles. However, in his heart, he was planning on coming back with a team of experts to teach this horrifying man a lesson.
"What's my name?" Contrary to Lenion's expectations, Farmer replied with a question as he twisted his head to one side with a comical expression plastered on his face.
"Pardon?"
"What's. My. Name."
"F-Farmer, your name's Farmer!" Answered Lenion. What the fuck was with that question? Was this guy fucked in the head or something? Wondered Lenion.
"That's right, my name is Farmer." Nodded the pirate lord in satisfaction. "And farmers don't give a troll's arse about city lords and their sons."
Following his words, he disappeared and reappeared an inch from Lenion's face in an instant. Reaching out with his hand, he held Lenion by his throat and raised him as far as his arm could go. The young Lord struggled as much as he could, punching and kicking with all his might, but he was as weak and as light as mouse in Farmer's grip.
Lenion's drinking buddies were so startled by Farmer's sudden movement that they fell to the floor and crawled to hide under the tables wishing that they had never come to the Little Garden that night. Similarly, Lenion's guards drew their weapons but they didn't dare to point them menacingly at Farmer. Yeah, the payment to protect their scumbag young Lord was good, but it was nowhere near as good as living to see another day with their families.
"Let me tell you exactly what's going to happen now." Said Farmer in a cold voice. At the same time, the members of his crew grinned in excitement. Those were the words that Farmer always said when he was fully intending to raze a place to the ground. Back in the sea where Farmer ruled as pirate lord, this simple phrase was akin to a death sentence. "You and your soldiers are going to stay here while your friends go to city hall to look for your father and bring him here. While we wait for them, I'll slowly peal the skin off your bones; so you better tell them to hurry, or there won't be much left of you by the time they return!"
Turning around to look at the cowering individuals he shouted "SCRAM!" and they all fled as if a devil was hot on their tails. Regarding the clients drinking in the inn, a few of them left the establishment with the young nobles but the vast majority remained so that they could witness the spectacle and Farmer made no move to have them vacate from the premises.
Dropping Lenion onto a nearby table, Farmer dug his dagger into the youth's hand, stabbing through it and sticking him onto its wooden surface. Lenion screamed and the people sitting there quickly rose to their feet to move to a safe distance away.
"You're completely mad!" Hollered Lenion with tears covering his face.
"Oh, yes. Yes, I am." Chuckled Farmer coldly. "But at least I'm a coherent madman. You know, I wouldn't have taken action if you'd just insulted me or set your dogs on me. Hells, I might have even laughed it off! But do you know why I just couldn't help myself from tearing you to shreds?"
"W-w-why?" Stuttered Lenion. He was now truly realising just how terrifying Farmer could be and he regretted, deep in his heart, pissing him off.
"You should never have thought of hurting a member of my crew." Whispered Farmer devilishly in Lenion's ear in a tone that caused shivers to crawl down the spines of those close enough to overhear his words.
After that, he grabbed Lenion's robes and tore them off his body in a single move. The now-naked noble tried to cover his groin with his free hand but was easily pinned down by Farmer who was grinning evilly. Farmer jerked Lenion's arm and a nauseating snapping sound was heard as the arm fell on the table at an awkward angle. Lenion cried out in misery and bawled like a new-born babe.
Farmer took a sword from one of the two soldiers' corpses and gently pressed its tip against the sole of Lenion's foot. He paused for a second, pinned down Lenion's knee, and then quickly flicked his wrist. With that motion, Farmer had sliced off the entirety of Lenion's right foot sole as a single piece of flesh. Laughing maniacally, he retrieved the piece of flesh and dragged it across Lenion's face.
"Look! I 'accidentally' took this off you; let me return it!" He dropped the piece of flesh on Lenion's face as the young noble screamed at the top of his lungs.
Everyone in the inn took in a breath of cold air and felt their backs drench in sweat; with the exception of Farmer's crew, who were used to their captain going ballistic whenever one of their own was being targeted or threatened.
Lenion's soldiers all looked at each other not knowing what to do. They knew they couldn't do anything to save their young master, but could they afford to just simply stand around doing nothing. They all glanced at their leader to tell them what to do. Even though they were all veteran soldiers who'd survived tens if not hundreds of battlefields, they had never seen such cruel methods before.
However, before they could silently decide on a plan, another shrill cry resounded from Lenion's mouth and the skin on his left foot sole fell on the ground.
Looking at each other, they all immediately took off their armours, threw down their weapons, and fled the inn with their fastest speed. They were going to go look for their families and then leave the city of Yort. Whatever happened that night, they would surely lose their lives as a result.
Farmer made no move to stop them acknowledging the correctness of their choice in his heart. Instead, he continued flicking his wrist every few seconds and, each time, a piece of Lenion's flesh would fall off his body. In a very short time, the blood dripping from Lenion's body decorated the table shaped as a tree in a crimson colour that somehow enhanced its beauty. It would have been worthy of commendation, were there not a ghastly sight to be seen lying on its surface.
Lenion had already lost the skin up to his knees. Due to the main, he had fainted twice but each time he was brought back from unconsciousness with a splash of ale to his face. He looked miserable to the extreme.
"Please, just kill me." He said with difficulty.
"Dying is too easy." Coldly remarked Farmer as he readied himself to continue slicing off bit of Lenion's flesh.
However, a voice suddenly interrupted him.
"To the pirate taking the young Lord hostage, get the Hell out here! You're surrounded!"
"Oh, it seems your friends did make haste." Farmer released Lenion and placed him over his shoulder. "We better go out there and thank them for being so diligent."
Glancing back to his companions, Farmer shook his head with a confident smile on his face, indicating that he was going out alone. He had already sent his spiritual sense to examine the newcomer's strengths and had concluded that he was more than enough to deal with them.
"Hey, there!" He spoke up cheerfully as he made his way through the door to the street. "Are you the city lord?"
"Unhand the Young Master this instant!" Was all Farmer got as a response.
In front of the inn stood an entire battalion of heavily armed soldiers numbering around two hundred. However, they were exceptionally weak, the strongest among them merely a second-dimension sorcerer.
Leading them was a suave looking young man around Farmer's age. His features were exceptionally smooth and his hair was a beautiful blonde colour that fell to his lower back. He was the kind of guy Farmer imagined was extremely popular amongst the local females. In addition, his strength was acceptably decent, as he emanated the aura of one in the upper-reaches of the fourth-dimension. However, this was a level far from the one necessary to defeat Farmer. Richard, Dachir
"Dachir, save me!" Shouted Lenion upon seeing the young man. "This man is completely mad!"
"From your answer, and this guy's reaction, I'm guessing that's a no on the city lord thing." Farmer furrowed his brows in concentration and scratched the side of his head with the tip of his dagger. "No matter! I'll just hand this little thing over to you, then."
With that, he flung the quasi-whole Lenion over to a large concentration of soldiers without hesitation. They caught him and, upon seeing the state of his injuries, bellowed furiously and clamoured for Farmer's immediate execution. Spotting the sorry state of their young Lord, the man called Dachir pounced to kill Farmer.
"Die!" He shouted at the top of his lungs.
"That's the Fire School's unique technique, the explosive punch!" Exclaimed one of the onlookers in shock. "To think Dachir has already mastered it to such an extent at such a young age…"
Farmer chuckled and leapt to meet Dachir in mid-air. Both men clashed with similar intensity but Farmer's superiority was shown almost instantaneously and he quickly adopted a dominant position wherein Dachir.
Mercilessly, Farmer cut off Dachir's nose and pulled off a large portion of hair off the man's head. Then, he punched him in the face with such force that most of Dachir's teeth crumbled to dust and his entire face was disfigured.
Farmer then grabbed Dachir's wrist and flung him over the shoulder into another section of the soldiers. Only, this time, he did so with such force that they spat blood from their mouths as soon as Dachir landed in their arms.
Pirouetting twice and then landing on his feet, Farmer stared at the two-hundred soldiers with a scornful look on his face. It was as if he was daring them to make a move against him.
Without Dachir's leadership, the soldiers were like a headless chicken. However, they had been ordered to retrieve the Young Master and nothing more. Thus, they retreated with their tails between their legs and quickly left the area.
Farmer snorted at the cowardice he had just been privy to and entered the inn to re-join his companions. As soon as he walked through the door, the clientele looked at him as if he were a ghost. And, upon seeing that no further action would take place anytime soon, promptly exited the place to spread the word of what had happened.
Farmer grinned to his companions and sat down at the table. Then he noticed that the waitress from before had lost all the strength in her legs and was kneeling beside their table. From the flushed look on her face, she was completely terrified.
"Would we be able to have our food now?" Warmly her asked Farmer, only for her to immediately faint at his words.
"There shouldn't be a problem with that." To the party's surprise, an old man walked out from the kitchen area. He was walking with his back completely upright and carried himself with the airs of a noble. His eyes were a clear green, and he had a long white beard which covered half of his face; yet it was easy to see that his facial features were soft and kind. "Forgive my granddaughter for trying to drive you away earlier, she was only following my instructions. Had I known that the renowned pirate lord Farmer was the one sitting at this table, I would have never allowed things to get out of hand. This matter is my fault."
"And who might you be?" Curtly questioned Krill as he stood up.
"Relax, Krill." Farmer placed his hand on his crewman's shoulder and gently pulled him back down. "It's the proprietor of the inn, don't you see? And, I'm guessing there's a reason why he's come out to apologise to us. Am I right?"
"You are indeed pirate lord Farmer." Smiled the inn's owner warmly. "Yes, I do have a request to ask of you."
"No need." Cut him short Farmer.
"Don't you want to know what it is or what I will pay you?"
"Nope."
"May I ask why?"
"Because I'm not interested in payment for what you want me to do." Replied Farmer calmly with a knowing gaze. Farmer had deduced many things from the proprietor's sudden appearance and could easily guess that his request was for Farmer to overthrow the corrupt city lord surnamed Nightsky from power.
To Farmer's dismay, however, the inn's owner didn't notice the meaning behind his words and proceeded to kowtow furiously in front of them.
"I beg you, please listen to my request." Said the innkeeper with a bloodied forehead. "The city lord is sucking the blood out of this once wondrous city. He steals from the people, and mercilessly kills those who stand in their way! For Naosh's sake, he's not even the legitimate city lord! He killed the last one and usurped him!
"Please, my Lord Farmer, save us! Your name resounds like thunder when spoken by the thousands you've saved in the past! Please help us!" Begged the old man as he knocked his head one final time.
"You misunderstood me, old man." Sighed Farmer, more so because he was disappointed in the innkeeper rather than depressed at the situation. "I fully intend to burn city lord Nightsky's life to the ground. I will slaughter his closest advisors, destroy his home, steal his valuables, and cripple him in a way that he'll never be able to rise again. I want him to live the life of a miserable pauper; I will have him suffering a true Hell on Earth!"
"Then why don't you want payment?" The innkeeper was genuinely confused.
"Isn't it obvious? Because his son used his name and status when daring to have ill intentions with a member of my crew!" Hollered Farmer in anger. "That alone deserves a punishment worse than death!"
Seeing how flustered Farmer was getting just because of an unfortunate proposal which could be seen as normal given Lenion's status, Serena couldn't help but look at Farmer in a new light. There was a mad desperation to protect his companions shining within those violet eyes and she couldn't help but wonder just how he would react if Lenion had kidnapped Raven instead of just brazenly speaking up.
Just the thought sent shivers down her spine unlike any she had ever felt before.