Chereads / TEMPEST IN THE LAND OF SEVEN ESTUARIES / Chapter 2 - The Greedy Thugs

Chapter 2 - The Greedy Thugs

Upon entering a humble tavern, Adanu Raksa is greeted by an old man. "It's quite early, sir. I'm afraid I can't prepare food for you at this hour."

 

"Could you prepare a cup of coffee, then?" Adanu Raksa inquires.

 

"Sure! Sure!" the old man replies.

 

As the old man brews his coffee, a few peasants begin to trickle in, some carrying hoes. It's such a customary for them to enjoy a cup of coffee before heading to work in their paddy fields.

 

Soon after, two thugs with thick and messy beard, having machetes on their waists, are also entering the stall. The two thugs are showing intimidating gazes toward Adanu Raksa, knowing that he is just a foreigner who recently came to the village.

 

"'What brings you to this village?" one of the thugs questions.

 

"Just here for this cup of coffee," Adanu Raksa replies casually, taking a sip.

 

"Then leave this village once you finish that cup," the thug threatens with a hostile tone, showing off a bit of the edge of his machete.

 

Adanu Raksa smiles and drinks all the coffee in one gulp. He then calls the owner while pulling up his shabby robe to take something out of the pouch on his waist.

 

He simply gives one of the largest Marajaya Kingdom official edition gold coin to the owner. That's the only type of gold coin he currently has. The pouch also looks so full, attracting those two thugs' attention.

 

"Sir, this is too much for one cup of coffee. I don't have anything for the change at this early," says the food stall owner.

 

"You can keep it. It's not too much for coffee as good as yours, old man," replies Adanu Raksa, patting the old man's shoulder before departing.

 

Shortly thereafter, the two village thug also leave, seemingly eager to follow Adanu Raksa from behind by keeping their distance.

 

"Go tell the others! We have a target this morning. I'll follow him by myself."

 

As Adanu Raksa scouts for a tree with sturdy branches to take a nap, the two men appear with four others. They surround Adanu Raksa with swords and machetes unsheathed.

"What do you want following me this far?" Adanu Raksa inquires as he calmly glances around.

 

"Wealth or life?" one of them threatens, looming menacingly.

 

Only then does Adanu Raksa realize their interest is in his pouch full of gold coins. "Heh! You want these special edition of Marajaya gold coins? Aren't you curious how I acquired this many?" he retorts with a taunting grin.

 

Ignoring his words, the thugs advance, attempting to seize Adanu Raksa's pouch. However, Adanu Raksa doesn't take them seriously, easily evading their sword and machete attacks while subduing them with swift kicks to their feet.

 

Five of the thugs flee, realizing Adanu Raksa is no ordinary vagabond. One thug remains, as Adanu Raksa holds the man's hand, with his own machete is pressed against his neck.

 

"Wealth or life?" Adanu Raksa threatens with a childish smile.

 

"I have nothing to spare. Please, let me go," the thug pleads.

 

"Ah, I didn't know you are such a poor buddy. Here, take this and leave," Adanu Raksa tosses a gold coin to the thug, and the thug catches it in confusion.

 

"'Consider it a reward for your persistence," continues Adanu Raksa.

 

He then ignores the thug and climbs to the top of a tree, preparing for a nap. The thug squints, seeming so annoyed by Adanu Raksa's carefree demeanor. He then gazes at the gold coin he has just received, and soon his greed reaches the ceiling of the first heaven.

 

 

And indeed, not even an hour Adanu Raksa getting a good nap time on the tree, those thugs are coming again bringing more men and also taking their leader with them. No less than 20 village thugs have surrounded that area, while the leader is just casually standing behind them.

 

One of them whispers, "Cut down the tree quickly. When he falls, that's when we scuttle his head."

 

As they manage to chop the tree, Adanu Raksa slowly falls along with the fallen tree. But then, he simply gets up with swaying postures holding his black Damascus short sword, with eyes not fully opened.

 

Those thugs eagerly swarm him together, thinking that Adanu Raksa is badly injured after the fall.

 

"Kill him!"

 

"Yaaargh!!!"

 

However, disturbing Adanu Raksa while he is sleeping is the biggest mistake one could make. He hasn't gotten any sleep for all night, and that's not good at all.

 

He can control his sanity and conscience during his wake, but not while he is half asleep. Being threatened by so many men with murderous intent, only triggers his instinct to survive. They never know, what living for years slaughtering demons has turned him into.

 

As soon as one thug steps foot within Adanu Raksa's attack range, a dense and suffocating killing aura suddenly filled the air around him. The next split second, that one man's head is already floating in the air, and a gush of blood spurts out from his severed neck.

 

Meanwhile, Adanu Raksa is still swaying half consciously with the sword is pointing down to the ground.

 

Most of thugs are shocked, and doubts begin seeping into their minds. But two ignorances are still dared approaching Adanu Raksa. And suddenly, their heads are also floating in the air, being slain by Adanu Raksa's short sword.

 

Soon, Adanu Raksa no longer feels the threat he got before, due to them being too afraid of him. He shakes his head, as if coming back to his sense.

 

"Shit! How did I get down here?" he mutters to himself.

 

He looks behind, and finds the tree where he took a nap had already fallen.

 

"What the? Did you cut the tree?"

 

He keeps gently shaking his head, looking so hard to stay awake due to how tired and sleepy he is.

 

He keeps gently shaking his head, looking so hard to stay awake due to how tired and sleepy he is. He really needs to get some sleep so bad. Ultimately, he opts to abandon the fight and flees.