Chapter 14: Determination
The gang members kicked the door open but didn’t see anyone inside. They rushed inside, and went back out to talk to the ordinary, characterless man, “Mr. Jackson there’s no one inside, all the things were in order.”
Jackson, with his friendly smile, said : “It took me a while to interrogate that little brat’s information, I thought we were going to be late. Ha ha, seemed like Magg and Andre weren’t rubbish enough to let that kid escape early.”
When heard of Magg and Andre, the gang members around immediately remembered the miserable situation, which Magg cried painfully and covered his crotch; they can’t help but felt a sudden coldness in their own crotches. Andre, who was standing in the front, thinking about the possibility that Lucien escaped early and ran away with the money and goods. If that really happens I’m gonna badly roasted……Well, still better than Magg, the doctor said that he can’t move for the whole week.
“You, Andre, get in there and check if anything worth some Copper Fiers,” Jackson commands.
Andre needed to do some contributions right now, he walked in without hesitating.
Several minutes later, Andre walked out with a dumbfounded face, holding a large stack of random bits and pieces, “Mr. Jackson, that kid has many ‘trash’ inches crate.”
Lucien lamented silently, these are all his unprocessed stuff, everyone will a.s.sociate them with garbages with the first glance. If they also knew his recent trades in the Market District, the dumbest man could find his way to make money.
In addition, because Lucien could only go by himself and he didn’t bring back too much stuff, the profit was only some Copper Fiers. Whereas if Aaron’s Gang controlled those riverside garbage dumps, its numerous members and familiarity with the landscape could allow them much greater profits. In this case, they wouldn’t be wasting the source, which means that Lucien needs to find some new methods for money.
Jackson stared at the garbages in Andre’s hand, and shakes his head and curled his lip, “I think I know there he got the thorium copper. Although church cleaned these dumps once every three days, it’s surprising that none of us had thought of the ’treasures’ in the dumps. Royal Court, the Aristocrat’s Mayfair District, suburban manors, Musician’s a.s.sociation, Blacksmiths’ Union, Mercenaries’ Guild……the garbages from so many places are all concentrated in the dumps next to River Beleń. d.a.m.n yeah, those n.o.bleman’s trash isn’t actually trash to us.”
Jackson already had such thought when Magg and Andre told him that Lucien had sent the garbages from the Musician’s a.s.sociation, now his idea was confirmed.
Jackson smiled again after the speech, “Thanks to Lucien, who showed us another path shined with the fascinating golden coins, thus, greet him with our fervor. Go ahead and smash everything in his house, all the money belongs to you guys. ’Thank’ him hard whenever you find him later, and you can get some good pay from me.”
Lucien wasn’t important enough, according to Jackson, to be stay and watched. As an “organized, disciplined, genuine Mafia”, there’s much more to do every day than wasting time on a small potato like Lucien.
The gang members gave a cheer, if Lucien’s house weren’t too small and could only hold several people, they would all rush inside.
BANG BANG. Lucien could hear the sound of his stuff broke into pieces.
He could literally tell by the sound “They smashed the pot……the table was broken……they’re looking for the money I hid……” Lucien tightened his fist and gnashed his teeth with rage
Yet he also knew that he would only be badly beaten, or even dead, if he went out to stop them. No matter how angry, discomfort and furious he felt, he needed to calm himself down.
No social status, no resources and no power, Lucien had no solution against those blackguards gangsters and sc.u.mbags. From their emboldened action, Lucien could also tell that legal approaches wouldn’t help either. He started to have some other thoughts…
If that witch wasn’t stealing corpses from the cemetery she wouldn’t be burned.
As long as magic, sorcery, and the so-called “dark species” and “heresies” exist, there would possibly be somewhere that magic isn’t so discriminated against. If I’m cautious enough when learning magic, I will eventually gain the power to protect myself. From that point, I will go and find a safer shelter.
Great danger also means great gains, if I want to get better conditions and enjoy my life, how can I not take any risks? Even those merchants need to endure the aristocrats’ and the gang’s exploitation, and sometimes bankrupt or even die.
A numerous amount of ideas, which Lucien pinned in the bottom of his heart, finally broke the cage and echoed in his head, like the devil’s seduction, luring him to accept. While he neglected the question, that if there were actually a safe place to study magic, why were the witch in Alto.
Infinite ideas, thoughts, and desires flowed through Lucien’s mind, but before he could decide, he heard Aunt Alyssa’s voice, “All of your d.a.m.n scoundrels! What are you doing here?”
The textile guild’s clothes that required cleaning weren’t collected until ten a.m., thus, after sending Irwin out to pick mushrooms, Alyssa waited at home. Before she left for the job, she heard the sound of smashing things in Lucien’s house.
She held a long, wooden soup ladle, swung it and walked towards the gang members, trying to stop them from destroying Lucien’s room.
“Drive that mad beldam outta here!” Jackson pointed at Alyssa and said.
The two gang members that didn’t get a chance to smash anything darted out, they ripped up their sleeves and walked toward Aunt Alyssa fiercely, trying to kick her away.
Yet their underestimates Aunt Alyssa’s strength, the hand, like a bear’s paw, swung the ladle and gave the first roughneck a hard blow. He staggered and shouted with agony.
Jackson signaled the people around him, two more gang members followed on.
Although Alyssa was big and heavy and had some strength, her opponent were all actual fighters who uses their fists all the time. After several rounds of back and forth, They knocked her down.
Aunt Alyssa’s shoulder was heavily punched, although the force was buffered by the fat, it still made her moan painfully. However, Aunt Alyssa didn’t run away but continued, and yelled, “All of you, Stop it! The guards are gonna be there!”
Lucien, who hid behind the wall not far away, finally start silently blaming himself, when he saw Aunt Alyssa getting beaten, “Are you even a man?”
Despite the fact that he only “knew” Aunt Alyssa and Uncle Joel for several days, and he hasn’t felt much affection with them, Lucien still realized that Aunt Alyssa was getting beaten for him and his property. It’s unacceptable for him to hide back there and do nothing under this situation.
Lucien tightened his fist and stared at the front of the house, and cursed, “F**K!!”
Seconds later he charged, targeting Jackson, who had no one around him now!!
DUM DUM DUM, Lucien wasn’t far away from his house. It only took him several second to approach Jackson and punched him.
Jackson didn’t realize until then, he was surprised when looking at Lucien. Yet there was no more s.p.a.ce for him to take any move, Lucien knocked on him, Jackson tumbled and the two grappled with each other on the ground.
Lucien used his body and his left hand to pressure Jackson’s hands, preventing him from taking out the dagger, while his right hand was trying to reach Jackson’s throat desperately.If I can lock his throat and seize him, I can control the situation for now.
However, Jackson, as a leader in Aaron’s Gang, was not only depending on his cunningness and cruelty but as his experience as a formal-fighter. He made use of the momentum and rolled on the ground, preventing Lucien to choke him. At the same time, his pressured arms slightly moved and continuously hitting Lucien’s rib.
There’s not enough s.p.a.ce for Jackson to move, thus his strikes didn’t have much strength with it. Yet ribs were fragile and was a weak point in the human body, Lucien still hurts a lot facing Jackson’s quick attacks. Lucien, from his experience against Gary, knew that he could not panic but keep the motion. He endured the pain, and finally reached Jackson’s throat.
When Lucien almost clutched it, he felt extreme pain in his right ribs. He kicked away and fell to the ground heavily.
Using his experience, Jackson finally supported himself until the nearest roughneck arrived and kicked Lucien away.
The gang members inside the house also went out and besieged Lucien
Before Lucien could stand up again, fists and kicks rained down on him. He had no way to resist, but at least his calmness told him to huddle up like a shrimp, protecting the vulnerable points and left everywhere else open to attacks.
He rolled back and force on the ground because of pain, excruciating pain stabbed into his brain, but Lucien still remained conscious and kept his motion of getting hit, it’s gonna be worse if I got hit like Magg, Ugh…
At the same time, he had a feeling of his soul floating away, and his throat harsh and dry. He almost threw up, everything around him drifts away but the sounds became noisier, so unrealistic like a shaking movie. Aunt Alyssa’s yelling sounds like miles away, “LEAVE HIM ALONE……”
Any previous hesitation went away, under such circ.u.mstance, Lucien finally decided, “I need to possess the supernatural power, even if that means magic!!”
“I need to get enough money for learning as soon as possible, even if that means I need to take usury!”
Jackson glared at Lucien, who rolled back and forth painlessly. He relaxed his arm, stamped his feet on Lucien for several more times, and told the gang members to stop, “Good, that’s enough for that little son of b*tch. One of his friends was a formal squire under Wayne, we don’t need to kill him.”
If they could kill someone for such a small thing, especially killing the friend of a formal squire, Aaron’s Gang would already murder half of the population in Alto. In fact, what allowed Aaron’s gang to maintain control of the city gate and Market District, was that they never do evil that exceeds a certain limit. Or the true ruler of Alto, those aristocrats, bishops and priests would eliminate them right away——Even if, according to some rumors, that Sanfront Aaron had countless ties with a big man.
The fighters stopped, and surrounded Lucien with a ferocious look. Jackson looked at Lucien. whose blood came out from his mouth and nose, and smiled, “Actually I really appreciate your brain, boy, but you’re too young. Um, about the dumps near River Beleń, I hope you aren’t still thinking about them, or I believe Magg will be happy to ‘discuss the meaning of life’ with you.”
It’s not possible for Jackson to hide the information about the dump, thus Jackson had never thought of killing and silencing Lucien.
After he finished talking, Jackson saw Lucien look toward him with blood all over his face, and response simply in a raucous voice, “Yes.”
That gave Jackson a strange feeling, but he didn’t think much. The fighters took all Lucien’s stuff, included the forty-five Copper Fiers they found in his pocket and left exaltedly.