Vol 1 Chapter 14 (1/2)
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 s.h.i.+ned 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 smas.h.i.+ng 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.