Anger!

Under the cold midnight moon, Joshua’s anger was like bubbling lava, laid bare for all to see.

Lucia had been harassed constantly by the Duchess because of her visage without the status to match, but young Joshua had been unable to do anything. In his past life, she had contracted a terrible chronic disease and died, alone and despairing, when he was fourteen years old. Joshua had been frustrated by his powerlessness and cried for a long, long time.

For Joshua, his mother had been the only refuge from the constant bullying he received from the others in the estate. It was the same for everyone. One would only realize how much something meant to them after they had lost it. It was the same for Joshua too. It was only when she had passed away that Joshua had realized how much she meant to him. With his world crumbling around him, Joshua had sworn off personal attachments unless he had the strength to protect them.

But this time, even at the tender age of nine, Joshua had the power to protect his beloved mother.

Joshua cast his gaze across the ground. He found a rake used to clean horse manure. Picking it up, he broke off the shaft right under the rake head with his knee.

Crack!

He three away the rake head and held the long wooden staff in his hand.

“—R-run!” Rols stuttered. He’d been trembling from the moment he saw Joshua.

“...What?”

“We should run. That kid isn’t the one we know!”

“What are you talking about, you bastard?” Gort dug his ear with his little pinky finger. Roid just shook his head as though he was not bothered. Only Rols, who had witnessed everything, was nervous.

“Get out of the way. I’ll take care of it.”

Gort got up and dusted off his pants.

“Don’t go too hard on him, Gort. He will cry,” Rols said with a relaxed expression.

“I’m glad you came. I woulda been worried if you didn’t show up.” Gort mocked Joshua like a small animal. He burst into laughter when he saw Joshua remain silent like the mute he was.

“My memory seems to be failing me… But you clearly can talk, can’t you?”

Joshua remained silent.

“Well, whatever.” Gort shrugged. “When someone’s mother gets raped right in front of them, even a mute will open their mouth.”

Joshua still gave no response.

“You should thank me. At that rate, wouldn’t I be a miracle doctor who cured you then?”

At that, Roid couldn’t hold it in anymore and his giggles turned into full-blown laughter.

Standing like a statue while enduring through the mockery, Joshua eyed his mother before finally speaking out.

“Come out.”

The three centurions, Gort, Rols, and Roid, jumped.

“He really can talk. Were the rumors true?” Gort mused blankly.

“This oughta be good.” Roid laughed, but Rols was still visibly shaking.

“Huh, yeah. If you insist.”

Shiiing.

Gort took a step forward, unsheathed his sword and pointed it at Joshua.

This kind of sword was standard-issue, but this was the Agnus estate; they provided the highest quality materials and weapons to knights of all levels. It was in decent shape, with only a few spots of rust here and there, and it was as sharp as the day it was forged. Gort licked his lips as he examined the sheen of his sword under the moonlight.

“This time round—”

“I said, come out.”

Gort had been edging towards Joshua, but he felt something was off and halted. Joshua was looking in his direction, but not directly at Gort.

“What are you going on abou—”

“How did you notice?”

The sudden voice from behind Gort had caught him by surprise.

“Who are you?” Gort screamed, and the three thugs whirled around. What they saw astonished them.

There was a young man with brown hair and tan eyes—an ordinary appearance you could see anywhere on the street, but his clothes told a different story. There was a distinctive red cross embossed on his leather armor. This mark, considering its origins, was instantly recognizable to anyone: it was the insignia of Duke Agnus’s Red Knights, one of the three greatest knight orders of the Agnus estate.

A normal knight was as far from a soldier of this caliber as a commoner was from nobility. The difference was like Heaven and Earth.

The centurions snapped to attention at once.

“I greet the Red Knight!”

“Greetings to the Red Knight!”

Their right fists were over their left breasts, and their head in a bow. This greeting was clearly different from how they would greet the Duke. There was only one group that could command the estate’s people to kneel down in greeting, and that was the Duke and his direct family. Even the greatest knight order could not demand such formalities from others in the estate.

Kneel to no one except the master and his direct family. That was the unspoken rule of Duke Agnus.

The Red Knight, Cain, met Joshua’s cold eyes. He couldn’t hide his embarrassment.

‘Is this really the dumb kid they were talking about?’ Cain muttered under his breathe as he sized Joshua. Joshua’s small, fragile body was nothing to him, yet the boy seemed to emanate a strange feeling of intimidation from his tiny form.

‘What is this?’ Cain tried to swallow, but his throat ran dry. He knew of only one person with this kind of presence: the Duke.

“I have a question.” Joshua spoke in a low and heavy tone.

Cain’s mind went blank. Under the orders of the Knight Captain Chiffon, he’d been assigned to monitor the boy—that was his mission. He had also been perplexed about how the boy had come to notice him. But when the boy addressed him, all of those thoughts disappeared. Only the instinctive desire to answer remained.

“Yes?”

“A mere soldier attempted to sully the Duke’s mistress… According to the Duke’s military regulations, how should we handle this case?”

‘A mere maid—!’ The words remained stuck in Cain’s throat. He was too afraid to utter them when faced with the boy’s intimidating aura. His instincts were telling him not to.

Cain bit his lip. For a moment, he met Joshua’s eyes. 

He had no words for what he felt then. All he could do was obey his instincts.

“Immediate execution.”

“Execute them.” Joshua tossed his wooden stick aside.

Cain drew his sword.

Shiiiing.

Hearing the sound of the sword, the three centurions prostrated themselves in unison.

“Please, please spare me!”

“I will never think of such nonsense again! Please!”

The three centurions had their hands clasped together in a praying gesture as they begged for mercy. Cain glanced from them to Joshua, but Joshua’s eyes were unwavering and merciless.

Cain swung down.

An unnerving scream accompanying the sound of disembodiment split the silence, echoing across the Duke’s estate.