d

The carriage was absent of all conversation as it rolled into the Loen manor. Only the sound of the creaking of the carriage wheel and the occasional growl of the lion pulling the carriage could be heard. From Pvarti to Bertram to their sister Greta, to the carriage driver and, as well as all the guards and workers around the manor, they all maintain silence.

As much as he tried to avoid or delay it, eventually they returned home. The pale-looking Pvarti smiled weakly at his siblings, but did not have it in him to crack jokes. It was time to face the music. Regardless of the circumstances, it was true that Pvarti had ended up breaking his engagement and ruining the wedding his father had arranged. His father was well known for not handling bad news well, and the news of his ruined engagement, and all that it entailed, made bad news look like a sprinkle before a thunderstorm.

Even the pampered Greta did not have the courage to say anything today. The dark and Sol-bird absent sky seemed fitting for today's events.

Pvarti took a deep breath, clapped his brother on the back, and jumped out of the carriage before it even stopped. Whatever was going to happen, it was best he faced it alone.

*****

The tavern fell dead silent as everyone turned to look at the woman who yelled. Standing in the doorway was a woman with fair and delicate skin, her purple dress falling elegantly across her supple figure, her arms arched and pressing against her waist. She wore a twisted yet satisfied grin as she surveyed the hall, looking at all the people who were beneath her.

The hall lacked the disgusting stench of poverty she had been expecting and was surprisingly clean. For a moment, she was almost confused. After all, the lower class should have the characteristics of the lower class, and be covered in filth, ripe with a stench of desperation, and begging to be saved by the rich and the beautiful. This place clearly was not.

But then her sight fell upon the sailors. Wearing ruffled clothes and covered dried sweat, they reaffirmed her belief that this place was truly the lowest rung of society, and all the people here were beneath her.

"Do not speak too loudly, Hena," said a man who entered right after her. "You must take care of your singing voice. Should your performance later be affected due to all these..." he paused for a movement, as if thinking, but then shrugged and continued. "Should your performance be affected due to all these, then even if they sell their souls, they will not be able to make up for the travesty."

Lex was momentarily stunned in his place. He could not believe that there were actually people this snobby and rude, and moreover, he could not believe that they had the gall to act this way in public. Were they not afraid that someone in the tavern would show them the repercussions of such behavior?

His first thought was that they must be incredibly powerful, and thus, were arrogant. Yet a simple scan showed that these two were just in the late Foundation realm. His next thought was that they must be from an influential background, possibly even the upper echelon of Babylon or a nearby town or city.

A few more people walked in behind the two, almost assuring Lex that his second guess was right. What he needed to consider now, however, was how to react. If the Midnight tavern were just a normal tavern, how would the owner react?

He would probably tolerate them, or at most, try to get them to leave. A normal tavern owner would not pick a fight with nobility, or, at least, important people.

"Pvarti has such a benevolent heart, spending his time in such a base environment. He never tires of providing the charity of his presence, even in such a slum."

Lex's lips twitched as he suppressed his irritation.

"Excuse me for a moment," he said to Mario as he stepped away, who only silently nodded. While the entire tavern had their attention on the two who were badmouthing everyone there, Mario and Elio had their gazes fixed on Lex. They said nothing, nor did they exchange any looks. They just wore an amused smile as they watched. Mario even ordered a drink from Roan.

"It's not about charity," the woman who had been addressed as Hena said in an instructive voice. "It's about making use of his noble character for their own nefarious purposes. Pvarti is too gracious to bother with such rumors, so they probably spread them to gain customers. Maybe if the mayor or even a noble ever actually visited this place, they'd hug their legs and beg for charity like they always do."

"I assure you," began Lex as he approached the duo, trying his best to maintain decorum and resolve the situation before things escalated. Yet before he could say anything else, the man promptly lifted his cane and pressed it against Lex's chest.

"Keep your distance, vermin," the man commanded. "You may speak to us, but keep your face directed towards the floor. Your gaze is an affront to the civilized. Not to mention, who would bear the consequence if someone ended up smelling your breath. I'm getting sick just thinking about it."

It was not Lex's lips that twitched this time, but a vein running down his forehead. In his life Lex had never been insulted like this. But, showing great tenacity, Lex managed to control himself.

'Just an ordinary tavern,' Lex repeated in his mind as he struggled to control himself. He had managed to cool himself down, and was about to 'kindly' request these people to leave the tavern.

It was at this time that Nani, the youngest of the triplets, exited the kitchen holding a tray full of food previously ordered by the sailors. Lex did not notice, for he was focused on controlling himself.

The man with the cane and the woman Hena too did not notice, for they were focused on belittling Lex. Hena, in fact, had a hint of an excited grin on her face. They were putting these poor people in their place. Pvarti would secretly be pleased, surely.

The group accompanying the two, however, did. One of the men, feeling proud and excited, found the young and energetic Nani pleasing to the eye. Without warning or any prior indication, he reached out and yanked the waitress towards himself.

Lex heard a sharp yelp and the clatter of falling plates and when he looked, he found his new waitress having literally fallen into a man's arms. Something snapped.

Lex William had grown up with three sisters but, oddly enough, never in his life did he ever feel like he needed to protect them. He had traveled the world with his family, so he was quite familiar with the fact that in most countries, brothers were culturally taught to be protective of their sisters. Even in the countries where this was not a thing, simply out of sibling affection, brothers and sisters would look after one another.

Yet, despite knowing all this, he never felt weird for not feeling protective of his sisters. There was one very simple reason for this. His elder sister, Belle, was a freaking maniac. Not only was she cold and aggressive, she actively made it a point to be as merciless as she could possibly be. To top it all off, she had not a shred of fear in her body, and could not be intimidated at all. Even when they were kids, Lex clearly remembered that Belle would not shy away from scolding even her parents if she thought they were in the wrong.

But, at the same time, despite the fact that she portrayed herself as an emotionless robot to the whole world, it was very evident that she cared for her younger siblings. In his entire life, Lex never even had the opportunity of simply facing a bully, let alone actually being bullied, because Belle was always around. His parents were a little quirky, but the moment Belle felt like they were affecting her siblings' education or normal growth, she would set them in place. In a way, she was the parent for the whole family.

As such, Lex spent his entire life without a strong feeling of responsibility towards protecting the women in his life. That didn't mean he would leave them to suffer should they ever face danger, but just that the thought never crossed his mind.

𝘭𝑖𝑏𝘳ℯ𝑎𝑑.𝒸ℴ𝘮

In the moment that he saw Nani pulled into the arms of a strange man, though, something inside Lex's mind snapped. He had been handling the stress and pressure of being stranded in a different realm, far away from home, and everyone he knew quite well, but that did not mean he didn't feel it. Moreover, less than a year ago, he was just an ordinary man, living an ordinary life. He never faced mortal danger, never was hunted by animals, was never burnt alive by lava, never had his mind, body and soul assaulted by slimy monsters.

Overall, he handled the stress of the change well. But clearly it had been building up somewhere in Lex, and now, suddenly, with a tide of anger, it broke through whatever dam Lex had built up inside of himself, and tore away at all his inhibitions.

Lex clenched his fist, not to punch, but to control the formation in the tavern. He had already planned that, should he ever encounter trouble, he'd put the offender in a room made by the space formation, trapping them. In his mind, he had planned on simply creating a small, invisible room to isolate them from the rest. Yet when he acted out of anger, he overcame limitations that he had on his understanding of how the formation worked.

Who said that the invisible 'room' he created using the spatial formation to trap people had to be cubes or cuboids in shape? He instantly created several rooms, exactly in the shape of these 'important people', and trapped them in it.

They suddenly found themselves unable to move in the slightest, and felt something squeezing against their bodies, trapping them, yet they couldn't see what it was. Standing still, and suddenly being forced to become as stationary as a statue, were vastly different, and everyone in the room immediately noticed that something had happened, but they couldn't understand what.

Ignoring everything, Lex walked to Nani and helped her get out of that man's arms.

"You're alright now," he said in a warm, soothing voice. "Everything is fine. It's over." He checked her hands to see if she had any bruises and, fortunately, she was not harmed. Fortunate for the people who stood frozen.

The girl who had suffered more from the surprise of being pulled than anything else, quickly calmed down. Lex had reacted all too quickly, so much so that she had not even understood someone had grabbed her by the time Lex pulled her away.

Her two sisters, who had heard the yell, suddenly came to the hall as well to investigate, but Nani seemed to be fine.

"I apologize for not stopping the man sooner," Lex said sincerely. "I was distracted, it won't happen again."

"Oh, it's nothing," Nani said with a laugh when she finally got her bearings. "We wouldn't be in this business if we couldn't handle a little trouble."

Though she said she was fine, she quickly grabbed the fallen tray and retreated to the kitchen. Even a blind man would notice by now that some guests in the hall were... unnaturally still. Though their expressions remained frozen, since they didn't even have the space to maneuver their faces, their eyes kept darting about in fear and confusion.

Lex nodded and turned back to the 'cream of society'. To be honest, he was extremely pissed at them. Not only because they assaulted Nani and insulted him, along with everyone else in the room, but they also destroyed his attempt at seeming like an ordinary tavern.

When something snapped in Lex, it wasn't a blind rage that filled him, though there was definitely an abundance of anger. It was more like his inhibition broke. He kept holding himself back, keeping himself from showing all his cards. It was definitely smart to not reveal all his secrets, for his life was in greater danger while he was not at the Inn. Yet now that he had the tavern, and the system's functions could help him once again, there was no reason to be so repressed.

Lex clenched his fist harder, and the 'room' that had been trapping all the offenders tightened just a bit more, squeezing their bodies. It was not lethal, or even dangerous, yet, but it definitely wasn't comfortable.

Occasionally missing content, please report errors in time.

Lex was deciding what to do with these fellows. There was no way he would just let them go. Not only did they need to be punished, but they needed to understand that if they tried to retaliate against Lex or his workers at a later date, there would be far worse consequences.

But first…

Lex turned to the rest of the guests in the hall, mainly the sailors, and said, "I'm sorry you had to see that. At most you can consider it a little bit of entertainment. For those of you who feel like you want to avoid trouble, now would be the time to leave. If, however, any of you feel like watching some drama, then feel free to stay and enjoy."

The sailors cheered and hooted, and none of them moved. Why should they give up free entertainment for no reason?

"Now that that's out of the way, does anyone recognize any of these guys?"

The room fell silent. It was to be expected, as these sailors were not locals. Mario and his crew said nothing either.

Lex frowned, then walked right up to the man with a cane and freed his face so that he could talk.

Immediately he started gasping, taking big breaths as he looked at Lex with horror and panic on his face.

"You… you…. You can't…. You can't…" the man started stuttering, unable to finish his sentence. Lex on the other hand, did nothing. He stood in front of him, and continued to look at him with an impassive face.

The sheer extent of the indifference on Lex's face scared the man even more for some reason, and he quickly found himself unable to maintain eye contact with Lex. When he looked away from Lex, Lex finally nodded and began to speak.

"Who are you, and where are you from?" he asked, making sure to leave his voice as bland as possible.

"I… I… You…"

"Stop," Lex suddenly said, realizing the man wouldn't be able to speak. "Just stop. Take a breath. Calm down. And answer my question."

The man obeyed Lex's orders, but when he calmed down, and finally was able to talk, he also regained a bit of his wits.

"Do you know how much trouble you're in? Do you know who I am?" he asked, his voice still trembling, though he was trying to seem more confident.

𝙡𝙞𝓫𝙧𝒆𝙖𝓭.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"Obviously I don't know who you are, otherwise I would not ask. And before you try to threaten me with your identity, know that I don't care in the slightest about it. So, now, answer my questions carefully. Or else, I'll just throw you lot in the back room and wait till someone comes to find you, and then I'll ask them instead."

Lex's threat seemed to do wonders, and the man quickly began to explain their background, no doubt doing his best to exaggerate as much as he could. In summary, the law was very loose in neutral lands, and as long as one wasn't too excessive, they could live as they liked. Since this neutral territory was controlled by a human, many powerful and wealthy human families settled in this region, forming a society of elites who more or less treated themselves as kings and queens. So long as they didn't antagonize the Noel family, they could do pretty much whatever they wished.

After he understood everything, Lex freed one of the random followers from his bindings, and instructed him to go find their backers, whoever they were. He was very clear in explaining the fact that he had no intentions of letting the rest of the group go until each of the respective families or powers behind them came. Since he had already messed up his 'ordinary tavern' routine, it was best to go all out.

Once the freed man scurried away, Lex turned his attention to Mario. Without saying a word he came and sat opposite to the man, his mood clearly very different from when they started their conversation earlier.

"You know, I've heard about you. Not a lot, but just enough to get an impression," said Lex, slowly.

"Oh? And what is your impression?" Mario asked, curiously.

"My impression… is that it's quite a convenient coincidence that the stupidest lot of self titled nobles came to cause trouble at my tavern the very day you came to visit."

Mario raised an eyebrow in question.

*****

Anakin I. McClane finished his drink and stood up reluctantly. The Lady Cosmos show was just too… too amazing, making him want to never leave! Moreover, he heard a rumor that a bikini segment was supposed to come up.

Yet as alluring as it was, he had to get to work. He knew that the moment he entered the bank vault, chances were high he'd trigger some kind of alarm. He could have bought more stuff to help him remain undetected from the Inn, but if he had the money to afford that stuff in the first place, he wouldn't be robbing a bank.

He picked up the various bags he'd left in a room he previously rented at the Inn, put on a mask and exited, coming out right in the middle of the vault.

Surprisingly, the vault was well lit even at night. It only made it more convenient for him. Not bothering with any kind of stealth, he took out the only weapon he bought from the Inn, a heated knife that could easily cut through the toughest zombie hide. He'd blown all his savings on this, but it was about to pay off.

Starting from a random corner, Anakin began to cut open the safety deposit boxes and began filling his backpacks with whatever he found. There were an annoying number of documents, a lot of nudes, some computer hard drives, but mostly it was just cash, jewelry and gold.

Anakin did not get greedy, as soon as the alarm he set on his wrist watch went off, he packed his bags and returned to the Inn. Maybe he would have had more time, and maybe his little heist hadn't even been noticed yet. Or maybe it had. None of it mattered.

Anakin had set rules for himself, and he would abide by those rules. Besides, he had money to spare now. Just to be safe, he'd be spending a week at the Inn before he tried to return.