The Shame Of Man

The night had fallen. Paige and I had finally arrived at the bottom of the inn, the lobby.

The lobby was used as a sort of bar and eatery that accepted customers and inn-staying guests.

On a calming night such as this, the reconstructed lobby looked magnificent, with the newly made furniture, more intricately designed crystal lanterns, and well-dressed workers in black and white suits which were uniforms I designed myself.

As well as the beautiful checkered design of white marble and glowstone tiles, the entire lobby of the inn was very attractive and professional in every way.

I carried the weak Paige by the shoulder through the bustling area of old drunken men and loud youths. As I passed by the many occupied tables, I was surprised to have spotted a familiar face and... Bald head.

It was Lord Ferdinand having fun with a bunch of other nobles with a numerous pile of empty ale cups on his table. He was completely drunk from all the ale and in the process of having his cheers with the other nobles.

He was also busy with one cup of ale in his hand and fondling the bosom of an innocent female server with the other.

“Ha...” I sighed at his disgusting activity.

“And to think that he's a married man as well,” I thought whilst facepalming my forehead in shame.

I looked to my side and noticed Paige facepalming himself just as well. “It seems we do think alike sometimes,” I thought with a simple smile.

I sat Paige on a nearby chair with a free table and went towards the noisy old drunken man that didn't seem to understand his position.

“This...! This is my chamberlain...” I said out loud but he didn't seem to hear from all the 'fun' he was having.

“Hehehe!” I thought mischievously as I saw his clear and shiny bald head.

Firstly, I stood behind Lord Ferdinand from where he sat committing debauchery, I slowly took off the gloves I had worn till now and dropped them on the floor and cracked my knuckles, one by one.

Once that was done, with a little bit of aura to strengthen my right palm specifically, “Lord Ferdinand Augustus! Is this how you serve me!?” I SMACKED Lord Ferdinand's shiny bald head violently with my open palm.

The smack projected him off his seat and two meters away from the table, crashing into another occupied table and destroying it.

The innocent female worker bowed and went away in the ruckus from Lord Ferdinand's crash which also brought the entire room to still silence.

“Ah...! That's one way of getting the audience's attention.” I jokingly said but then changed my tone into a more serious one. “Now, get that fool out of here! He's in luck that he's an aura master otherwise he'd be dead right now.”

Some of his noble friends carried the unconscious Lord Ferdinand out of the inn, just as I ordered. The rest of the nobles that were having fun with him left just as well, probably to avoid ending up like Lord Ferdinand.

Upon remembering Paige's weakened condition, I ordered some of the guard knights that were stationed outside to take him to recover. “Get my page to the estate manor immediately, and tell the head maid, Penelope that I asked for his quick recovery. She'll know what to do."

And two of the knight guards rushed in just as I ordered and picked Paige up by his shoulders, leading him outside of the inn.

I stayed behind.

But just before they gently and slowly took Paige away, even in his mildly sweaty and weakened state, he asked me to show mercy but it wasn't with his mouth, no, he asked me with his eyes.

I sighed, “Ha... That guy is too kind for his own good,” I thought as I saw him carried out of the lobby.

Once he was gone, at the centre of the lobby I stood with both of my hands relaxed in my trousers pockets and slowly scanned everyone's faces in the lobby, I noticed that the innkeeper, Mrs Williams wasn't present.

“She's taking an awfully long time just to get some supplies, interesting...” I thought to myself.

As I thought that, everyone in the lobby gradually proceeded to return to their bustling activities but I suddenly interrupted them in my loudest and commanding tone, “EVERYONE, SHUT THE FUCK UP AND STAY STILL, OR ELSE...!”

After all, I still had unfinished business with the inn, specifically the people who dared to steal from me.

Everyone stayed absolutely still and quiet, there was a certain anxiousness in the air, the atmosphere felt tense and it was as quiet as a graveyard. No one dared to disobey my words.

“Isn't this lovely...” In a villainous manner and with a mischievous smile, I used my left hand to brush my golden dyed curly hair bangs ever so slightly from my forehead to the back.

Then I proceeded to stare at a few faces among the workers and customers, sternly. To which each face looked startled by my stare.

“Now, now, now...! I'm sure you two thought you could blend with the crowd, all you needed to do is act normal, right!? After all, no one would suspect you if you remained in the place of the crime, right!?” I began to walk gracefully around the many tables, the workers, and the customers while I spoke my mind.

“Let me guess, you're a couple, aren't you!? You two probably thought ’If we just stay hidden in plain sight for a day or two, we can leave unnoticed one quiet night.', right? Right!?” I stared down many nervous faces each more scared than the last. No one dared to react too suspiciously.

“But you see... You made a horrible mistake! Never remain in the same area as a Predator you've provoked,” I took out my right hand and reached it out to a certain lady's neck, a lady in a worker's uniform with red hair and deep blue eyes.

“I've...! Found...! You...!” She was the lady from the office earlier. How was I sure? Well, other than the fact that she was literally the only female worker with red hair, her fingernails were also covered in slight fungal infections.

It seemed that she must have cut her fingertips and still proceeded to handle the deadly mushrooms.

“Urgh...! Did she not wash her hands after plucking all those deadly mushrooms!? I mean, even wearing gloves would have been an appropriate approach to handling poisonous mushrooms than to use her bare hands!” I thought extensively as I observed the spread of the fungal infection on her fingernails.

I was a bit hesitant to even touch her now but I digress.

Amid her fellow staff members, I grabbed her by the neck and pulled her to the centre whilst holding her up by the neck for everyone to see. “Here's one! Now, where's the other...!?”

The red-headed lady struggled under my hold, squirming in the air as I moved around.

“Won't you come out! I have your lover right here in my hands, you know! Oh, what! Did you think I wouldn't know that you two were a couple!?”

No one responded and I was pissed but instead of showing it, I chose to hide my rage with a villainous smile. I took in a deep breath and with the little aura I had produced again, I activated my aura skill in my mind...

“Aura Detection”

In that moment of using Aura Detection, I scanned everyone's aura as well as the movement of their aura.

You see, when I was using my WPS skill before to track down the lady in the office, I noticed something about her aura. And not just her but also with the man that suddenly appeared before her at the time, as well as every single person that was present in the inn.

“Every individual's aura fluctuates in a unique frequency.” I thought as I used the Aura Detection skill.

The flow of their aura, the rhythm, even the volume of it encompassing their bodies was different and unique which meant that a specific individual could be traced by their aura fluctuations, the unconscious impulsive component of their personality, or better yet their... “Aura ID”.

It was a simple idea that came to mind during my search for the culprits but a discovery nonetheless.

And that's why... “I've already found you! The bastard that stole my precious handkerchief!” I thought as I looked past the crowd and caught him in my sight, he was also in a worker's uniform and seemed to be the closest to the exit door.

I couldn't risk his running away and escaping my grasp, especially on a quiet night such as this one where one could slip through the darkness of the night. So I... Decided to have a little fun with the situation.

“It seems you don't want to come out, huh!? You must think that since I didn't see you, you're probably still safe!” I noticed the man twitch a bit, but I needed more.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk! I'll count to five. If you don't appear before me on your knees before I get to the number five!? I shall end this poor lady's life!”

“ONE!” I took a step closer to his vicinity.

“TWO!" I took another step towards him, but he still didn't come out. I decided to turn her towards me as I held up, just to get a better view of her emotions.

And she showed me a lot of emotions, especially towards a certain direction, a direction that I was moving towards.

“THREE...!” The redheaded lady began to squirm even more.

I could see it in her eyes, she was looking right at him past the crowd with her sorrowful eyes, almost as if she was begging for him to come out but he stood still, refusing to act.

“FOUR...! Come out now, bastard! Or she dies!” I began to squeeze her by the neck, slowly.

“FIVE! ...I see...” He maintained his stillness and continued to hide, there were a few murmurs, mostly people curious as to what would happen next.

Still holding the lady by her neck, I mentioned, “Hmm... My dear, it seems that your so-called lover doesn't care for you!"

She responded to me with tears in her eyes but I didn't waver.

With a blank expression, I calmly said, "Sorry for your loss. Goodnight dear.” With a loud crack, the lady fell from my hands to the floor.

“Ahh!!!” A few of the female workers screamed at the seemingly lifeless body of the red-haired lady.

I placed my finger to my lips gesturing a silence. And the people obeyed, it became silent in seconds but with certain whimpers of fear from the other female workers.

As she laid lifeless on the floor, I turned my gaze to the crowd, specifically to the worker next to the bastard, another male server. I did so to confuse the bastard.

That way, he would be completely unaware that I was actually looking at him. I pushed forward, through the crowd that dispersed giving way for me and letting me reach my target.

“I see you...!” I said to the guy literally beside him. The innocent server was scared and was about to speak, probably to plead his innocence but I silenced his lips with my fingers, “Shh...!” And he kept silent but he did let out a small whimper after.

Aware of the real culprit being right behind me, I decided to say a few things maniacally...

“You know, haha! You... You're something else...! 'I' offered you a chance, an opportunity to live, to survive all this! To...stay alive...! But what did you do!? You rejected my offer like a fool...! To the point, you even abandoned your own lover. Now that's just cruel...!"

I chuckled as I began to reach out my hand towards the scared innocent server's neck.

“For shame...!”

But suddenly turned behind me and caught the real culprit by the neck, squeezing tightly and saying in an even more menacing tone. “For shame, indeed...!”