CHAPTER 205: BUTCHER HOUSE

Riven and Sophie walked through the town, the sun on their faces, the warmth on their skin. It had been a while since he was anywhere other than the academy.

As they walked, people waved to Sophie and then greeted him as the young master. There was much change ever since he got into the academy.

*Their love for me feels wrong. I’m sure I would have loved such acceptance in the past, finally being someone in the eyes of people, but look at all I had to go through to actually be worth any value to them.

Have I even asked myself, what the hell did a thirteen-year-old do that was so bad that I had to live my entire first month apologizing for it?

What could I have done that was so bad that made me feel every movement in the house would make me an outcast? Everyone here is happy to see me now, even my family, but in all honesty, I had to go out of my way to finally have some value.

I want to believe that everyone loved me for me, but no, they all waited until I was better before they could love me. Sigh, but what can I do about it? It’s not worth the trouble...

The best I can do is to keep living for my ideals and not for people. Can’t believe it took me several major arcs and occurrences to come to that realization.* Riven thought. He shook his head slightly and let out a soft chuckle before looking forward.

"Where are we going first?" he asked Sophie.

"The butcher house. Your father contacted them yesterday and asked for some special beasts to be found and prepared.

A three-horned black wild hog and a few horned rabbits. It’s nothing too extravagant, but the hog is hard to capture and hard to find as well," Sophie said.

"I understand. So how are we going to take it back?" he asked.

"We’ll pay them after I inspect their quality and have them deliver it to the manor," she replied.

"Why not just allow me to keep it in my storage ring?" Riven asked.

"Don’t be ridiculous. Your ring is an artifact that was crafted for you to use to carry important stuff, not raw, smelly meat," she said, shooting down the idea.

"Honestly, it’s not an issue," he said.

"No, we aren’t using it. It costs only a few copper coins to pay for transportation, and as it’s for the Baron, there is also a big discount, so it’s not an issue," she said.

"Sigh, fine," he said.

She took a turn through a small alley that was supposed to shorten the journey and make sure that they reached the butcher house faster.

They had only taken a few steps inside when they spotted a few men in leather armor seated in the alley. There were five of them in total.

They looked suspicious at first glance, but Riven couldn’t be bothered by this cliché setup at all.

"We should turn back, young master. Let’s take another road," she said.

Riven agreed with her. She didn’t want an issue, and he also wanted to abstain from any issues, so he decided to follow her and walk away.

"Hey, you," they suddenly heard a voice the moment they turned. One of the men called out to them. They ignored it, couldn’t be bothered.

But as they approached the exit of the alley, one of the men rushed toward them from behind, his hands moving toward Sophie to grab her.

"You stupid slut, I called you!" the man roared.

Riven watched that hand get closer to her. ’This fucking idiot, they just can’t be normal,’ he thought before grabbing the hand with so much force it nearly cracked the bone. He pulled him forward.

He pivoted, twisting at his hips. He slammed his fist into the face of the man so hard he shattered the nose. Blood splattered, but Riven didn’t stop there. He didn’t let go of the man.

He pulled him in again and then sent a powerful punch into his guts that caused the man to arch backward, coughing out blood.

"Don’t ever try to lay your filthy hands on her again, or you’ll lose those hands," Riven spoke, his tone cold as ice, his eyes piercing into the soul of the man.

He threw him over to the men on the other side. They saw their friend land before them, beaten badly. Immediately, they all pulled their weapons.

"Young master, let’s go, please. We have to run," Sophie begged him.

He looked at her. She smiled. "They tried to touch you, Sophie. That’s a death sentence," he said. He faced forward and stretched his hands. A scythe made of blood formed in his hands, and for the first time ever, he made a combo, as flames erupted over the blood scythe.

The men looked in shock as they saw this. Right there, they knew that they had messed with someone they shouldn’t have.

"I don’t really use my blood attribute, but for you, I’ll make an exception," he said, and then lunged forward.

The first man panicked. He swung recklessly and missed. It was in that moment he saw the face of who they were dealing with, the son of the Baron.

’We messed up’, he thought before the back of the scythe slammed into his neck. The flames burned into his skin, leaving a nasty deep burn and slamming him into the wall, but not killing him.

He spun the scythe around cleanly in that small space and slammed the next man as well before lunging at the fourth and fifth, taking them all down.

Once they were down, he used Blood Bind on them, making them all float into the air and slam into the ground. He did that for good measure.

A few seconds after he knocked them all down, the town’s guards rushed to the location, their weapons drawn. They rushed toward Riven, but when they discovered it was the son of the Baron, they immediately backed down.

"Young master," one of the guards greeted quickly. He looked at the men on the ground and frowned. He knew those people. They had been causing issues along this side for a while, but they had been overlooked as long as they didn’t go too far.

’These brats... why the hell would they go and get into an issue with the son of the Baron? Have they gotten tired of life?’ the guard thought. There was no escaping for them now.

"I want these men arrested for attacking me," Riven spoke. There was confidence and weight in his voice.

The guards looked at the men on the ground. Without any choice, they bundled them and took them away.

Riven watched as the leader of the guards walked with the men. The leader glanced back at Riven, but when their eyes met, he quickly looked away and kept walking.

Riven found what he did suspicious, but he decided not to worry about it for now.

"Let’s go, Sophie," he said, lending her his hand. She stared at his hand for a few seconds before holding it, and they continued their walk.

She never knew that he was that strong. She just realized now that Riven was a whole different person than who he used to be. She let out a soft smile.

While Riven and Sophie walked away, three figures stood across, properly hidden—Sofia, Liana, and Mia.

They had watched the whole scene. Sofia had almost run in to help Riven; Mia had to hold her back. But after they saw Riven hold her hand and lead her away, their blood boiled.

"Come on, girls. He was simply being a gentleman. I’m sure she was shaken after what happened," Noel, who they had forced to follow them, said.

They all shot him a cold stare, and he quickly kept quiet.

’Ladies are scary. I hope she isn’t like these three,’ he thought. He was thinking of someone, someone he had a crush on. His cheeks got rosy as he stared into nothing, a smile hanging on his face.

"You look creepy standing there like that," Liana suddenly said, snapping him out of his gaze. He let out a tired sigh and left them, walking into the alley that Riven followed.

Riven and Sophie finally got to the butcher house. It was a large building. The moment they got close, he could already smell the blood and the flesh. It was pungent and heavy.

Flies gathered around the door as some blood seeped out from underneath.

"This place reeks," Riven said.

"Well, they kill beasts here, so that’s to be expected," she said. "It’s okay if you can’t handle the smell of blood or the sight. You can wait outside," she stated.

"Na, I’ve seen my fair share of blood and brutality," Riven responded and walked toward the door. He grabbed the handle and opened it.