Upon returning to his carriage, Garret was met with a visibly displeased young man who couldn't help asking, "Elder Hendrix, would you care to explain what happened?"
Sweeping his eyes over Madison Roth, the youngest son of the current Roth Family Patriarch and his First Wife, Garret felt both annoyed and disdainful.
To put it mildly, Madison Roth was a dandy; put frankly, he was a spoiled brat and a coward, very much unlike the rest of his siblings and certainly nothing like his parents.
Sometimes, Garret wondered just how a man as cold, calculating, and ruthless as Gregory Roth, and a woman as calm, competent, and noble as Sienna Kardesh had begot such a waste of a son.
The mere fact that Madison had only reached the First Step Sea Establishment Realm at the age of 28 despite having the full backing of the second most powerful noble family in the Rockwell Kingdom went to show how little effort the boy had put into his cultivation.
Being questioned in such an accusatory tone by a mere boy just after meeting with an unpleasant acquaintance from his past naturally put Garret in a sour mood and he was tempted to simply ignore Madison, but considering that this child was still the son of his boss, he reluctantly replied, "It was just a minor squabble, nothing Young Lord Madison needs to pay any mind to."
"Nothing I need to pay any mind to?" Madison, however, didn't take the hint and pressed the issue further, "One of my guards has his arm snapped in half in some shit-hole of a town on the edge of nowhere, and it's 'just' a minor squabble I don't need to pay any mind to!?"
Garret's brow twitched at this outburst, but he wasn't going to lower himself to arguing with a child, so he simply stated, "And I'm saying that it's just a minor issue; unless, of course, Young Lord Madison wishes for it to be a big issue. In which case, I will be sure to make a full report to Duke Roth about how one of the Young Lord's men was crippled before your trial even began."
When Garret mentioned reporting this matter to his father, Madison immediately went pale and began waving his hands, "No need, no need. If Elder Hendrix says it's nothing to be concerned about, then so be it."
"Hmph," Garret snorted before walking off, no longer interested in humouring this pampered lordling.
As for Madison, after regaining his composure, he proceeded to berate the moustached middle-aged man and the two guards who had entered Farah's shop, venting his frustrations from not being able to force Garret to explain himself.
…..
The most direct route from Farah's shop to Lucas' home was through the Town Square, but the young boy obviously couldn't go that way so he instead circled around the back-alleys. It took a bit longer, but it also greatly reduced the risk of him running into anyone else from the Roth Family.
After the commotion in the shop, Lucas gained a much deeper understanding of just how unreasonable these outsiders were and was more than happy to spend a little more time walking if he could avoid them altogether.
Unfortunately for Lucas, as he was walking up to his home, he noticed several majestic looking horses tied up in the front yard.
Recognizing the blue and white crest on the saddles of these horses, and the armour that the 2 guards tending to the mounts were wearing, Lucas frowned slightly and found himself in a slight dilemma. How was he supposed to avoid the Roths if they were literally standing in front of his home?
For that matter, why were they standing in front of his house?
Could it that they had found out what happened and were here for him!?
This was a worrying thought, but Lucas soon shook off the idea. Not much time had passed since the incident in butcher shop, and most of the heat would undoubtedly be directed towards Farah, so Lucas didn't think he would see any consequences from his actions.
As for worrying about Farah… he was neither strong enough, nor capable enough to worry about her. The grumpy middle-aged butcher could take care of herself, and if she couldn't, there certainly wasn't anything Lucas could do to help her.
Shaking off these stray thoughts, and with a little worry in his heart, Lucas did his best to calmly walk into the yard and towards his front door, all under the watchful eye of the Roth Family guards.
The pair, a man and woman who looked like they were in their early 30's, observed Lucas coldly all the way from the road to the house, but then proceeded to ignore him, probably figuring he was just a local kid returning home.
The completely indifference of these guards actually suited Lucas just fine, as being ignored was what he was aiming for.
After making it inside, Lucas relaxed slightly even though he knew he was no safer now than he was outside. Still, being in his own house allowed him to calm down a bit, and once he did, he heard a familiar clang of metal coming from the back yard.
Curious, Lucas made his way to the kitchen, where he could see out back though the wood-slat-windows, and he soon took in the sight of 5 more Roth Family guards, all of them standing around outside his father's smithy, each of them in the same uniform armour.
Unlike the unruly pair from Farah's shop, however, the guards here all appeared far more professional. They were on alert, seemingly protecting the smithy behind them, which made no sense to Lucas, but his doubts were soon put to rest when he heard voices shouting over the sound of metal being hammered.
One voice belonged to his father, while the other belonged to a man Lucas didn't recognize. Obviously, the guards were here to protect whoever was talking to Drake.
Wrinkling his brow, Lucas was again tempted to use his Soul Sense to investigate what was going on, but he knew that was a bad idea and resisted the urge. It had become increasingly frustrating for the boy knowing he had this ability yet couldn't use it under normal circumstances.
Fortunately, the hammering soon continued, and with whoever was in the smithy exerting their strength again, Lucas was able to at least glean that the man his father was talking to was a Core Formation Practitioner.
Probably a blacksmith traveling together with the Roth Family caravan, Lucas surmised.
The 5 guards had also taken note of Lucas' presence inside the house, but other than taking a glance at the boy, they just ignored him. Obviously, from their perspective, a 10-year-old child posed no threat.
Frowning slightly, Lucas wasn't sure what to do next. Earlier today, he had been helping out in the fields, but simply going back there now didn't seem like a good idea. Even if the Roth Family caravan as a whole didn't care about him, the trio of men he had embarrassed at Farah's shop might come looking for revenge still.
Given how brazen and shameless those men had been, Lucas wasn't sure if there was anywhere safe in Redwood Town for him to hide, but he at least felt a bit more comfortable in his own home. It might have been more secure at the Town Lord's Manor, but going there would probably increase the likelihood of running into the higher-ups from the Roth Family.
Since he couldn't think of any better option at the moment, Lucas decided to just plunk himself down at the table and wait.
It had actually been a long time since Lucas found himself with nothing to do, and it wasn't long before he began to feel a bit antsy.
Since the accident last year, he had been constantly on the go, training, teaching, cultivating, experimenting, running his businesses, and so on and so forth; sitting still now seemed unnatural to him.
Getting up from his seat after less than 10 minutes, Lucas began wandering aimlessly around the house, looking for something to keep himself occupied with.
Eventually, Lucas found himself back in the kitchen, scratching his head, feeling frustrated.
Fine! Since I'm in the kitchen, I might as well cook something! Lucas thought to himself and began rifling through the pantry, looking for ingredients.
Pulling out a scale, a couple of bowls, a cake-pan, some butter, flour, eggs, and maple sugar, Lucas got to work.
First, he lit a fire in the oven to pre-heat it, then he set the butter on the stove in a small dish to melt while he separated the egg yolks and whites into two different bowls.
Taking a balloon whisk, a kitchen tool he had conned his father into making one day, Lucas began whipping the egg whites until they were fluffy, then repeated the process with the yolks and sugar.
Lucas gently mixed the flour into the yolks, then folded in the whites and melted butter until he had a light cake batter.
Using a clean cloth, Lucas greased the cake-pan with the butter that remained in the pot, lightly floured it, then poured in the batter.
Good, all that's left to do now is bake it, Lucas smiled happily, having become completely immersed in his work. Just as he was about to open the oven though, a voice suddenly called out from behind him, "What are you doing?"
"Ah!" Jumping up and nearly dropping the cake-pan, Lucas was taken completely by surprise.
"Wow there!" Hurriedly reaching out to steady her son, Anna held Lucas in place so he didn't spill the unbaked cake.
After taking a moment to calm his racing heart, Lucas turned around and sheepishly smiled, "Hi, Mom."
Raising her brow, Anna wasn't about to let her son off-the-hook so easily, her eyes darting between the sweet treat in his hands and the mess he had left around the kitchen.
With all the evidence literally laid out in front of them, Lucas knew that trying to make an excuse was pointless, so he simply lowered his head and apologized, "Sorry, I was stuck at home and wanted to do something, so I decided to make cake."
Sighing lightly, Anna didn't know whether to smile and praise her son, or scold him for being wasteful.
Not missing this look of struggle on his mother's face, Lucas quickly attempted to appease her, "I made enough for everyone…"
*Whack!*
"Trying to bribe your mother, are you?" Anna snorted before grinning and snatching the cake-pan from Lucas, stuffing it into the still open oven.
Nursing a new head-wound, Lucas looked bitterly at his mother, knowing that he had successfully bought her off but still feeling aggrieved that he had not escaped punishment entirely.
Ignoring the pitiful look on her son's face, Anna asked, "So, you've heard about the newcomers in town already?"
Putting on a serious look which was very unsuited to his age, Lucas nodded, "Aunt Sasha told me who they were, and I ran into a few of them at Senior Farah's shop."
"En," Anna also settled into a solemn mood as she warned, "Try not to get involved with the Roths. They're not nearly as friendly as Charles and Sasha."
"I know," Lucas agreed wholeheartedly; after all, he had just been attacked by one of them earlier today.
"Do you know why they're here, Mom?" Lucas asked curiously.
"Are you asking about why the Roth Family group is in town, or about why some of them have come to your father's smithy?" Anna asked back.
Knitting his brow, Lucas pondered for a second before replying, "Both."
Frowning deeply, Anna shook her head, then nodded, "I was there with Sasha when she greeted the leader of the Roth convoy, but I didn't understand what they were talking about. Something about a trial of some kind? I'm not sure."
"As for this small group," Anna continued, motioning with her eyes towards the backyard, "The blacksmith from their group insisted on using the best forge in town to do some maintenance on their equipment, so naturally they came here."
"Is that so," Lucas muttered, turning his eyes towards his father's smithy, wondering just what was going on inside.