Lucas was young, but he wasn't stupid. He knew that if his mother went to 'demand justice' from the Roths, the only thing she would receive would be a slap in the face, and that was if the Roths were in a good mood.
In the worst-case scenario, she could end up crippled, or even dead!
Wracking his brain hard, Lucas searched for a way to convince his mother to not try to seek revenge for him.
That's it! Revenge! Lucas suddenly realized and shouted, "Don't worry! Senior Farah already took care of the guard who attacked me!"
"Hm?" Lucas' words finally seemed to get Anna's attention, and she turned back to silently ask what he meant.
Secretly breathing a sigh of relief, Lucas explained how Farah had arrived right after the incident and crippled the Roth Family guard. The young boy also told his parents about how a Spirit Initiate from the Roth Family had appeared moments later, forcing the situation into a stalemate.
When they heard that there was a Spirit Initiate among the unwelcome guests from out of town, both Anna and Drake felt as if a bucket of cold water had been dumped on their heads, allowing them to cool their tempers. They were still incensed that Lucas had suffered such a vile assault, but knowing he was alright and the attacker was punished was enough to mollify them for the moment.
"So that's why you were hiding at home," Anna muttered, finally understanding why Lucas had been loitering about.
Since the accident last year, her son had basically not stopped to rest at all, constantly running around doing one thing or another, which was why she found it so odd that he had just been sitting around the kitchen, baking cake in the middle of the day.
Boys Lucas' age were normally quite active, but Lucas took it to way past the extreme, involving himself in so many different projects around town it was dizzying to even think about.
Nodding vigorously, Lucas continued his persuasion campaign, "That's right! Senior Farah told me to go straight home and avoid contacting the Roths again. If you go out there now, it will only make things more complicated!"
Frowning deeply, neither of the boy's parents were willing to just let the matter drop, but seeing Lucas beg them repeatedly not to escalate the situation, they eventually relented.
Thinking everything had been resolved nicely, Lucas let go of his mother's arm and relaxed his guard, a decision he quickly regretted.
*Bam!*
"Gah!"
Crouching down on the ground, Lucas turned his teary eyes up towards his mother and asked in a pitiful tone, "What was that for, Mom!?"
"That's for being so reckless!" Anna roared furiously before kneeling down and hugging him tightly, "You're normally so smart and well behaved! Why did you provoke those bastards?!"
"Your mother is right," Drake piled on from the side, "You need to be more careful with how you act in the future!"
There were many things Lucas was feeling aggrieved about right now.
Firstly, how was he supposed to know that pulling a sour face would be enough to make a grown man attack him? Wasn't that just too petty?
Secondly, if we were talking about reckless behaviour, Lucas felt what his mom was about to do was far more reckless than what he had done.
Still, feeling his mother trembling slightly as she held him, Lucas couldn't bring himself to say anything and just lowered his head, nodding slightly to signal he understood.
…..
The rest of the day passed by uneventfully for Lucas.
Unable to go out, he mostly spent his time helping his father patch up the furnace. It was dull work for the boy, mostly just fetching things or holding tools, but it also allowed Lucas to take a break from his usual hectic schedule and spend some time chatting with his dad.
All in all, it was a pleasant and relaxing afternoon.
By the time evening rolled around, Drake got his smithy somewhat functional again. In its current state, the furnace could be used to do minor repair work on anything made from Tier 1 metals, but it was impossible to use it to forge new weapons or tool.
After thoroughly examining his furnace while he was trying to repair it, Drake concluded that replacing it was still a necessity, but he also knew he couldn't just leave town right away. He would need to clear out as many low level repair jobs as possible first while handing over the commissions which required working with Tier 2 metals to the other qualified blacksmiths in town.
Once that was done, Drake could set off for Harold City without causing too much disruption.
While the father and son duo spent a somewhat peaceful day together, the rest of Redwood Town wasn't so fortunate.
Shortly after she released Lucas from her embrace, Anna had to return to her duties as Captain of the Guard.
On ordinary days, even if Anna didn't actively go on patrol, it wouldn't have made much of a difference to public order; but today was no ordinary day.
With over 100 powerful outsiders suddenly descending upon the town, there was bound to be a great many disturbances and incidents popping up all over the place.
What's more, the Roth Family people weren't exactly the most courteous or friendly bunch. Belligerent and oppressive were far more appropriate descriptors for these individuals.
While Sasha took on the arduous task of entertaining the entitled Young Lord and his closest aides, the various stewards and guards from the Roth Family swept through Redwood Town like a horde of starving beasts, sweeping up all the food, drink, and other provisions they could get their hands on.
The Roth Family people didn't go so far as to openly rob the townsfolk, but they certainly didn't pay market price for all the goods they purchased either. Many cases of strong-arming, bullying, or outright threats and intimidation occurred in basically every shop in Redwood Town within the first few hours of the caravan's arrival.
Disputes and verbal arguments could be heard from almost every corner of the Central Square, causing a huge headache for Anna and the Town Guard.
The only upside was that the townsfolk, and especially the business owners, knew they were dealing with some kind of important noble, so while they were quite disgruntled at having to sell their wares at deep discounts, no physical fights broke out.
It could be said that while it was an unpleasant affair that left both the townsfolk and Roth Family people unhappy, no one from either side got hurt; with the notable exception of the guard foolish enough to cause trouble in Farah's shop, that is.
Things didn't end there, though.
Redwood Town had a population of about 3,000, and it was located on the frontier of the Rockwell Kingdom, so there were literally no other destinations beyond it to travel to. As such, the number of hotels and inns was quite small.
Suddenly introducing over 100 outsiders, all of whom demanded the highest level of accommodation, naturally caused issues.
All the inns in Redwood Town were privately owned, with none of them being controlled by bigger, more powerful foreign forces. On top of that, these inns were mostly occupied by adventurers or hunters who made their living venturing into the Great Western Forest, people with no significant background to speak of.
As such, when the Roth Family people demanded that several of these inns be completely vacated, the owners and guests all had a very difficult time resisting them.
Now, while the adventurers weren't foolish enough to put up a fight against the Roth Family, they weren't exactly the most well-behaved bunch either, so many of them, especially those who hadn't spent much time in Redwood Town, began taking their frustrations out on the locals.
As evening fell, a number of quarrels turned into fights, and these fights nearly became all-out brawls before Anna and the Town Guard stepped in to break up the crowds.
In short, it was a chaotic day.
The only silver lining was that Sasha had the foresight to understand accommodating so many people from the Roth Family would be difficult for the local inns, so she offered lodging at the Town Lord's Manor to the upper-echelon of this group.
The result was that most of the strongest and most prestigious individuals were kept away from the disputes.
If the townsfolk had a few arguments with the low-level guards and escorts from the Roth Family, no one from either side would pay it much mind as long as no real harm was done. On the other hand, if one of the higher-ranking stewards or, Heavens forbid, the Young Lord himself became involved, settling the issue would become far more difficult.
Of course, this also meant that Sasha had to house and entertain a couple dozen people who were all stronger than her and who she despised. It certainly strained her self-restraint quite a bit.
Still, it was a small sacrifice in the grand scheme of things, so the Town Lady grit her teeth and dealt with it, repeatedly telling herself it was just for a day or two.
Unfortunately, the Roth Family people seemed to have traveled for many days to reach Redwood Town and were quite exhausted, so they actually planned to remain in town for 5 days to rest and recover before setting out.
Needless to say, the following days in Redwood Town were quite tense.
Nothing much seemed to change outwardly; people still woke at the crack of dawn to start work, mostly in the farm fields, while shop owners opened their storefronts to sell their goods for the day. However, there was a stifling silence that pervaded the air, with many walking with their heads down or taking longer routes to avoid crossing the Central Square.
Early in the morning, most shops in Redwood Town would be heavily patronized, but now they were almost all deserted as the common folk didn't dare to get in the way of the unruly Roth Family guards who seemed to have an endless appetite and constantly bought out all the available goods.
Even the local bathhouse, which had become one of the townsfolks' most cherished facilities in recent months, had been temporarily shut down for 'maintenance'.
As for the Town Lord and Lady, and the other leaders in Redwood Town, they too were having a difficult time trying to cater to the whims of Young Lord Roth.
Despite being what many would describe as a waste, Madison Roth had still grown up in one of the must luxurious environments in the Rockwell Kingdom, never wanting for anything. Going from sleeping in fine beddings in opulent castles to a rustic countryside room wasn't something the arrogant young man took well.
The living conditions on the road here from Amherst, the capital of the Roth Dukedom, had not been all that pleasant either, but Madison had somehow been under the impression that once he made it to his destination, he would be welcomed with at least some level of luxury.
It was this gap between expectation and reality that really caused Young Lord Roth to become irritable.
Given the young man's personality, it wouldn't have been surprising to see him lashing out at the locals, especially his hosts, Baron Newton and his wife Sasha, but in an ironic twist, it was actually Elder Hendrix who stopped Madison from acting out.
Garret had many reasons for being upset and disgruntled, some legitimate, some not, but he also understood after encountering Farah that Redwood Town wasn't nearly as safe as he had anticipated. It was also clear from Farah purposefully making an appearance at the Town Lord's Manor on the first night that she was watching them.
While this former Army Commander probably wouldn't dare to openly attack a Direct Descendant of the Roth Family, Garret wouldn't put 'punishing' a few more guards past Farah.
If something went seriously wrong on this kind of simple mission, while Madison would take the bulk of the blame, Garret understood that he too would be punished, something he would prefer to avoid. So, for the few days they planned to stay in Redwood Town, he uncharacteristically ordered all his subordinates to reign themselves in.
And yes, harassing the locals, strong-arming businesses, and walking around like they owned the town was all considered 'restrained' behaviour for this group from the Roth Family.