Chapter 87: How To Eradicate Violence (2)

“W-water bill…? Eek?”

Cough! Cough! Diego couldn’t think anymore because of the sudden blow that knocked him out. It hit right into his gut, and it was too powerful. His stomach tumbled, twisted, and churned from the sudden blow. He couldn’t breathe well, and his whole body ached as a result of being flown away. His back smashed the two tables into pieces, so it went without saying that his back was far from okay. However, despite the blow, Diego stood up, telling himself that he couldn’t act weak in front of the bastard who had kicked him away. And besides, he knew who he was. A mana user with a manaheart.

“A-Argh!”

Diego got back to his feet, his face red. He shot a deathly glare at Lloyd for giving him the first blow, only to learn that a fist was flying right toward him at lightning speed.

It’s too fas… Pow! Something blinked in front of him, and his nose ached like he was hit by a hammer. The blow shoved his head to the side before he could react. Time around him seemed to slow down, and something interesting came into view.

Is that… my front tooth? A flat, white tooth twirled in the air as it flew away, along with drops of blood and saliva. But Diego wasn’t spared another time to appreciate the spectacle. That was because another merciless punch flew to clock him in the gut. Pow!

“Argh!”

Once again, Diego’s body curved inside like the letter “c.” His knees bent by reflex. Just then, his ears heard a cold voice.

“You don’t even know why you’re getting beaten, eh?”

“I, ouch! Ack!”

Thwack! His cheek suddenly felt hot, feeling the thick blow of a slap. The ear on the side dulled, and the world swirled around him. He couldn’t distinguish which was up or down. Even so, the cold voice continued to be heard.

“Do you still not know why I’m beating you? Huh?”

“Arggh!”

Wham! This time, it was his right shin. Diego wondered if the man kicked—no, stabbed—him with pointy shoes. Or was it another object? He couldn’t tell. The bone in his shin hurt too bad. He bent over by reflex, lowering his arms to the ground. However, the voice was heard once again.

“Viscount Lacona, the wise and merciful? I have to laugh.”

Thwack!

“…!”

Diego was looking at the restaurant ceiling. He wondered how on earth he was looking up. Did his head get lifted up? And why, Diego thought to himself, does his jaw hurt this bad?

“How are you so similar to your father? Hm? Tell me, is bullying vulnerable people something that runs in your family?”

Crack! This time, the blow hit his left collarbone. It slammed into his bone without a tad of mercy.

“Ack…!”

He had never experienced this type of pain before. His mouth hung wide open against his will, and his curled tongue scratched his palate in desperation.

Why? Why?! Diego couldn’t make sense of this situation. He was a mana user who received swordsmanship lessons from the fiefdom’s senior knight starting from when he was 11 years old. The tenacious mana training allowed him to create a manaheart just within four years. The stupefied look of the senior knight stuck in his memory. Sir Curno asked him at that time if he was a genius. And so, Diego was confident that he had the upper hand because of his manaheart when it came to fist fights and scuffles. That was why he had no one to be afraid of at his age. But now…

How, how dare he?! Arghhhh!! Diego went livid. It hurt too badly, and so he attempted to counterattack, flailing his clenched fist. But the man didn’t even try to avoid it.

Thwack! Lloyd’s head turned at the blow, and a smile of hope appeared on Diego’s face. Do I stand a chance? Do I?

But it only took three seconds for his hope to shatter into pieces. Lloyd, whose head was shoved aside, slowly recovered and looked at Diego. He then wiped his torn lip with the back of his hand and flashed a vicious smile.

“Now, it’s mutual combat.”

Thwack! Whatever mercy was left in Lloyd’s blows vanished. It was time for a ruthless beating session. Lloyd punched, punched, and punched again. He was knocked down with his elbow on and on. And there came the kicks. He kicked only to throw another kick. When Diego fell to the ground, Lloyd rose him up and beat him even more. When he resisted, Lloyd kicked, punched, and struck him. Diego pleaded. Lloyd ignored him and trampled him some more.

“S-stop! I’m sorry! Stop!”

“Stop, my ass,” huffed Lloyd.

Thwack! Pow! Bam!

Diego lay coiled on the ground. Lloyd stomped on his back, head, and anywhere his foot touched. Lloyd looked at Diego, calculating every kick and punch against him in his head.

This is the only way to make sure that this boy won’t hurt Julian again. Diego was set to bully Julian again if Lloyd went easy on him. So he had to do it right. No half-assed forgiveness. He needed to go all out in beating him. Lloyd was sure about that because he had his share of experience back when he was a student in South Korea.

This is the most effective solution for guys like him. Just then, a past memory interrupted his thoughts. It must have been when he was a first-year student in high school. There was once a bully in his class, and one time, the bully set Lloyd as his target. And so, he had used this very method to completely resolve the problem. He had said no to the bully ordering him to get some bread from the cafeteria. The bully then slapped him with a pair of slippers. Three slaps for each cheek, totaling six. Two blows in his gut. Once he got them, Lloyd said yes but instead headed toward the back of the classroom, where he found some elongated fluorescent light bulbs to be disposed of later. Lloyd grabbed one of them like a bat and walked over to the bully, who was happily chatting with other bullies. Lloyd raised his hand, and he struck the lightbulb right on the back of the boy’s head.

Clang! Clash! Blood flowed everywhere. All hell broke loose in the classroom. But Lloyd didn’t stop there. He had to do it right. Repeating those words in his head, Lloyd lifted one of the chairs and smacked the bully with it. He then trampled him.

That day, the bully was sent to the hospital while Lloyd got suspended. Parents were called in, and they apologized to the bully’s parents for putting their son in the hospital and generously compensated them for the medical bills.

Surprisingly, nothing more happened after that incident. There were just a few rumors saying that Lloyd was a nutcase. That was all. He enjoyed a quiet, peaceful life until he graduated high school. Not a single student ordered him to get some bread. Though the measure Lloyd had employed involved severe violence, it granted him immunity from school bullying or abuse.

It’s the same now. You mess with Julian, and you die in my hands. You speak ill of my family, and you die in my hands.

The punches and kicks Lloyd threw at Diego contained such messages. Each time Diego’s body received another bruise, Lloyd ensured that such lessons would be implanted in his wounds. Julian’s heart sank in shock as he watched everything.

Lloyd, that idiot, has lost it! Julian’s jaw dropped. The sudden desire to hide his face rushed through him as he witnessed the violence happening in front of him. Was it because he was shocked? No. It was because his future was growing bleak with every second.

I knew that Lloyd Frontera was a nutcase before… But what in the world is he doing right now?! Julian had sent several gazes at Lloyd to stay away from this. He had hinted to please turn a blind eye to this. And Lloyd nodded, though faintly. So, Julian was relieved. He had thought Lloyd of a ruthless human being who couldn’t be restrained. Human trash that upset his parents. But seeing Lloyd nod, Julian presumed that this man had learned to control himself in a situation like this. Julian couldn’t be any more wrong, as it turned out. Control, my ass! Julian thought to himself. Lloyd was beating the daylights out of Diego like a man who lost it. No, he was beating Diego closer to death!

“Hey!” Julian yelled, unable to hold back any longer. “Stop it!”

Lloyd had to stop. Indeed, he really had to stop now. He had went too far already. Julian wondered how Viscount Lacona would react when he heard that his son had become a ball of bloodied mess. And what punishment would Lloyd get from the academy for beating Diego? And what kind of harassment would he get more from others in the future? The more he allowed his thoughts to wander, the greater his body trembled like he was in an ice cave. Finally, unable to hold back any longer, Julian grabbed Lloyd’s arm.

“I said, stop it!” Julian shouted violently. But the response that came next surprised him.

“Sorry. Just a little more.”

“Eh…?”

Shiver. When Lloyd turned around for a second to reply, his eyes locked with Julian’s. This instantly brought bone-chilling chills to Julian’s body. Was it because Lloyd had a set of murderous gaze about him? No. Absolutely not. Instead, he was more…

Lloyd’s calm. He hasn’t lost a single strand of reason. It was too unexpected. Julian couldn’t wrap his head around this. The man in front of him was poles apart from the Lloyd Frontera, his hooligan brother, he knew. And it was the same case with the answer that followed.

“If I half-ass the fight right now, then it’ll only make it harder for you. Is that what you want?”

“That’s…”

“So, just trust me.”

Thwack! The beating session resumed. Julian was left overwhelmed by the sheer force of Lloyd and his cool-headed violence. And at last, Diego passed out.

Bam! One last punch, and Diego’s head drooped. Bubbles foamed around his half-opened mouth. Countless gazes were looking at them, and just then, the housemaster bawled as he rushed toward their way.

“What?! What is going on?!”

The housemaster, a slim middle-aged man, yelled sharply. That was when Lloyd straightened his back. He lifted his one hand and ran back his disheveled bang. Sweating and panting hard, Lloyd turned around and faced the housemaster.

“I was just defending my honor.”

“What is that?”

Flinch. The unexpected answer made the housemaster recoil. And when he finally saw the unconscious body of Diego sprawled on the ground, he bit his lips.

“Have you forgotten what place this is? You are in Magenta College, the academy run with the support of the great Queen. And yet, you stirred trouble, exercised violence, and hurt a student in this college,” accused the housemaster.

“So?”

“If you do not have any justifiable reason behind your violence, I shall have you in the hands of the guards and be severely punished.”

Murmur, murmur. By now, there were several groups of people behind the housemaster. Restaurant workers. Young students. College Administrators. Some were clicking their tongues, while some were condemning what just took place. Some were shocked, alternately looking at Diego and Lloyd. This was perhaps the reason why a bitter smile formed on Lloyd’s mouth.

They wouldn’t act like this if Julian was the one who got hurt. They probably wouldn’t have. They’d have turned a blind eye, thinking that it was not their business but the students’. No, they may have paid more attention to the voices of the bullies.

The bullies are from wealthy and powerful families, after all. That sort of unfair situation was highly likely. And so, Lloyds straightened his chest and scoffed, thinking about the plan he’d formed before wielding his punch at Diego.

“Justifiable reason, you say?” asked Lloyd.

“Do you have it?”

The housemaster’s gaze grew serious. Lloyd smirked.

“Yes, I do.”

“What is it?”

“Libel,” said Lloyd coolly.

“Excuse me?”

“This friend over here insulted me.”

“That’s it? That’s why you…”

“What do you mean by ‘that is it’? An insult to me is the same as insulting the queen.”

“What in the world are you saying now…?”

The housemaster’s eyes grew confused. He was left speechless, he couldn’t understand the nonsense Lloyd was spewing. And rightfully so.

Why on earth is he involving the queen in this? Especially when he’s nothing but a son of a rural provincial baron? His gaze toward Lloyd grew colder, and he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Libel? Insult? The more he thought about it, the more laughable he thought Lloyd was. In fact, the housemaster was completely in the dark about what kind of exploit Lloyd had achieved back in Cremo. The news about it hadn’t spread in detail to the royal capital just yet. And so, the headmaster looked down on Lloyd due to his family status.

They said the visitor was Julian Frontera’s family, I believe? He was. The Frontera family. The baron over there didn’t slip a bribe or anything to him behind everyone’s back. He wondered if it was due to a lack of manners or common sense. How lowly the Frontera family was compared to Viscount Lacona, who secretly asked to give special attention to his son as he slipped a thick envelope of bills into the headmaster’s pocket. Thinking such, the housemaster resolved to himself that he would raise this issue and have the visitor pay for what he had done. That would be the only way for him to free himself from the reprimand of Viscount Lacona, who had bribed him.

“Clarify what your words and intentions were for speaking of the queen,” the housemaster said sternly with an equally stern gaze.

The people gathered behind him were shooting a similar gazes at Lloyd. Despite the fact that he was being showered with the look of rebuke, Lloyd remained calm and composed.

“Well, of course. The reason is simple,” Lloyd said and casually brought his hand into his pocket. And then, he brought out a round gold pendant and held it out for people to see.

“It’s because this is who I am.”

“Eeek!”

At that instant, the housemaster sucked in his breath. The eyes of the people behind him widened. Lloyd’s sneer grew wider as he saw how astonished they were over just a pendant.

“The queen has specially invited me and given me this token as her rightful honored guest. Since everyone here is studying or working at the college, I am sure that you will all recognize the meaning behind this item.”

“…”

Everyone’s gaze was fixed on the gold pendant in Lloyd’s hand. The eyes of the double-headed eagle imprinted at the center shone sharper and glinted against the sun. At the same time, they thought of one thing: That’s the seal of the honored guest of the queen. Replicating it was impossible in the first place, so there was nothing doubtful about its veracity.

Not a single response spilled out of people’s mouths. They were all clamped shut. The housemaster, who was now pale, chewed his lips. The cafeteria immediately grew silent just like that. When Lloyd spoke, his voice echoed through the air, and it thrashed like a whip against all the quiet listeners.