The sun was dipping down the horizon, the sky was orange and clear without any clouds, and it was a pleasant evening as the city of Adenberd glowed up from the light of candles, lamps, and torches.
After the day of work, the men were enjoying their alcohol at the taverns throughout the city as they indulged in wild gossip and drunken stupor.
While some were returning home eager to see their families and have dinner after a long day of work.
Similarly, the market was closed for the day as the peddlers and street vendors quickly wrapped up their stalls and leftover goods.
However, one thing was common among all of them on that specific day—they had a story to tell which they were very eager to spread around the entire city with some exaggerations, of course.
"Hey, Jimmy! Ya know what I saw today at the bazaar?!" A middle-aged man exclaimed in fervor in one of the taverns as he gulped down a mouthful of booze.
"What is it, stinky old man? Did someone steal ya' things again while you were busy flirting with some women?" The young man sassed as he brought another mug of booze to the table.
"Tche! Forget that, hmph! That bitch wasn't even that pretty at that time…" The man blurted wobbling on the table as he stared into the distance in melancholy.
"Pfft! Why don'tcha say that the woman was just playin' ya huh?!" Another man who was at the table jeered.
"Damn it! That whore didn't deserve a handsome young man like me anyways! Forget that, I say! I have some interesting news!" The man yelled once again spitting out saliva as the folks sitting near him jolted backward.
"Ya ya, we know all bout' it. The Third Young Master was on an outing today, right? Those lucky bastards! I heard they got a gold coin!" Someone exclaimed from the side.
Everyone nodded in envy as they snickered while chugging the alcohol down their throats.
Suddenly from the folks sitting in the tavern, one person's eyes lit up as the man abruptly blurted,
"Hey, you suddenly got awful silent, eh?... Wait a damn fuckin minute! Don't tell me the Young Master ate those rotten fruits at your stall too?!"
With this sudden outburst, the crowd raised their eyebrows in suspicion as they looked at the middle-aged man like a wild animal looks at its prey.
The middle-aged man jolted and averted his gaze as he slid down the alcohol in one go and awkwardly got up trying to sneak away.
"You bastard! Trying to run away? The bill's on you today! You also got one gold coin, didn't you?" The crowd exclaimed in outrage as they snuggled up to the man and endlessly nagged for a party.
"Ahh damn it! Fine, fine! Hey boss, the booze's on me today!" The man yelled in resignation after much nagging.
"Comin' Right up!" The Tavern keeper announced with a smile as the crowd erupted in the joy of getting free booze as everyone yelled out unanimously, "Hooray! Long Live The Third Young Master!"
Everyone cheered in happiness as the topic then shifted to a variety of random gossip.
"By the way, did you hear the other news?" Someone asked in a curious tone.
"What news?"
"That man called Christopher! The heretic of the church! The news is that he killed a few Holy Knights and a batch of inquisitors all alone while being hunted!" The man told in amazement.
"Damn! He must be very powerful!" Someone muttered in disbelief.
"Of course he's powerful! He was the closest confidant of the former Pope! But they say he's injured and will be brought down soon." The man said with pity as he drank his alcohol.
"Well, whatever, who cares? We got nothi-" Someone uttered uninterestingly but was interrupted mid-sentence as a clamor suddenly broke out outside the tavern.
"Hey! It's the Third Young Master! He's passing by here," Someone yelled suddenly as they rushed into the tavern from outside and left just as fast as they had come.
Everyone broke out in murmurs as they stood up excitedly, "Let's go and see!" Someone shouted and the whole tavern emptied in a blink of an eye as everyone rushed outside.
~~~
The sky was completely dark however the city was glowing with the glinting nightlife, still lively, bustling with activity just as usual.
Ethan was returning to the mansion after the long day, everyone felt as if the day was rather exhausting as a lot of things had happened.
In the carriage, there was also the addition of the three former slaves that he had freed.
Ethan was curiously looking outside the carriage window setting his sights upon the vibrant nightlife of the city of Adenberd. Willkie, Jason, Fred, and Albert were moving alongside the carriage taking one direction each.
All of them combined were enough to protect Ethan from any ambush as they were all veterans who had fought alongside Albaer on the battlefield so they had plenty of experience.
The carriage was passing by the rather busy street as it was famous for its many inns and taverns along with brothels and pleasure houses etc.
While people on the roadsides of the street were curiously watching as the carriage was passing by at a medium pace.
Suddenly, the curious murmurs and gossip of the people at the roadside as they watched the carriage pass changed into panicked gasps and cries of alarm.
Ethan who was peeking outside the window heard the gasps and cries of alarm quicker than anyone else due to his heightened senses and noticed a small girl crossing over the road mindlessly following a rolling ball not realizing the carriage that was approaching her rapidly. Several people rushed forward to catch the girl but alas, it was too late.
Even though the coachman tried to stop the carriage, the horses were acting unusually and did not slow down in time.
The carriage finally stopped but unfortunately, a tad too late. The resounding noise of 'thud' echoed as the horses directly crashed into the girl knocking her down on the ground as blood slowly flowed out of her body.
The happy-go-lucky atmosphere in the air suddenly disappeared as if a switch was flipped, people all around screamed and shouted seeing the grotesque incident after the sudden initial shock wore off.
"Aghh! H-hel… Help… M-Me… Mo-mommy… Mommy… Wh-where are… You? Aghh!"
The muffled, faint voice of the small girl rang out along with her painful groans as the signs of vitality could still be seen in her.
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