Chapter 97: Punishment
Alicia’s eyes gleamed coldly: “Can you explain to me what this thing is?”
“Swish!” Lance’s face instantly turned pale, his whole body trembling, his teeth chattering as he said, “My, my Lord Hero, where on earth did you find this thing?”
“It just fell from Shadie.” Alicia replied casually.
“How is that possible? I clearly burned it!”
Lance looked incredulous, unaware that what he had burnt was merely a Shadow Clone, and the real item had been taken away by Elrose the moment he launched his attack.
“So, this thing really belongs to you,” Alicia said, looking deeply at Lance, her tone icy. “Now tell me, what should we do about this?”
“Uh…” Lance gulped hard, his mind blank, completely at a loss.
But the next moment, a strange feeling hit him.
Huh? Strange, why does it feel like the magic and Battle Qi inside the Hero is so weak?
It doesn’t even reach a high level.
This…
Could it be that the person in front of him is an impostor?
No… wait, what am I thinking? He just had a direct battle with two big shots from the Sacred Domain, and he’s even holding Shadie in his arms—how could he not be the genuine Hero?
The reason he looks so weak must be that he used some special means to conceal his strength.
Yes, that must be it.
“Hey, have you thought about it? I don’t have time to waste with you.”
A palpable killing intent was released instantly, and Lance recoiled, abruptly banging his head against the ground: “Please let me off this once, my Lord Hero, I swear I won’t do it again!”
“Not do it again? What a joke, do you think I’ll believe your nonsense?” Alicia said coldly. “I’ve heard from Ryan that you are nothing but a liar, a small person who treats oaths like farts. Yet precisely because of this, you have quite an expertise in deceiving those naive girls.”
“And your current wife. Isn’t Ryan’s precious daughter someone you charmed with sweet words?”
Alicia said, “It’s fortunate that the child is simple-minded, combined with your deceitful skills, you made her completely infatuated, ruined her at twelve, yet she was still willing to use her life to shield you from her father’s blade, forcing him to accept your relationship.”
“But even with that, you still couldn’t suppress your own nature.” Alicia waved the little book in her hand, coldly saying, “It seems you have done quite a few bad things behind your wife’s back over the years. Do you think you deserve her unwavering devotion?”
Lance pressed his head down hard onto the ground, not daring to lift it, sweat soaking his back, utterly speechless.
Seeing this, Alicia coldly snorted: “Alright, since you’re unwilling to speak, I’ll give you two options.”
“First, you can leave without taking any actions, and I will personally deliver this little book to your master.”
Lance was startled, his expression changing drastically: “My Lord Hero, that absolutely cannot happen! My master, he has a weak heart; seeing this thing, I’m afraid he won’t be able to take it!”
Alicia shot him a light glance: “Don’t try that with me. I know what kind of person Ryan is. If he sees this little book, before he turns you into minced meat, his heart shouldn’t stop beating yet.”
Hearing this, Lance started bowing his head repeatedly: “My Lord Hero, please spare me!”
Alicia ignored him and continued: “If you don’t want to choose the first option, then choose the second.”
As she spoke, Alicia casually waved her hand, and a glinting long knife suddenly plunged into the ground in front of Lance.
Lance’s eyes widened, and he struggled to say, “My Lord Hero, what do you mean by this?”
“What do I mean? Can’t you tell?” Alicia said mercilessly: “You need that thing, so just cut it off.”
“What did you say?” Lance suddenly stood up, justifying himself fervently: “My Lord Hero, you can’t go too far! This is my symbol as a man! Do you know how important that symbol is for a man and a family? How important it is for the harmony and completion of a household, even for the inheritance of a clan?”
“So will you cut it off or not?”
“I’ll cut it.”
…
“Clang!”
A crisp sound rang out as a bloodied long knife fell straight to the ground.
Lance covered his groin, his face twisted in agony and struggle.
The Hero casually threw a recovery potion in front of Lance.
Seeing this, Lance picked up the potion and gulped it down. A warm sensation surged from deep within his body, and the bleeding stopped where he had just been grievously injured.
The pain disappeared, and Lance sighed with relief, slightly tilting his head to look beside him at the blood-red mosaic, and his heart instantly ached.
Today, he had not only lost memories of his youth but also a brother who had fought alongside him for decades. This pain was deeply ingrained, lingering in Lance’s heart, hard to dissipate.
What a joke.
Do you think Lance was so decisive in cutting off his brother because he had no back-up plan?
Many years ago, his brother had been “damaged” because of some enraged female warrior, but luckily he had encountered a ghost doctor in the martial world.
The ghost doctor inspected his original equipment, shook his head, then swiftly took action, trading the old for new, and restored the male vigor.
Because of that experience, Lance was not at all nervous; in fact, he was secretly pleased, thinking he had once again outsmarted a crisis with his wits.
Unfortunately, Alicia saw through his little thoughts entirely.
In this turn of events, Lance was on the second layer, while Alicia was on the third layer.
The knife Alicia had given Lance was a cursed blade; anything cut by that knife could never be reattached.
So, from now on, Lance would only be able to live as a eunuch.
“My, my Lord Hero, this should be enough, right?” Lance pretended to be in agony.
Alicia glanced lightly at him, then directed her gaze to Cedric beside her: “You seem to be the Town Mayor here; do you have anything to add?”
Cedric was taken aback, not expecting the Hero would actually give him a chance to speak. He thought for a moment, looking at the damaged streets and houses, and said solemnly, “Uh, my Lord Hero, several intense fights took place tonight. Looking around at the losses, what do you think…”
“I understand.” Alicia lightly nodded, then turned her gaze to Lance, “Today’s incident was all caused by you; the losses in the town will all fall on you.”
“What? Why?” Lance replied indignantly. “Many of the damages here were not caused by me, but by the Saintess and that black-haired girl in your arms!”
“Not for any reason other than this is your punishment.” Alicia waved the little book in her hand again, “You wouldn’t think you could just self-mutilate and be done with all the mess you created, would you?”
“Uh…” Lance was instantly speechless, realizing his handle was in someone else’s hands, he could only with great reluctance nod his head.
“There’s one more thing.” Cedric continued, “My Lord Hero, this person also sneaked into a certain ordinary household today and stole a young girl’s underwear. What do you think should be the punishment?”
“You’re talking nonsense!” Lance exclaimed, suddenly rebutting loudly: “I’ve never taken anything dishonestly. When have I ever done such a despicable act as stealing underwear?”
“You dare to argue?” Cedric turned to look at the Hero, powerfully asserting: “My Lord Hero, what I said is all true; it’s just that the evidence was destroyed by Lance in the earlier fight. But there are plenty of brothers and sisters present here who can vouch for me; what I said is absolutely true.”
“This…” Alicia was slightly taken aback.
Listening to Cedric’s words, she suddenly realized something.
I was wondering why they grabbed Lance and beat him up earlier; turns out they thought it was Lance who stole Shadie’s underwear!
Lance had inexplicably become the scapegoat!
This…
Not a shred of guilt, and even feeling a bit pleased.
Wonderful, it’s simply wonderful.
—
“Now I see, I understand what to do.” Alicia lightly nodded and turned to Lance, coldly saying, “You, burglary, go spend half a year in the prison cell before we talk again.”
“What? Why?” Lance protested in extreme grievance.
“Because of this.” Alicia waved the little book in her hand again.
“Tsk.” Lance clicked his tongue but didn’t dare to say anything more.
Alicia gave him a gentle look: “Alright, don’t put on this pitiful act anymore. Today’s events have already covered for you. As long as you accept the punishment well, I assure you, I won’t show this little book to anyone else.”
“Really?!” Upon hearing this, Lance’s eyes lit up.
“Really.” Alicia said: “But you must also keep in mind, moving forward, you cannot walk the same old path again. Otherwise…”
“Okay, okay, thank you, my Lord Hero! I promise to be a good citizen from now on!” Lance kept bowing.
Alicia glanced at him, knowing he was just saying empty words.
But it didn’t matter; after all, without his tools for committing crimes, even if he wanted to, he wouldn’t be able to do so anymore.
Beneath the golden mask, a beautiful arc formed at the corner of Alicia’s mouth. She gave a slight smile, and in an instant, transformed into a golden light, disappearing from the sight of the crowd.
