Chapter 15

Chapter 15: By the name of Justice

Lucien was like a prey to vertigo and extreme pain, he lied on the ground, blankly staring at the rising sun and the pellucid blue sky, quietly breathing the fresh air . Physical pain cannot hide his surging thoughts, the sense of diligence and orientation resulted from his decision .

Although Lucien became more discreet and cautious about his future, making the decision to learn magic had removed a huge rock on his mind, which relieved him a lot .

“That’s a pretty weird, complex and metamorphic change of mindset . ” Experiencing more in the past several days than in all his previous twenty years, Lucien became much mature . He buried the anger of his incapability behind, and smiled wryly, “Probably from the beginning I was desiring magic and power to gain a better life and higher status . I already made the decision, what happened lately was just a catalyst . ”

Alyssa ran to Lucien, and helped him up, “Are you Ok, little Evans?”

Lucien tried to move his body, and grinned because of the pain he felt, “I’m fine, Aunt Alyssa, they’re not trying to kill me, it’s just minor wounds . ”

That made Alyssa feel much better, she reviled, “Those damn bullies, they ‘re disobeying the Archduke’s law, God will hand them and send them to hell . “

Swearing Aaron’s gang, Aunt Alyssa walked Lucien to her house, washing away the blood on his face, and use clean linen cloths to stop the bleeding .

Finishing doing all those, Alyssa looked at Lucien with her hand on her hips, attempting to ask Lucien about what actually happened . She suddenly thought of another thing, and talked to Lucien why a clear request on her face, “Today is Monday, little John is going to be there that afternoon, please please please don’t tell him about that . You know him, little Evans . He is really devoted to the chivalry and knights principles, plus you are his best friend if he knows that he would be looking for troubles on Aaron’s gang . Sir Wayne may oust him if there’s anything wrong . ”

As a part of the lower classes, Alyssa tended to put herself in the weaker position .

“Oh, of course, that’s not a big deal, I won’t tell him anything about it, hsss……” Lucien, despite his current incapability, believed that he can bring fairness back and punish Aaron’s gang in the future . He responded and smiled without much worry, but hurt the wounded lip .

Aunt Alyssa nodded with a tear, “You are a good man, little Evans . ”

“What are you not telling me?” All of a sudden, Lucien heard John’s magnetic voice from behind . John, still wearing a gray knight apparel, stood at the door without being noticed .

Aunt Alyssa responded hurriedly, “No, nothing . Why don’t you tell me that you would come back early?”

John steps forward into the room, and smiles bitterly, “Sir Wayne was summoned by the Archduke, I, therefore, went back to Alto . Mom, please don’t lie in such a clumsy way . I’m an adult, a formal Squire under Sir Wayne who learned and experienced a lot in the past several years . I wasn’t a young kid anymore, you don’t need to worry about me being rash . ”

Then, John looked at Lucien with a gentle smile, clapped his hand and spoke in a calm way: “Ha! Your look now is much worse than the times we got thrashed together in the past . Fine, please tell me what happened . Anyways, I believe that most of our neighbors had witnessed what just happened . ”

Lucien turned his head and glanced at Aunt Alyssa . After seeing her nodding her head disappointedly, he then talked about everything that happened . At the same time, from John, Lucien surprisingly felt the aura of pressure that he once could only feel from Gary and Correa .

After hearing Lucien’s experience, angriness appeared on John’s face, but he quickly regained his mind and became calm again . The laughed, “Looks like you really want to learn reading and writing, it’s a great idea to dig the dumps for valuable goods . You see, I always know that your brain was the best among us . ”

Seeing that John wasn’t mad and followed his “chivalry” to fight Aaron’s gang, Aunt Alyssa felt relieved, “It’s the best for you to have your own thoughts and work hard, Little Evans . ”

John relaxed his body and loosened his shoulders, and walked into the kitchen nearby . He dug out a hard wooden rod, like a long sword and talked to Lucien, “I thought that I was never gonna use it like I did in the past . ”

Then he turned to Alyssa, “Mom, I need to be outside for a while . ”

“Little John…”Alyssa spoke painfully, “You’re gonna get expelled by Sir Wayne . ”

And Lucien also said, “It’s not really a big deal, John, I didn’t get hurt . ”

John shake his head, “After I became a formal squire, Sir Wayne had often enlightened us about following chivalry and knighthood——guard against the perpetrators, and guard those who are perpetrated against; defend the home for all, and hold high the flag of justice and truth——probably some of my fellows don’t care much about it, but for me, it’s the path that I’m going to follow for the rest of my life . ”

“Lucien is my best friend, and the I believe in this case the “perpetrated against”; Aaron’s gang is the place for ruffians and scoundrels, the perpetrators . If I don’t stand out there, which violates my principle, even if I’m not expelled by Sir Wayne, I would be expelled mentally by myself . With such shame and regret, I will never be able to activate the power in my blood . Plus, I believe Sir Wayne will be on my side . ”

“But little John……” Aunt Alyssa still wouldn’t let John go, and looked at him sadly .

John smiled gently, and hugged Alyssa, “Lucien was just beaten and robbed for a small amount, I wouldn’t be doing anything that exceeds the line . Trust me, mom . You see? I only bring a wooden rod with me . ”

John’s strength as a formal squire finally convinced Alyssa . She nodded reluctantly, “Be careful, little John”

“They are the one who should be careful . Lucien, wait for my good news . ” John held the wooden rod, smiled confidently, and walked toward the door .

“Wait,” Lucien said .

John turned back and looked at Lucien confusedly, “What, Lucien?”

Lucien stood up, he had a feeling that his blood burnt with excitement, which he usually didn’t like . He smiled too, “Together . ”

Although the wound at the corner of his mouth made the smile funny, John could still see Lucien’s firmness . He didn’t refuse, and laughed excitedly, “No problem at all . Just like what we did in the past, um, go grab another wooden rod in the kitchen . ”

Lucien found the rod and put it in his hand, when the passed by Aunt Alyssa, Lucien whispered to her, “I will be watching John, we’re not making any troubles . ”

…………………

Not long after Jackson left, Lucien and John easily knew their whereabouts from the neighbors and passers-by .

When they were on their way after Jackson, John suddenly asked with confusion, “Lucien, do you believe in justice?”

“Um, yes? Why do you ask that . ” Lucien didn’t know what John was asking that question, he responded cautiously .

While running, John said: “I believe in justice too, yet I know that I’m not that noble and valorous as I appear to be . If you weren’t my best friend, I’m afraid that I wouldn’t stick to the knight principles and hold the flag of justice against Aaron’s gang . When I evaluate my strength ability, I would flinch if it risks my life and future, unless it’s affecting you guys . I guess justice is nothing but a catchphrase for me . ”

“I don’t think so . Every knight has his or her prior principles to defend, for some it can be fairness, for some it’s loyalty, or fearlessness, or mercy . For you, you chose your home . There comes justice only if you have something to defend, or such justice is just imaginary and meaningless . ”

At that moment, Lucien felt that John was just an immature teenager, just like he was . At the same time, he flipped through a literature talking about chivalry in his spiritual library and organized words to comfort John .

After several day’s practices, it was easier for Lucien to access the library, he also realized that he can look up the information he needed quickly and conveniently with his mind .

John was still a little bit confused, “Is it?”

“Of course, if you do have the ability and strength, would you ‘guard against the perpetrators, and guard those who are perpetrated against’, and uphold justice?” Lucien threw the question back .

John nodded his head firmly, “Yes . ”

“Therefore, John, you are still a just knight . You should know that doing something that is impossible isn’t called justice, but suicide, or recklessness . Under those situations, you need to use your brain to find another route unless there’s no return possible . ” Lucien thought that he should be a psychological mentor .

John thought about it for a while, looked like he had dropped something . He smiled, “Every time I ask Sir Wayne that question, he always said that I need to experience more things, and there’s not a way to understand the question by plain thinking . Lucien, I feel like you are more mature now, and your words make more sense . Um, however, I’m still attracted by the real justices . ”

“Sir Wayne had told ask about the tales of a legendary knight longsword . Although it’s enchanted by divine powers, it’s still plain white and ordinary . There are no magnificent rays of light, no different colors emerged from the divine spells; it’s not beaded with luxury jewelry, and even the armguard is made of ordinary wood . Its look was not different from a common soldier’s soldier, most nobles and knight won’t even look at it . ”

“But the actual power if it is extraordinarily strong, especially against evil creatures . What gave me the most impression is the glyphs on the longsword: ‘Justice always pales in comparison to vanity and ostentatious displays of power . Justice is the right of every man, no matter how rich or poor, no matter how educated or ignorant, it should be found as often in the fields of farmers as in the field of battle . ’”

“That sentence echoed in my mind for a long time . ”

“And the longsword is called the ‘Pale Justice’*, sadly, it disappeared with a powerful Sky Knight in Mount Obscurité”

Yearning and excitement appeared on John’s face and replaced the confusion .

Lucien made a small joke, “Ok ok, so our slogan for today is ‘By the name of justice!!!’ . ”

“Haha, by the name of justice!!!” John swung his wooden rod .

Both of them started laughing, yet Lucien silently told himself that he’s not talking about tooth decays . (Translator notes: That came from a famous toothpaste slogan in China “By the name of justice, our goal today is no tooth decays!!!”)

Several minutes later, they saw Jackson, he walked on the Market district Avenue, with a dozen gang members, including Andre, following him .

P . S . Author’s word: “In that novel, there will be some weapons and equipment in the games that once impressed me . Of course, they will be fitting the settings of that novel . ”

*—“Pale Justice”: a famous weapon from Iceland Dale 1, the unique weapon for paladins .

Spoiler—————>We’ll be seeing that weapon much later in the book and it’s gonna be Lucien’s gift to another main character…… .