Chapter 6: The Knight’s Esquire [2]

Hearing what the esquire had said, the villagers stumbled and paled.

The word "training or work" was something that these men of Lother loathed to hear.

Having no hands-on-ruler for a long time had dulled the meaning of labor for the villagers. As the idlers increase in the village, the village prospect also plunged. The chances for further improvement also dimmed along the way.

No wonder the old village chief looked like he was about to die because of work. The aged lines on the old man’s face spoke volumes of the stress he had on his shoulders. For an old man, handling a mouthful of these man-children was indeed a backbreaking task.

The village was lucky enough to not meet any monster attacks, unlike the other outrun areas. The village had kept its peace despite its nearness to the forest of wilderness, a place that teemed with monsters and crazy things.

However, this peaceful environment was also a double-edged sword. Though it could bring prosperity. Too much of it could destroy any city or society.

Like a termite, excessive peace could slowly eat up the building blocks of a healthy nation. A key foundation called "people". The esquire perceived that the terrified villagers were not the people which the Knight would need. They must change.

Seeing the lackadaisical faces of the villagers, the esquire's sharp brows jerked. His furious voice boomed all across the village outskirts. No wonder the knight had sent him here.

These foolish villagers don’t feel any sense of danger. He moved his gaze towards the forest. They know little about the threat lurking in their backyard.

These people treat the monster-infested forest as a mere backyard. If something dangerous came crawling out of that place. The esquire wondered how many of these goons would survive. His amiable smile shifted into a scowl.

“What’s with those faces bastards! Eh, You abhor working maggots? Hell, that’s going to change today. The esquire shouted in a frenzy. He swore right at the dim-witted faces of the villager. When I say the word drill, you smile! When I say run, you’ll smile then run! When I say crawl you’ll grin while crawling!”

“Dumbasses! Where are your balls? If I still see any of such faces. I promised you! I'm going to squeeze those little willies under your pants until you become new ladies! You hear me!”

Hukkk...

Yes...

“Yes, sir…”

“…”

…

After being cursed for their ugly faces, the villagers trembled. They never thought that the affable-looking esquire toted such a beastly mouth.

The villager's paling faces shifted their hues as the esquire's saliva arced through the air, showering them with their first-morning blessing.

These villagers were already very used to being scolded by their elders and parents. This was the first time someone dared to curse them like this. At most, their soft-hearted elders would at least scold them and beat them up a little, then the elders would do the work for them.

Davin huffed after releasing a few pints of his saliva, the esquire slowly mounted off his sturdy horse. He walked to a nearby hundred-year-old tree. An oak tree. With one glance, you could already tell how tough it was. Its ambitious branches reaching towards the sun. The whistles of the wind swayed its leaves to dance.

Gazing at the gargantuan oak tree, the muscles in the esquire's thin arms squirmed. A metallic sheen slithered on the surface of his arms. He took a stance, his fist clenched on the sides of his waist. His two feet were a meter apart. He shifted his weight to his fist. He then threw a swishing jab towards the unsuspecting tree.

Bam!

His arms struck the innocent tree, a crevice gingerly appeared on its body. Like sliced tofu, the trunk of the oak splintered into two, and with a creaking sound, it fell to the ground.

Slowly but surely...

The once-proud oak tree was no more. It was now as good as firewood. With one punch, the giant tree was a goner.

The esquire then stood straight and stretched his hands upward. He then took a peek at the villagers who were watching.

Seeing the hard tree falling, the villagers' jaws almost fell on the ground. The esquire then drew his sword. The villagers couldn’t help but take a step back, trembling in fear, thinking that the esquire would hack them into half.

The esquire then walked towards the fallen tree. He raised his eyebrows plus a scowl at the shaking sloths.

He then carved and sliced a piece of the Oakwood into a ball of wood, just enough to fit an adult's hand.

Then, he squished the carved wood into powder with no mercy. The creaking sounds made the villagers gulped in fear. A shiver pricking their backs. Some even covered their precious family jewels with their hands as if they were feeling pain. Many of the men buckled their legs to protect the thing below their waist, their faces white in shock.

“Horrible!”

“E-Evil.”

The pale and stupefied faces of the lazy guys made the esquire grin. He finally established his authority. The good Madame’s way! It was a very effective way, even the soldiers in the army knew of its effectiveness.

As always, actions are better than words. He ought to follow Madame’s example as a model.

“Alright, men let's start the practice. So if I say! Drill!?” The esquire Davin bellowed imposingly. “If I see any stupid bums lazing around, I’m going to squeeze their balls just like those carved wood.”

Hearing the word “training and squashed wood”, the villagers immediately put on their best smiles. It was a sight to behold. They scrambled and stood ramrod straight. All their eyes staring at the esquire as they wore their best smiles onboard after the threat.

“Good men!” The esquire nodded, his lips flashing a grin.

Yet, if someone saw the villagers’ smiles, they would scramble away instead. Horrified by the twisted smiles of the villagers. All as if Davin had coerced them to eat flavored horse manure.

Some were cramped, some were crooked, and some just too hard to describe with any Eudorian words they knew. The villagers now knew how fearful and savage the kind-looking esquire was.

“It seems like you finally understood a brief part of what I mean.” Davin nodded his head, his tone back to being soft and kind. “Questions before we start?”

The villagers looked at each other’s eyes as if confirming something. Then, one villager stepped forward. He raised the collective concern of the villagers to the esquire.

The villager asked, his voice shaking. The vibratos in his voice betrayed the straight face he was trying to maintain. “S-sir Esquire, are we going to get whipped today?”

After hearing the question of the villager, Davin stood still and stared at the man’s eyes. He could see the fear in each of those eyes. He then smiled and asked the brave man.

“What do you think?”

Instead of an answer, the courageous bloke earned another question from the esquire. The man gritted his teeth and answered in a whisper-like voice.

“No Sir, you will not whip us!”

“Brave answer! Alright, since you claim you wouldn't. Then so be it!” Davin clapped his hands, a grin hanging on his lips after putting some of his experience. Madam’s carrots and stick always work.

Sounds of relief echoed in the eastern outskirts of the village. Today had quite been stressful for the villagers. They felt they were riding a very unreliable mule through a muddy road. One time it would go fast. Then sometimes it would go slow like a turtle.

“Milord said that he hates whipping people.” The esquire added in a firm and loud voice. “Still, he ordered me to instill discipline to you men until you’re like soldiers. From today onwards, I’ll treat every one of you as soldiers. Do you hear me!?”

“Y-yes.”

“Yes. Sir Esquire!”

“Then let’s begin!”

The drills for the villagers were specially prepared by the knight and the madam. The knight might have spared the villagers from the whipped, but he did not spare them from the rod.

Well, the truth is—Davin found the villagers interesting. So he just went nuts and do what he deemed nice.

The start of the drills began with a bunch of shrieks. The hollers came from villagers and the roars came from the esquire. Davin’s curses raged towards the heavens, traveling throughout the eastern outskirts of the village.

The angry yells of Davin reached the ears of the other villagers near the outskirts. It scared everyone who lived nearby.

Thus, a new myth formed, originating for the eastern outskirts of Lother. A warning that in the eastern outskirt of the village lied a monster. It was an abomination with a beastly mouth, unsettling many villagers.

The villagers near the outskirts even forced the old chief to warn everyone of its danger.

But that’s another story for later.