I No Clown

The Rage Within

The hooded man growled softly pressing his head even harder. He became annoyed and removed the wide hood on his head, throwing the thick and coarse cloth onto the bed.

For a moment he just sat there, wringing his hair before standing up and approaching the window.

He looked at the sea with its not-so-big waves, lapping and breaking on the shore.

The moonlight right at its highest point provided a little better illumination.

And the mysterious man was none other than Mathias.

He looked up at the night sky which looked quite beautiful this time, then down at the sea which reflected the moonlight, glittering like a pile of diamonds here and there.

"Where are you now, Alie?" he murmured almost inaudibly.

He looked back at his right hand, turning it over and over in such a way.

Just as he was about to return his gaze to the sea at the far end, Mathias heard a woman's scream from the right.

He frowned and found a bit of commotion in his line of sight.

"Do people like this deserve to be saved from extinction?" he muttered as if asking someone. "Is that what you want?"

Mathias snorted softly and then turned around.

Outside the inn building that seemed to have been abandoned by its owner to seek refuge in the Dakhsina Kingdom, Southern Continent. To the north of where the small commotion was happening.

The people still awake in the middle of the night tried to come over to see exactly what the other handful of people there were fussing about.

"Hey, what's going on here?" a soldier asked the people around.

Unfortunately, no one could tell him.

The scene continued when four 30-year-olds were surrounding a girl with bruises on her face, black hair, and naked. Only a piece of blanket covered her breasts and crotch.

"Warriors!"

As the same four shirtless men turned their heads to the right, a middle-aged man appeared before them.

From the shape of the armor attached to his body, the four shirtless men immediately understood that the middle-aged man was a Knight of the fifth level.

"Someone should speak up, now!" the knight ordered. "You guys have caused a ruckus in the middle of the night like this. And, what happened to her?" he pointed at the girl.

The girl was none other than Alicia who had just experienced a day that was so miserable, exhausting, and humiliating for her as a woman.

She continued to cry with one of her eyes swollen, her left temple also bruised, and the corner of her lip cut and bruised as well. Her condition was truly pathetic, lying in the middle of the street, surrounded by people, but she was still alive.

"Speak now!"

The four warriors were all trembling at the Knight's loud command.

"Master," said one of the four. "This girl has been sold by Young Master Blackwood as a servant."

"That's true, Master," agreed the other three.

The knight glanced at the girl and the girl cried while shaking her head.

"N-No..." she said with a weak voice and a body shivering with fear. "Th-They took me from the refugee camp. Please, believe me!"

"She's lying, Master," said another, pointing at Alicia. "The Blackwood family wouldn't lie to us!"

"Yeah, there's no way they would!" said another.

Mathias burst in among the people gathered around the commotion. And he had returned to wearing a wide hood over his head and part of his face.

There was nothing, in particular, he wanted there but to get away from the still crowded area as soon as possible. That was why he passed by the crowd near the commotion.

The knight let out a deep breath. Scenes like this one were not rare. That said, it almost happened every day. Especially, in the barracks where soldiers and warriors gathered.

It was a biological necessity for them, and sadly, all the kingdoms on Earth approved of this kind of thing under the pretense of easing the tension between the soldiers and warriors in fighting against the Demon Army.

"This is ironic," muttered the knight almost inaudibly. He looked back at the girl. "What is your name?"

The girl tried to get up and sit up, but her weakened body condition, as well as the many beating marks on her body, made it difficult for her to move normally.

"Ma-Master..." Alicia struggled to support herself with her trembling elbows. "I, I―"

Mathias suddenly burst out and appeared before everyone without a word. All eyes were now on him.

The part of his mouth that was not covered by the wide hood was seen twitching subtly, hands clenched tighter as if he was holding back his anger.

"Hey, who the fuck are you, huh?!" snarled one of the four shirtless warriors.

From beneath his thick wide hood, Mathias glared at the man on his right.

But it was only for a moment before he turned to the girl who was staring at him in confusion.

"What happened to you?" he asked with trembling lips and supported her back with his left hand while with his right, he rubbed her head.

From the head he tried to touch the girl's face which was swollen with tears, as well as bruised from blows and slaps.

The right hand kept moving, fixing the blanket that only covered a small part of the girl's body.

"Bro―ther?" Alicia gulped and her voice was very subtle as if she was at the end of her life.

Mathias steeled his heart. "Who did this to you?"

The girl's eyes fell on the two shirtless warriors on her left and the two warriors on her right.

"Who the hell are you, huh?" snapped a shirtless man from the left side, behind Mathias.

He touched Mathias' shoulder and tried to jerk him roughly.

The man with the wide hood snarled with his jaw clenched but twitched smoothly and made a rattling sound.