​"AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!" Alvin screamed, blood pouring from his mouth as tears of absolute agony streamed down his face.

​The guards watching the scene were paralyzed with shock. They couldn’t believe Ian had just brutally severed a man’s tongue without showing a single shred of remorse. In that moment, a quick death seemed like a mercy. Some of the guards instinctively thought about turning and running, but the moment the idea crossed their minds, they glanced toward the weapon racks. Trevor was still leaning nonchalantly against the wall, watching the bloody scene unfold as if it were just a normal afternoon.

​Seeing Trevor’s relaxed, deadly posture terrified the guards even more. Their minds raced, violently picturing what was going to happen to them next.

​Although Trevor remained outwardly calm, internally, he was just as shocked as the rest of them. I knew the Young Master had changed after the passing of the Lord, but this is beyond a simple change. It’s like he is a completely different person altogether. Just thinking about the coldness in Ian’s eyes sent a chill down Trevor’s spine.

​Suddenly, the suffocating silence was broken by one of the guards.

​"YOUNG MASTER, PLEASE!! HAVE MERCY! I have a family at home! If I die, t-they won’t—sniff—they won’t survive without me!" The guard collapsed onto his knees, sobbing uncontrollably.

​The other guards stared at the groveling man in disbelief. Wasn’t he the one eagerly collecting the betting money just a few minutes ago?

​"Trevor," Ian said coldly, pointing a bloody finger at the kneeling guard.

​Trevor didn’t need to be told twice. He moved in a blinding flash, his sword cleanly severing the groveling man’s neck before the guard could utter another word. The guards standing closest to the newly decapitated corpse jumped in terror, opening their mouths to scream, but Trevor shot them a single, threatening glare. They instantly clamped their mouths shut. Without another word, Trevor returned to his position by the weapon racks.

​"I did say that if you guys made a single move, Trevor would act," Ian said, his voice echoing over the terrified remaining guards. "Did that idiot really think that mentioning his family would suddenly give me a change of heart? That is some incredibly naive thinking. What you all did—murdering a child who did absolutely nothing to you, and placing bets on his life—was utterly disgusting. In my eyes, every single one of you is already a dead man."

​Ian paused, his dark eyes scanning the trembling crowd. "But, because slaughtering all of you at once would cause too many problems for the estate, I will hold back. That doesn’t mean, however, that I can’t kill at least one or two more of you."

​"Young Master, Alvin is losing consciousness," David reported, looking down at the bleeding man.

​"Ah, we can’t have that, can we? I explicitly promised him he would die slowly," Ian replied effortlessly, tossing a spare hunting knife to David. "Stab his hand. Make sure he stays awake."

​David didn’t hesitate. He drove the blade straight through Alvin’s palm.

​Alvin jolted violently awake, fresh blood bubbling from his ruined mouth. He was in a completely pathetic, mutilated state. Standing nearby, Dion quickly looked away, a small twinge of pity finally creeping into her chest at the horrific sight.

​Even Trevor frowned slightly, starting to feel that this level of torture was becoming excessive.

​"Young Master... can I kill him?"

​Everyone turned to see who had spoken. It was Ivory. He had his hand raised, his eyes bloodshot and swollen, clearly showing he had been crying heavily just moments ago.

​"Hmm? And who are you?" Ian asked, looking at the boy suspiciously since he hadn’t interacted with him much.

​"Young Master, that is Ivory," David quickly explained. "He was always with Sam. They were practically brothers. He has been quiet this whole time, but I think the shock of seeing Sam die just broke him."

​Ian thoughtfor moment, "Sigh... I guess you got lucky, Alvin. You are going to get an easy death after all," Ian muttered, stepping back and gesturing for Ivory to take the knife from David.

​Upon hearing Ian’s words, a faint glimmer of relief actually flashed in Alvin’s tear-filled eyes. Even if he was about to die, being quickly stabbed by a weak, grieving orphan was vastly preferable to remaining in the Young Master’s cruel hands.

​Ivory walked slowly toward Alvin, his face stained with grief.

​"You know, Sam and I were from the same orphanage over in the Tessan Kingdom," Ivory began, his voice trembling. "I was always viewed as the weakest kid there. Whenever I got beaten up by the older kids, I would look over and see Sam taking a beating too, and I would think there is another weak kid like me. It was so hard surviving alone. But then, Sam started talking to me. I always gave him an attitude, trying to push him away, but Sam persisted. He never gave up on me until I finally gave in. He became my first real friend. After that, even when we were beaten together, it didn’t hurt as much because I wasn’t alone anymore. It was different that time, before we weren’t friends but after we friends"

​Ivory tightly gripped the handle of the knife.

​"Because we were weak and had no chance of awakening Magic or Aura, the orphanage eventually sold us to passing slave merchants. That is where we met David and the others... until the old Lord saved us from the merchants and brought us here."

​Tears began freely streaming down Ivory’s face again. "Although we didn’t share the same blood... sniff... HE WAS MY LITTLE BROTHER! AND YOU TOOK HIM AWAY FROM ME! FOR WHAT?!"

​Ivory’s sorrow suddenly morphed into blind, screaming rage. The entire courtyard was dead silent, forced to listen to the boy’s agonizing heartbreak.

​"JUST BECAUSE YOU WANTED SOME EXTRA POCKET CHANGE IN YOUR POCKETS, YOU KILLED MY ONLY BROTHER! YOU LEFT ME ALL ALONE IN THIS WORLD! I WILL MAKE YOU PAY FOR THAT!"

​Ivory dropped to his knees, forcefully grabbing Alvin’s arm. With a terrifying, hate-filled expression, he pressed the blade into Alvin’s wrist and began to slowly, agonizingly saw through the flesh and bone. David and Dennis immediately dropped their weight onto Alvin’s shoulders, pinning the thrashing man to the ground.

​"I am going to make you bleed so slowly. I am going to make you die so, so slowly," Ivory whispered, his face twisted into a scary, unrecognizable scowl.

​"AAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Alvin’s muffled, tongueless screams tore through the air as Ivory completely severed his right hand. Without pausing for a single second, the grieving boy moved the bloody knife down toward Alvin’s leg.

​Watching the gruesome execution unfold, a faint smirk tugged at the corner of Ian’s mouth.

​Looks like I was wrong about him being lucky, Ian thought. He really did meet an angry friend.