I hadn't seen Lord Augustus for over a month since my visit, but I did notice that Acta had been coming to town once every week or so. The disturbing part was that she always came from the manor. Every time, she would go to the gypsy to buy mysterious herbs, plants, and spices. From the bulges in her pouches, I could tell that she was buying large quantities of the stuff. Without fail, she would then head back to the road to Augustus's estate. These days, people besides me were wary enough to also notice this. After all, the atmosphere of the town as of late had been growing more tense as more foreign workers and dangerous-looking men traveled through town and made their way to Lord Augustus. People of the town began to accost these intruders. Acta was no exception; this led to a particularly violent encounter.

"You another one of Augustus's harem?" I saw a man call out to Acta as she was making her way from the gypsy's wagon. "Wanna tell us what you're doing around here?" He was with a group of three other men.

"Mister, I wouldn't accuse me of such things if I were you," Acta responded.

"Yeah, and what're you gonna do about it? Curse me?"

"Keep your distance and you will not have to find out," she growled.

"This is our town, scrub. It'd be best for you to not come back."

"Yeah, beat it!" another man in the group called out.

"I go wherever I please, yokel. By the will of our lord, Augustus, I will do his bidding."

"So you do work for him!"

The man approached Acta and waved for the rest of his group to follow him. They formed a circle around her and slowly began to close in. She drew the strange wooden mace hanging from her leather belt.

"Hey! What do you guys think you're doing? Don't fight!" I shouted.

"This is for our town's good, Sidney! Stay out of this!" one of the men yelled back.

"She didn't do anything wrong!"

"Then why don't you tell us what you've got in those bags?" he asked Acta, gesturing at her pouches with the dagger he had just drawn.

"It is none of your business. You have no right to know."

"It's something illegal then. In that case, then we need to take them from you."

She took a large seed out from a pouch and swallowed it. The man lunged and grabbed at one of the pouches on her side, but she stepped sideways and firmly kneed the man in the stomach. He keeled over.

"Why you little…!"

Another man with the dagger advanced on her and slashed her across the chest. A strange yellow powder billowed out from the rip, quickly engulfing the entire group. Everyone began coughing uncontrollably, dropping their weapons. Everyone except Acta. She examined the rip in her dress, shook her head, and smacked one of the men in the face with her hammer. He fell to the ground.

"What… is… this?" one of the men choked out while clutching at his throat. She smiled.

"Something illegal."

One by one, she knocked out the men with her mace. By the time the toxic cloud cleared, only one man was left conscious, gasping for air and crawling away. Terrified screams came from the townspeople that had witnessed the attack. Acta strolled after the crawling man and put her foot on the back of his head.

"Remember, serfs of Lord Augustus: this was all in self-defense. This cut is proof." She gestured to the slash on her dress.

Acta held her mace in both hands. With a shout, she brought it down straight through the man's head. There was a sickening crack. Blood and brains flew everywhere.

"It is done. This man's body will be returned to Lord Augustus as evidence."

She hoisted his corpse on her shoulders and walked away. Other townspeople ran to the felled men to try and help them. I ran after Acta.

"Why did you do that? You killed him!" I yelled.

"They needed to know their place, Sidney. Are you also willing to tolerate such offenses against your good lord's name?"

"I agree that it was wrong of them to denounce him, but you didn't have to resort to murder!"

"It was self-defense, like I told them."

"Self-defense is subduing them, but what you did? Smashing a townsperson's head in is murder!"

"Then we must agree to disagree, Sidney."

"Where are you going now?"

"To Lord Augustus's manor."

"Well then… I don't think you should come back."

"I do not plan to. Lord Augustus is all I need. He is a great, great man," she said emphatically. "Goodbye, Sidney. It saddens me to know that you will not share our great vision for the future."

"Why do you need to take his body? His family will want it."

"Oh, do not worry about that. I am sure that they will see it soon enough." She laughed maniacally as she walked away.

I stood there in disbelief and horror. Was August really consorting with someone of this moral and mental condition? What had happened to him in the past year? Suddenly, the words of the man who had sold August those pigs came back to my mind.

"This place is more ominous than you know. Trust me."

I swore that I would get to the bottom of this and help restore Lord Augustus's honorable name. But for now, I had to return to town and behold the fate of those men Acta had attacked.

But they had died before I found them again. Their eyes had shriveled away and their muscles were withered so much that their bones were almost visible through what remained of their thin skin. People surrounded them, some shouting angrily and others weeping loudly.

"You heard that homicidal witch. She said she was working for Lord Augustus. He's gone mad, I say!" a man exclaimed.

"Almost everyone who goes to his estate never returns. And those who do are totally insane," a woman pointed out.

I started to back away from the crowd. People had started looking at me, and others were pointing. A few of them were whispering to each other. I knew that this was the best time to return to my room in the abbey. No one would dare attack me under the protection on the monks and on the holy site of the abbey. And so I left before I could get hurt.