A/N: Chapter 3 of Mystical Eye of a Savage Hound. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except my own OC. Revenge of the Sword Clan's Hound belongs to the rightful owner.
Chapter 3: Bloody Beans
Inside the room….
"Let's play 'till the end, brothers." The air around us is stifling, as if sucked out by a vacuum in space in a forceful manner. No, it was more the feeling as though something indescribable was using its mere presence to squash insignificant beings with ease. Middle Bro and Low Bro trembled before me as I continued to hold High Bro's arm in my death grip. The smile I sported on my face is equivalent to a mad man, my eyes wide and bright.
Never before had I held so much power before at such a tender age of eight. And I absolutely relished in it, the absolute authority I exuded over perhaps every single hound in my class. Of course it wasn't at Hugo's level of mastery and command, but it was a start, and I wasn't about to let it go to complete waste.
"Th-The rumors were true?!" High Bro uttered before I unhanded him and threw a punch into his face, feeling the flesh and a couple of teeth buckle underneath the impact.
"High Bro!" The other two watched as the eldest fell with blood spurting from his nose. Middle Bro cursed me out, raised his fists, and attempted to rush. A well-aimed kick to the cheek sent him flying unceremoniously onto his back. Low Bro, watching both his brothers get their asses kicked, scrambled away with his wounded hand clutched tight against his chest.
"Quit your sniffling. Your wounds can heal if you receive treatment in time. But I'm not nice enough to just let you all waltz out of this room." I spoke, brushing some dust from my clothes. Bending down I calmly picked up one of the fallen knives. "At this rate, you'll be handicapped for the rest of lives. You'll be useless in front of Hugo if that were the case, what can he do with a few hounds that can no longer hunt?" The question was rhetorical so I didn't expect any answers.
"P-Please…..spare us.…" Low Bro pleaded as I absentmindedly looked at the weapon in hand, the tremor and whimper in his voice was something I never thought he was capable of making, especially knowing how ferocious he was in my past life. The hounds of Baskerville no matter the age never begged anyone for anything, it was one of the lessons taught to us immediately, but internally I allowed this behavior slide because this would be the last time I get to witness such action. "Please…"
"Now there's a thought, however I won't spare all of you," I smiled as the idea came to the forefront of my mind, turning my gaze from the weapon in my hand to Low Bro. "Take this as a generous offering…only one of you will be allowed to leave this room."
"Really?!" The other two brothers came to their senses at their younger brother's voice, looking at me with wide-eyed expressions, High Bro trying to stop the blood flowing from his nose while Middle Bro was holding his cheek. Low Bro continued speaking, keeping his eyes focused on me, "Wh-Which one of us are you going to let go?"
"That's for you guys to decide. I won't wait for too long so decide quickly." I tossed the weapon before them, watching with glee as their expressions of hope quickly turned to one of horror. Turning on my heels and opening the door to leave, I said over my shoulder with eyes gleaming with laughter, "At least one of you guys should live, no?"
Closing the door behind me, I soon heard the noises of the brothers fighting amongst themselves for the chance to live and chuckled under my breath. With that out of the way, the Baskerville's Trident crumbled among itself, and it felt really good; one major thorn in my side has been thwarted, or would never come to be a threat in the future. Holding my arms nonchalantly behind my head I started to whistle a random tune as I walked away, waiting for about an hour to pass before finding an elite guard and telling him to bring a few medics with him to the room.
In the Clan Head's Chamber….
"Clan Head, there has been another clash with the 'Morgue Clan' at the Ruby Mine." John Barrymore spoke in a solemn manner, addressing Hugo from where he sat behind his desk with a clipboard in hand. "The Morgue Clan is claiming that that mine is within their territory, thus everything inside also belongs to them."
"There's going to be an opportunity to discuss it with them soon. The Morgue Clan will reach out to us first, we will not make the first moves unless we're certain we'll win." Hugo replied, pausing from where he was busy writing a paper. Putting the pen down, he looked at the family butler and folded his hands together, "Anyways, do you have anything else to report?"
"Hmmm…about the most recent midterm assessment at the children's castle…Young Master Viktoria took first place in the written exam."
"Is that so?" Hugo asked with mild surprise, "When are the practical exams?"
"In five days' time, the children's castle's guardian knights are on a trip to prepare it."
"Then the castle itself should be completely empty right now."
"Clan Head, there's something I must say about it." John's tone of voice took a turn, catching Hugo's attention immediately. "There was a rather big fight between the young masters recently, none of the guardian knights were aware of it."
"How many died?" Hugo questioned with a hint of worry, "We didn't lose too many hounds due to this fight?"
"No one died, but…Young Master High Bro's teeth are completely damaged, Young Master Middle Bro's jaw have sunk, and Young Master Low Bro's left index finger has been cut off." John Barrymore rattled off the injury of the triplets before moving on to their current status, "All three of them have received treatment and are currently in recovery, but they have taken a lot of mental damage; the medics tell me that outside of their main injuries, there were also smaller wounds they dealt to each other."
"Weren't they close to each other, like really close? I doubt they would've fought among themselves like that." replied Hugo, slightly concerned with what he heard.
"It's because they fought with another one of their siblings, records states that the triplets were the instigators. The person who turned those brothers into that state was their younger sister of one year…the one who placed first in the written exam I just mentioned, Viktoria van Baskerville."
That little girl from an illegitimate line? Against three brothers who are direct descendants of the Baskerville family, and she came out as the victor without injuries? Hugo sat there stunned as he took in what he heard. He immediately ordered for my presence, interested to know my side of the ordeal.
I soon found myself standing before Hugo and John Barrymore, a bright smile on my face and arms placed behind my back out of respect. I acted as though I had done nothing wrong, feigning innocence is the best way to go.
"You've grown since I last saw you, Viktoria." Hugo spoke after a few minutes of silence, no longer sitting behind his desk and favoring the comfortable sofa instead. John Barrymore as usual stood behind him, his eyes calm and calculating behind his glasses. "Well, last time I saw you you were but a wee baby I fished out of the Styx."
"Good afternoon, Clan Head." I chirped happily, not at all worried.
"Clan Head? Yeah, I guess I am the Clan Head." Hugo smirked in kind, almost as though he was laughing at my antics. Then he said with a tone of seriousness in his voice, "I heard you crippled the triplets in the advanced class."
"I heard they got appropriate treatment though, like they were rushed to immediate care." I tilted my head to the side, a thoughtful expression on my face. "They should be healed by now."
"I wasn't referring to their physical states, I was more talking about you crippling their hearts." Hugo informed me, gazing me with a cold, calculating gaze. "Because of what you did, they had to be placed in separate rooms for the time being, the guards did not want to take chances of them attacking each other. I wouldn't go so far as to assume they'll begin to eat separately and fight separately. Their three-way combination attack was a work of art, and you demolished it. I can only fear that there's a massive rift between them in the coming days."
So far so good, they're not talk to one another. Willing to bet they'll sit as far away from each other as they can during class too. I thought to myself, keeping my facial expression as neutral as possible. The trust and bond between them will take a while to be built back, and after that happens I'll be way out of their league.
"Don't you feel any shame for what you did?" Hugo asked when I haven't responded to what he said. "Or are you aware of what you did wrong?"
"Wrong? What did I do wrong?" I asked in return.
"You turned your older brothers into wrecks, and if we didn't get them the treatment for their wounds they would've been labeled as defective hounds. We cannot afford to lose a single resource, let alone three who were considered the best of the class. The Baskerville family must remain strong and keep as many hounds as possible."
"But I'm way stronger than them." Immediately I spoke with the utmost clarity, fixing both gentlemen in the room with a strong gaze. The aura around me was starting to rise to dangerous level, and the smile that was on my face disappeared too. "How could someone who's strong make a mistake?"
"Clan Head…" John whispered with worry, but Hugo wasn't intimidated in the least.
"…your brothers came here before you arrived and generously forgave you for what you did. Do you still feel no guilt?"
"Forgave me?" Now the smile came back as I was reminded of a story Vikir told me about the family history. The last child of a clan that had perished to the Baskerville Clan came to meet Hugo directly. She, who had become a nun after all those years, came to tell him that she forgave him. My eyes flashed with an eerie light, as the words that came out of my mouth echoed what Hugo responded with, "I believe that forgiveness is nothing more than the sorry excuse of the weak who can't get revenge."
Hooooo this little girl…! Hearing those words made Hugo ecstatic, his own eyes flashing red and a sneer widened on his face. John Barrymore looked as though he was witnessing a stare down between two hounds who were trying to determine which one was the more insane. Soon the dangerous aura died down and he says, "Strength is justice. It also means that being weak is a sin. You understand the Baskerville Clan's family motto very well. Barrymore!"
"Yes, Clan Head?" The family butler looked at the master when his name was called.
"Go to the food warehouse and give her whatever snacks she wants." That got a surprised expression on my face, but I kept my mouth shut. "But don't get too greedy. Give her only as much as she can carry."
"Can I have chocolate then? Thanks Clan Head!" I asked with the brightest smile I could muster. John Barrymore walked to my side, falling into step as we prepared to exit Hugo's chamber and go to the food warehouse. However, Hugo's next words gave me pause.
"Daughter. The upcoming midterm assessment…do well. And don't you dare lose to anyone in the main house." I looked over my shoulder, noticing a facial expression that I never thought would show up on his face. Compassion. Or perhaps…one where he's putting his whole faith in me, and expecting great results in return. Seeing that reaction nearly made me throw up, my throat burning from the bile that threatened to claw its way out before I swallowed it down forcefully.
"Yes, Clan Head." I hope that my voice didn't waver as I replied curtly to his words, walking briskly out of the room with John by my side. In my head I wanted nothing more than to remove the vile taste still lingering in my mouth.
At the warehouse…
Hugo's words did nothing to quell my anger, but that feeling soon dispelled when I came face to face with what I could only imagine is Heaven, or what I assumed what Heaven would look like. Rows upon rows stacked up high with all sorts of food items, items that younger hounds would never feast their eyes upon until they rise in the ranks, or in my case, amaze Hugo with achievements and get rewarded. Thinking of stuffing my face with all the goodies actually made my stomach hurt. I wiped my mouth with the back of a hand subconsciously, making sure I wasn't drooling.
"This is a chocolate that the young girls of the Morgue Clan, who are rumored to be gourmets, enjoy." John told me as he guided me towards a section of the room, behind us were two chefs who oversaw the warehouse and took inventory whenever items were taken or brought. On the shelf were containers filled with processed chocolate stacked on top of each other. "It's the highest quality product that we acquired with great difficulty this time."
"I don't need anything processed." I spoke after glossing over the containers. Turning to the others in the room I said, "I would like cacao beans, one with a very strong flavor."
"You mean the unprocessed beans?" asked John. Seeing that I wouldn't budge on what I wanted, he quickly sent one of the chefs to fetch the item. The chef shuffled back with a nice plump sack, holding it out to me. I glanced inside to see a lot of small, reddish-purple pods.
"These are bloody beans, a kind of cacao bean with an extremely strong flavor." The chef informed me as I picked one out and began to chew on it, testing out the flavor for myself. "Just one of these beans will be enough to make 100 liters of chocolate."
"Ptoooey! What a bitter taste!" I pulled a face as I spat out the bean that I chewed on back into my hand, inspecting the item a bit closer. Hating to throw away an item just because of taste I put the bean back into my mouth and chewed it thoroughly. With a sack of these things in my hand, the midterm assessment may just be a piece of cake, I have an idea to put these to great use..…
To eat those beans raw, she must really like the taste of chocolate…. John mused to himself, watching my every move as I took a couple more beans out of the bag, popping them into my mouth one by one. But this young master…she's taking into account the Clan Head's words by taking 'only as much as she can carry'. Coming up with a method to eat as much chocolate as she can within those parameters…how clever.
"Young Master, should we take these to your room after we've processed them?" The chef who brought me the sack of beans asked me. "I assure you that the chocolate will be beyond what your taste buds have ever tasted, I swear it on my life."
"No need, I want these as they are." I replied, finishing my eating and tying the sack back up. Sure I had eaten a couple of the beans, but I was satisfied with the amount left. It was more than enough for what I had planned to use them for. "Thank you for your offer though, perhaps I will take your word for it next time."
"If I may be so bold as to ask what you intend to use those beans for, young master?" John asked as we left the warehouse, leaving the two chefs to go about their business.
"For eating in my free time!" I said with a smile, stuffing the sack into my pocket. The family butler merely quirked an eyebrow at my response. "The midterm assessment is coming up soon right? These beans will make for a nice small snack." That was a simple lie that slipped through my teeth, and John Barrymore, who was none the wiser merely smiled.
