CHAPTER 28: CHAPTER 28: FEAST BEFORE RETURNING

"So Charles requested for it? That’s why they fractured his leg?" an observer whispered, trying not to laugh.

The audience burst out laughing, unable to hold it in. Alex’s clarification had been too good Charles had practically asked for the beating himself, provoking Nathan to snap his leg, and now that the action had been taken, he had no one to fault but his own conceit.

In the matters of the black market, where the local government rarely dared to intervene, even the slightest possibility of official action was out of the question.

"Haha, Charles got what he had coming!" one onlooker exclaimed, his tone rich with satisfaction.

"Yes! The government ignores the black market, but even if they tried to move in, they couldn’t Charles essentially invited this upon himself!" another chimed in.

"I’ve never seen anything like it," a third exclaimed, his head shaking with incredulity, though his smile gave away his mirth.

Alex’s clever logic had the bystanders laughing, the whole scene evolving into a spectacle they would be reliving for weeks. Not very far away, Lucy and Miss Evelyn, their faces concealed under light scarves to ensure their anonymity, exchanged looks that immediately turned to stifled giggles, their eyes sparkling with mutual amusement. They were both shocked at Alex’s audacity; by redefining the attack as nothing more than Charles’s own request, he had made any appeal to the authorities futile. No one could argue with the sense not when the victim himself had made the challenge.

"What are you all standing there for?" his voice was thin and quivering with pain as Charles groaned from the floor. "Get me out of here!"

Before he could complete the sentence, Nathan and Alex had delivered a few more measured blows, making sure the lesson was one that he would not forget anytime soon.

Alex, panting, stretched his arms back before stepping back with a easy smile, speaking to the crowd as though they were long-lost friends. "Everyone saw it, right? He begged us to beat him. We just complied. None of this is on us."

Nathan nodded gravely, his voice keeping with Alex’s sarcastic seriousness. "Absolutely. He requested it himself."

Charles’s minions stood there still, jaws hanging open, faced with an amount of shameless cunning they had never seen before. His previous provocation about challenging them to snap his leg had been intended as bait, but Alex and Nathan had turned it into a request, leaving Charles without a leg to stand on...literally.

"I... you..." Charles stuttered, his face purpling with a combination of rage and pain, until they became too much for him to bear. His eyes rolled back, and he fell unconscious.

"Quick, get the boss to a doctor!" One-Eye Jack cried, panic biting in his voice.

"Let’s go!" another shouted, and in seconds Charles’s men had carried their mad leader aloft on their shoulders, dashing away from the smashed shop in panic, hoping to get out before things grew worse.

The dozen or so Axe Gang members broke into the bending alleys of Ironhold, abandoning the wreckage of their lair.

"Haha, we won!" Tommy yelled, pumping his fists on his chest.

"We did it!" Rory whooped, his grin stretching ear to ear.

"That felt so good!" Sam added, his usual quiet demeanor cracking into a broad smile.

Tommy, Rory, Sam, and Rick glowed with triumph, their hearts filled with joy and their spirits flying high.

As ordinary men, they had for long had to swallow their pride in the face of domination by men like Charles, but today, with Alex as the backing, they had held their ground.

The pride surging in their chests was something they had never experienced before.

In that very moment, they looked at each other, silently promising eternal allegiance to Alex, the man who had given them not only victory but honor.

Having the issue resolved, Miss Evelyn indicated for her thirty masked attendants to retire. They melted away in starched silence, disappearing into the city’s night on their return to her family’s house.

She gave Alex and Nathan a small, understanding nod of her head before she too turned away, mindful of keeping her part in the affair secret in order to preserve her family’s reputation.

"As one would expect of one of Ironhold’s most influential clans," Alex whispered with respect, observing the efficiency with which her men handled themselves.

"Those servants have been trained to perfection."

Later That Night, At Hartwell Residence

In the soft radiance of the flickering lamplight, Alex ushered in with Tommy, Rory, Sam, and Rick into the Hartwell household to share in a hard-won and uncommon feast an indulgence forgotten within the famine-wrecked Ironhold city.

The great table is loaded with trays of roasted meat, freshly baked bread, steaming vegetables, and golden bowls of rich, scented stew, rice and what not delicious delicacies that are nearly forgotten in this famine ridden world.

The four brothers were touched deeply, their hearts full of gratitude. In an era when a single loaf of bread was valuable, not only was their Big Boss providing them with a bountiful feast but doing so in his own home as a sign of how much he appreciated their loyalty and camaraderie.

Laughter and chat came easily while they ate, the room heavy with the warm scents of well-seasoned dishes and the ringing of plates.

Alex, unaware of their bliss, had no idea that this innocent act of kindness had created something much greater than friendship it had cemented the unshakeable loyalty of four men who, from that evening forward, would not hesitate to go through fire and water for him.

As the final plates were being removed and embers from the hearth smoldered low, Alex bid his guests good night at the door with words and a pleased grin.

He went back to the modern day, the burden of more than three thousand taels of gold weighing in his hand a cruelly won fortune from his activities in the black market of Ironhold.