Riven walked into the butcher house, and the smell was pungent, heavier than when he was outside. He saw large pieces of flesh hung from metal bars that lined the ceiling.
Some lay on tables around, their blood dripping down. There was a man inside the butcher house. Riven looked at the man, hunched over, a large knife in hand and a stained apron.
There was no one else here. It made Riven wonder if he was the only one that worked here. Sophie walked up to the man casually. He looked up, stopping his cutting.
"Lady Sophie," he called her name, showing that she had been here before.
"Good day, Sir Ronald. I’ve come to confirm the order from the Baron’s house," she spoke.
"Ohh, yes, everything has been set up," he said. He glanced at Riven behind her. The clean dressing and quality material made him sure that he was a noble, but he got the wrong idea.
He leaned in close to Sophie. "Lady Sophie, is that noble here to make sure you do everything right?" he spoke. There was pure, unfiltered spite and hatred in his voice.
She quickly shook her head. "No, that’s the young master, the fourth son of the Baron. He didn’t want to be here, I dragged him along," she responded.
A look of shock formed on the man’s face. He looked at Riven and then looked at her. "You are telling me that a noble allowed you to pull him around town?" he asked in shock.
She smiled in response. "I don’t see Riven as a noble. I see him as something dear," she said with a smile.
The man was stunned, but he had no say here. He moved from her and led her into the butcher house to check their goods.
Every now and then he would glance at Riven. Riven knew, but he didn’t pay attention to the man and simply focused on the types of beasts that were here.
They got to the back and there was a table with meat wrapped up into transparent bags. "This is a new preservative method developed at the capital. These wraps allow them to stay longer.
Though I can’t use it for every order, it’s really expensive, so I use it only for the special ones," the butcher said.
Riven looked at the wrap. He could sense faint mana, but it was so fine that it was barely there.
"I don’t see anyone else here today. How are you going to transport it?" Sophie asked.
"You don’t have to worry, they’ll be back soon. You came when everyone went on lunch breaks. We’ll have it all delivered in a few hours," he said.
"Alright then," she said.
He gave her the bill and she paid for it. After that, she and Riven left. But even as Riven left the building, the butcher kept looking at him.
So the moment they stepped out, he spoke. "Does the butcher have an issue with me?" he asked.
"No, it’s not you he has an issue with, it’s nobles. He told me about his past once and what had happened to him. His brother died when he was a kid because of nobles.
His brother had a run-in with a noble, and things went bad," Sophie said and started walking.
"What do you mean, things went bad?" he asked.
"You recall what happened a few moments ago, when you beat up those men and handed them to the guards, right?" she asked.
"Yes, I recall," he responded.
"Well, their life is basically over at this point. The moment they are charged with attacking a noble, their sentence will be a very long time in the dungeons.
And if you go and speak against them right now and appeal, they’ll be killed immediately for attacking you.
And this is a privilege all nobles have. The issue is that some abuse it. His brother had gone to a bar to drink, and when he got drunk, he got into a fistfight with a noble that was also drunk, and he beat the noble.
So after the noble got sober the next day, they came for his brother, arrested him, and had him killed in public.
He was a little child when this happened and it gave him a mindset that all nobles are vile. He hates them very much," she said.
"I see," Riven responded.
’I would also hate nobles if something like that happened to me. Sigh, sadly there is no right and wrong in this system. Nobles will always be nobles and they’ll be above the commoners as long as the monarchy exists,’ Riven thought to himself.
"So where’s the next target?" he asked.
"The produce market, let’s go," she said.
They went there and bought a huge number of fruits, vegetables, and more, sending them to the manor.
Noon passed and the sun was on its journey to set. Sophie decided that they should get some rest, so they went to an outdoor restaurant close to the market.
The waiter served them a light baked cake, as they couldn’t overeat before dinner. They got to eating and talking and laughing, to the extent it started to look like a full date.
Hidden a small distance away, Sofia couldn’t hold it anymore. She pulled out her staff, and before the others could do anything to stop her, she cast a spell.
"Water Spear, fire!" she yelled, and a jet of water formed into a spear, shooting toward Sophie.
Riven reacted fast when he sensed the attack. He dived, tackling Sophie and creating a flame wall. The wall blocked the attack and the two of them landed on the ground.
Sophie was stunned. Was someone out for their life? Riven helped her get to her feet, then removed the flame wall, ready to battle whoever was there and trying to kill Sophie.
But the moment he laid eyes on Sofia, his expression changed into panic. "Oh shit, this isn’t good," he said.
Sofia looked at him, her face burned with anger. She pointed the staff at him.