82. The Manor House 18

Novum did not act rashly and ride away from the caravan as there were so many kids in the caravan. If he was a little late he would simply track down the offending person and resolve the issue. He called the five girls as well as a few of the guards up. "Okay apparently there is a visiting noble being an asshole at my manor. I will deal with the noble and anyone else that might be a direct threat. You guys be prepared to protect my back from an attack."

Melissa gave a deep bow. "Of course Baron."

The knight spoke up. "What level of force are we authorized to use?"

"I would prefer as little violence from you guys as possible but defend yourself and the others and if someone needs to die in order for that to happen then kill them. I will be very violent to set a precedent with the visiting noble."

"Thank you Baron that is enough for me." He gave him a bow and led away a few of the other guards.

Crystal looked at him. "Based on this conversation I can assume that you are going in barbarian style and then dealing with the backlash instead of the diplomatic style and then getting violent if you need to. What led to that decision?"

"Peter said that they could not talk to the noble and they were not strong enough to handle his guards. That means he came into my manor and my town with a quick show of force. I might have people dead or wounded. I need to make sure that any of them that think coming to my manor and trying to bully me or my people think twice about it. Actually I want to make sure that they don't even think about it."

By the time that they were done talking they could see the peaks of the towers through the trees. Novum willed his armor on and got ready for a fight. He really did not want to fight but he would not be bullied by anyone, especially anyone on his own land.

As they entered the manor's outer gate they could see a small crowd outside of his house and there was some shouting from the crowd. The guards that were standing outside the door with their hands on their weapons seemed to be able to block out the noise so no one had been attacked yet. But Novum could feel the anger starting to stir in the crowd and it would not be long until someone did something stupid.

Novum stopped Noctis right behind the crowd and gave out a shrill whistle. The crowd all stopped talking and instantly parted to let Greg come back to him. "Baron, this is bad. A noble from the other region came barging his way in and grabbed Jane and Emily and kicked almost everyone out of the manor house. Rurik and Mike had them on the ropes and then got attacked from behind by a lot more soldiers. They are both wounded pretty badly and inside. The guard outside is really strong and he keeps saying the same thing no matter what we say. This is noble business go about your business."

"Thank you Greg. Crystal stay right behind me so that you can treat our wounded when we go inside. The rest of you protect my back from these idiots."

Novum got down and started walking towards the manor with his fighters right behind him. The guard at the door looked less than impressed but as Novum got closer and he could see his size you could see him starting to get a little nervous.

Right before he got into range of the man he held out his hand and the rest of them stopped behind him but he kept moving forward. The guard looked at him. "This is noble business go about...."

Novum did not let him finish the thought before he reached out ad kicked him in the chest blowing him not only off his feet but through the manor doors as well. A small mist cloud of blood came out of the man's mouth as he flew through the air. The man landed inside and did a complete roll to end up on his back looking up at the ceiling. Novum walked in and without hesitation he stomped on the man's chest and this time a stream of blood came flying out of his mouth.

"I am a noble, this is my manor, and this is my business." The words came out in a growl and everyone that was close to him took a step back. He stood to his full height and saw a man dressed in nice clothes with Jane's wrist in his grip. He ignore everything else and walked towards the man.

The man swelled up used to his noble status protecting him. "I am the son of Earl Ratcliff. This is...." SMACK. Before he could even get all of his words out Novum slapped him across the face so hard that both of his lips were instantly bleeding and a red handprint appeared on his face.

"Shut up. You will only speak when spoken to." Novum turned towards Jaen who was massaging her wrist where the stunned noble had let go. "Hello Jane. Would you please explain what is going on?"

"Well, this is..."

"Shut up you common whore." The man drew back like he was going to slap Jane. "You are not....." SNAP. Before the man's hand could make contact Novum grabbed the man's wrist and with a casual flick of his arm broke the noble's arm.

The noble dropped to his knees screaming. SMACK. "Shh. Jane is speaking and you need to be quiet. If you make another sound without permission I am going to not only hit you again I will break your leg."

The noble could see the rage behind Novum's normally calm eyes and steeled his willpower and stopped screaming. Novum turned back to Jane. "Now would you please go on."

"That is Baron Ratcliff, the son of Earl Ratcliff and the man that killed my husband and sold me. Well I should also mention that my husband was his older brother and a great man and leader."

"Bitch." Before Baron Ratcliff could stop himself he screamed at her. Novum quickly slapped the man again and then stomped on his lower leg. They could all hear the bones break.

"I see. So what does he want with you?"

"Well the Earl has decided that his granddaughter would make a nice bride for the grandson of another Earl. So he sent the Baron here to look for us and either buy us back or take us back. Well, take Emily back. I would be s chip to keep her in line as long as they wanted to have a hold on her."

About that time a few of the guards that were shocked into immobility broke out of their trance and ran forward. "Baron!" Novum already knew that they were coming and in one smooth movement he went into a spin and willed his sword into his hand.

Baron Ratcliff could not stop himself from scream out. "Kill him!" But Novum would not be an easy target and the first man's head flew through the air and before the second guard could react Novum stepped forward and sliced him almost completely in half from shoulder to hip. The third man tried to run but froze for a split second.

Novum shook his head. "Topaz." In that instant a dagger appeared out of thin air and dug into the man's back and with a quick twist a spurt of blood came out of his mouth and he dropped dead.

Novum walked over and stood over the Baron. "I told you not to talk but we will get to your punishment later. Now I am going to ask you a few questions and if you lie or refuse to answer I am going to hurt you. I will start with your fingers and then move on to cutting up your face. But not only will I cut up your face I will also have my healer partially heal you, leaving you with the scars so that the only way you can get rid of them is to have your face cut open again. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, I understand. I understand that you are a dead man." Novum grabbed his hand and before the man could protest he snapped one of his fingers.

"What was that?"

"I understand."

"Good. Now I need to understand what makes you think that you have the right to try and take Jane and Emily away from here?"

"They belong to my brother and when he passed, they became my responsibility. So now they belong to me."

"Maybe in your region they might belong to you. But slavery is illegal in my region and even if it wasn't it would be illegal on any and all land that I control."

"My father will not stand for this insult. He will bring all his forces to bear on you."

"We will get back to that. But the thing is you sold them which means that even in your own region you have claim to them but you came here to try and forcefully take them. So, I ask again. What do you think gives you this right?"

"I am the son of an Earl and a Baron and can do as I please." He spit out the words like he was talking to scum.

"You are a Baron and the son of an Earl in your region. Here you are a man that barged onto the property of a Baron." He showed him is badge. "And dared to do as you pleased. Now, according to your logic I am able to do as I please." Baron Ratcliff realized that his own words were going to be used against him. Novum stood up to his full height. "If you move or try anything I am going to start breaking things."

Novum walked over to Jane an whispered.