A plan

Garmond was clearly tired of holding back. All this while, he felt so powerless, unable to do anything and then just stand idly and pretend like nothing was happening. He was tired of the whole act.

He had been in the school grounds for so long, completely forgetting that the likes of people like these still existed.

'It seems I've been living in a bubble for too long, I almost forgot that lower filth like these still existed' Garmond thought to himself, letting out an exasperated sigh. He was tired, tired of their existence, he definitely couldn't let this one slide.

"Oh I see, is that why you hit the boy though?" Garmond asked the man, with a cheerful smile. He looked harmless, but for some reason Fario felt cold sweat roll down his face.

"I'm sorry, you're right I guess I should've just told one of the guards to take him out, but as you can see, none of them are here at the moment, either way I had to take care of it myself." He calmly said, regaining some courage.

'he can't harm me just because of a little filth like this, he'll just overlook the matter' Fario thought to himself, throwing another spiteful look at the little boy, who held his head down, his hands clutched to his face, wimping.

"You're right; there are no guards here at the moment. Isn't that good news?"Garmond asked, his eyes narrowing into slits. Instinctively, Fario wanted to pull back but Garmond held onto his arm.

"What's wrong? We're not done with our discussion" Garmond's face changed into a confused one, then a sarcastic smile crept up his face.

"Are you threatening me?! Do you know who I am?" Fario finally summoned enough courage to yell back at Garmond, he couldn't stand Garmond's intimidation.

'A simple soldier? Having the guts to talk back at me? He should be groveling at my feet'Fario thought with a sneer.

Garmond's face abruptly changed into a frown, since they weren't playing around anymore, he might as well hit the nail on the head.

"Was it the right hand? Or should I take the two?" Garmond asked cryptically

"Wha.."

It was immediately followed by a blood-curdling scream.

"Guess you won't need those tongues as well" Garmond's voice dripped with a cold intensity. Then he slashed his sword in a swift motion, leaving a white streak of light behind.

Fario could no longer hear his own voice. He froze in place, his eyes blank and his mouth wide open, his face filled with disbelief. His jaw had completely been cut-off!

Tears rolled down his eyes but he couldn't find the voice to use and shout. The young boy who had witnessed everything was terrified in fear. He was unable to move a limb, in fear he would look for them if he moved.

He was breathing fast, unable to hide the shock on his face. Garmond didn't care less though, he walked towards Fario, the latter pushed back against the earth, trying his best to get as far as he could from Garmond, but with his current state, he could only run so far.

As Garmond drew he fearfully closed his eyes, his body shaking greatly. However, Garmond shoved his hands into his pockets, pulling out a pouch that held a huge amount of gold and silver coins.

Taking it out, Garmond threw it towards the young boy, who was still petrified from fear.

"Take that, get enough food for your mom, yourself and if you have any siblings you can get them something's too." Garmond calmly said, with no expression on his face. Fario had no idea what he was going to do next, and it left him shivering in fear.

He was armless, and could no longer talk as well, but so far Garmond didn't kill him, when his lord came back they'd get him a good healer to heal up all the injuries.

The boy quickly took the pouch of money without a second thought, and then quickly ran off, leaving the scene completely. At the same time, Garmond turned back, returning to Chris side.

Fario felt as though he had been given a second chance at life. He staggered up, looking at his cleanly cut arm on the floor. He was bathed in his own blood, barely recognizable. Taking a few steps forward his vision blurred, and then he greeted the earth with his whole body, falling in a puddle of his own blood.

------

As Garmond returned to the carriage, everything was already arranged, and they were prepared to head back to the school grounds.

"Where'd you head off to?" Chris asked as he saw Garmond returning.

"I just took a stroll around the town," Garmond responded with a normal expression.

Chris gazed at him with scrutiny, before he looked away, "Let's get going, they'll probably be waiting for us now" He said entering into the carriage. Following behind, Garmond entered as well.

It was a quiet ride from the nobles palace back to the school, with Chris deep in his meditation and Garmond thinking back to his actions, while staring at the people, who all through hungry gazes at the carriage. After seeing how poorly they were being treated, Garmond couldn't blame them.

The nobles and the military took everything for themselves, leaving the villagers with nothing. Only a few who were opportuned to have a few of their relatives working for the military, could get something fairly good to eat. As for the others they had no choice than to manage the bad crops that were left behind the empire.

Commoners were no longer allowed to own their own farms, even if they did, they would have to pay huge taxes to keep them. As such good crops could only be gotten at really high rate. Even those back at Devine's village were faring better than the ones here.

The reason being; The empire hardly put their eyes on that side, and second to that was the fact that they were the main food producers in the whole empire. Rarely were soldiers recruited from that area.

'We can't let things continue like this. The people are suffering and something has to be done' he voiced his thoughts to Ariana, who seemed to also be supportive of the idea.

"But how do you plan on doing that, do you have anything in mind?" She questioned.

"Not really, but I have something in mind."

Just then they arrived back at the school gates, the night sky had already covered the entire city in darkness. Quickly, the gates pulled open allowing them inside.

'If that's what I have to do, then I will' he thought, determined to restore the empire back to what it once was.

"Took you enough time to get back" Reina's voice was heard and it didn't seem to be a happy one.

"I had to make sure everything was complete" Chris replied indifferently as he finally broke from his meditation, stepping down from the carriage.

"Gary, let's go drop these off in the kitchen, we'll skip lessons for today, you can do whatever you want to do" Chris said calmly, walking past Reina as though she wasn't there in the first place.

She scoffed coldly as they went pat her, but she looked past it and stormed off, going to who knows where.

In no time, Garmond and Chris arrived at the store house of the kitchen, "These are the stuffs you asked for, and I've gathered them from Mr. Zerax. The carriage is just outside here" Chris said.

"Oh thank you very much Chris, I was wondering what I would have done if the goods didn't come today" Her response came with a warm smile, a slight blush visible on the sides of her face. The apron she had on, could barely hold back the twin boulders on her chest.

"It's nothing, without you, we would all have to condole Reina's terrible cooking" Chris expression turned sickly at the thought of Reina's food. He could definitely remember the first time they had no other choice than to eat her food.

He quickly regretted his decision that day.

Hearing his remark, Christine burst out in laughter, "Well I guess not being much of a fighter has it's own perks." The chief chef said, releasing a sigh.

Garmond took some time to digest the scene he was witnessing, it wasn't usual for Chris to be so free with someone, and yet seeing him now, he looked like a completely different person.

"Gary, you can leave, I'll be staying here for a while" Chris suddenly said, and Garmond quickly understood as he turned to leave immediately. He definitely wouldn't want to spoil their moment. It was clear from the way Chris acted that they definitely had something going.

Altogether, Garmond didn't even want to waste any more time there he had other important things to cook.

"Time to plan an escape," Garmond said with a frown.