73. The Manor House 9

Novum knew that both of the kids were in good hands so he could head to the room and get some sleep. It had been a long day and he wanted to be well rested when he went and spoke with the Duke in the morning. It would not look right for a noble to go up in front of the Duke and trip over his words in exhaustion.

Even though he was not in his bed it was a good nights sleep and he woke up early and had some breakfast. The lady that was running the dining area almost accosted him when she saw the small jar of honey that he used on his biscuits. "Baron, which vendor is selling honey right now? I have not been able to find any."

"I brought this with me. I have a small hive that is starting to make a little honey. If you would like I can leave you a jar."

"I would be more than willing to pay for it. It is just almost impossible to find."

Novum opened up his pouch and pulled out a small jar of honey. "It is not an issue. You can have this jar and if I am not mistaken there might be a few vendors that have a jar or two left. My guys sold a few jars yesterday."

"I will send a few of my guys out to look right now. There is never enough honey in the capitol right now."

"Well hopefully in the spring I will be able to get a lot more of it here. The hive is still young and I don't want to push it to hard but is should not be a huge deal. I have the stuff in place to start expanding it over the winter so that they have plenty of room but no promises."

"A little is better than nothing. Enjoy your stay Baron."

He was about to finish and head to the manor house when a runner from the church came in. "Baron, Lady Crystal requests your presence at the church. An issue with the children you brought her has come up."

"I will head there now. Can you please head to the Duke's manor and pass them the message that I was detained and will be there as soon as possible. That I am taking care of a situation at the church."

"Of course Baron." The young person turned to walk away.

"Hold on for a second." He gave the kid a gold coin. "I do not expect you to do anything for free."

Novum got up and headed towards the church. He did not run but it was not a casual walk and everyone got out of his way. As he got closer he saw a group of people. He also saw Crystal standing with the two kids behind her and a few men facing them. "Listen lady, I don't care who you think you are. The orphanage is under the control of Baron Wright and he said the kids have to come back."

"And I told you that these children were entrusted to me and until my benefactor comes and tells me that I can send them with you you cannot have them."

The man in the front had enough. He marched forward and reached out like he was going to grab ahold of Crystal. Right before he would have touched her a hand seemed to come out of nowhere and grabbed the man's arm. The pressure was so fast and powerful that it quickly dropped him to his knees. Then before he could even recover from that Novum snapped his arm.

"Don't ever touch someone without their permission." The aura that he gave off showed that he had killed before and he would kill again. He completely ignored the rest of the men and turned towards Crystal and the kids. "Sorry it took me. Next time you might have the runner says that it is an emergency."

"It escaladed very quickly. It was not a situation when I sent the runner."

"That happens." He turned to the two men that were still standing. "So, you two are going to carry your friend here and take me to this orphanage. Once I see the orphanage we will go and see your Baron. You two stay here with Crystal. She will take good care of you. Get you some food and something to wear." Without another word he turned towards the other two and jerked his chin and they knew what he wanted.

The men led the way through the city. As they walked the area got worse and worse. No one let alone kids should have to live in this area. He was getting more and more upset and it was getting harder and harder to keep his temper in check. Finally the men stopped outside of a building that was not the worst in the neighborhood but no one should have been living in it.

"Don't go anywhere. I want a look around and if you are not here when I come out I will hunt you down and when I find you I will spend days breaking things. Am I clear?"

"We will be here."

Novum walked into the building without knocking or asking permission from anyone. The lady that appeared to be in charge was dressed in some of the nicest clothes that he had seen in the area and all of the kids barely had anything on and winter was coming soon. "Who are you?"

"I am the guy that kept one of your kids from being attacked by a group of men last night. How were her legs injured?"

"I gave her a job and she did not complete it and I had to discipline her."

"What was the job?"

"Why does that matter to you?"

'SMACK!' The echo sounded throughout the room and a red handprint appeared on her face. "Answer the question."

The woman was already crying. She knew there was a chance the answer could get her killed. "The Baron asked for a girl to come and spend the night with him. I sent her but she ran away. I beat on her legs to teach her not to run away."

"Baron Wright? The noble that is responsible for this place?"

"Yes."

"How many kids are here right now?"

"We have seventeen not counting the siblings."

"I will be back shortly there will still be seventeen kids here. If something happens to one of them the 9th layer of the Abyss will not be far enough for you to hide from me. You will also be here."

"Yes Baron." The woman did not even know who this man was but she knew that he would not hesitate to kill her.

Novum walked back out the front and the three men were still there. The one with the broken arm seemed to have himself under control again, since he was standing without any help. Again he did not say anything he simply jerked his chin and they knew where he wanted to go. It was not a lot farther into the area when it was almost as if they walked through a invisible barrier. As soon as he went through the barrier he could see a house that did not belong in that area.

Novum kept walking and quickly passed the men since it was now obvious where he was going. He was about to walk through the gate when a big man stepped out. "The baron is not.humph."

Novum kicked the man in the chest midstride and he coughed up a mouthful of blood. Novum simply stepped on the man's hand as he walked by like he did not even realize that he was there. The guard on the door saw what happened and knew that Novum was going to be trouble. He charged forward with his huge axe over his head.

The guard aimed the attack to try and split Novum in half. Novum reached out and stopped the axe with one hand and the second hand came from the other side and hit the man in the chin. Novum heard his bottom jaw crack and slam into the top teeth and a few of them went flying. The man's legs wobbled and then locked up as he fell backwards like a tree.

The two guards standing outside of the meeting room saw their boss laying on the ground through the open door and simply walked away like they saw nothing. The man out front could fight three of four of them alone and from the sound of it he went down in an instant. Novum kicked the door open mid stride and the four people in the room turned and jumped in surprise.

"Which of you assholes is Baron Wright? The noble in charge of the orphanage."

The man behind the desk tried to swell up to his full height. "I am Baron Wright and who in the realm are you?"

"You three leave." The men that were closest to him gave him a look like they were confused. "Did I stutter? I said to leave. If you are still in this room when I count to five I will physically remove you from this building. One"

"Young man, so you know who I am?"

"Two. I didn't ask nor do I care. Three." Two of the three men were already on their way out of the house. The third man was about to say something else when suddenly Novum was right in front of him. He slapped him hard enough to get his attention. "Four." The man got to his feet and ran.

Novum walked around the desk and stopped right in front of the thirty year old man. Before the man could say anything Novum slapped him so hard he hit the floor. "Get up."

The man stood up with a hand print on his face and blood running out of the corner of his mouth. Before his feet were set Novum slapped him on the other side of the face, dropping him again. While he was down Novum kicked him hard between the legs. "The slaps were to let you know that I was serious. The kick was for the little girls that you were having sent over here."

Novum grabbed the man by his shirt collar and started dragging him out of the house. "First we are going to take a little trip to the orphanage that you are supposed to be taking care of and then we are going to go and see the Duke about it."