11 CHILD AT HEART 3

"Why did Rick let his nieces stay at such a place for so long? Why didn't he just escape with them sooner?" Lirzod's frustrating voice sounded out.

"It's not easy when you're dealing with women, Child."

"You, you got some enmity towards women, don't you?" Lirzod stared at the old man, as he narrowed his eyes. He hadn't taken a breath for the past few seconds.

"The situation asked for it, so I spoke about men," The old man said in a casual tone. "Both men and women deserve blame in unique ways, not by birth but through life."

"You talk like there's no good person in this world."

"Ha-ha-ha..." The old man laughed a little bit. "Ahem, tell me... Have you ever heard, seen or met a person whom you think always has good thoughts, speaks good words and does good deeds?"

As the wind blew across his face, Lirzod stood, his lips forming a straight line.

"Child, the life of a martial is like the life of a snail."

"Yes," Lirzod nodded. "You might not progress as much as you want as a martial, no matter what you try. But still, the perseverance of not giving up in the middle is necessary. That's what you're saying, right? I've read these things in books already."

The old man sort of smiled. "The public books that you get to read mostly contain misleading information which takes you far away from the truth."

"Are you saying I'm wrong?"

"Of course, you are...wrong," The old man said as he raised his index finger and moved it back and forth at Lirzod. "But it's not your fault. Children of this age are taught what the society wants, not what the society needs."

Lirzod had a puzzled look. "I don't get you."

"In other words, I'm saying that the books you've read are rubbish," His tone filled with confidence, made Lirzod pause. "To our eyes, the snail may seem to have a lot of perseverance, but in the eyes of the snail, it's dedication is commonplace and unremarkable to it."

Lirzod startled.

The old man continued. "There's only one belief that's common between us and the snails. It's the speed. Both the species can agree with no fuss that the snails are slow, in fact, slower than most. This agreement gave birth to another one."

"And that is?"

"The best pace to observe Mother Earth is to proceed at a snail's pace. In parallel, the best pace to observe the natural energies and emotions around you, and grow as a martial, is to walk your life as a snail would."

Lirzod eyes enlarged. "So, Rick... He's waiting for his nieces to take the first action..."

The old man slightly nodded. "The three girls had never expressed their wishes or the desire to escape out of the palace. Rick's biggest motivation was to bring happiness to his nieces. In that estate, he saw plenty of it in the eyes of his nieces. And it left him confused. For sure, he's twice older than his nieces, but his heart was many times younger and pure. Regardless of how they used him, he kept smiling back at them from the bottom of his heart, and waited for them to accept him, at least as a close friend if not as a family."

"The girls got brainwashed by that damn minister," Lirzod felt anger surging from within his stomach. "They act close with others only when they have some use with them. These are all being turned into characterless women, by that guy!"

"Maybe, but the minister isn't entirely to be blamed."

"What do you mean? Everything happened because of him."

"Yes, but it's the other maids at the estate who spoiled those three girls."

Lirzod startled. "That's..."

"I told you, the minister was a smart guy. All he had to do was put ten-ranked hierarchy, and throw a thousand women in his estate. In time, they will involuntarily degrade each other."

"I didn't think of that at all. Those poor women," Lirzod got tears in his eyes. "This minister... I'll never forgive him. That eagle-nosed bastard!"

"It wasn't his real face," The old man's words took Lirzod by surprise. "Even in the estate, he always wore a fake skin mask."

"What? Then show me his real face!"

"That wouldn't be of much use now, would it?" The old man began to turn into leaves, which then turned into thin air. And the visuals resumed. After the old man spoke the words, the visuals relating that incident showed up. "The maids respect the minister out of fear. And did respect born through fright ever had a peaceful ending?

"Rick did his job more actively than ever. It was all for his nieces who aimed to climb to the second rank. They showed back additional respect in return. There was a special tree, called Spark Wood that's grown outside the estate. A tiny piece of its bark can arouse an elephant. Both the maids and the guests used it often.

"The three girls poured oil in the way leading to the kitchen floor. The cook slipped on it and injured himself. As the temporary chef, Rick took the role. Having cooked for most of his life, he could easily be certified as a veteran chef, though he lacked the style and body language. His nieces made him mix lots of Spark Wood powder in the milk supplied to guest rooms, for that night.

"At the dawn of the following day, it was the turn of the three sisters to tour the town. They left the estate in a hurry.

"Before sunlight lit the top of the estate, the news of the death of ten guests and ten maids had rocked everyone. All the second-ranked maids had died, and so did the guests they served last night. The news shocked all the maids and workers, including Rick. At that moment, he realized that he was betrayed by his own family members. As far as he knew, he only added enough Spark Wood powder which would result in a failure of good service by the maids, and they would get their limbs cut, before getting kicked out. Unbeknownst to him, his nieces mixed lot more powder in the milk. The tasteless powder fooled the experienced guests and maids and took their lives.

"If it was only the maids that died, there wouldn't have been much ruckus. But five guests died. It didn't take long before the cause of death was found out.

"During the evening of that day, the three nieces came back. And the minister was waiting for them, which sunk their hearts into their stomachs. They had ordered their pet dogs to attack and kill Rick soon after they left the estate, but seeing how the minister was waiting for them, they were afraid.

"Inside the main hall, Rick was lying on the floor, clothes torn and fully covered in blood. The minister told the three girls that Rick was their uncle, which stunned them to the core. Since Rick had already confessed that the three girls were innocent and that they had nothing to do with the killings, the minister gave them a chance. Whether they were involved in the incident or not, he can't be sure unless he the maids showed their worth to him.

"If it were any other girls, the minister wouldn't have shown much interest. But Rick's nieces were too good at their jobs and had a perfect track record. They were bound to become first-ranked maids and stay in the positions for at least a decade. He couldn't afford to lose such products. That's why he gave them a chance to prove their loyalty by killing Rick.

"Outside the estate, surrounded by hundreds of maids, the three nieces stood in the center, facing Rick who could barely stand on his feet. With half-closed eyes and a blurry sight, blood dripped down his chin.

"The three girls held knives in their hands, but they visibly hesitated. The minister was watching them, but their hands never stopped shaking. Though they had made plans to get rid of other maids in brutal ways, they had never actually dirtied their hands in such a direct manner.

"Under the pressure of losing their limbs at best, the three girls were forced to think. And to their luck, they came up with a plan. They let loose their dogs at Rick and watched as the dogs dug their teeth into his skin and exposed his bones. Many maids enjoyed it, while a few stayed silent. For their stressed lives, seeing a human get devoured by the dogs was a thrilling matter which made their blood rush. Maybe, even his nieces would have liked it, if they didn't know that he was their uncle.

"Though their uncle was getting eaten in front of their eyes, they didn't drop a shed of tear and just watched with blank faces... Until the minister acknowledged their gesture and let them enter his estate.

"The dogs dragged Rick out of the estate, into the sugarcane fields.

"Days passed. A new guy took Rick's role. The three girls became second-ranked maids. Though the clients stopped for a few days after the incident, that situation was never gonna last long. Guests kept coming again. The nieces also acted like the incident never happened. In just three months, the three of them reached the first rank and created a record. They were the first females to have reached the first rank in the span a season revisited.

"On one full moon night, the three nieces were together with the minister, in his private room..."

The old man's voice faded away, and now the visuals suddenly turned real, as Lirzod himself ended up inside that room. It was like he time traveled to the past. He could now hear what they were talking. Given how they didn't seem him, even though he stood right in front of them, it was obvious that he was invisible to their eyes. He called out for the old man, but there was no response. All Lirzod could do was watch the ongoing scene. To his luck, or to his bad luck, the four of them still had clothes on their bodies. Two of the girls massaged his legs while the third one took care of his upper body. Both of his wrists were covered in bands of jasminum foliage and flowers, that served as wristlets in a sense. He sniffed the fragrance of the flowers, now and then, and made the girls experience the same.

"This bastard..." Lirzod clenched his fist. "Even I never got massaged by three beautiful women at once!" He stepped forward, "Hmm?" He stopped and bent down. There was a figure hiding under the bed. Covered in scars and bite marks all over his face and limbs, Rick was staring straight at Lirzod, though he wasn't visible. "That's..." Lirzod's eyes enlarged. "Heavens! He's still alive?"

"Sir Yizzy..." One of the three girls, Zhane said in an unsure manner. "Can I ask you one thing?"

"Sure, dear. But keep working on my collars."

"Yes," She put her delicate fingers to work. "Has any maid tried to kill you in the past?"

The other two sisters glanced at the minister. "Why are you asking about it now?"

"Lately, we've been hearing the word 'assassination,' drifting in the maids' dorms."

"Oh... Really?"

"Yes, sir."

"And, you found anything genuine?"

"I think I did."

"Is it one or multiple?"

"Just three."

"Names?"

"Zhane, Lavaerie, and Yigla!" Her words made the minister freeze. A needle came out of Zhane's mouth, while the two other sisters sat on his legs and grabbed his hands. "This is for everything you did..." She covered his mouth with one hand and stabbed the needle on his chest repeatedly for ten times. Though the minister screamed like a dog, his sounds were heard in a different manner by the guards stationed outside the room.

"Sir Yizzy is quite fierce today," One of the guards said.

"He's with the Pink Trinity after all," The other guard's said in envy.

Meanwhile, Yizzy got drilled with a couple dozens of holes in his body, and Lirzod stood still, his mouth wide opened in agape.

After piercing his skin for more than hundred times at different spots, Zhane stopped and began to pant. The other two sisters also took deep breaths as they stared at each other.

"He's done for..." Lirzod looked at the minister who didn't blink once in the past half-a-minute. But then Lirzod slowly smiled. "They did it! He's gone! That bastard's dead!"

As he was about to lunge at the girls, in joy, the minister suddenly took a deep breath and then blinked. He got into a seating position, with the three girls sitting around him.

"What the —" Lirzod was shell-shocked.

"How did it feel this time, sir?" Zhane asked.

A capricious smile forged itself on Yizzy's face. "Quite good." He could feel the surge of energy gathering about in his body. "This is unexpected, Zhane. You've climbed another level in your acupuncture skills. I can barely feel any pain."

"You are just praising me too much, sir," Zhane bowed her head, only slightly.

Yizzed turned to the other two. "Lavaerie and Yigla, you two look as thin as poles but are surprisingly strong. I guess you both are putting in some physical effort in your meantime. Good. Good."

"We just want to be perfect in everything we do, that's all, Sir Yizzy."

"If you three keep impressing me like this, you won't just be limited to this estate," His words lit their faces. "If I recommend, you three may even be allowed into the Holy Brothel."

The eyes of the three girls turned as round as moon. The three of them jumped on him and showered him with kisses.

On the other hand, standing like a boulder, Lirzod stared at the four. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. "Why didn't I ever dream of this roleplay before?"