NOVEL WEB
Chapter 265: Out of Control
When Kevin arrived at Faber Village, the situation unfolded beyond his expectations.
He guessed one thing correctly: the landlord Baden had not yet prepared for his next move. Kevin led the villagers to surround Baden’s estate, demanding that Baden himself come out to negotiate.
The residents of Faber Village had never seen such a spectacle, thinking that those who dared to encircle Lord Baden’s house must be formidable figures, and they all hid in their homes in fear.
The gates of the Baden estate were tightly closed. Inside, numerous servants and henchmen, armed with weapons, sticks, and hoes, ascended the walls to protect the estate. As the largest landlord in the area and having committed many injustices, the Baden family was always very concerned about their safety, fortifying their residence like a small fortress, with walls sturdy enough to bear the weight of men.
Kevin and the villagers shouted outside the wall for a long time, but their target, Landlord Baden, still did not appear. However, his butler, a fat and portly man with a waistline rivaling his master’s, slowly climbed atop the wall.
The butler arrogantly said, “Instead of paying your taxes diligently, you’ve injured Mr. Baden’s men and have the audacity to run wild in Faber Village!”
Kevin and the others were infuriated by his attitude and roared, “Let Baden come out and speak to us himself!”
The butler disdainfully said, “How preposterous! You think you, mere commoners, can demand to see Lord Baden? I advise you to abandon any foolish hopes, return home, prepare your taxes, and pay them obediently. Maybe Lord Baden will be generous enough to pardon your crime of tax resistance.”
Kevin loudly retorted, “Humph! We’ve discovered your crime of unlawfully imposing a war tax!”
“Absurd! Lord Baden is merely following the orders of the lordship!”
“Then show us the lord’s decree!”
“Ridiculous! Do you think the lord’s decree is something you can lay eyes on?”
“If you can’t produce the decree, then it’s false. We were going to report you, but if you lower the poll tax as per our conditions, we won’t go to the lordship to denounce you.”
After hearing Kevin and the villagers’ demands, the butler appeared incredulous, then, with an exaggerated expression and hand cupped to his ear, said, “What? Speak up, I can’t hear you!”
“Stop playing dumb, hurry up and bring out Baden himself! Otherwise, we’ll really go to Lakeheart Town to report him.”
“Ha ha ha ha! You’ve provided my daily dose of laughter, a bunch of mere commoners… ha ha ha ha!”
The butler burst into laughter, but his repeated use of the term “commoners” enraged the crowd outside the wall.
“Ouch!” A cry of pain erupted as the butler’s forehead was struck by a stone, drawing blood.
Quickly, anger replaced the laughter on his face, and the butler, pointing at the crowd, furiously shouted, “You… you’ve got some nerve!”
“Beat this lackey to death!”
The enraged crowd began hurling more stones.
In panic, the butler ordered those behind him, “Quick! Drive away these commoners!”
Soon, a group of men appeared on the wall, armed with slingshots, hurling stones into the crowd.
The villagers had not expected the estate to be equipped with slingshots. Many were hit and injured, bleeding from their heads.
They stood densely packed outside the wall, making them easy targets for the slingshots. Some who were hit in vital areas like the head fell to the ground, their condition unknown.
The crowd quickly descended into chaos and then collective rage.
“Kill these scoundrels!”
They threw anything they could pick up towards the wall.
The stone battle continued for a while, with casualties intermittently on both sides.
The anger of the people outside the wall grew increasingly intense, and someone shouted, “Kill these bastards! Let’s break in and drag out that Baden!”
No one noticed how, but somehow, two ladders had appeared from an unknown source. They were quickly set against the wall, and the enraged villagers climbed up to confront Baden’s guards.
Seeing the situation spiraling out of control, Kevin regained his composure and shouted to those climbing the wall, “Just subdue them, don’t take any lives!” However, his voice was drowned out in the tumult, seemingly unheard or ignored.
People yelled and screamed as more climbed the wall. The guards were soon overwhelmed. Most of them jumped off the wall and ran into the estate, while those who couldn’t escape curled up in defense. But the furious villagers didn’t seem to want to spare these lackeys, continuously beating them.
Those who had climbed over the wall managed to open the main gate from the inside, and the crowd outside rushed in.
Kevin, having climbed the wall, struggled to stop those who were still attacking the guards, but the subdued guards were already lifeless.
With a sigh, he stood on the wall, loudly urging the villagers rushing into the estate to calm down.
But it was futile. Once inside, people violently broke into every room, indiscriminately beating anyone they found, perceiving everyone in the estate as guilty.
The raging mob thoroughly searched the estate but couldn’t find Baden or the butler.
They tied up the servants, demanding to know Baden’s whereabouts, but no useful information was gleaned.
During the search, something unexpected happened. Someone discovered a room with several boxes. When opened, the boxes, full of silver and copper coins, stunned everyone. Such wealth was unimaginable to these lifelong poor villagers.
After a moment of collective stupefaction, the first person grabbed handfuls of money, quickly followed by others. Soon, the money was fiercely fought over and quickly divided among the crowd, leading to disputes.
Those who arrived later to the emptied boxes were left lamenting their missed opportunity.
However, they soon found a way to compensate for their loss. Although the coins were gone, the estate was still full of valuable items.
What followed was complete chaos. People began looting the estate, stuffing anything seemingly valuable into their bags.
The commotion at the Baden estate quickly became known to the villagers of Faber. Shocked that the once untouchable Lord Baden had been overthrown and his estate plundered by outsiders, they felt indignant: why should outsiders reap the benefits?
Driven by the thought that they too deserved a share of Baden’s wealth, which he had amassed by oppressing them, the villagers of Faber also stormed the estate. Intimidated by the earlier group’s boldness, they didn’t dare claim the already divided wealth, so they started looting what was left.
Furniture was carried away or dismantled, even unfamiliar granite bricks were chiseled off and taken.
The servants abandoned by Baden faced a terrible fate, coerced into handing over their own money.
Faber was a large village, and the Baden family had lived there for generations, with several branches and other wealthy families in the village. They all suffered the same fate.
Only Kevin stood at the entrance, stunned and close to tears. This was not what he had envisioned!
When people lost their reason, he tried to stop his companions from wreaking havoc, but to no avail.
Even he felt a burning urge to join in when he saw others grabbing money, but he barely managed to suppress this desire.
What to do next? Kevin was at a loss.