In his half-awake state, Ashton didn’t even attempt to push back or refute them in any way. He just turned around and walked into his bedroom to pick the last few coins he had left.
"This is all I have left; I was only able to get this much after selling the excess products from my farm," he said while handing it over.
Of the two men that came knocking on his door, one of them just smiled and stretched his hand to collect the coin, but the other one had a frown on his face.
"Cornellius, stop being so eager and relax for a bit," the man said, stopping his enthusiastic partner.
"You seem to have forgotten that this Loner isn’t alone anymore," his frown morphing into a sinister smile.
Hearing the man’s words, all of the sleep that was previously in Morden vanished as he immediately began calculating.
The weekly fee was something he had always paid; he made sure to get money at the right time. He didn’t have the guts to offend the neighborhood lord, but this time there was a slight problem.
"Does she count?" Ashton asked in a low voice, hoping the two could wave it.
"Yes, she does. The Lord protects everyone in this area, so since she is here too, she needs to pay the protection fee," the one called Cornelius earlier shouted.
"But I don’t have any other thing with me."
"That has nothing to do with us. If you don’t pay up, you yourself know what’s going to come out of it."
"Or do you need me to remind you?"
At this point the man was already taking steps into Ashton’s house, pushing him further back the more he spoke. He eventually stopped at the center of the living room, where he managed to get a good view of the bedroom.
"Ohh wow, we heard there was a lady in your house; I didn’t know she was this beautiful," he said with a smile.
He had already completely ignored Ashton’s say in everything; he just walked around brazenly, heading towards the bedrooms like he owned the place.
Soon, he was actually at the entrance.
"I can’t let you go in there," Ashton suddenly said while maneuvering to block the man’s path.
’I can’t afford a drain in my Willforce at a time like this.’
The man stopped in his tracks, his head turning to look at his partner, who was also currently in shock. His shock didn’t last, though; it quickly changed into a loud laugh.
"I guess what they say about women is true; they really have a way of changing men."
"I just didn’t expect your change to happen so fast."
Everyone already believed Ashton to be a dummy; he barely reacts to incidents, anything that involves extra effort always eludes him, and now he was trying to protect someone else.
"Leave my front now; I don’t want to have to make you," the man said with a pensive look.
His words weren’t mere threats; he could actually end Ashton’s life in an instant if he wanted to. Despite not being a Lord, the difference in their Willforce was just that large.
"I can’t let you go in there," Ashton repeated again, this time taking one step backwards and positioning himself between the door frame.
He placed his hands on both sides of the frame, and he spread his legs apart.
"I see."
The words hadn’t even finished leaving his mouth when he sent a punch flying straight at Ashton.
BAM!
The punch hit him dead in the stomach, forcing Ashton to almost fold over and vomit blood, but the frame he was holding held him steadily.
Having expected Ashton to leave the fall from that punch, the man was shocked to find him standing, though his face showed how in pain he actually was.
"I said get out of my way," the man shouted again, sending out a punch with more power than the previous one but Ashton still took it without leaving the frame.
From then, he sent punch after punch, hoping Ashton would just let go. He didn’t
What started as a threat to collect a fee had now turned into a fight for ego.
"Just go down already, bastard."
At this point, he had forgotten about the fee; all he wanted was for Ashton to go down, but sadly he didn’t.
"You will kill him, stop," Cornelius suddenly shouted.
He had watched as his partner hit Ashton all over—his chest, his arm, his stomach. At least one punch had landed on them, but seeing his partner about to attack the head, he just had to stop.
"He can’t take any more, you know; if he dies, Lord Marlus won’t spare you too."
"We should leave him for now; we will be back for the fee."
Ashton’s assailant listened to all that with a pensive look. He wasn’t scared of killing Ashton, but he was scared of the punishment he would receive if he actually did.
"Tsk!"
"Count yourself lucky, you bastard; I will be back," the man said while spitting on Ashton and turning around to leave.
The two of them walked out of his house with the little money he had offered earlier and their pride slightly hurt.
With his hand still hanging on the doorframe, something that happened in a long time happened. A smile crept on Ashton’s face.
’I did it; I protected Selene.’
Along with that thought came an overwhelming feeling of satisfaction; for someone that just got beat up, he felt more invigorated, and the world got brighter.
[Task completed: Protect your wife for the first time]
[Willforce +50]