He then had an idea.

“Cholie!” He called out. “Are those pies ready yet???”

Cholie, who was too stunned watching the carnage, finally got over her shock and look out the window when she heard this.

“What pie???” She then covered her mouth when seeing the brother and sister surrounded by scary nobles with scary weapons. “Gods help us all! Please, leave those two alone!”

“Those pies, Cholie! Tell everyone to unleash them!”

She did not understood at first what Ronin was getting at, but as the Coal boy winked at her, she suddenly got the idea. “On it!”

“Pies?” A noble man holding a blade with zigzagging edges laughed maniacally at him. “You think pies would save you?”

“No. My fellow servants will.” Ronin sneered at them with full confidence.

“You servants have no power of your own. You’re all weak, the filth of Magecia.” The noble man he decided to call Zigzag in his head spat on the ground. “You were all only meant to bow down and kiss our feet!”

“Yes, we are blessed with Flames. You are cursed with none.” Another woman with a blackeye and nunchucks added. “So do not be silly and believe that you can even trifle with us!”

“You may be right. You are blessed, I am cursed.” Ronin kept his head up at them, looking very brave even in the body of an 8-year-old. “But I am still living after all. And so, I will live my cursed life however I want to with one goal in mind.”_.

“And that is to trifle with you blessed ones!”

He had reached out to a nearby potted plant, grabbed some dirt, and threw it at the woman’s eyes!

“Ahh! You wretch!!!!” She yelled with murderous wrath, and tried to hit him with her nunchucks!

Unluckily for her, Ronin did not just spend his days studying and studying.

He had also trained his body to be agile, and used his shortness to his advantage to dodge these attacks!

He copied how Maellan did it during his Triannum test, able to replicate how he easily dodged those crystal dummies as he dodged all these powerful mages!

“Stay behind me at all times, Bella! Follow my lead!” He yelled to the scared girl.

However, avoiding attacks was one thing. Protecting someone was another matter.

And unlike Maellan, he doesn’t have a large Spear of Levin to defend them and block attacks.

Ronin did his best to throw all kinds of stuff he could get his hands on. Rocks, potted plants, more dirt…..

But he was still a powerless kid in the end.

These were powerful adults, and he was terribly outnumbered.

Soon, they managed to get over his pesky little pebble attacks and great dodging skills, about to surround him on all sides just like how those dummies surrounded Maellan—

SMACK! SMACK! SMACK!

Dozens of pies hurtled from the windows of House Zafeiri, hitting these nobles on the back of their heads.

“What in the nine heavens….. These servants are seeking death!” Yelled Zigzag guy, hitting the pies with his sword.

“Throw anything! Grab anything you can find, not just pies!” Cholie yelled and the servants followed her commands.

They soon threw bottles of expensive wines as well, glasses, and heavy bowls. Someone even was smart enough to throw a heavy stone mortar and pestle, chucking it right to a noble’s head and knocking him out.

“Great job, everyone!” Ronin avoided these assorted projectiles and covered Belladonna from them. “Keep going!”

The servants also felt a surge of adrenaline from being able to fight back at nobles like this. They had never before felt so powerful in their lives.

They were after all dozens and dozens of servants in the House Zafeiri…

And these were just 5 stupid nobles who happen to have melee range weapons that can’t hit them back from their windows!

“Let’s spilt! Half of us will take care of these servants and the other half will take the children!” The smartest one among them suggested.

But Ronin had long taken this as an opportunity to rush on the gardener’s tool shed, where he can finally enact his actual plans.

He did not just plan to rely on the servants at all. They were just a distraction.

‘An appetizer to the main course’. He grinned thoughtfully.

He pushed Belladonna inside, locked the door, and reminded her, “Don’t go out at all cost. No matter what you hear, do NOT go out. Do you understand?”

Belladonna’s eyes widened as she saw him take a shovel, several pegs, and some rope. “You’re leaving me here, brother? But what about the bad people?”

‘This girl really needs some bravery lessons. She’s a fucking powerhouse, she can’t be a scaredy-cat forever.’ Ronin thought.

He faked a smile at her and ruffled her ruined hair. “I’ll take care of them for us along with Cholie and the others. Don’t worry.”

BAM! BAM! BAM!

Soon, the tool shed received attacks from the two nobles that decided to follow them!

“Open this door! Open it or perish!” They yelled, slamming their weapons at the locked door.

“I will be back soon,” Ronin promised. “But one more thing. I know that you can’t summon hail right now, but can you at least summon the fog?”

“The fog?” She repeated, confused.

“Yes. The cold fog before the hailstorm. Focus on summoning that around the garden.” Ronin said with a grin. “If you can do that, it would be a huge help.”

He then covered Belladonna with a huge tarp and placed boxes of other tools to cover her small body, and opened the door.

The nobles weren’t expecting the boy to open the door for them, so they were momentarily stunned when he said:

“Greetings, valued guests. Have a taste of our hospitality!”

He quickly hit them with the shovel on their necks, locked the door, and ran!

They had managed to get rid of their shock from getting hit by the shovel and followed after him.

Ronin’s tiny legs were too small to gain a great distance from them, and they soon will be able to catch up—

“Back away from the child!” A voice suddenly came from the backdoor nearby. “Or suffer under my blade!”

“Mavretri?” Ronin can’t believe his eyes.

Mavretri was holding an actual steel sword! It does not seem to be conjured as a Mage Focus, but was made through blacksmithing.

“Who do you think serves as Duke Taevas ‘sparring partner’ when he fences in the morning, little Ronin? It is I, of course!” He proudly claimed with a wide grin.

“Though he mostly uses me as a sandbag to torture and bully rather than to truly practice swordsmanship with, but that’s beside the point!”

“I have trained with one of the greatest in Sephyrine!” Mavretri claimed dramatically. “My loyalty is to this family until the very end! I am the unknown knight of the Zafeiri!”

Ronin grinned as this was exactly what he needed. “What ho, Sir Mavretri! Very well, defend me from these imbeciles as we Commoners show what we’re truly capable of!”

And so, he set out his plan with nothing but gardening tools and the protection of a loyal servant.