Digesting the "Lunatic" Potion (Bonus chapter for your bookmarks and recommendation votes)

(Thank you all for your bookmarks and recommendation votes. Although the book only launched a few days ago, the number of bookmarks has been growing wonderfully. Thanks for all your votes, too. Here is an extra chapter as a small token of my appreciation.)

When Holm, the grain merchant, saw Raphael take the hammer and noticed the slightly crazed look on his face, a bad feeling immediately rose in his heart. "Let me go. How much did Duke pay you? I can offer twice as much..."

Raphael shook his head. "We didn't come for the money."

Indeed, to him, an operation like this was purely entertainment.

Holm struggled even harder. "Three times as much! I'll pay three times as much! Help!"

Audrey noticed the madness in Raphael's eyes intensifying. She couldn't help frowning, wondering whether she should help soothe his crazed thoughts.

But she promptly changed her mind. In this kidnapping, she was merely a spectator. Her most important task was to observe Raphael carefully, then report her conclusions to Mr. Fool.

Meanwhile, Raphael continued tormenting the grain merchant. One of his Mafia subordinates pulled up Holm's trouser leg.

Holding the hammer in one hand, Raphael curled the index finger of his other hand and lightly tapped the shinbone. "This is the easiest place to break. Just a little tap will do..."

Then his tone changed. "No, no, that would be letting him off too easily. I think we should smash his knee instead. Hehe, once the knee is shattered, the bone fragments have to be picked out one by one, and it's very difficult to recover completely..."

Not only had Raphael's eyes turned crazed, but the derangement peculiar to a lunatic gradually appeared on his face as well. "I still recommend smashing the tibia. Let it pop right through the muscle and skin, exposing even the marrow to the air..."

Like two doctors discussing a patient's condition, Raphael actually began debating with himself.

By now, the grain merchant Holm had suffered considerable mental torment at Raphael's hands and even began sobbing. "Ahaha... ten times! I'll pay ten times what Duke offered!"

Raphael looked somewhat displeased. "Don't rush me... ah, forget it. Since you're in such a hurry, let's smash the tibia. It's the easiest to break."

He picked his spot, then delivered a moderately forceful blow.

"Aah!" Holm's eyes flew wide as he screamed.

Raphael curled his index finger again and tapped Holm's tibia. "Sorry, I missed. It didn't even break. Let's try again."

In fact, as a Criminal, he was proficient in all sorts of criminal methods, including various ways to kill. Even unremarkable everyday tools could become murder weapons.

So, of course, Raphael hadn't missed. He was simply tormenting Holm on purpose.

Carter and the others were all accustomed to their boss's methods of torture. Audrey could also tell that Raphael hadn't really missed. Although she knew Holm was no good person, she now felt considerable sympathy for the grain merchant.

Immediately afterward, another scream came from Holm. "Aah! By the Storm! Make this lunatic stop..."

But Raphael wore a deranged smile. "Huh? It still hasn't broken. Let's try again."

"Aah! Lunatic... you're a complete and utter lunatic..." Holm shouted in terror, sweat pouring down his face from the pain.

Yet another hammer blow answered him. Holm's eyes were bloodshot, and his voice had grown somewhat hoarse. "Aah!"

Raphael chuckled. "Thank you for the compliment."

As he spoke, he handed the hammer to his subordinate. This time, Holm's leg really was broken.

Raphael took a deep breath, sensing that the Lunatic potion within him had been fully digested.

Then he stood. "Goodbye, Mr. Holm. I hope you're satisfied with this blessing. Hahaha..."

Amid his laughter, Raphael removed Holm's armband, then turned and left. Carter and his other subordinates followed close behind.

Audrey was among those following him. She felt somewhat astonished, because the madness in Raphael's eyes had vanished almost instantly just now, and the derangement on his face had been replaced by an arrogant smile within a second.

This prompted a question in Audrey's mind: Was he truly mad, or was he pretending?

In the carriage on the way back, Raphael divided the money from Holm's wallet. Each subordinate who had participated received ten pounds, while Carter received twenty.

Smiles spread across everyone's faces. To an ordinary person, ten pounds was already a considerable sum.

Raphael also gave Audrey a five-pound note. "As a newcomer participating for the first time, you didn't help with anything, so this is all you get."

Following the example of those around her, Audrey smiled. "Thank you, boss."

At that moment, another Mafia member asked the same question Audrey had been wondering about. "Boss, why didn't we take the money in his safe while we were there?"

"We're not robbers." Leaning against the seat back and smoking, Raphael said, "Don't think of yourselves as robbers, or hired thugs who can be bought off. That will only make you sink further and further!"

He took a drag and said with an arrogant smile, "Be gang members with ideals. Make others hold us in awe, rather than merely fear us."

Aside from Carter and Audrey, the others hadn't really understood Raphael's words and simply kept voicing their agreement.

Carter had long since grasped his boss's intentions. Audrey, however, remained outwardly calm while feeling rather strange inside. "Gang members with ideals"? Heavens, by the Goddess, even Backlund's gangs were talking about ideals now?

Then Raphael handed Holm's armband to the Mafia member who had asked the question and instructed him to deliver it as a warning to Logan, the grain merchant Holm's friend and the man who had set the trap for Duke.

The carriage returned to the Mafia headquarters, and Raphael took Audrey back to the "study" they had visited earlier.

Taking advantage of the current lack of visitors, Raphael said to Audrey, "Miss Hall, I think we should discuss your ransom."

Audrey was taken aback. "Ransom?"

"Of course." Raphael sat behind the desk, took out a cigarette, and lit it. "I hope you'll respect the work Carter and I put in. We kidnapped you. Naturally, if you want to regain your freedom, you have to pay a ransom."

His potion had been fully digested, and his purpose in kidnapping Miss Hall had been achieved. Keeping this beautiful young lady around any longer would become a major headache.

Audrey smiled and sat opposite Raphael. "How much ransom do you want?"

"A Werewolf characteristic." Raphael took a drag on his cigarette. "If you have no objection to that ransom, please write a letter to Earl Hall explaining the situation.

"I imagine that even if Earl Hall isn't a Beyonder, he should still be able to obtain a Sequence 7 Beyonder characteristic fairly easily."

A characteristic like that cost around twelve hundred pounds. For a noble of Earl Hall's standing, such a ransom wasn't high.

Audrey considered it for a moment. Deciding that she had observed enough, she snapped her fingers in front of Raphael.

Snap.

The hypnosis she had previously used on Raphael regarding certain matters ended. Raphael suddenly "remembered" the process of kidnapping Miss Hall, which was completely different from his original memories. She had actually walked into the carriage herself!

And the lady who had chatted with him before the kidnapping had been Miss Hall. Raphael had somehow completely failed to connect the two!

In an instant, Raphael was so startled that the cigarette in his hand fell to the floor. "You're a Beyonder too?"

And seemingly one of no low Sequence, at that.