Aftermath

Escorted by Fatty Shi, El, and the others, the group returned to the Golden Instructor Residential District at Dawnlight Academy. After taking the soundly sleeping Instructor Marlin home, Lorist sent Fatty Shi to fetch the pharmacist on duty at the academy infirmary to give Bordefinger a thorough examination. Only after confirming that he was in no serious danger, giving him a healing potion, and changing his bandages did Lorist finally relax.

Lorist pulled the bell cord connected to the residential district's management office and summoned Keli. He asked her to work as a caregiver again for the next three months, nursing Bordefinger and looking after his two children. Lorist settled the family of three into the two guest rooms upstairs. Ready, meanwhile, took the initiative to find a servant's room downstairs, carry his luggage inside, and then go out to tend to the two Zino horses.

By the time everything was arranged, more than an hour had passed. Lorist asked Keli to make everyone a late-night snack, and they finally sat down on the sofas in the living room. Yuri came out of the study carrying the small earthenware jar of Maikesi that Lorist had just bought. He lit the living room fireplace, set an iron pot over it, and began brewing Maikesi, repeatedly adding milk and crystallized honey. Before long, a rich, milky fragrance filled the room, drawing down the two children who had been keeping their father company upstairs.

After pouring the children two cups of Maikesi and sending them to the kitchen to see what treats Keli was making, Lorist recounted the entire attack to his friends. He believed the two Gold One-star Swordsmen who had attacked him were probably acting on the orders of the junior fellow disciple they had mentioned, who had asked them to cut off one of Lorist's arms. But Lorist could not think of anyone who bore him such a deep grudge.

"No grudge?" Fatty Shi scoffed. "This isn't a question of grudges. The truth is, Locke, you haven't realized just how many people see you as a thorn in their side. Never mind anything else—these academy duels and open challenges alone have put you in a lot of people's way. Before, you only had a bad relationship with the Silver Instructors at our academy. Now you're the nightmare of every Silver Instructor in the Academy District. The duels have only been going on for a month, but you've already beaten the Silver Instructors from thirteen academies in the arena. Maybe some of those defeated instructors felt humiliated and hired people to get revenge. Or perhaps one of the academies still waiting for its turn wanted to cripple you and end this farce before its instructors suffered the same fate."

"As for the open challenges, Locke, do you know how many bettors have lost every penny on you? Some have even ruined themselves. Last month, the total wagers placed with our betting operation exceeded eighteen thousand Gold Fudes. You have no idea how many people are praying you'll stumble so they can win everything back in one go. When it comes to winning and losing money, those people have no bottom line. They'll use any means available. Little Locke, you have to take your safety seriously from now on. Starting today, our Enforcement Department needs to keep a squad near you, just in case. Telman, your Swordsmanship Club should send a squad of elite members to stay near Locke too. There's strength in numbers. At the very least, we can keep anyone with bad intentions from catching Little Locke alone."

"All right," Telman said.

"Don't! If you do that, will I have any freedom left? Won't it be exhausting having so many people following me around every day? How about I just stay inside the academy? Surely I'll be safe here," Lorist hastily protested. What would it look like, having a whole enforcement squad around me? What if I needed to relieve myself and had a crowd watching? Who could stand that?

"The academy is a little safer, but there are still opportunities for someone to strike. Don't worry, Little Locke. Our people will stay out of sight and protect you in secret. They won't stick to you like you're imagining. If our Enforcement Department doesn't take the initiative and come up with a plan to protect you, that damned old man at the top will tear us apart tomorrow when he hears about the attack. After all, you're the academy's money tree now. That old bastard treasures you." Fatty Shi's words made everyone laugh.

"Why does the old bastard have to know? Can't we just keep tonight's attack quiet?" Lorist asked, puzzled.

"We have to publicize it. The bigger a stir it causes, the better. That'll make anyone planning to strike at you in secret think twice. If you keep quiet, they'll think you're afraid and grow even bolder," Fatty Shi said. "Also, El, send your people out tomorrow to search for those two attackers, and make a big show of it. We'll dispose of the bodies quietly. Tell everyone the two fled when they saw how many people had come to rescue Little Locke, and that one of them was wounded. Tomorrow, spread the word and offer a reward for information on their whereabouts. Don't let anyone know Little Locke already killed them."

"Huh?" El still did not quite understand why Fatty Shi was saying this.

Lorist, however, already knew what Fatty Shi had in mind. "Damn, the fat bastard's going to scam people again."

Sure enough, Fatty Shi told El, "If you say those two Gold Swordsmen ambushed Little Locke only to get killed by him instead, who's going to place bets with you anymore? Use that wooden head of yours! If even Gold Swordsmen got killed, how could anyone at Silver Rank beat Little Locke in the arena?"

"Right!" El slapped his thigh, finally understanding. Then his eyes darted, and another idea came to him. "Fatty, if word gets out that Little Locke was attacked by two Gold Swordsmen and escaped without a scratch, will anyone believe it?"

Fatty Shi understood him instantly. He looked Lorist over for a moment, then told Yuri, "Yuri, catch me a chicken before dawn. We'll dress Little Locke up tomorrow morning. Brother Locke, you'll have to put up with a little inconvenience and help us put on a show."

Lorist frowned. "Hey, don't you two go too far!"

"We won't. We'll just say you were attacked by two Gold Swordsmen tonight and suffered some minor injuries. Tomorrow morning, we'll wrap you in bandages and sprinkle on some chicken blood to make it convincing. Oh, Telman, go have a word with the pharmacist on duty. If anyone comes asking questions over the next couple of days, he shouldn't say a thing unless they pay him. If they do pay, he can say Bordefinger's injuries upstairs are Locke's instead. And during tomorrow morning's duels, make it look like you're struggling. Just let the spectators think you can barely keep going. Hehe, there's a fortune in this!" Fatty Shi's and El's eyes gleamed with gold.

The scheme was hardly honorable, but Lorist did not object. After all, he received twenty percent of the betting profits. The more people wagered, the larger his share would be. As for those Fatty Shi said had gambled themselves into ruin, Lorist felt no sympathy. On the contrary, he would inwardly say they deserved it. Who had told them to back the wrong side?

With tomorrow's scheme settled, Fatty Shi poured another cup of Maikesi and continued his analysis between leisurely sips. "Actually, I have two suspects behind tonight's attack on Little Locke. The first is Saint Maso Academy. Tomorrow morning, Little Locke faces Clearwater Academy, which shouldn't pose much danger. But three days from now, the fifteenth academy in line is Saint Maso Academy, our sworn rival. Naturally, they're my first suspect. Still, if Saint Maso Academy ordered this, why would they send two useless weaklings? That isn't their style."

Lorist protested. "Hey, hey! Those were two Gold One-star Swordsmen, you know!"

"Even Gold One-star Swordsmen can be useless. If a pair of Gold Swordsmen got killed by one Black Iron and one Silver, what else would you call them? If I'd been there, I might have killed one myself," Fatty Shi declared emphatically.

"Uh..." Judging by the younger fellow disciple's performance, Lorist felt Fatty Shi had a point. He really might have won against that man. Other than being slippery when dodging and parrying, the younger disciple had left little impression on Lorist.

"There's another suspect." Fatty Shi asked Lorist, "Do you remember Sandos Yi'erta?"

"Who?" Lorist shook his head.

"You!" Fatty Shi looked exasperated. "Didn't I just tell you about him? Three years ago, he was the assistant swordsmanship instructor who incited the Dual Excellence Class students to gang up on you. You injured him so badly that he left the academy. Have you forgotten? After recovering, he became a disciple of the Storm Sword Saint in his homeland, the Kingdom of Kaelia. He's at the peak of Silver Rank now, and he came back to Dawnlight Academy to get revenge on you. I specifically warned you about him. How could you forget all of it?"

"Oh, I remember. His name was Higuita or something," Lorist said.

"Sandos Yi'erta, not Higuita." Fatty Shi shook his head. "You can't even remember his name. You really didn't take him seriously."

Lorist flushed. It was all because the goalkeeper named Higuita from his previous life had been so famous. As a fair-weather football fan, he had watched one World Cup with his friends and remembered none of the other players, only that goalkeeper's name. The moment he heard a similar name, his mind automatically jumped to Higuita.

"That fellow was already vicious and underhanded when he incited the students to attack you three years ago. Otherwise, you wouldn't have hurt him so badly. He may have come back full of confidence, but he's from a powerful noble family and knows all about intrigue and secret schemes. You've already fought twelve open challenges. After another two, you'll face him. I wouldn't be surprised at all if this Yi'erta sent people to ambush you a few days beforehand. There's a very good chance he ordered it. The only thing I can't explain is those two gold battle qi badges. Their design isn't from the Kingdom of Kaelia. You said those two dead men claimed their junior fellow disciple sent them to take one of your arms, but I've seen the silver badge Yi'erta wears. It's a standard Kaelian battle qi badge, and its design is different from those two gold ones."

"Forget it. Stop racking your brains. What good does suspecting everyone do? As long as you're strong enough, all their plots and schemes are useless. Those two tonight might as well have come to their deaths. It's late. Everyone should head home and get some rest," Lorist said.

"Damn, you're only Black Iron, and you have the nerve to call yourself strong? For your safety, your big brother here will put in some extra work and stand guard at your place tonight. Have you got another bed?" Fatty Shi asked. Lorist was everyone's money tree now, so his safety had to be taken seriously.

"No. Keli's using the remaining servant's room. You can sleep on the sofa or make a bed on the floor," Lorist said.

Headmaster Brado of Clearwater Academy received good news first thing in the morning. Apparently, Black Iron Locke, the man said to be unbeatable against anyone at Silver Rank—Lorist, Dawnlight Academy's Black Iron-ranked Gold Instructor who had initiated the academy duels—had been attacked by two Gold One-star Swordsmen on his way back to the academy the previous night. Although the number of people accompanying him had forced the two Gold Swordsmen to flee, Locke had not escaped unscathed. He seemed to have been injured.

Now that was good news. His only regret was that Black Iron Locke had been so lucky. Why couldn't they have killed him? Then the awkward problem facing Clearwater Academy would have disappeared on its own. What a pity! Headmaster Brado heaved a long sigh, then sent someone to contact Dawnlight Academy and ask whether that morning's duels would be postponed or canceled. Of course, the most important task was to find out whether Black Iron Locke really was injured, and how badly.

Headmaster Brado made up his mind. If Black Iron Locke really was injured, he would firmly reject any request from Dawnlight Academy to postpone the duels. They could either concede or fight. There would be no third option. If he failed to kick them while they were down, Clearwater Academy would become a laughingstock just like the thirteen academies before it. To be fair, Black Iron Locke was remarkable. All two hundred and sixty Silver Instructors from thirteen academies had fallen to him. Brado had been worrying constantly, afraid that his academy would be the next to suffer today. Who could have imagined such a windfall? Locke was injured. Winning without a fight would be ideal, but if Dawnlight Academy sent the wounded Black Iron Locke into the arena anyway, Brado would have to give his twenty Silver Instructors a good pep talk.

If twenty Silver Instructors could not defeat a single wounded Black Iron Instructor, that would prove Clearwater Academy's Silver Instructors really were a bunch of useless fools. There would be nothing he could do about people laughing at them. Headmaster Brado steeled himself. If they really lost, he would dismiss every last one of them when they returned.

Soon, the man sent to gather information returned. Apparently, Dawnlight Academy had asked Black Iron Locke whether he wanted to postpone the duels, but he had refused. He said he was only fighting Silver Instructors, not Gold Swordsmen, so there was no need to delay. Injured or not, he could still handle Silver Instructors without a problem...

The news made Headmaster Brado frown. He wondered whether Black Iron Locke's injury was false information planted by that old fox at Dawnlight Academy. But the man he had sent confirmed that Black Iron Locke really was wounded. He had paid one gold coin for reliable information from the pharmacist who had been on duty at Dawnlight Academy the previous night. For the sake of that Gold Fude, the pharmacist had even described the injuries in detail: a sword cut to the left shoulder and a stab wound to the right side. He had also said that neither injury was life-threatening, but both would hamper movement. The stab wound to the right side, in particular, prevented Locke from exerting strength with his right arm. Recovery would take a month or two.

Headmaster Brado eagerly led Clearwater Academy's Silver Instructors to Dawnlight Academy for the duels, only to return at noon seething with a dark expression. The day's academy duels had been full of close calls. His Silver Instructors had indeed given their all; in fact, all twenty had performed exceptionally well. Several had even resorted to reckless tactics that risked taking their opponent down with them. Yet why had they always fallen short at the final hurdle? Several times, victory had been within a hair's breadth. Just a hair's breadth! And yet Black Iron Locke had been so lucky. Despite his obvious injuries and impaired movement, some fluke always handed him victory at the crucial moment.

In the final bout, even the scabbard he had casually discarded on the ground had become the key to victory. Who could have imagined that? His longsword had already been knocked from his hand, but he reached down and happened to pick up the scabbard, then happened to catch his opponent's thrusting sword inside it. After that, he drew the shortsword at his waist and laid it against his opponent's neck, winning the duel just like that. Who could accept such a victory? What was that, if not sheer luck?

Headmaster Brado was not the only headmaster wearing a dark expression. Headmaster Levens of Dawnlight Academy looked equally grim as he held a financial report urgently delivered by the finance department. Outrageous! They're snatching money right out of the academy's hands! The nerve!

According to the report, Instructor Marlin of the battle qi coaching team had bought one hundred gold coins' worth of betting tickets on that morning's academy duels. Telman, executive vice president of the Swordsmanship Club, had bought three hundred gold coins' worth on behalf of its members, while Shredder, director of the academy's Enforcement Department, had likewise bought five hundred gold coins' worth on behalf of his department. Supposedly, they had all purchased tickets backing Instructor Locke's victory to show their support for him and their outrage over the previous night's attack.

After the morning's duels ended, the academy's finance department had paid out one hundred and eighty Gold Fudes in winnings on those nine hundred gold coins' worth of tickets. Meanwhile, total revenue from the morning's academy duels amounted to sixty-three gold coins, eleven large silver coins, and three small silver coins. Thus, the day's losses exceeded one hundred and sixteen gold coins.

That afternoon, the headmaster's office at Dawnlight Academy issued a new notice: effective immediately, tickets backing Instructor Locke's victory would no longer be sold for academy duels or open challenges. In other words, only one kind of ticket would be available from then on: one backing his opponent to defeat him.

"Tch. That's obviously just handing money to the academy. Only an idiot would buy one." Fatty Shi tossed the new notice into the rubbish bin.