Settling Accounts and Beggars

Chapter 40: Settling Accounts and Beggars

"So boring..." Lorist said.

The table was a mess of plates and cups. Lorist, having just finished a delicious meal, leaned back lazily against the wall and sighed.

"Damn it, you're a super-rich guy now, stop whining about nothing. It's disgusting," Fatty Shi spat out the toothpick he was chewing, looking at Lorist with disdain.

"Heh, Fatty, how am I disgusting you? Don't forget, the feast you just had was on me. They say you can't bite the hand that feeds you, but you've eaten your fill and now you're turning your back on me." Since he was bored, Lorist didn't mind bickering with Fatty Shi.

"I'm not turning my back, I'm envious, jealous, and hateful! Last year you were still running around for a few gold coins like us, struggling to survive. But now? You can afford to buy a building, over five thousand gold coins, and you bought it without batting an eye. Forty-something rooms, and you can get seven or eight gold coins a month in rent. How can we not be green with envy! Telman, Yuri, Steve, you guys agree, right?" Fatty Shi started to rally his allies.

Several people sitting at nearby tables nodded in agreement, thinking Fatty Shi was right.

Yuri asked curiously, "Locke, how much money have you actually made these past few months?"

Lorist thought for a moment and shook his head, "I don't really have an exact count, but it's got to be seven or eight thousand. When Er asked me if I was interested in taking over that building, I went home and realized I had already saved so much in gold notes. Since I had nothing else to do with it, I just used it to buy the building."

"Let me calculate it for you," Fatty Shi's eyes lit up at the mention of money. "In March and April, you swept through twenty-seven academies in the academy district and won all your duels. The old man called you to the dean's office and, in the name of rewarding you a hundred gold coins for each academy you defeated, you earned two thousand seven hundred gold coins, right?"

"Damn, how did you know?" Lorist felt a pang in his tooth. The old man had given him the bonus privately precisely to avoid attracting envy with such a large reward. How could this fat guy know so clearly?

"Never mind how I know, but it's true, isn't it?" Fatty Shi said smugly, looking like he knew everything.

Lorist nodded.

"That's the first sum. The next big chunk comes from the challengers. In March, there were two hundred and forty people, in April, three hundred and sixty, in May, six hundred and eighty, in June, seven hundred, and last month, July, five hundred and twenty. That's a total of two thousand five hundred people. The finance department settles with you at the end of each month, and you get a three-gold-coin share for each challenger. This income alone brought in seven thousand five hundred gold coins. That's over ten thousand already, so it's no wonder this kid spent so much money on a building without blinking an eye." Fatty Shi remembered the details quite clearly.

Damn it, Lorist suddenly realized that Fatty Shi, who was in charge of the academy's enforcement division, also received a ten percent cut from the challengers. No wonder he calculated so precisely.

"Also, eighteen external challenge days have passed this month. Although there are very few challengers signing up now, the academy has decided to end this event once three thousand challengers have participated. The morning after tomorrow is another external challenge day, which will bring the total to three hundred and eighty challengers. As long as another one hundred and twenty challengers are found, Locke will have achieved three thousand wins. So he still has one thousand five hundred gold coins deposited with the academy's finance department."

Telman suddenly remembered something and asked, "I heard that if Locke manages to win three thousand consecutive matches, the academy will spend over a thousand gold coins to sculpt a life-sized bronze statue of him as a commemoration. Is that true?"

"So what if it's true? The problem is that this thousand-plus gold coins is just for a statue of Little Locke, not a bonus for him. What good is it? In my opinion, it would be better to give that thousand-plus gold coins as a bonus to Little Locke, and then have Little Locke stand in the academy pretending to be a statue. That way, everyone's happy," Fatty Shi, who always detested such face-saving projects that didn't increase his own wealth, strongly criticized the academy's plan to sculpt a statue of Lorist.

"Get lost! You're the one who should stand in the academy pretending to be a statue. I'm not Er," Lorist said with a laugh. His remark reminded everyone of Er's past incident of posing as a plaster statue in the women's bathhouse, and they burst into laughter.

Fatty Shi continued to calculate for Lorist: "Little Locke's biggest income comes from the betting pools Er and the others set up. Although he hasn't received it yet, and very few people are betting on Locke to lose now, the bets still have to be settled after the academy event ends. But last time, Er and I did a rough calculation, and Locke should have at least over twenty thousand gold coins in profit. Damn! Thinking that this kid can sleep on a pile of gold coins makes me unbearable. I've worked hard in the academy my whole life and I can't earn this much money!" Fatty Shi was on the verge of going crazy as he calculated.

"Hey, hey, hey, don't start panting just because I mentioned you, Fatty. The money I earn is earned by risking my life on the arena. Don't forget you've also earned quite a bit from watching the show. Several thousand gold coins are nothing to scoff at. Speaking of which, all of you are also small millionaires with several thousand gold coins. If you can't afford a building, can't you afford a small courtyard? Fatty, if you want to sleep on a pile of gold coins, you can. When I get off the stage, you can take my place." Lorist said.

"Damn, if I had that ability, would it be your turn to be on the stage?" Fatty Shi said dejectedly.

"If you don't have the ability, then shut up. You're jealous of this person and envious of that person every day, gossiping about everything. If you have this much free time, you should go back and cultivate diligently, and advance to the Gold tier as soon as possible. Brother Locke can earn so much gold coin because of his abilities. Do you know how much risk he has faced on the arena these past few months? If it were you, would you be confident you could survive even a day? Black Iron Locke, Silver Invincible, he's now a renowned signboard of our Molent City." A voice interjected, scolding Fatty Shi thoroughly.

"Damn, Er, when did it become your turn to lecture me..." Fatty Shi was furious and jumped up.

The person who arrived was indeed Er. He glanced at Fatty Shi with a sneer, looking at him with disdain. "What, you don't agree? How about we go to the backyard and spar?"

"I'll be damned..." Fatty Shi chickened out, resentfully sat down, and took a big gulp of his wine. "I'm a civilized person, I won't stoop to the level of a gang member like you."

Two months ago, Er's Dark Attribute Battle Qi finally advanced to Silver Three-Star. He excitedly went to spar with Lorist, but the result was the same as before: those who should have fallen still fell. However, Er later found his balance by picking a fight with Fatty Shi. This happened because Fatty Shi had been spouting nonsense from the sidelines while Er and Lorist were fighting, and ended up drawing fire.

Fatty Shi had advanced a year earlier than Er. Seeing how easily Lorist had defeated Er, he thought he could handle this newly promoted rookie without any problem. Who knew that Er's Dark Attribute Battle Qi was much more powerful than ordinary attributes, and coupled with the messy rogue techniques Er had figured out on his own, Fatty Shi was thoroughly humiliated, losing three times and being disgraced each time. Fatty Shi refused to accept defeat, and over the next month, he privately sparred with Er seven more times. The publicly announced result of the matches was that Fatty Shi proposed peace as the best option, but Er refused.

"Here, it's all done," Er handed Lorist a brown paper bag. It was a genuine cowhide paper bag, containing a deed, a management fee receipt, and a tax certificate, along with some gold notes and a few gold coins.

Er picked up a bottle of black plum fruit wine from the table, pulled out the cork, and without using a glass, drank directly from the bottle, "Gulp, gulp, gulp." "The owner's name on the house has been changed to yours. The management fee is five parts per thousand, and the tax is ten percent. There will be no other fees from now on. The remaining money is in the bag, count it."

Lorist raised his wine glass. "Thanks, Er."

"You're welcome, we're brothers."

This was Lorist's first property in Molent City, a U-shaped building on Rose Avenue near the commercial district. It was a four-story Gothic-style building with a pointed roof and attic. Each floor had twelve suites. It was originally the mansion of a count from the Duchy of Mobia, but three months ago, something happened in the duchy, and the count urgently needed to sell the building for cash.

When Er heard the news, he remembered Lorist had mentioned wanting to buy a building and privately took Lorist to see it. Lorist liked it and entrusted Er to buy it for him. The building, originally worth over seven thousand gold coins, was acquired for only five thousand four hundred, which Lorist was very satisfied with. However, the ten percent tax on property transactions and the five parts per thousand management fee that needed to be paid to the city hall afterward made Lorist's heart ache. Fortunately, once these two fees were paid, the building truly belonged to Lorist, and he wouldn't have to pay any more taxes on it until his death.

"What are you planning to do with the building?" Er asked.

"I'll hand it over to Ledos. Isn't he setting up a company that provides labor services? I plan to entrust the building to him to rent out and manage for me. He can keep half the rent each month," Lorist said.

"That's a good idea. I'll have Ledos find you in the next couple of days to sign a power of attorney and a management agreement," Er nodded, agreeing with Lorist's idea.

"Uncle Locke, I want another big chicken leg," the little girl Alisha ran over, shaking Lorist's arm. She had been playing with her brother Shiward in the backyard of the Red Raven Tavern.

Bor de Fenger, a middle-aged mercenary at the peak of Silver rank and a fellow townsman of Lorist, had been recovering from his injuries at Lorist's home for over two months. During that time, they had hit it off and become sworn brothers. Lorist also grew very fond of Bor de Fenger's two children. The boy, Shiward, was extremely sensible, loved to learn, and was diligent and hardworking. Once, Bor de Fenger saw Lorist instructing his attendant, Ready, in swordsmanship and said that when Shiward awakened his Battle Qi in a few years, he would become Lorist's disciple.

What was initially said as a joke was taken very seriously by Lorist. He asked Bor de Fenger if he was serious. Bor de Fenger nodded inexplicably, and then Lorist called Shiward over and made him kowtow three times to him and perform a grand salute to Ready. Thus, Shiward involuntarily became Lorist's second disciple, with his senior disciple being the attendant Ready.

As for his younger daughter, Alisha, Lorist doted on her. Every time Lorist saw her, he was reminded of his own young daughter in his previous life, so he was particularly fond of Alisha and granted her every wish. He even specially hired a craftsman to convert the small attic into a small bedroom for the siblings, which made Alisha and Shiward extremely excited. It even made Bor de Fenger jealous, as his daughter was closer to Uncle Locke than to her own father.

After Bor de Fenger recovered from his injuries, he wanted to take his children and leave, but Lorist forcibly detained them. There were many reasons: first, the two children liked staying there, the living conditions were better, and it was certainly better than following Bor de Fenger around. Second, Shiward was already his disciple, and it was improper for a disciple to leave his master. Third, Bor de Fenger had no fixed destination. How could he take his children to suffer when he himself was not settled? The last reason was the most powerful: Bor de Fenger could leave whenever he defeated Lorist.

Seeing that both children overwhelmingly supported Lorist, Bor de Fenger reluctantly agreed to stay for a while longer, and would take his children away when he found a stable place.

Lorist had wanted to recommend Bor de Fenger as a Silver instructor at Dawnlight Academy, but Bor de Fenger refused, stating that he did not wish to live in Molent City. Lorist could not force him and could only let it be. He then took Bor de Fenger to the Red Raven Tavern and introduced him to Old Gal, so that he could accept commission missions from there in the future.

It was now August, and most of the academy's professional courses were on vacation. However, the Battle Qi Enlightenment Class, which Lorist was responsible for, still had dozens of students undergoing their final training. They would undergo Battle Qi awakening at the end of the month. The eldest young master of the Peterson family was among them. The former overweight young man, who weighed over 370 pounds, had successfully lost half his weight after a hellish slimming process. Although he was still slightly overweight at around 180 pounds, it no longer hindered his Battle Qi awakening.

Last month, when President Peterson visited privately, he saw the state of his beloved son and burst into tears of joy while squatting in the bushes. Before leaving, he frantically tried to pull gold notes out of his pocket to express his gratitude. If Lorist hadn't stopped him in time, President Peterson's promised reward of three thousand gold Fude might have been received much earlier. That day, President Peterson had stuffed nine gold notes into Lorist's hand.

Galintea's academic system was peculiar and very relaxed, with two semesters each year, one long and one short. The long semester started in March, with a holiday from the end of July to the end of August. September was the Harvest Festival, and this month was an unshakeable holiday. Classes then resumed on October 15th and continued until December 15th, with a break until March of the following year. Lorist guessed this might be due to the old custom of people in Galintea hibernating in winter, which led to such a long winter break.

Furthermore, although Dawnlight Academy claimed to have over five thousand students, in reality, having over two thousand students attending classes each semester was already quite good. More were registered students. Some, like Lorist in the past, held part-time positions at the academy. Others couldn't afford the tuition fees and had to work for a while before returning to the academy. Some were attracted by the cheap rent for student housing. For instance, when Fatty Shi led people to inspect the student housing area last time, they found several married couples who had already had children still living in the student dormitories. Checking the records revealed they were all old students from five or six years ago who had never graduated and were using the student dormitories as their homes. In short, the academy was extremely lenient and allowed students great freedom, which sometimes made Lorist feel that the academy was less like an academy and more like a large community.

As Er had said, Lorist had truly become a celebrity in Molent City. Black Iron Locke, Silver Invincible. The renowned Black Iron and Gold instructor of Dawnlight Academy. There were even rumors that at the end-of-year academy evaluation, Dawnlight Academy had finally overcome the formidable Saint Maso Academy and risen one rank. Lorist's victory in sweeping through twenty-seven academies of Silver instructors had played a significant role in this.

After July, fewer and fewer Silver Swordsmen challenged Lorist at Dawnlight Academy, even when Dean Levens raised the reward to five hundred gold Fude. Garilando, the owner of the Red Raven Tavern, said, "Five hundred gold coins sounds tempting, but you need the skill to get it. Instead of chasing this illusory wealth bubble, it's better to hold onto ten solid gold coins."

Lorist felt a bit bored. The dueling challenges for the past few months had become a habit, and now that the challengers were gone, he felt unaccustomed and idle. He couldn't go out adventuring with his companions like before, as there were still some matters to settle at the academy. So today, he brought the two children and Ready, and gathered his academy friends for a grand meal at the Red Raven Tavern.

He affectionately pinched the little girl's nose as she swung her arms and pouted at him. Lorist said dotingly, "Okay, okay, Uncle Locke will get our little princess a big chicken leg."

Looking up, Lorist shouted towards the counter, "Boss, tell Madoff to bring us another plate of fried chicken legs."

Standing behind the counter was Louise, the former head maid. She had become the boss over three months ago. After agreeing to marry Old Gall and taking a recovery potion from the Mithralla Temple, Louise had become pregnant just over three months into their marriage. Everyone praised Garilando, saying that even at his age, his prowess was still strong, and it was truly admirable that he could get Louise pregnant when he was almost sixty. Old Gall was beaming with pride. However, Er privately confided in Lorist that the old man had swiped several bottles of Terence Donkey Whip from him, and if it still didn't work, then the stuff was just useless.

The golden-fried chicken legs were quickly served. Alisha took two, saying she'd give one to her brother Shiward, and then bounced off towards the backyard. However, Alisha returned a moment later, wanting to take two more.

"Huh? Alisha, why did you eat so fast? Uncle only took two bites. Is Alisha's mouth bigger than Uncle's?" Er teased the cute little girl.

"No way, Alisha's mouth is very, very small, not as big as Uncle's. I gave those two chicken legs to a beggar just now. He was so pitiful," the little girl pouted, displeased with Er calling her big-mouthed.

Lorist took another two fried chicken legs and handed them to the little girl. "Don't give these two chicken legs to a beggar again. If he's pitiful, you can ask your brother to give him a few copper coins."

The little girl took the chicken legs and replied naively, "But Brother already gave him all his money. Brother said he's also from the North and is looking for a young master named Norton Lorit in Molent City. Aunt Louise said she'd never heard of that name. Seeing how pitiful he was, she gave him a bowl of oat porridge. Alisha gave him chicken legs because he had no side dishes."