Infatuated Female Students

Lorist found that his villa was still not big enough. The small loft on the top floor served as a bedroom for the two children, while of the two guest rooms on the second floor, one was occupied by Bordefinger and the other remained empty. Of the two servant rooms on the first floor, one was occupied by Keli and the other by Ready. That left only the vacant guest room on the second floor to accommodate Sertkamp and Pat.

Lorist prepared to tidy up the storage room on the ground floor and turn it into a guest room. Combined with the one upstairs, it would be just right for both Sertkamp and Pat to have their own rooms. When Lorist spoke of his plan, it earned him strange looks from Sertkamp and Pat, and met with their strong opposition.

Sertkamp meant that the young master must have it wrong; he was merely the young master's servant and follower, not a guest. As long as there was a place that could fit a bed for him to sleep in, that was enough. Normally, he had to follow right behind the young master to await his orders. With his status, if the young master let him stay in an upstairs guest room, word getting out would be laughed at by other lords and nobles. He had never heard of a noble letting servants live on the same floor as himself. In truth, the small space under the stairs was just big enough for a single bed, or even without a bed; with a few blankets or so, he could curl up inside.

Pat also refused to live in the guest room upstairs, with the same reasoning as Sertkamp—it did not match his status. He was merely the young master's bodyguard, allowed to stand guard outside the young master's bedroom door, but not to live on the same floor as the young master.

The concepts of human equality from his past life and the customs of warmly entertaining distant friends and relatives made Lorist forget that he now lived in Galintea, a world of lords and nobles. Coupled with the rich commercial atmosphere of Molent City, it often made Lorist forget his quasi-noble status. Thus, his approach of treating Sertkamp and Pat as guests was rejected by the two of them. They still strictly adhered to their duties as servants and subordinates, while also reminding Lorist of the status difference between them and him.

Lorist was in a bit of a dilemma, but Ready came up with an idea that made him greatly overjoyed: "Let's do just that. Remove the flowerbed seven or eight meters long next to the rock wall by the stable, and the area will be big enough. Building a pair of two-story wooden lofts will be just right. You go contact Aunt Scarlett from the management office and have her send people to start construction, as fast as possible. Once the houses are built, you and Pat can choose two rooms to live in, and you can leave this room of yours to Sertkamp."

"Alright." Ready went off to find Aunt Scarlett.

"Young master, there's no need to spend money on us. As long as there's a place for us to squeeze in, that's enough," Sertkamp persuaded.

"Heh." Lorist smiled: "Your young master isn't short of this small amount of money now. Since you are going to follow by my side in the future, I must arrange things properly for you; this is also the dignity of the Norton family. As for your treatment, just start the same as Ready's, two Gold Fude per month. Also, Pat, I'll procure your equipment for you, so you don't need to worry about it yourself."

"Thank you, young master." Pat stood on no ceremony either.

"Young master, isn't this giving too much?" Sertkamp was somewhat apprehensive. Two Gold Fude were equivalent to six imperial gold coins, which was equal to sixty imperial silver coins. Yet back in his family territory, his salary was only five imperial silver coins a month. How many times had this multiplied?

Lorist waved his hand, allowing no room for doubt: "It's what you deserve, but next you'll have to endure some hardships too. Pat, I see your Battle Qi has also reached Black Iron Three-Star; strive to advance to the Silver Rank within two or three months. Sertkamp, you haven't practiced your Bronze Battle Qi for a long time, have you?"

Sertkamp made a bitter face: "Young master, I don't know why, but I always keep forgetting the circulation path of the Great Bloodline Circulation of Battle Qi. Back then, I awakened Battle Qi inexplicably as well. It's not that I don't want to practice, but I genuinely can't remember it. The old master even said that I wasn't cut out for practicing Battle Qi and simply wasted the awakened Battle Qi."

People from the former Krissen Empire like Pat, Bordefinger, and Sertkamp all cultivated the Military Battle Qi of the Krissen Empire. This was a basic-type Battle Qi that could be cultivated to the peak of Silver. Any attribute could practice it, but it was much more complex than average basic Battle Qi, and the physical fitness required upon awakening was also higher.

When Bordefinger brought his two children to Molent City back then, on one hand, he was attracted by the slogans of freedom, fairness, and equality put forward by the Commercial Alliance, wanting to give his children a peaceful and happy living environment. On the other hand, it was because the Military Battle Qi had already been cultivated by him to the peak of Silver, leaving him with nowhere further to advance. He wanted to obtain generous rewards through his own efforts, such as doing mercenary missions, and strive for a few years to save up some money so he could acquire high-tier Battle Qi Manuals from the market, enabling him to advance to the Gold rank.

In Molent City, Bordefinger still had the chance to buy high-tier Battle Qi Manuals from the market. If it were in the former Krissen Empire, those high-tier Battle Qi Manuals were without exception the private collections of those noble families; unless Bordefinger devoted himself under the banner of some noble for over a dozen years or made great contributions, it would be possible to obtain the reward of a high-tier Battle Qi Manual. This was also why Bordefinger, after his injuries healed, dumped his two children at Lorist's place and ran off himself to pick up commissions and do tasks day and night.

Lorist smiled and said: "It's fine. I have simpler circulation paths for the Great Bloodline Circulation of Battle Qi here. They're very easy to remember. As long as you work hard for two or three years, reaching the Black Iron rank will be no problem at all."

What Lorist referred to was the Basic Battle Qi currently practiced by the trainees of the Battle Qi Enlightenment Class. This truly was currently the simplest circulation path for the Great Bloodline Circulation of Battle Qi, most suitable for trainees who had just awakened Battle Qi to practice.

Sertkamp furrowed his brows and bitterly agreed.

Lorist looked at him sternly and said: "Sertkamp, your young master does not feed useless people. If you don't reach the Black Iron rank, then I won't let you follow by my side. From now on, you will be evaluated every three months. If your Bronze Battle Qi makes no progress whatsoever, then your salary will be docked. If your salary is completely docked and it's still the same, then you'll have to get lost. Understand?"

"Understood, young master. I will definitely practice diligently," Sertkamp promised.

"As for Pat, you first follow by my side to familiarize yourself with the surrounding environment of Dawnlight Academy. Once the small wooden cabin is built and you move in, you will first undergo training together with Ready. When I have time, I'll help you draw up a training outline to elevate your strength level."

"Alright, young master." No matter what Lorist said, Pat agreed to every word.

"You guys had better stop calling me young master this and young master that. In the future, just call me Locke; it sounds more customary," Lorist said.

"Alright, Young Master Locke," Sertkamp and Pat replied in unison.

Early in the morning, Lorist exercised in the courtyard as usual. Shiward was doing a set of gymnastics specifically tailored for him by Lorist, which was of great benefit to improving his physical fitness and laying a foundation for his stamina. Alisha was too sleepy and had not gotten up. Ready also had his own specialized training methods, but the eight basic swordsmanship movements were indispensable, and Lorist had Pat and Sertkamp follow along with the practice as well.

When the exercise was about done, the construction workers over there also drove a carriage, bringing tools and materials. Yesterday, Ready had brought back a foreman. This red-faced foreman listened to Lorist's requirements, carefully measured the actual area, and said that building a double-room, two-story wooden house was very simple and quick, and getting everything completely done would only take six or seven days because the materials were already prepared and just needed to be assembled together. It was just that the materials plus labor costs would probably require seventeen or eighteen Gold Fude.

Lorist said only one word: "Build."

After eating breakfast made by Keli, leaving Ready at home as a construction supervisor, and instructing him to keep a close eye on Alisha and Shiward, Lorist led Sertkamp and Pat to walk towards the academy. Very soon, they arrived at the place where Chairman Peterson's precious son was losing weight and training.

Damn it, I knew it. It's like this again. Lorist cursed inwardly in his heart...

While saying, "Pardon me, please make way, I'm an instructor," Lorist expressionlessly ignored the sidelong glances cast at him from all directions, used his scabbard to push aside the female students blocking his way who were dressed to the nines and making coquettish poses one by one. Finally, he managed to arduously cross this blockade line composed of all the infatuated female students of Dawnlight Academy, and arrived at the side of the instructors and assistants of the Battle Qi Instructor Group on the plaza.

"Young master, there are really so many pretty women here. They've surrounded the little plaza; there should be a thousand of them," said Pat, who was following behind Lorist. He had never seen so many youthful and stunning young women before, and squeezing through the middle of these pretty girls just now made him flush red all over.

Lorist had a disgruntled tone: "All the infatuated female students of Dawnlight Academy who think they have a bit of looks are concentrated right here. If there isn't a thousand, there's at least eight hundred."

Yuri came up to meet him. The commoner trainees of the class he led had all awakened their Battle Qi, and after getting familiar with the operation of Battle Qi, they were given a vacation. Next semester, they would return to study basic knowledge regarding various applications of Battle Qi and so on. However, that was very simple; normally arranging classes according to headcounts and assigning instructors to be responsible for them would suffice. Because the situation here was severe and also related to everyone's bonuses and welfare—Chairman Peterson's promised three thousand Gold Fude was flashing with dazzling golden light—except for the instructors responsible for the final dozens of trainees, other instructors and assistants who could already rest came here very consciously to work overtime.

Right now, over thirty instructors and assistants were buzzing around a single trainee named Peterson Dorset House, setting a record for the largest ratio of instructors to trainees in Dawnlight Academy. Yet there was no helping this, because the instructors and assistants not only had to supervise this former big fatty in his training, but also had to prevent those infatuated female students from coming up to harass this young master of the Peterson family, the future head of the Peterson family.

Yes, the female students surrounding the small plaza were all here for this young master of the Peterson family. Many of them were dreaming the exact same sweet dream: getting acquainted with this young master, followed by mutual affection, becoming deeply enamored, stepping into the Peterson family as the young mistress, and enjoying exotic delicacies, fine silk, and brocade clothes from then on, with endless glory and wealth... Just thinking about it made one's legs too weak to stand from the sweet thrill. Those dreaming this were all female students from ordinary family backgrounds.

On the other side of the plaza were those noblewomen dressed in lavish garments with higher status. Whether they were drawn by Young Master Peterson's athletic and handsome appearance, or because they had taken a liking to the influence of the Peterson family, or due to the earnest expectations of their elders to form a matrimonial alliance with the Peterson family and other such reasons, it also caused them to gather near the small plaza looking for opportunities to get acquainted with Young Master Peterson. The only difference between them and the female students crowding around Lorist's side was that there were more or less guards following behind them.

Damn it, even I wouldn't have thought that losing weight could turn someone into a bodybuilding champion, Lorist lamented.

Indeed, not only did Lorist fail to foresee it, but all the instructors and assistants who had previously seen that big fatty who panted three times with every step he walked also found it completely unexpected. Having undergone a hellish weight-loss journey, after shedding more than half of his body weight and excess fat, Young Master Peterson's physique was so athletic.

Originally, Young Master Peterson stood around one meter ninety tall, even ten centimeters taller than Lorist, but his obese build made people overlook his height. Now that his weight loss was successful, it made his figure appear slender and tall, and under the threat of the whip, he continuously performed various physical training exercises, actually causing him to train out a body of athletic muscles. His back was broad and waist tapered, with muscles bulging block by block, presenting an enviable inverted-triangle shape. Especially the pectoral muscles on both arms appeared exceptionally robust and powerful. Under the prolonged irradiation of sunlight, his skin displayed a healthy bronze hue, shining with grease as sweat flowed during his movements.

If Young Master Peterson were still a mass of fat, even if the academy's female students learned of his family background, they wouldn't harbor any notions; no woman wanted to stay with a pile of lard. But Young Master Peterson had successfully lost weight. A few female students who occasionally passed by this secluded little plaza accidentally discovered that there was a handsome, athletic boy doing sports here, and immediately gathered to watch for an entire morning.

The instructor assistants didn't mind either; having beauties around was always pleasant. Thus, amidst the chitchat and banter of the beauties, Young Master Peterson's identity and family background were leaked out.

Oh, it turned out this big boy constantly doing sports in the field was actually the future head of the Peterson family, one of the Seven Giants of the Commercial Alliance! He was so sunny, so cute, and yet so athletic and so handsome... Oh, he looked at me and even smiled. I can't take it, I'm going to faint... Just like that, the first batch of infatuated female students appeared.

Word spread from ten to a hundred. Soon, most of the female students in the academy knew this news. Those aspiring to marry into wealth and female students who considered themselves to have a few drops of beauty meticulously dressed up one after another, appearing around the small plaza and spontaneously cheering and rooting for Young Master Peterson while he exercised. No matter how the instructors and assistants present explained to them that Young Master Peterson was currently doing weight-loss exercise and wasn't training secretly here to participate in some competition, these infatuated girls completely ignored it all. Our prince, the handsome Young Master Peterson, needs to do weight-loss exercise? That's sheer nonsense! Look at his figure, compare it with your own. I think the one who needs to do weight-loss exercise is you yourself, right? An infatuated girl pointed at an instructor's potbelly and mocked.

Just listen to the praises coming from these infatuated girls behind him; it was simply unbearable for a man. "Oh god, he's truly the man among men, the white-steed prince of my dreams..." "Look at his figure, his muscles, so strong and so powerful. I really want to throw myself into his embrace and enjoy his pampering... Oh, I'm getting drunk..." This one was even a bit impatient to throw herself into his arms.

There was an even more exaggerated one: "Oh god, he is simply the incarnation of the Sun God... His smile is so charming, his gaze is so profound, and his whole body is filled with strength. It seems as if with a mere lift of his hand or stamp of his foot, the mountains would collapse and the waters would run dry..."

Hey, hey, hey, big sister. Are you sure you're writing an ode? That muscle-bound kid is actually still a rookie who hasn't awakened Battle Qi!

"How is the situation?" Lorist asked.

Yuri smiled bitterly: "Every single day like this, the instructors and assistants can barely take it anymore. Why are there so many idiot women in the academy?"

"You ask me, and who do I ask? It looks like we'll have to get Fatty Shi to send the disciplinary squad over to maintain order. Also, while ensuring the training quality of that Peterson kid, we must also pay attention to security alerts and prevent interested parties from finding an opening." Lorist was somewhat worried.

"Eh?" Lorist saw that Young Master Peterson, who was long-distance running in the distance, had stopped and was talking to a girl next to him holding a sunshade.

"Who is that?" Lorist asked Yuri: "And, Peterson's brat has stopped. Why is the sparring instructor on the side trying to persuade him? Where is the whip?"

"That's the Grand Duke's daughter of the Morrosang Duchy, Her Royal Highness the Princess. It's said she has distant familial ties with the Peterson family. Hearing that Young Master Peterson is training here, she comes over to visit every day."

"As for the whip..." Yuri spread his hands: "It's right there in the box on the ground. Who dares to use it now? Last time, an assistant wanted to scare a lazy Young Master Peterson, and as a result, he was almost torn to pieces by these women nearby. So now they can only use kind words of persuasion and don't dare to discipline him by force."

"Yuri, you take Sertkamp to the grand hall, let him sit in front of the route operation chart of the Basic Battle Qi Great Bloodline Circulation, memorize and copy it down from memory, and then make him sit in front of that chart to practice Battle Qi for an hour. This fellow awakened Battle Qi but can't remember the circulation path; he's truly wasting this good physique. As for here, leave it to me." After saying that, Lorist picked up the whip in the box and walked towards Young Master Peterson, with Pat hurriedly following behind.

Young Master Peterson was chatting very happily with the beautiful princess with familial ties standing before him, completely ignoring the sparring instructor's advice next to him about how he still had ten laps of long-distance running unfinished. Suddenly, he heard the long-lost and familiar sound of a whip ringing in the air, followed by a sharp pain in his back. Turning his head to look, it turned out to be that Head Instructor Locke, whom he viewed as a demon, standing behind him with a whip. Instantly, he was so frightened that he hugged his head and shrank onto the ground, not daring to move at all.

The clamor of the entire audience suddenly congealed at this moment. On the small plaza, there was only the swishing sound of the whip and Lorist's roar: "Still daring to slack off! Still daring to disobey the instructor's words! Physical training doubled this morning, lunch halved at noon. If you do this again next time, you'll go hungry for three days—did you hear me? If you heard me, get up and continue running!"

After lashing this bodybuilding champion a dozen times and making him continue running, Lorist hadn't even caught his breath before he heard angry curses sounding from all around. Turning his gaze to look, he saw the infatuated girls beside the small plaza glaring with murderous intent, gritting their teeth as they closed in on him. Looking at this posture, they clearly intended to hack him into pieces.

"Crack! Crack! Crack!" Crisp and loud whip cracks sounded in midair, followed by Lorist's gloomy yet clear voice reaching the ears of everyone present: "If you women continue to disrupt our normal teaching order, don't blame me for being impolite. A whip across the face is guaranteed to thoroughly ruin your appearance, and the Peterson family will also hold your families accountable. Who wants to step up and try?"

Lorist lashed the ground with a whip, leaving a whip mark half a foot deep on the ground.

Those infatuated girls crowding in the front snapped out of it abruptly, looking at the whip mark on the ground with expressions of terror as they began retreating backward in a flurry.

If it were just breaking hands and feet, these infatuated girls wouldn't be afraid, and might even be happy to show their faces in front of the prince in their hearts. But what Lorist spoke of was disfigurement—these infatuated girls had to think twice. Surely they couldn't show their faces with this disfigured face...

"How dare you treat my House brother like this!" This was that beautiful princess finally waking up from her shock, pointing at Lorist with angry reproaches before ordering her guards behind her: "Seize him and give him a fierce thrashing with the whip."

Four silver guards behind her viciously lunged forward. Upon first contact, the two silver guards who rushed the fastest collapsed right at Lorist's feet. The lighter one squatted halfway on the ground retching without anything coming up, his expression extremely painful. The heavier one had his limbs twitching involuntarily, unconscious. The two silver guards behind were stunned, not daring to step forward, and then they recognized Lorist.

"Your Highness, he is Black Iron Locke."

"Just because he's Black Iron is why I had you go up. Can't four Silver ranks deal with him? Oh, what's wrong with those two?" Her Royal Highness the Princess finally noticed the two silver guards collapsed on the ground.

"Your Highness, Black Iron Locke is invincible in the Silver rank. We are no match for him." The replying guard smiled bitterly. Aside from dressing up in pursuit of fashion and loving salon parties, this princess of his didn't care about anything else. She probably hadn't heard of the legend of Black Iron Locke, so he'd better state plainly that they were no match.

"Hmph..." Since her silver guards explicitly stated they were no match for this detestable instructor before them, the princess didn't push it either. She merely glared fiercely at Lorist, let out a huff, and turned around to leave with a haughty expression. Those two silver guards walked over, gave a simple low bow in greeting, and then hoisted up the two on the ground, hurriedly following after her.

Lorist returned to the instructor group, watching Young Master Peterson as he ran long-distance while meditating, turning a deaf ear to the curses directed at him by the infatuated female students surrounding the perimeter behind him.

"What are you thinking about?" Instructor Marlin walked over.

"You say there are so many infatuated women watching this Young Master Peterson around here. If we move the training to the indoor training hall and let these women buy tickets to enter and watch, would there be a huge amount of ticket money coming in?" Lorist replied.

The instructors and assistants nearby all collapsed...