Was Ove Leaving?

John and Nix spent the entire afternoon in a daze.

Neither of them had imagined that seven or eight ordinary wheels put together could exert so much force.

Lin Ke was a little surprised too. After all, once Ove cast a simple spell-the "Smoothing Spell"-the friction was reduced enough for them to see the difference with their own eyes.

Magic was like swords, while skills were like guns and cannons, though that comparison only applied to their power.

But even with their fixed skills, Professionals could still use some magic, just as someone who used a gun could also swing a sword.

The Smoothing Spell, for instance, was originally a means of making the ground slippery to counter warriors, but Ove had used it to explore "force" and "constant speed."

This also helped John and Nix understand what "friction" meant.

Then came dinner.

First Madam Antova, Lin Ke's mother Furon, Steward Billy, and all the servants were there.

They had all learned that Lin Ke had become a Professional in half an hour, and celebrated with plenty of fine ingredients.

At the very least, a Professional counted as a member of high society.

Even if Azan fell apart right then, Lin Ke could still obtain the title of "Frontier Knight" from some noble simply by virtue of being a Professional.

And wouldn't a Frontier Knight who expanded the territory eventually become a noble again?

There were only four people at the dining table-or rather, three humans and one rabbitfolk.

"Auntie, I need the family's resources. I have lots of experiments and research to do, and lots of things to accomplish."

Lin Ke went straight to the point. When he needed something, she was "Auntie"; when he didn't, she was "First Madam." He was just that willful.

First Madam Antova and Steward Billy controlled the household finances. If they didn't want to give him money, they could always find plenty of reasons to refuse.

That meant Lin Ke had to secure First Madam's approval.

Antova elegantly held a silver cup between her pale fingers and swirled it. Inside was juice pressed from a sweet-and-tart raspberry variety.

At the mention of money, she instinctively frowned, but after looking at Lin Ke's expression, she slowly said, "If you need money, that's not out of the question..."

As she spoke, she glanced at Lin Ke, seemingly hoping to see him widen his adorable eyes and look at her with a pleading, wheedling expression.

But she was disappointed. Lin Ke didn't show her the expression he reserved exclusively for Furon. Instead, he watched her with perfect composure, waiting for her terms.

Antova felt rather bored by that. Then she frowned and said after some consideration, "Five hundred gold coins a month."

Five hundred gold coins!

Lin Ke had thought a hundred would be the limit. He hadn't expected five hundred.

After all, gold coins had considerable purchasing power. The exchange ratio here was 1:10:100, but according to Lin Ke's calculations, the actual ratio should have been around 1:14:123.

The actual purchasing power of one gold coin was roughly equivalent to a hundred and twenty-three copper coins!

The people of Nathang didn't seem to understand finance very well, though, so they had probably set the exchange rate so haphazardly just to make calculations easier.

If Lin Ke hadn't known full well that wealth needed power to protect it, he might have wanted to try being a capitalist.

"Fifteen hundred gold coins. I need fifteen hundred."

Lin Ke made an outrageous demand right off the bat, but that was how bargaining worked.

"That much!? Isn't that too much?!" Before Antova could speak, Furon exclaimed beside her.

Whose side are you even on...? Lin Ke found his mother's intelligence worrying.

Antova's expression darkened. "Five hundred and fifty at most. Fifteen hundred is too much!"

That was almost half the castle's income!

Of course Lin Ke knew that, so he pretended to ponder it. "The experiments I need to do cost a lot of money. You know how it is-a Professional's strength is built on money. How about this? A thousand gold coins. That should just barely be enough."

"A Professional's strength is built on money? No wonder Professionals are all so powerful!" Furon naively listened to Lin Ke's words and believed them.

Antova glanced at Lin Ke, then said to Furon, "Sister, as I recall, our husband never seemed to spend the family's money, did he? He never spent any."

Furon immediately caught on and looked at Lin Ke. "That's right, little Lin Ke. Your father used to live very frugally. Sometimes he even spent just one gold coin in an entire month."

Nearby, the head maid, captain of the guards, and head of purchasing, who each earned three silver coins a month, waited with smiles.

John, who earned one silver coin a month and had Billy save it for him, looked bewildered. Only Nix was deeply shocked.

The monthly harvest of his entire rabbitfolk tribe sold to those merchants for only a dozen or so silver coins. Even their biggest harvest had fetched just twenty!

"How about this? Six hundred gold coins. That's what you're entitled to as the eldest son."

Antova took a sip of juice, then had a maid wipe her mouth as she prepared to leave the table.

"Then make it eight hundred. That will support my experiments and help me become a powerful Professional as soon as possible so I can protect the castle. Don't forget, those two tigers still haven't shown up."

Lin Ke smiled. He meant the Deep Blue Giant Tigers; those two Deep Blue Giant Tigers had escaped.

Tigers?

Antova glanced at Steward Billy beside her, and he gave an almost imperceptible nod.

Reassured, Antova said:

"My dear eldest son, that trouble was brought here by your follower, so you must resolve it yourself. Besides, with your powerful teacher here, there's no need for us to worry, is there?"

And so Lin Ke argued his case again, Antova dismissed it casually, he argued again, and she dismissed him again...

After several rounds, Lin Ke's monthly experimental budget finally became seven hundred and twenty-seven gold coins, five silver coins, and three copper coins.

That was his birth date.

"Deal!" Lin Ke was delighted.

He had originally thought getting around two hundred gold coins would be good enough. He hadn't expected to get seven hundred.

Sure enough, if you wanted to tear out a window, you couldn't suggest it directly, or you would most likely be refused.

You had to propose tearing off the roof. Then, when someone stopped you, you could ask to tear out the window instead, and they would be more likely to accept.

That evening, the guards trained as usual, while some also practiced archery.

Lin Ke wanted to train some of the guards into archers.

The very next day, Ove was once again left speechless by Lin Ke's allowance.

All he knew was that Garros seemed quite poor-poor enough that he apparently had to borrow from other great nobles.

Why did his household seem so rich?

Then the days of real study and research began!

"Today, I'll tell you about the country we live in, the Gula Kingdom..."

"Now, it's time for you to research the Pulley System. I mean John and Nix... As for Lin Ke, I'll teach you other things..."

"No one knows how many levels Professionals have, but gods and legends are all level twenty-one or higher..."

"Today, I'll discuss the conflicts and history between the Materialist School and those foolish members of the Idealist School..."

"Now, Lin Ke, you'll learn how to create lightning with me. As for John and Nix... have you finished your research into the Study of Force? Make a Pulley System and lemme see..."

Those five days together made Lin Ke feel the passage of time once again, just as he had while attending high school in his previous life.

And in just five days, Nix took up the [Scholar] profession, making John terribly jealous.

A few more days later, though, John successfully took up the profession too.

This was healthy competition. Their competition with each other took the form of making themselves stronger.

Unhealthy competition, on the other hand, usually took the form of weakening one's opponent.

Of course, only John thought he was competing with Nix. Nix didn't feel that way at all.

Yet today, looking at the three exceptionally gifted children who had all successfully taken up their professions, Ove expressed his desire to leave.

In the study.

Looking at the brilliant child before him, Ove felt deeply regretful. But he had never been good at communicating with others, and simply couldn't bring himself to ask, "Would you like to become my apprentice?"

"What? Teacher, you're leaving?"

Lin Ke stood beside Ove, frowning.

After all those days together, he had managed to get Ove accustomed to having someone stand beside him.

"Yes, little Lin Ke."

Ove stroked Lin Ke's soft brown hair, his voice gentle and his expression natural.

After Lin Ke discovered that Ove's smile had been fixed in place with a spell, he had naturally tried everything he could to get Ove to dispel it.

"Teacher, can't you stay a few more days? I still don't quite understand the mutual attraction between the forces of lightning you mentioned."

Lin Ke felt a little panicked.

He felt that his teacher Ove was truly powerful and immensely knowledgeable, and had shown him a way to combine magic with science.

But he still hadn't fully opened Ove's heart or completely resolved his social anxiety. He had no confidence at all that he could become his apprentice!

No, I need to think of a way to make Ove stay.

Lin Ke's mind raced.

Now, I can only try Shock Therapy.

Shock Therapy was generally a method used to treat certain persistent psychological conditions, but it addressed the symptoms rather than the cause and wasn't very effective.

But there was no time left now.

Lin Ke had to present theories that directly contradicted Ove's, then make Ove furious enough to want to prove him wrong.

He knew that Teacher Ove was a staunch materialist and particularly loathed the ideological schools of the idealists.

If I argue with him about that...

Lin Ke settled on a plan.

P.S. Yesterday was the winter solstice! Give me a recommendation vote and a monthly vote, and I'll have dumplings with you (ㅇㅅㅇ❀)