Singwa hung high up in the sky as always, sending light and warmth down to the streets.

The massive statue of Singwa, the God of the Sun, Light and War, under the illumination of sunlight, stood shiny and gleaming at the shrine, exuding an air of magnificence.

Morante City, the capital of the Forde Trade Union, was the largest trade and port city in the Grindia Continent.

This city had the largest amount of shrines dedicated a pantheon of deities, earning the city the moniker: The City of Shrines.

It also had the most academies on the whole continent, among which included seven of the top ten highest ranked ones, causing it to also be known as the Academy City.

This was the most populated city on the Grindia continent; it had a population which numbered almost eight hundred thousand.

Over here, businesses flourished and people came and go. The amount of gold coins circulating in the daily economy of the city usually amounts to millions. Countless mercenaries, swordsmen, adventurers, artisans, peddlers as well as the common folk and slaves each with their own dreams and aspirations.

The bards often sang about how this city was a favored land of the gods, a land rich with wealth and prosperity…

The second largest waterway on the Grindia Continent, the Silver River, silently nourished the Falik Plains and entered the seas from the west part of the city, giving rise to a bay filled with hidden treasures and a great maritime armada.

The vast and rich Falik Plains, thanks to the abundant sunlight, produced various goods including honey, allowing the city to grow larger and larger thanks to the yearly harvest.

167 years ago, the Archduke of the old Falik Empire, Forde Morante suddenly announced a reform that led to the relinquishing of the hereditary feudal lord system and the adoption of the republic system. Serfdom was also abolished, liberating up to 400 thousand serfs. This reform greatly startled the various nations on the continent.

Greatly advocating trading as a means to develop the nation, Archduke Forde Morante rallied six other merchant guilds under one banner, forming the Forde Trade Union and began to trade with various other countries. This was later recorded in history as the Great Forde Reformation.

The newly-founded trade union embraced freedom and openness, causing hordes of wealth-hungry people to flock over as well as inciting jealousy from various other powers.

The Krissen Empire, one of the three great empires of the Grindia Continent, declared the Great Morante Reformation to be illegal and proceeded to invade the Falik Plains, starting a war the lasted more than a hundred years.

The newborn Forde Trade Union however did not yield. Rallying countless slaves under the banner of freedom, they met the invasion with similar appalling force. For more than a hundred years, blood stained across the Falik Plains.

Two Krissen emperors, more than ten dukes and countless elite soldiers fell at the Falik Plains to the forces of Morante City. However, the bright blue flag of the Forde Trade Union stood proud and tall.

Over the countless years of war, the trade union grew stronger. With 100 thousand warriors and clever plots, they dealt the empire a final blow that brought down the sole Sword Saint of the empire, winning themselves twenty years of peace and sending the Krissen Empire down the path of decay.

Following the Krissen Empire’s last emperor’s death by sickbed, the three princes started an internal power struggle for the throne, further crippling the already dying empire and allowing the trade union to be free of their threat and to rise and prosper. Within those twenty years, the trade union apexed and became the top superpower on the Grindia Continent. The influence the union had on trade throughout the continent was immeasurably great.

Morante City, the city that persisted, the capital of freedom. Originally, it was known as the Seaview Citadel. To commemorate the great deeds of Forde Morante for fending off the Krissen Empire’s invasion, the name was changed to Morante City. To accommodate for rapid economic development, the Forde Trade Union commissioned for thirty six other districts to be built outside the citadel’s walls as well as a new wall surrounding the newly-built districts, dividing the city into the outer walls and the inner walls.

But Morante himself didn’t call the different sectors of the city that. He termed the inner part the Upper City Sector and City Core. The west outer part was called the Academic Sector, which contained about twenty academies of various disciplines. The northwest part of the outer city contained the Naval Sector, the Port Sector the Business Sector, which occupied the most space, and the Camp Sector which was where non-residents usually resided. To the northeast of the city was the Garrison Sector and the rest of the east and south parts were the Residential Sector.

Although Morante City was the capital of the Forde Trade Union, the union’s highest council was not responsible for the city’s management. Instead, the city’s management was handled by a mayor in the City Core who was elected once every five years by the union council. After the mayor’s five-year term, the council collects evaluations from one representative from every district and decides if the current mayor will take on another term.

The Forde Trade Union was faced with powerful underworld syndicates which resulted in sky high expenditures during the time of its formation. So, to prevent corruption and to streamline the administration process, they set up a brilliant new policy from a mercantile perspective: They legalized the syndicates and put them in charge of the security, taxes and hygiene of the various districts of the city. This achieved multiple things. Firstly, each and every syndicate kept each other in check and prevented the rise of an uncontrollable major syndicate. Second, this decreased the city management’s expenditures and human resources by a huge fraction. Lastly, it also made the syndicates easier to manage. For example, should the citizens of a district be unhappy with the management of the syndicate in charge, the city council will remove said syndicate with the cooperation of other syndicates.

Initially, this policy was not met with much favor. However, that all changed within two years. The security of the area was greatly improved and the crime rate greatly decreased as well. The expenditures saved from having to suppress the syndicates went to the development of infrastructure, further improving the living standards of the city residents.

This result greatly surprised the naysayers of the union and it also prompted many kingdoms to reevaluate the management of the city. The conclusion was that the effectiveness of the syndicates’ management greatly surpassed that of the many kingdoms’ own officials, who were great embarrassments in comparison.

This was Morante City, a haven for merchants, filled with vigor and rife with many curiosities. Some called it heaven while others called it a city of devilish temptation and deprivation.

During the day, the streets were filled with the sound of rowdy merchants and the shrines resounded with hymns of prayer, while the nights were full of merry debauchery. This was Morante City, the city that never sleeps.

Two large bags were slung on each of Norton Lorist’s shoulders, with another large shoulder-width rucksack hanging from his bag. His left arm held a yellowish-green rattan box while his right was wrapped around a bunch of rolled up beast skins which were resting on his shoulders. A red double door with a white wine glass painted on top of it was kicked open by him; he looked like a big, clumsy bear as he toiled and stumbled, struggling to squeeze himself through the doorway which was wide enough to let two bulky men go through at the same time.

It was three in the afternoon. This was the time when the inn was at its quietest. The main hall of the inn only had three people in it. The red-nosed bard old Mike, who’s had a little too much to drink, slept very soundly face down on the table. At the table beside the fireplace sat old Hope the cobbler and the retired postman old Tom, both of whom were previously immersed in a card game, stared wide-eyed at Lorist who had just barged in.

Nodding at Hope and Tom, Lorist laid his luggage on the ground in front of the counter and stacked them up into a pile. He placed his bear fur cap on the table and shed his black leather jacket and subsequently removed two swords of different lengths that were slung on his waist and laid them on the table. He let out a long sigh, knocked on the table and called out. “Old Char? You here? Where is he… Hey, your wine barrel’s being carried away!”

“My god, it’s Locke…” said Tom as he finally recognized Norton Lorist without his jacket.

Hope couldn’t resist anymore and stood straight up. “Hey, Locke. It’s been quite some time now, about… half a year? We thought something happened to you. Did you bring back some star-spotted deerskins that I wanted?”

Pointing towards the beast skins on the floor, Lorist said “I got three of them wrapped up inside. Go check it out yourself.”

A thin and tall old man emerged from the door behind the counter. Seeing Lorist standing at the counter, his glum face lighted up with a hint of a smile. “You’re back!”

This old man was the boss of the Red Grace Inn, Brennan Charlando, whom Lorish referred to as Old Char. Don’t take his limping walk for granted; nobody could even conjecture that this expressionless, quiet old man behind the counter was actually a One Star Gold Swordsman. Most of the patrons of that inn never had a clue.

“Hey, Old Char. Get me some blackcurrant ale. Oh, and ask McDuffin over there to cook me a big meal. For half a year I’ve been having meager rations… I miss the food here so much!” said Lorist without a shred of hesitation.

“I got it.” Charlando served Lorist a large mug of blackcurrant ale. “Drink some of this first. I’ll go wake McDuffin up.”

“Oh, and, could you check the goods out for me? I brought a bunch of things back from this excursion. I wonder if it matches up.” said Lorist as he watched Old Hope fumbling through the beast skins.

Charlando nodded and disappeared behind the door.

“Yawn…” A sleepy-eyed woman subsequently came out from the door. “Who is it? Don’t you see that everyone’s taking a nap? You must have a screw or two loose if you come at this hour for a meal, sheesh.”

That busty woman was dressed in tight clothing which accentuated her curvaceous figure. This was the head serving girl of the inn, Louise.

“Cough…” Lorist choked up and blushed. No matter who it was, there was no way of completely staying calm when faced with the first woman they had a physical relationship with. That was especially the case with Lorist, who was even more nervous in front of Louise. Back then during his twentieth birthday, the drunk Lorist had his virginity taken by Louise, who said that it was her gift for his “passage into adulthood”. Some amount of fear still lingered in Lorist’s heart even after all these years.

“Oh my! Our Locke’s back! I’ve missed you so much over these six months… Come, give your big sis a hug.” Louise’s eyes gleamed as she saw Lorist and all traces of sleepiness vanished from her eyes as she spread her arms and leapt towards him.

Louise hugged Lorist over the counter and forcefully planted two kisses on his cheeks.

“Did you return just recently? Look at you, poor Locke… You’ve gotten so much thinner and tanned during the past six months! All of were worried about you and couldn’t get our minds off you. You didn’t send us any letters for so long. We were really worried something bad happened to you…” Louise started chattering on.

“Come on, aren’t I back here safe and sound? This expedition to the Relic Islands brought me far overseas, there was no way I could contact you. And, don’t you know the ferry to the Relic Islands only operate once every six months? What are you worried about? Don’t you guys have any confidence in my abilities?”

“With your Three Star Iron power level? Haven’t you heard about all the Silver Swordsmen who perished on the Relic Islands… We hear a lot of stories like that in the inn.” said Louise without holding back at all.

“Eh? But I, a Three Star Iron Swordsman, has never lost a match to even one Silver Swordsman…” said Lorist as he scratched his nose, embarrassed.

“Those are just sparring matches in the academy! How could those compare to life and death battles with magical beasts? Your competitors were just going easy on you. I really don’t get what those old bastards at the academy see in you. They could’ve just picked one Silver Swordsman out of so many others… Why did they bring you along as a bodyguard instead?” Louise felt that it was extremely unfair to Lorist for him to be expected to carry out tasks meant for Silver Swordsmen given his rank as an Iron Swordsman.

Lorist could only laugh bitterly. Louise was only concerned about him. How could she understand the pain of having his Battle Force stuck at the Iron rank for so long? In order to join this expedition, Lorist had to pester and bug Academy Head Levins and was even forced to agree to multiple unfair terms including serving as the assistant for the whole expedition team before the old bastard agreed to bring him along.

The adventurers of the Grindia Continent all knew that it was suicidal to visit the Relic Islands without the power of a Silver Swordsman. Granted, non-combatant researchers who were protected by bodyguards were exceptions. Although Lorist had to serve the researchers throughout the expedition, he ventured just as much as the rest of the Silver Swordsmen. He managed to traverse a number of dangerous areas, even those that were potentially lethal to Silver Swordsmen.

The time taken for the trip to and from the Relic Islands took up two months while the actual time spent on them was four months. Lorist himself felt that his abilities had improved nevertheless after experiencing all those life and death battles with the magical beasts and walking the tightrope of life multiple times. His swordsmanship got sharper and his movements got more agile. Even the sensitivity of his senses improved. But the sole goal he had aspired to reach during this trip was never achieved; his Battle Force didn’t manage to break through the Iron rank. He was still stuck at the peak of the Iron rank.

How he had regretted his decision back then. For some reason unknown to even him, he decided to use Ki-refining principles he remembered from his previous life to cultivate his Battle Force. One focused on the meridians pathways while the other focused on the blood flow. One trained the internal parts of the body while the other trained the external. They were akin to oil and water! His brain must have cramped up for him to even decide to do that! In the end, even with the high class Blazing Battle Force technique passed down by his family throughout generations, he ended up at a dead end and has remained stuck at the Iron rank for three years now, unable to progress to the rank of a Silver Swordsman. Originally a universally praised genius in swordsmanship, he has become a joke in the academy.

“Hey, brother Locke, you’re finally back. So glad to finally see you again…” The fatty who snapped Lorist out from his self brooding was the head chef of the inn, McDuffin. Wearing a mottled blue apron, he struggled as he squeezed his large belly through the door behind the counter.

“Hi, McDuffin. Man am I glad to see you too.” said Lorist as he raised his cup of ale. “Do you have any nice food around? I just got back and haven’t even had my breakfast and lunch yet. The only thing I had back on the boat was a black wheat bar.”

“Oh my, why didn’t you say so earlier? Stop drinking that ale, it won’t go down well given your empty stomach. McDuffin, is there anything you can serve up quick?” Louise said.

“Hmm, there’s some roasted goose in the oven, but it’s still unseasoned. In the wok we have some bean and ribs but it’s still cold, I’ll have to heat it up so it’ll have to wait. Ah, right. I have some goat meatballs still steaming over there which I can get you right away. Louise, go into my room and look into the chest beside my bed. There should be some cream bread inside. I was planning on having that for tea, but I guess you can go get that down for Locke…” said McDuffin who seemed reluctant to part from his cream bread.

Louise went off in a hurried manner.

“Alright. I’ll have some roasted goose and ribs. McDuffin, fry me a herring, make me some green bean bloodwurst, fried eggs with shrimp, cabbage and mushroom as well as another glass of fruit ale.” said Lorist as he made his order.

“That much? Can you finish them?” McDuffin looked at Lorist with a hint of doubt.

“I’m so hungry I can swallow a cow whole. Go make the food, after that we’ll have a good drink together.”

Just after McDuffin returned to cooking, Louise brought a plate with some steaming hot goat meatballs and two pieces of cream bread over. “Eat these quick. You don’t want to upset your stomach.”

“Whoa, Locke… This is great! These are the skins I want! Look at all these star spots…” Before Lorist managed to stuff the bread into his mouth, Hope’s praises rang out from behind him. He was raining praises upon the three beast skins he cradled so very dearly in his arms.

“Oh, I better go back to get some cash. I’ll be right back.” Old Hope let the deerskins down and rushed out of the inn with a speed that was unfit for a man of his age.

“Eh, why’s he in so much of a rush?” mumbled Lorist with his mouth stuffed with meatballs. Louise only shrugged.

“This old bastard was talking about you nonstop that I actually thought he was worried for you. Turns out he was only looking forward to the skins you promised him…” said Tom the retired postman as he raised his ale cup and took a swig.

Just as Louise served up the green bean blood sausage, old Hope burst through the door, sweaty and huffing ragged breaths as he rushed over to Lorist’s table. He took out fifteen gold coins from an intricately striped leather purse, counted them meticulously and instantly got ready to take the deerskins home.

“Hey, wait a second old Hope. Are you sure you’re paying the right price?” Without others noticing, Boss Charlando appeared in front of Hope and pressed down on the skins on the table.

“What’s wrong with you Charlando? Locke doesn’t have any objections, does he?” said Hope, glaring fiercely at Charlando.

“Just because he kept silent doesn’t mean he doesn’t have any opinions on the price. Right now, a skin like this costs 7 gold and 8 silver Fordes. Don’t you think it’s a little much to take three away for only 15 gold Fordes?”

Old Hope’s face turned red. “But six months ago we set the…”

“You didn’t set any exact price when you ordered the skins at that time and arbitrarily decided it to be at the market price back then. You’ll have to have some rather thick skin to suggest a market price from six months ago. Right now, the supply of star-spotted deerskins on the market is getting lesser by the day, giving a significant boost to its value. I believe he can easily get eight gold Fordes for one of these skins in the market. The shoes you make with these can already sell for ten Fordes and you can make ten of theme with these. If you don’t agree, you better give up on buying it and I bet I can get a better price for Locke if I sell them at the market.”

“That’s right. Two days ago there were two mercenaries who said that purchasing the star-spotted deerskins from the Relic Islands would cost 5 gold Fordes a piece. Think about the shipping and import fees. Aren’t you just taking advantage of him? Locke got you three quality skins from so far away! You can’t just do this to him!.” said Louise as she rushed up to Hope with a fierce gaze and rolled her eyes.

Old Hope bitterly went back to Lorist’s table and took out another seven gold coins. “I didn’t bring any silvers with me…”

One gold Forde was worth twenty large silvers. Old Hope still owed four silvers.

“It’s alright.” Lorist shrugged with magnanimity.

Seeing Old Hope rushing to leave, Louise felt really dissatisfied. “You didn’t have to be so generous. That old one got away good. You could get a great meal with four silvers.”

Lorist smiled and said “What? Old Hope got on your nerves?”

Louise instantly exploded. “That miserly bastard… He feels up all of our serving girls and doesn’t even give them any tips! And he orders a cup of ale worth five coppers and stays at a table for the whole afternoon!”

It wasn’t weird for serving girls in the inn to be felt up by patrons. It’s just part of their job, to serve and to flirt. But patrons who don’t tip well was always met with the disdain of the serving girls. Those patrons were the most unwelcome kind.

Brennan Charlando didn’t give off any impression that he was the owner of the inn. Ignoring the endless chatter of the head serving girl, Louise, he took a few beast skin parchments, knelt on the floor and rummaged around the rattan box, the beast skins as well as the bags, as he mused:

“Two pieces of Dark-scaled Rhinoceros skin, this is Throm the Armorer’s order…”

“Five pieces of Crimson-eyed Black Fox skin, for old Park from the leathersmith’s…”

“Three pieces of Gold Python skin, Jason from the weaponsmith’s needs these to make scabbards…”

“One Striped Wildebeest’s tendon, Jecks wants to use this as a bowstring…”

…….

“What is this?” said Charlando as he lifted up a greyish-white, meter-long bone.

Lorist put down the roasted goose and said, “It’s a legendary Razorbeak Owldragon’s humerus that is used by the indigenous Remandotu people on the island as staves. It’s both light and tough. I believe Sir Maleiff asked for this.”

According to legend, the Razorbeak Owldragon came about thousands of years ago from experiments conducted by ancient magi by cross-breeding nightowls and draconians, which resulted in the creation of a large flying beast that was savage and adept and combat. Only, it has already been extinct for a long time. The only complete skeletal specimen was only found a hundred years ago at the Relic Islands by an expedition team sent by the Magi State. It was named as such due to its seemingly large body and razor-sharp beak.

Sir Malieff was one of the more high-ranking regulars of the Red Grace Inn. Rumored to be a noble from some faraway republic, he came over to Morante City and lived a life of seclusion in a house near the inn, citing his hatred of war as the main for his leaving his country. He is a man who likes to collect weird and eccentric items.

“Oh.” That’s just another one of Sir Maleiff’s eccentricities. Placing the bone down on the floor, Charlando took out a leather pouch that contained several test tube-like glass containers which contained liquids of different colors. “What about this?”

“Seven types of magical beast blood, as request by Professor Simpkin of White Rose Academy. He said he got an ancient tome that detailed a recipe for a potion that required the blood of these magical beasts. He wanted to see if he could synthesize the potion mentioned in the book,” explained Lorist.

Only now did Charlando notice the small labels at the bottom of the containers, with names of various magical beasts, including, Dark-gold Pythons, Greenback Direwolf, Dark-scaled Rhinoceros, etc.

“That old guy Simpkin sure has a lot of money to throw around. Replicating a potion? That’s ludicrous! Mana doesn’t even exist anymore, and the magi are not faring any better. How can you make potions without mana?” mused old Tom as he shook his head incessantly.

“Then what about this thing?” Charlando waved around a large, sealed bamboo container that was almost a meter long. Sounds of flowing liquid could be heard as he shook it around.

“Erm……” mumbled Lorist, embarrassed. He hesitated a moment before replying “That’s some Terrence-donkey Whip I got for Els……”

The Terrence-donkey Whip was a native product of the Relic Islands which was famous for being a potent sexual stimulant. It was very popular among the nobles, especially the men whose sexual potency withered early.

“Pffft!” Upon hearing about Els’s request, Louise laughed her guys out nonstop.

Charlando looked grim. “What is wrong with him… This little runt using aphrodisiacs at his ripe young age… Skirt-chasing all day long without actually doing anything useful… I gotta teach him a lesson! Leave that with me and tell Els to see me when he asks about it.

Els, or Brennan Evanport, was one of the syndicate heads three districts away. He was a Two Star Silver Swordsman as well as Charlando’s one and only family member; his nephew.

The table was cluttered with utensils and plates. Finishing what’s left of his ale and burping in satisfaction, Lorist called for McDuffin to clear the stuff up. “Big sis Louise, go see if old man Luke from the back street is busy. If he isn’t, I’d like to get a haircut and a beard trim. Oh, and, get me a room upstairs and prepare the bath for me. And, please get the clothes in the rattan box washed and go buy me some new ones at Auntie Misha’s as well. Put that bill on my tab.”

Old Luke packed his tools and came over with little delay. At this hour, there was usually little to no customers for the barber shop behind the inn. Putting a black linen cloth around Lorist, and placing a shiny silver mirroring plate on the table that was just cleaned up by Louise, Luke took up his scissor and walrus tusk comb and asked, “Would you like your usual cut?”

On the Grindia Continent, nobles from certain countries were expected to wear a certain hairstyle to differentiate themselves from the commoners. There was no rule for commoners though and they chose whatever hairstyle they liked, though sometimes hairstyles like ponytails gained popularity and many people followed suit. Aside from the slightly inferior barber tools, everything else pertaining to hairstyles were pretty much the same with that of Lorist’s previous life.

Lorist has always preferred a crew cut for two reasons: In his previous life he served as a soldier for seven years and it has become something like a habit to him. It was also much easier when it came to styling his hair.

“Yup, I’d like the usual,” replied Lorist as he straightened himself in his seat.

Old Luke cleared his throat and said, “Actually, Locke, your hair is very lush and black. I bet you would be able to easily charm countless young maidens if you kept a ponytail.”

“Get out, that kind of hairstyle requires so much effort to maintain. It’s too much trouble. By the way Luke, why don’t you tell me about the things that happened here during the past six months?”

Old Luke loved to gossip when he gave haircuts. He was very well versed with the rumors and stories being passed around in the local grapevine.

Luke made a thoughtful expression as he continued tending to Lorist’s hair. “Well, it’s been pretty much the usual. Two months ago, Lind, the one who runs the roadside fruit stall, had his stall run over by a startled horse. Despite that, the owner reimbursed him with four gold Fordes and he even profited from that incident. Just last month, Watt the butcher’s wife got into some trouble with a mercenary. The funny thing is: the mercenary actually got slashed in the shoulder by Watt, a person who hasn’t even awakened his Battle Force! What a joke!

“Idle gossip aside, three months ago it was announced on the newspapers that the war in the north finally ended, most of it thanks to the various trade unions slaving away for two years nonstop. A peace treaty was signed and the northern market seemed like a gold mine to many. For two whole months the papers were filled with recruitment notices for mercenaries and northern business investment advertisements. There were also multiple reports of people getting attacked by bandits though.”

“Oh, the Krissen Empire finally stopped attacking?” Lorist really didn’t expect such a big historical event occurred in the six months he went on the expedition. As for the peace treaty, nobody really treated it seriously as the Krissen Empire had been enemies with the Forde Trade Union for more than a century, during which at least three major conflicts erupted between the two powers. Why would the Trade Union bother to settle anything, given that the empire had already began to tear itself up since the start of the power struggle between the three princes for the throne of the late Krissen Emperor six years ago? It was already a blessing that the union did not take advantage of the empire’s situation.

“What does the treaty entail, exactly?” Lorist was very curious about the specific agreements between the two powers. The northern empire’s princes and dukes has been at odds with each other for almost six years now, uprooting the once stable foundations of the empire and crippling the economy, causing much poverty and famine. Even the nobles had to rely on loans to maintain daily life. If anything, it was much more believable for the trade union to have been involved in putting the empire into this predicament.

“Hmm, I really didn’t pay much attention to the details of the treaty. I’m just a barber, you know. I’ve never really been into these confusing political things…” said old Luke with a blush.

“I know about it!” beamed old Tom with a bright smile. As a retired postman, he has always liked to pay attention to the political undercurrents on the continent. “There were three main clauses. First, the empire is to be partitioned into three kingdoms and seven grand duchies. In other words, the Krissen Empire has ceased to exist and there will no longer be any northern invasions. Secondly, the stability and security of the trade routes are to be maintained and taxes will remain the same for all nations, regardless of whether they are kingdoms or duchies. Additionally, the subsidiaries of the trade union shall be allowed to conduct business freely in any territory. The third clause states that the trade union is to give loans to the seven nations with different interest rates ranging from 13 to 70 percent depending on the nation.”

“Brother Locke, aren’t you a northerner yourself? I remember you riding in a carriage with some kind of insignia, usually the kind used by nobles. Given that the war is no longer ongoing, wouldn’t you like to go back to your hometown for a visit?” said McDuffin as he reminisced the time when he first met Lorist in front of the academy entrance ten years ago.

“Locke, are you really a citizen of the Krissen Empire? A noble at that?” exclaimed old Luke with a surprised tone.

Back when the Krissen Empire was still standing strong, conflicts between the empire and the Forde Trade Union were common and battles frequently happened on the Falik Plains. Many of the soldiers were led by the nobles who really caused the folks of the trade union a lot of grief. Although not everyone in Morante City would actually assault anyone of the empire, nobody had any good impressions on them either.

“To be precise, I came from the northern parts of the Krissen Empire; I’m a northern highlander. The highlands should be located thousands of kilometers from here, which is way too far and impractical for soldiers over there to come over. The march itself would take more than three months. My father was a baron and his barony was situated in the far north. I have an elder brother as well as a younger brother. I guess that makes me the second son, which means I won’t be inheriting the barony at any rate. The fact that I’m so far out here means that my family has abandoned me. I’ve had to rely on myself for seven whole years since I lost all contact with them. That’s why I now consider myself a Moranite and have nothing to do with the north or my family anymore,” explained Lorist.

“That’s right. Many nobles send away every child but the heir to the land to prevent infighting and strife, usually by means of exile, separation or marriage. Locke’s case is pretty common. After all, his family does have a hereditary title,” appended old Tom.

Luke worked quickly and finished the haircut as well as the shave. He ended the session by applying a final layer of oil to moisturize the skin.

Lorist stroked his clean-shaven chin with satisfaction and paid old Luke a small silver coin. He subsequently asked McDuffin to get Luke and Tom a glass of ale and put it on his tab. He took his swords and went upstairs with Louise.

There were eight rooms on the second floor of the inn, four on each side of the corridor.

As they arrived on the second floor, loud sounds of men and women during intercourse resounded throughout the corridor.

Lorist asked with much curiosity, “Who is the one getting it on at this kind of time?”

“That’s Jumile. She picked up the three Blackbear brothers from the streets for seven large silvers. They’ve been at it for three hours or so. I wonder if she can still get up tonight.”

“Jumile was also one of the serving girls of the inn. As for the Blackbear brothers, Lorist knew for a fact that all three of them were low-ranked mercenaries, usually only working on short escort missions and miscellaneous tasks for others. All three of them were burly and tanned and people started calling them the Blackbear brothers and eventually, the name caught on and stuck.

Louise brought Lorist to his room, which was situated at the far right end of the corridor. The bathtub was already set up and filled with hot water.

Taking out a pink fragrant bar of soap and a white linen cloth, she subsequently collected the clothes on the ground and placed the wallet, the sword belt and the waist bag on the table and was just going to leave, before turning back and asking, “Locke, are you free on the night three days from now?”

“I don’t know, what for?” Lorist popped out from the water and took a deep breath.

“There’s this girl from the village who wants to work here as a serving girl. She’s looking to sell her first time for quite the sum, about two gold coins. Since you’ve made quite a profit this time around, why don’t you help me out?”

“Hm? Doesn’t the inn already have you, Jumile, Shala and Nina? Is it going to hire another one?”

“Nina just got married last month and isn’t coming back. The girl from my village is also going to work here for two to three years for some money before going back to the village and finding someone to marry. I promised her that her first client would be a handsome and magnanimous young lad. Come on Locke, help me out, won’t you?”

“I… I’ll think about it later,” said Lorist in an awkward muffled voice and submerged his head back into the bathwater.