Having all of them settled in was easy enough since he had the room at his place. Some of the children tripled up in rooms, but it was all fine. One of the good things that came from being the Student of the Vice-Principal and winning that Tourney helped a lot. That and he was an accomplished Student as well as a new Teacher that provided a decent course of study that earned the Akademy enough Prestige they thought of him favorably.
He obtained what he needed without hitting the Foundation Establishment Realm, Leroy could only lament the fact he would still need to push harder to keep an edge. If he hit a plateau or lowered himself in progress he might lose it all before he really had everything. The others still were gaining strength quickly as well.
Leroy gave all the children from the Monastery his name and even registered them as part of his family. It was a tearful scene for the nun as she thought the worse would become of the kids when it was over. As for returning back to the recovering Territory, they had no interest in doing so.
At every instance, she looked for the kindness to disappear but it didn't. Or dangerous motives of Leroy.
As for the nun Clarissa herself overall, she took to preparing modern medicine and studied herbs like a fish in water. The woman was quite brilliant and it made the process a lot easier for the children as well. Of course, the first she learned was about treating herself and how much she had to take a day for her condition. Leroy was very clear to make sure she didn't have any future issues.
Other than that, she was in charge of feeding the children and managing the funds allocated to them. Calculating them per head, he gave her 10,000 gold to make do for the year. Of course, it was explained that the kids were used as Medical Testing to make sure the medicine was subtle for others.
The Nun knew better as did the kids but they played along all the same. Jealous outside parties are a problem for the future. Having his name also was a deterrent but also put a target on their backs from his enemies.
By her standards, that was more than enough gold to survive. After giving the children a checkup and instructions to help them heal and going over rehabilitation, he went to work on his next project.
Which had Old Jin and Tang Xui having poor timing as they came over to bother him during it but had to wait. Mostly because of the good news they had for him.
One of the children that was adopted needed some extra care.
"Ok, Ma Chong, this will feel a little weird at first, but you will get used to it." Fixing the artificial leg to the stump, he gave a little push to make sure it stood on secured. "Try walking and telling me how it feels."
"Oh, right on time then." Old Jin gave a fair enough smile as he observed. "You don't mind if we watch, do you?"
Curiosity had him wanting to see such a thing in work.
"That is up to the patient, Ma Chong. Do you mind dear?"
"It's ok." Ma Chong got off the stool and did a few walks. The joints of the legs squeaked a little, but she had more or less had it down pat in a few practice walks and squats. "I can stand without my stick helpers!"
"Umm, hmm!" Leroy got down and observed the joints closer. The squeaking came from debris having gotten inside during the making process. A little touch up and it was taken care of. "Alright, let me do this now."
*Bzzt!* Activating the Inscription Pattern he reconfigured, the artificial leg lit up.
"Try to jump on your actual leg."
With a hop, she went up into the air a few inches. However, weight distribution had her landing on the fake leg.
*Tat!* The leg made a little indention but looked fine otherwise. The seal around the stump looked fine as well.
"It didn't hurt and felt.. difficult a little." Remembering the instructions to say if anything felt off, she spoke up. "I felt a pull when I came back down on this side."
"Hmm, that would be the weight difference. It would take much stronger materials or better inscriptions to get rid of that." Leroy was about to remove the leg then thought better of it. "Use it throughout the day and write down the problems that you find."
"Umm.." Ma Chong gave a nod the way kids did when answering but tilted her head puzzled. Slight embarrassment in a certain predicament.
"Right, you can't write yet. Tell Saiori to help with that a little faster. Remind me to go over the alphabet later with all of you if she doesn't have time."
"Ok!" Ma Chong thanked him and then walked away. "Wait till they get a load of my new leg!"
Tang Xui watched the child leave and had mixed feelings about it.
"What's wrong with you?" Leroy asked but was already working on the next project.
"Well... an artificial limb, is quite amazing. How else can it be used?"
"She means for combat, of course." Old Jin knew what the girl was getting at. "I can only assume that is far down the line."
"Like.. a few years. If not a decade, considering all my other work. In fact, her improvements alone will take months. The good news is that she is in her growth period so lots of real-time updating to be done."
At 11, Ma Chong and the others would start growing like weeds with the correct nutrition. At least that was the hope of Leroy but the Civil War was starting to spread around more. Especially reports of what happened recently causing a blow to the Prestige of the North Kingdom and the Rebels as a whole.
"I see." A moment of hesitation was all it took before she handed him a Storage Ring. "The contents inside as payment for the schematic you have right now on it."
Checking over the ring, Leroy was surprised at the funds inside. A mixture of gold, metals, herbs, and broken weapons. Also, at least three artifacts to get rid of to deal with the Backdoor Afterlife Terminal.
"It was supposed to be the payment for a few Operations, but this is too good to pass up." Tang Xui was gonna use it to exchange with Family members for materials she needed. 'If Father turns in this Schematic, they won't be able to have any say in us breaking away. Or better yet, keep it for myself to study and then use later.'
The situation was the other part of the family was getting worse. The rumors she heard from others were nothing compared to the actual situation. When pressing her cousin Tang Xuan the information given was paltry at best.
Ever since the situation with him and Leroy, Tang Xuan had been worried about something.
"Here you go." Leroy blinked a little as he handed the schematic over. He had several rough drafts, so it didn't matter at all to lose this one. "Your family should have Inscriptions, so it should go well for them to adapt as they need."
"Yes." Excusing herself, she would just come back later to talk about personal stuff. 'He doesn't look too mad about it before, so maybe it is ok.' She still fretted over not heading back to help Leroy and company.
"Excuse me as well. I need to make sure the children are ok." Nun Clarissa left next after grabbing a few belongings for use. 'At least no one will try to take the leg from her as some sort of artifact. Mass-produced soon by a Noble family should go well for any of the other kids who need one.'
She didn't know that Leroy was already making artificial skin to go over the leg. Lots of Inscription patterns that were hidden inside tattoos would go over the surface just to help.
"The report on the Mansion Incident has come in." Taking a seat, Old Jin looked hard at his disciple who was cruel and kind to people based on the observing reports. "Some of the Territory has been given to the Akademy as payment. Of course, they want the situation to remain quiet about what really went on."
"Hah, of course, they do. You don't have to worry about that from me. Use to keeping secrets by higher-ups."
"Haaa, that is good." Reaching into his storage ring, he pulled out some items. A Storage Pouch and a Manual. "A small payment that includes the Mission rewards as well from the Akademy."
"There has to be something else." Leroy felt the charged air and contributed it to instincts developing more.
"Yes," Old Jin bowed his head while placing his knuckles on the floor. "Forgive this old man for failing you as a teacher before. Time and time again, you have proven yourself worthy despite the slow start."
"Thank you for your apologies, though you didn't help me overly you also did not hinder me. The first courtyard had so many techniques and core manuals that I was able to piece several paths to power. Heck, if I was a Metal Martial Artist I think I would have been some kind of Demon Beast Hybrid by now." Leroy chuckled as there were just too many things to choose from in that avenue. "Hehe, it has worked well."
"Just like that?" Old Jin did not lift his head as he asked to be sure.
"Yes, if you want to make it up to me, how about access to the Restricted Areas of the Akademy?"
Old Jin lifted his head up and then tossed over a badge.
"This is your Teacher Badge. Your application for Medical Courses has been approved, but we have no one to teach you." Old Jin wonders what he would thing of the addition on the Badge as well.
"Huh!?" He looked it over and wonder what a few of the notches on the side meant mostly. "What are these?"
"The skills you have shown not to mention the answers and procedure instructions on your tests prove otherwise for further learning than what can be provided right now." Old Jin couldn't help the grin on his face that appeared. "All of our Teachers at the higher Occupation are at the Central Kingdom Branch Akademy. The notches mean you have the right to act as an Inspector for those Occupations."
"Do I gain access to the higher books then?"
"I forget sometimes you are a first year. That badge allows you to go into most of the facilities until approval passes for the special situation you are in."
"Umm, what?"
"When the break period ends, I plan to have an answer to have you appointed as an actual Teacher with your first students immediately. This will allow you to look at a lot of techniques in the Akademy besides the personal ones of Teachers of course. Comes with a decent salary."
"Teaching what?"
"Medical of course. The Student Badge also acts as a means of communication. So even though you are mostly likely to be traveling for your own personal improvement know that you can still fill obligations through that."
"Let's go over this thoroughly." Leroy brought up the Inspection part specifically. "Who pushed for that to really go through?" Not to mention he didn't get the paperwork approval for the Occupations yet.