After saying goodbye to Anneke, Lothur spent the rest of the afternoon at the Morning Star Academy.
He had gone to the economics class, only to find out what level this place was at since he judged his knowledge in that area quite decent in his past life.
He was not an expert, nor had he been someone who pursued the deeper details of that area of knowledge or its ramifications. However, as a young man who had been well educated in economics and the basic concepts involved, he had many ideas about such a thing.
That would certainly have been enough in his former life for him to know how to handle his economic life, as well as to identify problems in problematic suggestions or policies.
But even confidently, he had paid attention to the class he had taken and sought introductory readings about the economy in this world. Who could guarantee that this place did not have much deeper concepts than Earth?
He was not sure about this, so he had made an effort to understand the economy in this society a little better.
However, just as he had expected due to the memories of his predecessor, he had discovered that the economy of this place was simple.
They even unconsciously used many ideas similar to those Lothur had learned on Earth. But there were no established rules, no popularized concepts to facilitate local economic development, etc.
For example, he had searched in the books he read about the concepts of compound interest and future value. But at no point did he find them, drawing his attention to how backward this world was concerning something so relevant.
And realizing all this, he understood that the idea of investments in this world practically did not exist.
Anyone in this place would find it plausible to invest in himself, in his cultivation. After all, this was the cultivation world, the home of the individualistic and ambitious. But when it came to investing in other people or businesses, ideas became increasingly scarce.
Some even unconsciously invested in other people. But this was more like something they did to leave an inheritance, as in the case of masters with their disciples, or to help a loved one protect themselves.
Other than that, the idea of helping another person was counterintuitive since that person might overtake his benefactor and eventually subjugate or betray such an individual.
So, Lothur had realized that the institutions of this world were collectively weak, even considering powers with many experts. Or rather, they were a long way from reaching their own potential.
After all, what would happen to, for example, a sect that had lost the most powerful experts and their disciples?
The answer to this was clear. Such an organization would naturally cease to exist or wither away over time because hardly anyone talented enough would have the best knowledge left by those people.
And even if they did, such people would not be numerous, and the chance that they would die before a possible recovery of power would simply be gigantic.
However, what is the point of creating something so fragile that it can't even be self-sustaining without its experts?
Certainly, specialists were relevant and fulfilled essential roles. But would not it be more interesting to create something that, even weakened, can fight to survive, keeping its best characteristics?
But for that, investing in more people was necessary, and that was practically not happening in this world.
Having learned all this about the economy of this world, Lothur had been pleased since this was an opportunity for him.
He had notions of economics that could only be considered advanced in this society, even though this was only common knowledge where he came from.
Therefore, he wanted to use this to build his financial life in this place, something necessary not only for his quality of life but also for his own cultivation.
However, he was in no hurry, even with many ideas and knowledge to accomplish this feat. No, Lothur knew that the nail that stood out was the first to be hammered.
Considering this, he had to try at least to improve other of his characteristics so that he would at least be able to act without having to worry about his actions sabotaging him.
He not only needed power but people and organizations capable of hiding his tracks, something necessary for someone with his intentions.
And precisely because he had practically none of this at the moment, he was in no hurry and had in mind how he should act to reach the point where he could put his ideas to the test in the future.
After the economics class, he had spent some time in the Sector-1 library, learning about other information necessary for his plans or simply his best experience of this world.
...
After leaving the academy at the end of the day, Lothur immediately made his way alone to the Frost family estate.
He should have returned home with Annaliese, but he had missed his schedule because of his dedication to his reading.
With that, realizing that Annaliese had not had the patience to wait for him for more than an hour, Lothur had not wasted much time in that place and started on his way back.
Because of his predecessor, who had wandered erratically through this city many times, Lothur knew the local map as he knew his hand. And with that, he had been left in no doubt about what to do in this situation.
Peters City was not a vast place where someone like him would need transportation to get around.
That was a city about the size of the typical medium-sized cities on Earth.
However, even though it was not so grand that he lost the courage to walk home, this was a walk of over an hour!
So, away from the comfortable carriage that had brought him to the local academy earlier, Lothur had begun his journey, walking briskly, hurrying to reach his goal.
He was still not much better than an ordinary human, so what he most wanted at this moment was to get home, eat something, and then sleep. Then, the next day he could go back to putting his plans for the future into practice.
However, life was complicated, and one did not always get what one wanted!
As he was returning home, Lothur was being chased by a group of three individuals, each with their identity covered, walking in the shadows and watching him.
And for a young man who had just found himself in this dangerous cultivation world, Lothur naturally had not noticed those three chasing him.
That had been his mistake!
...
After a while, Lothur was almost at the Frost family estate when suddenly he found himself surrounded by three masked people standing at the side of an alley.
In that place where there was no one nearby, and trash could be seen in some spots near old or abandoned facilities, Lothur stopped, finding the situation strange.
He could not probe people's strengths, much less check certain soul-related conditions. But as he came across those people, Lothur immediately sensed their fighting intent.
"Who are you, people? What do you want with me?" He asked in a confident tone, showing no fear in his posture.
But all he heard was a distinct tongue sound.
"Tsk!"
'This guy is just an aimless wanderer, but still... Still!' One of those three thought about it in silence as he held an eighty-centimeter-long stick in one of his hands.
He then said in an unrecognizable tone. "Let's teach this good-for-nothing a lesson!"
"Let's see if he will still touch Miss Becker after we break his two legs and arms!" The most vicious of the three said this as he finally jumped towards Lothur, already in a position to punch his opponent, using a metal item around his fist.
At the same time, the other two also moved against Lothur, using their best means of action to attack Lothur's legs, arms, and groin.
"Shit!" Lothur shouted in anger, feeling the bad luck left behind by his predecessor.
'Who are these bastards? Why are they attacking me?' He tried to consider the people his predecessor had offended, but there were so many that he could not even think of a single one of them.
But seeing the punches and other types of attacks coming at his body, he had no time to think about those possibilities. No, since he was in that position, all he could do was try to defend himself!
...