"Is that so? Can you tell me more about it?" Lothur looked at Anneke earnestly, wanting to know more about Elke.
He honestly did not know about the woman's past, so he was curious to hear from Anneke. However, regardless of the situation, he would not stay away from that redhead merely because of their families.
After all, what kind of man is afraid and would walk away from a woman he wants just because of her family?
He would, of course, take appropriate concerns in possession of information from the Backer House. However, that would not stop him from doing as he wished.
"Sigh..." Anneke deeply sighed as she looked at the man in front of her. "The Becker family is a large precious metal mining organization in Linn Province."
"In fact, it owns 20% of the provincial mineral production and is the third-largest organization in that business, behind only the Baier family, which owns 25%, and your Frost family, which has 40%."
"Because of that and their relationship with the largest grain producer in the province, that redhead's family has great financial power, capable of causing problems even for you, the Frost family's son-in-law."
"Not only that, Elke is the daughter of the Becker patriarch. Her future is to marry into another influential family in Linn Province." She said as she looked in the direction of where some of the young men interested in that redhead were. "Even more so considering some recent disputes..."
"Well, her family is probably already arranging her marriage to some rival power or competitor of theirs."
"So, I say don't get involved in this mess of local noble families."
She then sighed as she observed the calm way Lothur was watching her as if realizing that her warning would not change his attitude at all.
"That's all the information I can give you to help you locate yourself better in this dangerous place."
"Miss Koch, I'm impressed." He smiled at her, still standing in front of this woman's desk. "I did not expect that someone I met by chance would have such a background, but while I am grateful for this information, I will not change my plans."
'Giving up Elke would not be a big problem since we have no feelings. But once I do something like that to avoid future complications, I would damage my own mentality.'
'Doing it once with the justification that it wouldn't affect me tremendously would just be an excuse for an inability to face problems or unwanted situations.'
'That way, it would only be a matter of time before my conviction would collapse from accepting such a thing, and eventually, I would give up anything that would cause me trouble.'
'That's not worth it!' Lothur pondered this in silence, determined to go through with his intentions.
As long as Elke herself wished to continue the game they were playing, he would not back down. As for the future problems this would create, well, the very fact that he was breathing could already be considered an offense to someone.
After all, his Physique seemed quite heaven-defying, so sooner or later, he would face much bigger problems than the Becker family.
That was the disputed cultivation world, where the strongest acted against the weak, taking whatever interested them.
'You gained something from your effort? Outstanding, congratulations!'
'Now pass it to me!'
That was the law of the jungle, and the more competitors, the scarcer the resources, i.e., the more offenses and reasons to fight.
He, Lothur, might not be someone who originated from this world. Still, he understood well the idea behind the competition for resources. Moreover, his predecessor had given him enough information to understand this was a society where thieves robbed thieves.
Hence the reason for him not to back down and stay true to his mindset.
"Are you sure?" She looked at him cautiously, trying to understand from where the confidence of this young man who was not showing any doubt in his expression was coming from. 'The Frost family would not help you in situations like this...'
'No, in fact, they would probably punish you before you even went ahead with these games.'
'Then where does this attitude come from?'
Lothur then laughed and said. "Miss Koch, if you talk like that, I'm afraid I'll fall in love..."
"Ah, we have just met, but you already show such concern for me."
"Maybe we are predestined..."
"Tsk!"
"Go sit down, student Ritter."
After that, Anneke's class went quietly. This woman put her irritation toward Lothur aside, and this young man continued his games with Elke.
...
Some time after the end of the previous class, Lothur and Elke could be seen walking in front of a building that looked like a large barrel in the central part of Peters City.
The two were wearing the traditional uniform of the Morning Star Academy, which was composed of black and red fabrics, with the symbol of a star at the height of their hearts.
Anyway, as they walked through the area with many people coming and going, they finally entered that barrel-shaped building with a big name at its entrance.
Innumerable Scrolls.
"Lothur, what do you expect to find in this place?" Elke asked her classmate, curious about his intentions.
For Elke, who did not know about Lothur's origin, coming to this place was somewhat counterintuitive.
Although this establishment had good techniques for even the strongest cultivators, hardly a person at the beginning of the cultivation journey would need or be able to afford anything there.
Usually, the people who attended the Morning Star Academy were mostly nobles or their subordinates. And with that, these people naturally already had basic techniques, even disregarding the options provided by the academy.
On the other hand, even if students still wanted to dilute their time by learning more techniques than needed, they would have trouble doing the same due to their own limits.
To learn many techniques, one would need to have an excellent natural talent or deep cultivation understanding.
In Lothur's case, he could not be very talented since he was in Sector-1. As for cultivation understanding, this young man could not have it as besides being young; he did not seem to have any cultivation at all.
That was Elke's opinion.
And thinking about it, she did not understand what Lothur wanted to do in this place.
'Maybe he just wants an excuse to hang out with me?' She wondered as she felt her cheeks heat up.
Lothur then said. "I want to look for some options in this place."
"I looked up some information about this store in a book during Miss Koch's class and found that this is the largest chain of such stores in our empire!"
"Then there must be some pretty good stuff here."
She then nodded to him. "Hmm, this is indeed the biggest store that sells techniques in the empire. Or rather, this Innumerable Scrolls network is the largest of its kind in our state."
"Yes." Lothur continued. "I've read that each of the stores in this chain has sample copies from other branches. That makes it possible for customers from all over the empire to buy their items without leaving their respective cities."
"You read it, huh?" She laughed softly. "So that's why you were so focused earlier..."
"But you could have just asked me and saved your efforts, you know?"
But Lothur just stared at her in silence, without answering that question.
He then said. "Come on. I want to see what's in this place. Maybe I'll have some luck finding something suitable, and that won't break me, hehe."
After the two laughed, they finally came across the first part of that place, a large hall full of shelves and subdivisions, where dozens of people came and went.
'Wow!'
'That place looks like a bookstore.' Lothur thought about it before pulling one of Elke's hands and heading towards his first target in that place.
...