After some time walking with the two beautiful women arm in arm with him, Lothur had overcome the many looks of hatred and envy on the way to the Cultivation House.
At the same time, he had somehow managed the situation between Elke and Annaliese so that one would not pull the other's hair in public and start a fight.
At first, the redhead was still slightly shy and showed no hostility to Lothur's sister-in-law. But after some teasing from Annaliese, the atmosphere had heated up, and even the embarrassed woman had started to attack her opponent.
At first, Lothur had been amused by the two exchanging barbs and looking at each other strangely. But after a few moments, he skillfully controlled the situation just before they reached the Cultivation House.
Upon entering that building, Annaliese asked. "By the way, what do you want in this place, Lothur? Don't tell me you intend to train this brat?"
"Brat?" Elke looked at her rival, clearly understanding that Annaliese was not just a sister-in-law to Lothur. 'What a hypocritical bitch! She's in love with her brother-in-law, but she treats me as if I'm doing something immoral!'
'Humph!'
Lothur lightly squeezed Annaliese's waist for her to stop and said. "Previously, I tried to sell one of my belonging inside the academy, but someone from the collective business room put several difficulties in my way."
He felt that the women beside him had calmed their tempers somewhat and continued. "I found this attitude strange, considering the value of the item I was selling to students in Sector-1. So, I paid for an investigation to find out if I can take this person down."
"Oh?" Annaliese was surprised to find out about that. "Why didn't you tell me about it? I would have helped you solve that problem faster."
"Humph!"
"Lothur doesn't need your help. We handled this matter just fine before you put your nose where it didn't belong." Elke commented casually.
"Sigh!"
"Anyway, I also paid for another investigation regarding potential enemies of mine. During my first mission, someone who was supposed to be a 'friend' tried to kill me. After that, a 'friend' tried to seduce me to go to a casino."
Hearing those last words, Annaliese made him stop and turn to him. "A friend tried to seduce you? Lothur, you are hiding things from me!"
"Who is this woman? I want to know who dares to try to seduce my brother-in-law!"
"Don't worry. She is not important. Depending on the fruits of the investigation, I will deal with her myself." His eyes sharpened while his tone was cold.
Lothur had already gotten used to the idea of living in this chaotic civilization where the strongest decided everything and murder plots unfolded around every corner.
Considering his experiences with both assassination attempts against himself and killings he had committed, he had already gained some of the coldness of cultivators.
Because of this, he had already reached the point where he would show no mercy even to women. If someone like that tried to ruin or even end his life, he would act!
So, depending on the results of the investigation he paid for earlier, he was determined to act against his old 'friend.'
In his previous life, Lothur did not believe in second chances. In this life, on the other hand, he already believed that, depending on the mistake, a person would not even deserve the gift of life.
An enemy who tries to kill you and has the power to do so cannot be forgiven, no matter what happens. Even if such a person could eventually change, it would never change their actions and the possibility that they might have succeeded in eliminating you.
Such an enemy might fail to kill you, but with the possibility of success, what if they had succeeded? Well, in that case, you would have died, and it would not matter if such a person had the potential to become an ally in the future.
This possibility did not please Lothur!
He would rather have an enemy in the present dead than a potential ally alive in the future!
Therefore, he believed that an enemy who risks his life should be eliminated at all costs, no matter who they are or their transformation potential.
After hearing this, Annaliese did not feel bad for Lothur's answer. On the contrary, she was glad that such a woman had accomplished nothing with him and still acquired his antagonism.
"That's better..." She smiled as they sat down inside one of the rooms in the investigation area of the Cultivation House.
After a few moments, the same woman who had attended to him and Elke entered that place.
"Another friend, huh?" She smiled as she closed the door and sat in front of those three. "Well, anyway, hmm," She looked at the folder in her hands. "Lothur, we already have your results."
"Oh?" Lothur took a bag of coins from his spatial ring and asked. "Has the agreed price been changed? Or will I have to pay the amount agreed upon before?"
"No, the price from before will work." She smiled as she opened that and saw some information. "It seems that this person from Morning Star Academy has been acting beyond his limits on many occasions. So, it wasn't hard for us to gather some evidence against him."
"I see..." Lothur smiled as he received confirmation of his suspicions. "By the way, he acted against me because of the young man from the Baier family, right?"
"Hmm, exactly."
"Merten Baier wants to make your life difficult at the academy because you refused his previous challenge. By the way," She took her eyes off those documents and looked at him. "That wasn't part of our agreement, but we documented it as a courtesy. Other people at this academy have their eye on you."
"The director of Sector-1 seems to be watching you, while some teachers in your classes will probably hinder your progress due to your constant absence."
"Some of them are just annoyed that someone who came in through the back doors of the academy wastes his opportunities. But others seem to have connections with House Baier. So be careful."
"Even the principal?" Annaliese asked in shock since such a person should be impartial.
But Elke was not surprised by this since she had previously seen how that individual treated Lothur.
"That's no surprise," He said in a low voice. "This principal has warned me that if I make any mistakes, he will expel me from the academy."
"That..." Annaliese fretted, finding this all unfair.
"Anyway," That woman flipped through the papers in her hands and moved on to the next subject. "About those two people you were seeking information from, uh, Willi and Erika. Well, that person named Willi is missing, but we assume he's dead."
"That's too bad..." Lothur made a rueful expression, maintaining his facade of a concerned friend.
"But you were right. He and this woman named Erika have connections beyond their friendship with you over the past few months. Not only that, she is part of a local brothel that has a connection to the Mouse Company."
"They both approached you with interests we don't know for sure, but it wasn't something from fate. They wanted something or provoking something."
"Bastards!" Lothur slammed one of his fists against the table in front of him. "Not for nothing did that woman want to take me to a casino. She probably wanted to get me to gamble and build up a huge debt!"
"Hmm, that makes sense," Annaliese commented, realizing that such a thing would indeed be a big problem for Lothur within her family.
As for Elke, she waited for that woman to leave the document with the collected information, come out, and ask him. "What do you intend to do now, Lothur?"
He stood silent for a moment as those two beautiful women watched him. "There are still many mysteries behind the Mouse Company. So, I will try to understand their purpose before I do anything. But now, at least I know they are not after me for what happened to Alric and the Baier family's subsequent problem with that group."
"They were after me long before I entered the Morning Star Academy!"
The two women there nodded at him and listened. "So, first, I will settle that academy matter. Aside from it being something simpler, since this official, uh, Valentin, has harmed several students, I'll be able to settle my affairs with him in no time."
The local academy had its preferences and was not impartial. But since their performance, fame and honor would be at stake if students were hindered for petty reasons, then even the institution's leaders could not ignore Lothur's problem.
If it had just been Merten versus Lothur, they would not give a damn about this situation. But since an official had prevented relevant resources from being sold within the academy premises, this was a serious situation!
That had happened in Sector-1, but what if one day Valentin came to Sector-6? Would he disrupt the lives of some of the local elite students?
The risk was not zero, so it was better to eliminate someone like this while he was still irrelevant!
Knowing this, Lothur was relaxed about solving this problem.
'After this, I'll do him the favor of making him pay with interest and correction for my loss!' He left the Cultivation House with his two companions and decided what to do the next day.