As far as he could remember, the dining hall was probably the biggest place in the Norton Family's manor. Whenever his father decided to hold a banquet, the dining hall would always be filled with people. There would be large cups of wine and large pieces of meat. Everyone would eat, drink, sing, and dance. Every time, it would be a mess.
Lollister noticed that Sadkamp and Padt weren't leading him towards the dining hall. Instead, they were heading in a different direction. He asked curiously, "Isn't the dining hall over there? What are we doing here?"
"Young Master, do you still remember the location of the dining hall?" asked Sadkamp.
"Of course. I've only been away for ten years. I still have my childhood memories. Of course I remember," said Lollister.
"Young Master, we're not going to the dining hall. No one has been using the dining hall since the old master passed away. Let's go to the small dining hall, "said Sadkamp.
The small dining room that Sadkamp mentioned was a wooden house built in the courtyard outside the kitchen. The wooden walls and floor were made of logs, and there was a long wooden table in the middle that could probably seat a dozen people on both sides. Behind the table was a stone fireplace. The fire was burning brightly and a few large pieces of meat were stuck on a long iron rod, sizzling on the fire.
A chubby cook placed a large basin on the table. There was a large piece of steaming hot bread in the basin. There was a long serrated knife in the bread. Sadkamp pulled out the knife and started cutting. He cut three large pieces of bread and placed them on a wooden plate for Lollister. "Young Master, eat it while it's hot. It tastes good. Salt and honey are on the table. You can add more if you want. "
The cook then brought over a large pot of boiled beans and pork ribs. Then, she picked up the iron skewers on the stove and cut the roasted meat into a large plate and placed it on the table. Finally, she brought over a large pot of boiled apples and poured maple syrup over them.
"All the dishes are ready," said the cook coldly and left with an unhappy expression.
"What's wrong with her? We didn't offend her, did we? "Sadkamp was a little surprised and looked at Padt.
Padt shook his head.
"You didn't offend her, but she was very unhappy that you brought the second young master back." The voice of Miss Bai Sha came from the door, and the red-haired female knight strode in.
"Why is she unhappy that we brought the Second Young Master back?" Serkemp asked.
"She used to be Master's maid and gave birth to a son. Although he was an illegitimate child, he still had the blood of the Norton family flowing in his veins. If the second young master had not returned today, his son might have fought with the other illegitimate children for the throne of the Norton family. " The red-haired female knight pulled out a knife from the bread and stabbed an apple covered in maple syrup into the wooden plate. She then used the knife to cut the apple into small pieces …
'She's daydreaming, 'said Pat curtly.
"Little Locke, what's the rank of impetus?" asked the female knight casually as she poked a small piece of apple with a knife and put it in her mouth.
"Iron," Loriste replied.
"You've been in Morrent City for ten years and you're only an Iron? Indeed, you're the most useless of the three brothers. Little Locke, I'll say this first. I don't object to you becoming the head of the family. After all, no one in the Norton family is more legitimate than you. But remember, one, you're not allowed to interfere in my affairs. You have no right! Two, the Norton family is very weak right now, and you can't do as you please. So, you better stay in the castle after you become the head of the family. Understand? "The female knight stared at Loriste.
"Miss, you don't know, the young master …" Serkemp wanted to say something.
"Shut up! You have no right to speak here! "The female knight roared.
Loriste nodded.
The female knight acted as if she had won a battle. She snorted in satisfaction and strode out arrogantly.
"Miss, you're too full of yourself," said Serkemp.
"Frog in a well," said Pat.
Loriste said, "Serkemp, Pat, you two go and find out what's going on in the castle after you're done eating. I don't feel right. The people here don't seem to welcome us. "
….
"Young Master, we're here." Pat took out the key that Old Butler Cress had given him and opened the door to the study.
There was a strong musty smell in the study because it had been sealed for a long time. Pat quickly opened the window and let in the cold, fresh air.
After a while, Pat said, "Young Master, I'll go out first. Call me if you need anything. I'll be at the staircase."
Loriste nodded and sat behind the desk.
In his memory, his father, Baron Norton, used to sit behind this desk, giving out orders and instructions one after another, keeping his men busy.
He opened the drawer and found some account books and notes. There was also a metal box at the end. Loriste remembered that this metal box contained his family's Dou Qi secret manual. Opening the metal box, a thick beast skin book appeared before his eyes. On the cover of the beast skin book were four ancient words: Scarlet Blood Dou Qi.
Loriste was stunned. Wasn't the impetus manual passed down in the family called Blaze Impetus? When did it become Scarlet Impetus?
After rummaging through Locke's memories, he finally found a scene where Locke was copying the secret manual and asked his brother, "What are you doing?"
His brother replied, "I'm putting a cover on Bai Sha's impetus manual. She's been reading it until it's rotten. I'm changing it for her."
Little Locke said, "I want a cover too. You can't be biased, Big Brother."
His brother said, "I know. Fortunately, I wrote two. I'll give you the smaller cover."
A cover with Blaze Impetus written on it was thrown in front of Little Locke. Little Locke then put it on the cover of the manual he copied for the first two levels of Scarlet Impetus.
What a scam! This damned child has caused me to die. Loriste didn't know whether to laugh or cry. So he used someone else's cover as a cover and made him think that his family's impetus was of the fire attribute. All his efforts were in vain. In the end, he had no choice but to practice the Goldwater Method passed down by his ancestors in his previous life.
If Laurist had known that the family's dou qi manual was the scarlet blood dou qi, he would have directly gone to the Mercenary Guild in Morent City to buy the blood dou qi manual that was on display. That was also a blood attribute high-grade dou qi manual, and it was regarded as a treasure by the Mercenary Guild. It was priced at a sky-high price of 15,000 gold fords.
The biggest difference between blood impetus and other impetus was that it would assimilate the practitioner's attribute. It didn't matter if you were of the fire attribute, water attribute, light attribute or dark attribute. After practicing blood impetus, the practitioner's attribute would be assimilated into the blood attribute and couldn't be changed back. This was also the reason why Loriste had been collecting impetus manuals of various attributes in Moronte City for research. He didn't think of getting his hands on blood impetus manuals. Other than the one in the Mercenary Guild, there were no other blood impetus manuals on the market. He couldn't buy them even if he wanted to.
The first two chapters of Scarlet Impetus were the familiar cultivation diagrams of the Hexagram Blood Circulation. The next chapter was the Silver-Rank cultivation chapter. Loriste carefully read through all the key points and memorized the positions and differences of the blood circulation nodes between Silver-Rank and Iron-rank. He then mobilized his impetus and began practicing the Silver-Rank Blood Circulation.
Loriste pulled out his sword and it shone brightly. Loriste smiled bitterly. He had advanced to Silver-rank, but he couldn't maintain the glow for long. Just like when he was Iron-rank, the impetus in his bloodline would run towards his meridians and dantian. Without the impetus in his bloodline, he couldn't maintain the glow for long like others. Forget it, I'll just continue being an Iron-rank. It's not a bad idea to use hidden force to trick people.
There was a knock on the door.
"Come in," Loriste said.
A girl in a white maid dress timidly entered the study. She quickly glanced at Laurist before lowering her head. "Second Young Master, your bedroom has been prepared. It's upstairs. You just need to go up the stairs at the corner. Your bedding has been changed to new ones. If you want to take a bath, please pull the blue bell rope by the side of the bed. We'll prepare it for you soon … "
The girl's voice became lower and lower until it was only the buzzing of a mosquito …
Loriste found it funny that this girl was so afraid of him. He waved his hand and said, "You can leave now. I'll tell you if I need anything."
The girl lowered her head and left as if she had been granted amnesty. She almost bumped into Sederkamp who was coming in.
Sederkamp looked at the girl in surprise. "Elina, it's you?"
After Sederkamp went into the study and closed the door, Loriste asked him, "Do you know that girl?"
"Yeah. Her name is Elina. She used to be Third Young Master's maid. She's one year older than him. She was the saddest one when Third Young Master passed away. She cried her heart out, "Sederkamp answered.
"Did you get any information?" Loriste asked.
"Yes, Young Master. You can't imagine how lively this place has been in the past few months. There are several factions fighting for the position of the family master. But when you came back, Second Young Master, they all put out the fire, and there's nothing to play with. "Sert Kemp grinned, as if something funny had happened.
"Is it funny? Tell me. "
"Young Master, Eldest Young Miss Bai Sha has been with Eldest Young Master for several years, but she hasn't even given birth to an egg. Instead, she found a maidservant, who was pampered by Eldest Young Master twice and gave birth to a boy. This time, Eldest Young Miss was originally prepared to help this boy to the position of Patriarch, but she was opposed by everyone. Eldest Young Miss is riding a tiger and it's hard to get off. Second Young Master, your return can be considered as giving her a way out. "
"Why is everyone opposed to letting that child be the family master?" Loriste asked.
"Young Master, that child is only four years old, and he's one generation younger than First Miss. So, even if First Miss is powerful in the family, everyone still opposed it."
"Then who are the people who opposed it?"
"Yes, Young Master. You have to be careful of that Morosinger. He's your father's first illegitimate child, and he's the oldest. I heard that he has the support of a few families that are the leaders of the guards in Beiye City. Because of this, Morosinger is also opposed by others. Also, half a year ago, when Viscount Gammas led his army to attack our family castle, there was a guy named Wiligesang who performed very bravely. He's your father's seventh illegitimate child, and some of the elders in the castle like him very much. The last one is the cook's son. She found many servants to support her son to be the family master. In the end, two of your father's maids thought that their son could be the family master as well, so they also found people to help. So, those servants split into three factions and fought … "
"Stop … Serdkamp, tell me first, how many illegitimate children does my father have?" Loriste felt a headache coming on. In his previous life, he had seen on TV that the feuds between the rich and the powerful would turn the world upside down because of a single illegitimate child. He didn't expect that his illegitimate brothers would all be in the same class.
"Seventeen. Including you and your brothers, that's twenty," Serdkamp replied without hesitation. "Including you, Sir, there are a total of eleven still alive."
"They're all men?"
"No, Sir. There are four women. Two of them are already married, and the other two are still young. They're only in their teens."
"So, these few men who are still alive are all fighting for the position of the family master?"
"Yes, Sir."
"I understand," Loriste said. "I've always been curious why the Norton family didn't react to Viscount Gammas's construction in our family's territory. It turns out that they've closed their doors and acted like they didn't see what was going on outside. They didn't even care about the children who were trapped in the copper mine. How preposterous. "
Serdkamp was puzzled. "Sir, why didn't Old Chief Steward Clancy do anything and let them do as they pleased?"
"It's simple. The old chief steward had to take precautions in case I didn't return to inherit the title and territory. What if you couldn't find me? What if something happened to me? It's better to let them fight each other. It'll be like picking out the strongest among the dwarves. This way, it'll be easier to continue the bloodline of the Norton family, "Laurist explained.
"Fortunately, Sir, you're back. Now they can't fight anymore," Serdkamp said.
"That's why I feel like the people in the castle don't really welcome me back. I'm the one who ruined their fun. It's late. Serdkamp, where will you and Padt sleep tonight? "Loriste asked.
"In the guest room by the stairs. Padt and I will take turns to keep watch. You can rest well, Sir," Serdkamp said.
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