197: Chapter 197 The Joy of a Young Girl

Chapter 197: The Young Girl's Joy

Night fell deeply as the icy wind howled.

Within Blackwood Town, the bright and warm lights stretched out in a continuous glow, like a dazzling star upon the West Territory, echoing the Blue Moon in the sky.

Despite their haste, it was already quite late by the time Lister and his party returned to the territory.

At the sumptuous banquet, the cold scene of dining alone did not occur.

The figures of Christina, Bai Ze, and the other little ones appeared on both sides of the dining table as usual, dispelling the sense of loneliness in the air.

Lister had once told Christina that if he returned too late from a mission, there was no need for her to wait for him to eat.

But every time, the girl would agree with her words, only to wait for him to come home at the dining table the next time anyway.

Unable to sway the stubborn girl, Lister had no choice but to let her have her way.

He watched Christina as she dined quietly, while Bai Ze and the other little ones ate with enthusiastic snorts.

A soft smile couldn't help but grace the corners of Lister's mouth as the unique warmth of home quietly welled up in his heart.

While enjoying the exquisite and delicious meal, he asked Christina about her recent life, his words filled with deep concern.

With eyes curved in a smile and no trace of impatience in her voice, the girl obediently responded to his every question.

Her daily life was very simple; she spent most of her time reading, studying, and cultivating within the Lord's residence.

Besides that, she would also play and spar with Kuro, Ulysses, and others of similar age.

However, she had hardly stepped out for the past few days, instead focusing all her attention on absorbing the energy from the snow-pattern crystals in the open space behind the residence.

Lister knew very well why she was working so hard; while he felt gratified, he couldn't help but feel concerned.

"Christina, there's no need to rush the absorption of the snow-pattern crystals. You can only cultivate better if you rest more and keep your spirit high."

"Mhm, I understand, Brother," Christina nodded obediently in response.

She had always followed Lister's lead in matters of cultivation, never once thinking of acting on her own.

She understood clearly that while she could be stubborn about some things, she had to listen to Lister regarding others.

Nodding with a smile, Lister continued to ask about other topics.

The warm banquet passed quickly amidst his concerned inquiries and Christina's proactive storytelling.

After telling the girl to rest early, he returned to his own room.

The howling cold wind swirled outside the window, causing a constant buzzing vibration, yet he felt a sense of peace.

Although he hadn't exerted much effort in the evening's battle, he somehow felt a bit exhausted.

Noticing the wisps of steam drifting from the bathroom, he couldn't help but reveal a comfortable smile.

Just as he changed into a bathrobe and walked into the bathroom to bathe, a slender figure quietly appeared before him, causing a look of surprise to instantly cross his face.

Before he could speak, the slender figure's Red lips parted slightly as she said, "Lord Lister, please allow Flora to serve you during your bath."

"..."

The soft, beautiful voice was like a healing potion, leaving him momentarily dazed.

This wasn't the first time Flora had proactively requested to serve him in the bath; such scenes had occurred multiple times since she became his personal maid.

But every time, he had politely refused. As for why he refused, even he didn't know if it was because of his strong self-control or consideration for the girl's age.

Or perhaps it was both—

He had intended to politely refuse as usual, but in the next second, he saw the girl's gaze, which held infinite anticipation within its fragility.

The refusal at the tip of his tongue somehow, by some strange twist of fate, turned into a gentle consent.

"Then I'll trouble you."

Stunned for a few seconds in disbelief, the girl's crystal-like eyes instantly flashed with a light like the stars.

Though they were just a few simple and ordinary words, they sounded like long-awaited heavenly music in her ears.

Coming back to her senses, she moved gently to untie the knot of the bathrobe on Lister's body.

Although her expression seemed calm, her flushed cheeks, tightly bitten lip, and trembling arms clearly proved she was not as composed as she appeared.

As the knot fell to his sides, the bathrobe that had been closed tight suddenly fell open, and a lean, powerful physique faintly emerged in the girl's gaze.

The dense scent of hormones was like a succubus from hell, instantly enveloping the girl's delicate body and making her feel slightly weak all over.

After a moment's hesitation, the girl hurriedly moved behind Lister and stood on her tiptoes, reaching her hands toward his broad shoulders to pull the entire bathrobe off.

Looking at the lean, powerful body fully revealed before her, the flush on the girl's cheeks grew even deeper.

With a slight splashing sound, Lister sat comfortably in the bath barrel.

Faint footsteps sounded slowly, and soon, smooth, soft hands began to move across Lister's body.

Although he was no longer an innocent boy in his past life, Lister still couldn't help but feel his heart race at this moment.

With a charming beauty right before his eyes, the fire of desire that had been dormant in his heart began to stir. His aggressive gaze made Flora's face flush so Red it looked as if it might drip water.

Her slightly lowered eyes held a deep sense of vulnerability, causing a protective urge to suddenly surge within him.

As the girl let out a soft gasp, the bright Blue Moon in the sky outside quietly half-hid itself behind the clouds.

The next morning, the morning light spilled through the window into every corner of the room.

Lister slowly opened his eyes, and the exquisite, elegant wooden ceiling was the first thing he saw.

Feeling the warmth and solidity pressing against him, he knew that everything from last night was not a dream.

Amidst the soft, tender touch, a faint scent of violets drifted into his nostrils, instantly making him feel refreshed.

He turned his head slightly to look at the beautiful girl lying in his arms, holding him tightly. Her smooth, long hair was scattered across the pillow, and the sound of her light breathing rose rhythmically.

—

Flora was the first woman he had been intimate with since coming to this world.

Scenes from last night flashed before his eyes; besides taking that final step, they had done almost everything they should and shouldn't have done.

For a moment, his sense of pity for the girl deepened, and a heavy sense of responsibility also emerged.

Coming back to his senses, he noticed the girl's eyelashes fluttering slightly and gently patted her back.

"The sun is already high. If you don't get up, the other maids will come looking for their Head Maid."

Hearing this, the girl who was faking sleep let out a small 'ya' and hurriedly sat up, revealing a breathtaking sight.

Seeing his burning gaze fixed on her, the girl looked down and instantly gasped again, hurriedly pulling up the beast skin quilt to cover herself.

But halfway through, she seemed to suddenly remember something, and her hands relaxed.

Her hair fell like a waterfall over her shoulder, and a deep flush rose on her cheeks as she sat there facing him openly, exuding an infinite, alluring beauty.

Sitting up, he gently brushed aside a few strands of hair falling before the girl's eyes and said with a gentle smile, "The weather is cold, don't catch a chill."

Saying so, he stood up, revealing his lean physique, picked up the dress scattered by the bed and handed it to the girl, while leaning his body forward slightly.

Feeling the warm touch on her forehead, the girl's bright eyes instantly radiated infinite tenderness and sweetness.

After quickly putting on her dress, the girl served Lister as he dressed. Every movement was incredibly gentle, as if a wife were dressing her husband.

Once fully dressed, Lister stretched comfortably; the mysterious fatigue in his body from last night had now completely vanished.

"Flora, if you feel tired, go back and rest today. Do not force yourself."

Flora's face reddened as she said softly, "Lord Lister, I am not tired. You don't need to worry about me."

"..."

Seeing that she indeed did not seem to have any discomfort, Lister stopped trying to persuade her.

After Flora left the room, Thomas 'happened' to arrive outside the door, carrying a tray with a cup of hot milk.

After drinking the hot milk, Lister strode out of the Lord's residence and headed toward the training ground.

The territory's official business during this period had been handed over to Odinton. All his energy was now focused on cultivation and preparing the army.

Walking slowly along the street, he responded to the warm greetings of the Serfs while observing the road conditions around him.

Compared to the deep snow that had made travel difficult a few days ago, the gray-black gravel ground was now visible on the streets. The cleared snow was piled up by the roadside, waiting for organized removal.

He had originally intended to pave the ground with Cement, but unfortunately, the blizzard a while ago had been too fierce, making it impossible to effectively lay the Cement roads.

The massive negative impact of the cold winter had significantly slowed the progress of much of the infrastructure.

Soon, the military camp appeared before his eyes. Under the respectful greetings of the guarding Soldiers, he headed straight for the training ground.

The usual shouts continued one after another at the training ground. After a brief look, he went to his exclusive open space and entered a state of cultivation.

After yesterday's fierce battle, he had gained significant insights into how to deal with wizards.

The most notable point was that at the same realm, as long as a knight can get close to a wizard, they can rely on their all-around physical attributes to execute the most violent attacks.

At this point, a wizard facing a huge disadvantage must either rely on their precise control of mana skills to pull away and counterattack, or find a way to escape via Teleportation.

As a wizard himself, he knew that most wizards would generally choose the latter.

Because once a wizard is unknowingly approached by a knight, it proves the wizard has already mostly failed.

The situation for the several wizards from the Black Witch Church yesterday was even worse; they weren't just approached, they were swarmed by a group of people, including experts no weaker than themselves.

It was precisely because this situation occurred that they fought to the death against Lister's party yesterday.

If their side's strength hadn't completely overwhelmed the opponent, thereby preventing Golan from using his trump card, the outcome might not have been certain.

Dust flew from the ground, and the sound of breaking air echoed in the atmosphere.

Today was still Spearmanship cultivation. Although there was still no breakthrough, he could feel a steady improvement.

Perhaps it lacked an opportunity, or perhaps it just needed to happen naturally, but regardless of the method of breakthrough, he believed it would bring a massive boost to his overall strength.

Ending his cultivation, he gathered everyone at the military camp's large plaza and first praised Red and the others who had followed him for the ambush and assassination yesterday.

Then, based on everyone's performance during this period of training, he took out a portion of cultivation resources and distributed them with detailed rewards.

With the cultivation resources he had obtained previously, he could fully satisfy everyone's cultivation needs for a period of time.

As long as these resources were well-digested, the military strength within the territory would surely rise to another level.

Once all the arrangements were finished, he returned to the Lord's residence to enjoy breakfast.

Perhaps because of what happened last night, Flora didn't dare to look him directly in the eye during breakfast, her white and smooth cheeks tinged with a faint flush.

He found the girl's demeanor quite interesting, but out of consideration for her feelings, he didn't say much.

After enjoying the well-served meal, he returned to his room.

He had returned to the territory too late yesterday, and Flora's sudden appearance had interrupted his plans, so he hadn't had the chance to properly look at the spoils he obtained.

Sitting on the leather sofa, he took a sip of hot milk and then took all the spoils out of his storage ring.

Although he had seen them once yesterday, seeing the large amount of items that couldn't even fit on the table and had to be placed on the floor still made him unable to help but show joy.

Scanning all the items, he first looked at the wizard's weapons, tools, and cultivation resources.

Among them were three primary Magic Wands and two mid-grade Magic Wands. Except for the one on Golan which was mid-grade, the other four Enchanted Robes were all primary-grade.

These could only be used by wizards and Mages. In the territory, besides himself, only Christina and Lucina, who had not yet begun her cultivation, could use them.

So after the three of them finished dividing them, he would still have quite a few left, which could be sold or used for other purposes later.

Then there were the expensive storage rings; he had obtained four in total, one of which was mid-grade.

However, in comparison, the one he had obtained from the Wild Dog Orcs was much better, so there was no need to switch.

Moving his gaze to the two primary Wizardry scrolls, one high-grade Wizardry scroll, and one mid-grade Magic Book placed together, he picked them up one by one to flip through them.

As he looked, the joy on his face became even more intense.

These scrolls and the Magic Book were all of the offensive type, greatly different from the Mesfield's Wizard Scroll he had obtained before.

Of the two primary Wizardry scrolls, one was the fire-element 'Multiple Fireball Roar' and the other was the wind-element 'Gale Blade'.

The former could simultaneously release a large number of scorching fireballs to attack, while the latter could release wind blades within a certain area to tear the opponent apart; both belonged to area-of-effect magic.

Inside the high-grade Wizardry scroll was a rare single-target attack dark-element Wizardry called 'Nether Entwinement'.

Once released, it could cause the target to be surrounded and attacked by ghost-like dark forces, and it could also significantly weaken the target's mobility. It was equally effective when released against a Transcendent one major realm higher than the user.

"Two area-of-effect spells and one single-target attack; this is perfect to make up for my lack of offensive Wizardry attributes."

"Dark element, indeed worthy of a grand executor of the Black Witch Church!"

After he couldn't help but exclaim, he continued to look at the final mid-grade Magic Book—Suddenly, he cried out in surprise.