27: Annoying neighbors

"I've reached Bronze Rank 2!"

Spartacus felt the changes in his body; the abundant battle qi energy filled him with pleasant surprise.

Compared to the envy of the others, Lister and Red felt more gratified.

After all, the former was Spartacus's benefactor and patron, while the latter was his teacher.

Watching Spartacus approach him, Lister was generous with his praise: "Not bad, keep up the hard work."

"Thank you for the praise, my Lord!" Spartacus said with a bashful smile.

After offering some more words of encouragement, Lister left the training grounds and returned to his room on the third floor of the castle.

After enjoying a hearty dinner, it was already quite late.

After watching Little Bai Ze play and rest with Lianna and the others, Lister began today's divination.

There were still three pieces of divination information. Lister always felt it was a bit too few; although greed wasn't a good thing, one should be greedy when the time was right.

Of course, he had this idea based on the wording of the divination text; after all, it mentioned the 'current number of divinations' rather than just 'number of divinations'.

The difference made by those two extra words was significant, but he didn't know how to increase the count and could only investigate it slowly over time.

With a light tap of his index finger, three pieces of divination information slowly surfaced on the blank page:

[Divination 1: Recently, several cases of female deaths have occurred in the Emerald Territory. The common factor was that they were all assaulted and disemboweled while alive, dying in a truly horrific manner. This malicious event has been taken very seriously by Viscount Humphrey, who immediately dispatched Knight Captain Parker to investigate with his men and arranged for his son-in-law Wade to accompany them.]

[Divination 2: The five Black Dog Orcs who caused casualties in Viscount Connor Kimmlers Territory and disappeared will reappear in three days in Baron Grant Bertram's territory, causing casualties to one Bronze Tier 3 knight, three Apprentice Knights, and dozens of civilians. Before the furious Baron Grant can concentrate his forces for an extermination, they will flee and disappear again.]

[Divination 3: Bertha Olivia was attracted by the generosity and tenderness of Baron Daniel of the Black Bear Territory a few months ago and subsequently became his mistress. Little did she know it was all a facade; in private, Daniel is cold-blooded and violent, beating Bertha Olivia at the slightest dissatisfaction. Five days later, unable to endure it any longer, she stole fifty gold coins from Daniel and fled, only to be killed by a wild beast while passing through the western side of the Mist Forest.]

Disemboweled?

So cruel!

Just the first piece of divination information left Lister astounded. He found it hard to imagine who would be so bold as to commit such a major crime in a Viscount Territory.

Although he had dared to have Red teach that patrolman a lesson in the Emerald Territory last time, that was only because of the divination information.

In terms of overall strength, he was far inferior to Viscount Humphrey, and Knight Captain Parker was just one of Viscount Humphrey's Knight Captains.

Of course, after Red advanced to a Silver Knight, things would be completely different.

While somewhat admiring the perpetrator's nerve, the MO also reminded him of the famous 'Jack the Ripper' incident from his previous life; the two cases were practically identical.

Could the killer from the 'Jack the Ripper' incident have reincarnated into this world?

After a brief sigh in his heart, he looked at the second piece of divination information.

Those five Black Dog Orcs again. Compared to last time, the casualties caused this time were even more severe, including a Bronze Tier 3 knight, which showed they were not weak.

After reading these two pieces of information, Lister tapped his finger lightly, appearing lost in thought.

At first glance, these two pieces of information seemed to have nothing to do with him, but after careful consideration, he discovered the potential danger within.

After all, both territories were very close to the Ironthorn Territory. It was entirely possible for the perpetrator and the five Black Dog Orcs to flee to his impoverished and seemingly insecure territory.

Without precautions, the Ironthorn Territory would definitely suffer heavy casualties.

"It seems I need to take precautions in advance," Lister murmured to himself.

Moving his gaze to the third piece of divination information, his expression immediately brightened.

Another windfall from the heavens has come again!

He loved doing things like this—getting good stuff with just a little effort, almost like getting something for nothing.

However, this Daniel also began to concern him. After all, Daniel was the instigator of the previous corruption incident, and given the description of him in this matter, it was clear this man wasn't as simple as he appeared on the surface.

Having such a malicious 'neighbor' meant he had to be on guard... The next morning, Lister woke up early, yet he was still full of energy, living a much healthier life than in his previous one.

After breakfast, he began handling official business. Although most of the work was handed over to Brutus, some matters still required his final decision.

Listening to Brutus's report, Lister nodded repeatedly. He truly recognized and appreciated Brutus's ability; every report was concise and appropriate, with not a single piece of key information missing.

This also made him wonder why that noble would frame Brutus; wouldn't it be better to keep such a talent and exploit him?

Soon, the report ended, and Brutus bowed before turning to leave.

Feeling a bit tired, Lister couldn't help but stretch. At that moment, he noticed that Flora, who was attending him, seemed to have an unusual expression.

Seeing her somewhat pale face, Lister asked with concern, "Flora, are you feeling unwell?"

"Baron, Flora is... no, I'm fine," Flora replied respectfully, but her words were clearly hesitant.

"I don't like people who don't take care of their own bodies," Lister's tone changed, becoming serious. "Do you not want to continue being my personal maid?"

Flora immediately looked terrified and hurriedly said, "No, that's not it, Baron. Please don't dismiss me."

Seeing this, Lister stopped scaring her and smiled gently. "Then tell me, what exactly is wrong with you?"

"Baron, I... I'm on my period." The moment she said this, Flora seemed to have used up all her strength, her face flushed deep Red.

"...Uh." Lister was momentarily stunned. At this moment, he felt like he had just been a truly heinous person.

But he couldn't be blamed. Although he wasn't exactly some innocent virgin in his past life, he hadn't really had a serious girlfriend.

He naturally didn't know much about girls being on their periods, or rather, he hadn't paid much attention to it.

After a dry cough to hide his embarrassment, he continued, "Sorry, being on your period is no small matter; your health is what's most important. Go back and rest first, and return to work only when you feel fine."

"B-but..."

Flora wanted to say more, but Lister interrupted her directly: "Enough, say no more. Do you want to serve me while your body is unwell?"

"Yes, Baron. Thank you for your concern." Flora was quite moved.

Watching Flora leave, Lister took a short break and then summoned Red, instructing him:

"Red, assemble the team immediately."