(Lian Li POV)
There was a minute of silence when Master left the room.
The five of us stood in the middle of said room while the other three occupants, the father, the brother and the knight, contemplated on what to do with us.
"I suppose an introduction is due," The father sighed. "I am Gale Lindulf, current head of the Lindulf house. You've already met Fred, our head knight of the House and Dailus, my eldest son."
I curtsied, my sisters mimicking my action.
"I am Lian Li, Master's first disciple. Beside me are Manami, Eris and Diao Chan who are also Master's disciples. The little one is Cai Hong, Master's adopted daughter."
"Adopted daughter? Him?" The father gasped in disbelief.
Fred nodded, "He has claimed it true himself."
"Huh… Never thought that… No, never mind…"
"How long have you known him?" The brother asked before I could question the father.
"Close to half a year," I answered.
"Hmm… He hasn't given any of you weird ideas has he? Because that's what he did with my sisters."
Diao Chan frowned, "Master has given us nothing but the best we can ask for, we are forever indebted to him."
I nodded, "Yes, without Master's guidance and intervention, none of us would be where we are today."
The father raised an eyebrow at us, "And none of you find his current body's condition weird at all?"
Manami bowed her head slightly, "Master is in his current condition only because he had placed himself in danger to protect a lot of people. The regression of his body's age was the price he had to pay for such heroism."
"Hmph, that can't be what happened," The brother scoffed. "Before he left, he always did things for himself and spared no thought for those around him."
Master being selfish? That is hard to believe.
"Jealousy…?" Eris asked.
"Me? Jealous of him? Ha! That can't be further from the truth! If only you knew what he did in the past before he lost his memories, I had to fix so many things because of him!"
"Now, now Dailus," The father called out, returning to his seat at his desk. "It is true that due to his ideas, there has been some… Improvements… Made to this area. So we can't deny what he has contributed as well."
"But the price we had to pay? This whole town is a place of degenerates! I can't even go out without being harrassed anymore! Even mother… She…"
I raised my eyebrow at the family drama in front of me, "With all due respect, if you could stop with the pronoun game and actually explain what you're talking about, that would be greatly appreciated."
"Damn… And here I thought I could drag this on for a few more fillers or so without you noticing…" The father faked a cough.
Diao Chan dug a piece of paper out of her pocket, "Hmm… Nope, I do not see drama included in the tags, so if you would please just skip forward all the unnecessary drama and get to the point. I'm not directing any of this after all."
"Well, can't blame me for trying," The father shrugged. " I assume none of you had the chance to walk through the town yet?"
We shook our heads.
"Then let Fred guide you around for a bit," He waved towards the door. "It is better that you see for yourself than for us to explain. It's not something that we would enjoy talking about. Fred, if you would. And it would be best that they… Keep to the safe areas."
Fred bowed to him before opening the door and ushering us out.
With the door firmly shut, the knight gave a long sigh before addressing us, "Forgive my rudeness, but I have to ask again. Has your Master really not taught anything out of the norm to any of you?"
Cai Hong pouted, "Papa is not weird!"
I nodded, "Isn't Master rather well known at this point? All of you speak as though you don't know of Master's exploits."
"There's a good reason," Fred gestured towards the corridor, indicating that we should walk and talk. "Our House was never receptive of the Practitioner ways of this continent, preferring to focus all our resources and efforts in trading and management instead."
That is understandable. Practitioners were not really a common sight amongst the general public since they usually end up living most of their lives within Sects and have almost no outside contact. Mortals who do not have Cultivation Points usually don't care about the Practitioner side of the world.
"I should also tell you first that the Master you know is not the same person as the one from before he lost his memories. I shall show you how different this town is compared to others and you might have an idea of why we react to him like that."
We followed the corridor back to the main entrance, passing by several servants who greeted us respectfully.
Fred nodded back to them in greeting, waiting for them to be out of earshot before continuing.
"It is no secret to the more… Important people of the Lindulf House that our second Young Master, or rather, the current Master Lin, was an oddity," Fred continued. "He never cared for the nobility nor was he interested in the rigid rules of society. He was also exceptionally smart for his age and learnt things more quickly than others."
All of us nodded, that sounds like what Master would do.
"The only problem was his obsession with this certain thing called 'An Ney May', there were no ends to the troubles he caused due to that obsession of his. I assume that none of you have ever heard of such a thing?"
We most definitely haven't, so I told him so.
"Then that's the surest sign that he is no longer the same person as he was before," The knight sighed. "I'm not sure if that can be considered a good thing, though."
I shivered, the thought of Master suddenly changing himself did not sit right with me. Judging by how the other girls also showed signs of dissatisfaction, they were definitely of a similar opinion.
Master is already perfect, he does not need to change.
"Now, I assume you have at least been to a few other villages, towns and cities, yes?" Fred asked. "Maybe even the capital city of Jin?"
I narrowed my eyes, "What kind of question is that? We are not savages."
He shrugged, his armour clinking with the movement, "Never hurts to be sure. As a warning though, this town is vastly different to what you might be used to."
He pulled open the doors of the main entrance, holding it open for us to walk through.
Stepping through to the sunlight, we were greeted with the sight of the town spread out in front of us.
Since we had arrived in an enclosed carriage earlier in the day, we didn't have a chance to actually see what the rest of the town looked like before reaching here.
The mansion we had just came out of was built on this little hill overlooking the town with a paved road leading down to it.
Different from the greyish stone buildings that we have seen in the Sect and Jin city, the buildings here were leaning more towards the white-ish side of the colour spectrum.
Some of them even looked to be more than two stories high, a feature that I've yet to see anywhere else.
"Spent a number of years to tear down the old buildings and rebuild the town," Fred commented offhandedly. "The young miss insisted it was worth the effort and she had been right. Used something called 'Ro Men Kon Crit' though she had no answers to what the name actually meant."
We looked at him in confusion, how could the person suggesting these ideas not know why it was named such a way?
Noticing our obvious looks of confusion, he continued, "The ideas had apparently came from your Master. Only a few of us know about this… But the little miss was taught by your Master before he lost his memories in the past."
How envious… It seems like the little sister is Master's first student and she has already become so successful through Master's teachings, there is no doubt Master will be the greatest guide for the world.
As his disciples, we must definitely not bring shame to Master and spread his teachings to the world as well!
"Oh, and I think this would be a good time to tell you that your Master is actually adopted. We found him when he was a baby in the forest nearby and the former head of the House decided to take him in. His sisters and himself does not know about this so I implore you all to refrain from telling them."
"Eh? Why?" Eris questioned.
"It has something to do with his sisters. I am afraid I cannot say anymore than that. Please understand."
Deciding that it was better to follow the local rules, we obliged. Though if Master asked about it, I won't hesitate to reveal the truth to him.
Still, the fact that he was not born a mortal child just further proves Master's divinity!
