If someone from Valoran Academy came looking for trouble, this situation wouldn't be easy to resolve.

  ?However, what happened next left everyone in the shop dumbfounded. The baron's battle aura-covered palm didn't strike Loren's body at all; instead, it was blocked just an inch in front of him.

  ?"Bang!"

  ?With a heavy slamming sound, the shimmering barrier in front of Loren flickered without showing the slightest sign of being shaken.

  ?"Instant cast magic? No, it's a magic ring!"

  ?The woman in the shop saw the magic power fluctuations emitting from the ring on Loren's right hand, which he had placed behind his back.

  ?The magic barrier blocking in front of Loren was a Level 6 spell. The baron would have to strike it with his full-strength Level 5 battle aura a hundred times before he had a chance of breaking it.

  ?"Fat pig, is this all the strength you have? Did you skip a meal or something? Trying to lose weight? But since you're already this fat, it's too late to try losing weight now."

  ?Loren said punchably. This kind of dog-shit actually wants to lay a finger on my maid? I am absolutely seeing this show of dominance through to the end today.

  ?The baron's face trembled with anger. "Kid, you're dead. I'm definitely going to kill you today!"

  ?Saying this, the baron threw several consecutive palm strikes at Loren: "Fury Battle Aura: Blood Lion!"

  ?The blood-red battle aura on the baron's fist condensed into a ferocious blood-red lion's head, crashing toward the barrier in front of Loren along with his fist.

  ?But to the baron's shock, even after using a martial skill to attack, he still couldn't break the magic barrier in front of Loren!

  ?His attacks crashed against the barrier like a clay ox entering the sea—without causing the slightest disturbance! Loren watched his continuous attacks without even blinking an eye: "Weak, too weak. You want to break my barrier with this kind of attack? Go eat a few more years' worth of rice first!"

  ?"Y-you kid... exactly who are you?"

  ?Being humiliated by Loren once again, Baron Reberun's face finally turned slightly pale at this moment. Being able to block the full-force bombardment of his Level 5 battle aura—only magic surpassing Level 6 could do that!

  ?Such a young kid is already a Level 6 Grand Mage??

  ?Baron Reberun's heart fluctuated continuously. Seeing the single star insignia on Loren's uniform, he couldn't quite believe it. This guy is just a first-year student at Valoran Academy, right? Since when did such a genius exist among the first-years?

  ?If Loren truly was a Level 6 Mage, even as a baron, he wouldn't dare to offend him.

  ?"As you can see, I'm just a lowly first-year student of the Magic Department." Loren brushed off non-existent dust from his robe, his expression turning serious: "Lord Fat Pig Baron, do you still want to keep playing? If you're done playing, then apologize to me. Apologize to my maid!"

  ?"Apologize to your maid? Are you joking? I am a bar—"

  ?The baron became agitated, but his voice abruptly cut off because he saw Loren pull out a magic scroll.

  ?"Level 8 Esoteric Magic!!"

  ?Seeing the mark on the magic scroll, the baron's face instantly turned deathly pale: "Kid, what are you trying to do?"

  ?Loren just looked at him flatly: "I will say this one last time: apologize to my maid."

  ?"Your words earlier disgusted me, and they also hurt my maid."

  ?"Therefore, I am telling you to apologize to her. Do you understand now?"

  ?Being stared at by Loren's icy gaze, a layer of cold sweat broke out on Baron Reberun's forehead. A Level 8 magic scroll could easily kill him a hundred times over. And for someone to be able to casually pull out such a scroll to threaten him, Baron Reberun absolutely didn't dare to imagine what kind of terrifying background Loren had.

  ?Thus, he no longer dared to put on any airs. With trembling legs, he bowed deeply in front of Lola: "I'm sorry."

  ?Baron Reberun swallowed his saliva as he spoke. This time, it wasn't from seeing Lola's beautiful little legs, but from fear. However, he was naturally incredibly furious inwardly. This kid actually made a baron like me apologize for a lowly demon maid. He felt this kid must have a hole in his head!

  ?Facing the baron's apology, Lola stepped back a few paces in fear. She then looked up at Loren. In those wine-red eyes, there were indescribably complex emotions. "Master..."

  ?She looked at Loren with deep emotion.

  ?Lola had never imagined the result would be like this, that Loren would defend her to such an extent.

  ?After Baron Reberun finished apologizing, he didn't dare look at Loren. He simply swallowed a breath of anger, turned his head, and left. If word got out that he had apologized to a lowly demon maid, he would become a disgrace among the nobles. But feeling the pressure from the Level 8 magic scroll in Loren's hand, he didn't dare to say a single harsh word. He could only hope this kid wouldn't go too far, otherwise, he would truly have to fight Loren to the bitter end.

  ?Loren didn't continue to make things difficult for this baron either. Instead, seeing Lola's grateful gaze toward him, he said very unhappily: "Don't look at me with that kind of gaze, making it seem like I'm the one bullying you. I'm only doing this because these are clauses written in the contract. Don't think of me as having too good of a heart. Hey, I told you to hold back those tears! You bastard, you actually dare to use this lord's clothes to wipe your snot? Careful, or I won't give you any food!"

  If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

  ?Seeing Lola suddenly throw herself at him and wipe her tears all over him, Loren put on an expression of disgust, yet his hand very consciously stroked Lola's soft hair.

  ?Tch, crybaby girls are the absolute worst.

  ?Loren thought to himself with exasperation.

  ?He thought this, but his action of patting Lola's head was incredibly gentle.

  ?...

  ?"Crybaby, quickly hold back those tears. If you ever cry in such an embarrassing way again, don't say you're my maid." Loren disgustedly handed Lola a tissue brought over by a clerk.

  ?Lola sobbed, taking the tissue and wiping her tear-streaked little face. She said intermittently, "I, I didn't want to cry either, but just now, for some reason, I just suddenly started crying."

  ?"Damn, do you think you've cultivated the 'Heavenly Weeping Manual'? Getting your tear points poked at the drop of a hat?" Loren felt a bit troubled. Was it really okay to take such a crybaby maid out?

  ?He kept feeling like he would get arrested by the military police at any moment. Fortunately, this maid was a demon, and demons had no human rights in human empires. Otherwise, Loren would seriously have to consider whether he needed to bribe the military police beforehand.

  ?"I'm sorry, two valued guests, for causing you mushrooms just now." (Note: The clerks are flustered and misspeaking "trouble" as "mushrooms" here.)

  ?The female clerks looked at the master-and-servant pair and apologized profusely, and for some reason, they were even stumbling over their words. The gazes they secretly cast toward Loren were almost shooting stars.

  ?To be honest, Loren's outward appearance was actually quite handsome. Plus, he was young and full of spi... money, and coupled with the powerful strength he showed while completely overwhelming the fat pig baron, these female clerks couldn't help but fall slightly in love with him.

  ?In this world that worshipped the strong, love was something that could sprout just this simply.

  ?Loren waved his hand, signaling that this was nothing to him. Lord Loren had seen all sorts of storms in the game; he simply didn't put extras like this in his eyes.

  ?Loren was very proficient at the three-hit show-off combo he had just used. First, use a haughty and arrogant attitude to suppress the fat pig baron. Then, display powerful strength (secretly activating the magic ring). Finally, bring out a Level 8 magic scroll as a threat. This three-hit show-off combo struck people's hearts just like the three-hit quality insult combo.

  ?"Valued guest, to express our apologies, please accept this maid outfit as our gift of apology."

  ?The female shop owner, wearing a beautiful long dress, arrived late. In fact, she had been observing Loren from a distance the whole time, and only now walked over with a smiling face.

  ?Loren didn't decline. "Then thank you, Manager. But is it okay about that guy just now? He shouldn't come back to cause trouble in the shop after I leave, right?"

  ?Although Loren wasn't a good person, he was still someone with principles. He absolutely didn't intend to let a group of women take the blame for the trouble he had caused.

  ?"Please rest assured, valued guest. Although our shop isn't large in scale, we do have some background. Baron Reberun won't come to the shop to cause trouble," the female shop owner said.

  ?"If that's the case, then there's no problem. Finally, I'll trouble the Manager to prepare a few more maid outfits like this one. Oh, and also pick out a few everyday dresses and some underwear for her as well," Loren said.

  ?Hearing this, a trace of surprise flashed across the female shop owner's face. The clothes in her shop were not cheap. Hearing Loren's completely unconcerned tone, it was hard for her not to be surprised. But thinking about how Loren didn't hesitate to make an enemy of a baron just to protect his maid, the female shop owner seemed to understand something and revealed a smile: "No problem."

  ?She then instructed two clerks to fetch a few dresses. When they were making Lola's maid outfit earlier, they had already taken her body measurements.

  ?In order not to scare Lola's little heart, Loren didn't pay the bill in front of her. Otherwise, if she saw that a few of her little dresses cost tens of thousands of gold coins, she might just faint from fright.

  ?Lola struggled to carry a large bag of clothes taller than she was, an expression of grievance on her face. Yet she didn't notice how jealous the gazes of the other female clerks were as they looked at her.

  ?"Master... it's so heavy."

  ?"Is it? That's great, just the right opportunity to exercise your little arms and legs."

  ?Loren, with his hands in his pockets, said very unscrupulously.

  ?"But my arms are going to break..."

  ?"Mhm, after your arms break, I'll replace them for you. A gorilla's arms are pretty good."

  ?"..."

  ?Encountering such a heartless master, Lola suddenly felt her future life as a maid was bleak.

  ?Hmph, and here I initially thought this guy was quite handsome.

  ?I was definitely blind just now.

  ?Hugging the towering pile of bags, Lola watched Loren casually buy an ice cream and lick it right there, her little eyes filled with resentment.

  ?"Eating too much ice cream easily gives you diarrhea. I don't care for it anyway," Lola secretly consoled herself.

  ?..

  ?"What an interesting pair of master and servant."

  ?The female shop owner watched Loren and Lola leave, revealing a highly interested expression.

  ?At this moment, a capable young girl wearing silver swordsman armor and sporting a blonde ponytail suddenly walked out from the back. On the woman's fair arm, there was an emblem of a golden sunflower pattern encircling crossed holy swords and a holy shield.

  ?The Inquisition, Holy Adjudicator Knight!

  ?If Lola were here, she would definitely recognize that mark that terrified her.

  ?"Lady Sylvia, that demon just now was?"

  ?The young girl knight asked curiously.

  ?Her attitude toward this mysterious female shop owner was exceptionally respectful.

  ?"I don't know. What, Yvette, you don't actually think that little one is the 'Demon King' you've been tracking, do you?" The female shop owner smoothed the hair by her ear and revealed an enigmatic smile.

  ?The young knight Yvette said with a serious face: "I don't know, but we cannot rule out the possibility. While tracking our target, we found that a caravan transporting slaves to the imperial capital had been slaughtered completely on the way. Including all the slaves, not a single one was left alive. And because the power of the 'Demon King' was detected at the scene, we have to suspect that the 'Demon King' is within the imperial capital."

  ?"There are quite a few demons in the imperial capital. If you want to investigate, who knows how much effort it will take," the female shop owner yawned and replied lazily.

  ?"That is why the Church decided to leave a force stationed in the imperial capital. Our negotiators are currently discussing it with the imperial capital's royal family," Yvette said. "As long as the 'Demon King' is still in the imperial capital, she cannot hide forever. As long as there is the slightest clue, our 'Divine Oracle' will be able to capture her."

  ?"'Divine Oracle', huh... Hehe. Then I wish you good luck," the female shop owner said nonchalantly. "Anyway, these matters have nothing to do with me anymore. According to our agreement, I have already helped you introduce the Holy Maiden into Valoran Academy. As for the Fallen Knight, I have no way to deal with that on my end either. Unless there are special circumstances in the future, don't come bothering me anymore. I still have a business to run, and I don't want to get dragged into your messy, troublesome affairs."

  ?"But Lady Sylvia..."

  ?Yvette couldn't help but say.

  ?"Do not call me Lady. I no longer have any ties to your Church." The female shop owner cast a cold glance at Yvette, forcing the young knight to lower her head with a dim expression.

  ?"I am a bit tired today. Yvette, go back and report your mission." Soon, the female shop owner issued an order for her guest to leave. Yvette bowed to her before leaving with heavy steps.

  ?"The Church..."

  ?The female shop owner watched the female knight's departing back, gave a cold snort, and turned back into the shop.

  ?...