### Chapter 111: The Too Comfortable Royal City
Smack—
“Ugh!” “Pfft!”
As a muffled grunt escaped, both their heads shot up, followed by their robust bodies.
The straight punches came in faster than lightning, an entirely impossible reaction for pampered kids like them. The dazed looks on their faces, almost comical in their drooling disbelief, were a sight to behold. But in my gaze, their formerly proud noses were now flattened, the impact rippling across their faces like waves, distorting what could be considered fine features—of course, I held back a little.
In the next instant, bl**d erupted from their noses, and the tall figure of one of them toppled backward.
Thud!
And I just happened to land on my feet.
I clapped my tiny hands and turned around, grinning at the three girls gaping in shock, with their mouths slightly ajar and eyes brimming with disbelief. I cheekily winked at them.
“Shall we go?”
“…Oh, uh, right…” Sarah responded, nodding with a stunned expression, looking as though she hadn’t quite registered what just happened, “Wow… Peilo, you…”
“That was just… so violent… but I like it!” Sophia exclaimed excitedly.
“Ah—!”
“My nose is broken… it’s broken… ahh…”
The cries of agony began to resonate, but I ignored them and grabbed Daisy’s arm, hoisting her onto my shoulder while turning to smile at her: “Daisy, I’ll carry you.”
“Uh…” Daisy’s eyes were glassy, clearly still in a daze.
“Is that okay?” Sarah looked at my small frame, instinctively worried. Then she suddenly recalled the earlier spectacle and chuckled, shaking her head, “Uh, forget I said anything.”
I hoisted Daisy up.
My little hand grazed her smooth thigh, feeling the pleasant softness on my back. For a brief moment, my heart raced… and then it faded fast. That feeling didn’t linger as long as I imagined it would.
The intimate contact with a girl wasn’t as… how should I put it? Awkward or bashful as I had expected. No blushing or heart-thudding emotions, just a vague sense of annoyance… Alright, I reluctantly admitted that it was probably jealousy.
…What gives… what did she eat to grow up like this…
I looked down at my own puny little bump and pouted, bitterness creeping into my heart.
It’s not embarrassing to admit it—I’m certainly paying more attention to it lately… Maybe I should ask Daisy for tips later.
“Peilo, thank you.”
Daisy’s warm breath tickled my neck, and her hair brushed against my face, giving me an itch.
I started to laugh.
“No problem… let’s go!”
I dashed forward with her on my back.
Meanwhile, the two male students were still sprawled on the ground, hands clutching their faces like squirming worms, tears, snot, and bl**d all mixed together. They occasionally slapped the ground in an attempt to alleviate the pain on their noses, showing no sign of getting up anytime soon.
“They’ll be late, right?” Sarah’s voice came from my side.
“That’s what they get! Who cares about them?” Sophia, running alongside me, still had a flush of excitement on her face. “Peilo, are you actually really good at fighting?”
“Pretty average.”
“Completely! Can’t tell at all! You’re so tiny, didn’t expect you to be the strongest!”
…Uh, can we not keep emphasizing that I’m tiny? Is that funny or something…
“Peilo, who did you learn to fight from?”
“Natural talent.”
“Liar!”
“Those punches looked fierce… Peilo, you didn’t actually break their noses, did you?”
Unlike Sophia, who was completely unrestrained, Sarah had a worried frown.
I gave her a reassuring smile: “Nope, just hurts a lot.”
“Those two look like they’re not commoners… if they’re from the Royal City nobility, we might face some trouble later…”
“It’s fine.”
I knew what she was worried about.
Though I had only met a handful of people from the Royal City, it was enough to give me a good sense of the place’s situation.
Clearly, the upper crust of this city… wasn’t doing so hot. Be it the guards’ remarks when we arrived, the plump grandma’s warnings, or the childish antics of the aristocratic kids at the academy, it all suggested that the culture here was a bit off.
The two students I just decked and the gang I met last night—including that red-haired Alex guy—seemed to think they could drag me to their dorms just because they knew I was from the Winter Moon family. Plus, as I gathered from the plump grandma, these guys would tone it down at the academy but were truly shameless outside of it, unafraid to do whatever they wanted.
They were just students—what do they have? What can they do? I could take on a thousand of them in this world ruled by power; why did they think they could act so brazenly? Because they trusted their families would back them up… that no matter what mistakes they made, they wouldn’t face the consequences.
It was that very belief that allowed them to act recklessly.
If the kids behaved this way, it’s not hard to imagine how their elders acted.
In just a few days since arriving in the Royal City, I had figured all this out. As a local, Sarah surely understood even better. She came from a knight’s family, likely of a lower class, hence her worries about potential retaliation from those brats. Conversely, Sophia didn’t have such a problem—her own family was also a reliable backing.
Just human nature.
Just like the plump grandma said, the Royal City had been too comfortable for too long, long enough that some people had seemingly forgotten their roots.
Victoria… that woman must have it tough.
Is that why she always looks like someone owes her money?
“Peilo, it’s right over there, we’ve arrived!”
Daisy’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts. I focused ahead to see the rusty iron bars with an entrance made of iron mesh—the training ground was just beyond.
The training ground was about the size of two football fields, the ground made of large stones, smoothed to perfection. Inside, numerous students were already gathered, and it seemed we might have been the last group to arrive.
“Are we late?”
“Shouldn’t be…”
Once inside the training ground, I gently set Daisy down and stood there momentarily confused about what to do next, so I headed toward the largest group of people. Not long after, I spotted a big sign saying “By Lake Ceylon,” next to an elderly man with white hair who looked somewhat familiar… ah, it’s Teacher Melville!
I waved to Sarah and the others: “Over here!”
Rushing over, I respectfully called out, “Teacher!”
Teacher Melville glanced at me, pulled out his pocket watch, and checked it.
“…Barely a minute off; you could have taken your time coming in. You could have just joined the previous physical training class… Go stand at the back of the line.”
“Teacher.” I nudged Daisy forward, “She’s hurt.”
I wanted to see if there was any alcohol or herbs to disinfect Daisy’s injury, but Teacher Melville approached, grabbed her arm, lifted the cloth, and took a quick look before chuckling.
“It’s just a scrape. You call that a wound? Students at the Royal Academy… don’t fuss over small things like this. We’ll deal with it after the ceremony.”
