Free Web NovelChapter 18: Home-field Advantage
Everyone in the dining room was taken aback by Ray’s action.
"Does anyone else want to swagger like Jake?" Ray ignored their glances.
"Feel free to toss your pouches on the ground. I’ll gladly sweep it up for you. No need to praise me for cleaning the ground. It’s my honor to do so!"
The others were rendered speechless by his behavior.
They ended up taking a few coins and placed them on the table.
Toss their pouches?
That was their monthly distribution!
Only Jake was stupid enough to throw away his monthly distribution on the ground like that.
Needless to say, Ray accepted their payment without hesitation. His hands grabbed the coins faster than they could process the situation.
"Ahem, I’ve overpaid." Jake cleared his throat and said. His face was somewhat red from embarrassment as he wanted his money back.
Others only paid like 1-2 silver coins, but his pouch contained way more than just silver coins.
"Jake, if Father ever accidentally over-rewarded you for your merits, would you return them?" Ray asked.
"Uhh..."
"See, you won’t return it. So why would I? Wisen up next time, Mister Swagger~." freewёbnoνel.com
He then ignored the ashen pale face of Jake and turned his attention to Skyler.
"What are you standing there for? Lead the way to the sparring area! I’ve just arrived at this household and barely know the layout."
"R-Right..." Skyler snapped out of his daze and began walking toward the sparring area. His twin, Skylar, only shook her head in dismay and decided to follow along to watch the scene.
Ray didn’t charge her either because she was the actual blood-related sister of Skyler, so it would have been inappropriate and a bit too much as opposed to the other half-siblings.
As everyone was prepared to follow Ray to the sparring area, Jake’s expression was sullen.
"Mother..." He turned around and glanced at his Mother, Michelle.
Michelle could only frown and suppress her fury. ’This foolish son of mine only knows how to swagger but does not know how to adapt.’
She ignored his plight and quickly used her eyes to signal her daughter, Jeanette, to drag Jake away from the scene.
Once Jeanette received the signal and dragged her sullen brother away from the area, Michelle turned her attention to Paula.
At the moment, both she and Yerena had been embarrassed and humiliated, with Paula being slightly spared by the adopted son.
"Why are you all staring at me?" Paula mused. "My daughter, Chloe, was sensible and didn’t make room for the newcomer to take advantage of."
"Are you standing on the adopted son’s side now?" Yerena asked.
"It was originally an internal affair among us, but now we have another person to be wary of. Do you really want to let someone else not born of the Lord’s or another noble’s blood to steal from us?" Michelle questioned.
The topic was extremely sensitive, but thankfully, the nearby servants realized it was their cue to leave when only the wives remained.
Moreover, even if someone accidentally overheard the conversation, they wouldn’t dare to report it back to the Lord either.
Was the Lord a fool?
He obviously knew their thoughts but feigned a blind eye as a silent approval.
As the wives duke it out among themselves, the others had already arrived at the sparring area.
"Wow, we can have a basketball field or even more sports here already," Ray commented when he saw how vast the sparring field was. It was so big that he reckoned it could be used for an Olympic event.
"Over here!" Skyler shouted when he noticed Ray wandering off at a distance.
"Calm your horses." Ray waved his hand in annoyance. "I need to inspect the surroundings to know the terrain. You spent all your lives here, so you have a home-field advantage."
"H-Home field advantage? What is that?"
"I’ll tell you once you become my lackey. A lackey who is ignorant isn’t worthy to clean my shoes."
"Who the hell is your lackey!"
Skyler huffed in anger and wanted to strangle him already. Every time Ray opened his mouth, it was like a toxic pool had been squirted out.
Okay, maybe that analogy was a bit weird, but you get the point! He was beyond infuriating as a person.
"Control your emotions, brother." At this moment, Skylar spoke up and advised her twin brother. "He’s purposely messing with your mentality so that you wouldn’t be able to perform well."
"He what??!" Skyler was dumbfounded. He didn’t anticipate the latter to be that cunning to mess with his mentality.
His eyes darted to Ray, who had his hands behind his head as he strolled around.
’Tsk, this is why I hate backseat gamers.’ Ray clicked his tongue in annoyance.
He was so close to succeeding in ruining Skyler’s battle mindset. Yet his twin sister managed to stop him from falling deeper and reeled him back.
How annoying was that?
If you’re not in the game or dead in the game, just keep your damn mouth shut!
Don’t tell them what to do or how to do it!
Who could stand such people?
A few minutes later, Skyler finally got annoyed at how much time Ray was wasting.
"Are you done yet?" He raised his voice.
"Do I look like I’m ready?" Ray snapped back.
"Uh..."
"That’s what I thought."
Ray snorted and continued walking at a calm pace. Despite the calm composure, he was actually panicking internally.
’Fuck fuck fuck... I don’t even have any offensive spells. How am I supposed to win if his mindset isn’t screwed either?’ At this moment, he really wanted to sew Skylar’s mouth shut or stuff her with something big.
Suddenly, he got a bright idea.
’Wait a damn second. Who said barriers can only be used on yourself?’ Ray had a crazy idea.
As for what that idea was?
’Heh, just find out when the spar actually happens. Ahahahaha,’ he laughed sinisterly. A plan only works if the opponent doesn’t know what you’re up to.
The element of surprise was the best offense!
