Chapter 433

Chapter 433

Lorant couldn’t help but smirk. No matter where or what he was doing, the headmaster always had his academy on his mind.

As an old man who considered the Knight Academy the most important thing in his life, Lorant was already familiar with Augustine’s demeanor.

He couldn’t go three sentences without mentioning donations, and not five sentences without bringing up the Knight Academy. It’s a basic professional quality for an old headmaster.

However, Lorant couldn’t just agree. He feigned ignorance and began pouring tea for the old headmaster: "Headmaster, please try this new fragrant tea we just received. It’s all picked from the fragrant tea trees on the Lopulo Mountains. It’s absolutely the best tea."

The cost of this reception room alone was already higher than the price he paid for the entire pet shop’s land. Building such a structure in the academy was highly questionable.

Although he was very concerned about the affairs of the Knight Academy, it didn’t mean he was willing to be a complete fool.

"This is indeed good tea," Augustine nodded and took a sip of the fragrant tea that filled the room with its aroma, unconsciously saying, "If only the students at the Knight Academy could also enjoy this..."

Seeing that the headmaster was habitually steering the conversation back to the Knight Academy, Lorant quickly interrupted: "Headmaster, this fragrant tea costs hundreds of gold coins per pound. I doubt the Knight Academy can afford to provide this tea for all its students."

"Moreover, compared to fragrant tea, students would probably prefer the free pets provided by the system."

Augustine paused for a moment, then smiled wryly and shook his head: "Never mind, you’re right. I’m used to it, so don’t worry."

"However, I must say, you, little guy, in terms of lifestyle, even legendary practitioners might not match you!"

Lorant accepted this evaluation quite well. He smiled and twirled his teacup, not minding: "But this is the reward for my hard work, isn’t it?"

"Moreover, there are quite a few practitioners who can afford potions or weapons at this price. It’s just that everyone has different spending habits and is unwilling to splurge on these things, which makes me seem extravagant." Lorant was quite self-aware about this. He knew what people said about him behind his back when they saw the pet shop’s expenses.

However, the shopkeeper not only accepted it but also saw no issue with it.

He earned his money, so naturally, he could spend it as he liked.

Augustine nodded in agreement. He wasn’t an old-fashioned person and naturally understood that everything Lorant had now was well-deserved, and no one could fault him.

"You’re right. Since that’s the case, let this old man enjoy himself here. When I return to the academy, I won’t have the money to buy such good fragrant tea."

Lorant smiled helplessly: "Headmaster, don’t embarrass me. I’ll pack some and send it to your home."

"You said it! I’m holding you to it!" Augustine laughed heartily, looking at the slightly embarrassed young man, and waved his hand: "Alright, I won’t tease you anymore. I actually came here for a reason."

Hearing this, Lorant also straightened up and looked at him seriously.

Augustine took a sip of tea and stopped beating around the bush.

"I came here today for the matter of the Saint Shield Grass."

"Now that the Saint Shield Grass has been widely popularized in the Knight Academy, almost every shield knight has their own Saint Shield Grass. So I wanted to ask, what are your plans for the Saint Shield Grass in the future?"

Lorant naturally had plans for the Saint Shield Grass. This pet could bring significant improvements to all practitioners who used shields.

Since its creation, the Saint Shield Grass has gradually made its way into the hands of many practitioners and started to have its own influence.

However, this pet also has significant limitations. First, it is a plant pet, and its interactivity cannot be compared to other pets. If one wanted to choose a little companion to keep them company, the Saint Shield Grass would definitely not be the first choice.

Secondly, the part of the Saint Shield Grass that provides help to practitioners is its fruit. To make this fruit grow successfully, a relatively stable and long-term interaction process with the practitioner is required.

The specific time depends on the practitioner’s energy level. The higher the practitioner’s level, the longer the time needed to feed energy to the Saint Shield Grass. Up to now, Lancelot’s Saint Shield Grass has not yet borne fruit.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that the knight is already that powerful. It’s just that, firstly, Lancelot himself practices both magic and martial arts, and his total energy is different from others. Secondly, during this period, he has been running around with Lorant and rarely had the time to stabilize and provide energy for his Saint Shield Fruit.

And since the Saint Shield Grass is not a pet that can be carried around, this process has been forced to pause for quite some time.

This has led to the shields of other high-level practitioners who have reached experimental agreements with the mage team already matured, while Lorant's Saint Shield Grass still shows no signs of progress.

Fortunately, according to Lorant, if the energy feeding is interrupted, it simply means starting over, and it won’t have any adverse effects on the practitioner or the Saint Shield Grass.

From this, it’s clear that for the Saint Shield Grass to bear fruit as quickly as possible, the practitioner’s presence is essential.

However, for the vast majority of practitioners who often venture out to make a living, such a commitment is undoubtedly somewhat extravagant.

This is especially true for those high-level practitioners.

To this end, Blue Star’s advisory team has already provided relevant solutions.

Hearing Augustine’s words, Lorant carefully began, “Actually, we’ve already developed some ideas regarding the Saint Shield Grass. As you know, due to the special nature of this pet, they need to remain as close to the practitioner as possible.”

“For academy students or practitioners settled in one location, there’s naturally no problem. But for the more numerous ordinary practitioners, acquiring such a pet requires some effort.”

“So we’re considering whether we can provide our beastmasters with a relatively stable and suitable space where they can stay with their Saint Shield Grass.”

Blue Star could simply sell the Saint Shield Grass and leave it at that, leaving it to the practitioners to manage their time and space with the Saint Shield Grass.

But with the idea of promoting beast pets and integrating them more effectively into this world, Lorant decided to do more for this special little creature.

So he plans to use the convenience of the Blue Star platform to prepare accordingly at all Lopulo mountain pass fortresses and the entrances to the Black Forest.

This isn’t just for the Saint Shield Grass; the Devouring Frogs, Blood-eyed Crows, Holy Light Peacocks, and the Blue Star Inn, which has been officially proposed, all need such a stable location to support them.

Therefore, Lorant’s next step is to formalize the originally temporary Blue Star outposts.

He briefly described his plan to Augustine, and the old headmaster pondered deeply.

Originally, Augustine had come today to discuss with Lorant the possibility of collaborating with his Knight Academy on all aspects of cultivating and selling the Saint Shield Grass, which the Beast Pet Shop alone struggles or is unwilling to monopolize, thereby adding a considerable and stable income to the academy.

He clearly recognizes the potential of the Saint Shield Grass.

This pet is a must-have for all shield-wielding practitioners, and its potential is quite considerable.

Moreover, one day, the old headmaster suddenly realized that the Knight Academy hasn’t established a more detailed and deeper cooperation with Blue Star beyond student involvement!

How could this be!

In contrast, the church, which is not as close to the Beast Pet Shop, has already benefited greatly from the Cottonwood Tree. Frank, that old fellow, struts into high-level meetings in Mauplan with such smugness that his eyes disappear.

His position as cardinal in Mauplan is not only rock-solid but also exceptionally popular! Wherever he goes, he is cheered and surrounded by many parishioners, clearly a respected figure.

Augustine knows precisely when all this began.

Seeing that early Blue Star collaborators like the church and the Thorn Knights have all prospered, the old headmaster naturally doesn’t want to lag behind.

He also wants to have a deep cooperation project with Blue Star, and now it seems that the Saint Shield Grass might be the best choice.

So after careful consideration, Augustine personally came to the Beast Pet Shop to show his seriousness.

Of course, the headmaster doesn’t naturally assume that everything from the Beast Pet Shop should be shared with the Knight Academy.

By now, those who still hold such views about Blue Star are either clueless or lack real access to Blue Star.

Augustine is certainly not one of them.

In his mind, Augustine was more inclined to entrust the knight academy to Lorant in the future.

For a long time, the dean had considered Lancelot his most suitable successor. Even after Lancelot graduated, he retained the privilege of moving freely within the knight academy and recruiting promising new students in advance.

However, after meeting Lorant, the dean changed his mind without hesitation.

Lorant's multifaceted abilities made the old dean feel refreshed and delighted. These included his business acumen in starting a pet shop from scratch and building it to its current scale, his talent for recognizing and utilizing people, his patience with students during teaching, and his innovative teaching methods that even Augustine had never imagined before.

In his view, Lorant was his most suitable successor, so the old dean had been grooming him and had granted Lorant nearly full access to the academy's resources.

Yet, even so, Augustine felt it was not enough. He wanted the knight academy to be more closely connected with Blue Star, ideally becoming so intertwined that Lorant would find it impossible to abandon either side in the future.