Combat Maid Harem

Lawrend was definitely surprised at Luther's reaction. He was getting ready to beat the guy again, but he didn't even give him a chance to shoot a Beginner Mage spell.

Ember was annoyed that Luther left unscathed, but she didn't interfere since Lawrend didn't say anything.

"..."

The Clan Head turned his head to Lawrend and stared at him silently. He scanned him from head to toe, but Lawrend didn't seem that scary in his eyes. He snorted and followed after his nephew.

"Am I allowed to kill?" Lawrend asked Paeia.

The Clan Head hadn't even gotten far when he heard Lawrend's words. He couldn't help but shiver and look back.

"No. Unless you have the permission of the ancestors, you aren't allowed to kill anyone in the Phoenix Garden," Paeia replied and shook his head.

He himself was mad at the Clan Head's sudden aggression, but they were still a part of the same clan. If they let their feuds get in their heads and kill each other, then the whole Ignis Clan would collapse.

"Next time someone annoys me like that today, I will cripple their balls," Lawrend said and sat on the ground cross-legged.

"..."

The onlookers glanced at each other. They were still confused about what was going on. They knew about Luther's defeat under Lawrend's hand, but it was absurd how Luther admitted submission so fast.

They initially assumed that Luther would challenge Lawrend again since the man was a confident man that didn't back down against challenges. Thus, they realized that Luther's defeat wasn't as simple as the rumor spread to the clan.

A great number of details had been hidden to protect Luther's reputation.

Even though Lawrend's words were arrogant, none of them said anything back. It was best to wait till someone tested the waters. No one wanted to be the guinea pig.

"Fufufu, I can do that for you, Master," Aezel said and took a step forward.

She looked around and stared them down arrogantly. When it came to such things as breaking someone's balls, she had prior experience.

"I will let you have a go later," Lawrend replied.

Aezel realized what Lawrend was trying to say and sat down on the ground. The others followed after her, and the group became silent. The whole place became awkwardly quiet as no one dared to offend Lawrend by speaking their mind.

Paeia smiled at the scene. He sat beside Lawrend and closed his eyes.

Soon, many more arrived in the area. They were confused at the silence. They tried to start up conversations with other people, but they were shushed instead.

Several hours passed, and the whole place was filled with people. A lot of them were young children that were around ten years of age. Inferno's group looked tiny in comparison.

"Since the current Clan Head is absent, I will preside over this competition," an old but powerful voice said.

Everyone looked over and saw an old man with a long red beard and bowl-cut hair. He had his hands behind his back as he walked forward. Paeia jumped up in fright after seeing who it was.

"A–"

"Shh."

Before Paeia could say anything, the old man stopped him. Several others in the crowd also recognized the old man, and they all stared in disbelief. It was obvious to the others that this old man was a real big shot.

After all, the ones that showed surprise were all of the previous Clan Heads.

Suspicion and gossip erupted in the crowd. Everyone wondered who this old man was.

"Hmm… I suppose that everyone here knows what this competition will be about, but for the sake of formality, I will explain it in detail.

"This is the Younger Generation Competition. This event occurs every 15 years. Thus, everyone here is below 15 years of age. There will naturally be big differences between kids of different ages. Thus, we have a compensation system that rewards victory against older opponents.

"In total, there are 300 contenders eligible to join this year's competition. This competition will take a long while, so for the time being, I request the older generation to discuss fire magic with each other.

"Contenders, line up in front of me and get your numbers."

The old man pulled out a fish bowl from his storage ring. It contained 300 slips of paper with numbering written on them.

Lawrend's children stood up and fell in line.

"Hey, I'm first!"

It hadn't even a few seconds before someone already tried to cut the line in front of Inferno. He stared at the eleven-year-old kid in front of him with a glare.

"What are you looking at? I'm older than you!"

"Do you not know discipline?" Inferno retorted.

"Discipline my ass!"

The eleven-year-old wasn't there when Lawrend scared Luther off. Thus, he didn't know who he was offending. All he knew was that younger kids were easier to bully.

The other kids who knew what happened earlier looked on with amusement.

"Little Brother Inferno, I will take care of him," Courage said and took a step forward. He directly faced the eleven-year-old kid.

"Hey! Stop bickering and fall in line properly!" the old man handing out the paper strips called them out.

"Tch. You're lucky."

"Thug," Eina blurted out and stuck her tongue out.

Thug turned around and glared at her as he walked to the end of the line. He could only bottle up his anger. He decided that he would make them suffer if he met them on the stage.

"We will show him who's boss," Courage said.

"Let's break his balls, just like what father said earlier," Inferno said in agreement.

"..."

Lawrend clearly heard what they were talking about and looked away. His children were learning too many bad things from him. Ember also heard it but didn't find their plan to be bad. In fact, she smiled after hearing them.

It was the same for Aezel, Ramiela, and Aleshia. They were excited to see their children beating that bully.