Fortunately, the noble boy from Anderson family reminded him. If not, Baston might be still joking about it and the result wouldn't end in a good way. When Alicia seemingly didn't pay attention to Baston, the fat boy quickly opened his old book, flipping it to the last page. In there, the performance had already changed from good to excellent. Without wasting anytime, he confirmed the result and just closed the book without waiting to see the reward.
The reason why he was in a hurry because he was afraid the unexpected event that could change in a sudden. When the noble boy told him about Alicia, it reminded him about his own performance. He had to make sure of his relationship to Alicia and Anderson. Alicia was easy to conclude since she sometimes accompanied him through a sudden event regarding the cult. The problem should lie with the boy from Anderson family, but Baston must remember
that the performance not only laid with the boy alone.
Joking about fat was normal for Baston, but someone might have another view on this thing. Saying about fat to the girl, especially Alicia who had high noble ranking in the kingdom could potentially ruin the relationship. He couldn't say Alicia was his friend since the link between them only focused on the same interest of the cult. At least, she wasn't his enemy and it would be
good enough. For now, he just hoped Alicia wouldn't remember too much about what he said before. Talking about fat and age was forbidden and he hoped he could remember it until the end.
He also didn't forget to end the quest while the performance was still excellent. There was a chance to go higher, but he didn't want to take a risk. He even didn't look at the reward since he was in a hurry. Nevertheless, the reward should be good enough. Baston only needed to check it
when he was all alone.
The opportunity soon came when they stopped for a while in one town. Alicia took this chance to get refreshment, accompanied by her 2 knights. The boy from Anderson family was just looking around boringly. He took a walk to waste his time. Baston on the other hand was still in the carriage. Since he didn't have enough money, it was better to stay here rather than buying something at outside. Staring at Alicia from far, he lamented that the girl was
really powerful. There was another carriage which followed her from behind from the beginning. The 2 knights from before took it for granted since it was their missions to protect her at any cost. For Anderson, there was no bodyguards so his status should be lower than her.
Baston didn't know much about Anderson, but at least, he could sum it up from his view over the noble boy. When everyone stayed away from the carriage, he then could finally look for the reward. It was just like the first one, but this time, it was different element. He got ice element as his first one and now, he got flare element. About this, Baston was confused at first because he thought it was just another name for fire element. After
collecting much information from the book, he then knew why it sounded so different.
The water and ice element weren't so much different. In ordinary way, the water had liquid form and the ice had compact form. For
people who were blessed with ice element, they could learn about water element too, but the same thing didn't apply for the water one. In this way, the ice element would be the higher one than the water. It was also the same between fire and flare.
Fire was more loosening than the flare. That was the first impression he knew after getting the knowledge from the old book. The flare was more compact and more powerful than fire. Usually, its characteristic was just like a bomb. Throwing fireball from fire element would quickly disperse after
hitting the target while the flare might detonate itself and exploded. This element was quite dangerous if not used properly.
Baston was still immersed within the new knowledge before the noble boy entered the carriage. It looked like he was bored at walking outside. Surely, it wasn't a big city so it couldn't fulfill his satisfaction regardless
the town could also provide more or less. The fat boy looked at the noble boy, then proceeded to learn better about the new magic knowledge. The quest was already over and there shouldn't be any benefit he could get for knowing the boy well. But still, it felt cold if he just greeted him before and suddenly, the fat boy had already lost interest on him.
"Noble boy, you look bored. Is the town life not look good for you?" Baston started.
"It's actually quite good, but it lacks prosperity of the big city I usually visit," the boy replied, "By the way, I have my own name."
"Anderson…"
"That's my family name."
"I prefer that name. It's because you're still weak and need your family to hold your reputation."
"You!" the Anderson boy wanted to get angry before Baston waved his hand to calm down first.
"Don't get mad first. I remember you told me before that you want to prove yourself. In that case, you will then introduce your name again to me. At that time, you will be your own pride and no one can take it from
you."
It was such a nonchalant opinion from Baston, yet the noble boy clenched his fist. At the beginning, he wanted to prove himself, but the family background always overshadowed him. He already did the best, but the result was only so-so. Despite that, he believed that his hard work would
someday produce the sweetest victory. At that time, he wanted to let everyone knew his name. People wouldn't recognize him as a boy from Anderson family again, but they would know him only by his own identity.
Baston talked like this, not only to ignite the boy's spirit, but also to have a unique relationship with him. Not a friend, but more
than classmate. It should be like that because he didn't plan to be his friend from the beginning. The noble status played strong in this world, so one could imagine what the family's reaction if the boy had a friend from the poor class. Surely, they would be disgusted and looked at him disdainfully.
The noble boy wasn't stupid and even misunderstood Baston. He thought he could be Baston's friend, even just a little, yet the reality told him the truth. The friendship between noble and poor wasn't existed, even people hardly would recognize it. Since he was still living with the family, he must prioritize the family first, not him as personal. It was a bitter truth, but he realized since he wasn't strong enough, he couldn't decide his own fate. For this, he was very thankful to Baston for showing him the way. Like this, he
then didn't mention anything again. He might communicate with Baston, but he should not do it too much.
"Well, I understand what do you mean. From now on, just call me Anderson then. I will tell my name personally to you when I become much stronger than now."
"Yes…" Baston nodded thoughtfully.
The fat boy didn't know whether he achieved his purpose or not, but judging from Anderson's temperament, he should understand one or two. He talked like this before because the conversation from before only to satisfy the performance, so there was no need to continue this farce. Just having Panto and Alicia around while creating a new lie regarding the cult had already made him a headache, so he didn't want to add another person into it.
Before the atmosphere turned into awkward, Alicia came back from her business outside. She felt strange that both of the boys didn't talk with each other just like before. Perhaps, something wrong happened but she didn't
have to know it. Boys had their own problem as much as the girls. Without further ado, the trip then continued from there.
There was nothing to talk, so everything was too quiet. Alicia seemingly didn't want to talk first and Anderson kept his mouth closed, yet his eyes sometimes glanced at him. It was just like a sign to start the conversation first, then he would then follow. Since there was no need to talk about everyone again, Baston then talked about something else.
"Is there anything I need to pay attention at the meeting?" Baston asked, looking at everyone.
Anderson quickly answered, "I think we have to be low-key at the meeting. It's because we have someone from poor class on our side at the moment. Once everyone else find out, they will question us later. Some of them
might even file a complaint to the academy."
"The only way to avoid this troublesome thing is to show your power," Alicia added, "Once you prove yourself, I believe most of them won't bother you again."
"But still, some of nobles won't be convinced. They might issue a duel to test you. In here, you can bet what do you want, but I suggest to focus on money. It's because it won't involve the status and pride of noble," Anderson continued to explain.
"That's true…" Alicia nodded.
Baston only twitched his mouth because right now, both of Alicia and Anderson were really active to answer his question. He thought he already kept distance from them, yet he even began to feel they were a lot
closer than before. Not to mention Anderson, Baston was sure his message had already conveyed to him, yet the noble boy acted casually. The fat boy didn't know that Anderson was willing to have a conversation with him as long as they weren't in public. If they reached the meeting place, he then would act just like a stranger for Baston.
"I think you should be fine as long as you don't talk, so everyone will forget about you," Anderson advised, "One more thing. You should keep distance from Lady Alicia. Among the students at there, I believe the one who claimed he was the best one for her will be coming."
"It's just him who declare that. Even my family never makes a statement, so there will be no problem."
"But Lady Alicia, I'm afraid he will keep disturb everyone whoever dare to court you."
Baston was confused, but when he continued to listen their conversation, he found out there was an ambitious boy who kept chasing Alicia. This one was quite troublesome since he was also a noble with high rank title, although it wasn't high like Alicia. The boy even went to Alicia's family to
ask for their permission, yet the family only told him to ask Alicia first before he reached them. Alicia knew that they weren't satisfied with the boy's family, so they never took the initiative.
The girl, Alicia, rejected him, but the boy still insisted on doing it. It was just like love at first sight where someone could hardly
forget it. Nevertheless, Alicia and the boy didn't meet again after that since their academy was different in location. If the boy wanted to pursue her forcefully, it would be useless if Alicia stayed silently at the academy. Even if his family was a noble, there must be a rule to follow since it was created by the royalties itself.
"I see. Woman is truly one of the trouble sources," Baston thought, looking at Alicia.
"What is it?" Alicia teased, "Do you want to be my fake boyfriend?"
Anderson envied Baston, but when he remembered the trouble he would face, it was really not worth it. Baston only turned his head, praying repeatedly so that the girl quickly dismissed such a suicide idea. He still wanted to live in this world, enjoying such a free meal given by kind person in
the small restaurant. Even though he knew Alicia was just kidding, there was already a cold sweat on his forehead.