"I'm sorry, but this is the best room I can ask for now…"
Alicia seemed disappointed about the treatment, but Baston didn't think so. Although it was an ordinary one at the guesthouse, the room was quite good without any expensive furniture. He looked around and felt quite satisfied, but the same thing didn't apply for Alicia. For the noble's society, the treatment for the guest was important and could be looked easily. If Baston stayed in the main house, it meant the homeowner gave him much respect. Too bad even though Alicia told her father about this fat boy, the treatment he got was on par with second-rate. It could be said Baston was just an ordinary guest, so there was no need to stay in the main house.
Moreover, the noble girl explained to Baston about her idea to go to the library, but since her father didn't give permission yet, she
could only wait. Baston was confused why he needed to go to the library but before he could ask, Alicia explained further that perhaps some information at there could help him. She realized being a poor, the information he could access was very limited so she had an idea that the library of noble might contain some specific or interesting information. At least, it could help him
fighting with the cult better. Baston was dumbfounded, but he didn't reject it.
It was true he was lacking too much. One of the undisputable facts was he didn't know anything about dark potion from the quest before. He thought if he knew much about it, perhaps there would be a better way to treat
such a quest. The fat boy was very thankful that this noble girl was so thoughtful.
Unfortunately, her disadvantage was her imagination was way ahead than the others. Any of his action would have a chance to get misunderstood by her alone.
While he was laying down contently at the bed, Alicia's father was reading Baston's information. The quick response like this was just a normal thing for a noble family. They usually had their own secret channel when investigating someone, so everything about Baston was already known by him in no time. The man frowned, but he didn't look too dissatisfied.
"The name is Baston. He attends at the Prius Academy with the status of poor class. Recently, he awakens a talent of being a wizard by having an ice element. Not only that, his power is far ahead than any junior.
There is also a rumor of him being a fallen noble, but there's no any concrete
evidence. Quite interesting…"
Alicia's father didn't know why his daughter made a friend over the fat boy. He knew she didn't like the fat men because she thought all of them were pervert and greedy bastard. That perception was born because there was an event where a certain noble family wanted to propose her but as soon as she knew the truth about them, she was disgusted. Because of that, she sometimes kept her distance over the fat boys around her age. Just to make sure they didn't fall in love with her which resulted a troublesome resolution
later. It was indeed like that for a long time, yet today, she brought this Baston to her house.
"Did she have feelings for him? It can't be…"
There was also another information regarding Baston's quarrel with Clark plus the event at the auction place where the Joker was sighted, but Alicia's father didn't think too much about it. Apparently, there
should be a romance between them that made her daughter changed completely. At
least, that was what he was thinking for now. Surely, she could love and marry the man she chose but still, that man must be matched with the family's requirement after all. Having a love with a poor class was unacceptable. It was like a taboo for noble family because such prestigious one needed to cater about their influence.
The more Alicia's father thought like this, the more he believed his hunch. A young girl like his daughter was still innocent and couldn't differentiate which one would be good for her future. He then told the butler to monitor this fat boy tightly so as to find out more about him. As for the matter how to confront him without Alicia's knowledge, he had already a
better idea. As soon as everyone acted, the old book gave a tremor which quickly gave Baston a new quest.
"Have some people from the noble family you stay to show some respect to you…"
"Respect, huh?" Baston furrowed his brows.
It was also quite hard this time. The quest didn't state the impossible one, but to get respect from a noble family like Alicia was very difficult. Judging by the big area of the house, Alicia's family of course wasn't ordinary. Her nobility should be much higher than the others. The noble girl should already respect him, but this wasn't the case for another family member. This time, the old book gave him a task to get acknowledged by others. Since the meaning of people was more than one person, he needed more than just Alicia.
There should be many ways to get some respect, but the thing was the fact he could only stay at the guesthouse meant the head of family never thought of him seriously. Not to mention his real status, even if he admitted he was a fallen noble, there might not be any change in the treatment. Perhaps, if he was a real noble from prestigious family, everyone would welcome
him happily. The matter about his status was impossible at all so he needed to find the other way. While he was pondering, the door suddenly was blasted away with wind magic. Baston was quickly alerted because he thought some criminals on loose and they decided to attack this house. Still, it didn't feel right because there must be no way such a hooligan could enter the area freely.
"You! You must be Baston, right?"
"It should be! Damn, why she brings such an ugly fat boy here?"
"Do you think she might be fooled by him?"
"It should be…"
Baston looked at a few boys who suddenly appeared in front of the destroyed door. The leader had the same age as him, but of course with slim body and a handsome face. Unlike the fat him, the boy surely could make
some girls out there fell in love. Without waiting for Baston to ask who were they, the boys already gave an order for him.
"My name is Theodore. I order you to cut off your relationship with Alicia. She has pure noble bloodline with the talent of wind magic. It's blasphemy for poor class like you to taint her. I know you're a fallen noble right now, but your situation is the same as poor so you're already in the worst situation."
"What?"
In this puzzled atmosphere, Baston was confused why some boys suddenly confronted him. The first thing that came up on his mind was the situation at present must be the same when he encountered Clark. The noble girl like Alicia was surely quite popular among boys. Even in her own house, there were already many suitors waited in line. They must be thinking he had the same goal like them, but unfortunately, he came here because Alicia invited him
personally.
"There must be a misunderstanding here…" Baston replied.
"What's the misunderstanding?" the leader harrumphed, "As far as I know, she never invited a boy back to home. Even Clark who had the highest chance to propose her would be never invited by her. Surely, you must be fooling her!"
"Of course, why she wants to invite such a troublesome boy?" Baston thought while smiling bitterly.
People here thought Clark was the best for Alicia, but he himself knew Alicia hated the arrogant boy. If not because of her status as
noble, she might slap Clark harshly. Baston didn't want to argue very much but he didn't know what to do right now. He was in Alicia's house at present so he didn't have any authority to drive away them. Moreover, their status was higher than him, so he couldn't act unscrupulously.
"What are you doing here? Baston is my guest and you dare to disturb him?"
"Ah, it's you Alicia…" the boy seemed afraid, "It's just I think this boy is suspicious. He might approach you in order to take advantage of our family. You have to be careful so you won't be fooled easily."
"You think I'm stupid?"
"No… No…"
"So, what do you mean by it?"
"I… I mean…"
Once Alicia came to the view, the boys suddenly didn't dare to speak up. From the conversation, Baston could conclude the boys were part of the family. They might be Alicia's brothers or cousins. Either way, he was glad they weren't another Clark. While both of family members were still arguing,
the butler suddenly walked ahead between everyone. In the middle of people, he bowed down first before asking what happened here.
The boys quickly slandered Baston of having impure relationship with Alicia. Even though there was no concrete evidence, they believed so since the noble girl never invited one boy to the family home ever since she was born. Before Alicia herself could explain, the butler seemingly understood the problem. He then stared at Baston and spoke what he had on his mind.
"Young master Baston, it seems they don't acknowledge you since you never prove your strength in front of us. How about you spar with one of them so this little trouble will be solved immediately?"
Baston was dumbfounded because the sudden event felt scripted by the butler. The boys just threw a tantrum here and the butler
quickly provided a resolution. It was too specific when both of he and the boys needed to spar in order to show his strength. Certainly, the butler wouldn't have such an idea if he wasn't being ordered by someone. The man who had the authority to do so must be the head of family. There was no one else since Baston believed the butler wouldn't take order from nobody.
"Why he needs to do this? Did he want to just give me a test or there's something else? Since there's an opportunity, let's give it a go.
Not to mention I don't have any other choice; this decision also conforms to my quest…" he thought while looking at the butler.
The old man kept his firm attitude just like a passerby, yet only he himself knew why he needed to make the fat boy dueled in friendly match with other. Alicia's father wanted to measure how much Baston's strength in
real battle. Not only that, he wanted to find out if there was anything special within this fat boy since Alicia dared to invite him to the house. As a noble with prestigious influence, he didn't want the family to associate with
ordinary person.
Baston didn't talk much, but he agreed on sparring. The thing was he wanted to do it only on bigger or main arena. He decided it on purpose because he wanted many people to watch on their sparring match. It
would increase the chance of his quest to get better result. The fat boy then went back to his room while Theodore and the others soon felt exhilarated before they went back, leaving Baston with the broken door inside his room. The butler didn't make it hard for the guest since it would be bad for their reputation if the news came out. He ordered some people to fix it before he went to
prepare the arena for sparring.
Only Alicia was still at there, pondering how Baston did in his battle. He was deemed as the strongest in junior class, but she never saw how he fought in real life. She was curious whether this fat boy would show her
a surprise or not. At first, he wanted to give some explanations regarding how rude Theodore and the others, but she halted her steps since Baston didn't concern himself of the trouble. With that, she simply excused herself and just waited for the event to be unfolded.