Life went back as usual in the academy. Baston still spent most of his time in the room, enjoying everything that was served nicely. Since the food came free, it would be a sin if he just rejected it. The fat boy looked at his stomach, thinking he should get exercise just to make sure he didn't become bigger and overweight more than now. Karte who always served him personally was curious why Baston sighed so many times. He wondered if the boy got bored of the food. If it was true, then his salary would soon be affected.
"My apologize, young noble. Why are you sighing? Is the taste of the food bad?"
"No, it's not that…"
"Then, perhaps you can state your trouble to me. But if it's too personal, then you don't have to say it."
Surely, Baston was too embarrassed if he said he wanted to go on diet. Unless he ate less, the fat wouldn't go away. But the taste was still too delicious, even though it was far different from when he stayed at Alicia's
house, making him felt bad if he simply rejected it. He didn't need to spend money so basically; it was free food. Because of those reasons, he didn't want to waste it. Then, the only way was exercising but he wanted to find quiet place so as to avoid the embarrassment.
"Is there any quiet place around here? I want to exercise…" Baston asked before adding another excuse, "I mean, magic exercise."
"I see, young noble. I understand that rather than showing off your magic performance in front of many classmates, you choose to hide it so you can catch your opponent in surprise. Recently, the magic competition is
getting harder to pass so several students always keep secret of how much their
strength at present. I heard some rumors that many boys and girls tend to train
outside so people can't see their secret technique."
"Well, I guess so…" Baston nodded, even though he himself never thought that far.
"Don't worry, young noble. I have a perfect place for you to train. It's outside the academy by the way, so you have to walk for a while to get there."
"It's alright. When your shift is over, I will look for you."
"No, young noble. I dare not to make you waiting for me. You just need to rest in your room and I will inform once my work is done."
Karte insisted so Baston only could agree with him. Despite his status was lower, the servant still called him as young noble. When Baston asked him to call by his name, Karte refused since it would be inappropriate. Even if the student befriended the servants, they must still abide by the common rules. Karte was afraid other servant would be jealous and finally made things difficult for him despite having a considerable pillar to lean on. Rather than
creating new troubles, it would be better to keep the recent status. At least, he didn't have to keep his guard on and just did the job well as food deliverer. Besides, the money he got already increased much than usual.
As one of many servants in the academy, his job was tiring but the pay was quite good. The money wasn't too much but it was also wasn't too little. Perhaps, Karte could say it was just average but he didn't need to work
too hard like construction worker or farmer at the field where they would need to stay outside most of the time. Inside the canteen, the air was cool since it was carefully regulated by the academy. The scorching heat from the sun couldn't reach which making the students able to focus on their food and drink.
Baston finally had a time at noon when all the studies were done. At this time, he found many students could go outside freely, unlike the first time when he came to this world. The reason was related with the magic
competition of the academy. When the battle kicked in, it surely would drive the consumption and business in the surrounding. With this big event, the
students went outside either to work for money or to train secretly in hope of getting better rank at the competition. For poor and commoner class, being a spectator was enough since the probability of winning magic battle was close to zero. Only a handful of students that still dared to move forward despite the chance of winning was nonexistent.
Rather than doing useless things, most of them picked an opportunity to make money. The people around would actually realize the
business was coming up soon and they had to seize it. Many shops already procured the goods so when the time of magic competition was announced, everyone was open for business. Hiring workers was a must, but as the business owners, they had to think efficiently. There were many poor and commoner students from the academy so why not hiring them as a part-time worker. Since the competition was only temporary, it matched perfectly with the students. Disguised as one of many learning experiences in the society, people could get the cheap workers. Because of this, many students already went around the town, looking for any job opportunities.
Karte led Baston to small house with big yard behind. It was indeed far from the academy but the atmosphere was better than the busyness in the town. While the servant was tidying up, Baston looked around and found the place was quiet and wide enough if he really wanted to train his magic. The thing was he just wanted to exercise a little bit so the fat on his body could decrease. Being well-fed was good but too much of it really hindered his diet. Of course, he had to make sure to show Karte that he indeed exercised his own magic. By doing a secret and private training, the servant believed Baston had
a chance to win the magic competition.
"This is the place, young noble…" Karte said respectfully, "You can train here. I believe no one would spy on you since it's nearly
secluded. There are many trees in the surrounding so people can barely see us."
"Well, it's quite good."
"I'm sorry I can't provide more than this."
"No, you have done enough," Baston replied.
"Then, is there anything more you need? Oh right, since this place is far from the market, there is no food or drink here…" Karte suddenly came into his sense, "I will go quickly go to buy it. Don't worry, young noble. I will come back as soon as possible."
"No… no… You don't have to. It's already enough for you to facilitate my magic training. I can't inconvenient you more than this."
Karte still insisted since he thought the wizard needed more resources than ordinary person. He couldn't help with expensive resources of magic, so this was the best he could think to treat Baston. The fat boy could
only accept the kindness but he still gave Karte some money so as not to force him to treat him. Baston would feel uncomfortable if he dared to take advantage from the ordinary servant. Of course, it would be entirely different if he was at noble's place. Instead of feeling embarrassed, he wouldn't be shy to let them spend more for his expenditure.
Baston shook his head when seeing Karte leaving with excited expression. He heard this specific servant had made a lot of money from special delivery. Since there were 2 deliveries in morning, noon, and evening, Karte must be hoarding all the commission for himself. The fat boy didn't mind it since he got used to his treatment. Rather picking different people for each
delivery, it would be better to look for one person. Baston then focused back on his exercise plan.
He could do simple physical exercise but he believed Karte would soon ask him if what he was doing had any effect on his magic training. Because of this, he had to combine it with magic as a gimmick. Just running
around while casting ice spell surely would work too. In the meantime, he suddenly had an idea regarding his battle before. During the fight of dark wizard, his flare magic wasn't adequate so he had to use desperate move. If not because he had puppets, he wouldn't dare to explode himself.
"I wonder what happen if I combine ice and flare magic…"
The thought was getting stronger minute by minute until he finally couldn't resist to try it. To make sure his secret wouldn't be revealed, he unleashed all his 4 puppets onto the surrounding. Acting like a scout,
they would alert him once they found any movement in the perimeter. After making sure everything was fine, Baston started manifesting his magic. The left hand
held ice magic and the right hand held flare magic. When he brought it close together, the unstable fluctuation occurred before it blasted toward the nearby tree.
"BAM!!!"
Baston stared at the missing and broken trees, dumbfounded of what he had done. He just simply combined ice ball and flare ball but the result was extraordinary. Although it was out of his control, the damage was too great if he could increase the size. Just imagining if he could
successfully make a fusion of this magic, then the probability of his survival should be increasing by a large margin. At that time, there would be a chance to defeat the enemy who was on par with the dark wizard by himself. With that conviction, the fat boy quickly focused on his training.
On the other hand, Karte was busy on the market. He believed Baston could develop much more into higher level, making a name on himself. By then, the kingdom surely wouldn't neglect him and would reward the fat boy with nobility. In this world, strength spoke further so even though Baston was in
the poor class at present, he could become a noble in no time once he made a breakthrough into great wizard. It was just like when Angus came to the academy. The old man made an uproar and he as the servant could only feel the awe from far away.
Initially, Baston was only an ordinary student yet unknowingly, he awoken the talent of ice magic. It was one of higher elements so just
holding onto it could pave Baston's path easily into the magic society. No one would dare to mock your lousy background if you could become a great wizard. He believed Baston would soon transform himself into a noble. That was why from then on, he dared not speaking to him easily and always greeted him with young noble. There was an expectation from his heart that Baston could achieve all in this life.
"Let's see, there are already chicken and beef. Vegetables are also a must but it doesn't have to be a lot…" Karte began picking what he had to buy for Baston's preference, "About drink, just plain water is very poor. Let's just buy apple or orange juices…"
People who saw Karte right at the moment was thinking if he finally found himself a rich lord to serve. They knew his condition which was very much ordinary just like others. There would be no way the servant dared to
buy much unless it was an order from his lord. At once, people around began
questioning who was behind Karte. Was it an ordinary merchant or a high-status person with nobility? Curiosity slowly made every seller made initiative to move forward first.
"Young man, you buy a lot of these food and drink. Your master must be a rich one."
"I wonder who is it? Is it a merchant or noble?"
"Just buy these things from my restaurant. I will give you a good discount so your lord might think you're quite dependable."
One by one, they made a good impression to Karte so that he could help on their businesses. Who knew if his lord was satisfied and when Karte went to the market once again, he would buy much more for a second time. It would just the same as they just invested a little and by then, they would gain a big return.