Becoming popular part 2

Oh, right. Thank you very much." In the end, he still had no idea what the

letter was about, but Kyle thanked the girl in confusion anyway.

"T-The rest is written in the letter. Bye!" Unable to bear the awkwardness

between them, the girl rushed off without waiting for Kyle's reply.

"Huh? W-Wait!" Kyle called after her in a hurry, but she made no attempt to

stop.

"Okay then..." Kyle muttered with a troubled face.

The envelope in his hand felt strangely heavy. Perhaps it was a love letter

after all, considering the circumstances... Would he have to read it and write a

reply? The thought of having more stress pushed onto him made him feel

slightly weighed down.

"Umm. Hey, Kyle..." Just then, William appeared out of nowhere.

"Professor... Were you watching that just now?"

"Haa,haa" William laughed awkwardly neither denying or agreeing, from this Kyle got his answer and made a troubled face.

"Well let's forget about this and go to my research room, I have prepared some special snacks today to celebrate your victory." William said with a smile and went ahead. Kyle looked at the letter in hand one more time and followed after William after that. The two of them eventually arrived at William'ss research lab, and Kyle went

about his usual motions to prepare the tea. There was a simple kitchen in

William's lab, and with the tea set, he was able to drink tea any time.

"I'll prepare the tea you chose for today, then."

"Yes, please.

"That's quite the high quality item you prepared for today ,Proffesor." The tea leaves William had orepared for today

are very soft and if very high quality. They were definetly tea leaves of the highest calibre.

"Of course. We're going to toast to your victory in the tournament, after all. I

also prepared some cookies to go with the tea, so that's something to look

forward to!" William said in a lively voice.

"Thank you for doing this professor."

"No problem , I could at least do this much for my student." William said with a grin.

"So about that girl just now — did she confess to you?"

"Yes, probably... I guess. I was given a letter, but..." Kyle seemed rather bashful

about the sudden change in topic.

"Good for you! That means girls are paying attention to you, no matter what everyone else is saying about you. Are you going to start off as friends?" William

asked, glancing at Kyle's face to gauge his reaction.

"No, I don't believe it's a good idea to form those kinds of relationships."

"H-Huh? Why not?" William was taken aback by how plainly Kyle answered.

"Any girls that get close to me would end up ostracized by the others." With a

bitter smile, Kyle picked up the teapot and poured the tea. Soon, the steaming

cups lined side-by-side were releasing a fragrant scent into the air, tickling at

their noses.

"Here you go."

"...Thank you." William thanked him and took a sip of his tea before continuing

to speak. "...But don't you think that she might have wanted to be your friend

anyway? Wasn't that why she wrote the letter?" he asked with an earnest

gaze.

"There's no way our surroundings would allow that." A troubled smile played

at Kyle's lips. His decision was rational and realistic... William had a worried look on

his face.

"Well, I guess... but still. Aren't you curious at all? You've reached that age

where boys want to get closer to girls. And there are lots of cute girls in this

academy."

"That kind of thing is difficult for me — I'm just not interested." Kyle smiled

bitterly, shaking his head without hesitation.

Based on his reaction, William could see he was truly uninterested.

Nevertheless, it shouldn't have been that easy to cut off all interest in the

opposite sex, especially at Kyle 's age. Even William would sometimes find himselfdaydreaming about his ideal love, just like any other person... Yet the boy in

front of him seemed so sure of himself.

Puzzled, William wondered why. Was he really just apathetic? Or did he have

someone else on his mind that turned him off from every other girl?

Does Rio have someone he likes? The thought suddenly came across William's

thoughts, but he couldn't think of anyone who would fit that bill. Kyle didn't

even have friends at the academy.

Well, it is none of my buisness. William thought.

Come to think of it, it's almost the season for the outdoor drill. What kind of

drill will you be doing this year?" he casually changed the topic.

The outdoor drill was a practical exam designed to test the prowess of their

military training at the Academy. The drill and location of the exam varied each

year, but the team battle system remained constant. The fifth and sixth years

formed several squads focused around the sixth years and would undergo the

exam together.The lands outside of the humans' jurisdiction were overrun with monsters,

bandits, and other savage creatures, making safety the utmost concern, as most

of the participants were royalty and nobility. Prior to the exam, the test zone

would be scoured in advance to drive out all of the dangerous entities. Off-duty

knights would then guard the border during the exam.

"We're going to march through the mountain forest."

"Eww. The mountain forest... That's impossible for me. I have enough trouble

walking to class from here." William slumped across the desk as if the thought

alone was enough to wear him out.

"You need to exercise more, Professor Celia," Kyle said with a dry smile.

It isn't like William phsique is so weak the problem is that he was just too lazy. Even for a noble

son his lack of exercise was alarming.

"Ahaha. Maybe once my research settles down." William evaded the suggestion

with a forced laugh.