11 COACH WILBUR

'I have to find S-grade players for the team. Although I already have a few A-grade players in the team, an S-grade is on a whole other level.'

An average height man in his early 30's thought to himself. Even at his young age, he had quite a few grey hairs on his head. Giving his black hair a tint of white. His fair skin had dried up a bit as if he took no interest in taking care of his skin.

This man was chewing his fingernails out of habit, as he thought of ways to acquire an S-grade player for his team.

'If I don't make it to the league this season, I might as well pack my bags because the school is likely to take my job away from me. Ahh!! When did I become so unlucky!?

I have tried to recruit many other talented players to the team, if not for the school's rigid system and the criteria of being a student here, I would have gotten two S-grade players for the team.

And they expect me to magically take the championship. Without sacrifices, how do you expect me to make it there you sons of bitches!'

"Coach Wilbur." One of the students that recognized the man chewing his nails, called out and greeted him.

"Huh?!" Wilbur responded with an annoyed look on his face. He hated it when people interrupted his thinking process.

"If you want to greet me next time, it would be better for you to shut your trap and keep it moving." He stated, scaring the student away. His thick German accent didn't help matters too.

'Annoying bunch. Wait, when did I walk over to this side of the school?' Wilbur thought, but he wasn't surprised.

This was something of a norm to him. Whenever he was deep in his thoughts, he would often mindlessly walk to places that have some kind of relation to what he was thinking about.

Right after shrugging his shoulders, he saw that two students were on the race track and were about to race.

Normally, this wouldn't have caught his attention, but the conversation he unintentionally eavesdropped on made him think otherwise.

"I've never seen that guy before, he has some guts trying to race against Jason — an A-grade track athlete." One of the students that Wilbur was eavesdropping on, said. She pointed at Noah to indicate the person she talking about.

"I think he's new." Her friend added.

"Gooo!!!" JB's voice resounded in their ears.

Wilbur watched the two athletes race, and he was quite stunned to hear the result of the race. The time it took to complete the race, Noah's record wasn't something to scoff at.

"Tristan is lucky to hook in an S-grade athlete to his team. Just when will I be able to get one?" Wilbur muttered.

While the result of the race was shocking, he quickly lost interest in Jason and Noah.

Wilbur was about to return to thinking of a way to acquire an S-grade player for his team and unconsciously walking around aimlessly. Then suddenly, he unintentionally eavesdropped on another conversation.

This was the conversation between Anisa and Noah.

'What?! He's not on any team?' Coach Wilbur stopped where he was so that he could listen some more.

'He doesn't plan on joining any team, what a waste.' He snickered. 'Guess Tristan won't be getting such a great runner in his team.' Somehow, the thought of this made Coach Wilbur feel happy.

…

Anisa looked at Noah weirdly. She found it hard to believe the answers he gave.

"Why do I find it hard to believe you?" She frowned as she asked.

"That is a question that should answer on your own. I have already told you my answers." Noah looked around, seemingly looking for suitable spots to use for trading.

"You look like you play soccer." Anisa blurted out.

Noah turned and looked at her like she had mental problems for a few seconds before turning his head away. "Suit yourself." He muttered.

'Yes, that's true. He does look like he plays soccer. If he does play soccer, might he be an S-grade player?' Coach Wilbur started having wild imaginations about Noah an S-grade soccer player.

'But what if he isn't? I wouldn't know if I don't try to find out.'

"Hey!!" Coach Wilbur called out, grabbing both Anisa's and Noah's attentions.

"Coach Wilbur?" Anisa uttered. She was a bit surprised that he called out to them.

'What does this old man want?' Noah thought, he was beginning to get frustrated.

"Young man… you, what's your name?" Coach Wilbur asked.

Noah hesitated, he found it difficult to catch what Coach Wilbur said because of his accent. He is not the first German that Noah was meeting, but he's the first with such a thick German accent.

"Why are you just standing there and staring at me as if you've never seen a man before. What is your name!?" Coach Wilbur intoned.

This time Noah caught what coach Wilbur, but he didn't like the tone he used so he decided not to answer.

"Must be rich people thing to talk like this to strangers." Noah turned his attention away from Coach Wilbur and continued to look around.

What Noah said was not very audible but it was loud enough for coach Wilbur and Anisa to hear.

Anisa resisted the urge to laugh and masked her smile with a coughing fit.

'This goat, what the hell is he talking about?' Coach Wilbur thought.

Unexpectedly, Noah ignored him and began walking away. "Hey!! Wait, where are you going to!? Give me a minute, I have something to ask you."

"Time is valuable you know," Noah mentioned while he was still walking away.

"Then wait, let me buy a bit of that time from you!" Coach Wilbur blurted out.

"€10 per minute," Noah said without any emotion or hesitation.

Coach Wilbur eyed Noah. "The guts of this guy, why don't you go and rob a bank instead." He muttered.

"If you don't want to-"

"It's fine, here €10 for a minute of your time."

Noah collected it and kept it in his pocket. 'If only making money was this easy. I would have made a million by now.'

"Have you ever played soccer?" Coach Wilbur asked.

"No."

"Well that's unfortunate, and I have wasted my time here. If you have never played soccer then you're no different from an infant in soccer." Coach Wilbur facepalmed himself.

To Noah, this was no different from an insult. He felt like there was nothing hard in soccer. "Just because I've never played soccer doesn't mean that I can't play. Isn't it just a game where a ball is being kicked?"

"Just a game where a ball is being kicked?" Coach Wilbur immediately got furious after hearing that statement.

Football, soccer is his life's work. He has been tied to this game for as long as he could remember. This game is what he has dedicated his life to.

'I will have to teach this ignorant goat a lesson.' Coach Wilbur thought. Suddenly an idea came to him.

"You know what, would you like to make a bet with me?"

"What type of bet?" Noah was clearly interested.

"If you agree to come and play a 7 on 7 match, this evening. I will give you €50. And based on your performance, if it is above the C-grade rank then I will double the money that you won from the race

But if you lose the bet, you will have to join the soccer team as a ballboy. What do you think?"

Noah smirked, "I'm down for that." He agreed.

"That which inspires arrogance is ignorance." Coach Wilbur intoned.

"I am arrogant because I have the right to be arrogant. I'm confident in my abilities."

"I will enjoy watching you embarrass yourself," Coach Wilbur laughed out loud, wickedly. He was already sure that Noah wasn't capable of much in soccer."

Anisa stood by the side and listened to the whole conversation between Noah and Coach Wilbur. She too thought that Noah was being ignorant and arrogant.

'If what he said about not knowing how to play soccer is true, then he truly is a fool for accepting this bet.' Anisa thought shaking her head.

"Anyway, I have to watch this…" Anisa muttered.