20 Sudden meeting

"Jil, are you okay?" Haste asked with worry on his face. "Your complexion isn't looking good."

"What do you mean? I'm as good as I can be." He chuckled before patting his little brother's head. "My brother is so strong. You wiped those monsters' passes so quickly. I wish I was as talented as you at the beginning."

"What do you mean? I'm sure at a hundred percent that you're the greatest. No one is stronger than you, at least those of our age." Haste almost has stars in his eyes.

***

The next day, Haste woke up with a refreshing smile. It had been a long time since he felt so good. He could only remember the despair he felt every time of the day before he had got the blessing.

Whereas now, there wasn't anything that could spoil his mood.

Or so he thought.

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

"Young master, breakfast will soon be ready. Please head to the table. Your parents are waiting for your brother and you."

"Okay."

With a sigh, Haste got up and took a quick shower before dressing up.

During this time, he couldn't help but not know how to feel. While Jil has proven that he had changed, his parents were a completely other matter. And he didn't know what to expect from this breakfast as yesterday's dinner was, special, to say the least.

Nonetheless, despite his unwillingness, he still headed to the table. He didn't want to get yelled at by his parents again, after all.

"Good morning, Haste." Jil's voice was the first thing he heard when he finally joined his family. It seems like everyone waited for him, yet again.

"G-good morning." Even though Jil's greeting was friendly, he couldn't help but shiver under his parents' gaze.

"You're late, again." His father said, with a grim void.

"I apologize, Father. It seems like the maids had yet again forgotten to wake me up in time for breakfast."

Haste said before sitting down by Jil's side. His mother looked at him with a frown on her face, before finally getting to eat.

Most of the breakfast was spent with small talk, ranging from the family's business to Jil's well-being during his different expeditions. As always, Haste ate quietly.

However, it seems that for once, he would have to talk.

"So tell me, Haste, what type of power do you have?" His mother suddenly asked while taking a sip of her tea. "Surely if you're good enough, we can find you a tutor so that you don't bring dishonor upon the family, right?"

His father nodded. After all, their reputations were far more important than anything else.

Haste thought for a while. Here he had the opportunity to either get back fully into the family or be even more distant than them.

He took a look at Jil from the corner of his eyes and could see him smiling. "I-I can only increase the speed of my body. It allowed me to take my enemies by surprise and land a finishing blow. But I don't think I'm worthy enough for a tutor. I don't want them to think that a useless child is one of the descendants of the Laborde family."

"It seems that for once, you managed to think things thoroughly." His father said, making Haste roll his eyes inwardly.

"I disagree with him, though." Jil suddenly said. "Even though his power seems pretty basic, Haste has a lot of battle sense. And I'm sure that he's already strong enough to get into the Interschool Competition."

"Pfft, HAHAHAHA." Their parents suddenly laughed out loud. "Oh Jil, my boy. I knew you were funny, but not to this extent." Their mother said.

"I mean, even you can't get into the competition because of the boy from the Aneum. Do you seriously think it would be different for him? And even if he indeed got an unknown blessing, he still wouldn't be able to get in. He's just a useless piece of trash. No power will change that fact.

While they were going back and forth with their discussions, Haste just wanted to shut them up. Alas, he couldn't. So the next best thing he did was to stand up. "I will be late for school if I don't go now, I'm sorry."

And with that, he rushed out of the room and headed to school.

***

"Sigh, this morning was so tiring. I wish I could just get away from them forever." Haste said as he was sitting under a tree, waiting for the lunch break to end before going to the combat class. "Why do they have to pick up on me so much? Even Jil, what's up with him? Can't he just leave me alone already? Why is he trying to prove my worth in front of them..."

"Maybe because you are worth it?" A voice suddenly came from behind the tree.

The latter was quite big, so it could hide a person without a problem. But he never expected that someone else would be here. He even ate lunch quickly to rest a little.

"W-who is there?" Haste stood up immediately, wary of the presence behind the tree.

"You already forgot me?" A beautiful girl came out from behind the tree. Her platinum-blond hair swaying in the wind. "I'm Enna, remember?"

"Huh... but what are you doing here?" Haste said the first thing that came to his mind. "I-I mean, aren't you busy? As the student council's president, shouldn't you be... like... doing your duty?"

"Duty? Haste do you seriously think that I have anything to do?" She chuckled as she sat down again. "It's just a title, anyway. And the other members of the council are doing everything for me, anyway. So I don't have much to do."

"T-Then did you hear everything that I said?" Haste suddenly blushed from the awkwardness of the situation.

"Yeah. Although I won't say anything if you don't want to talk about it." She offered him a smile to reassure him. "And why are you so wary of me? Just rest while you can, Haste. And it's not as if I will hurt you, do I?"

Indeed as she said, Haste has still his guard up as if he was about to fight against Enna.