Battle Race in the Fantasy World

Battle Race in the Fantasy World – 77

EP.77 A Trip to the West

“…So, Kyle’s brother and sister visited the academy yesterday, you say.”

“Yes, Lady Elga. That’s what I heard.”

“And Tisha and the Saintess were there with them, right?”

Leto nodded, confirming that was indeed the case.

Elga bit her nails subconsciously as she fell into thought.

‘To be absent at such a crucial moment…’

One of the many ways to win someone’s heart is to create connections with their family.

It’s a well-worn tactic with proven effectiveness.

Show the family a good side of yourself and earn solid points.

Kyle is someone she desperately needs by her side.

As the heiress of Littorio, and as a woman, she can’t help but desire him.

Not only for his abilities but also because he possesses a remarkable charm.

It seems he himself is unaware of it, but those around him certainly feel it.

Why else would Tisha, who seemed interested in nothing but her spells, pay him so much attention?

And why would the Saintess, a woman who serves the gods, keep glancing his way?

There must be a reason. Even a simple word or a seemingly insignificant action can have a profound impact.

Elga herself had been one of the victims, too caught up to regain her composure.

‘If there’s any consolation… it’s that Kyle hasn’t refused our tea time and continues to come.’

She won’t deny it. At first, it was a transparent encounter.

She wanted to use Kyle to secure her position as the official heir to the ducal family.

It was clear there would be benefits, and since they had already discussed it…

Hadn’t they agreed to use each other mutually?

But at some point, she found herself becoming genuinely interested in Kyle.

Despite being a Jonathan, he was different in some ways, which intrigued her.

But what drew Elga’s attention the most was…

‘How does he know so much about me?’

He precisely identifies what she dislikes and likes, and he acts accordingly.

She could clearly feel that he was being considerate and extremely careful not to make a mistake.

Unknowingly, a smile would form on her lips just thinking about it.

Elga had no idea that Kyle was a transmigrator, so the only reason she could think of was:

‘He’s really considerate of me.’

Yes, that’s why he encouraged her, saying she could become the heir to the ducal family and that she should definitely achieve it.

He actually helped her to make it possible, visited her, and said kind words.

How could she not have expectations after thinking that far?

In summary, it was a misunderstanding, but a misunderstanding with a reason.

“She thinks she’s a cold and bad woman, but in reality, she’s a lady full of flaws.”

One of the comments left about Elga.

The unfortunate part was that it wasn’t a ‘best’ comment, so Kyle hadn’t seen it.

If he had known that part, he would have been more careful in dealing with Elga.

Unfortunately, Elga seemed to think she would keep her distance and just use him.

In fact, Elga intended to do so, but it wasn’t going as planned.

“Leto.”

“Yes, Lady Elga.”

“Sorry, but could you find out where Kyle is right now?”

She felt it was a bit of an unreasonable request.

Nevertheless, she asked despite her guilt.

“If it’s Kyle, he’s probably running at the outdoor training ground right now.”

“What? How… how do you know that so precisely?”

“…Ah.”

Leto trailed off, realizing his mistake.

Before joining Elga, he had been thoroughly trained by Kyle.

Correction, he had been beaten to a pulp by Kyle.

At first, it ended with one hit, but gradually, the number of hits increased.

Each hit was so painful that he couldn’t even scream.

The fortunate part was that today, he received a positive evaluation.

“It seems you’re finally ready to start real training.”

Afterward, he saw Kyle warming up at the outdoor training ground with a refreshed look.

That’s why he could pinpoint Kyle’s location so accurately.

“I saw him on the way here. Once Kyle starts exercising, he tends to go for a long time. So….”

“That’s true. I know he exercises every day without fail.”

This was another part that made Elga feel more fond of Kyle.

Self-discipline. What could be more appealing to a woman than a man who manages himself so thoroughly?

Elga wasn’t the only one who flinched at the sight of his well-toned body; other female students felt the same.

‘In that case.’

There was a tea time scheduled with Kyle today, though it was two hours away.

Normally, she would return to her room to read books and practice handling various tasks.

But today, Elga decided to tweak her schedule a bit.

In fact, she had started to feel a bit guilty about Kyle always coming to see her.

“I’m going out for a bit.”

“Huh? Where to…?”

“To where Kyle is.”

“If it’s the outdoor training ground, I’ll go with you….”

“No. Leto, you should rest. You seem to be up to something these days.”

Elga had somewhat noticed that Leto was up to something, even if not entirely.

While Leto flinched and fell silent, Elga headed to the outdoor training ground to meet Kyle.

‘But… what should I say when I get there? Wouldn’t it be strange to just show up out of the blue?’

She and Kyle didn’t meet with pure intentions like Tisha or the Saintess.

They met with clear ‘objectives’ in mind, a sort of transactional relationship.

Even if she wanted to take it a step further, if Kyle didn’t feel the same, it could be awkward.

Initially, she saw him as a good political partner.

But over time, she wanted him to always be on her side.

And now… she didn’t know. She didn’t understand why she was feeling this way or what her intentions were.

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***

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As Leto had said, Kyle was running at the outdoor training ground.

“How many laps has it been…?”

“From what I’ve counted, it must be at least ten laps.”

“Ten laps? No way. It’s well over twenty. I’ve been watching since earlier.”

Students whispered in disbelief as they watched Kyle from a distance.

When one thinks of an outdoor training ground, they might imagine a moderately sized area.

But here, there were over ten such training grounds, making the area ten times larger.

Considering all the additional space, it created an incredibly long course.

Most students would be gasping for breath after just two laps.

Even those aspiring to be knights, who were known for their stamina, found their limit at three to four laps.

If he ran slowly, he could probably manage more laps, but that wouldn’t be a fair comparison.

Kyle was running at a faster pace than the others.

How many more laps did he run?

Finally, Kyle slowed down and took deep breaths.

“Phew….”

Normally, he would have stopped after a reasonable twenty laps.

But the words of Lear and Lea from the previous day kept bothering him.

‘They said I’ve gone soft. Even though I’ve been snacking, I’ve never skipped a workout!’

It was a shocking statement. The shock was so great that he couldn’t focus on his exercise. So, he just kept running.

Had he really been slacking off to the point of getting out of shape?

Of course, he had come to the academy to relax, but he didn’t expect it to be this bad!

He thought he could maintain his physique from Jonathan while enjoying life.

But to think he had gotten out of shape in less than two months!

“This is shocking….”

He hated exercising. That much was certain. Just thinking about the training he did at Jonathan made his head spin.

But there was something he hated just as much: letting all that hard work go to waste.

He couldn’t let the body he had worked so hard to build disappear so quickly.

He couldn’t let all that effort turn him into a pig hiding muscles under fat.

‘I have to do it, even if it’s just to avoid wasting all that effort. Besides, my brother and sister said they’ve been a bit mischievous too, so it’s okay. I haven’t lost the freedom to eat. I just have to work harder and more if I eat.’

Since he had eaten a lot of ice cream, he needed to push himself harder today.

If he had gotten out of shape from eating, he just had to burn off what he ate. It was a simple logic.

Just as he was catching his breath and about to start his next routine,

“Drink this.”

A cup filled with cold water was thrust in front of him.

It even had ice floating in it, somehow.

“…Lady Elga?”

“Aren’t you very thirsty? Hurry up.”

Why was she here? Did she have another favor to ask?

Thinking that, Kyle took the cup she offered.

“Thank you, Lady Elga. I’ll drink it well.”

He had heard that she felt quite hurt if her kindness was rejected.

Because of that, Leto had caused Elga a lot of pain early on.

‘Just a simple thank you and a smile would have sufficed. Honestly, Leto can be so clueless.’

Perhaps it was fortunate that he had only sampled the free chapters and not read the main story.

If he had read more, he might have gotten so frustrated that he would have wanted to stomp on Leto.

“…But, what brings you here all of a sudden? Isn’t today a tea time day?”

Thinking back, Elga had never come to see him first.

At least not on days when they had scheduled tea time.

Honestly, it might have been a matter of pride for the heiress of the ducal family to come first.

“Well. I heard you were exercising, and I got curious. …And I have something to talk about.”

It seemed the second reason was the real one.

How did he know? It was obvious to anyone who looked.

The only person in the world who wouldn’t know would be Ian.

Oh, and maybe Leto could be added to that list.

“You have something to talk about? Now I’m curious.”

When Kyle deliberately opened the conversation, Elga smiled slightly.

Just as she was about to explain why she had come, there was a sound of footsteps from behind.

“Kyle Jonathan.”

“Yes, yes. You’ve come again.”

At first, he thought it was those dark-clad men from the academy who had taken him to the headmaster’s office.

It wasn’t unreasonable to assume it was them, given how often they had met.

But when Kyle turned his head, he realized it wasn’t them.

The attire was too different from that of the academy staff.

“…Who are you?”

He blinked in confusion, and Elga, standing beside him, let out a surprised “Ah?”

“That emblem… the Schrelitz ducal family…?”