The Number One Star in the Interstellar Era

REAS saw his brother's expression and he immediately knew what the other was thinking.  He already expected that the other might give him this kind of look once he said something remotely good about the general.  But what could he do?  He didn't want to lie just so he could affect Astrid's opinion on the general.

He was not so petty as to do that.  Only those with a scheming mind that often used it for harming others would do that.  Although he still disapproved of whatever fascination the general had towards Astrid, it didn't mean that he would lower the other's ability in the eyes of his brother.  He would give credit where credit was due.

"Hey, don't look at me like that," Reas said in a complaining tone in response to Astrid's reaction to what he said.  "As I've said, his teaching method was surprisingly very effective."

He taught them through muscle memory.  Making them remember the important things through physical exertion.  In short, he beat them up until they could learn the things he was trying to impart on them.  And just like he said, it was surprisingly effective.  Much more effective than any theoretical classes they had this week.

"So… you like him now?" Astrid asked, full of curiosity.

"As a soldier, I respect him.  As an individual, however, that's still debatable," – was only Reas' dry response.

But that was already a huge leap in Astrid's opinion.  A week ago, it probably wouldn't even cross his mind that the word 'respect' would come out of Reas' mouth while talking about Wulfric.  It almost seemed like a miracle.

Reas giving respect to Wulfric as a soldier meant that in this past week, he saw something in the other that made him feel like that.  And that's no easy feat.  Especially considering his brother's prejudice towards Wulfric.  The other must have done a really good job training those students.

But the questioned remained, why would that guy even do something like that?  It's so… out of character.  Maybe he was forced to do it.  After all, he's still a general of an army.  It might be one of his duties or something.  But then again, was there really anyone in this Empire who could force Wulfric to do anything? 

Somehow, Astrid highly doubted that.  Even the emperor would most likely be unable to force him to do anything he didn't want.  And that put them back to the original question – why?

It wouldn't be because he knew that Reas was one of the upcoming freshmen of the Imperial Military Academy so he volunteered to be their trainer, right?  Even he thought that was absurd.  Because it meant that the other did that so he could leave a better impression on his brother.  Which in turn would help in easing Astrid and Wulfric relationship.

He knew that Wulfric was interested in him.  In a way that a child was interested in his newly bought toy.  Yes, the other might have shown a much mature side by apologizing to him.  But it didn't change the fact that what Wulfric was feeling towards him was most likely just a passing whim.

Once it passed, it would also disappear.  As if it had never existed.

In the slim chance that this assumption was wrong and all his actions were not because of something temporary and shallow, then, Astrid honestly had no idea how he might react.

Because having the White Wolf of Alluna show that kind of romantic interest towards anyone would definitely be not as easy as a walk in the park.

Astrid shook his head.  Why was he even thinking about these things?  It's not as if it would even happen.  Maybe all the compliments he had been hearing about his appearance finally got to his head.  To the point that his self-love just evolved to the next level and he thought that the prince of this Empire would fall for him just because he caught his interest.

"Is there anything else that happened?  Did you just have pure training for the past week?" he asked, changing the subject.  "How about a new friend, did you meet one?"

Reas didn't notice whatever mental gymnastics had gone through his brother's head a while ago.  So, he honestly answered Astrid's question. 

"Well, my roommate is pretty okay.  His name's Ash.  A bit of a chatterbox.  But not in that annoying kind of way," Reas said.  "Actually, all we did was training.  Although there's one incident yesterday that deviated a bit from that."

"What is it?"

And then Reas proceeded on telling his brother about what happened yesterday with the virtual pod he was using.  Him blaming it on Lancaster.  And then, the general finding what really happened and telling them the result of his investigation.

When Astrid heard all of that, it took him quite a bit to digest all the information that Reas just told him.  From the fact that there's a Lancaster training with his brother to them clearing up the misunderstanding and proving that it was another Lancaster who was the culprit.

"Is the one responsible going to be punished?" he asked.

"Oh yes, definitely," Reas said with confidence, remembering what the general said earlier to them and Cyrus Lancaster.

Yes, this was Wulfric they were talking about.  That guy was definitely not the type of person who would allow anyone to do some hocus-pocus in the territory that he was supervising.  Then, there's no need for him to worry that Reas would suffer injustice from what happened.

"How about that, what was his name?  Ah, that Cyrus Lancaster.  Are you okay having him around?"

Because based on what Reas had told him, this person also passed the training period.  So, his brother would definitely meet him more frequently in the future.

"It's fine," Reas said, shrugging.  He doubted that the other would do those small petty tricks he had done this past week to trouble him.  What happened with this incident definitely taught him some hard-earned lesson.  "As surprising as this may sound, he's not that bad.  At least he's infinitely a much better person than that animal who ruined our parents' lives." 

Hearing that, Astrid was quite surprised.  He definitely should ask his brother more about that in detail once they met tomorrow.