Wendy's laughter resounded in the Martial Division premises as she played tag with Thor. The dog happily ran after her, while the latter did her best to prevent the puppy from catching up to her.
After the kids woke up from their sleep, during Est's and Wendy's visit, William introduced them to his friends. Wendy had become smitten with Thor the moment she laid her eyes on him. Because of this, she did her best to get in his good graces. Much to William's surprise, Thor seemed to really like Wendy as well, so the two of them hit it off right off the bat.
Because of this, Wendy had decided to visit William wherever she had free time, so she could play with Thor.
William chuckled as he threw a frisbee for Ragnar. The afternoon classes had just ended, so the red-headed boy decided to play with the kids. Wendy arrived just in time to join them and decided to play with Thor.
William was about to throw the frisbee again when he saw someone enter the gates out of the corner of his eye. A look of shock appeared on his face when he saw the familiar faces that entered the premises of the Martial Division.
"Big Brother! Big Sister!" William laughed as he ran towards Matthew and Leah who were standing beside his grandpa.
"I'm glad both of you are safe." William hugged both of them together, and the two hugged him back.
"We're back, William," Matthew said as he patted William's head.
"Sorry for making you worry." Leah patted William's back.
James on the other hand was busy looking at Wendy. With just a glance, he could tell that the girl had feelings for William. He was laughing internally because his purpose for coming was to drag William to attend Matthew's and Leah's wedding ceremony.
What he didn't expect was to find a future "daughter-in-law" candidate the moment he visited William in the academy.
He didn't waste any time and approached the girl with a smile that would put all toothpaste models to shame.
"Hello, young lady. I am William's grandfather, James," James introduced himself with an award winning smile that would make all the single ladies call him daddy. "Feel free to call me Grandpa."
"H-Hello, Grandpa James," Wendy stuttered as she looked at the handsome gray-haired man that was oozing with charisma in front of her.
"Are you William's friend?"
"Yes."
"Are you interested in becoming his fiance?"
"E-Excuse me?"
"You see, William might be mischievous, but he is really a good boy." James was like an experienced salesman who was about to scam a little girl to buy the wares he was selling. "I call the shots when it comes to who William is going to marry, so if you are interested, how about we set a date to meet your parents? That way, we can discuss when and where the marriage will take pla-- Oi, don't push me!"
William pushed James aside and immediately stood between him and Wendy. "What are you babbling about, old man?! Wendy, don't listen to gramps. He is getting old and getting cynical. Usually, we tie him up with a rope back at home, so he doesn't bite people. Don't believe whatever nonsense he is saying!"
"O-Okay." Wendy nodded her head. She then gave William's grandpa a curious look.
James felt her gaze and winked back at her.
William saw this and snorted at his annoying grandpa.
"Why are you being so overprotective? Relax, I'm already old and have no intention of stealing your girlfriend." James teased.
"I-I'm not Will's girlfriend," Wendy answered timidly behind William's back. "I'm just his friend."
"It's fine, we can discuss this matter later," James' eyes glinted in delight when he heard the young lady call his grandson "Will'' instead of William. Of course, he didn't make any further moves on Wendy because it would just incite William to contradict him.
"If you're not busy, come back with us to Lont for a few days," James said as he stood in front of the red-headed boy who was looking at him with vigilance.
"Um? Why? Is something going to happen to Lont?" William inquired. He knew that his Grandpa wouldn't invite him to go back to his hometown without a good reason.
James smirked and patted William's shoulder. "Matthew and Leah are getting married. You should come with us to witness their wedding ceremony."
William's jaw slackened as he looked at Matthew and Leah with a shocked expression. "The two of you are getting married?"
"Yes." Matthew grinned.
Leah held Matthew's arm and winked at William. "We are."
"Congratulations!" William smiled and gave Matthew a thumbs up. "Now we are truly going to be one big happy family."
"Worry about yourself," Matthew replied. He could see that his Grandpa had set his eyes on the pretty girl beside William and understood that his cousin was going to have a headache for the next few days.
"So, are you going to come back with us? Or must I carry you kicking and screaming?" James asked with a grin.
"If it's just a few days, I think I can go," William replied after careful consideration. "I'll discuss this first with Instructor Grent and Instructor Andy."
"Okay, you do that," James nodded his head. "Meanwhile, I'll have a talk with this pretty lady here."
"Yeah, no." William grabbed Wendy's hand and pulled her away. "Mama, make sure that Gramps doesn't follow us."
"Meeeeeeh." Emma bleated and gave James the "Don't even think about it glare".
The old man sighed and patted the Angorian's goat's head. "It seems that you've forgotten who raised you when you were still just a kid."
"Meeeeeeh."
"Tell me more about that young lady."
Ella lowered her head and poked James with her horns. Clearly, she had no intention of sharing any information with the annoying old man.
----
"Your grandpa sure is interesting," Wendy said once the two of them were out of earshot. "He reminds me of my own grandfather back home."
"Believe me when I say that my Grandpa is ten times worse than yours," William snorted.
Dia, who was coiled around his neck, was resting her head on William's head. Thor walked beside Wendy, while Ragnar walked beside William.
"Listen, Wendy." William looked at her with a serious expression. "My gramps has a bad habit of playing matchmaker. I already told you about the incident with my Ex-Fiance Rebecca. Believe me when I say that he has already locked you in his sight and will do his best to convince you to become my girlfriend. When he does that, give him a firm rejection so that he will back off. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
Wendy nodded her head. She agreed with William on the surface, but the boy didn't know what she truly thought deep inside. Seeing her reaction, the red-headed boy thought that he had successfully gotten his message across and stopped holding her hand.
Soon, the two arrived at the Staff Room where several of the instructors stayed when they were not teaching their classes. William went inside alone, while Wendy watched over Thor and Ragnar.
At this exact moment, inside William's dormitory room…
Kenneth was holding a round mirror in his hand. The mirror was made from an unknown crystal, and the frames at its side were inscribed with runemarks that were quite similar to the runes found on William's slave collar.
The silver-gray-haired boy muttered an incantation and the mirror glowed in response. Soon, an image of an elf with silver-gray-hair and blue eyes appeared on its surface.
"I am here to report about my target's current circumstance," Kenneth said.
"Very well." the elf nodded. "I am going to record your report so I may pass it along to the elders, and the Patriarch of the clan. You can start your report now."