Arcadia's Ignoble Knight: The Sorceress' Knights Tournament

Chapter 38

It was the morning after the first round, and Caspian woke up feeling refreshed. After taking a shower and getting dressed, he traveled with Christo to the cafeteria.

"You had me really worried, you know that?" Christo said, his voice accompanied by the sound of their footsteps. "I'm glad to see you're not dead."

Caspian snorted. "I'm glad to see I'm not dead, too."

"But, still, fighting against another knight candidate after being poisoned is pretty intense. I didn't think anyone would be able to do that. Ah! But you are ranked second place among us students, so maybe I should have."

"Could we please stop talking about me," Caspian sighed. "So... how did your fight go?"

"Naturally, I won." Christo grinned. "It was pretty tough, though. I had to fight that Naagendra  guy. I'm going to tell you this right now, that kid knows how to fight, and he's so fast! I don't understand how anyone can be so fast while fighting with such an unwieldy weapon!"

Fast, huh? That would make Naagendra a speed fighter.

How interesting. If Naagendra relied on speed, did that mean Adesh relied on strength? He hadn't seen either of them fight, so he couldn't say for sure. However, it wasn't unusual for two contenders from the same school to have vastly different fighting styles. Having two strong fighters with different strengths meant schools had a better chance of winning. Considering the away schools only had two contestants, that was an important advantage.

Entering the cafeteria, Caspian paused in the doorway as all conversation ceased. Every eye turned to him. Then the whispers broke out. Having expected this, Caspian only paused for a moment.

"Can you believe what happened the other day?"

"The peasant beat Julius."

"I hear he was poisoned before the match."

"I hear he poisoned Julius before the match."

"Didn't someone say that the sorceresses were involved."

"The new sorceress favors the peasant. That's why he won."

"I don't think so. I mean, he was poisoned."

Doing his best to ignore the comments, Caspian continued to walk. Christo seemed more amused by the comments than anything.

"People sure are easily excitable, aren't they?" He made it sound almost like a question.

"They're annoying is what they are," Caspian grunted. "People should learn to mind their own business."

"What an awful thing to say about your peers, Boyo," someone said behind him.

Caspian spun around to face the speaker. Two women stood before him. Both had skin the color of dusk, crimson eyes, and dark hair. Their lithe bodies were covered in exotic clothing. A skirt made from light material hung around their waist, traveling all the way down to their sandal clad feet. They wore a sleeveless shirt that revealed slender arms. A richly ornamented cloth, almost like a scarf, hung over their left shoulder, following the contours of their slender figures.

Standing behind them were two men dressed in blue pants and no shirt. Identical twins. Both of them had two elegantly curved swords strapped to their backs.

"Aakarshaka and Aakarshana Nueva," Caspian identified. "Can I help you?"

"I'm afraid you've got it all wrong, young man," one of the Nueva twins said—Caspian didn't know which as he couldn't tell them apart. "It is not a matter of how you can help us, but how we can help you."