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."

"I'm not sure I follow," Caspian admitted with the slightest of frowns.

The other twin smiled. "Don't worry about it, Boyo. Just know that we've been asked by Sylvia to be your escorts."

That made Caspian blink. Christo, on the other hand, gawked.

"Escorts? You two are going to be Caspian's escorts?"

"That's right," the one on the left exclaimed, puffing out her non-existent chest. She seemed to be the more prideful of the two. "We're gonna be sticking with you from now until the tournament ends, Boyo."

Caspian didn't know how to take that. Christo seemed to have been overcome with emotions. He was crying.

"Caspian... you lucky dog, you," he sniffled, wiping the tears from his eyes. "I can't believe you have two of the hottest sorceress to have ever posed for Sorceress Weekly escorting you. How did you manage that without me looking?"

"Your guess is as good as mine."

"By the way," the right twin started, "where are Adesh and Naagendra?"

"We are right here, stylish mistresses," Adesh said as he and Naagendra walked up to them. "It is an honor to meet your stylishnesses."

The left twin sighed. "You really have got to do something about that strange speech impediment of yours. And you, Naagendra, should talk more."

"..." Naagendra said nothing.

"Speech impediment?" Adesh looked confused. "What sort of stylish impediment are you talking about?"

"Nevermind," the left twin deadpanned.

Adesh didn't seem to get it. Caspian felt sorry for the Nueva twins. He couldn't imagine why.

After grabbing their food, everyone found a place to sit. Caspian had been surprised by the new cafeteria lady, and he was even more surprised when she gave him the same food as everyone else. He didn't know if she'd been forced to, or if she was being nice because of the Nueva twins, but he wasn't about to complain.

"This may be a bit unstylish of me, but might I ask why our two most stylish sorceresses are escorting my stylish companion here?"

Everyone stared at Adesh. They stared long and hard. When it became clear that he wasn't going to say anything further, they went back to what they were doing.

"The reason is simple," Aakarshaka—at least Caspian thought so—said. "It's because Sylvia asked us to."

"But surely there's a reason why Sylvia asked you to escort me," Caspian pursued.

The Nueva twins looked at each other.

"Hiksath, please explain Caspian's situation to him," Aakarshana commanded.

"Yes, My Lady," Hiksath obeyed. "The reason is quite simple, young one. Due to you being poisoned before the last match, it has been decided that someone has to protect you. Ladies Aakarshana and Aakarshaka were chosen for that task, not only for their strength, but because we hold a numbers advantage."

"That's right," Aakarshaka added. "You know that old saying about how two heads are better than one? Well, four heads are better than two. With all four of us here, the likelihood of someone trying to kill you is slim."

That made a frightening amount of sense. Caspian understood that his presence had never been well-received. With Elincia all but announcing who she wanted to win with her actions yesterday, he now had what was essentially a large target painted onto his back.

I suppose I should have expected this.

Swallowing a mouthful of danish, Christo summed it up best. "So, you suspect someone poisoned Caspian in the hopes that he would lose, and now that their plan has failed, you believe that he's going to be targeted for assassination again."

"Pretty much," Aakarshana said, shrugging.

"Unforgivable! Absolutely unforgivable! Who would dare to try and hurt my best friend?!"

As Christo stood up, comically waving a fist in the air, Caspian tried to sink into his seat.

What an embarrassing friend, this Christo was.

***

While the festival lasted for a total of one month, the tournament was a four day event—the first round, the second round, the semi-finals, and the finals.

Caspian stood in the arena with the others. There were only six people this time; him, Christo, Heracles, Adesh, Darin, and Gustav. Gustav was a blond with blue eyes and tan skin. His hair was long and braided, and he wore strange-looking armor with glowing blue lines that ran across it, crisscrossing and creating unusual patterns. The bright gleam as his armor reflected sunlight, as if freshly polished, was not that of steel but something else.

Mythril maybe?

Amidst the cheering of the crowd, Instructor Murdok announced, "It is now time to begin the second round of the Sorceress's Knight Tournament. Will everyone except Heracles and Caspian leave the arena."

"Good luck, Caspian!" Christo cheered. "Kick his ass!"

"I wish you the best, my stylish comrade," Adesh added.

"Yeah, thanks," Caspian muttered. It felt odd to actually thank Christo for something, nevermind Adesh.

He and Heracles moved to opposite ends of the arena. Instructor Murdok stood between them.

"Are both fighters ready?" he asked.

"I'm always ready," Heracles declared, wearing an ugly smirk. "Hurry up and start this match, Geezer. I wanna show this little bitch what it means to mess with the world's strongest knight."

"You aren't a knight yet," Caspian said as he slid his feet apart and unsheathed his sword. "And you'll never be Ele's knight if I have anything to say about it. Come at me with everything you've got. I'll send it back at you a thousand fold!"

"Ha! I'll teach you not to run that cocky mouth of yours!"

"Let the first match of the second round begin. And..." Instructor Murdok raised his hand. Then he brought it down in a swift chop. "... Fight!"