On the day that classes started for Leon and the other trainees, a man entered the capital on a small private yacht. This man—Nicomedes was his name—had extremely eye-catching golden hair and chiseled features that strongly resembled Gaius’. He was dressed in the dark green uniform of an officer in the Royal Legions, and the golden insignia that decorated his shoulder indicated that he was a Tribune, a sufficient rank to command a battalion of one thousand soldiers and a mage of at least fifth-tier strength.

The crew of his yacht skillfully brought it into port, and the man walked off the yacht with all the grace and elegance that a noble of his rank and power possessed. Several of his subordinates and secretaries were waiting for him at the docks with a superbly enchanted carriage, ready to catch him up on all the work he’d missed while he’d been gone from the capital. When the Tribune joined them, they all entered the carriage and set off for the Knight Academy.

Upon arriving at the Knight Academy, the Tribune’s men hurried towards his office while Nicomedes himself wasted no time making his way to the office of the Legate. He was one of the Legate’s direct subordinates, so it was common courtesy for him to greet his commander on his return to the Academy.

The Legate’s office was surprisingly small, though it was still the largest office in the main administration building. There was a large desk of dark wood, expensive red carpets, and several chairs around a fireplace.

The Tribune bowed politely to the Legate when the secretary outside showed him in. The Legate gave him a respectful nod in return and waved him over to take a seat in front of the desk. They made some small talk about a policy the Legate was considering having removed, one where the Senior Instructors were allowed to completely revoke all privileges of a unit if they were to lose their banner.

The two spoke for a few minutes without the Legate really coming to a conclusion and Nicomedes excused himself. It was only some small talk anyway, and the Legate didn’t actually want his opinion; he simply wanted to pay a little respect to a fellow nobleman by asking his opinion.

As he was exiting the Legate’s office, Nicomedes ran into another of the Legate’s subordinates, a man named Sabinus. He was a Tribune as well and greeted Nicomedes on his way out.

“Hey there, Nico! Good to see you back in the capital!”

“Sabinus! It warms my heart to run into a friend so quickly upon my arrival.” The two friends clasped hands and gave each other a brief hug.

“How was the wedding? It must have been a sight to see; I heard even the Second Prince showed up for the ceremony!”

“His Highness did indeed grace my family with his presence. My father had sent him an invitation months ago, but we never expected he would actually attend!”

“Congratulations! And how is your elder brother dealing with the trials of marriage?”

“About as well as any other man who marries a young and beautiful woman! Gratian and my new sister-in-law have been nearly inseparable these past couple weeks. My father even had to scold them for not leaving the bedroom long enough for the maids to properly clean up!”

“Ha! Sounds like everything went as well as it could have!”

“Yes, it was a splendid time. Unfortunately, my younger brother couldn’t attend as he was busy enrolling in this very Academy!”

Nicomedes’ face had lit up as he spoke about his family, but Sabinus’ face fell a little when Nicomedes brought up his younger brother. Nicomedes noticed and gave his friend a quizzical look.

“It sounds like your elder brother’s wedding was an incredible event. I’m afraid Gaius’ brief time here hasn’t been so stellar, though…” Sabinus quickly explained how badly Gaius had lost to Leon during the combat test, though he was quick to point out that Gaius had won his first duel of Basic Combat only a few hours before Nicomedes returned. He also didn’t fail to point out that the Senior Instructor overseeing that duel had noted that Gaius had seemed quite angry and went a little overboard in the fight.

Nicomedes’ mood fell in the beginning but settled onto something more like slight disappointment by the time Sabinus finished.

“Thank you for telling me all of this, my friend. This was a good chat, but we really should get to work.”

“Of course, I understand.” Sabinus smiled as Nicomedes turned around and walked away.

A couple minutes later, Nicomedes arrived at his own small office. It wasn’t lavishly decorated, but it was comfortable enough. It was also located in one of the most private areas of the administration building.

Nicomedes caught the attention of one of his secretaries and immediately said, “Send a message to my brother over with the Deathbringers, I would like to see him when his classes are over.” The secretary was quick to nod his understanding.

Nicomedes nodded and entered his office. As soon as the door closed and no one could see him, his face contorted into an ugly snarl.

‘What in the hells happened?! Who would dare to lay such a forceful hand on my brother?!’

---

The Deathbringers were brought back to their own tower after dinner. Their Senior Instructor gave them orders that were almost identical to those given by the Snow Lion’s Senior Instructor. Once he was done, he turned to leave. But, just as he reached out his hand to push open the door, the door opened and Nicomedes’ secretary entered and delivered Nicomedes’ summons. The Senior Instructor wasted no time hurrying Gaius out the door to accompany the secretary back to the main administrative building.

Gaius was led through the halls until they reached a plain dark wood door labeled ‘Nicomedes Philadelphus Tullius’. The secretary knocked and the two entered the office.

As soon a Gaius walked into the office, he saw his older brother, Nicomedes, sitting behind his desk. Nicomedes glanced up as Gaius entered, and his face lit up in delight.

“Little brother!” he called out as he practically leaped to his feet, his work seeming forgotten immediately. Before he did anything else, however, Nicomedes nodded to the secretary, who nodded back and exited the office.

“Nico!” Gaius exclaimed as he and Nicomedes hurried forward and pulled each other into a tight embrace.

“Ah, it’s been too long Gaius!” Nico responded as he pulled back a little bit to get a better look at his brother. “Five damned years go by and look at you! You’re a man, now!”

Gaius smiled, but as he saw his brother’s expression start to sour. He already knew why Nicomedes had called him here.

“Tell me of your loss,” Nicomedes said as he directed Gaius over to a nearby sofa.

Gaius took a deep breath and began to tell Nicomedes of the Combat Test. Speaking of the only great loss in his life wasn’t easy, but Nico was quiet and patient, letting his brother slowly begin to speak, which soon turned into venting much of his frustrations with how he’d lost in front of everyone, from his fellow third-tier mages to the higher-ups at the Academy. He’d even lost in front of the Legate himself.

“Hmm,” Nicomedes hummed in thought once Gaius had finished. His younger brother was almost red in the face from the re-telling, his anger having gotten to him as he spoke of how Leon had so brazenly and savagely violated the spirit of the duel, that being to help introduce the nobles to each other and start to acquaint each other with everyone’s capabilities. “Tell me more, what is your impression of this ‘Leon’? His name certainly doesn’t sound particularly barbarous…”

“His name hardly matters, he’s a barbarian through and through,” Gaius bitterly groused. “He has no respect for our customs, he has no conception of where his proper place is! He’s only come to our glorious Kingdom to take and never give back! He is rude, uncouth, and he seems to have designs and intentions for those who are beyond his reach!”

Nico nodded as he watched Gaius speak. The younger man was quite agitated, and from the way he was speaking, it was clear enough to his older brother that he was hardly the picture of self-awareness and objectiveness, but that, he could forgive.

“And who, pray tell, does he seem to have designs on?” Nico asked, a look of intrigue spreading across his face.

Gaius suddenly froze for a moment as he pondered how to answer.

“Is this about that Isynos girl?” Nicomedes pressed. “You know that Father was worried that you only wanted to come here to chase that girl. Do you remember what you promised him?”

“That I would surpass you and Gratian,” Gaius sullenly replied, his failure during the Combat Test being quite the opposite of the success he promised his father.

“Gratian killed a griffin when he was your age. I, meanwhile, graduated this place in the winning unit and returned years later as a fifth-tier Tribune. If you want to surpass the achievements of me and Gratian, you’re going to have to focus on what matters. Stop thinking about that girl, stop thinking about that barbarian.”

“I… can’t…” Gaius murmured, Nicomedes’ intense gaze causing him to avert his gaze.

“I understand,” Nicomedes replied. “That barbarian greatly insulted you, and in doing so, sullied the honor of our family. Retribution is expected. Likewise, I understand that letting go of romantic feelings is not easy, but I’m not telling you to give up on her. All I’m saying is that you need to focus on what’s in front of you! There’ll be time enough later to pursue that girl, I doubt she’ll get married young. As for the barbarian… well, you have subordinates, do you not?”

“A couple of Father’s vassals sent their children with me,” Gaius replied.

“Use them. Hit the barbarian where it hurts, and hit his friends, too. Teach them that they can’t impugn the honor of House Tullius without revenge. But you, personally, need to stay away from it. You can’t be caught doing something like that. We both have reputations and positions to maintain. If you get kicked out for unauthorized fighting… we’ll both be in trouble.”

Gaius gave his older brother a half-hearted smile. Being the logistics officer was hardly a position that interested him, and he never understood why his brother had accepted the Legate’s offer to return and take up the position.

As if sensing what Gaius was thinking, Nico asked, “I’m sure you’re wondering how important my position is, aren’t you? Wondering why I’m so concerned about remaining here in this tiny office where I’ll find precious few other men and women of sufficient standing to breathe the same air as me?”

Gaius grimaced, which was answer enough for Nico.

“Tell me, brother, do you have any idea how important my job is?”

“I can’t imagine it’s that important,” Gaius replied. “Being stuck here is beneath you. You should petition the Legate for a higher position.”

“It may not seem like it, but this is the second-best post to have here,” Nico replied. “This is easily one of the most powerful and most under-appreciated posts in the entire capital. Think for a moment, maybe you’ll understand why.”

Gaius did as his brother bid. He thought for a few seconds, but he wasn’t sure what Nico was getting at.

“I guess… you can get to know the next generation of nobles better?” This was hardly a fair exercise, in Gaius’ opinion. He had little idea what his brother actually did, so its importance was completely lost on him. He just saw it as a glory-less and powerless post.

“Hardly,” Nico replied. “No, my position means that I can’t interact that much with the nobles who attend this Academy. Instead, my days are typically taken up by ensuring that the trainees have enough food to eat and that their classes are properly stocked with supplies. I make sure that the Academy has what it needs to make proper knights out of the rabble that make up most of the trainee base. However, buried in that list of mundane and awfully boring duties is one that gives me a surprisingly deep wellspring of power: I have the final say in where the trainees go for their squireships.”

Nicomedes let that sink in for Gaius. It took a moment, but when the younger Tullius realized the bigger implications of Nicomedes’ position, Gaius’ eyes widened almost as far as they could go.

The Academy’s formal policy was to send out their squires for a minimum of two years to be trained on the job by their assigned knights after a year of training at the Academy itself. After spending so much time with their assigned knights, most of the trainees would stay with the units they were assigned to, serving under the knights that trained them—the two-year time limit was for the nobles who were already strong when they arrived, but the second requirement for formal graduation was to reach the third-tier. For the weaker trainees, they could spend many more years squiring for their assigned knights. Regardless, no matter the trainee, where they were sent and who they were assigned to squire for was one of the biggest and most impactful repercussions that enrolling in the Knight Academy had.

Over ninety percent of all the fifth-tier or stronger mages in the Legions were trained at the Knight Academy. There was no guarantee that a Knight Academy graduate would rise so far, of course, but there was always fierce competition over the best squires because they would almost universally stay with their assigned knight long after they had been knighted. Even those squires who were set to inherit vast amounts of land and titles when their parents died or retired would often stay in the Legion for a decade or two to gain experience while they were young.

And Nicomedes controlled where those squires went and had done so for several years.

“The best squires go where I send them,” Nico calmly explained as he delighted in the awestruck expression that Gaius wore. “The worst trainees go where I send them. The Legion will feel the ramifications of my decisions for hundreds of years, and countless knights and Lords vie for my attention—even if they don’t know it when they send their applications—for I can send them a good squire, I can even send them a great squire. I could also deny their petition and send them no squire at all. Hardly anyone realizes this given how invisible and undignified this position is day-to-day, and that suits me just fine.”

“That’s…” Gaius mumbled, struck speechless as he was by his brother’s subtle power.

“You know,” Nico continued, his tone lightening a little bit, “Prince Octavius attending Gratian’s wedding. The future King himself showed respect to our family!”

Gaius’ eyes widened in surprise; all immediate members of the Royal Family were always sent invitations to House Tullius’ weddings, but House Tullius was hardly unique in that regard. The Royal Family was probably so inundated with invitations that most were simply ignored. Gaius knew for a fact that his father and eldest brother never thought for a moment that anyone from House Taurus would actually show up to Gratian’s wedding.

“We spoke for a while about the Academy. He indicated to me that not only was he looking for a good squire, but both the Sapphire and Earthshaker Paladins were as well!”

Gaius’ expression turned ravenously hungry. If he could become a squire to the future king or one of the finest warriors in the entire kingdom, then he had little doubt he’d gain great power and prestige. Enough, he hoped, to formally ask Justin Isynos for his daughter’s hand in marriage.

But as he thought of that, Gaius was reminded of his humiliating defeat at Leon’s hands in front of Valeria and so many of his peers. He had to reclaim his honor. He had to get his revenge on Leon.

Again, Nico seemed to sense what Gaius was thinking.

“Concentrate, brother. Go back to your unit and train. Send out your subordinates to deal with the barbarian and keep the family name out of the muck. You have greater concerns.”

Gaius nodded, but his thoughts always came back to Leon. He’d be careful, but he couldn’t leave the Knight Academy without getting his revenge.