After that...pathetic display of misunderstanding, I dragged Eran out of the arena and toward the dorms. Not to my dorm room, of course, but to Raun's. Not even bothering to knock on the door, I swung it open and entered as if I owned the place.

Inside the room were Raun, Amelia, and Krista. Normally, Raun would frown and berate me for owning the door like that, but he was strangely docile today.

"H-Hey Theodore, w-what do you need? O-Oh! Your body must be sore after that. I'll give you a massage!"

In response to his sudden politeness, my face scrunched up in half-disgust. "What's wrong with you?"

"Are you seriously asking that because you don't know?" Krista interjected. She seemed to be acting like normal, that was, until I turned around to look at her. She shuddered visibly as I did so.

Amelia had it worst. My mere presence terrified her, so much so that she hid under the blanket as if that thin layer of cloth could protect her from me.

'Ah, it must be because of the match.'

Whatever the case was, I didn't have time for this. Pulling the blanket off Amelia and throwing Eran near the bed, I spoke with the gentlest voice I could muster up.

"Amelia, can you heal this guy?"

"W-What?!" Eran shouted. "I thought you promised me the potion!?"

"I said that I'd consider giving you it," I replied shamelessly, "besides, no potion is as effective as getting treatment directly from the Saintess of Life."

Well, there was one potion, the Elixir of Talent, that could break one's talent cap and heal them from the brink of death at the same time, but it wouldn't be created for at least a year from now or so.

'And it's Arthur's anyways, why do I need to care about it?'

Pausing my thought there, I turned my attention toward Amelia again.

"So, can you heal him or not?"

Jolting up, she immediately scrambled to get to Eran. "Y-Yes! I'll try..."

Seeing her getting that scared, I sighed and turned to glare at Krista and Raun.

"I told you not to watch the match, or at least not let Amelia watch it."

"You should've told us about—" Krista pointed at Eran. "That! We thought that it'd be just a normal match!"

"Oh come on, that's not the worst I've done."

"T-That's not the worst?" Raun stuttered as he looked at me straight into the eyes, not with fear, but with concern. "Theodore." his tone turned firm as he patted the bed. "Sit here, I— we need to have a talk with you."

I gave him a questioning look, but upon seeing the absolute determination in his eyes, I sat down reluctantly with a sigh. "Okay, what now?"

Raun exchanged looks with Krista before nodding. Then, he turned back toward me. "Theodore, we're... concerned about you."

"...? I'm perfectly fine though. All the wolf managed to do was give me a scratch."

"No, not your physical health. You seems... different after the summer."

"Different how?"

"Well, think back to the duel! You were always cruel and... scarily pragmatic, but not this brutal! At least you gave your enemies a quick death before!"

Krista nodded before adding. "You were about to kill Eran when you broke his claws, weren't you?" Taking my silence as a 'yes,' she continued. "What were you thinking?! It's just a friendly duel! If you went through with killing him there, the referee wouldn't have been able to do anything!"

Then, she clasped my hands. "Please, tell us if something's wrong. We can help you."

'No, you can't.'

I wanted to tell her that, but I couldn't since I didn't want to reveal the existence of the memories transplanted in me. No one but me could solve the problem of Marcos and Mealter affecting me, so burdening them with this would just cause unnecessary headaches for all involved. As such, I could only resort to lying... again.

"I'm... fine. I'm just a bit shaken after killing the Void lords. But... if you're really that worried about me—" I scratched my head. "—I guess I can try to change."

Seeing Krista and Raun's faces visibly relaxed like that, I couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt in my heart. However, I soon pushed it away.

'It's for their own good, no need to feel bad.'

Then, as if unable to read the mood, Amelia shouted happily. "Done! I healed him!"

'Finally, some distractions!'

Having found a way to get out of this stuffy and strangely emotional atmosphere, I quickly made my way toward Eran and crouched down to meet his level.

"Wolf, now that you're healed, here's your first task."

"What is it?"

I smiled and put a foot on his leg. "Is that the way you talk to your boss?"

Eran gulped audibly and quickly correctly himself. "I-I mean what do you require this lowly servant to do, boss?"

"Bread."

"W-What?"

"You're my bread shuttle now, are you not? Your first task is to... get me some bread."

...

After getting the bread from Eran, I dismissed him and made my way back toward my dorm. The first thing I saw when I entered my dorm was Glacia running around, miraculously not knocking anything over in the process. Narrowing my eyes, I threw the bread toward her, who caught it with ease and devoured it all in less than a second.

'Heh, I don't even actually like bread.'

It was purely for the sense of accomplishment that I made him run all the way into the capital and buy me some bread. 

Settling down on the couch, I turned my phone on as a force of habit. As soon as I did so, I saw the message that the Avaron faculty board sent to everyone.

'Ah, I almost forgot about this...'

Recalling the events that would transpire in the banquet, I let out a small mutter.

"I wonder where I can get a wine-resistant suit... and a different suit for the pushover."

***

"Arthur! Are you ready yet?"

"Just a minute!" Arthur shouted back. Currently, he was standing in front of a mirror, fixing his black tie that contrasted perfect with his pure white suit. After making sure that everything was okay, he stepped out of his room. As soon as he did so, his eyes were met with Marie, who was wearing a green dress.

"Y-You look beautiful," he said, mouth dry, feeling a strange heat creeping up his cheeks.

However, Marie returned his compliment with a frown and a look of confusion. "Do you really want to wear this suit?"

Hearing this, Arthur looked at his suit again. It was flawless and graceful, and nothing was wrong about it except for the weird choice of color—only white—that he could only assume to be an artistic choice of some sort. 

As such, he nodded. "Yes, my rival sent me this after all. Besides, it's not like I have anything better to wear."

But Marie was still not convinced. "I don't know... something about this feels wrong. It's unusual for that bastard to give anyone anything, let alone something as expensive as this." 

It wasn't the luxurious look of the suit that gave away its absurd price, as in the letter Theodore sent along with the suit, he explicitly stated how expensive the suit was.

Arthur shuddered just thinking about how much it costed.

'2 Platinum... it's worth a small mansion... I wonder if I can even pay him back all at.'

That asides, he had to wear this suit to the banquet, lest he risk hurting Theodore's feelings. Thus, he checked his watch and exclaimed, "Ah! We're almost late! Let's go!"

...

Sitting inside the carriage that was headed toward the banquet inside the capital, Arthur couldn't help but tremble in nervousness.

'I've never been to a banquet before, what should I do?'

It wasn't as if he was afraid of making a fool of himself. No, he was scared of accidently lowering the image of the Church of Light by doing something wrong. Not wanting this to happen, he turned toward Marie for advice, but upon seeing that she was shaking just as much as he did, he stopped himself.

'Right, she only became a noble a few months ago.'

It was natural to be nervous.

Thus, he sat in silence until he reached the banquet hall. It was a white building—much like his suit—that looked absurdly lavish just from a glance. However, he couldn't take in the sheer majesty of the hall, as he felt countless gazes being directed toward him. Although he was quite used to being stared at, this was still quite overbearing.

As he was trying to just ignore everything, Marie shyly held his hand, causing him to blush slightly. 

'That's right, I have her. I can't back down like this!'

Together, they made their way toward the entrance of the banquet hall. There, a man wearing a black suit and holding some sort of list eyed them carefully before speaking in an imposing tone.

"Name and affiliation."

Arthur subconsciously straightened his back and replied, "Arthur Kilvillain, first-year student of Avaron, sir!"

Marie, meanwhile, was more relaxed. "Marie Evien, student of Avaron and daughter of Duchess Evien." 

The man nodded before he opened the heavy silver door.

"ENTERING, Arthur Kilvillain and Marie Evien!"

That loud announcement caused everyone currently in the banquet hall to look at Arthur. He could feel gazes of jealousy directed toward him from the male students, and the ogling coming from the female. Before he could do anything else, Marie stood in front of him protectively. 

"What are you staring at?" She glowered. "Never seen the Hero before?"

'Well, they haven't.' Arthur wanted to say, but he didn't want to ruin Marie's cool moment.

Thus, all he could do was look around the hall. Almost immediately, he spotted a familiar black-haired figure: his rival, Theodore Gray.

Theodore wrote a black suit that contrasted Arthur's white one, and he was eating from a plate while being pestered by Sylvia Ecertold. This continued for a few more seconds before Sylvia walked away, her head hanging slightly down in dejection.

'What's up with them?' Arthur thought.

Then, he watched as Theodore placed the plate down on a nearby table and went upstairs.

'That's where the bathrooms are... I guess he couldn't hold it in.'

Arthur nearly laughed at the lame joke inside his mind. Calming himself down, he left Marie's side and joined in the banquet.

...

Although he had left Marie, the girls didn't flock up to him like he had expected. All of that was thanks to Eleanor and Ria, who was conversing with each other right beside Arthur.

Arthur tried to listen in, but the chattering around him didn't allow him to do so. Though, he could see Eleanor very frequently checking her watch. Soon, Eleanor terminated the conversation with Ria by saying, "I have to go to the bathroom," which Arthur barely managed to hear.

Speaking of bathroom, Arthur had been paying attention to the door upstairs since the start of the banquet, but he hadn't seen Theodore leaving.

'Maybe he's having a big one.'

Again, he nearly burst out laughing, but managed to hold it in since he didn't want to make a fool of himself. 

A few moments after that, a clear yet loud clinking noise came from the center of the banquet hall, attracting everyone's attention.

"May I have your attention, please?"

In the middle of the hall was headmaster Alan, who was standing on a chair. Right beside him was a woman with blonde hair and horns protruding out of her head. She looked decades younger than headmaster Alan, and Arthur could immediately identify her as Tal Kist, the headmaster of Kirion academy.

She looked unamused, as if she was forced to attend this banquet. A sharp contrast to headmaster Alan, who was speaking rather loudly and joyfully.

"As you may know," headmaster Alan said, "we're not throwing this lavish banquet just for fun. We want to make an announcement."

Instantly, the banquet grew quite; everyone was holding their breaths to hear what the headmasters had in store.

This time, headmaster Tal stepped up and spoke in Alan's stead.

"Five years have passed since the last Grand tournament, and now, we decided to hold it again."

Immediately, the hall erupted into cheers. They were so loud that Arthur, with his power, had to block his ears.

After waiting for everyone to calm down, headmaster Alan continued. "The first match of the tournament shall be held on November 10th, and the finals will be on the 20th to honor St. Reinhart day and the birth of Arthur Vritious!"

With his job now done, Alan stepped down and placed a hand on Tal's shoulder. 

"Alright, enjoy the banquet, everyone!"

Then, he snapped his finger, making both him and the headmaster of Kirion academy disappear in a white flash of light.

Like everyone, Arthur could barely hold in his excitement after hearing such an announcement.

'A tournament! This is perfect!'

He wanted to test his strength out against the students of Kirion. Not to mention, Theodore might be there too!

'I can finally have a rematch...'

Thinking about it made his eyes burn with determination. However, Arthur suddenly felt something wet splashing against the back of his suit. Turning around, he saw a man with blonde hair, red eyes, and white feathery wings having a smug expression on his face. In his hand was a glass of wine that was emptied.

Arthur touched his back and brought his hand to his face.

'Something... red? Is this wine?'

It took a while, but he finally managed to connect the dots.

"You... did you spill the wine on me?"

The man's grin broadened as he stuck his tongue out mockingly.

"Oops."