Chapter 304: The Round of Eight

I was leaning against the cool stone wall of the arena corridor, trying to catch my breaths. Both of my bodies stood a few paces apart, utterly drained. In front of us, Leila remained upright and composed, quietly holding two empty wooden cups that I’d already chugged dry.

Safe to say, I was utterly spent.

Interrogating a witness in front of an academy director with one body while sprinting across campus with another… yeah, that was definitely the kind of high-stakes scenario all my multitasking training was supposed to prepare me for. But even with all the practice in the world, doing both at once felt like running two consecutive marathons, both physically and mentally.

Thankfully, bringing Nina, the maid, to the director at the office ended up wrapping things up faster than I’d expected. The moment she set foot in the office, she spilled every last minute detail of the conspiracy against the both of me.

The forged letter bearing Ravilenna’s handwriting. The calculated usage of the tournament’s tight schedule. The bottles of forbidden stimulants. And, naturally, the real endgame: muddying the Sareid name by weaponizing the ears and mouths of the spectators in the stands.

On top of that, she hadn't hesitated for a second to drop the name of the mastermind behind it all.

After nodding along through the entire confession, Director Aella turned her gaze toward Carine. She casually assured me that the academy would handle everything from here on out, promising that justice would be served and that not a single nasty rumor would touch either the Sareid name or Feyt’s reputation.

I gave her my sincerest thanks as Carine and prepared to turn on my heel, but the director chimed in one last time.

“Oh right, after the investigation is done, we might want to reach out to you to discuss what charges you would like to press on the culprit. Or do you have an idea now?”

I didn't even have to think about it. I just shook Carine's head and offered a flat response.

“Please refer the matter entirely to my parents.”

In truth, I just didn’t want to deal with any more of this bureaucratic political BS today.

I let out a silent sigh as I straightened both of my bodies.

Nicholas Nineid, huh?

To be completely honest, hearing his name out of Nina’s mouth surprised me for a second, but only for a second. The more I thought about it, the more it kinda made sense.

He was probably the one masterminding my panty-stealing incident from back then too, and whenever I saw him by chance, he would always throw this sharp glare at me before scoffing away.

And here I thought he would’ve changed just like Ravilenna. I mean, he was our senior by a year; surely he would be more mature than her. But nope, I guess Ravilenna was a miracle after all.

Either way, his life as a student was practically over now. It wasn't just that he had orchestrated an elaborate conspiracy against the both of me, or that he’d tried to drag House Sareid’s name through the mud.

It was the fact that he smuggled illegal substances not just into the academy, but inside Setus itself… just to settle a petty score. I might not be a student in the Royal Law Academy, but I was sure he broke several laws on that act alone.

If things worked out the way I thought they would, the deck would be stacked against him and the entire Nineid family from here on out.

…Well, whatever. This headache would probably be handled by Mother and Father along with the academy. Letting this noble political garbage take up any more rent in my head would only derail my actual goals.

I had a tournament to finish, and some real opponents to scout.

Alright, time to get back upstairs.

Lionne and Eve are probably wondering where I went.

Hopefully Lechter’s match hasn’t started ye—

“And that’s a wrap! Another decisive victory by Lechter of Class Honors!!!”

…Dammit.

—

Before I knew it, I was once again in the eastern prep room as Feyt, starting the first match of the Round of Eight.

Thanks to the earlier delay, the academy decided to roll straight into the Round of Eight as soon as the Round of Sixteen concluded. There was only a brief “break” to round up the contestants still outside the arena. And, to get the schedule back on track, they led off with the contestants already on standby. That meant, of course, Feyt.

Thankfully, I was given ample time to rest in the prep room so that my legs wouldn't turn into jelly the moment I step foot on the sands, but starting off with Feyt first thing was a brutal decision, man. These tournament organizers really had it out for me, huh?

Still, standing here again so soon after that entire ordeal felt surreal, to say the least. I mean, I had literally almost been roofied in this exact room barely half an hour ago.

With the volunteer having made his hasty exit into custody, there was no one left to assist me with gear. Not that I was complaining, though. I’d rather pick my own equipment than have another suspicious cup of water shoved into my hands.

I browsed through the wooden racks myself, selecting a set of gear that fit well enough before heading toward the exit gates.

At the same time, I finally sank back into my seat beside Lionne and Eve as Carine, with Leila sitting silently beside me.

“Lady Carine! Where have you been?” Lionne said. “Did the investigation really take that long? I thought Feyt was cleared of suspicion already!”

“Indeed,” Eve added. “I even saw Sir Feyt and Leila walking around the other side of the spectator stands, looking for someone.”

Well, the official wasn’t lying when he said he'd sort things out quickly. I heard the announcer formally announcing Feyt’s win earlier. But, wanting to catch the real mastermind, I ended up missing the rest of the first half of today’s matches. What a shame.

“Well, I was… I mean, the two of us were working together to track down the real culprit,” I answered truthfully as Carine. “I couldn’t just sit idly by knowing someone was actively targeting Feyt and me, don’t you agree?”

“Culprit?” Lionne parroted, her eyes going wide. “Wait, you mean that whole thing was an actual—?!”

I could only give a silent nod.

I sincerely hoped Director Aella would keep her word and make things clear once the investigation was done.

…

The heavy gates opened, and I stepped onto the sands once again as Feyt.

I took note of my opponent on the other side. It was another face I didn't know personally, but I knew he was a fellow commoner who had battled his way up from the first day of the tournament.

He wielded a broad, heavy practice axe, resting it across his shoulder with a confident grin.

Carine’s internal library noted his fighting style as utter brute force… That was all I could say about him, really.

I closed Carine’s eyes once more, leaning back just slightly to make it seem like I was resting my eyes, and poured all my focus onto Feyt.

As soon as the match started, my opponent lunged forward.

Wielding a heavy weapon like that, he was exerting every muscle he had just to swing. In other words, through Feyt’s ears, his entire body was screaming just like Marina.

However, thankfully, he was much, much slower than her, and he wasn’t as unpredictable as she was. Thanks to my ears, and from what I learned from my fight with Marina, I could pinpoint exactly when and where each strike was landing, along with every wide opening his recovery left.

As soon as I heard him catching his breath, I swooped in for the strike.

The second round started mostly the same; in fact, he hadn’t changed tactics at all. I ended up knocking him down even faster on the second try.

“And match! The winner is Feyt of Class A!!” the announcer roared.

It was a good fight. Not particularly challenging, but I was just glad my opponent wasn’t an arrogant tryhard or someone who flinched in terror just from meeting my eyes.

Still, when I returned to the eastern prep room to strip off my gear as Feyt, I couldn't help but let out a long, heavy sigh. I really was letting this whole Nicholas thing take up too much real estate in my mind.

I couldn’t focus much on the fight, learn anything new, or even have fun.

Ugh, that’s enough.

I shook both of my heads at the same time.

I promised myself right then and there to forget about Nicholas altogether until the tournament concluded. The director was handling it; Mother and Father would probably have a field day managing it, and lingering on it constantly would just add unnecessary weight to my mind.

Besides, Carine’s match was up next, and that was one match I couldn’t afford to space out on.

After all, my opponent was none other than the swordswoman turned wrestler herself…

Attila.