A King’s Folly and his Wisdom

"It does not make much sense. That is probably what's racing through your mind right now. Right?" Ketsu moved towards his still stunned opposition.

"You've got a lot of nerve considering you only won by a hair's breadth. The first battle was proof of that." Seleste spoke up, meeting Ketsuiko's remark.

"Vaceris was no doubt going to be the biggest issue you tried to address, her magic would have been enough to contend with any of you, while Tersia would have forced you to bring out your best fighter to compete. Color me surprised when you instead send out Ms Lumeria." Ketsu responded to the class' blank stares as he approached.

"What! I was the best–" Dirge bellowed loudly.

"Sure. Though I would venture to say Stephen would disagree."

"I gave you everything you needed to establish your plan, really the hardest part was getting my own class to cooperate. It's not exactly a secret that we have a bit of a hiccup in our classroom relations."

"You couldn't have know who we would pick or the order they would face you–"

"I see. It would not matter, as long as our own classmates went in the order he desired, he knew we would respond in kind. He only had the intention of focusing on counter-attacking." Dusk interrupted Seleste after realizing Ketsuiko's intention

"The idea of outsmarting a Greywind was never really an option. So I just set the game so that the best odds were on my side. I made the choice to rely solely on reacting, choosing the fighters I believed would be the most versatile in a battle."

"Though I must say this outcome was far from the best case scenario. Ms. Fleurette was a surprisingly terrifying opponent, an element that I had not considered." Ketsuiko responded before heading below to the crater, waving away his opponents and leaving a frustrated opponent in his wake.

"Dammit, what good is having one of your genius strategies when they don't work! Sigh, I blame myself for entrusting you with this task." Her tantrum stammered to halt after one of her classmates interrupted her, stepping between herself and Dusk while she was speaking.

"Your friend would appreciate having someone beside them when she awakes." Roc spoke, and waited. Watching her for a few moments, before nodding to him and dismissing her in a surprising dash down the stairs of the stand.

 "All of you, get out of my sight! I'd rather not be around any reminders of my failures–same goes for you disappointments as well." Cursing at Dirge and Khyrsos and sending them away with the rest of the class, while she remained, frustrated though what was more unexpected was not a violent but outburst a pleased grin that she could no longer hold back.

'Oh, the Red Eyes Captain. Now that I had a taste, I will make you submit. I so very much want you under my heel, I knew what I saw in those eyes was no mistake. You might actually please me.' Using all her strength to restrain her urges before she left. 

After finding her classmates and chewing them out, the rest of Class 1C joined their fuming Captain as they left the Arena, returning to their classroom.

Walking away from the crowd, Ketsuiko's smile was slowly replaced with a look of dread, coming to a stop in the corridor of the Medical Ward.

"None...none of them were supposed to be hurt this bad!"

The sight of his bleeding fist brought him back to his senses, as stopped by the nearby fountain and cleaned himself up.

"So, how are my champions feeling?" Appearing through the curtain, he joined the murmurs abuzz between Torren and Stephen as Vaceris grew more annoyed from the noise.

The group lit up in surprise when they noticed his arrival. Shocking him with cheer and questions, while Vaceris and Stephen held onto their words with curious expressions on them.

"Honestly, I don't think I'm the one who needs this. You're the ones that made our class proud. The outcome of the battle might seem a little confusing for some of you, but know that there was no way I could have pulled this off on my own. You all kept your word, 'You did your best for us all'. And I'm proud of what you did."

"Well don't get started alright." Stephen scoffed before he was overcome with a look of relief.

"...Stephen's right. You did your job well as our leader, I think some of us just felt like we could have done more–" Vaceris added.

"Yeah well if all you're going to do is focus on what you could have done, you'll end up missing everything you managed to achieve, Princess. Ketsu said it himself, we all kept our promise."

"You fought like a storm, and because of that, Tersia went into it without holding back, because that's how we are."

"Shynerai...Ugh, showed me that. We're only going to get better, and I wouldn't have bothered with giving it my all...if I didn't think my class was worth it."

"Your what?" Torren's ears pricked.

"My class, you heard me Sujing. See, this is why I said enough with the waterworks." Stephen tried to look away from the group's stares that caused him to blush enough that the nearby nurse reminded him to dry himself off or he would catch a cold, rushing at him with an abundance of towels.

"I can't believe that was just a battle between two classes, I can't imagine what the Carnival would look like." Ketsu noticed Erai faint trembling as he spoke.

"Ehem. Well then, Shynerai, Torren, Sergei look upon our champions. They made our class proud today, and no doubt the rest of the classes will be taking note of us going forward."

"But that's fine, we don't plan on sitting back, because this is only our beginning. Everyone, rest up and enjoy your victories before the rest of you head out on your duties!"

"Try to remember that your class are not the only occupants of the Medical Ward, Ketsuiko" Dusk dragged open her curtain to scold the overly excited class.

"Dusk it's alright. I don't think I'm going back to bed anyways. Hmm, guess we lost" Iris comforted the annoyed Dusk as she awoke.

"Right. Those of you who don't need treatment, please return to your classes, recess will end shortly" One of the nurses ushered the group out alongside Dusk.

"I hope to see you again, Ms. Greywind. Though in our next encounter I still plan on being the victor." Ketsu said his goodbyes before walking off.

Wandering behind, Erai managed to the words that left her lips in voice that would have fainter than a whisper while she spoke with an unusual sense of levity, as if she was unaffected by the events that occurred, entirely unmoved.

"As do I, for I intend to ensure that outcomes are no longer left largely in the control of fate. I will do what I must to see the outcome of success." As she walked off in a hurry after noticing a curious Shynerai staring blankly.

"Erai...Erai! C'mon, stop spacing out, I know she's cute and all but he we need to go, the bell just rang."

Having managed to secure their victory, Ketsuiko turned his attention to his own matters.

By the end of the week, Torren, Sergei and Erai were prepared and getting ready to head out on their Quest.

As Reiss let go of his class at the end of the day, the group made for the tram station after their classmates wished them luck on their Quest, they planned to get ready before leaving straight from the Cross Gardens Estate.

With their most concerning injuries taken care of, Ketsu asked Tersia, Vaceris and Stephen to spend the weekend resting, wanting everyone at full strength for the coming week. Before, disappearing from them, with no word of where he was headed.