11 Rivals

"What are you looking at?"

Physical Examinations were over. Arthur was in the middle of reviewing all the data. Unfortunately, a distraction named Gwen had entered his office.

"What do you think?"

It should be pretty obvious. This wasn't the first time he was doing it.

"I know what you are doing. But for the past 20 minutes, you have been staring at these papers with a concerning look on your face. What is bothering you?"

Arthur placed his pen on the table.

"I wasn't expecting Eleven of them to show up."

"Eleven?"

Gwen was taken aback.

"Yes. Eleven potential 3rd-tiered Red Knights."

She still couldn't believe it.

"You are joking, right?"

"At least by physical standards. Last time, they all looked ordinary. God knows what changed in two weeks."

"No black knights?"

"Time will tell. For now, they have worked hard enough to achieve proper bragging rights over their peers."

"Did Arnis make it?"

Arthur smiled.

"He made it. But there is one more person from our house."

"Don't tell me, she made it?"'

Gwen had severely underestimated the freshers.

"With flying colors."

He was about to hand her the report, but something caught her attention.

"He made it too?"

Arthur followed the direction of her sight.

"He was always going to make it. Unlike our previous assumptions, he genuinely wanted to join the Perseus house to become a knight."

Gawain.

"Are you sure?"

"More than sure. He passed the bar straight after recovering from a fever."

Surprises never ceased to end.

"So he wasn't a pervert? Was our mighty leader Arthur wrong?"

"Uh... The jury is still on hold for that!"

Out of all things, Arthur hated to be wrong. He wouldn't go out of his way to turn a right into wrong, but he couldn't admit it in front of Gwen. If he surrendered, he wouldn't hear the end of it.

"Sure sure..."

Gwen loved teasing her righteous senior.

"Hmph. Back to the topic. Would you hand his report to Joan for inspection?"

"Sure."

She picked up the paper and turned around. Before she left the room, a thought came to her mind.

"Arthur."

She turned back around.

"Are you regretting the fact that we didn't get him?"

His previous assessment of Gawain's behavior was true. Could he be tensed about that?

"It just wasn't meant to be."

Arthur answered without wasting any time.

'So he does regret it.'

"Anything else?"

His face was as calm as ever. Gwen flashed a sweet smile and said,

"That will be all."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Back at the Perseus Chamber, Gawain was busy getting his daily share of whacking.

"Celia, do you hate me?"

For some reason, her blows were slightly stronger than before.

"Maybe. Do you remember what happened yesterday?"

"No. I don't!"

'Bang!'

A proper strike to the shield. His hands vibrated due to the impact.

"Well?"

He raised his shield again.

"Well, what?"

Another strong strike. His palm had turned red.

"Do you hate me? Or is this some residual steam that you are blowing off?"

"Both!"

This strike was going to be extra strong. He wasn't risking his arm to cool her off.

"Time out!"

He dropped the shield and fell to his knees.

"I am sorry!"

He pressed his forehead to the ground, barely dodging her strike.

"What are you sorry for?"

Her tone was telling an entirely different story than her words. Her true words were,

"Even a million apologies will not be enough!"

"If I did something wrong, then I am sorry! And I want to thank you for taking care of me yesterday. I might not remember much, but I haven't forgotten your story about your childhood and your parents."

Her face somewhat calmed down, followed by a red tint of blush.

"D-do you remember what you did?"

'Dammit, brain! What the hell did I do?'

He didn't know the answer to that.

"Did I do something bad?"

He was a pure boy that had kept himself away from bad influences. But his mind might have wandered-

"Idiot."

'Smack!'

A soft hit on his head.

"Ouch!"

"Do you remember now?"

Back to square one.

"A lover's quarrel. How cute~"

Joan entered the room. Celia's face returned to normal.

"Master. Welcome back."

A 180-degree turn.

'Angel.'

He was grateful. He was very grateful.

"Tch. You always ruin the fun."

Her change was not welcomed. She turned towards Gawain and said,

"I heard that you were sick yesterday. Here, I brought you something."

"What is it?"

A red box. His face paled in an instant.

"This will fix you up in no time."

His eyes were dead.

'Devil.'

He was reminded of Sir Arthur's words.

"And as a special service, you get to be fed by me, your master."

'Pass!'

A hard pass. He looked at Celia, who was reveling in his suffering.

"Your sister-"

"You need it more."

'She didn't even hesitate... Excuse me, can I apply to change my house?'

He looked up towards the sky and requested Astarte. His prayers fell on deaf ears.

"Here. Take a seat."

'Gulp.'

"Perseus, give me strength."