Trouble came knocking a lot faster than Gaius had expected. That Countess Reinford had come storming up into the spectator stands a minute later. By her side was the armoured man that Gaius had flattened onto the ground nonchalantly earlier — there were some pieces of metal clearly missing from his current outfit.

“You,” the countess forced out. “Do you look down on me? Or do you simply think I’m not worth your attention?”

Gaius blinked. That wasn’t the first words he’d expected from her. Gaius thought that she would run over to mock at him being too scared to face her in a fight, but that didn’t seem to be the case anymore.

“I was busy,” Gaius replied. “Family affairs. I do not look down on people in general, so if I’ve offended you, I apologise.”

“Hmm. You seem to be sincere.” She nodded to herself. “Then let’s fight!”

“What? Why would you want that? You’ve won first place already, so there’s no point in fighting!”

“Oh please. Everyone saw how easily you dominated your opponents,” the countess replied. “No one’s going to accept me as first place until I beat you down and grind your face onto the floor.”

“That’s none of my business,” Gaius replied. “Besides, I’m sure there’ll be plenty of opportunities for us to fight in the next four years. More importantly, you just came back from two fights. Even if you lose, you’d just come back using that as a justification, so why not save everyone’s time and come back when you’re really ready?”

“Countess, the boy has a point,” said the armoured youth. “You used half of your disposable artefacts already. I don’t think whatever you have left can take him out, so you should come back ready.”

“Guh!”

While she was struggling with her inner turmoil, Gaius and the others took a good long look at the blue-haired countess. Her dress, though seemingly impractical for combat, definitely served as a defensive artefact of sorts, since there were signs of wear and tear on it.

A bunch of shattered ornaments on her hair made the boy think that those disposable artefacts were actually said ornaments, something that probably activated when its wearer was in mortal danger. Hanging off her wrist were dull bracelets, each of them embedded with gemstones that were dimming with every passing second.

“You thinking what I’m thinking?” Isabelle whispered.

“Not sure what your thoughts are,” Gaius whispered back, “but I want to meet the person who pushed her to such an extent. This countess nearly lost, despite having a whole arsenal of disposable artefacts. I imagine her opponent must be cursing at his or her relative lack of money right now.”

“That one, maybe.”

Gaius followed Isabelle’s gaze to a teenage boy in a ripped tuxedo. His eyes were empty, and his gaze was fixed onto the great heavens beyond. That was indeed the look of someone questioning their life, after being beaten down by loads of money.

At least, however, he was surrounded by a gaggle of fans, who were probably inspired by how he took on a walking treasure chest himself.

“Hmph! We’ll settle this on the first day of school then!” The countess abruptly said, stalking off before anyone could respond. Her armoured escort followed her silently, after nodding what looked like an apology to Gaius.

“Well,” Gaius muttered, “this is somewhat troublesome.”

“Not as troublesome as my sister, though,” Isabelle added on. “But it’s your fault for being that outstanding.”

“Well, if you don’t mind, I could do something about your sister,” Gaius replied. “Should be no skin off my back to beat them up until they submit.”

Nakama shook her head. “Violence is bad!”

“Or so she says,” Isabelle answered. “Well, if she doesn’t come and find me, I’m not going to do anything. She left the family a few years back, after the Holy Temple tried to rope her into their priesthood, and we never talked since. This meeting was just a coincidence.”

“The Holy Temple’s priesthood?” Gaius asked, intrigued. “Why?”

Isabelle shrugged. “Beats me. The priests of the other great gods all tried to approach her, but she couldn’t exactly say no to the Holy Temple, so she ran.”

“Now I’m interested,” said Gaius. “Nexus, any ideas?”

“Maybe she has the makings of a familiar spirit?” the artificial intelligence replied.

“If she had, she would be stronger than Isabelle though,” Gaius said. “Familiar spirits are Demigods, right?”

“Most are. But maybe she has this talent for speaking to the great gods without needing to be a Demigod,” Nexus replied, poking its head out of Gaius’ shirt. “After all, it’s not that rare of a talent, all things considered. Some people just so happen to be more connected to the great gods than others, and these people are candidates for communing with them.”

“Not like we need them now anymore, though, what with the great gods descending.” Gaius surveyed the amphitheatre. “Let’s put this depressing topic aside from now. The admission results should be announced pretty soon, and we can go back afterwards.”

The three got up, Gaius making sure to poke Nexus’ head back into his shirt. The others sitting around in various states of injury also had the same idea, and a small crowd had formed by the time Gaius re-entered the examination hall. The tables they had used had been cleared out, replaced by one of those advertisement billboards that were ubiquitous in Elysium.

“…full marks for written subjects during the test allows you to go on without taking that subject in the phrontistery. For the combat segment, ranking in the top thirty-two entitles you to benefits, distributed based on your assessed combat style…”

The speaker underneath the billboard artefact continue to drone on and on about the benefits, but Gaius wasn’t all that interested. Board and lodging? He had a better place in Upper Elysium, and Isabelle’s homecooked meals were fantastic. Recognition and fame? Gaius didn’t want any more of that. Sponsorship? Gaius had gems…

After a few more minutes, the results were displayed. The Phrontistery only accepted one hundred and twenty-eight students every year, but it was no surprise when Gaius saw all three of them had enrolled without any difficulty.

What took the cake was that each of them had scored full marks in the subject Nexus had helped them for, which meant that they didn’t need to study that particular subject in school. Gaius nodded, satisfied that he wasn’t going to math lessons after all.

“Alright, we’re done here,” said Gaius. “Let’s go home.”

And think up some countermeasures in case Isabelle’s sister tries anything funny.