Arcadia's Ignoble Knight: The Sorceress' Knights Tournament

Chapter 2

Caspian sat in the left-most seat on the top tier, near the window farthest from the teacher. He was leaning forward, with his left elbow resting on the desk, and his chin sitting on the butt of his left hand.

Down below, the other students sat, listening to the instructor. Some jotted down notes. Others simply looked bored, much like him. Everyone sat as far from Caspian as they could--except for Christo, who sat right next to him. This, too, was within his expectations. Christo was the only person dumb enough to sit by the person who'd been ostracized by the entire academy.

"Terraria has five kingdoms. Each of kingdom possesses their own unique culture, customs, laws, and infrastructure. However, all of these kingdoms have one similarity, and that is that each kingdom is ruled by a group of sorceresses..."

He listened with half an ear as the instructor, an old man who went by the name of Jameson Von Herst, lectured them on the five kingdoms of Terraria.

"These Kingdoms are Helheim, Takama no Hara, Moksha, Elysium, and Arcadia..."

One month had passed since Headmaster Stratello's announcement. Caspian had turned 18 years old two weeks ago, making him eligible to participate in the Sorceress's Knight Tournament, if he so desired.

"Now, together, each of these kingdom's comprises what is officially known as the Terrain Alliance, which is the name of the intergovernmental organization whose job is to promote international cooperation. While each kingdom has several Terrain Alliance headquarters stationed in all major cities, the Arcadian capitol, Casadina, is where the main headquarters is stationed..."

Caspian thought about the tournament, and what it could mean for him personally. Of course, there was no way of knowing whether or not Elincia would even be the sorceress chosen to receive a Knight yet. Chances were, the sorceress whose partnership everyone would be competing for wouldn't be know for another week, when the leading five members of the Sorceress Council came to participate in the Sorceress Parade.

"Now, then, can anyone tell me what the Terrain Alliance's main job is? Anyone?"

This waiting is going to kill me.

He wished time would speed up so that he could find out which sorceress would be partaking in the tournament. There was simply no point in competing if that sorceress wasn't Elincia.

"Sol!" Instructor Jameson barked. "Since you're not paying attention, you must already know the answer to this question."

As the class snickered, Caspian almost sighed. Just like he'd suspected, a mere month after returning to Arcadia's Knight Academy, the status quo had returned. People pretended to ignore him as he passed them in the hallway, they spoke ill of him whenever he was within hearing distance, and they generally made his life an unpleasant hell. This included the teachers, of course, who were also nobles and believed that a peasant such as him had no place among them.

"The Terrain Alliance's main job is to keep the peace between nations. They have a small task force of around ten-thousand strong, known as the Peacekeepers, specifically for this task. Furthermore, the Terrain Alliance hosts many international events that have become popular among both peasants and nobles, including jousting tournaments, competitions, festivals, and plays. This is all done for the sake of international cooperation and to raise morale." Caspian gave the man standing behind the podium a vindictive smile. "Have I answered your question in a manner that is satisfactory?"

"Um, well, y-yes, I suppose you have," Jameson coughed into his hand, shamefaced. "Moving on..."

Before they could actually move on, a young man sitting near the front stood up and slammed his hands on the table. "Instructor, would you mind if I requested that you no longer call upon that inbred rapscallion again? There is no need to ask a fool like that questions when he's never going to amount to anything."