"Did you gain any artifacts during the war, one you had to report to your superior in the military that you acquired and you were allowed to take them with you as spoils of war?"
"Yes, there were dozens of them."
"That's it then."
"""Huh???"""
Looking at the dumbfounded trio, Arthur sighed before deciding to explain his speculation to them.
"So my guess goes like this;
What they're after is one of the artifacts he took as spoils of war that was recorded and documented.
However, it is kept in a place that only the head of the house has access to, like a vault or something.
So they got an easy to manipulate pawn like Zach Pearce and tried to get him engaged to Nicole, so he can have access to this vault and retrieve the artifact they wanted.
They most likely found out it was in the Count's possession through the records left."
His theory was the most plausible and most likely to be true. The Count also found himself agreeing with it too.
Long before he gained his noble title, his family was considered quite well off and they had lots of valuable artifacts and treasures, although most were sold off after his family's business crashed and he joined the military.
However the safe they were kept in was not sold off, after receiving his title, he still used that safe, one that only his family's current head could have access to.
Most of his family's heirlooms he managed to recover and his spoils of war were kept there. If they really wanted an artifact that was there, that Arthur's theory was correct.
"Why couldn't they just ask though?"
"I guess they found out about the Artifact illegally or they want to use it for something you clearly would not agree with. Either that or what they want to do is a crime."
"A member of a Grand Duke's household committing a crime is no small matter."
Arthur nodded in affirmation at Layla's words, he then pondered on something for a few minutes and then decided to speak.
"Also, Grandpa probably knows everything about this, I bet he instructed Uncle Bel to tell us what he did."
"Huh? His majesty knows?"
"Yes, Grandpa can be like that sometimes, he probably wants us to solve the issue ourselves, even if it was just to satisfy his curiosity, there's no way he would not have found out about this by now. He's probably just bidding time."
The other three looked shocked at Arthur's analysis of the king, thinking about it they also discovered that this was not as trivial as they originally thought.
A Grand Duke's household member was intending to either commit a crime or do something most would not consider morally right.
There was also the problem of exactly what artifact the person in question needed, they had to figure that out too.
"I'm going to go piss off Zach Pearce."
"I'm sorry, how exactly did you arrive at that conclusion? and sit down."
Layla hurriedly pushed back Arthur who had suddenly decided on pissing off one of their targets, it was also strange how he somehow managed to arrive at that conclusion.
"I wanna feel him out a bit, just for a few months, nothing serious."
"Knowing you, it's definitely gonna end up serious."
Arthur just chuckled at Layla's words and relaxed in his seat, taking a sip of tea, he spoke on something not even remotely related to the matter at hand.
"So the mini-sports festival is in 3 months huh?"
"Why are you suddenly ignoring the current situation, not like you were gonna participate in the festival though."
"Of course I won't, it's too much of a hassle, I'd just do the work of the Mc."
The count stared at Arthur strangely, he could not understand why on Kreiz the prince would suddenly decide to be the Master of Ceremony.
Unfortunately, understanding Arthur is something that not even Layla who's been his best friend since he was eight has been able to do.
He was the definition of unpredictable after all, his actions were based solely on his mood at the time. He could plan an event for months and then bail out on the long-awaited day simply because he got bored.
Such was the kind of thing Arthur was capable of, so there was a 50% chance he might end up participating because he suddenly felt like it.
"Still, is an event for the top 100 only going to attract visitors?"
Nicole asked in her usual quiet voice, Layla nodded and replied while preventing Arthur who was about to say something vulgar from speaking.
"Yep, the turnout is surprisingly high, the events change yearly too, plus it's an unofficial visitation day."
"I wonder what kind of event can be added to make Layla squeal?"
Arthur, who somehow found his way around her choke hold when she was not looking, asked something very disturbing, especially for Layla.
"Why would you want that!?"
"I feel like it, I should probably get onto the event planning committee, I'd contact the student council."
The mini-sports tournament organized for the second-year students was something that the body that governs most of student only affairs in the school planned.
The Student Council.
They consisted of the class representatives of every class in every year, the president is selected by an election that is usually held every two years.
The current student council president was a 5th-year Lesser Beastkin Prince named Raylan Brock, he brought up the idea of an event much like the other school festivals.
However, this one was supposed to be done when one was in their second year, this would prepare most of the students for their realm expeditions in their fourth years; which was the excuse he used to get the program approved.
The directors saw through this but chose to let it go and approved the mini-sports festival for the top 1000 second years.
Of those 1000, the top 100, received more chances to participate in more events.
A lot of people were challenging each other now because of the festival, in hopes of securing a spot in the top 100, however, if the top 100 could lose their positions so easily, then they would not be among the top 100 of the entire second year. So far, none of them had been defeated by a lower-ranked student.
Arthur has also had his fair share of challenges, naturally, he emerged victorious every time.
As for Layla, although she felt the challenges were a hassle, she had no choice but to accept them as there was a limit on the number of times a student could decline challenges.
Just like Arthur, her opponents returned with nothing but regrets, there was even one she knocked out immediately after the duel began.
"It's funny how they expect to somehow defeat a top 100 within this short time, we aren't the top of our class for no reason."
"Even so, a few from our class have dropped in the rankings, and some from the B and C classes have defeated students in our A class."
Layla's reply to Arthur's words surprised him as he never expected anyone from their class to lose.
"When was this?"
"At the end of the first year, the top 100 haven't changed since then."
"Oh..."
It seemed that the current top 100 who have maintained their positions despite the challenges going on currently were not only from Arthur's class A.
Students from class B and below had succeeded in defeating a few class A students in their first year, and have occupied the ranks ever since.
This was not abnormal as one can never know when a pig would suddenly become a lion overnight.
"How don't you know this?"
Count Harper asked, clearly confused why Arthur did not know about the rankings in his school year.
"Because I don't give a fuck?
I beat up anyone who challenges me. Stuff like rankings don't really interest me, I only entered the academy so I can enter Varona."
"Varona?"
"One of the realms we'd be exploring in our 4th year, there's something I wanna get there."
Although Layla knew the reason for Arthur attending the academy, she still sighed in exasperation hearing him say it out loud.
"Alright, back to the main topic."
She decided to return their attention to the actual matter at hand; dealing with Zach Pearce and whoever was behind him.
"What rank is he and what class?"
"Zach? Dunno. Check your watch."
"Too lazy."
Layla stared at Arthur the way one would look at a fool.
'Sometimes, I wanna just punch him in the face.'
She hid those dangerous thoughts deep in her heart because she knew fully well that Arthur was doing this just to get a reaction out of her, this was evidenced by the mischievous grin he had on his face.
"So, what's his rank?"
"He's in Class C and is the rank 680 in his year."
Nicole spoke with a quiet voice, as usual, hearing her words Arthur burst out laughing.
"To think he was in the top 300 in his first year, it's even more surprising that he's still in the top 1000."
He kept on laughing while ignoring the confused stares of the other three.