In the lounge of Tresia Knight Academy, someone walked over to Kaunitz. It was the person who had made a bet with Hogan that Fang Xingjian would not be able to get into the top five, Dick.
Instructor Dick looked at Kaunitz as he smiled and said, “I heard that you had performed extremely well in the Prefectural Selection held this time around and that you were the top amongst the younger generation. Seems like in the future, you’ll be one of Kirst’s leading figures.”
“You are too kind.” Kaunitz said humbly, “Fei Yang Academy’s Barbara, Shadow Moon Academy’s Boris and Aristocrat Academy’s Ferdinand are also very strong…”
“But you are the best amongst them, is that not true?” Dick patted Kaunitz on the shoulders and said, “I think very highly of you. You’ll definitely be the one to lead our Kirst’s Knights to bring about brilliant results in the Regional Selection a few years down the road.”
Kaunitz lowered his head, bowed slightly and said, “Thank you for your compliment.”
“No need to be so rigid. After you enroll in the academy, I will be your teacher and in the future, we will all be comrades.” Dick said, “I have another purpose for my visit this time around. There are some societies in the academy and I represent Kirst Condor Society to invite you to join us.”
Kaunitz’s gaze sharpened. Kirst Condor Society could be said to be a community that all aristocrats enrolled in Kirst Royal Knight Academy must join.
This was a community where aristocratic Knights built alliances and supported each other.
Hearing Dick’s request, Kaunitz felt a little excited as well.
‘Is it really because of my excellent results that the people from the society came to approach me directly and do not require me to approach them myself like the others have to?’
Kaunitz nodded, reached out his hand and said, “I can’t wait.”
Dick smiled and grasped Kaunitz’s hand, “Welcome.”
At that moment, a commotion broke out in the crowd.
“It’s here, it’s here.”
“It’s the person sending the results slip.”
Dick took a look in the distance before smiling and patting Kaunitz on the shoulders as he said, “Go on, this moment belongs to you.”
Kaunitz nodded his head and a slight flush of excitement flashed across his face. He looked to the Vivian who was beside him and said, “Wait for me here, I’ll be back in a while.”
At the entrance, a member of staff from Kirst Royal Knight Academy held onto a stack of documents and handed it over to the principal of Tresia Knight Academy.
The headmaster of Tresia Knight Academy was an old man with white and sparse hair. He wore a black tuxedo and had a charm like only those ancient aristocrats had. His elegant appearance made him seem like a gentleman rather than a Warrior.
And he was also the current head of Tresia Clan, Kaunitz’s father.
Receiving the results slip sent by the academy, the old man smiled as he looked towards Kaunitz and said, “Our Tresia Clan will finally have another Knight from this year’s Prefectural Selection. This brings honor to our clan and also serves to show the prosperity of the Empire and to our military strength. Here, let us make a toast to the longevity of the Empire.”
Saying that, he raised the wine glass in his hand. The rest of the people followed.
“Long live the Empire!”
“Long live!”
After finishing the toast, the head of Tresia Clan said to Kaunitz, “Kaunitz, my youngest son, come take a look at this results slip. This is what you deserve after the more than ten years of tough training you have gone through.”
Kaunitz was long since ready to walk up. This setting was intended to boost his reputation in the clan from the start and was specially arranged so that Kirst’s aristocrats would become familiar with him.
Kaunitz smiled and received the document, slowly opening and throwing a glance at it.
Amongst the crowd, Vivian looked happily at Kaunitz, who was on the stage. She looked around at the aristocrats surrounding them, looked at their luxurious clothings, extravagant food, lavish decorations and the numerous maids and servants around, she started to feel very excited.
‘This is the life that I want, to be a character in the upper society. This is something that I’ll never get in The School of Sword Arts.
‘While Kaunitz is a bit boring, he is considered quite a good partner. It’s just that his family matters are slightly more complicated. But so long as he can get me into Tresia Knight Academy, it’s sufficient. If I’m here…’
However, in the next moment, Vivian saw that Kaunitz’s face suddenly turned grim and a tinge of fury flashed across his eyes.
“What is going on?” He looked at the person who despatched the letter and asked, “Is there some mistake with this namelist?”
“What’s wrong?”
“What happened?”
A commotion broke out in the crowd below. Seeing this, the clan head placed his hand on Kaunitz’s shoulder and said, “Stay calm.”
“But…” Kaunitz had wanted to continue, but he felt a pressure coming from his father’s palm, causing him to be unable to move.
After taking the namelist, the clan head’s brows twitched, but he still remained calm and said, “Placed in tenth in this year’s Prefectural Selection, Aristocrat Academy, Carter.”
“Placed in ninth…”
As the clan head announced the names on the list, everyone tensed up. There were even some students from Tresia Academy who had participated in the Prefectural Selection but did not get good results, staring intensely at the clan head. They seemed to think that their names might appear on the list by a stroke of luck.
“Placed in sixth, Fei Yang Knight Academy, Barbara.”
“Placed in fifth, Shadow Moon Academy, Boris.”
“Placed in fourth, Aristocrat Academy, Ferdinand.”
“Placed in third…” The clan head paused, but continued to say with a straight face, “Tresia Knight Academy, Kaunitz.”
After he finished this line, everyone present glanced at Kaunitz in astonishment, as if they were all shocked that he would be third. The person in first place would definitely be Robert, but then who would be second? To think that he had robbed Kaunitz of his glory.
When Kaunitz heard his own name, his face turned pale and grim.
The clan head continued, “Placed in second, Robert Abel.”
“What?”
“How could this be?”
“Robert Abel, who had gone through the first transition, is only placed second? Then who is first?”
“Could it be that there was someone else in the Prefectural Selection who had already gone through the first transition as well?”
The clan head paused for a moment, as if he was questioning the person in first place was, but after giving it some thought, the name was still not familiar to him. He continued to say, “The Prefectural Champion in this year’s Prefectural Selection, School of Sword Arts, Fang Xingjian.”
“Fang Xingjian? Who’s that?”
“Someone from The School of Sword Arts? Wasn’t it already a declining school?”
An aristocrat lady walked to Vivian and asked curiously, “Vivian, weren’t you from The School of Sword Arts previously? Do you know Fang Xingjian?”
“Fang Xingjian?” Vivian jerked her head, looked at the lady and asked, “Did he say that the one who came first was Fang Xingjian? Fang Xingjian from The School of Sword Arts?”
The lady was stunned for a moment before she replied, “That’s right, do you know him?”
“How is this possible?” Vivian was stunned and she said, “How can Fang Xingjian be the Prefectural Champion?”
On the stage, Kaunitz gave a cold snort, and ignoring everyone’s words of congratulations, he dashed out of the lounge and headed for The School of Sword Arts.