*P.O.V of Erwin*

"The 3 kings of the academy?" asked Oscar confusedly, not understanding at first, what he was talking about;

"Actually, it's 2 kings and a queen, since one of them is a girl," Oscar replied, clarifying this point.

Who were these people? Why did I need to clash with them? I had a vague idea of who they were, however, I was not sure if my deduction was right.

"It seems... that you are confused"- said perplexed Oscar - "W-Well, you are new here, it's normal that you don't know them. You see, the 3 kings are-?"

Suddenly, the gymnasium door opened, bringing our attention, albeit briefly. When I turned around, I was surprised to see that, the person who entered inside the gymnasium, was none other than Claire.

"Claire?" I said in a low voice, looking at her expression with some confusion. In fact, I didn't see her as joyful as I had seen her the first time, but I saw her a little downcast, and I could see that she wasn't even looking me in the eye; had something happened to her?

"E-Ehm...excuse me..." - Claire exclaimed, after a few moments of silence, turning her gaze toward Oscar-"Would you leave me alone with Erwin, please?"

Before I could even respond, that's when Oscar completely lost his mind. "Huh?!"

Oscar turned his face away, looking at me with incredulous eyes, almost as if I had committed the greatest of crimes.

"Do you know that girl!?" he asked in a low voice, so as not to be heard;

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I asked him puzzled by that strange behavior, speaking in my turn in a low voice, not understanding why, however.

"YOU. try not to be too attached to that girl, if you don't want to die!" retorted Oscar, his gaze becoming more worried and somber.

[Don't tell me he... is also in love with Claire?!] I immediately thought, feeling my heart beating wildly. [Damn. I just found a friend, and now he's my rival in love?!]

"...Don't worry, Oscar. Our "rivalry" wouldn't ruin our friedship!"

Oscar looked at me with even more shocked and bewildered eyes, then noticing a slight twitch in his right eye.

"What the fuck are you-"

"I'm Coming, Claire!" - happy to be able to talk to her again, I grabbed my things and got up in a rush, running toward her - "Excuse me Oscar! We'll continue talking tomorrow!"

----

We walked out of the gymnasium, then headed for a garden, placed away from the rest of the buildings so that we could talk alone.

Initially, I believed that this was some kind of date, or rather, she wanted to confess her love for me. But from the look in her eyes, I could tell there was something bothering her, and that only worried me.

"And-that's it-what did you want to talk to me about? "

Claire remained silent with her gaze downcast, moving slightly; then, suddenly, she made a bow;

"S-Sorry about yesterday!" - said the girl, leaving me bewildered - "Yesterday I didn't know how to tell you that those in Section C, especially in the first year, are perpetually at risk of expulsion. I wanted to try to talk to you about it, but-"

"It's okay!" - I replied, finally understanding why he had such a sad expression - "At first, I was angry, after finding out today. However, I understood why you couldn't tell me. you know, it's not easy to say something like that to a new guy. So...here. I thank you for thinking of me. But I'm fine, really!"

I am convinced that Claire was taken aback by my answer: partly because sup face became a little red, and partly because her face represented astonishment itself; for a while, she said nothing, but then, she gave such a beautiful smile that I felt my heart on the verge of giving way.

"Okay..I'm glad to see you're okay."

[It's decided...she will be my wife!] I thought, fantasizing about how great my life would be with her by my side.

I had to make my move, I had to make sure to win her over before someone could "blow her" out from under me. [Yes, I have to ask her if she has a boyfriend!]

"L-Listen C-Claire! I-I wanted to ask you if by any chance y-you had a... B-Boyfriend!"

[Damn it, why did I do that] I said immediately, putting my hand over my mouth; I hadn't even known her that long, and yet, I had dared to say such a thing-what the hell was going through my head?

At my question, however, his face became wistful again, and slowly, his smile disappeared.

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"H-Hey, did I say something that-"

"I have to go, Erwin..." she interrupts me suddenly, with a very forced smile on his face - "I have things to do."

Claire turned sharply, and with quick steps, walked away from me. I didn't understand what the hell I had said wrong-perhaps I had been too direct, or perhaps, I had struck a nerve. But the fact of the matter was, at that moment, I was certain I had burned any chance I had.

"S-Shit..." - I hissed, realizing I had messed up.

"Hey! Are you okay?"

Suddenly, a voice called to me from the back of the park; turning around, I realized that it was none other than Oscar, who was running toward me with a decidedly worried look on his face.

"...Do I look okay to you?" I replied dryly and in a low tone of voice, saddened by the way I had been snubbed by Claire.

Oscar watched me for a few seconds, then breathed a sigh of relief - "Phew... Well, it seems so to me."

Oscar seemed too strange to me, and i noticed that he started to be "strange" from the moment Claire entered; because of the excitement, I thought he was worried about it too, but now that I was calmer, I remarked how his expression showed concern for me.

"Man..." - Oscar exclaimed, looking at me with a serious expression - "Where did you meet Claire Winchester?"

"Why you want to know it?" - I frowned, not sure why he asked that question.

"...Listen, that girl would bring you only trouble. If you don't want to go through hell, stay away from her at least 100 meters -- 1 kilometer, if necessary!"

What did he mean by that? Why on earth did I have to stay a kilometer away from her? I didn't understand why he said those words to me then, but without a good reason, I would never have walked away from her, since I had no intention to do so.

"Give me at least one reason why I should listen to you, at least!" I retorted, raising my tone of voice a bit, annoyed by what was happening now.

Oscar, for a moment, looked away from me, glancing nervously to the side; for a few seconds, silence reigned, then, finally, Oscar made up his mind to answer me.

"S-She...she's have a boyfriend..."

[...Shit] - That was my first thought; now it made sense of what had happened before; at first, I didn't believe it so much, since Oscar took forever to answer; but then, I thought back to how Claire acted as a result of my question, and finally, everything became clearer to me. And in that moment, my nubile dreams were shattered.

"...I get it..." I replied with a low stare and a sad expression, then headed for my room - "I'll...see you tomorrow."

"H-Hey Wait-"

Oscar tried to stop me, but I did not want to know anything more about it; at that moment, for me, my first love experience was shattered.

A few minutes later, in Erwin's room...

"... What on earth are you doing on the floor?" asked Brenin as soon as he entered our room, weirded out by the fact that I was literally lying on the floor observing the ceiling.

"...I am questioning life," I replied in a low tone of voice, huffing occasionally from sadness.

At that moment, I had no real desire to talk to someone as atypical as Brenin, especially about my heart problems. [So please do what you do best..sleep!] I thought saddened, huffing again.

Brenin remained silent for a few moments, but then, however, resumed speaking again.

"Questioning life?..." - repeated Brenin with a skeptical look, then threw himself on the bed, ready to sleep - "Well, not that I care..."

For a while, silence fell in the room, and for a moment, I felt almost happy; I wanted to meditate in the silence on my undoing, and I absolutely did not want to hear a fly breathe.

But then, Brenin spoke again, leaving me puzzled to say the least;

"Tomorrow ... what are you going to do?" asked Brenin, leaving me completely in shock; until this morning, he was acting tough, behaving in all but friendly ways, and now he was asking if I had any plans for tomorrow? What had happened in such a short time? Had he hit his head, by any chance?

"Tomorrow I have class in the afternoon, so I think I'll get a little more sleep, and in case, practice..."

Silence fell again for a few seconds, until, Brenin again took up the floor.

"Well, I understand. Then I'll go alone..."

Those words, thrown in so somewhat suddenly and somewhat haphazardly, although they had nothing in particular, caught my attention, causing me to turn my head toward Brenin, who was in the process of sleeping, without even having eaten.

I was really curious, because I didn't think that someone like him, besides sleeping and thinking about his sword, could do anything else different....

"...Alone where? To train by yourself?"

"No, I've had enough for today" - Brenin replied somewhat ambiguously, then massaging his arm, turning back to me - "I'm going to see one of the 3 Kings of the academy in action. Do you want to come?"

"3 Kings of the Academy..."

Now that I thought about it, Oscar had mentioned their existence, but I did not have time to delve into it.

"I've heard about this group, but I still haven't figured out who they are..."

Brenin looked at me in amazement, almost as if what I had said at that moment was something serious.

"...Unbelievable, you are more ignorant than I thought" - Brenin shook his head, annoying me -"You only have to hear the name once to know that they are the 3 best students in the academy, right?"

"Ah! I hadn't thought of that!" I exclaimed, realizing, in effect, how stupid my question was. but geez, Brenin could have been a bit nicer, couldn't he?

"Tsk. However, if we want to achieve our goals, don't you think we need to study them so we can learn from them and overcome them?"

"..."

Although I was in no mood to go out, I admit that what Brenin said, while nothing extraordinary, made me remember why I had come here; I was not here for the girls, but I was here to pursue my dream. And as much as what happened with Claire hurt, very hurt, incredibly hurt, I was not to be distracted.

[It's better than staying here and crying about my failure...] I thought, immediately getting up from the ground full of energy, and curious to find out who these people were.

"You're right Brenin!" - I exclaimed - "I will come with you!"

END OF CHAPTER 32 - THE 3 KINGS OF VERAS ACADEMY.