Chapter 11
It was just an excuse to meet you.
Although it was called a carriage, it was not at all luxurious. It felt more like a rickety cart that wobbled around.
‘Isn’t this supposed to be the best knight academy?’ That description seemed to be disproportionate to the academy’s financial situation.
“Serdin, did you get enough sleep?”
“I slept for twelve hours.”
“That’s good.”
I had a sleepy disposition, so I needed to rest up in advance. Even during the knight survival practical, the lack of sleep was so challenging… Thinking back, Royce had given me his time to sleep back then.
‘I’m grateful again. He must have been thinking of nurturing me even back then.’
While I was lost in thought, the carriage arrived at the campsite. Several circular tents were set up, and the place was equipped with strength training tools like a boot camp.
Professor Alta, the camp leader, asked with a grumpy face, “Who’s the class representative?”
“Serdin Vivi of the 628th Eudelin class.”
“There are field knights here to assist with the training. Go to the knights’ tent and bring them.”
Official knights from Eudelin were to assist with today’s camp. Professor Alta didn’t specify where the knights’ tent was, and he was known for disliking being asked something again. The more times you asked, the more his mental and emotional threats increased, so I decided to just pick a direction and start from there.
‘I can just grab anyone and ask for directions, right?’
Yes, this camp was probably also about developing the ability to handle such situations. While I was walking without any particular thought, I finally spotted some people.
Under the shade of trees that shielded the autumn sunlight stood several knights in uniform. One of them looked familiar from the back. A tall man with black hair, whose uniform fit him like a piece of art. The way he stood with his arms crossed was very similar to someone I knew.
“Look, over there. It seems a cadet has come to fetch us.”
When one of the Elche knights said so, the man turned around. His indifferent expression turned into a bright face as soon as he saw me.
“Senior Royce?”
Did Royce say he was coming here?
“Serdin.” As I approached where the knights were, Royce greeted me with a smile.
“Do you know each other?”
“Yes.”
Royce seemed about to say something, then just said this, “She’s a close junior of mine.” Then he whispered into my ear, “Since we agreed to keep what our relationship is a secret.”
Even if it weren’t a secret, it would be weird to introduce someone as your exclusive sparring partner.
“My name is Serdin Vivi. It’s a pleasure to meet you, seniors.”
Since one of them could potentially become my future superior, I greeted them with as much enthusiasm as I could muster, my eyes shining with admiration.
“You’ve got good eyes. Come to Caella later!”
“No, the best knight order is Nouvel.”
While the knights were competing in this war of nerves with each other, Royce looked at me and asked quietly, “You’ll come to Elche, right?”
Since it was difficult to answer, I just laughed awkwardly. Royce also seemed to understand the situation and let it slide.
Royce seemed convinced that I would go to Elche, but… ‘In the original story, I went to Elche and died.’
I’d have to think later about how to tell Royce that I wouldn’t be going to Elche.
* * *
The camp schedule was as follows: First, we would spend the afternoon doing basic strength training to build muscle strength. Second, once night fell, we would train by crossing the forest without touching the ground.
‘Crossing the forest without touching the ground?’
Could the professors be mistaken that we were from the hidden leaf village or something?
Anyway, after completing that mission, we would take a short rest, and the next morning, we would have a final training session before heading back.
The knight who coached me during the basic strength training was Lizzie Brown from Elche. She was a knight with orange hair and gray eyes, and I already knew her because she appeared in the original work, <Kiss Your Sword>.
She was just a regular knight now, but she’d soon be promoted to a senior knight. With her refreshing personality, she played the character who supported the main characters whose mental state was crumbling.
“You, your arm angle has dropped by 5 degrees.”
“… Yes!”
“This time, it’s 5 degrees higher. Lower it again. No, you can’t bend your arms.”
But right now, she was refreshingly shattering my mental stability. Lizzie’s coaching finally moved on to another cadet.
“Whew.”
“Don’t relax your body, Serdin Vivi.”
… Since when did she even remember my name? The joy of meeting a character who was somewhat of a supporting role in the original work slowly faded away.
The strength training poses the knights demanded of us were such that one would wonder if a human could even assume such positions. As a result, some of my peers eventually couldn’t hold on and collapsed in various places.
Anyway, fortunately, whether it was thanks to the strength I had built up or the training I had done with Royce over these recent times, I was able to hold on until the end.
As my body trembled, I looked for Royce with my eyes. Royce was watching over my classmate, Risher, on the other side. Risher was trembling like a tuning fork.
‘Risher’s situation isn’t much different from mine.’
Royce, who had been watching him, turned his head towards me. When Royce saw me, a subtle smile adorned his mouth. His smile in this situation somehow seemed like fate was smiling upon me, and I resolved once again that I needed to become a formal knight as soon as possible.
“Alright, that’s it!”
As soon as the sound signaling the end was heard, my peers collapsed onto the floor in unison.
“… Ugh!”
Did we really have to practice such extreme poses to become knights? It was like… Learning calculus to improve your problem-solving skills.
* * *
The dinner was the most delicious I’d had since enrolling in Eudelin. Whether it was because the lodging staff were good cooks or because I was too exhausted, I couldn’t tell.
After finishing two bowls, I was lying down in the room with Mina and taking a short break.
“Serdin, let’s go home.”
“Let’s go home, Mina.”
“Let’s go right now, at this very moment.”
“Hurry up and pack.”
We were just lying there saying meaningless things when someone knocked on the door from outside. Don’t tell me it was the knights or a professor coming to call the class representative? We still had thirty minutes of rest time left!
I was contemplating hiding in fear when someone called my name from outside.
“Serdin, are you in there?”
It was Royce’s voice.
‘What? It’s Royce?’
The tension in my body and mind immediately relaxed at the sound of Royce’s voice.
“Phew.”
I opened the door with a sigh of relief.
“Serdin.”
“What is it?”
Royce leaned against the door with one arm raised, staring at me. His face, slightly tanned in the autumn sun, was smiling at me up close. He seemed to have something he wanted to say.
“Are you free now?”
I was so relieved I felt like I could happily listen to whatever it was.
“Yes, why?’
“They sent me to bring the class representative to the knights’ tent.”
“…”
Oh, that’s right. Royce was a knight too…
* * *
Mina Illacia held her breath, tightly attached to the floor of her room.
“Are you free now?”
“Yes, why?”
Her friend was having a conversation with a senior knight who looked like a handsome captain of the sports team.
‘That senior…’
He was the very same senior who danced with Serdin at the end-of-term party. His name was also well-known: Royce Velkerente. A knight who had joined Elche even before enrolling in Eudelin with his genius skills.
She raised her eyes and glanced at Royce outside the door. His feelings for Serdin were clearly reflected in his eyes.
‘Oh my, what do I do?’
Mina found this situation so amusing that she felt like she was going to cry of joy. Such an interesting event had come along when she was so exhausted from the camp that she just felt irritated and hopeless.
When asked why he came looking for Serdin, Royce looked around for a moment. Then he spotted Mina and said vaguely, “They sent me to bring the class representative to the knights’ tent.”
After the two left, Mina immediately looked out the window. Moments later, she saw Serdin and Royce walking through the garden.
Serdin was walking while looking straight ahead, talking about something. Royce was only looking at Serdin.
‘Serdin is a bit clueless…’
Mina knew her friend well. Still, she just gazed out the window and smiled happily, thinking that it would be just fine with the right person.
* * *
“I have something to give you.”
“Where is the professor? Isn’t it urgent?”
“Actually, the professor wasn’t looking for you.”
“Is that so?”
“It was just an excuse to meet you.”
Why did he make an excuse?
Royce took something out of his pocket and said, “You said you wanted to keep it a secret.”
Keeping it a secret was about our training sessions. Was Royce suggesting we spar now? But I had just exhausted myself during that strength training session, and I still had another training session coming up soon.
The amount of stamina I had left was different from Royce, who had stood so well earlier.
“I’d like to rest for now.”
“Alright, let’s sit over there then.”
Unexpectedly, Royce was happy to listen to me. It seemed he wasn’t that eager to train.
Anyway, it wasn’t the professor who called for me… That was truly a relief.
“What is it that you’re giving me?”
“This.” Royce took out a chestnut wood whistle.
“What is this?”
“It’s a whistle. Just in case.” Royce placed the wooden whistle in my hand and said, “It’s unlikely, but…if you ever find yourself in a dangerous situation, blow this whistle.”
I put the whistle to my lips and blew it once. I couldn’t hear anything.
“I can’t hear anything.”
“That’s right. Only I can hear it.”
I blew the whistle once more. I really couldn’t hear anything.
“If I keep blowing this, would it be loud for you?”
“Not for me. But this fellow might find it noisy.”
It was only when Royce pointed to the area near his heart that I realized. The one who heard the sound of the whistle Royce gave me was, more precisely, the demon that resided within him, Necroquod.
