Chapter 27
“Still Not Here Today”
Roitz looked at me for a long time, as if trying to take in my image.
A quiet stillness settled in the middle of a conversation that had ended without a proper closing.
Roitz and I stared at each other silently for a brief moment.
“Serdin.”
He reached out and tidied the hair he had previously tousled.
Even as he did, I couldn’t get used to the strange sense of emptiness filling me—I simply kept looking at Roitz.
“Then, I’m off.”
Roitz’s voice was heavy with farewell.
Not knowing what to say in response, I simply nodded.
“Take care.”
Without waiting for my reply, Roitz turned around.
He didn’t look back. He disappeared once more into the crowd.
And I stood still for a while, staring after him.
“Serdin! There you are. We were looking for you.”
“Did you say goodbye to the seniors properly?”
My classmates came over to where I was standing.
“What are you looking at? Who are you searching for?”
I turned away from the plaza I’d been watching, where the crowd had gathered.
Haerel started talking about the highlights of this year’s graduation ceremony.
Of course, that included stories about Roitz.
As I listened to stories of Roitz, who suddenly felt so far away—
I recalled the way he had turned and walked off just moments earlier.
And one by one, I replayed all the moments I had seen of him over the past year.
That arrogant, confident gaze.
The rare, kind smile that sometimes lit up his handsome face.
The way he always sat beside me, or walked next to me, throwing playful remarks.
And each time, the sparkle in his eyes, as if bathed in sunlight.
That was Roitz’s last year in Yudelln—and my very first.
“Serdin? You okay?”
“Ah… yeah. I’m fine.”
I shook my head, brushing off the thoughts.
The noisy chatter of the crowd slowly faded into the distance behind me.
It felt like spring had quietly come to an end—a feeling I couldn’t quite explain.
Two years later.
Imperial Knight Order, Second Training Ground.
The midday training ground was packed with people.
Clang! The early spring sunlight reflected off two clashing blades.
Swords wrapped in sunlight collided in midair.
The audience seated in the round coliseum followed the movement intently.
One side: Dellen Great, examiner for the Imperial Knight eligibility evaluation.
His opponent: Serdin Bibi, now preparing to enter Yudelln’s 4th-year course.
There was no time to catch a breath—swords clashed again immediately.
At that moment, Dellen’s sword sharply deflected Serdin’s blade to the side.
His sword shot upward toward her neck like lightning.
“…!”
A collective gasp of concern rippled through the audience.
Even Mina, watching from the crowd, gasped in shock.
‘Oh no, Serdin!’
This sparring match was extremely important for Serdin, her classmate.
Since her first year, Serdin had relentlessly trained with the goal of early entry into the Imperial Knights.
And this duel was the final test that would determine her early qualification.
But now, Dellen’s sword was heading toward her neck—fast and precise.
‘How could she possibly dodge that?!’
But just before Mina squeezed her eyes shut in panic—
Serdin bent backward with astonishing speed.
Her pale crimson hair, tied low, drew a graceful arc through the air.
In the next moment, one of her hands wrapped around Dellen’s arm.
In a flash, his sword lost direction.
Mina, watching her classmate’s fleeting expression, was sure of the outcome.
She knew that look—Serdin’s trademark expression when she was confident in victory.
Bright green eyes, gleaming with excitement.
A smile blooming on a previously expressionless white face.
And at the same time, Serdin’s sword was pointed at Dellen’s neck.
A whistle blew, signaling the end of the duel.
After Roitz’s graduation, two full cycles of the seasons had passed.
Two years had flown by, flowing at a different pace than that first year I spent in Yudelln.
It was a long time—long enough for change—but not everything had changed dramatically. If I had to point out what had changed…
“Serdin-sunbae, congratulations!”
“Which knight order are you joining?”
“Our Serdin is a knight now?”
“Congrats, Serdin. Being the student rep paid off, huh?”
Well, first off, I had advanced through two more years and was now a fourth-year student.
Reischer, who had taken a leave of absence, had returned last year, and now we were back to being a group of four—me, Reischer, Haerel, and Mina.
I had cut my hair a little. I had improved a bit in both martial arts and swordsmanship.
And finally, I had earned the qualifications for early entry into the Imperial Knights.
Now that was a big change.
It was essentially the beginning of Act 2 of my life—so yes, arguably the biggest shift in these past two years.
Oh, and there was one more thing that had changed.
“If you’re referring to a letter from Sir Velkirente—there’s still nothing today, Cadet Serdin Bibi.”
“You remember my name?”
“Well, you come by often enough. Also, personal letters usually get delivered to personal mailboxes, not here in the dorm mailroom.”
The dormitory mailroom clerk replied with a firm tone.
Looking at his expression—one that clearly wanted to get back to work—I stopped pestering him and turned to leave.
‘When is he going to reply?’
Another thing that had changed over these two years:
I hadn’t seen Roitz even once.
Unlike back in my first year, when we’d often trained together and shared meals, he had completely vanished from my daily life.
‘I wonder if he’s doing well?’
Back in my room, I checked my mailbox again—but as expected, there was nothing.
Not just today. That had been the case for two years now.
It had already been two years since Roitz was dispatched on the northern monster suppression mission.
I had continued to send him letters, diligently and regularly. But not once had he sent a reply.
I sometimes wondered if he was just busy. Or maybe he found it annoying.
‘Well, if I keep sending them, he’ll reply at least once, right?’
That was the hope that kept me going.
But I never thought he’d go two whole years without sending even a single reply.
‘Why hasn’t he written back even once?’
I still heard about him from time to time.
Even during the monster suppression campaign, Roitz had racked up achievement after achievement.
From eliminating a Class-1 monster that had ravaged five border villages—
To restructuring the knight personnel system and improving operational efficiency multiple times over.
‘Typical of the overpowered male lead, even from afar.’
Even way out here, talk about Roitz was always buzzing.
I heard all kinds of news—just not from him directly.
Because those were all stories about his accomplishments—not about Roitz himself.
And what I really wanted to know was just that.
What was he thinking out there in the freezing northern frontier, hunting monsters?
What were those two years away from the capital like for him?
‘I want to talk to him again like we used to.’
I had really enjoyed listening to Roitz back then—hearing his thoughts, his feelings.
And with him, I’d found myself sharing things I wouldn’t usually tell anyone else.
Of course, over the past two years, I had gotten to know a lot of new people and had grown closer to my fellow classmates.
But still, there was something different about my connection with Roitz—something that none of my other relationships had.
I couldn’t quite define what that was.
I sat by the window, resting my chin on my palm, looking out toward the mailbox.
‘Now that I’m officially becoming a knight, I feel like I’d be able to understand him better—really listen to what he says.’
Anyway, I also needed to make a decision soon about which knight order to join.
Knights could be assigned to families, regions, or countries—but the most prestigious postings were the four Imperial Knight Orders.
There were four major orders:
Elche, Kaela, Ignis, and Nouvelle.
I had to choose one of them and submit my application—but the deadline was now tomorrow.
Of course, deadlines exist so you can submit things by them, but…
‘I didn’t expect to be undecided even at this point.’
Each knight order handled swords, sure—but they each had different specialties and areas of operation.
For instance, Ignis was the personal royal guard, known for its unmatched loyalty to the Empire.
Kaela had the best infrastructure for magic tools and was known for team-based and covert operations.
Nouvelle specialized in border defense—known to be the harshest environment, both in heat and cold, and for requiring tough resolve.
‘And then there’s Elche.’
It oversaw monster suppression efforts and also handled cathedral-related security. It had the broadest range of duties.
And it was where Roitz was stationed.
‘Kaela, Ignis, Nouvelle… Which one should I choose?’
I had been going in circles for days—unable to settle on a decision. To a frustrating degree.
People usually said that when the time came, they’d naturally feel drawn to the place that suited them best.
‘Was I always this indecisive?’
It wasn’t that Kaela, Ignis, or Nouvelle didn’t appeal to me—they all seemed great.
But the moment I sat down to actually write my name on an application, I found myself hesitating again.
And I’d done that—over and over—for days now.
“Serdin!”
While I was curled up at the window, stressing out, I suddenly heard Mina calling from below.
“Mina? What’s up?”
“You ready?”
“…?”
“Come on, Serdin. You’ve got two minutes to get down here.”
Right—today was the day I was supposed to go see the horse races with my classmates.
‘Completely forgot about that.’
I hurried to get changed, slung my bag over one shoulder, and rushed downstairs.
