Chapter 35
“Direct Assignment”
Roitz’s voice was so firm that Erina gave up and just looked at the sleeping Serdin on his back.
Watching Serdin sleep soundly, Erina couldn’t help but smile warmly.
The way she shouted with confidence, the way she got happy over little compliments…
The way she worked so hard at everything was honestly kind of cute.
Probably, many of the knights at Elche saw a bit of their younger selves in her.
“She’s cute.”
“What did you just say?”
Roitz reacted to Erina’s unintentional muttering.
“Oh, Senior Roitz! I wasn’t talking about you, sir.”
Erina frantically waved her hands. Even though they were the same age, Roitz was her senior by several years—she couldn’t possibly be calling him cute.
“I meant Serdin.”
She pointed at Serdin, who was still asleep on his back.
“She’s kind of cute, don’t you think? The way she acts and—”
“She’s not cute.”
But Roitz had a scary look on his face, like he was about to hit someone.
Even so, Erina still found Serdin’s hard-working nature adorable.
“Is that so? I think she’s—”
“You going to keep talking?”
Erina clamped her mouth shut the moment she saw his expression.
He hadn’t said anything harsh, but the cold look in his eyes carried more weight than any icy words.
“N-No, sir. You’re right…”
Erina stepped back, trying to figure out what part of her words had been wrong—but even as she helped put Serdin to bed, she couldn’t figure it out.
The week-long boot camp training came to an end.
The official entrance ceremony was held back in the capital, at the headquarters of the Elche Knights.
On the day of the ceremony, the new recruits finally received their knight uniforms—and their smiles stretched ear to ear.
A sky-blue jacket like the summer sea, a white robe that fit perfectly over the shoulders. Even a real sword with Elche’s crest on the hilt was given.
“Wow…”
I kept fiddling with the golden-stitched hilt of the sword.
“Serdin, you look like you’re falling in love with that sword.”
“Coming to Elche was a great choice, Manon.”
While all the glowing-eyed rookies stood in uniform, the captain Winchers raised his voice:
“Once the ceremony is complete, your names will be officially registered at the Knights’ Guild!”
Honestly, I wanted to roll and tumble my way to the guild just to see my name in the records.
“And now comes one final important step!”
With a serious face, Winchers noticed the eager looks and gave a slight grin.
“We will now assign each rookie a direct mentor for one year!”
This assignment was the final step of the ceremony.
Each rookie was paired with one senior knight as their direct mentor, selected from among the experienced upper-rank knights.
They would be responsible for training the rookie personally and teaching them all kinds of things.
So it was a big deal for the rookies.
“Looks like you’re all nervous!”
The captain himself handled the assignments.
I waited with my heart pounding.
“The pairing was decided based on training performance and personality type!”
He said this confidently, clearly proud of the results.
Apparently, they really matched people well.
‘Who’s going to be my mentor?’
Senior Rigi had been watching me a lot, so it might be her.
Or maybe Chief Knight Exus?
‘Or… could it be…’
I quickly glanced at Roitz standing nearby.
But if it was based on boot camp, then I didn’t actually spend much time around him…
I shook off the thought. No point overthinking it.
The captain seemed sure it was the best match, so it must be someone I’d work well with.
My heart thumped with excitement.
“Deneb, bring it over!”
His adjutant Deneb walked over with something in hand.
‘What’s that?’
It was two boxes.
“The seniors will each draw a name from these, and that person will become their mentee!”
“…?”
That was a little different from what I expected.
It felt like they left everything to chance and fate.
‘Elche… is this really how things are done?’
I gave up a lot to come here. This had better be worth it.
I almost imagined my future self from five years ahead yelling something from another dimension.
But the thrill of joining still outweighed everything else, so I pushed the thought aside.
“Everyone, come grab one.”
The senior knights stood opposite the ten new recruits at the long platform.
Starting from Terrian on the far left, each senior took a paper from the box.
All of us rookies stood straight, a bit tense.
Aaron was on my left, Manon on my right. Both looked like they were waiting for test scores.
I, too, was a little nervous as I looked over the seniors.
“Now, open them!”
With the captain’s shout, everyone opened their slips.
Each senior knight who saw their rookie’s name smiled warmly and with excitement.
Except for one—Roitz.
His expression was strange. He looked… surprised?
The seniors began calling out their mentees one by one.
My nerves started to rise.
‘Of course, anyone chosen as a senior knight at Elche is probably skilled…’
Still, there are people I’d work better with than others.
“Manon Crisen.”
One by one, the new recruits were called.
Manon was paired with Terrian, and Aaron with Rigi.
Only half were left when it became Roitz’s turn to announce.
“…”
All eyes turned to him.
But Roitz wasn’t the type to get flustered.
Even in a moment like this, he stayed quiet, face unreadable.
“Roitz,” the captain called again.
Only then did he slowly close and reopen his eyes, and speak:
“Serdin Bibi.”
He said my name.
I blinked, wide-eyed.
“…I look forward to working with you.”
Both of Roitz’s eyes were focused directly on me.
I stared at him, too shocked to respond.
Only when he frowned slightly did I snap back and hurriedly reply,
“Yes! I look forward to working with you!”
Once all the pairings were done, the captain addressed the group again:
“All of these senior knights have the ability to train you well!”
He smiled at us like a shepherd watching over lambs.
“No matter who you’re paired with, this will help you grow immensely at Elche!”
We all gave a cheerful round of applause.
I started to wonder if they skipped doing real pairings due to being too busy… but this wasn’t too bad.
With the direct assignments complete, the ceremony ended.
From across the room, Enia ran up to me with a huge smile and slung her arm over my shoulder.
“Serdin, you got Roitz as your mentor? Oh my gosh.”
“I was surprised too.”
“This is going to be so fun!”
“You think so?”
“Yup—for me!”
I had no idea why she was excited when I was the one paired with Roitz.
Still, her joy made me smile too.
“Who was your mentor?”
“Senior Rigi. We really got along well.”
Enia looked over at Roitz and smiled faintly.
“Matching personalities matters. You’ll be stuck together for months, after all.”
We talked about the future and how to survive well in Elche. After she left, I leaned against the wall, waiting.
Roitz, surrounded by juniors, was heading outside. I didn’t miss the chance and quickly followed.
I kept a few steps behind until he noticed me.
‘What’s he thinking about? How does he feel about getting me as his mentee?’
‘I’m confident I’ll be good enough. If he just gives me a chance, I can show him how much I’ve grown these two years.’
Back then, when I accomplished something, Roitz had a special expression he’d give me.
That proud look. The warm smile. The trusting eyes that felt like he believed in me.
I really liked that.
Suddenly, Roitz stopped walking.
So I did too.
“Say it.”
“Say what?”
“It’s obvious you’ve got something to say.”
“Oh… was it that obvious?”
“Of course.”
Now that he gave me a chance to talk, I didn’t know how to start.
After a moment of thinking, I decided to just ask directly.
“How do you feel about me being your mentee?”
“…”
“Be honest.”
I wasn’t sure if adding ‘be honest’ helped or hurt—but I really did want to know what he was thinking.
Part of me was hoping, just a little.
After all, I did beat him in the underwater challenge.
He stayed by my side at the party too.
And I got excellent marks in training.
“Be honest, huh?”
Roitz repeated my words in a flat tone, looking right at me.
