Chapter 77

In the middle of the banquet hall, a young boy stood wearing a black tailcoat.

The tailcoat had a deep, heavy color, as if it had been made by cutting out the night,
and a small crest embroidered in gold thread shone on its shoulder, adding a touch of dignity.
The boy’s reflection on the shining marble floor looked rather composed,
but everything hidden beneath that smile was stiff with tension.

The fabric was rough and heavy, pressing down on his body,
and the tightly fastened collar made it hard to breathe.
The stiffly ironed edge of the cloth kept brushing against the back of his hand, which was annoying too.

But the clothes were not the real reason Serpens had gone stiff.

“Mm.”

The boy kept his head fixed and glanced around, moving only his eyes.
Then, whenever his eyes met someone’s, he hurriedly turned his gaze away.

People’s gazes felt burdensome.
Everyone looking at him was either a knight or a noble.
They were people he had either admired or resented since he was young.

Serpens recalled the past.
Until last summer, most of the gazes directed at the boy had been uniformly negative.
Annoyance. Anger. Disregard. Contempt.
Those emotions had been fixed on the young boy without being hidden.

The boy ignored those gazes as if they were nothing.
He pretended he was fine and tried not to break under other people’s eyes.

But that was only pretending to be fine.
Every time he met those gazes, something deep in his chest flinched.
The longer he endured while pretending to be fine, the frequency and intensity of that discomfort did decrease, but…….
the fact that he fell silent in loneliness every night did not change.

However, the gazes directed at him now were different from those of the past.
Curiosity. Surprise. Admiration.
Because they resembled his own eyes when he looked at Lucas, he could easily recognize those emotions.

‘It’s not that it feels bad, but…….’

It was burdensome.
It felt as if he had to mind every little action, every little word and deed.
It was as if invisible shackles had been fastened all over his body.

Serpens realized that caring about other people’s gazes didn’t suit him.
Whether those gazes were negative or positive.

“Everyone, enjoy tonight’s banquet.”

Kerum finished speaking with a faint smile.
The knights standing before him subtly bowed at the waist and paid their respects,
and the others applauded, raising the atmosphere of the banquet once more.

The string instruments began playing one beat faster,
and the moment the emperor moved away from the center of the banquet, people’s attention also shifted to various places.

“Phew……. Even when I’m grown, I’m not going to banquets.”

Serpens muttered while looking up at Lucas.

“…….”

Lucas looked at the people approaching him without the slightest agitation.
The eyes of those people shone, each and every one of them.
They approached Lucas with cautious but unhesitating steps.

“I had only heard rumors, but…… you really are the Sword Saint!”
“It is an honor to meet the person who was my dream!”

Before long, Lucas was surrounded by the crowd.
Serpens was pushed aside by the people,
and because of that, he could only look at Lucas with an awkward face.
Then Lucas quietly said.

“Serpens, meet me here again in one hour.”
“One hour?”
“I have something to do. Eat whatever you want, but if someone you do not know speaks to you, leave.”
“Hmm……. Well, okay!”

With no other choice, Serpens reluctantly moved his feet.
Even before coming to the banquet, he had thought Lucas must have a purpose he himself could not think of.
He was curious what it was, but he didn’t think of asking.

Because Lucas felt even colder than usual.

“What am I supposed to do for an hour?”

Serpens immediately left the center of the banquet hall.
A habit ingrained in him since childhood.
No matter what space he was in, he settled somewhere that other people’s eyes didn’t easily reach.
Even now, after quite some time had passed,
the boy still felt uncomfortable interacting with others.

The boy picked up a piece of bread, stood in a secluded corner, and listened to the music.
As he bobbed his head to the beat, one person suddenly came to mind.

“I wonder if Lars is doing well.”

Had that dark-red-haired magician dealt with the monsters properly?
How had he faced the monster when he couldn’t use attack magic?

After thinking for a moment, the conclusion he reached was, ‘He probably handled it himself.’
This was Lars, who had easily dealt with the Basilisk while taking Serpens along.
With that particular slyness of his, finding a companion to defeat the monsters should have been easy.

Crunch.

Serpens bit into the bread.
Along with a fragrant sweetness spreading through his mouth, the fruit juice inside the bread flowed out.

“……Is it good?”

After chewing the bread a few times like that.
Serpens blinked and looked at the two shadows that had come before him.
A pair of dark blue eyes and pale violet eyes looked down at the boy.

Peers he had not seen in a long time.
And they were even familiar faces.

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

Violet asked.
Serpens nodded as he swallowed the bread that had filled his mouth.

They were people he had seen before.
Aiden and Violet, was it?
Weren’t they the ones he had sparred against at the Academy over the recommendation letter for the knight examination?

Was it because the past became somewhat beautified after it passed?
He had only good memories of the Academy.
The thick clothes Lucas had bought him.
Strange but interesting kids his age.
And on top of that, he had won the spar.

Since he had good memories, it was only natural to think of it as a good place.

‘Did Lars say he was going north? Then he might have stopped by the Academy.’

Serpens shoved the remaining bread into his mouth.
He thought he should ask Lucas about Lars later.

“What is your relationship with Lord Lucas?”

Violet continued asking.
The girl wore a pleasant smile,
but Serpens did not trust that smile.

He could tell by looking at the boy beside her.
Aiden could not hide his dissatisfied expression.

“……If I had to say it, I suppose we are master and disciple.”

Serpens rubbed his nose at the awkward embarrassment rising inside him.
Master and disciple.
There was no phrase that could explain his relationship with Lucas better than that.
But now that he had actually said it…….

‘It feels weird somehow.’

A strange emotion boiled up from within.
To think the day would come when he had to explain his relationship with someone else.
He felt moved, but at the same time, his insides tickled, making it hard to keep his body still.

“Master and disciple……. Well, is that why you were so strong?”

Violet rested a hand on her chin and fell into thought for a moment.
In the meantime, Serpens exchanged gazes with Aiden.

‘What’s with him?’

A powerful vitality filled Aiden’s eyes.

“Have you reached the Expert level?”

Aiden asked with his arms crossed.
Seeing his serious gaze, Serpens hesitated to answer.

Sword Expert.
The boy didn’t know that he had reached that level.
Those who gained enlightenment, passed a certain standard of strength, and manifested Aura.
They were called Sword Experts.

However, Serpens had manifested Aura,
before he had gained such enlightenment and passed that certain standard of strength.
The level was faint, but he had succeeded at ‘Aura manifestation,’ the standard the world called the mark of an Expert.

“Who knows…….”

Serpens shrugged and avoided answering.
How could he give a definite answer when he did not know it himself?
He also knew that telling others his ability exactly as it was would only put him at a disadvantage.

“……Got it!”

But Aiden nodded.
Because not answering was also part of an answer,
Aiden came to his own answer about Serpens.

“Of course, it’s impossible right now, but someday, I will definitely defeat you.”
“Do as you like.”

When Serpens answered shortly and turned his head away,
the corners of Aiden’s mouth rose slightly.

A challenging energy still flashed in his eyes,
but he did not say anything more.

A strange silence flowed between the three of them.
Violet, having finished sorting out her thoughts, wore a somewhat more relaxed expression.

“I’ll introduce myself properly again. I’m Violet Lyond. The eldest daughter of House Lyond.”

Violet slowly held out her hand.

“I’m Serpens.”

Serpens also reached out his hand,
and the two exchanged a light handshake.

“I am Aiden Lawson. The second son of House Lawson.”
“Ah, yeah.”

With Aiden, he exchanged greetings by lightly nodding his head.

In the awkward atmosphere, the three of them talked about this and that.
Things like the atmosphere at the Academy after Serpens’s visit,
and how they did their personal training.

Violet cautiously asked about Serpens’s training method.

“In the morning, I mainly train stamina and strength, and in the afternoon, I usually train swordsmanship and hand-to-hand combat.”

Serpens gave an answer that was honest in its own way,
but perhaps because she didn’t like the answer, the corner of Violet’s eye twitched.

However, since she also did not share her training methods with others,
she did not ask any further.

“Violet. We need to greet the others too.”
“I think it would be fine to stay a little longer.”
“No. It looks like the Knight Commander of the Fourth Battalion will leave the banquet soon.”
“Ah…….”

Violet looked around the banquet hall.
The new knights were especially hovering around the Knight Commander of the Fourth Battalion.
It seemed Aiden’s words were true.

“Um…… sorry! We have to go over there.”
“No need to apologize. See ya.”

Serpens spoke sincerely.

Aiden and Violet exchanged a silent look of farewell and turned away.
Their backs slowly grew distant.

“Phew…….”

Serpens also slowly moved from his place.
Just as he was flustered by the unexpected meeting,
the bread’s characteristic dryness clung to his throat, making his thirst worse.

“Where would the water be…….”

He passed by a purple drink that gave off the scent of ripe fruit,
and also passed by a drink with a pink hue.

After searching a little harder, he found a table where water had been set out.

Serpens took a glass filled with water and headed to the outdoor garden.
There seemed to be fewer people there, at least.
And the garden had comparatively many places to hide.

Why hide?
Even Serpens himself did not know that.
He simply needed rest somewhere other people’s gazes could not reach.

“Ugh…….”

The outskirts of the garden.
And a place where the bushes were especially thick.
Serpens plopped down onto the ground.

The sound of music from the banquet hall faded,
and the sound of the cool wind rustling through the grass brushed past his ears.

Serpens looked up at the night sky.
In the clear sky without a single cloud, countless stars twinkled.

Suddenly, the battle from a few hours ago came to mind.
The trembling left at his fingertips.
The exhilaration and tension of facing the undead.
And even the helplessness he had felt before the Death Knight.

They had won thanks to the efforts of the other knights,
but an unsettled feeling remained in one corner of the boy’s heart.

‘I’m still lacking in every way.’

That thought struck his head and settled in.
Lucas had said they would try to get him over the wall before the next battle.
It would surely be high-intensity training.
Because of the aftereffects of the short training they had done earlier as a taste, he couldn’t put proper strength into his legs.

Serpens put down the glass he had been holding and let out a long breath.
As starlight sparkled in the cool night air,
resolve settled in the boy’s eyes.

To build skill, he had to train,
and to train, he had to build skill.
It might be a little hard.
Perhaps it might be very hard.

The path he had walked until now had been far from smooth.
The same would be true of the path ahead.
Just as the path he had already walked had been long,
the path he had to walk would also be long.

Even so, he would walk it.
Because enduring pain was only natural if he wanted to achieve his goal.

‘And I’m used to enduring pain.’

Serpens leaned back and settled into a comfortable position.
The sky the boy blankly looked up at.
There, countless stars were shining their light toward the boy.