Episode 38

The joint entrance examination held by the Knight Order and the Mage Corps had been a first, and some trouble had been anticipated—but what happened far exceeded that scope.

The second test had been planned as live combat on the Igza Plains. Examiners and examinees would be formed into small squads to subjugate monsters. In reality, however, it had been closer to war than to a hunt: unending assaults by monsters, a veritable stampede.

Not only the examinees, who lacked battle experience— even active knights and mages, forced into unfamiliar formations, had been unable to fight as they wished.

Reinforcements arrived, and then an unexpected ally. Thanks to their efforts the crisis was overcome somehow, but the lives lost had been anything but few.

“Just as I thought… In the end, we gained nothing.”

“We knew this would happen. When things fail, the burden always rolls downhill.”

Yorn and Hares visited the National Military Headquarters, which oversaw both the Knight Order and the Mage Corps, to review what had happened.

“But was that wise? Throwing down the gauntlet like that?”

“It’s fine… If there’s going to be discipline, let it hit me too.”

Hares had coordinated the exam. He had followed orders from above to proceed, but this military operation had been far too slipshod.

“Still, isn’t it normal to hear the Knight Order’s side first?”

“That wouldn’t solve the root problem, and it could drag in people who had nothing to do with it.”

Hares had been briefed on the plan beforehand: use those who passed the first test as bait to draw the enemy’s attention, then crush them at once. It was certain the examinees would be exposed to danger, but they had prepared many reinforcements for that very reason. Above all, the presence of many capable proctors had encouraged the decision.

“…Even now, I don’t think using the volunteers as bait was wrong. Sooner or later, they’ll face a moment like that.”

“Learning one’s limits through real combat—well, taken to an extreme, you could call it a continuation of the test…”

“But that was… not bait, it was expendable pawns. The young sprouts would never have had a chance to grow!”

An entrance exam was, so to speak, a sieve. Its purpose was not only to pick out the talented young, but also to find people with strong spirit, endurance, and a sense of responsibility.

On the Igza Plains, a misstep could have meant total annihilation. If there were none to follow after, the organization would collapse.

The two demanded an explanation: Why had the enemy assault been predicted? Why had the passing standard been lowered to increase the number of decoys among the examinees? Had the size of the reinforcement force been appropriate?

They received no concrete answer to anything. In the end, everything was dismissed as military secrets.

“Don’t mess with me! Are we just convenient expendables to you!? Watch me—one day I’ll drag you out of those seats!”

Hares’s outburst brought the meeting to an abrupt end.

“We won’t be able to press further than this… More than that, something’s been bugging me.”

“Bugging you?”

“La-gi-as’s role. What did that mean?”

The supernormal power Zeke had shown on the Igza Plains. The too-convenient arrival of Lagias private soldiers as allies. There were many suspicious points, but Yorn’s exchange with Zeke stuck in Hares’s mind.

Lagias was the kingdom’s villain—a vicious lord who had neglected many of his people. A noble whose very existence ought to be condemned. The conversation that seemed to overturn that premise made Hares uneasy.

“Ah, that… Who knows? I don’t know the details.”

“…Huh? What are you talking about?”

“I just said something that sounded plausible, in a plausible way.”

The sudden shift from a serious air to a throwaway attitude left Hares baffled.

“Y-you’re the one who brought it up!”

“What I don’t know, I don’t know. I did look into it a little, because I had my own thoughts…”

If the lord of Lagias had merely been incompetent, nothing would differ from before. But Zeke’s words and deeds were clearly unlike the Lagias of old. The contradiction was stark. That was why Yorn had investigated information related to Lagias.

“It’s natural that domain governance is entrusted to its lord—but that doesn’t mean anything goes.”

“Hey, why are you lowering your voice…?”

It was questionable that the crown had left a lord, detested and criticized across the realm, alone for so long.

“Plenty of nobles have been purged before. So why not Lagias?”

“And that ties to this ‘role,’ does it?”

“I truly don’t know. But that Izosaar fellow seemed to know something—and the Lagias brat reacted as well.”

Even without details, the two of them had reacted to the words “Lagias’s role.” Doubt felt close to turning into certainty. Yorn couldn’t shake that sense.

“So which side is truly incompetent, I wonder?”

“You’re saying the state’s hiding something? …Enough. Any more and the people in the shadows will pin us.”

In the Sealed Section beneath the capital—an underground zone only those of royal blood could enter—two figures stood.

“I figured you’d come. If you needed me, this is the place you’d pick…”

A young man with strands of silver in his hair—Aktor of the Astera Ducal House. And a black-haired boy—Zeke, the “Lagias whelp.” The two faced each other beneath Spirito.

“I don’t know what tricks you’re using to come and go here, but if you’re caught, it’s the headsman on the spot.”

“Hah. Then you’re an accomplice too.”

Zeke smiled fearlessly. Idle threats didn’t work on a villain.

“…You may be misunderstanding, but we had nothing to do with this incident.”

The military operation that used the entrance exam had been a move by the national forces—including the Knight Order and the Mage Corps; neither Aktor’s Astera house nor intelligence had been involved.

“Hmph, that doesn’t matter. What are you going to use as the firebreak this time? Your crowd of useless adventurers is gone.”

(As I thought, he knows our situation too well. What is he after?)

“It’s a sore subject. Some applicants have left the capital without even waiting for the results.”

News of the incident had spread through the capital at once. The scorn once aimed at adventurers was shifting toward knights, mages, and the national forces. In a sense, the blame had been balanced by dispersal.

“Well, we’ll smooth that over. …But that’s not the information you really want, is it? You wouldn’t come to a place like this just to chat.”

“Obviously. I wouldn’t approach a gloomy sort like you without a reason.”

Cut cleanly down—Aktor felt a tiny pang.

“…Don’t worry. Measures have already been taken regarding the Lagias private soldiers. We’ll say they were dispatched at the request of the Astera Ducal House.”

Moving private troops without permission weighed heavily. A normal noble might have been punished. But this time it had been Lagias who acted, and many had been saved. Merely punishing them would be easy, but it would return good with ill and risk a painful backlash.

“What are you talking about? Have you lost your mind?”

“Pardon…? Didn’t you come to petition for your house?”

“Idiot. That house has no value.”

(What is happening!? What of that talk of obedience to his parents!?)

“You leave them alone because they have a role. If that’s gone, you’ll make a show of crushing Lagias. Isn’t that right?”

“It’s a problem even before that. If the role disappears, that means…”

“I don’t care. That’s how it’s made… this world is.”

Aktor didn’t quite catch the last part.

“In that case, I understand even less what your aim is…”

“That should be obvious…”

Several days had passed since the exams ended. It had been an unprecedented joint entrance test with many casualties. In an extraordinary turn, many examinees who had survived withdrew without waiting for the results.

“You’re kidding… I passed?”

“Looks like it’s not just you.”

It was a surprise to hear that everyone who survived the battlefield and still wished to enlist had passed. But it was no wonder: the pool of applicants had become extremely small. Call it a contrived reason, but the judgment was that surviving such harsh war met the standard.

“You were the one who complained the most. I’m surprised you still want in.”

Skinny, Nahal, and Calm—the trio who had ended up in the same squad—had all survived and wanted to join, even as other examinees and acquaintances withdrew.

“Shut it… I’m an idiot. Complicated stuff ain’t my thing.”

Skinny stared at the ground, weighed down.

“That monster assault was abnormal. Not normal. We survived by chance, that’s all.”

Wave after wave without end. How many times had they felt despair?

“It wouldn’t have been strange if we’d died. But after us—where were those monsters headed next?”

If they kept advancing across the Igza Plains, they would eventually reach the capital.

“I’m scared. Dying without even knowing why scares me… But people with no power must be even more scared. That’s just wrong.”

He had learned his own powerlessness—and, separately from the danger to his life, he had felt another fear: that something unknowable was bearing down on this kingdom.

“I figured I gotta do something… I know it doesn’t suit me.”

“Right… Maybe there’s something only we—who were there—can do.”

“Speaking of who was with us, what about Luke?”

At the massive city gate known as the front door of Spirito stood a single ostentatious carriage. At first, curious eyes gathered at the novelty—but the moment people confirmed the Lagias crest, they averted their gaze and backed away.

A black-haired boy leaned against the carriage, arms crossed. A blond boy approached him.

“Hey, showing off a fancy carriage in the capital, are we?”

“Spare me. A shell with no substance has no value.”

It was Zeke and Luke’s first meeting since the Igza Plains. Their exchange was as usual.

“…Are you alright?”

“As you can see. I stand far ahead of you.”

“Haha, I don’t really get what that means.”

Everything was the same as always. Nothing had changed. Luke tossed light jabs; Zeke returned convoluted words. That was their daily routine.

“Zeke… I became a knight.”

Luke wore a knight’s uniform embossed with the Knight Order’s emblem.

“…I see.”

Special circumstances abounded this time, but even without them Luke’s age made his enlistment a hot topic. One could even say they used Luke to deflect hostile eyes.

“…Hmph. Every corner of the city buzzes about the youngest knight.”

“Then you should become a knight too. With your ability, there’d be no problem.”

Zeke joining the Knight Order—just like the original. For that very reason, Hiroto had refused it.

“Don’t be stupid. Me—a Lagias— a knight? Laughable.”

“…Why do you always belittle yourself? Your family’s situation has nothing to do with you.”

Luke looked at Zeke. His eyes were straighter than anything.

“It has everything to do with me. That’s what a noble is—and that’s how this country works.”

“Then I’ll change that system too. You deserve to be judged fairly. There are many whose lives you saved.”

Zeke spat—nonsense. His manner said such a thing was impossible.

“Make sure you don’t get fired. You have other duties to attend to…”

“…Right. I’ll go my way.”

Luke had already chosen his path.

A short farewell. For now, each would move forward in his own place.

“Well then, see you next time. I hope we can meet when you come to the capital.”

“Fool. If you’ve time for that, work properly… See you, Lu-ke.”

Luke turned his back and started walking. Zeke’s carriage rolled out the city gate toward the Lagias Domain.

A son of the House of Lagias and a boy from the neighboring domain. Perhaps the bond that had crossed between them had returned to its original shape— not as friends, but as foes.

Zeke Lagias and Luke Hartmann (Fonsell). The time the two had set in motion would not stop, even if the future they wished for never came.