Kale had grown up in a small country that shared a border with Charlemayna. When he was still young enough to have a runny nose, monsters driven mad from the Black Lands had attacked, and he lost everything he’d called home. His parents were killed in the chaos, and before he even had time to grieve, he had to flee with his neighbors. During that time, he saved a childhood friend who lived nearby — someone he had been close to. Leaning on each other, they left their homeland together.
As the refugees made their way around the Black Lands, they were attacked by monsters again and again. Each time, Dragon Knights appeared from the sky to protect them. Seeing a golden dragon blazing through the dark sky, Kale made a vow with his childhood friend — that they would both become Dragon Knights.
Thanks to that, Kale and the other refugees successfully made it to safety and were able to settle on uncontaminated Charlemayna soil. Children like Kale, who had lost their parents, drifted from facility to facility until they were taken in by an orphanage run by a kind-hearted couple. It was thanks to that kindness that Kale had been able to grow up safely until now.
Kale would never forget the golden dragon that had cut across the starlit night sky. The desperate sense of reality — that he might die at any moment — had faded, and the hope that had bloomed like a flower in its place was still as vibrant and green as ever. Kale, too, wanted to become a Dragon Knight who gave hope to people who were exhausted and broken.
“All those wishing to sit the Dragon Knight Order entrance exam — please have your application fee ready and line up beneath the flags!”
The crowd had barely begun to stir when a figure dressed in Order uniform stepped up onto a platform in front of the garrison wall at one side of the plaza and called out. With this many people, the fact that the shout rang out clearly across the entire plaza despite all that noise meant they must have used some kind of magic with the arcane tool they were holding.
The moment had finally come. Kale, resolved and ready, lifted his chin to look for the flags. The instant the announcement went out, the flow of the crowd shifted in an instant. Caught off guard, Kale flailed.
“W-wait a moment. Wait! Someone’s stuck here!”
“Quit your hollering. Shut up and move forward!”
Trapped completely between people no matter how hard he tried to move, Kale had no choice but to surrender himself to the current, barely managing to keep his coin pouch safe inside his chest. He’d worried he might get pushed to the back and end up dead last — but somehow, against all odds, Kale managed to get a spot near the front of the line. Moments like this were rare in his life, so a good start like this felt significant.
Maybe I’ll actually get in early this time.
Order officials strolled around near the flags, helping sort the lines, and order gradually came to the chaotic plaza. From the placement of the flags, there appeared to be five spots to line up. Kale somehow managed to secure a place in one of them and waited for his turn. Even in those brief moments, the grating noise around him never let up.
“Come on, don’t be like that. You all know me — why the trouble? Once I join, I’ll — hey? I’ll pay it all back, I swear—”
“Next!”
“You’re all going to regret this. Regret it, I tell you! Failing to recognize a Dragon Knight-level talent right in front of your noses — hey! I was drinking with your commander at the tavern just the other — oi. Let go of me. Let go!”
A man in ragged clothes was seized by Order officials and dragged out without mercy. From what Kale had overheard, it seemed he’d asked to pay the application fee on credit.
Kale couldn’t say he didn’t understand the feeling. For poor commoners, the application fee was no small burden. For Kale, who worked odd jobs at an inn, it had taken months of tightening his belt just to barely scrape the amount together.
For an organization that supposedly received backing from both the royal family and influential nobles, the Dragon Knight Order’s policies were surprisingly stingy. At this point, the Order’s entrance exam had practically become Carter Village’s biggest festival.
That said, there was a reason the Order charged an application fee — even if Kale didn’t know it. Without the financial condition in place, applicants would flood in with no limit. Even for Kale, it was an amount he could manage if he pushed himself, but losing it felt genuinely wasteful — so the fee carried a clear message: if you don’t meet the conditions for joining the Order in the first place, give up now.
“Next!”
“Hello! Thank you for your hard work!”
After waiting a long while, Kale’s turn finally came. He greeted the official in a bright and cheerful voice, but the figure with their face hidden behind a helmet looked thoroughly fed up already. The vibe seeping out from beneath that helmet said: if you don’t want to be dragged off to the side, either pay your fee like a good boy or get lost.
Before he could be sent away, Kale pulled out the coin pouch he’d kept tucked deep inside his clothes. He’d had it bundled up tightly since morning for fear of pickpockets, so it was still warm from his body heat. He untied the carefully strung-together coins, counted them out one by one so the official could verify, and handed over the fee. The Order official dropped the money into a box and waved him off like shooing away a fly.
“Go fill out an application form at the gate over there. Do as you’re told. Next!”
Kale gave a short bob of his head and hurried in small, quick steps toward the Dragon Knight Order garrison’s official entry gate. It had been firmly shut when he’d seen it that morning, but with the entrance exam underway, it now stood wide open. In front of the gate, people had gathered with grave expressions, each filling out their own application form.
Kale waited his turn and received his form. This, too, was part of the exam. If you couldn’t read what was written on the form and fill it in properly, you’d be turned away right here, no matter how much you’d paid.
Last year it had taken Kale quite a long time to even get this far. He’d been sure everything was fine, but his money had turned out to be slightly short, so he’d had to hurriedly sell some of his belongings to make up the difference and then rejoin the queue — and on top of that, it had been so long since he’d held a pen that he’d fumbled even writing his own name on the application.
Not wanting to repeat the experience of drawing complaints from the person behind him, he’d practiced his pen grip using a stick of wood, and he was now able to write with slightly less of a crooked scrawl than before.
[Application Form No. 157]
[Name] Kale Russel
[Age] 20
[Experience] None
[Physical Description]
[Hair] Red [Eyes] Reddish-brown [Additional Notes] None
[Track Selection] Physical ○ / Magic ✗
…
After filling in one’s personal details on the form in this way, applicants were assigned a number in order. Since Kale had received the 157th application form, he was assigned the number 157. After a supervisor reviewed the submitted form, he was given a small, rough metal tag linked to that number — engraved with the corresponding digits.
Kale closed his fist tightly around the small metal tag. If he lost it, even if he passed, he’d have no way to prove that the person who sat the exam was him, and he’d be disqualified.
He tucked the metal tag into his inner pocket, then followed the instructions and made his way deeper inside the garrison, looking around as he went. Order officials were controlling the area in sections. It didn’t seem like they’d let anyone through to the actual exam site inside until all the applicants had entered. Kale decided to wait in a corner until the exam began.
People kept streaming inside the walls without end. The sounds of squabbling were still just as loud. Many were turned away at the entrance, but those entering kept coming steadily. Waiting for all of them to get inside would take at least another hour.
Last year, seeing this scene, Kale had realized that every single one of these people was his competition — and his nerves had shattered before the exam even started. He’d just stood there in a daze and ended up throwing his application fee away for nothing. Even now, thinking back on it made him want to sigh.
With that money I could’ve bought the kids back at the orphanage something nicer to eat.
Living hand-to-mouth as he did, it had been money he couldn’t afford to waste — but without last year’s experience, he’d have fallen apart just the same this time, he told himself, accepting the failure with the optimism he was known for. And besides — who knew? This year, he might be reunited with his dear childhood friend. Just thinking about the possibility of seeing that person again made everything feel worth it.
It’s been a whole year since I’ve gotten this far inside. They won’t let anyone past the red line unless they’re affiliated — but somewhere on these grounds there must be a dragon. Lucky them. I want to meet one too!
Even standing near the entrance of a place where Dragon Knights actually worked was motivation enough for Kale. It felt a little like a one-day Dragon Knight experience, and he was ever so slightly giddy.
“Wow. So you ended up coming after all.”
“Hey, good to see you — how’ve you been?”
Thinking they were talking to him, Kale looked up — only to find the people next to him greeting each other, and he sheepishly looked back down. Kale had only been in this village for just over a year, and he’d been so busy with work that he’d never had a chance to get close to anyone. Bored while he waited, he had been about to scan the area for someone who’d come alone like him — someone he could maybe strike up a conversation with — when it happened.
“There are quite a few more applicants than expected, Hirsе. The competition seems even fiercer than the rumors suggested.”
“There’s no way this many commoners have magic power. Once we do the magic measurement, half these scraps will vanish — no need to waste a thought on them before that. If you think of it as watching pitiful little insects thrash around, it’s actually rather entertaining.”
“How gracious and wise of you. Truly, a proud product of the Liguit family!”
An arrogant voice and a fawning, sycophantic one reached Kale’s ears in alternation. Feeling a prick of irritation at the realization that he was probably one of the “scraps” they were referring to, Kale rolled his reddish-brown eyes in displeasure. The man who seemed completely indifferent to everyone around him tossed back his deep navy hair and lifted his chin.
“No need to make a fuss. It’s only natural that I’m the most outstanding one here. Though, giving credit where it’s due — at best, I’d still be below Lien.”
It seemed to be a high-born individual who had come from a distant land to sit the Dragon Knight entrance exam, along with what appeared to be a servant. From bits he’d picked up here and there, Kale knew a few things about this kind of person. Noble bloodlines were said to carry a higher proportion of people born with magic power. To maintain that bloodline, they sometimes adopted children who had magic power. Kale’s own childhood friend was one such case.
And since only the eldest child could inherit the family title, younger children who couldn’t receive a peerage often became knights. That arrogant man appeared to fall into exactly that category.
