“Hmm.”
The supervisor in charge had never encountered a situation like this before. Since there was room for differing opinions on a call this close, he spent a considerable amount of time discussing whether to pass or fail the applicant with the other supervisor beside him. Stuck awkwardly between them, Kale gave an embarrassed grin and a sheepish laugh. The supervisor who’d been eyeing him corrected the paperwork. With a thoroughly irritated jerk of his chin, he told Kale where to go next.
“Enter past that line over there and wait. Next!”
“Number 158!”
The moment Kale’s turn was finished, the person holding the amplifying arcane tool called the next number. Not wanting to get in the way, Kale hurried toward the designated area. Passing the magic test just like that — what a good start. Kale finally felt the tension begin to drain from him. Just not being eliminated here was already an enormous relief.
“Oh, right!”
Kale waved both arms wide in the direction of that golden hair, still easy to spot from a distance. With woolly strands covering their face, whether his encouragement reached his friend was anyone’s guess.
Can they manage on their own?
He dearly wanted to help his new friend get through the exam without any unfair setbacks, but right now it seemed he had no choice but to move to the designated area. He’d figure the rest out once he was settled — so Kale followed the others who had passed the test.
Even as the applicants were called away one by one, Kale’s new golden friend hadn’t moved a muscle. And not a single person found that suspicious. Even those who passed right by them barely registered their existence. Then, at last, someone else noticed them the way Kale had.
Not everyone waiting in this area was an entrance exam applicant. The information held by a kingdom’s Dragon Knight Order ranked among the highest state secrets. But no matter how tight the security, accommodating people on this scale inevitably created gaps. So when entrance exam season came around, the Dragon Knight Order handpicked experienced members skilled in intelligence work. They were tasked with mingling among the applicants and keeping watch for anyone suspicious.
Most of the suspicious characters had been dealt with before the magic measurement test even began, so by now these agents were finally able to breathe. Two Dragon Knights who had been patrolling in pairs were resting nearby, worn out from being jostled around by the crowd.
“Aahhh— urk, hack, hack!”
One of the members, exhausted from being up since before dawn, let out a long yawn — and in doing so, caught sight of something that should not have been there, sucked in a breath wrong, and spent a good while coughing. The other member who had been spacing out beside them snapped out of it and smacked their partner upside the head.
“What the — you scared me half to death! What are you doing, you clumsy idiot?!”
“Hack, cough — wait. Just a second, senior.”
The coughing Dragon Knight pulled an arcane tool from their chest. Foreign spies disguised as applicants frequently attempted to infiltrate the garrison and slip into classified areas using magic to conceal themselves — so patrol members carried arcane tools that completely blocked magical interference. They were made from extraordinarily expensive and rare materials, so you could only borrow one for occasions exactly like this. Thanks to it, what the sharp-eyed member now saw through their field of vision made their skin crawl.
“Senior — that over there. That. I’m not seeing things, am I?”
“What is it. Is someone being suspicious again?”
“No. It’s not that. Isn’t that — that person?”
“That person?”
Not knowing who was being referred to, the senior member stared intently at the spot. The moment they realized exactly who “that person” was, their eyes went wide with shock. The sight of a being they never would have imagined would show up in a chaotic place like this, standing boldly and openly among the crowd, was nothing short of staggering. The two members looked at each other, at a complete loss, then scrambled forward in a daze toward that person.
“Wh — what are you doing in a place like this?”
They greeted Kale’s new golden friend with utmost courtesy and respect. Regardless of who spoke to them or not, the golden figure simply gazed down at their visitors without a word.
Don’t be fooled by the gentle smile on their face. Sharp golden eyes glowing faintly in the shadow cast beneath bright hair. A pale, emotionless gaze directed at insignificant creatures below. The two members, pierced by that gaze, were overcome with dread — as if standing before some vast and unknowable thing. Fearing punishment for having disturbed the leisure of a great being, they rushed to explain themselves.
“W-we have no intention of interfering. It’s just that we received no prior report of anything like this…”
“If you are looking for Vice-Commander Alession, by the Commander’s orders—”
Before they could finish speculating about the reason this person had come here and explain the situation, the being that had been standing right in front of them just a moment ago had vanished in the blink of an eye. Gone without a trace, as cleanly as if they had never been there at all. It was a miracle of magic — no incantation, no chant, no formation, no arcane tool trigger — yet the two members were not thrown into panic.
“Damn it. Slipping away like a ghost as always. Where have they gone off to this time?”
They looked around. Naturally, the person they were looking for was nowhere to be seen. Either annoyed by the intrusion and having moved to an entirely different location, or having hidden their presence even more strongly so the expensive arcane tools couldn’t detect them. If it came to this, finding that person of their own accord would be like searching for a needle in a desert.
“It doesn’t seem like they were looking for the Vice-Commander, does it?”
“How would I know. Once they make up their mind, there’s nothing we can do. Let’s report to the Commander first.”
Before anyone could get suspicious, the two of them moved in the direction of the Order’s main headquarters. Ever since taking up residence on Charlemayna soil, that person had reportedly been imitating humans for some reason — but by nature, they were far more indifferent to humans than other dragons. So why they had willingly come to a place this crowded with humans was genuinely baffling to those who knew the Dragon Knight Order’s affairs well.
“What on earth could have brought them here?”
“If anyone could understand their intentions, why would the Commander be going through all that trouble? Well — it’s been noisy outside all day, so maybe they wanted to get a look at the candidates in line to become new Dragon Knights.”
“But they already have a pair—”
“Enough. Stop wasting time on useless speculation and get moving. We report first, before something catastrophic happens!”
Sensing a disaster of the highest order, the two slipped out of the area through a back path. Soon after, not far from there, the figure reappeared. On the roof of a building left unoccupied due to the entrance exam’s access restrictions, with no people passing through. They fixed their gaze on one spot. The sharp eyes gleaming beneath that golden hair seemed to pierce through somewhere far, far away — somewhere no human eye could reach.
“Ahhhh.”
Kale stretched with a full-body shudder and yawned widely. Having pushed through one nerve-racking hurdle after another, his tension was slowly unwinding. Having barely slept the night before from a mix of anticipation and worry, the exhaustion seemed to be catching up with him now.
Feels like we’re near the end. Or are we still far off?
Rubbing away the tears that had welled in the corners of his eyes from yawning, Kale scanned the applicants still undergoing the magic measurement in the distance. No matter how long he waited, his new friend showed no sign of coming over. He wondered if the slow response had caused them to miss their turn. With so many applicants, if your turn got pushed back, you had to wait until every single number had been called. Kale was killing time kicking at the sand out of boredom when it happened.
“To think that pathetic amount of magic power passes the cutoff line. Even the great Dragon Knight Order must be desperate for talent — or is this some cruel little trick to let inferior people feel the unbridgeable gap for themselves?”
A mocking voice buzzing in his ear made Kale look up. The pompous noble with the deep navy hair had gone out of his way to come right up to Kale’s face and sneer down at him. He’d actually come over and started a conversation first. It had been a while since anyone had done that, and Kale felt a little pleased — he squinted, trying to place the familiar face.
“You’re…”
Even the sight of Kale — shabbily dressed and radiating country bumpkin energy — recognizing him made Hirsе puff up with self-satisfaction. The way he thrust out his chest as if to say go on, say my name was unbearably smug. Kale had caught his name in passing and promptly forgotten it, retaining only one thing about him. He snapped his fingers.
“You’re that incredible person — the one they call Young Lord or whatever? You actually remembered my result. I’m honored!”
“My name is Hirsе Gillot Liguit! And I’m mocking you, you idiot!”
Embarrassed that his expectation had been so thoroughly off the mark, Hirsе lost all composure and shouted. They’d never introduced themselves to each other, and everything Kale knew about Hirsе had been picked up secondhand from a bystander — so Kale felt the indignation was a bit unfair. Besides, Hirsе had undergone the magic measurement before Kale, so it would have been hard for him to know Kale’s result on his own. It seemed the attendant beside him had made a point of relaying what he’d witnessed to his master.
“I heard the person next to you calling you ‘Young Lord,’ so that’s what I called you. I’ll call you Hirsе from now on. I’m Kale Russel. Call me Kale!”
Someone coming up to talk to you had to mean they were interested, didn’t it? Thinking it would be nice to get along, Kale laughed and extended his hand. Hirsе had only wanted to vent his outrage over the Dragon Knight Order’s idiotic judgment — for failing to properly filter out the unworthy — and had absolutely no intention of shaking hands and exchanging names. He furrowed his brow and glowered at the outstretched hand with barely concealed disgust. A commoner, having the audacity to act so familiar with a noble’s son. The attendant, who had been watching the scene, couldn’t hold back and scolded Kale.
“You there — how dare a lowlife like you act so familiar with the young lord without permission!”
“Enough, Lien. There’s no need to bother with an idiot who can’t take a hint. That luck of his won’t last past today anyway.”
Hirsе, who would sooner die than back down, taunted him arrogantly. He seemed deeply displeased that someone with a magic level as far below his as heaven is from earth was standing on equal footing with him. Kale felt the hostility, but he had no desire to drain his energy this early on. Kale mirrored Hirsе’s posture and crossed his arms just as haughtily, firing back in kind.
