The proctor passed Kale and locked up the next examination room, and the one after that, one by one. Before the last examination room’s door was closed, Kale had been sneaking a look inside — and ended up getting grabbed by the scruff of his neck by the proctor.
“Stop causing trouble and get out.”
“It’s just — my friend really does walk incredibly slowly, and I thought he might still be inside. I wanted to check one more time. That’s honestly all.”
The proctor, who had been glaring fiercely at Kale’s awkwardly smiling, guileless face, let out a sigh.
“I already checked and confirmed there’s no one inside earlier. You’d do well to watch your behavior around here — it could give people the wrong idea, kid.”
“Huh?”
“If you understood, then get out.”
The proctor forcibly took hold of Kale and shoved him out of the building. Then he cast the same enchantment on the entrance door, locked it tight, and left. With such a powerful security spell in place, no one except authorized Dragon Knight Order members could enter the building again. Kale opened and closed his mouth, then deflated and sighed.
Setting aside the separate request he’d had for that Dragon Knight, Kale fretted as he wandered around the outside of the building, worried that his golden-haired friend might be lost somewhere inside. As the sun caught on the horizon, the clear blue sky bled into a deep shade of vermillion. The day was already drawing to a close. Kale slumped down in front of the building.
“I’m so hungry~”
The thought slipped right out of his mouth like a child’s whine — Kale, mortified that someone might have heard such a pitiful complaint, clapped a hand over his mouth. He looked around. There was no one nearby. Not even his golden-haired friend.
That Dragon Knight Order member wasn’t just saying there was no one inside for no reason. Maybe he left right after the exam? I told him about the free dinner, so I figured he’d remember. But then again, we never actually made plans to eat together — so I guess that’s possible. I really am something.
It would have been nice to at least say goodbye, but Kale and the friend he’d only just made ended up parting ways in a hollow, anticlimactic fashion. Come to think of it, Kale didn’t even know that friend’s name. They’d finally become friends, and it seemed they hadn’t even properly introduced themselves — Kale felt genuinely disappointed about that.
“Oh. I haven’t seen you before. Were you one of the entrance exam candidates? What are you doing out here? Aren’t you going to eat?”
Someone rushing about with a load of things to carry spotted Kale and asked. He was wearing the uniform of a kitchen staff member from the Order’s dining hall next to the building. Kale stood up out of politeness but swayed on his feet, and ducked his head in embarrassment as he scratched the back of his neck.
“Ah, well, I was waiting for a friend.”
“If you want to eat, you’ll need to go now. The serving window is closing very soon.”
“What?! Seriously?!”
“Yes. It’s almost exactly on the hour. After that, candidates won’t be served anymore.”
He pulled a pocket watch out from his breast and showed it to Kale. Kale’s eyes went wide — he’d never seen a pocket watch before. Clocks, apart from the enormous ones in public squares, were the exclusive domain of nobility. Anyone who could read a clock was considered educated. That was also precisely why the exam had used an hourglass earlier.
“See — when this long hand reaches the number twelve, it’s the top of the hour. So you’ve got about five minutes left.”
“Oh no! Then there’s really almost no time left!”
“You’d better hurry.”
He gave a quick bow and took off running with the rest of his load. With no time left to keep waiting, Kale made his way quickly toward the dining hall. Thanks to that kind person, he hadn’t missed it — if not for that, he’d have been such a fool, sitting there waiting without even getting to eat before going home.
It is a shame I couldn’t eat with that friend. But today’s been strangely lucky somehow!
No sooner had he thought that than Kale — the very last person in line to be served — went to scoop food from the trays, only to find that the other candidates had swept everything clean. What had clearly been generous, plentiful portions now showed nothing but traces of what had been, with only scraps left behind.
This looks delicious!
Compared to what Kale normally ate as a general laborer at the inn, the meal provided by the Order was extraordinarily good — so he didn’t mind one bit. Kale scraped every last bit from the trays onto his plate. So long as the food that had been prepared could be eaten up cleanly without anything going to waste, that was the best outcome of all.
Having diligently selected his dessert as well, he found a corner seat, gripped his fork with both hands, and shoveled the food into his mouth at a frantic pace. Hirse, who had enjoyed his meal at a leisurely pace and was just about to leave, happened to spot this graceless display of eating and was appalled. He checked to see who on earth was behaving so ungraciously — and of course it was Kale again, so Hirse didn’t hold back from sneering at him openly.
“Tch. Do I really have to share a space with something so uncouth while I’m still eating?”
“You won’t have to see him again after this. Do be generous — it’ll be his last meal in the Dragon Knight Order’s dining hall.”
Lien, carrying Hirse’s belongings and trailing close behind, twisted the knife one more time. They say you shouldn’t disturb even a dog while it’s eating — wasn’t it a bit much to go after someone who was perfectly contentedly in the middle of a meal? Kale glanced over, but Hirse had already passed. Either way, the food was delicious, so Kale ignored them and enthusiastically kept stuffing food into his mouth.
Then, all of a sudden, he remembered his resolve to ask Hirse to teach him the past exam questions, and he snapped his head around to look. Unfortunately, the two of them had already left the dining hall.
“Aaaah! How stupid of me!”
He’d been right there, walking past in plain sight, and Kale had still missed the chance — he was so disgusted with himself that he set his fork down and buried his face in his hands. Being hungry and exhausted, he’d been so focused on eating that his thoughts had fallen one step behind again. He could hardly call this giving it his best effort.
He exhaled a deep sigh, then looked down at the food remaining on his plate. He’d scooped generously since it would have been thrown out anyway, but Kale’s appetite wasn’t actually this large. Still, wasting it felt like a shame, so Kale picked at the rest and slowly finished it off bite by bite.
“How much longer are you going to sit here eating?”
“Yikes!”
Someone beside him spoke without any warning and Kale nearly jumped out of his skin, dropping his fork in the process. With a loud clatter, the fork went skidding across the floor. The person who had spoken bent down and picked it up for him. He too appeared to work at this dining hall, which served the Dragon Knight Order’s members.
“It’s about time to restrict outside visitors, so wrap it up and head out.”
The meal period for entrance exam candidates had long since ended, and Kale still hadn’t left — so the head of the kitchen had finally come out himself to check on the situation. Realizing he was the only one left in the dining hall, Kale shot up from his chair.
“Oh, yes! It was so good I just kept eating — I didn’t want to leave. Ha ha.”
Embarrassed, Kale offered the compliment sincerely. The head of the kitchen, who had heard plenty of flattery over the years, forced the corners of his mouth upward and thanked him. More than anything, he wanted Kale to leave as soon as possible. Kale quickly cleared away his plate — which he had cleaned so thoroughly he’d even licked up the sauce.
It seemed the outside visitor would leave without making any further fuss, and the head of the kitchen turned to head back inside. Kale, having finished tidying up, caught a glimpse of the man’s retreating back and suddenly remembered he had a favor to ask. Not wanting to end up regretting it the way he had with Hirse, Kale called out to him loudly.
“Excuse me, excuse me! I’m sorry, just one moment!”
“What is it?”
The man stopped and waited for Kale to come running over. Kale’s stomach, which he’d packed to the point of bursting, lurched at the sudden movement and he thumped his chest rapidly.
“Um, if you’re ever short on hands — would it be all right if I helped out separately? In exchange, I’d like to take some of the leftover food with me.”
“Like I said — it’s time for outside visitors to leave.”
He pulled out his pocket watch by its chain, checked the time, and refused without hesitation. Though he seemed stern, he must have had a softer side, because he studied Kale’s pitiful, puppy-dog expression and let out a sigh.
“By the nature of the Dragon Knight Order, we can’t freely take on outside individuals without authorization from above. But if it’s fruit you’d like, I can give you what’s left over — take it with you.”
He gestured for Kale to wait a moment and went back inside the kitchen. When things didn’t go as he’d hoped, Kale drooped his shoulders — well, what did he expect. He’d thought that if all else failed, at least doing odd jobs here might be an option, but apparently it wasn’t that easy. If it had worked out, he might have been able to meet Al, too.
“Here. Now, off you go.”
The man came back out and handed Kale an armful of fruit wrapped up in a cloth bundle, each piece round and bumpy beneath the fabric. Kale hadn’t expected to receive this much, and reflexively thanked him with a deep bow. The head of the kitchen, who was far more interested in the outside visitor leaving quickly, shoved Kale out the door by his back and shut it behind him.
Kale shifted the hefty bundle of fruit in his arms and trudged off. There was nothing left for him to do here as a candidate anymore. The exam was over — it was time to step down from the remarkable standing of Dragon Knight Order entrance exam candidate and return to being ordinary Kale Russel.
Still, I didn’t come away empty-handed. It’s better than going back with nothing. Yeah. Definitely.
Kale opened the cloth bundle slightly and peeked at the contents. Fruit with peels you could pull off by hand — lush and appealing, rare in this land and worth a good price. Though probably still less than what Kale had paid in application fees.
He would have loved to let his younger siblings at the orphanage taste this delicious fruit, but the orphanage he’d grown up in was in a different region, and the fruit would go soft and overripe before he could get there. And he was flat broke — he didn’t even have the money to make the trip.
It stung to think of the younger ones, but knowing he could share with others around him helped ease his longing a little. Thinking ahead, Kale quickened his steps. Once he left here, when would Kale Russel ever be able to come back to this place? Only fate knew.
