“You’ll pass in first place without question, my lord. The problem is me. Hah. I need to pass too, or I won’t be able to stay by your side and attend to you. This wretched Dragon Knight Order — calling themselves a mere knightly order and yet refusing to even allow a squire to accompany you. Using the dragons as an excuse, they couldn’t be more insufferable.”
“There’s no problem even if I pass alone, so stop making a fuss.”
“Of course, my lord. It’s simply that I’m uneasy sending you off by yourself.”
The two of them chatted away about this and that as they passed in front of Kale. The attitude of not even considering what others nearby might think of their conversation was arrogant in itself. They weren’t three-year-old children, and all this business about needing someone at his side to look after him felt like a children’s game of make-believe — Kale found their dynamic a little amusing. The people around him who had been sneaking glances just like Kale murmured among themselves.
“Must be a noble’s son, right? His clothes are insanely expensive-looking.”
“Don’t tell me you don’t know? The Liguit family is that one — the count’s house to the northwest—”
Someone who seemed to know the background of the so-called “young lord” whispered quietly to their companion. Kale was curious too, but the conversation didn’t quite reach his ears.
“Ha. Why would someone from such a distinguished family want to do something as dangerous as being a Dragon Knight? Growing up in a greenhouse, has he gotten so comfortable he’s underestimating the Black Lands? Let him get a real taste of what it’s like.”
“Hey, hey. Keep it down. If you get disqualified over that, we’re the ones who’ll be embarrassed.”
“If you’re the son of a noble house with all that wealth, why not just live in luxury — why do you have to go barging into the path to advancement for people like us commoners? Honestly.”
“Come on. If we work hard enough, we can pass too.”
They seemed to be looking at things too pessimistically, so Kale took the opportunity to speak up warmly. Not realizing someone was standing nearby, they startled and shot a sideways glance at him.
“What’s this, some scrawny little runt. Do you know him?”
“No.”
“The Order is the problem too, letting in anyone as long as they pay — might as well let in a five-year-old. As I’ve always said, they should filter people out at the gate with a magic test. Why does no one ever take my proposal seriously.”
“Hey. People from all over the country show up on their own and pour money in — why would the Dragon Knight Order throw that away?”
“Fair point.”
The two of them deliberately put some distance between themselves and Kale, as if they had no interest in fraternizing with a competitor. Kale sighed, having once again failed to make friends.
Everyone’s on edge. I guess that’s just how it is when it’s a once-in-a-year chance.
Even if he wanted to have a friendly chat, everyone was like this. Kale leaned against the outer wall and crouched down right there. The crowd’s murmuring grew louder and louder, and Kale sat utterly alone and bored.
With nothing to do, he idly watched the people coming and going. Well-dressed individuals like that noble young lord from earlier, merchants trying to cash in on the chaos, shady-looking people, people whose voices had gone loud with excitement. He’d tried looking for someone in the same boat who he could trade words of encouragement with — but if anyone like that existed, they were hiding in a corner like him and not catching his eye.
Thinking it was going to be just like last year, Kale was about to look back down when he suddenly snapped his head in a different direction. Among the people rushing back and forth, something golden flickered.
With so many people counting every coin, if actual gold had been lying on the ground, there’d have been an uproar — everyone scrambling to pick it up. Since the reaction around him was calm, it couldn’t be real gold. Kale narrowed his eyes and scanned the area, wanting to figure out what he’d seen that he’d mistaken for gold.
What is that?
Above the heads of the people passing by, a fluffy golden ball poked up. Golden threads soaked in the sunlight nailed thick and heavy in the blue sky swayed like willow branches. The closer he looked, the more it resembled the texture of human hair.
With people constantly passing between them, Kale couldn’t make a proper judgment from where he was crouching. Unable to contain his curiosity, he rose to his feet as if drawn in by some spell. Taking advantage of a momentary lull in the flow of the crowd, the identity of the golden threads was revealed like a curtain being drawn back. Someone with golden hair was standing alone in the middle of the crowd.
Standing wasn’t quite the right word — more like, they were just… there. That was the only way Kale, with his limited vocabulary, could think to describe it. With a height as tall as a beanpole and hair shining in a beautiful golden color that would naturally draw the eye, people nonetheless paid them no attention whatsoever — as though they were some worthless inanimate scarecrow left over after the harvest. Kale found that deeply strange.
What are they doing standing there alone?
As if waiting for someone, as if disappointed by a long and grinding boredom, or as if crushed by some particular realization — from that utterly motionless figure, many different emotions seemed to flow.
They must have waited a whole year and come all this way hoping to become a Dragon Knight — so why were they hanging their head like a sunflower that had lost the sun, even while bathed in sunlight? Kale felt a prickling curiosity about whatever deep story this person carried.
As someone who had always been the eldest at the orphanage and could never turn a blind eye to things like this, Kale moved his feet with care — the way you would approach a wary stray cat you wanted to feed. Not wanting to lose sight of that golden figure in the crowd, he kept his gaze fixed on them and took another calm step closer. Then, in a moment of inattention, he failed to check his surroundings and nearly tripped over someone passing by.
“Ugh, sorry!”
“You want to get hurt? Watch where you’re going!”
Kale gave a quick apologetic nod to the irritated person, but his eyes never left that golden hair. He was afraid that if he looked away even for a moment, the figure would vanish like an illusion, and he couldn’t bring himself to even blink.
Fortunately, by the time Kale had gotten close enough, the golden figure was still standing right there. Even when Kale made his presence deliberately known, they didn’t look up. It seemed like it didn’t matter to them who approached.
Were they overwhelmed and flustered by the sheer mass of people, the way Kale had been during last year’s exam? Or had they suddenly felt, with a fresh pang, how lonely it was to be standing in a faraway place all alone? Either way, finding common ground in that sense of solitude, Kale decided to try talking to them. He’d come this far — he might as well make a new friend, and there was a kind impulse in him to help if this person was lost.
“Hey, tall friend. Nice to meet you. What are you doing here alone?”
He greeted them the same cheerful way he would a nervous younger kid coming to the orphanage for the first time. Even with someone speaking to them, the figure didn’t move a muscle — standing with their head bowed as if they hadn’t heard a thing. Like a statue the Dragon Knight Order had put on display. Beginning to wonder if that was actually the case, Kale tried to get a look at their face through the fall of their bangs.
All he could see was a glimpse of a nose bridge through the long golden bangs. The color in their skin suggested they were alive, at least. Figuring that someone this tall simply couldn’t see people below them, Kale worked up his courage and stepped one pace closer. Pushing his luck further, he strode right up to them and craned his neck up high.
“Hey — are you okay?”
“…….”
Golden threads swayed softly in front of Kale’s eyes. From beneath that golden curtain that reflected the light, a pair of golden eyes met his. Kale thought those unusual irises — gleaming with the same golden light as the person’s hair — were extraordinarily beautiful.
Oh.
He hadn’t been able to tell with their head bowed the whole time, but the corners of their mouth were ever so slightly curved upward. Soft, like the smile of a kind grandmother. He’d thought maybe they were embarrassed by a scar on their face — but in reality, there wasn’t a single mark on them, and they were strikingly, startlingly handsome. Even compared to his childhood friend, who Kale had always thought was the most good-looking person he’d ever seen, there was something different about this person.
The unfocused golden eyes trembled faintly and looked toward Kale. Kale, who had been completely captivated by that sculpted face, gave a startled little cough. He steadied his inexplicably fluttering heart and smiled brightly as if nothing had happened.
“Is this your first time applying for the Dragon Knight entrance exam? Nervous? When this many people gather, that’s only natural.”
He’d mistaken them for someone with no energy, like a person who’d lost their job — but seeing that smile, it seemed their mood wasn’t as low as Kale had assumed. Maybe the long-awaited day had finally arrived and they were too overwhelmed to even move, he decided on his own. Either way, now that he’d already struck up a conversation, making a friend out of it couldn’t hurt.
“This is actually my second time. It doesn’t make it impressive — anyone can sit it as long as they pay — but at least I know more than I did my first time. I remember roughly how the exam goes, so if you’re curious, want me to tell you?”
Thrilled at the chance to help someone in a tough spot, Kale bounced his shoulders eagerly, hoping they’d say yes. The golden figure, who had been as still as a statue, watched Kale with that same smiling expression — and then gave a short nod.
They moved!
It hit him for real that this wasn’t a statue but an actual living person. Kale’s face lit up, and he rattled off everything he knew with enthusiasm.
“They’ll start with a magic measurement test pretty soon to weed out anyone without magic power. If you don’t meet that condition, it doesn’t matter who you are — even a noble grandfather gets coldly eliminated. Apparently you can only handle a dragon if you have magic power. Once that’s done, more than half the applicants disappear, just like that. I guess there are a lot of people like me who just love dragons.”
Not wanting to come across as mocking anyone, Kale gave a playful, lopsided grin. In truth, if luck wasn’t on his side, Kale himself could end up being dismissed as someone without magic power and eliminated.
The new friend, who had been listening intently to every word Kale said, turned their body and finally looked directly at Kale. Their bangs were so long that in the breeze they tickled and clung to their face, but the friend paid it no mind. Just as the golden figure bent slightly at the waist to get a better look at Kale and was about to part their lips—
“Oh!”
A tremendous trumpet blast rang out, drawing everyone’s attention, and Kale snapped his head around. Realizing what the trumpet meant, Kale hurriedly grabbed his friend’s arm. That was the signal that all the applicants had entered and that the gates were being closed for the exam. It meant the Dragon Knight Order entrance exam was about to begin in earnest.
