SBTMK Chapter 32

It wasn't until lunchtime that word came summoning her back down to Commander Kasin.

She'd already finished sorting her few clothes and belongings, and had already changed into her uniform, so all that remained was to go.

Flora moved over to the headquarters building and entered the commander's office.

The same door-guard and the same adjutant were still there in the office.

"Good day, Commander."

Flora saluted again and stood with her back straight.

Kasin, apparently absorbed in some documents, only lifted his eyes to look at her, his brow still furrowed.

"Sit there for a moment."

"Yes."

At Kasin's gesture, Flora sat obediently on the sofa.

It was a good while before another knock sounded.

In the space where only the sound of turning pages could be heard, Flora, who hadn't even been breathing properly, only just managed a small breath.

At a glance from Kasin, the knight guarding the door moved.

The door opened, and someone poked their head in, as if checking the situation first.

"Come in. Melia."

It was a woman with emerald-colored hair. The moment Flora confirmed the woman's face, she reflexively shifted her gaze to the adjutant seated beside Kasin.

'They look alike……?'

Sure enough, the adjutant, who had been paying no particular attention to Flora, even crinkled his eyes into a smile for the woman named Melia. Melia greeted him in turn.

Close siblings, maybe. Or twins…… something like that.

Just from the air between them, she could guess the relationship.

"Now, Melkir. This, I'm afraid, you'll just have to look over."

Kasin, rising from his seat, wore an odd little smile as he set a bundle of documents down on the adjutant's desk with a thump.

The man, who shared the same hair color as Melia, looked up at Kasin with an irritated face.

"……I'll take the new recruits around myself, so couldn't the commander stay here instead?"

"Melkir, did you ask that thinking there was actually a chance of that?"

"No."

"Lucky for you."

Kasin smirked, punchably smug and patted his adjutant's shoulder a couple of times.

Having by now come over to Flora and Melia, Kasin spoke in a voice of considerable dignity.

"For your first day, I'll be showing you around personally. One of you topped the official examination, and the other graduated second in her class from the Imperial Academy."

As it happened, both of the promising talents Kasin had picked out this year were women.

It wasn't every year that he personally escorted new recruits around, but this year, he'd already made up his mind to make time for it no matter what.

One had exceptional intellect; the other, exceptional swordsmanship.

Flora had been skilled enough to summon a 3rd-rank demon-beast during the second exam, and on top of that, she even carried mana.

Though it seemed like a burden to her for now, he could already picture, clearly, the future once she was able to use it.

Melia had graduated second in her class from the Imperial Academy.

Every year, the top and second-place graduates of the Imperial Academy were permitted to join a knight corps without any additional examination. But deciding which corps was up to the commanders.

Hakra, having lost Flora to the White Knights, had raged about wanting to take this year's top graduate for himself.

Kasin knew that Melia, his own direct adjutant Melkir's younger sibling, was this year's second-place graduate from the Imperial Academy.

Having already decided he'd give up his usual greed for the top graduate this year anyway, he'd readily agreed to take her—which had sent Hakra's face going red and raging all over again.

Bickering every year—"I'll take the top one," "no, I will"—over who'd take the top graduate and who'd take the second, and apparently Hakra had assumed Kasin would put up his usual fight this time too.

Hakra had been crestfallen, but soon conceded readily enough. If Kasin had the conscience to take Flora, then giving up the top graduate was only natural.

Kasin hadn't been thinking about conscience in those terms at all, but as it turned out, both of them had ended up with the person they wanted without wasting any effort on the fight.

"Let's go."

Kasin looked down at the two fledglings, then left the office, and the two new recruits followed behind him.

At the far end of the office, opposite side, was the dining hall. Inside, many knights were already in the middle of their meal.

The moment Kasin entered, everyone rose from their seats as if by prior arrangement and saluted him.

"Eat comfortably."

Kasin gestured for the knights to sit back down, then went to get his own food.

Flora and Melia both followed Kasin's lead. Flora had spent some time using the Holy Knights' dining hall, so it was a familiar routine.

The moment they sat down, Kasin, glancing at Flora's plate, smiled faintly. She'd piled on everything that looked good, and before she knew it, the food had become a small mountain.

He'd assumed any knight training every day would eat about this much, but looking at Melia's plate, it seemed that wasn't the case.

Flora, feeling suddenly self-conscious, glanced at Kasin's expression.

Then, all at once, the memory surfaced—of him catching the sound of her stomach growling on the day of the exam—and her face flushed red.

"Eat up quickly. There's a lot to do today."

Kasin had seen Flora's expression change.

Seeing how much she liked her food, something about it struck him as endearing, and a smile rose to his face—but she seemed to have taken it entirely the wrong way.

With so many eyes watching and ears listening, there was no correcting the misunderstanding.

Kasin began his own meal first.

Only then could Melia and Flora, seated across from him, finally begin to eat.

After the meal, they visited the stables and the imperial smithy, then returned to headquarters and headed to the training grounds.

The training grounds where ranged weapons could be practiced were located in the gardens near headquarters.

The three of them headed there first.

Off in the distance stood wooden targets.

It was a training ground perfectly suited for some kind of wager or game.

But since knights hardly ever bothered with bows, it was fortunate enough just to have a practice ground at all.

"You handle a bow well. Quite a bit more skilled than with a sword—I was a little surprised."

"I grew up handling a bow more than anything else. That's likely why it feels familiar."

Flora answered honestly.

"Care to make a wager?"

"What kind of wager did you have in mind?"

She wasn't much with a blade, but with a bow, she had some confidence. At the mention of a wager, Flora's eyes lit up.

"Hm. A gift, exchanged. Anything's fine. As long as you don't just pull up a rock or a flower lying around on the roadside……"

"Then if I lose, I'll give you your gift once my salary comes in. I don't have money to speak of at the moment."

"Fine."

"And if the scores are tied?"

"Then we exchange gifts with each other."

It was a simple, straightforward answer. Flora agreed to the wager.

Seeing her so full of confidence, Kasin smiled faintly.

Kasin picked up one of the practice bows provided at the training ground first.

Flora used the same kind of bow.

Since Melia couldn't handle a bow, she agreed to serve as witness and judge for the wager.

The rule was simple: three arrows each fired at a scored target, and whoever's combined score was higher would win.

"Would you like to go first?"

At Kasin's question, Flora hesitated a moment.

Going first in a wager could seize the initiative, but there was also the pressure of being the one to set the standard.

But no matter how unfamiliar the bow in her hand, she was confident she could still shoot accurately, so it wouldn't hurt to take the initiative.

Flora's eyes lit up as she took her place before the target.

Shooting a bow required focus on a great many things at once. Her eyes never left the target, but every sense of hers was sweeping thoroughly across her surroundings.

She gauged even the direction of the wind, then released the string she'd drawn taut.

The swiftly loosed arrow struck dead center.

She loved archery for the pleasure of that moment—the release of a string drawn to its fullest.

Melia, who'd gone in to retrieve the arrow, gave Flora a thumbs-up.

"It hit right in the center!"

Next was Kasin's turn.

Flora stepped back, and Kasin took the spot where she'd just been standing.

By now, word must have gotten around, because a good number of knights had gathered at the training grounds.

Kasin, unbothered, drew the bowstring taut.

Watching from behind, his form was flawless.

Drawn fully back, then—ping—the arrow released and flew toward the target.

Given his perfect form and the fact that he'd even read the wind's direction, it seemed the commander's skill with a bow was no ordinary thing either.

Melia scurried in again to check the target, and gave another thumbs-up.

In the end, the wager was a tie.

Both Kasin and Flora had struck the center with not a hair's breadth of difference between them.

The look in Melia's eyes, as she went to retrieve the last arrow, had changed a good deal from when she'd started.

She looked at Flora with something bordering on genuine respect.

"You'll get your gift once your salary comes in, then."

Kasin said it flatly, setting down the practice bow and leaving the training grounds.

Before long, the knights who'd gathered around began to scatter as well, one by one.

The next place they went was a building located beside headquarters.

The three-story building, she was told, was used mostly for training grounds and practice halls.

There was also a section with a hefty iron door locked with a padlock; when Melia grew curious about it, Kasin kindly explained it was used for storing documents and supplies.

Both Flora and Melia had a brief sparring match with Kasin, and while she couldn't say for archery, with a blade, the gap between herself and Kasin was unmistakable.

His stance, his breathing, and every movement without a hair's breadth of error.

She felt something like the same wall from Erne in Kasin as well.

Erne's swordsmanship had been precise and swift; Kasin's swordsmanship was precise and heavy.

Where Erne would have killed with a strike to a vital point, Kasin, it seemed, would simply cut a body in half, or let it bleed out.