The day of the Knight Examination results announcement had finally arrived.
A large crowd of examinees had gathered in the plaza before the venue, waiting on tenterhooks for the moment the passing examinees' numbers would be posted. Everyone stared restlessly at the bulletin board, the plaza thick with a tension distinct from that of the actual exam.
Now then, had I passed without any issues?
I figured I was probably fine, but I still couldn't shake a slight touch of nerves.
"My, if it isn't Leon."
"Hm?"
Hearing a familiar voice behind me, I turned around. Standing there was a blue-eyed girl with sleek, flowing golden hair. Umm... if I remembered correctly—
"Leticia, was it?"
"Yes. You remembered. You came to see the results too, I take it?"
"Yeah."
"I see. Though I can hardly imagine you failing."
"You think so? You never really know until you see the board."
"Good grief... As I thought, you truly don't understand what you've done, do you? Listen to me. You defeated me!"
Leticia puffed out her chest with pride and pointed to herself.
"You...?"
"The daughter of the Knight Ducal House of Clausen, and the elite valedictorian of the Royal Knight Training Academy—Leticia Clausen!"
I had gathered from her demeanor that she was no ordinary person, but to think she was the daughter of a ducal house. It seemed she was an even bigger deal than I'd imagined.
"Is that so? Should I be speaking to you more formally, then?"
"There is no need. Trying to intimidate someone who bested me with mere titles would be utterly pathetic. I simply wanted you to be aware, that is all."
After asserting that firmly, Leticia turned back toward me.
"More importantly, what do you plan to do from here on, Leon?"
"From here on?"
"Your career path, of course. Naturally, you're aiming for the Knight Order, right? I intend to join as well, so if you'd like, we could—"
"No, I plan on becoming an adventurer."
"Whaaat?!"
Leticia suddenly let out a completely flabbergasted cry.
"W-What's with that reaction? Is it really that surprising?"
"Of course it is! Almost nobody goes through the trouble of earning a national license as a knight only to choose a path outside the Knight Order!"
"Well, I'm not really interested in the Knight Order..."
"Then what are you interested in?"
"I just wanted a license so I wouldn't starve. Rigid organizations don't suit my personality, and living freely as an adventurer is a much better fit for me."
Become a knight, join the Knight Order.
Become a mage, join the Mage Order.
I knew that earning either national license opened up a stable path to serving the country. With both social standing and good treatment guaranteed, almost no one would go out of their way to turn that down and become an adventurer.
However, to me, a license was merely insurance against going hungry. I hadn't acquired it just to serve someone else and be bound by suffocating regulations.
Besides, I'd heard that adventurers holding a national license receive favorable treatment, and the Knight or Mage Order routes could always serve as a last-resort safety net.
On top of that... coming to the royal capital had given me a few new thoughts.
"I want to see more of this vast world. I want to experience things I've never known and see them with my own eyes. Because this world is surely brimming with the unknown, far beyond anything I could ever imagine."
In my previous life, I was confined to a hospital bed, unable to move. Even after being born into this world, I spent all my days simply training in a remote countryside village. To me, the world had always been something distant, but leaving the village had changed everything.
Leticia's Aureus, racing through the air as if possessing a will of its own. Char's frozen butterflies, dancing like snow and shattering their wings into countless blades.
Every time I encountered an unimaginable power, my world was vividly repainted. Precisely because it was unknown to me, it was dazzlingly beautiful.
—To me, the unknown was beauty itself.
Perhaps the old man and the old woman had known this all along. Was that why they spent ten years teaching me swordsmanship and magic—so that one day, I could step out into the vast world on my own two feet and experience a beauty I had yet to discover?
"I want to know how far this world extends. And how far I can reach within it. The limits of the world and the limits of myself—I want to see both with my own eyes."
Letting my thoughts wander to that unseen horizon, I continued.
"Will my own limits ever reach the limits of the world? If they truly do—I want to see what lies beyond."
When I finished speaking, she let out a deep sigh.
"Haaah... Honestly, I don't quite understand what goes on in the mind of a genius like you, but..."
Leticia gazed intently into my eyes.
Though she seemed exasperated, her blue eyes held a glimmer, as if she were looking at something radiant.
"I understand very well that you are someone who cannot be satisfied with a path merely laid out by others."
Her voice was tinged with a strange, fond gentleness.
"If you ever run into trouble, just let me know. After all, we're technically peers from the same cohort."
"I don't even know if I passed yet, though."
"Nonsense. It's practically a foregone conclusion."
At that very moment, the venue erupted in cheers and excitement. The numbers of the passing applicants were posted in long rows across the bulletin board. My number was clearly there as well. Right at the very top left.
"Look, there it is."
"Yeah. That's a relief."
"Aaaand of course you took the top spot, Leon... But that's fine."
Though a hint of regret flickered across her face, Leticia smiled with a clear, refreshed expression.
"I will catch up to you one day, you genius."
"I'll look forward to that."
"Yes. Even so—"
Suddenly, her expression grew solemn.
"I am truly glad your talent lies on our side, with the knights."
There was no way I could possibly tell her that I had taken the Mage Examination too...
"I-Is that so...?"
"Yes. If that talent of yours had been inclined toward magic, there would be no greater threat to us knights. Depending on the circumstances, someone might have even sent assassins to eliminate you before you could grow into your power."
"...Is it really that extreme?"
"Coming from the countryside, you might not know this, Leon, but the rift between the staff and the sword runs extraordinarily deep. So, I am truly glad you are on our side. Hehe."
"H-Haha... Yeah, totally..."
She smiled happily, but all I could manage was a dry chuckle.
Damn it...! There was no doubt the old man and old woman knew this would happen and deliberately chose not to tell me a thing. In particular, the image of the old woman's smirking face, looking as though she saw through everything, vividly surfaced in my mind.
Still, this was bad...
I never imagined the conflict between the staff and the sword was so deep-seated that assassins would get involved. If that were the case, wouldn't I be in an extremely dangerous position if I passed the Mage Examination as well...?
No, calm down. It wasn't time to panic just yet.
If anything, with relations being so terrible, there was no way the two factions were sharing applicant information with each other. As long as I didn't slip up and say something foolish, the chances of anyone finding out I had taken both exams were practically zero. If I played my cards right... there wouldn't be any problem.
"What's the matter?"
"N-No... it's nothing. I should get going now. If our paths cross again, take care of me then."
"You're going to become an adventurer, right? I occasionally drop by the Adventurer Guild myself, so I'll be seeing you."
"If you're joining the Knight Order, is there really any reason for you to go out of your way to visit the Adventurer Guild?"
"I-Is there a problem with that?! It's my business where I go!"
With her cheeks flushing slightly, Leticia turned her face away in a huff.
Well, at any rate, I had secured a knight's national license. All that remained were the results of the Mage Examination. I hoped I passed that one without any issues as well.
The staff and the sword.
Considered "one of our own" by both sides, I had yet to realize that I was about to be hurled straight into the heart of their feud.