The Immortal Genius Spear Knight (19)
“Eat a lot!”
“Wow! It’s meat!”
The only day at the training camp when you can eat steak is the day after the squad competition ends.
At this moment, everyone could set aside their regrets over the results and enjoy their meals.
“Oh… They put quite a bit of effort into this, didn’t they?”
“The quality of the meat is disappointing, but the cooking seems fine. To think we’re eating this at the training camp, mmm, hehehe.”
“…You’re concerned about the cooking?”
Damian asked Kyle, who was stuffing his mouth with steak.
It was surprising to hear Kyle, who looked like he would tear into raw meat, talking about cooking.
Kyle frowned.
“Do you think I’ll just eat whatever’s handed to me?”
“I thought so.”
“What?!”
Damian chuckled at Kyle’s comment, then glanced around.
‘…Has Master already gone?’
It would have been nice to exchange a few more words.
There was a lingering regret.
But, because of this regret, there was a budding anticipation for their next meeting.
Damian enjoyed the atmosphere as he toasted with the others, holding cups filled with drinks.
At that moment.
“May I join in for a moment?”
“Whoa?! Instructor!”
“Please, sit here!”
With the sudden appearance of Raymond, the chief instructor, members of the first squad quickly stood up from their seats.
The trainee sitting next to Damian especially hurried to offer his seat.
“Thank you.”
As Raymond sat down, Damian also took his seat and looked at him.
“Although it’s not alcohol, I hope you all enjoy it and feel better after eating well.”
“Yes!”
With a hearty response, Raymond smiled at Damian.
“Do you still stand by your decision?”
“…Yes.”
“It’s truly unfortunate. It would have been a good opportunity.”
“I don’t regret it.”
“Hmm, is that so? But do you know something?”
“What are you talking about?”
When Damian asked, Raymond’s gaze shifted.
Towards the location of the third squad.
“Instructor Leonhardt has also offered Apel a position in the Knight Order.”
“…Is that so?”
It was understandable.
Especially if one had seen the squad competition yesterday, where they would have recognized Apel’s competence immediately.
“Aren’t you curious about what choice he made?”
“I will respect whatever choice he makes. Apel’s life is his own.”
“Heh heh heh, you’re a dull boy.”
“Heheheh, how boring.”
An age so young that even the term “young” seems insufficient.
It’s easy to forget his age when talking to Damian.
‘Thirteen years old… It’s hard to believe.’
It’s not just because of his outstanding abilities.
His manner of speaking, the content of his speech, and his gaze.
Everything about him was too mature and deep for a thirteen-year-old.
‘I suppose I can’t dissuade him.’
It’s regrettable, but it can’t be helped.
All that’s left is to support his path.
Raymond stood up and raised his glass.
“Everyone, you’ve worked hard this week!”
With this shout, the previously noisy atmosphere quieted down.
All eyes were on Raymond.
All eyes were on him.
Raymond looked around and spoke.
“We’ll resume training tomorrow. Be prepared to work hard in order to achieve what you all desire!”
“Uwaaaaaa!”
Even though it wasn’t a coordinated cheer, all the trainees responded with a roar.
Raymond raised his glass high and shouted.
“Glory to the kingdom!”
“Glory to the kingdom!”
Despite the slight regret of not having alcohol.
‘It’s an outstanding night.’
The lively laughter continued as the midway point of the training camp passed.
* * *
The third week of training ensued.
“Hup! Ha! Hup!”
“Shout louder when you thrust! Harder, faster!”
After the impressive squad competition, the enthusiasm of the instructors burned even hotter.
An instructor approached a trainee and corrected his grip on the spear.
“You must grip it tightly so you don’t lose it when blocking an enemy’s attack. If you drop your weapon on the battlefield, it’s a death sentence!”
“Yes, understood!”
The trainees’ attitudes also changed.
Everyone took the training more seriously than before and worked diligently.
The entirety of the Third Training Company saw a variety of significant, positive changes.
However…
“Phew, have you heard the news?”
“What news?”
“Fourth squad. The atmosphere there is completely wrecked. I heard some of them left right away.”
“Left?!”
“Wow, incredible. After all that hardship, they left within two weeks?”
The atmosphere in the fourth squad changed after the squad competition.
Trust among squad members was broken, and small cliques were formed.
A few amongst them, including the former squad assistant with slanted eyes, had left.
It felt somewhat like defeated soldiers who had met the wrong commander.
It was a pity, but…
“Do we have time to worry about others? Even though we scored a bit better in the competition, we need to think about our individual scores.”
Swoosh.
One of the first squad members looked at Damian.
“Thanks to Damian, our competition results were high, but on the other hand it means that not a lot of people performed well other than Damian and Kyle.”
“Well… That’s true.”
“So, we need to work harder in the remaining time. Everyone wants to go to the palace, right?”
It’s not explicitly said, but everyone has the same thought.
The palace.
Among them, the royal administrative officers.
It’s the best job of them all.
However, only 30 out of 160 applicants can go to the palace.
And only 10 of those can become administrative officers.
Moreover, within that, competition within departments is fierce.
Only by achieving good results can one move to a more comfortable position.
“Hehehe, everyone seems quite competitive.”
“Everyone has the same reason for applying there.”
“What, are you aiming for the royal administrative officer position too?”
Kyle looked at Damian with wide eyes.
Damian shook his head.
“I’m not going to the palace.”
“Why not? With your current results, you could definitely aim for not only the palace, but even the position of administrative officer.”
“Hehehe, do you want to join the royal administration?”
Damian asked Kyle with a low laugh.
Kyle stroked his chin and thought.
“Well… It might be a bit frustrating, but since it’s considered the best position, don’t you think I should aim for it?”
“Don’t. Someone like you would probably run away within a month.”
“Why?”
“Because you’d feel suffocated.”
“Hahahaha, I suppose that’s true.”
Kyle burst out laughing. But then, with a serious expression, he asked Damian.
“So where are you going?”
“I’m going to the Neo-Calitz unit.”
“…?!”
Kyle looked even more surprised than before.
“The Neo-Calitz unit?”
It was a unit Kyle had heard of before.
In fact, very few people who applied for the military wouldn’t know about the Neo-Calitz unit.
It was that famous.
Or rather, infamous.
“Do you know where that is?”
“Of course.”
An answer without hesitation.
Kyle couldn’t hide his astonishment.
“As expected, I was right.”
“What did you expect?”
“You’re crazy.”
Kyle jumped up from his seat and shouted to the squad members.
“Raise your heads, you punks! A spot for the royal administrative office just opened up!”
“What are you talking about?”
“Kyle, what do you mean?”
“Damian said he’s going to the Neo-Calitz unit instead of the palace!”
“……!?”
“……?!”
At Kyle’s shout, the squad members’ expressions were full of question marks.
“Why?”
“Neo-Calitz?”
“Are you crazy?”
This was the normal reaction.
Because Neo-Calitz was that kind of name.
But then.
“Ugh, shut up!”
Thunk!
“Ugh!”
Damian, still seated, kicked Kyle in the shin.
With just a little mana.
“Ahhh! Hitting a comrade…!”
It wasn’t an exaggeration; it was genuinely painful.
As Kyle rolled on the floor screaming, Damian chuckled.
And so, the brief rest period ended.
“Resume training!”
“Yes!”
With the instructor’s appearance, everyone stood up from their seats.
* * *
Time passed quickly.
It felt like just yesterday that they entered the training camp, and now the day of departure was approaching.
The training camp had come to an end with its own story.
One month.
A time that some might refer to with “just”.
But during that time, more than 150 trainees had changed significantly from when they first arrived.
Each squad assistant, along with the instructors who had finished their training, looked around with satisfied expressions.
Although a few had left in the middle, this batch was very different from the others.
‘There were quite a few exceptional ones.’
Notable figures included Damian, Apel, and Kyle.
In addition, there were also Gerard and a few other soldiers who were quite impressive.
Without the geniuses in front, they would have been candidates for the best results.
Raymond looked at them all with a content expression.
Soon, Captain Barus, the head of the third training company, walked up to the podium and looked at the trainees lined up in the parade ground.
“I am Captain Barus of the Third Training Company. Nice to meet you.”
Barus’s graduation speech began.
Though it might have been boring, the sense of finality made it feel somewhat overwhelming.
“…You’ve worked hard, and I wish you success in your future endeavors. With that, I will conclude the graduation ceremony.”
“Attention!”
Clang!
At the shout of the first squad leader, everyone stood in perfect formation.
“To the captain, salute!”
“Glory to the kingdom!”
With the final salute, the graduation ceremony ended.
And as Barus went inside, Raymond took the podium and said.
“Everyone has truly worked hard. Your results will be announced shortly, but remember that they only represent your current standing and not your future positions.”
In order to continue improving and contributing to the kingdom.
As Raymond finished his speech, the names of the top five were announced.
“Damian.”
“Yes!”
Damian was called first.
“Apel.”
“Yes!”
Apel was called second.
The third was Kyle, the fourth was Gerard, and the fifth was the second squad assistant.
“The five whose names were just called have the opportunity to choose one item from the third training company’s armory. Those named should follow me.”
‘…Finally.’
This was the moment Damian had been waiting for.
Damian followed Raymond to the armory within the third training company.
Though not high-grade artifacts, the armory was equipped with magic devices to control humidity and temperature.
“You can take anything in here. Since it’s only one item, make your choice carefully.”
“Yes.”
“Then the order will be… Damian, you go first.”
Starting with the highest rank.
Damian nodded and entered the armory.
“……Wow.”
Unlike the outside, the temperature was quite cool, with appropriate humidity.
But what was more surprising was the state of the stored items.
It was organized well, with weapons, armor, and accessories stored separately.
“……Hey, even this kind of thing is here?”
There were even potions and reagents sorted in one corner.
For the armory of a training company, there was quite the variety.
Damian used his mana to scan the entire armory.
To check if there were any hidden treasures he didn’t know about.
‘Nothing.’
As expected, there were no hidden treasures. Though he felt a bit disappointed, Damian immediately looked at the section where accessories were kept.
At the end of the display, there was a ring that caught his eye.
It was exactly as described.
A plain, dark ring without decorations or patterns.
It was so shabby that it was hard to understand why it was here.
Swoosh.
Damian picked up the ring.
“……I found it.”
