“Can you just slow down a bit?” Edmond asked in a low tone.

  “Maybe I can. Can you not get yourself almost killed? Ever thought about it?” Claude’s voice was anything but. He was not loud per se, but it did not matter when his irritation was almost tangible.

  Edmond narrowed his eyes, not feeling it in him to give his friend extra grief.

  Even with yellowish and blue bruises spreading from his back and arms, especially his right hand, and despite the hole in his gut sutured on the front and back, not to count the agony of going through his morning training in his current state; Edmond knew it was all his fault.

  The situation could have certainly been taken as that which Claude had warned him about for a long time, and he had still helped him out the moment he needed most, both to return home and in taking proper first aid measures.

  Even so, Edmond could not allow the conversation to remain so one-sided when considering last night’s events.

  “But I did not die, and a life was saved!”

  “You only lived because of luck. You could have died, for a single guy who also happens to be a criminal!”

  “Doesn’t matter at all! You’ve got any idea how many people end up in that situation without it being their fault?”

  “… You really don’t get it. That’s not even half of the point I’m trying to make.”

  Variants of the same conversation had spiraled forth and died down several times since last night, and every time their emotions rose just as high. High enough, in fact, that they almost forgot to keep their voices quiet enough to avoid eavesdropping.

  Which was especially important now, as they approached a large, university-like complex. Glass-filled buildings surrounded by various runes, with dozens of people traveling both across the facility’s paths and into the facility itself from its open boundaries.

  People dressed in the same attire, only sometimes modified in one way or another. A military uniform that was also worn by Edmond and Claude, standard for cadets of the Alpheratz Knight Corps.

  Navy blue in color, a jacket top with a standing collar had silver buttons running from the bottom of the neck to just above the waist, with a silver-blue emblem of three spears crossed over a moon on the left side of the chest. Two leather straps stuck from the right shoulder all the way to the cuff of that same side, which had a colored strip attached to it that varied according to the person. Edmond and Claude had violet, but white, light blue, red and other colors could also be seen among the other cadets.

  A black leather belt with an emblem-engraved silver buckle tightened the jacket top at the waist into special openings, reaching just above the middle of the thighs over the similarly colored pants. Footwear varied mostly in height, which could also lead to it occasionally having the pants tucked in, but was essentially just variations of black combat boots.

  The most impressive, or rather convenient thing about the uniform, was the fact that neither Edmond, Claude or any of the cadets felt any of the painful Seyfelt cold while wearing it. Such a small enchantment, yet it made for great convenience.

  “So… which group were we in? I don’t remember seeing it in the messages we got. This kind of thing didn’t even happen last year.” Edmond asked, awkwardly glancing at the cadets ahead of them, around them as well as behind once they entered the facility grounds, eager for someone to just follow.

  “No groups. It will supposedly be done with everyone at once, by the commemorative monument.” Claude replied, much more single-minded in their path and unconcerned with their peers.

  “For real? I mean, the monument itself takes a lot of space, and with cadets of all years attending…”

  Edmond realized sooner rather than later how inconsequential his point was. After all, he and Claude were approaching the monument area just in time to see a display that made him catch his breath.

  The memorial structures were each around half a meter in thickness, perhaps a tad more, and extended to around four meters in height. There were over a dozen, made of a dark crystalline material with a strange luminosity within that made the engraved words written in different alphabets, names, even more apparent.

  Numerous cadets simply stared at them, not a single expression being exactly the same as another, besides serving as a peek into their sea of emotions.

  It was a rather known fact that when a knight perished in honor, it was their loved ones who would be contacted to carve their name on the monument. The special sorcery placed in it, when the name was written by someone with strong feelings toward that person, apparently allowed for their friends and family to feel a fragment of what made them special. Of course, every facility had an area dedicated to a similar purpose, but it was far from something he could ever fully get used to.

  With a heavy heart, Edmond could not help but wonder how many people had been lost by the present cadets, as well as those yet to come. So many of them were even younger than him.

  … A lot of them had probably been the ones to engrave names on the crystals.

  “… Hey, Edmond. Is that her?”

  “Huh?”

  Distracted, Edmond took a little over a second to fully acknowledge Claude’s question. He tore his gaze away from the monument and looked around somewhat frantically.

  “The regulars at your workplace, a brunette with an elf friend. Is it those two?”

  Claude’s extra detail did away with Edmond’s confusion, and upon looking in the same direction his friend was, he noticed them as well.

  Tatyana and Kloel, standing nearer to each other than to anyone else and wearing the same overall uniform Claude and him did, down to the fourth year violet straps on their right sleeve cuffs. For differences, Tatyana wore taller boots reaching just below her knees with her pants tucked inside, while Kloel had not only added boots of a similar height, but also leggings instead of pants and a pleated miniskirt.

  Edmond’s eyes widened in surprise, then he cursed his lack of foresight.

  She hangs out with an untagged elf, I even saw her cast a spell last night, and somehow I didn't think she could be here too?! Shit, I'm so stupid!

  “So that’s your type? I mean, looks aside, it’s like she wants to kill her own friend with that glare.”

  “Cut it out. She probably had to stay up really late last night.”

  “Hm? How come?”

  Claude’s implacable question made Edmond inwardly swear at his slip-up.

  Even worse, he had momentarily forgotten the excuse he came up with to explain his pierced abdomen while preventing further complications. Panic quickly ensued, even more so when knowing Claude would only grow more suspicious by the second.

  “Movie marathon, I think. I remember her mentioning something like that when she went for a to-go order last night…”

  Thus, Edmond could not have been more grateful to his manager for her plans giving him another story to use, however unintentionally.

  Claude of course looked a bit unsatisfied still due to Edmond’s unsure tone, but there was no helping that. He did his best to appear distracted, looking around curiously at the increasing numbers of fellow cadets… until his gaze settled on one specific spot.

  For she was here too.

  Twirling one of her golden side locks between a thumb and index finger, Hilda seemed quite bored at the conversation among her own apparent group. She noticed him looking at her rather quickly, and after deliberating with a very hard to read expression, she waved with her free hand.

  Edmond doubted he himself showed a more pleasant face, but despite his guilt-ridden heart, he returned her wave with as much of a smile as he could muster. The exchange was awkward to handle, so he switched his attention to the three people right beside her.

  He first noticed a bronze-skinned man with slightly untidy black hair, around his own height. The contrast with his extremely light, almost ice-like blue eyes made for quite the striking appearance, though it would not have surprised Edmond if his uncompromising frown intimidated more than one otherwise interested person.

  The second person he glanced at was the tallest of the group, with jet-black hair in a shorter but higher ponytail than Tatyana’s. His pleasant features hinted at heritage from the Jindao Empire’s sphere, and when seeing him alongside the darker-skinned man from before, Edmond could not help but think of the heavily marketed model duos Isolde sometimes took interest in.

  This man did notice him, however, aiming a side-glance right back at Edmond. It was a glare like an eagle’s, with irises more golden than even Hilda’s hair.

  Edmond immediately felt a chill run down his back, and almost took a step back just from that look alone.

  In his brief second of fright, he could not take a proper look at the third guy before Claude tapped and lightly pulled on his arm. Edmond turned, still somewhat shaken but his attention now focused on what happening at the front.

  Four instructors dressed in their own uniform stood in a rough center without monuments to obstruct, each extending a hand or both as they handled the invisible flow of prana into a large rune, slightly over three meters in diameter.

  The rune had apparently been releasing its converted prana for a relatively long time now, as the now opal-colored mist converged into a more concrete, if not solid shape with a rather rapid pace.

  The prana set into the form of a glass and wood table, a black marble floor, a gaming console at the side of a TV left ‘unfinished’ as it hit the illusory rune’s boundary, and a very large sofa with red cushioning. Edmond was astonished by what he could see of the person sitting down on that couch.

  She wore a uniform similar to that the cadets and instructors wore, but again with its own significant variations. The emblem on the left side of the chest was golden instead of bluish silver, and so were the buttons, buckle, as well as the added shoulder scales. But despite that, the woman’s own features stood out more than anything else.

  She might have been in her late twenties, but it was somewhat hard to tell by her exceedingly pale skin. Far from ‘fair’ or even ‘milkish’, it instead looked like a corpse’s, working against features that could have otherwise been attractive. Her hair was mostly unbrushed, and of a color that went beyond ash-blonde and into the undeniably silver. Her irises were of essentially the same color, making for quite an off-putting display in tandem with everything else.

  The woman’s holographic display laid its chin on both black-gloved hands, fingers interlocked.

  “Good morning, though it’s actually evening where I am. I’m Anastacia Marinca, General-ranked.”

  Is there anyone here who needed that intro? For a Heavenly King?

  Surprised by the greeting, Edmond wondered if such inconsequential formality was just a requirement from the facility.

  Holding the highest soldier rank among the Alpheratz Knight Corps and so few in number, the four Generals could almost be deemed celebrities within the military company. For people to call them the ‘Four Heavenly Kings’ with any degree of seriousness was an enormous statement on its own.

  If anyone here did not recognize General Marinca… well, Edmond could barely imagine it.

  “No one likes a lengthy orientation speech, so I’ll get to the point. Not all of you are new to Seyfelt, but even for those who are, I’m sure this place’s reputation is no mystery. Most of you are not enrolled there by choice, and I will confirm that if you’ve been sent in by the higher ups, it’s because you are a problem.”

  Anastacia let out a bomb-like statement without a shred of shame or restraint.

  Cadets knew better than to interrupt a General’s talk, but reactions were not hard to notice, mostly negative. People shuffled about, scoffed and glanced away. Some frowned and grumbled almost inaudibly, while more than a few let out dismissive chuckles.

  Edmond thought a few cadets might have overreacted a tad, but Anastacia’s statement was undoubtedly rude. Were Claude not by his side, as impassive as ever, he may have become rather uncomfortable himself.

  The pale General leaned back on her sofa and continued on, not a single regard spared for her words’ impact.

  “I don’t know what any of you did to get yourselves into this situation, and honestly I don’t care. That’s up for the instructors to deal with, but there’s still misunderstandings most of you have that are annoying me to no end. So I thought that if I took the time to tell you some truths, the usual amount of waste could be reduced.”

  Interest had begun to visibly show itself among several cadets. They were still far from the majority, Anastacia’s earlier disrespect had been effective in that regard, but Edmond could notice the amount increasing nonetheless.

  She proceeded, to whoever would hear.

  “With the lot of you who got all offended at what I said, I have more than enough proof this lack of thinking is still prevalent. Listen here, the fact that you’re problematic is precisely why I have chosen to endorse this facility rather than any other.”

  Confusion spread among the majority of cadets this time, with idle chatter from the dismissive many dying down very quickly.

  Endorse?

  Edmond was surprised by her choice of words, but did not have time to think deeply on the matter.

  “Most of you have probably thought about this once, twice or more times than what is useful, and several have rightfully dismissed it as ignorant arrogance. But there’s still truth to believing that your ‘problematic’ traits are what give you extraordinary potential. You’re not just training to face demons and dangers from this very world, both of which can easily defy and even break whatever common sense you’ve developed throughout your lives. No, even as cadets, it’s likely those of you in the upper years have already faced them, and it will be the same for you newer people before long.

  “In those circumstances, regardless of what any horseblowing bureaucrat in turn wants to say, actual warriors like me know we don’t need neutered soldiers who can’t contribute on their own. We’re not a collective unit like other armies might aspire to be, but a force of various powers unmatched through our own methods. Embrace what makes you hard to handle, impossible to dominate, because that’s what will prevent any enemy from overcoming you as well.”

  Silence, even if for only a few seconds, had become absolute among those present. Yet when it came to thoughts, it was the complete opposite.

  Anastacia’s words were antithetical to the ideal developed and followed by the vast majority military forces across history. To say hearing them from one at the peak of the Alpheratz Knight Corps felt uncanny would be near the nadir of understatements.

  Edmond expected those in charge to be panicking at least a bit at such a speech, but the instructors he saw near the projection ranged in their expressions from complete calm to visible approval.

  This was ludicrous to see from graduated soldiers, especially those with experience. But despite that, it was an idea that still brought a unique kind of satisfaction to Edmond. A feeling like that a child might have when their strict parent agreed with them on some crazy thought, a unique sense of confidence only someone held on a pedestal could grant. As if for just a moment, one had been raised up to that level as well.

  Edmond knew he could not be the only one feeling that way, and he found nothing to think otherwise when glancing around.

  Instead, it was his ears that caught the odd one out.

  “Bullshit.”

  Let alone Edmond, pretty much every cadet and even the instructors had turned to the tall young man, the first one to speak up ever since Anastacia stopped her talk.

  “What’s the matter?” Even the General herself lent him her direct attention.

  The shaggy-haired young man, a fifth year cadet per the red strap on his right cuff, stepped forth from within the few people ahead of him. His eyes were narrowed, his teeth probably gnashing against each other behind his lips.

  “You admit to not having a clue about us, and still go on with this shitty lip-service? It’s easy for some big shot Heavenly King to say this nonsense when you’re pampered by the big shots, let alone everyone else. But you’re telling us to keep at it, when we’re the ones constantly being treated like some nail sticking out!?”

  “What I’m saying is—”

  “I’m not finished! You said your piece so I’m saying mine! You don’t respect us enough to even stand up from your seat when talking about all this danger we’ll face! Hell, you said it’s evening where you’re at, so you’re not even in the same country as us! And you want us to listen to this crap about ‘endorsement’!?”

  If Anastacia’s earlier speech had brought forth complete silence, the young man seemed to be inspiring absolute outrage. Whether arguing against or in favor of the fifth year, hardly anyone remained silent.

  “To think we would see a cadet telling off a General.” Even the aloof Claude showed some very real surprise.

  “He’s insane! And doing so in front of so many people just makes it worse!” Edmond could still hardly believe a senior of only one year was so bold.

  The bickering among cadets continued for several seconds, exceeding a minute and reaching two, but it soon started to become subdued at a disproportionately fast pace.

  More people were noticing the impassive Anastacia, looking on with some interest but no discomfort. Which was, in a way, much more unsettling than righteous anger at an insolent brat.

  “I wouldn’t have minded a small interruption if you wanted me to stand up.”

  “You really think this is—”

  “No, no. Now you will let me finish.”

  The pale General’s tone was not loud, yet the odd strength in it left even the furious cadet speechless briefly. For just an instant, something abnormal seemed to be present in her voice.

  Anastacia stood up from the sofa, the projected image flickering for a split-second.

  “But that’s just one thing. Frankly, there’s no difference whether I’m here or there with you all, as you will see.”

  The flickering quickly turned to something like video buffering, then to complete instability of the rune’s illusion. Half of Anastacia’s body looked warped, twisted like poor recording quality.

  Edmond trembled as he recognized another view right as the General continued speaking in an alien voice.

  “It might be useful. Demonstrations tend to be better than words.”

  The prana image was certainly becoming more and more unstable, but the distortions in Anastacia’s body and voice were not due to that fault. It was obvious to anyone paying enough attention, how the ‘overlapping’ of countless instances of each spoken word had its own pace, regardless of the flickering’s own. It was doubly apparent for the entire right half of her body, which was now seeping a viscous, hideous blackness from head to foot. To call it ‘darkness’ or ‘shadow’ did not feel fully accurate, it having an oddly corporeal feel and yet so absolutely black that its dimensions were impossible to judge accurately. Being all one could see as the right side of the General’s body beyond a silver gleam where her eye should be, the complete picture was disturbing even with a brief glance.

  It made one wonder whether that blackness had simply covered her, or if it was her true essence behind a human shell.

  The ambient color had become less vivid without warning, and it was difficult to even tell when it had happened. The shock once the change was noticed was no lesser for it though, with the cadets and even two instructors searching for the anomaly's source in clear panic.

  All of two seconds were barely needed for it to be found.

  Edmond looked skyward, where the face of the sun itself had been stolen. Only a thin band of light remained as the flimsiest of boundaries, its near-totality now a darkness that looked like a circle had been sliced off reality itself.

  Was that a spell? Or maybe just her own Area of Influence? Edmond did not know and he was aware he would not be able to tell even with a full day to look. The most important issue was much more straightforward of a matter, but no less terrifying for it.

  Anastacia said it was evening wherever she was. The fifth year was right to say she could not have been in the country if that was the case, but there was more than that. For it to be evening there while it was morning in Seyfelt, she had to be in another continent, a completely different part of the world. Yet she had produced an effect like this all the way in Seyfelt, within just a few seconds.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  Edmond’s thoughts were disrupted by a view that paired his racing heart with a dense lump in his throat.

  The hollow eclipse shattered. Or rather, it had begun to expand in cracks that affected that which was near it, the very sky. The recently gray heavens changed once more as jagged lines tainted them in every direction, the same blackness as the stolen sun growing in a twisted web. The impossible vision of a sky that could crumble and fall was right there, somehow feeling as real as its former blue extent.

  Only Anastacia’s echoing voice could draw anyone’s attention away from that.

  “This is what I am after rushing past the walls anyone put around my self. Distance that means so much to you might as well not be present for me. I doubt even two of you will even come close, but for those whose desires make you ‘problematic’… will you not try and see if you can?”

  The General of black and silver smiled coldly.

  Even after the sky was repaired as quickly as it broke, even after the utter darkness on her right side vanished without a trace.

  It looked just as hideous as before.

  It had only taken a few more minutes for Anastacia to finish her ‘introductory speech’.

  Even after all the subsequent start-of-term talks, touring around the facility itself and explanations of rules and resources, the effects of General Marinca’s display on the mood of nearly everyone had barely receded.

  Small talk seemed all but absent no matter where one looked, people came and went from what seemed to be work and training-related issues only, and there was an air of tension that felt almost solid.

  Luckily for Edmond, he could distract himself a little with an important errand.

  “Good morning…?” He greeted with some doubt as he entered a particular building. It would not have been surprised if the people who had stayed indoors were just as frightened as those outside.

  Contrasting the usual architecture at the training facility, Seyfelt’s knight armory looked thick and dense. The proportion of glass to metal was a complete inversion of the other buildings, and the former was hardened to such an extent that it lacked any luster and reflection.

  The insides looked as dull as the outside, gray in an almost uniform manner, with no seats or features to speak of other than a two-man counter… wait, no, there was only one person behind it. The other one appeared to be just another visitor.

  Quite tall and healthily slender, he could not have been past his mid-twenties. His medium length, wavy hair was a weird in-between of brown and blonde, almost olive-colored. He made it work with a confident face and air, though.

  Gradually, Edmond recognized him as more than just one of the four instructors from the recent event. Enough so to become slightly nervous upon being noticed.

  “Huh… well, I think that’s enough. It’s the first day and you already have visitors, so we can follow up another time.”

  The instructor did not even wait for a reply from the armory clerk. He just turned around and left, as if all essential business was over and he cared for nothing else. He did spare an apologetic smile toward Edmond as he left, however. The eyes behind his rimless glasses, if anything, showed regret at being an inconvenience.

  Edmond kept looking until the armory’s doors closed behind the man, and even a few seconds afterward. He may have stood like that even longer if not for the clerk speaking up.

  “See something you like? Your type? Don’t bother. I really don’t know what his problem is, but no one deserves even half of it.”

  “… do you not know who that is?”

  Edmond’s disbelief was beyond obvious, but the clerk seemed too annoyed to care or even notice.

  “Mm, new instructor, one brought to do quality control and stuff here at the armory. They didn’t tell us he’d be this annoying, though…”

  Beyond confusion at someone in this line of work not knowing the man at least by his face, some of the clerk’s words peeked some more of Edmond’s interest.

  “Why did you need new staff for that? Repairs are being done or something?”

  The clerk shrugged, as if he was trying on purpose to maintain the image of the classic ‘can’t be bothered’ worker.

  “Who knows? It could be that or anything else, but what’s important is that some of the equipment has gone missing due to that. Maybe even stolen.”

  “… I see.”

  So that’s what went on last night?

  Memories of the recent battle surfaced in Edmond’s mind. The Alpha-class javelin wielded by that Thorn, a person who did not seem to have any real training with it. Had a Seyfelt gang really managed to steal from a Knight armory?

  Any more thinking on the matter was interrupted by the clerk, who kept rambling on as if not expecting any replies.

  “Really, I get the issue but like, can’t they send a less snobby guy? And so annoying too! Like, I just man the counter, and not every day at that. Just how much does he expect me to know!?”

  … but perhaps some of that rambling was deserved, Edmond did end up accepting.

  “He probably doesn’t have many others to ask. There’s the technicians of course, but aren’t you people handling the day-to-day a better bet for noticing something off?”

  “I guess… but still. Just who is that guy to act like that? You brought that up before and now you’re trying to defend him. Sure, he’s on the hot side, but what gives?”

  This clerk really had a special talent for wearing out Edmond’s patience.

  Narrowing his eyes, he replied to the inquiry with a deadpan tone.

  “His name is Throvim Van Svelten, a big authority on runes. Even you’ve probably read a few news articles about him, about how he reworked classic teleportation systems for living beings into much more convenient forms.”

  For the first time since entering the armory, Edmond saw the clerk go speechless for more than three seconds. Certainly impressive, even if the silence did not last much longer.

  “Wait, you’re serious? You mean the guy who’s about to figure out cheap teleport travel!?”

  “… among other things, such as the evacuation systems we have here.”

  Is that really what he’s concerned about!?

  Even when after adding more to it, Edmond’s point seemed quickly dismissed by the now quite giddy clerk.

  “Wow, I really didn’t get the vibe from that guy. If you asked me, I would’ve figured him out to be more of a geek, you know?”

  “Right… well, armories like this are usually constructed with layers upon layers of runes, both for structure and protection, right? So someone like him is just about the best you could get to fix the issue.”

  The clerk’s eyes darted to the side, his lips pursed tight on hearing the explanation.

  “I guess that explains the whole attitude problem, if he’s such an expert… Whatever, what’s done is done. He may be some famous big shot, but I’m not going to just let it be if he acts like an ass.”

  Edmond’s opinion of the clerk brightened a little bit again. He was truly a young man of ups and downs.

  “So, what are you doing here?”

  In between Throvim’s presence and the whole talk with the clerk, Edmond had briefly forgotten the reason he went to the armory in the first place.

  Mentally sighing at his carelessness, he lifted a light gray, rectangular case. Running down his planned responses to any possible questions that could be asked, he placed it nervously upon the counter, alongside its key.

  “I had a training accident with my Gamma-class last night. The sheath broke, so I’d like a replacement.”

  “Huh… alright then. Is the same size and type ok?”

  “… sure?”

  The clerk’s reply was dry, to say the least. But as Edmond waited for something more, some semblance of accusation or suspicion, all the clerk did was unlock the case and retrieve the shortsword within, before engaging attentively with the counter’s computer.

  “… so you need my ID number or…”

  “Why would I? You just need a replacement. Aaand… there. Your new Gamma-class is registered as ‘loaned’. Just wait a few minutes while it makes it through security.”

  … you can’t be serious.

  For all his paranoia about the strength of his excuses, not getting to use them felt almost as bad.

  Edmond’s feelings toward the clerk plummeted yet again.

  It had taken around ten minutes for Edmond to receive his new training weapon. Adding to all that had previously happened, it had probably been around two and a half hours since he had arrived at the facility. The specifics did not really matter anymore, though. All he cared about was that his stomach had deemed it long enough.

  The insistent growling, however, reminded him of something aside from hunger alone.

  “Fourth years don’t have to stay any longer today. Lunch?”

  Edmond asked Claude, who had been waiting outside the armory. Not stopping his walk, the latter simply followed along the moment he passed by.

  “Sure. Domino’s Mask?” The brown-haired young man replied in an aloof manner, still impressive to his friend.

  When it came to General Marinca’s demonstration, Edmond was perhaps not as shaken as some others, though he could not let go of the experience just yet. But for Claude, even if he had looked as stunned as anyone else during the actual display, he now seemed as calm as any other time.

  Edmond certainly appreciated that attitude, and how it helped him relax as well.

  “I don’t know, we’ve had that a lot. Can’t we walk a bit and check out other places?”

  Claude’s look became puzzled at such a response. Enough so that he didn’t reply for a few seconds even as he kept staring at Edmond.

  “What?”

  “Neither of us like to just walk around and pick on a whim. What is it now?”

  “… I just want to see if I can take care of something else while at it. Just hold on and you’ll see what I mean.”

  Edmond felt more than a tad embarrassed about the reason for his unusual plans. But as expected, Claude knew better than to make him more uncomfortable by pressing further.

  “Fine then. How did the replacement thing go? Did they ask anything about the sheath?” He changed the topic with visible interest, if not worry.

  A bit absent-mindedly, Edmond replied by briefly opening the thick weapon case, allowing the new sheath to be seen, free of any damage or signs of use. The size was about the same, belying a similar weapon locked tightly within.

  “The guy didn’t even ask for my ID number. I was worried about the time of it breaking being suspicious, but all he asked was if I wanted the same model.”

  Edmond’s voice was half-frustration and half-disappointment as he closed the case back up. He honestly wondered if maybe that carefree clerk was wholly to blame for the lost equipment.

  Unusually, Claude let a small grin appear on his face momentarily, apparently restraining a chuckle.

  “Well, it’s better to be overprepared than under, is it not? You can still keep those excuses if you ever need something of the sort again. It’s not a waste.”

  “I guess… but I still feel like crap. And an idiot.”

  “Please don’t go all sitcom and try to finish with ‘a crappy idiot’. I beg you.”

  His intentions so transparent, Edmond could not help but feel embarrassed. But the moment he glanced away, with his cheeks heating up… he briefly froze.

  “You might think it’s quirky or funny or whatever, but…”

  Claude’s words hardly registered in his confusion.

  There was no particular thing to look toward, at least nothing worth of attention. Even from before, Edmond could not really imagine what it was that drew his attention so strongly.

  But what he did see was the movement. Perhaps a bit paranoid on his part, he briefly thought it was more like the ‘escape’ of whatever had been between faculty buildings and trees.

  “… you there?”

  Claude’s more direct, inquisitive tone brought Edmond back from his world of thought.

  “Y-Yeah, I think I’m just tired. Last night’s bad sleep is probably catching up to me.” He excused himself with an honest feeling.

  “Mm. Well, lunch should help with that, and you can take a nap or something once we get home.” Claude replied with barely noticeable tone of concern.

  Edmond smiled naturally at it, just slightly curious about his earlier distraction.

  Idle banter followed on as the two young men headed out of the facility’s grounds. For the sake of convenience, it had been constructed almost right in-between the education and entertainment districts, which had the advantage of dedicated businesses being readily accessible on nearby streets. Diverse restaurants were one such type of establishment, popular among the young cadets who spent much of their time around the area.

  And yet, contrary to his earlier words, Edmond seemed hardly concerned with them as he and Claude walked past. While lack of attention to finding a place to eat may have been confusing at first, the reason why became clear very soon.

  He saw two people, seemingly sharing their task of picking a restaurant. The sight of one of them made Edmond relieved at not taking much longer in the armory.

  Thank goodness the other two aren’t here. This is better than I thought.

  Ignoring Claude’s sudden look of realization, he walked toward Hilda.

  “Hey. Are you two hungry?”

  The blonde turned in slight surprise, her maroon irises almost showing off.

  “Mondi? … I mean, we are but—”

  “You can’t decide, right? Yeah, that’s expected of you.”

  “Oh, no build-up now? Changing the pace by talking shit from the start?”

  While carrying on the usual banter with Hilda, Edmond did not fail to notice the person who had been accompanying her. The third youth out of those he had seen right before General Marinca’s display, the one he had not gotten a good look at.

  He was somewhat over an inch taller than Edmond himself, just under the golden-eyed man with the ponytail from earlier. His hair was of a very light brown and his irises almost seemed rose-ish in color, while his features were conspicuously close to ‘baby-face’ territory.

  Overall, he did not look all that impressive compared to the two that Edmond had seen earlier, helping him behave more casually than he otherwise would have around a stranger.

  His reply came out very easily as a result.

  “Don’t worry, I’m not here to make fun of you. I just know you have a hard time choosing this stuff and I know which places are good around here, so how about you tag along with us? My treat.”

  He quickly regretted not sparing a glance toward Claude until after making his offer, but the man in question did not seem uncomfortable. The look he returned was one of understanding, and maybe even interest.

  As Edmond thought of how he owed yet another one to Claude, Hilda turned to her companion after a brief moment of pondering.

  “What do you say, Abel?”

  The bright-eyed youth’s response seemed almost whimsical, if still interested.

  “Why not? Let’s just tell Fei and Sirhan to meet us there. Can you give me a name for the place?”

  Addressed directly by Abel for the first time, Edmond was briefly stunned before replying.

  “It’s called Domino’s Mask. A burger place.”

  “Really? Your first recommendation for us is a burger joint? Mondi, there’s a reason ‘kiddie palates’ are called such.”

  Hilda’s reply was sharp, almost half a laugh, and quick enough to overtake Abel in just picking out his cellphone.

  Edmond’s expression surprisingly changed to a smug one, practically saying ‘she doesn’t know~’ with his look alone.

  “You’ll see. The tacky name isn’t just for show.”

  Abel chuckled, Claude sighed, and Hilda’s eyes narrowed.

  The four teens promptly made their way toward Domino’s Mask.

  “Damn it! Mark my words, this is the last time you make a fool out of us!”

  “Hahaha! And this is the millionth time I hear that threat! Try being the first one to make it reality, to catch Mistress X!”

  The thief, dressed in a way so conspicuous, dramatic and carnival-like so as to be an insult to the ‘vocation’ itself, disappeared all of a sudden in a burst of red smoke. And while the mafiosos pursuing her groaned out loud in frustration, the customers sitting at tables beyond the reach of the spotlight cheered in sheer delight.

  One such table, into the dark that was only illuminated by dim neon lights, was the one occupied by a laughing Hilda and a smirking Edmond. Abel had also joined into the enjoyment, and even Claude seemed quite engrossed in the story being shown.

  “Hah… Seriously, this place is so extra!” The blonde leaned back on her chair so much that she seemed to want a fall.

  “And of course, you love it.” By this point, Edmond’s smug airs had grown to the point that more than one person might throw a drink at him.

  “Come on! You’re not supposed to out me like this, I can do it on my own!”

  But Hilda was certainly not one of those people. Claude was the next one to speak up, his tone attempting to remain serious in spite of his excitement at the performance.

  “When will the others arrive?”

  With Hilda in no state to even have heard Claude’s quieter voice, Abel was the one to reply.

  “Pretty soon, but we don’t have to wait for them. Let’s order our stuff and I can just order for them.”

  “Rather confident. You know each other that much? Or just messing with them?” Claude asked in slight surprise, getting only a casual shrug from Abel.

  “I recommend the Last Shot, the Death Trap and the Jewel of Pandora.”

  Edmond almost rushed to say, causing Hilda to turn with an incredulous look.

  “Just who was the freak who decided to mix a live show about phantom thieves with burgers and fries?”

  “A genius, that’s who. But honestly, I think the show thing came first, and burgers were just the easiest thing to focus on while keeping the show good.”

  “Is that so? That’s something I’ll have to judge, Mondi.”

  Between the four of them, they barely took a couple of minutes to fiddle with their menu screens on the table. The waiting time, for what should have been fast food, was not all that short. Yet all things considered…

  “Three Death Traps, the Last Shot!”

  “A Disguise Master and an irreplaceable Jewel of Pandora!”

  … when the trapdoors and secret passages burst around them, over-the-top phantom thieves handing over the orders out of nowhere, the extra time had just worked to make the shock and thrill even greater.

  It was almost to the point of numbing the flavor of the burgers that honestly did match the show’s quality.

  As the four teenagers enjoyed their meal, Hilda leaned back on her chair again, now facing the others at the table.

  “Whoever’s behind this joint is pretty crazy, but nothing compares to what happened this morning. Seriously, that was so stressful for no reason.”

  The topic was changed rather brusquely, but if one were to overlook the bit of sauce briefly present on Hilda’s upper lip, her eyes were unusually serious.

  “You mean what the General did?”

  On Claude’s question, she nodded before taking a large sip from her drink, the jovial-looking Abel chuckling as he kept his focus on the show rather than the conversation.

  “Yeah, I didn’t expect General Marinca to put on that sort of show.”

  “Show? She was just bullying that poor asshole for being scared. It’s easy for someone like her to talk shit from her position as one of the four, but she should know not everyone has that.”

  Edmond frowned slightly. He did not fully disagree with Hilda’s complaints, and it would have taken some next level cruelty to think the General’s display was warranted. But for the second thing she said?

  “I don’t think that was the answer, no matter how rude the guy was. But you’re just making the same mistake as him.”

  It was unwarranted. Hilda’s eyes went wide for a brief moment, then she put her drink down.

  “No way, Mondi… You actually agree with her? You think everyone has the potential to become someone like that?”

  “That’s not what she said.” Edmond clarified, his voice tinged with annoyance. “If that was the case, there would be far more than just four Heavenly Kings. But you don’t know what everyone is capable of, especially with us cadets.”

  “If you’ve gone past your second year at least, then you should know.”

  But despite his reasoning, Hilda looked just as baffled as before, her mouth briefly agape to join the shock in her eyes. Seemingly not happy with having raised her voice, the girl took a deep breath before continuing.

  “There’s no way you’ve trained enough to pass two years without getting some grasp of where you stand, and that should be enough.”

  “Two years is nothing. You’d be short even if you said ten years.”

  “I don’t mean two years to get to a General’s level…” The way Hilda spoke, Edmond could have sworn she held herself back from calling him an idiot. “It’s about basic understanding. If after two years you can’t imagine a way to do what the Generals or even the Numbers do, then I’m sorry, but you’re not of the same cut.”

  Every word she said, every idea completed, it all angered Edmond more and more. Concern over one scared person was one thing, but did she think everyone was like that?

  “That’s your made-up standard, and you’re just going to write off everyone who doesn’t fit it as some clueless dud?”

  “How did you ever get that from what I said? There’s places for people of all sorts of talents, even among knights. But there’s no problem being afraid of what has to do with the special ones, and you should know if you’re one of them or not sooner, rather than later.”

  Edmond fell silent, ignoring Claude’s nudging below the table and Abel’s worried look over at Hilda. Those two, the restaurant, and pretty much everything else did not matter anymore. In his eyes, in his ears, there was only Hilda, and from the way she glared, it may have been the same for her.

  Perhaps the only way they were the same, if she really believed the things she was saying.

  “You’re so full of yourself. It’s okay to be scared, yes, but you never know for sure who might end up doing something great.”

  “Think you can prove me wrong, then?”

  He did not expect the tone with which Hilda phrased such a question, however. A challenge, if he had ever heard one being made.

  “And how?”

  “Let’s say we spar.”

  If everything aside from Hilda did not matter before, now it was all non-existent. Hearing these words from her, Edmond nearly forgot to breathe.

  “Think if we did that, you’d be able to figure out how to do what I do?”

  But Hilda spoke calmly, with utter confidence in her method, as well as her accusation. After all, when had Edmond ever said that he…?

  … It did not matter.

  “Are you implying you could see through General Marinca’s ability?”

  There were more important things for Hilda to answer, even if the question seemed to just annoy her even more.

  “What a dumb question. All I’m saying is—”

  “Oh, finally!”

  Somehow, Abel was finally able to pierce through the veritable pocket their argument had created. Not through his actions alone, as both he and Claude clearly had wanted to stop them for a good while. But rather…

  “Took you two a while.”

  … through a new arrival, further heralded by Hilda’s words.

  Edmond turned around and so did Claude, toward the two young men walking to the table.

  Eyes of gold and icy blue, one young man light-skinned and the other one more bronze. The two from before, during the event at the facility.

  “You know why that is.” The blue-eyed youth bit back at Hilda with an almost venomous tone.

  “Come on, Sirhan. This place is just so insane! You should’ve come here earlier, is all we’re saying.” But Abel interrupted the beginning sparks of another argument in a flawlessly natural way.

  If that was Sirhan, then the taller man with the ponytail would have to be Fei? A man who looked between Edmond and Claude, and then at Hilda with a hard-to-read expression.

  “Seems like we missed something rough, didn’t we?”

  Hearing his words, Abel lightly grumbled even as he kept smiling, his attempts at peacekeeping made harder each time. Hilda, in contrast, seemed calmer overall. Though when looking at her eyes, they showed anything but a pleasant mood.

  “… We already got food for you two as well, so we can just go if there’s so much work to do.”

  “…!”

  Edmond’s eyes opened wide as he heard something terrible and saw Hilda, followed by quite a disappointedly sighing Abel, picking to-go bags out of the nearby dispenser to carry both of their leftovers, as well as the meals for Fei and Sirhan.

  He almost opened his mouth to say something against such a sudden, unceremonious leave, but what could he even say that would not come out in bad faith?

  Under Claude’s resigned look, Edmond merely accompanied Hilda with his gaze as she walked away, the dry steps almost admonishing him.

  “See you around, Mondi.”

  “Yeah…”

  With hardly a proper look from either of them, that exchange was it. No more words were spoken as he remained at the table, and she left with the rest of the just reunited group.

  That is, except for the tall man with the black ponytail.

  “…?”

  Even in such a terrible mood, Edmond still became confused at this abnormality.

  Fei just looked at him, for several seconds at that, before his golden eyes narrowed in some strange understanding.

  “Doing well, eh?”

  “… Excuse me?”

  Edmond audibly wondered at such strange words.

  He briefly turned to Claude, wondering if there was some misunderstanding. But the youth in question looked just as confused, if suspicious as well.

  It was a long shot at any rate. After all, Fei was unmistakably looking at Edmond. This remained the case when he turned back, facing those eagle-like eyes once again.

  Edmond’s regret began building up once more as he mustered the courage to speak, already dreading the reply.

  “… I’m sorry, but I don’t really remember what—”

  “There’s nothing for you to remember. I don’t even know your name.”

  But the ponytailed man’s reply utterly blindsided him. He did not just find it hard to reply, it was like his very voice was deprived of him for the moment.

  Edmond felt the seconds pass by like entire minutes, discomfort welling inside him with a needle-like feeling. But ultimately, Fei’s action was not one that he could afford to overlook.

  “Then what do you mean by ‘doing well’?”

  He asked full of uncertainty, consciously restraining his wish to look anywhere else.

  A desire that only became greater when Fei replied.

  “Is that not the case?”

  Golden eyes slightly narrowing, his tone was almost like water in its smoothness. The sneer that naturally appeared on his model-like face was, by all accounts, pretty normal.

  So why was Edmond overcome by an almost freezing anxiety? What was it about this man that made him so deeply regret not looking away when he had the chance?

  A premonition-like sense of danger, so unbearable that he forgot to draw breath until his body ached.

  The man called Fei seemed nothing if not satisfied as he calmly turned around, trailing his three cohorts.

  It was still some time before Edmond began to feel the ambient temperature returning to normal.

  “What was that?” Claude, surprisingly, expressed his confusion unabashedly.

  Edmond turned back to the table with a graceless, sluggish pace. He looked at his food and drink on the table, without a shred of appetite.

  Not even that absurd experience was enough to wash away his regret.

  “Just forget it. Two for fucking two, I’m actually such an asshole.”

  Without any more delay, he collapsed on his arms over the table.

  “That’s actually stupid to say, but you are a dumbass.” Claude replied, dryly smacking Edmond’s arm.

  He did not find it in him to complain at all.

  “I don’t think that’s much better.”

  “It is, and don’t you try to argue with me on that. Anyway, that was a weird question. Figure out what she’s doing? Wouldn’t just beating her in a spar prove her wrong?”

  “Are you making fun of me now?”

  Edmond did not lift himself off his arms, but he did turn to Claude enough to glare at him. The brown-haired young man looked back with an expression of confusion, then resignation

  “… Mhm, you’re right. Sorry.”

  An honest apology, but one Edmond still found hard to accept, when it reminded him of the painful truth both he and Hilda were clearly aware of.

  That if they were to spar, neither of the two could imagine him coming out on top.

  “But that aside, I think you could have been a little less fragile. From you, it was all about ego, but from her, it’s probably just concern.”

  Edmond’s glare, already softened a fair bit, began to drift away.

  “You think?”

  “Yeah. From what you told me, you, your mother and your siblings are her whole ‘family’, right? Lived together before joining the Corps?”

  “… Yes.”

  … I guess he thinks he’s the asshole between us?

  It would not have been the first time Claude took upon that role. However…

  “Do you think maybe she was reminded of—”

  … he had hardly ever been as bold as now.

  “That’s enough.”

  Edmond sentenced angrily. His tone was decisive, regret pushed aside briefly, to the point that Claude visibly raised an eyebrow, then closed his eyes in acknowledgement.

  “Alright then. At any rate, maybe you can make things right with her tonight. Isn’t she staying at your family’s place? Messing up feels like your life’s purpose sometimes, but you’re still not the type to do so more than twice on the same thing.”

  “You have no idea how much I want to, but I’m busy tonight.”

  Edmond’s words changed something in Claude, almost as if a switch was flipped. A switch to turn the very picture of aloofness into one of pure anger and frustration.

  “I swear if you’re thinking of going out in your suit after last night I will—”

  “Holy shit, chill. It’s game night at Samantha’s house and everyone’s coming, including Naomi who couldn’t make it to work for the celebration. It’s basically the real deal and a make up for how scuffed last night was.”

  Claude fell silent for several seconds. The pressure around him and his frown decreased in intensity, but his tone still carried a glimpse of the emotion shown just before.

  “Game night?”

  “Yeah. It’s mostly fighting games on her console, but she always finds lots of weird stuff for the next one, so it’s pretty spooky stuff. More than the average Violet Thorn, you know?”

  “That’s not funny.”

  “Right, right. I’m sorry.”

  Flashing an apologetic smile at Claude, Edmond sighed as he turned his face in the other direction, still laying his head on his arms. It had been just a few seconds, but now his unsmiling eyes were matched by his lips.

  That was so shitty… to turn Samantha’s game night down…