Chapter 5

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The Admission

AN: The second half might be a bit rushed, so I might go back to it in more detail later on.

Today was the day of the entrance ceremony, and the road leading to the gates of the Imperial Knight Academy was crowded with carriages entering the school grounds. Many of them bore the crests of prominent families, indicating that they brought nobles from across the empire. Some were unmarked, and these were most likely carrying the children of wealthy merchants and landowners. None of the prospective students were walking; only servants and attendants crossed the gates on foot. None, save for Wynn.

“At last, I am here,” he said to himself, looking at the old building in the southern part of the capital. It had used to be the Palace in the days long gone, until one of the previous Emperors had erected a new one in the eastern part of Simurgh. When the construction of that had been completed, the newly vacated complex had been converted into a school for the Empire’s knights. Since then, it had been continuously remodelled and expanded, eventually reaching its present, unusually large, footprint. Today, it was hailed as the largest building on the continent, larger even than the current Imperial Palace which housed the offices of the Knight Order and the laboratories of the Imperial Wizards. Those knights and wizards taught students of the Academy. During times of war, the gates of this place were an impregnable barrier to enemies. In more peaceful years, they were a display of the Empire’s might in front of foreign dignitaries.

Wynn adjusted the worn-out bag slung over his shoulders. It was a sorry thing, old and coming apart at the seams, that he had bought from Hannah. He joined the stream of noble scions and young masters — the school only admitted children between the ages of ten and sixteen — heading towards a cathedral deep inside the school grounds where the entrance ceremony was going to be held. They all had to walk since the carriages could go no further than the courtyard beyond the gates, and they had to do it under the sweltering sun, each of them with an ornate family sword hanging from their waist, and followed by a gaggle of attendants hauling luggage. Wynn, carried by that river of people, stuck out like a sore thumb. Soon, the wide plaza in front of the temple filled to the brim with people. People who weren’t used to be kept waiting or having to stand in a line. Chaos ensued.

“All servants are to wait somewhere else!”

The Academy staff, already expecting this to happen as it had every other year, intervened promptly.

“Hey, you! Can’t you hear?” asked a middle-aged official, approaching Wynn who was bewildered by the commotion. “All servants are to leave the plaza for now.”

Wynn pulled out a document carefully tucked away in his breast pocket. It was the precious proof that he had passed the admission exam. When he had received it he had been so elated that he had been unable to sleep for three days straight. Not that anyone else had known about it at the time.

“Oh? Is that an admission certificate?”

“Yes, sir. I will be attending the school this semester.”

“To attend to your master’s needs, I presume? Where is he? Has he finished all the formalities yet?”

“I am on my own, sir. I haven’t finished the formalities involved.”

“Oh, how surprising. You don’t look like someone from a noble or a merchant family.” The man’s eyes widened from shock. “Congratulations, I guess.”

“Ah, thank you…”

Wynn looked down at his clothes (newly bought from a second-hand store), at the sword hanging by his waist (a used blade bought from a smith just for the day), and at his clearly worn out bag. He stood out even among the neatly dressed servants that he should have been blending in with. Honestly, he couldn’t believe he was standing here either.

“Hmm… Wynn Bard, is it? Come with me, boy.”

The official led him into one of the many curtained-off rooms where he took the certificate and issued the boy a set of clothing and a key.

“Your school uniform, and a key to your room. There are changing rooms inside the cathedral, you can dress there.”

“Thank you very much for your help, sir.”

“Ah. Since you’re here on your own, feel free to leave your belongings here and come back for them once you’re done changing.”

“Understood, sir.”

Wynn went into the cathedral as instructed and headed towards the changing room. The place was huge — less a room, more a hall — and full of people that had already finished changing. Some of them looked like they already knew each other, already chatting amongst themselves. He made his way past all of them, into an empty corner where he let go of the satchel and started to change.

“Hey, you! Commoner!” he heard someone call out with scorn from behind. He looked back. A group of boys his age was approaching with new uniforms in hand. All of them were wearing fine silken clothing. “Whose attendant are you?”

“Nobody’s.”

“Then begone. We are going to change here,” said the apparent leader of the group, pushing Wynn aside. Then, he cursed and kicked Wynn’s belongings away. “And this garbage is in the way too.”

“What are you doing?!” cried out Wynn, as he rushed to pick up his belongings.

“Insolence!” the leader’s lackeys exploded in outrage. “How dare you speak like this to Young Master Jade!”

They all reached for the swords at their waists, but the boy called Jade stopped them with a raised hand.

“Calm down. A noble must be magnanimous. We cannot be offended by every town boy’s natural ignorance and lack of manners.”

He reached out with a hand.

“I apologize, friend,” he said with a cheerful smile. “I did not think this belonged to you.”

But that smile did not reach the eyes. There was no room there for mirth among all the vanity and pride belonging to somebody used to belittling others.

“I did not expect,” he added in a quiet whisper, “to find all this trash in this corner. There is no place for the likes of you at the Knight Academy. Do not ever forget that.”

Jade let go of Wynn’s hand and discreetly wiped it clean with a silk handkerchief. Then, he moved past Wynn and started to change his clothes. Wynn bit his lips and decided to move away, to find a different empty spot to change. Nobody seemed to care. All that the onlookers had seen had been Jade shaking the commoner’s hand and apologizing. Such grace, such broad-mindedness, who here could compare to the son of Marquis van Cliffdorf? They could not hear the whispers; they would not notice Wynn’s vexation.

Wynn had no specific plans for the time after the ceremony, so he started to leave the site amidst a group of likeminded students. Suddenly, he felt a light tap on the back.

“Hey, hey! Wait up.” Looking behind, he saw a boy with short, red hair and a brazen smile on his face. “That was quite a mess back there. I’m Locke, Locke Marin. Nice meeting you.”

“Wynn Bard.”

“I knew it!—”

Knew what? wondered Wynn.

“—I knew the name of my roommate belonged to somebody I didn’t know.”

“…You know all the other students?”

“Well,” answered Locke with a laugh, “not all of them, of course.” He caught up to Wynn and started to walk beside him. “My family are merchants, knowing people is a talent of ours. Everybody I met at the high society parties, even the children of the knights I haven’t met but heard about. But your name was one I could not place or recognize. So, I sought you out.”

“Oh, I see.”

“That guy from earlier? Son of General van Cliffdorf. Marquis family. Illustrious pedigree. His clique contains the sons of nobles from the man’s faction. Do not get onto his bad side if you plan to be a knight.”

“I’ll be careful. Thank you.”

The advice went to waste. The first day had the new students take part in a fencing class, one with mock duels. The outcome left Jade cursing venomously.

“Damn it… Damn it!” swore the young noble to himself, strongly gripping the sword in his hand.

The hateful commoner, Wynn, stood calmly before him. The lowly commoner just triumphed in a clash of swords against him! The wretch’s grades in academics — history, military theory, mathematics — and magic were abysmal. He clearly lacked the prior tutoring of the students from the wealthier and more prestigious backgrounds. He had even less magic than the children of already lacking merchants. So Jade had decided to give the failure a good beating and teach the commoner his place. He had decided to wipe the stain from the illustrious pages of the Simurgh Knight Academy. After all, he knew how to channel magic into his blade to make it sharper.

But when they had faced each other for the first time, the blade had instantly been forced out of his hand with a clang. He had been startled, but had decided it must have been an accident, bad luck. He had just let his guard down. But the next clash had ended the same way.

He had been completely defeated.

Humiliated.

In front of all the students.

By the time the instructor had announced the end of the class, Jade had lost hold of his blade nine whole times.

Trash… This piece of trash… He was absolutely livid and glared daggers at Wynn, who was obviously putting his practice weapons away. His scared gaggle of sycophants was too afraid to approach. Does he really think he can make me look like a fool just like that? I will never let this go.

Finally, the end of the year came, and with it, the squire selection. Those that passed the tests or displayed exceptional skill would be promoted. They would still be students, of course, but their responsibilities would increase. Those that failed would, in effect, repeat the year along with the incoming freshmen.

“Winner, —”

Wynn closed his eyes as his opponent shouted in jubilation. The format of the exam had been different this year, the hand-to-hand combat had come only after an exchange of magical attacks. And, unfortunately, the other party specialized in magic. Unlike the other boy, Wynn had few options when it came to offensive spells and barely a fraction of his opponent’s magic power. Wynn’s defensive wall had collapsed in a few brief moments, ending the match there and then. He hadn’t seen Jade’s dark smile in that moment.

The nobleman’s revenge was just beginning. He would make Wynn pay.

Author’s Note: Next time, we finally get the reunion scene with Leti!

I used the Prague Castle for a model of the Knight Academy. (I am sorry if I couldn’t portray it well.)

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