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“Recently, the academy has been regarded as a gateway for becoming a knight, but it wasn’t like that when I was young. I believe that it’s experience and not the academy which fosters a true knight.”
“The experience you’re saying, sir…”
“The traditional way. Get out of the nest—the family—and start from the bottom as a squire in another family’s chivalric order! There’s no other way than that to become a great knight.”
Hearing the words ‘great knight’, Margaret widened her eyes as if a golden rope started dangling from the heavens.
Seeing Margaret’s expression, Felice continued to speak with a pleased look.
“Actually, it’s been a while since we’ve opened recruitment. However, even though she was a stranger I had never met before, I couldn’t turn a blind eye to Miss Radis’ earnest heart. It’s clear that it took a lot of courage for her to ask this favor of me.”
“Oh my, oh my!”
Margaret’s thoughts went into a frenzy.
Objectively speaking, David’s current skills would only land him in a third-rate academy, but even then, she’d have to expend a lot of money just to get him in.
His admission would be possible with the money Marquis Russell had given, but unlike the imperial academy, the third-rate academy was a place where David might struggle to even get the position of an apprentice after his graduation.
Wouldn’t it be much better to trust and follow Felice Roschilde’s words?
Margaret cheered inwardly.
‘Radis, that wench! She must have asked Marquis Russell for a favor like this! Even if she pretends to be strong, she couldn’t turn a blind eye to her family—to her blood. But, tsk, I’m sure it would have been better if it was with the Marquis’ chivalric order…!’
Margaret smiled and nodded vigorously.
But there was something that Margaret did not know.
When a subjugation squad was more well known, it meant that they had to go monster hunting a lot more times. Apart from that, the squad members would only be treated well if they worked hard enough.
The lower they were in the ranks, the harder the work was—they’d have to roll around and literally shed blood.
It was obvious why noble families refused to send off their children through the traditional way of starting from the bottom of the ranks. That’s why they sent them off to academies instead, even though a lot of money was involved.
However, Margaret was completely convinced by Felice.
The blind belief that a parent had for their child sometimes led to complete blindness.
Margaret happily accepted the contract without asking David for his consent, expecting that her son would change.
Looking at the contract, Margaret asked carefully.
“Is… Is there no salary?”
At Margaret’s words, Felice’s face grew red as though he had been insulted.
“As the Madam knows, resources and money are spent on new recruits in the subjugation squad just to educate them until they can carry their own weight.”
“Oh my! I see!”
“In fact, there’s a reason why I personally don’t get sick these days. It’s because I’m energized by raising young men as great knights, and this cost of labor can’t be ignored.”
“Oh my, oh my!”
With Felice’s good speaking skills, Margaret began to feel like this was a better opportunity compared to entering David the imperial academy.
She hurriedly signed the contract for fear of Felice taking it back. She didn’t even read its contents.
After she finished signing it, Felice smiled nicely and took the papers.
At the same time, he did not forget to add this.
“As I said earlier, recruitments aren’t officially open, but I made an effort to come here.”
“Ohoho! We won’t forget your kindness, Sir Roschilde!”
“Hahaha! After seeing Miss Radis do this for her younger brother, I could recall how much my own sister suffered because of me, so I couldn’t help it.”
Felice spoke as he reminisced.
“I’ve become a decent knight now, but I strayed a lot when I was young. My sister suffered a lot because our mother passed away early.”
“Oh my, what an amazing older sister.”
At this remark, Margaret felt sorry for David, whose own sister wasn’t like that.
“The Sir’s splendid older sister, is she doing well now?”
Felice laughed pleasantly at Margaret’s inquiry.
“Hahaha, I believe so!”
Compared to him saying how grateful he was to his sister earlier, his answer now felt indifferent.
But as Felice saw Margaret’s curiosity on her expression, Felice added.
“She already has her own family. Her husband is a foreigner, so there’s nothing strange about not hearing from her after she got married. No news is good news, right?”
Margaret nodded, though her expression was bitter.
“O… hoho… T-That’s right…”
And so, their conversation ended.
After a while, David Tilrod, the eldest son of the Tilrod family, learned that he was now a squire of the subjugation squad of House Roschilde, the shield that protects the empire from monsters.
It was only natural that, even though he’d been told the contract had already been signed, David screamed at the top of his lungs.