/
As the atmosphere became somewhat soft, everyone lined up on their own. Yuder found noticeable red hair not far away. It was Gakane.
He didn’t seem to have found Yuder yet, but it was a little funny for him to keep looking around to find Yuder.
“Here comes the commander. Everybody, stand up straight.”
Finally, the outside was humming and someone stood on the podium in front of the training ground.
Several knights followed him as if escorting him, but only one stood on the platform.
The tall, blond, red-eyed man in a white uniform caught everyone’s attention as soon as he appeared. Just standing there felt like everything was losing its light in an instant.
“Nice to meet you. I am Duke of Peletta, Kishiar la Orr.”
A man who was like the sun. That was the real face of Kishiar la Orr when he did not use metamorphic magic.
All 330 Cavalry members and the Imperial Knights could not take their eyes off Kishiar. He took a light glance around as if to make sure everyone was looking at him.
Yuder saw his red eyes bent so thin that it was hard to mistake as soon as he saw him, but he didn’t show any signs.
“As you can see, I am a member of the imperial family born with the power of light and a duke. But does that mean anything to you all? No, that doesn’t mean anything here.”
Every time Kishiar’s low voice rang in space, it felt as if it were possessed. Only the Imperial Knights were embarrassed.
“I’m just a man awakened by the power of the Red Stone similar to you here. And I’m a little more familiar with it than you are, so I’m just a representative. The banner of the Cavalry is only the safety and strength of the Empire and your own freedom. That’s more than enough. You may not know what that means yet, but I hope you will realize it someday.”
“…”
Beyond the unconventional, everyone shut up at the almost shocking declaration. They couldn’t even hear the sound of breathing.
“That’s it for the inauguration. In the future, we will rent the Imperial Knight’s site for a while until the proper construction of the exclusive building for the Cavalry is completed. If you have any questions, feel free to visit the general manager’s office. That’s all.”
“G-Greetings to the commander.”
The Imperial Knight shouted, unable to hide his embarrassment. New recruits like baby chicks, who had not even learned a salute yet, greeted each other. The knights watched the scene as if it were absolutely terrible and let out a breathtaking sigh.
The only person smiling there was Kishiar la Orr.
* * *
“You know the Commander-nim. He’s a very strange man.”
After the shocking inauguration ceremony, the Cavalry members were guided to the temporary accommodation building. Based on their first and second gender, they were divided into four people and lived in one room.
They heard a fairly blunt explanation that they should stay like that until the division of duties within the Cavalry was completed, but no one complained.
It was because they were shocked by Kishiar at the inauguration ceremony, and they were curious to see people like them for the first time in their lives.
“Yuder! You’ve passed the test!”
Yuder saw Gakane who finally found him among the new members, running like a puppy who found its owner.
“I passed, too. And Kanna did, too. Did you happen to see Kanna?”
Apparently, he talked without using honorifics, but before he knew it, Gakane’s affinity for Kanna who also spoke informally was quite surprising. As Yuder shook his head, Gakane patted his back pleasantly, saying he would soon be able to meet her.
“I can’t believe all three of us passed, thanks to your guidance. Where’s your room?”
“Um…”
Yuder looked down at the paper in his hand. it said his quarter was located in the 36th room on the third floor of the building. Gakane looked at the paper as well and cheered quietly.
“It’s the same room as me. Who are the other two?”
“Well, we will find out when we get there.”
It didn’t matter to Yuder to share the same accommodation, but Gakane didn’t seem to. He could not hide his excitement, saying he had never shared accommodation with someone like this.
“I feel like I’ve become a real knight. Sleep together, train together. Don’t you think it’s gonna be fun?”
“…”
‘Fun, he says…’
Yuder recalled the most difficult times in his memory. After joining the Cavalry for the first time, they would roll to death for about a month. It was a time when even what training methods were appropriate for each person with abilities were not formalized yet.
Kishiar rolled the first members here and there literally like subjects to create the system. This allowed them to manage to become the systematic Cavalry in the next recruitment.
Maybe this time wouldn’t make a difference. Even if Yuder was in Kishiar’s shoes right now, he would not come up with a good way to establish a better system than before.
‘Let’s see if he can say it’ll be fun even after a week.’
It wasn’t bad to return to the past, but it wasn’t nice to think about doing hellish training again. Yuder himself knew best how to improve his ability anyway. There was very little physical rolling there.
But he couldn’t explain it to Kishiar, so he just hang in there.
Two other men had already arrived at the accommodation heading for the same room with a sigh.
“Are you both our roommates?”
The scrawny freckled man asked with a frightened face. His name was Juan and he said his ability was to be able to move at an invisible speed at the moment.
“I’m Juan, and that is Kurga.”
Yuder saw Kurga lying shamelessly on one side of the bed. He looked more like a bear than a human being.
In fact, his ability was to maximize his combat capabilities by greatly inflating his body, so it was a fitting appearance.
He remembered both of them passing before, but they weren’t very good at it so they had never talked properly until he died.
It was because Yuder and the other ordinary Awakeners were different from the standing position. He received the position of commander shortly after joining the Cavalry.
In the past, he couldn’t afford to pay attention to others who were less capable than him. Yuder’s interests had always been to be stronger and to protect his limited body, and since the world’s strange signs, he had been focused on finding out the cause and preventing them.
But this time was different. He knew by death that it was something he couldn’t solve alone, so he thought he would pay as much attention to his surroundings as possible and never be the commander of the Cavalry.
“I’m Gakane, this is Yuder. My ability is to call out my shadow whenever I want, and his… Come to think of it, Yuder. I don’t know what your ability is.”
Yuder clearly remembered Gakane Bolunwald’s ability, which he thought would be quite useful before.
‘Yes, he was highly regarded for using the shadow as a liaison or conducting combat by pulling out the alter ego from the shadows.’
“I can put fire and water on a sword.”
“Fire and water? Two?”
“That’s great.”
Those listening to Yuder opened their eyes in unison. In fact, it would have been even more surprising if they learned that Yuder’s ability could be more than that, but this was not the time to reveal it.
“Okay. I will be in your care from now on.”
“Uh, yeah. Me, too.”
They greeted each other and divided beds and zones. There was no conflict because many people expected such a group life even before joining the Cavalry.
‘It’s like a dream to the commoners.’
Of the four who would stay in this room, all but Gakane were commoners without last names. It would have been a very strange experience for them to live in a spacious room with four beds, clean bedding, and meals.
‘They’ll get used to it soon.’
That was how his second experience in the Cavalry began.
* * *
Of the 330 Cavalry members, just over 200 were without last names.
That meant that more than a majority didn’t even know how to write. Before the Red Sone fell, they couldn’t have met eyes with those with last names, but their fate had now completely changed.
All training facilities that could only be used by the Imperial Knights were occupied by the Cavalry members.
Every day, fireworks exploded on the training ground and instruments broke, but no one thought it was strange. It was natural for people who had abilities
Commander Kishiar ordered the Cavalry members to train their physical strength, train them to familiarize themselves with their power, and train their individual skills at the same time, even studying letters.
It was tremendous enough to burst into resentment, but everyone knew how much of a privilege this was, so they all moved according to the training schedule.
Thanks to this, weeks later, the Cavalry members achieved remarkable results at a rapid pace.
Of course, no one would follow Yuder, who did all that twice.