Chapter 49
Chapter 49
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 49
Chapter Title: Who the Hell is Yan (1)
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The Cradle of Stars was universally acknowledged as the Empire's finest squire training institution.
“The Nest of Budding Heroes.”
“A place where geniuses and prodigies are a dime a dozen.”
“The core that supports the foundation of the Gesenian Empire, the Nation of a Thousand Stars.”
“The land watched over by all the stars of the Empire.”
As grand as these titles were, the bar for entry to the Cradle was high, and all sorts of methods were employed to cross it.
Using connections or knocking on the door with massive bribes disguised as donations was considered relatively mild.
Some went as far as kidnapping an examiner's family or blackmailing them with their weaknesses, while others fabricated their histories on their applications.
Of course, the Cradle was not so lax as to let anyone cross its threshold in such a manner.
Boasting of trivial connections paled in comparison to the names of its illustrious alumni, all renowned knights, and bribes were but loose change compared to the massive donations sent by those same alumni each year.
Attempts to corrupt examiners through illicit means were met with a fitting price.
Despite this, attempts to enter through the Cradle's non-existent back door were relentless.
“To think there are still people like this. Do they have no capacity to learn?”
The Director of the Cradle thought this was another one of those cases.
Two letters of recommendation lay on his desk.
He picked one of them up.
The crest of a Tracer: a footprint on a blue field.
It was a letter of recommendation from the Freelance Knights' Guild.
“First to reveal to the world the existence of Chimeras, secret weapons being secretly developed by the Blue Tower.”
“Contributed to securing valuable research materials by felling many of them with his own hands.”
He chuckled, then picked up the other letter.
The crest of a two-headed snake coiled around a sword belonged to the Venomous Giftrang, specifically one used only by a branch family certified by the main house.
“Killed one intermediate-level mage and contributed to the safe escape of refugees by single-handedly buying time against dozens of bandits.”
“Made a great contribution to repelling the Blue Tower Magus who attacked Komlat City.”
After reading the applicant's history on each recommendation, he laughed in disbelief.
“Looks like an application for a knight order was sent to the Cradle by mistake. Right?”
“That’s what I was thinking.”
The Vice Director nodded in agreement.
Just as he said, it was a record that would grant immediate passage through the entrance exam of any decent mid-tier knight order.
And yet, this was supposedly the record of a squire, not a knight.
“If you're going to lie, at least make it believable. Good grief, I can't believe this even if I wanted to.”
“Greed got the better of them.”
The two men, who had been chuckling at each other, stopped laughing at the same time as if on cue.
“Inform the Giftrangs, and let the Guild know as well.”
“Of all people to mess with, they chose the venomous Giftrangs. Tsk. The Guild is also incredibly strict about this sort of thing.”
“So what, we let them off?”
“No. They have to pay the price.”
The Vice Director gathered the recommendation letters and left the Director’s office.
He returned a full day later.
“They say it's not fake.”
“...?”
“We haven't been able to confirm with the Giftrang family yet, but we got confirmation from the Guild. It seems there was a lot of talk about this within the Guild. In any case, they said it's all been verified.”
“...What?”
The Director frowned.
He had received countless recommendation letters from Guild members over the years, but those were always personal endorsements, not the Guild's official stance.
In other words, they were just scraps of paper that said, ‘So-and-so from the Guild vouches for this person,’ period.
But the letter he had seen the day before was stamped with the official crest of the Freelance Knights' Guild.
It was written by a mere employee from some remote Guild office in a place he'd never heard of called Komlat or something, but once the Guild's crest was on it, it was no longer a personal endorsement.
This was one of the reasons the Director had assumed the ridiculous recommendation was fake.
The Freelance Knights' Guild had never before officially vouched for a mere squire who wasn't even a knight.
“Then this one, too...”
“Is likely true.”
He frowned at the Vice Director's answer.
With the Guild having already officially verified his achievements, there was no reason to needlessly drop the name of a high-ranking knight.
Besides, if it was about name-dropping, there were far greater families. There was no reason to invoke the name of the Giftrangs, a family infamous—both main and branch houses—for their venomous methods.
“So you’re saying...”
“It means a mere squire defeated a Blue Tower mage, exposed the Tower's conspiracy, saved refugees from dozens of bandits, and repelled a Magus who attacked a city.”
“Hahahaha.”
He let out a series of hollow laughs.
He simply couldn't believe it.
But with the Guild's endorsement, he couldn't very well not believe it.
“What should we do?”
“Hmph. Let’s call him in, see his face, and then decide.”
“It's the recruitment period for new cadets, so we can test him when we call him in.”
And so, the matter of the unbelievable applicant was settled for the time being.
That was already two months ago.
Just as the recommendation letters were fading from the Director's mind, a new one arrived.
“Why from the Imperial Family...?”
An envelope stamped with the celestial crest. He immediately checked its contents.
Stripping away all the flowery language, the gist of it was this:
- Recommending the young hero who rescued the Crown Prince while he was being pursued by a Blue Tower Magus.
It was shocking enough that the crown prince of a nation had been attacked, but to think he was saved by a mere squire.
“What were the Royal Knights doing? Off having a swim in a stream?”
The situation was so absurd that the ridiculous words came out on their own.
But the truly absurd part was yet to come.
“Yan...?”
“Yep. It's the same guy.”
To think that the one who had performed this incredible feat was the very same person who had given them such a headache before.
“So, to sum it up.”
“He exposed the Blue Tower's plot, saved refugees, killed a mage, chased off a Magus, and on top of that, he protected the Crown Prince while being chased for days on end by a Magus who had forced even the Royal Knights to retreat rather than fight.”
“Hahahahaha.”
The situation was so preposterous that the Director burst into a hearty laugh.
“And what’s this part?”
After laughing for a good while, the Director pointed to the bottom of the letter.
“An asset the Imperial Family will put to great use, so do not treat him lightly despite his short career, et cetera, et cetera?”
“They sure wrote ‘He's our guy, so take good care of him and make sure no one else gets their hands on him’ in a complicated way.”
“Let me get this straight again...”
“It means the Freelance Knights' Guild, a Five-Star Knight, and the Crown Prince are all recommending the same person, staking their names and honor on him.”
“Hahahaha.”
After a long laugh, the Director’s mouth snapped shut.
“What's gotten into everyone all of a sudden? Did they all eat something they shouldn't have?”
As it was, the movements of the various families were already unusual.
He didn't know what had gotten into them, but not long ago, the Eight Families and other prestigious houses and knight orders, which had always trained their own squires, had begun sending letters inquiring about admission.
“Is something going on that we don't know about?”
“Should I look into it?”
“Do it. We need to know what's happening so we can respond.”
“Will knowing even help us respond?”
The Vice Director’s words left him speechless.
Until now, it had always been possible to control the trainees with the reputation of the Cradle.
Even the most unruly troublemaker would quickly become a docile lamb when faced with the Cradle's name, bolstered by the names of its illustrious alumni.
But it was uncertain whether that reputation would hold sway over the direct descendants of other prestigious houses and an individual under the Crown Prince’s protection.
The only small comfort was that many high-ranking knights from the Eight Families and prestigious knight orders were being dispatched as instructors.
No matter how full of themselves the scions of noble houses were, they wouldn't dare defy the high-ranking knights of their own families.
And the next day.
“Director!”
The Vice Director burst into the office again, holding another letter.
“Don't tell me it's another recommendation for that Yan kid.”
“It’s not!”
“Then what's all the fuss about!”
“This is even bigger than that.”
The Vice Director, after catching his breath for a moment, held out the letter.
“Huh?”
The Director's eyes widened as he took the envelope.
The shape of the wax seal was familiar.
A black lion drawn in the center of a black field.
“A black lion? Don't tell me.”
“Surprised? I knew you would be. It's a letter from the Gaznae family.”
“The Gaznae family? Why them all of a sudden?”
While most families and knight orders at least feigned cooperation with the Cradle out of deference to the Empire, the Gaznae family had always walked its own path.
It was the Gaznae family that had consistently ignored any request for cooperation from the Cradle, let alone any interaction.
For them to send a letter out of the blue was baffling.
*Rip.*
The Director tore the letter's seal and checked the contents.
Compared to the grand seal, the letter's contents were pitifully sparse.
[Keep one instructor position open. For the new recruits' training.]
A single, short sentence.
“Hahaha.”
The Director, who had been laughing heartily, turned serious.
“Are these people kidding me?”
To demand a position be prepared without even mentioning when or who they were sending.
The Vice Director, who took the letter and read it, asked what they should do.
“What do you mean, what should we do? The great Gaznae family wants to send someone over. Are you going to stop them?”
“Well, no, but.”
“We give it to them. I'd have to give them my own position as Director if they asked, so what's the big deal about one measly instructor spot?”
Considering the fame and influence of the Gaznae family, his words couldn't be dismissed as a mere joke. The Vice Director, unable to agree or disagree, looked away.
“But why did they specifically ask to be in charge of the new recruits?”
“I don't know that either.”
“Who do you think they'll send?”
“I don't know that either.”
At the Vice Director's repeated answers, the Director snapped.
“Aren't you from a noble house, Vice Director? And you still don't know?”
“The Gaznae family isn't very proactive in its interactions with other noble houses, and as you know, my standing within my own family is a bit...”
“So in the end, you don't know.”
So much for being from a noble house. The Vice Director's face crumpled at the ambiguous comment, which could have been a mutter to himself or a remark meant to be heard.
The Director paid him no mind, either way.
He was lost in his own thoughts.
He, from a minor family on the outskirts, had been appointed Director of the Cradle—an exceptional case.
They said they valued his neutrality, his lack of bias toward any side, but the reality was that they wanted to install a figurehead with no real backing so they could control the Cradle as they pleased.
Of course, for a figurehead, his stature and reputation were excessively high, but that was only a story that worked on those who didn't know any better.
To the members of the Eight Families and other prestigious houses, he was not a particularly formidable figure.
“Vice Director. That thing you were going to look into. Hurry it up. There's definitely something we don't know.”
“I'll be away for a while. Will you be all right?”
“To hear you say that, anyone would think I'm not treated like a figurehead when you're around.”
“That’s true, but still. Agh. Why did you have to take the Director's job in the first place!”
“Enough. Get moving. The atmosphere is getting strange.”
“Yes, sir. I'll get right on it.”
The Vice Director replied playfully, then turned back as he was about to leave the office.
“Take care of yourself, and try not to cause any more trouble.”
“Go!”
“Yes, sir!”
After the Vice Director disappeared, he was left alone and looked out the window.
“I hate headaches.”
He grumbled quietly, then his eyes fell on the recommendation letters and applications on his desk.
“Well, at least it'll be interesting. Interesting, indeed.”
He was especially curious about that kid named Yan.
Just what kind of person had accumulated such astounding achievements?
He was probably some giant, muscle-bound warrior who looked down on most knights.
* * *
“Whoa! The Imperial Capital!”
At the commotion from the Forsaken Dogs, I looked at the giant castle gate.
Beyond that gate was the true Empire.