The Generation of White Flame
After finishing a slightly late lunch, Claire returned to the royal palace with a much lighter heart.
They were all nicer than I expected.
Her steps were light and bouncy. Suddenly thrust into such an important position at just twelve years old—a role as grand as knight captain, something she barely understood the weight of—she'd been anxiously scanning everyone's faces and reactions, fidgeting inwardly. But she knew she couldn't let it show, so she'd bluffed with all her might. Even if it meant being hated. For Claire, failing to reach her firmly set goal was far more terrifying.
But the White Flame Knights had only been thrown off at first. Once they got to know the girl named Claire, they were busy treating her like family.
"Captain! Let me lick the path you walk on to clean it!"
Ah, this wasn't care. This was Glova's nonsense.
"If you need anything, get a pass and head into the city."
"Yes, Shiroko sis."
"Sis? Just call me Shiroko."
Shiroko rummaged through Claire's room.
"It's totally empty."
"I was too busy yesterday."
"Come to my room. I'll share whatever you need."
"Yes, sis."
"Shiroko."
"……Shiroko."
Claire's cheeks flushed red. Calling her "sis" felt natural, but just saying her name bare like that made her feel like she'd done something naughty, leaving her fidgety and restless.
As Shiroko tidied up Claire's clothes, she said, "The captain is the face of our knight order. Wear your clothes properly."
"……."
The knights following behind naturally let their gazes drift to Shiroko's chest.
"…What? If you've got something to say, spit it out, you punks."
"If Claire's the face of our knight order, does that make the vice captain the boobs?"
"Anyone who actually says that crap needs a beating!?"
"Gyaaak!"
Shiroko immediately locked a joint hold on the cheeky knight. It was a common sight in the palace corridors.
"Huh. Vice Captain. Look over there."
"What?"
"Kids are filing in."
"Ezekiel! Look! Those must be our kingdom's knight captains!"
Glova's wild ramblings showed no sign of stopping now that he'd gotten into it.
"You blind? They're students. Looks like Deseval elementary division or something."
"There are a bunch around the captain's age."
Like they were on a school trip, kids about Claire's age laughed and followed their guide servant into the palace.
Claire watched the procession with curious eyes.
"Wanna sneak after them? They probably won't notice."
"Just take off the cape."
"The kids would happily let you join anyway."
"Is that okay?"
"If you get caught, the vice captain'll handle it."
"You guys……."
Shiroko sighed. She turned her head briefly, unsure how to respond to Claire's expectant gaze.
If they're Deseval students, they won't cause trouble….
Deseval was Shiroko's alma mater too. She'd been drafted into the knight order from the middle school division, becoming the youngest member of the White Flame Knights. Claire had broken that record, but Shiroko had never thought much of it as a boast. She hadn't been the top there either.
Rune Kingdom's largest hero-training academy. That was Deseval. Students who completed its 12 years—from elementary to high—went on to take on the kingdom's most vital missions.
"Can I go? Shiroko…?"
Claire's jewel-like blue eyes sparkled as she asked Shiroko.
"At captain level, you can do whatever."
It was a statement ripe for misunderstanding, but Shiroko really meant it. The previous captain had done whatever he pleased, leaving her to clean up the messes and suffer for it. Compared to that, Claire tagging along on a school trip procession for some memories wasn't even impulsive.
"Make a few friends while you're at it."
"Yes."
Had her heart ever raced like this before? Claire scurried to the end of the line. The guide had just gotten permission to enter the audience chamber and was starting off at the front with the guards.
"Who're you?"
A blue-haired girl popped up abruptly.
"Claire…."
"I'm Daphne! Your hair color's unusual too, huh?"
Without a care about why she wasn't in uniform, Daphne chatted amiably and grabbed her hand.
Claire's cheeks tinted pink.
"Yeah. It's been this way since I was born."
"Same here!"
The audience chamber buzzed with unusual busyness. Something up? Claire perked her senses.
"Did he come suddenly?"
"Seems like it's because of the Demon King's omen."
The elementary kids' eyes sparkled too.
"Is the rumor about the Demon King appearing true?"
"How strong is the Demon King?"
"Stronger than the hero?"
"No way, the hero's definitely stronger!"
The noble scratched his head awkwardly.
"What's with these kids?"
"Elementary students. Here for a field trip……."
"They're entering now!"
Not the side door for the elementary group, but the audience chamber's grandest doors swung open.
A tremendous presence.
Claire felt it before even seeing the man's face. The black-haired man who stepped through looked at a glance like any adventurer, but the guards avoided his eyes in stiff tension, and the attendants were at a loss. He had to be someone extraordinary. Even the king bustled to his throne to greet him.
"Who's that guy?"
"He's hot."
"Kids, make way. The hero needs to pass."
"Hero!?"
"That's the hero?"
"Yeah, yeah."
The guide smiled and answered the kids' questions.
"The seventh hero who defeated the Demon King, Ethan Hillel."
That's the… hero….
Claire had heard of him in fairy tales as a child, but this was her first time seeing him in person. If he was the heroic figure who'd felled the Demon King, apex of all monsters, then he was the one Claire admired most—the greatest person in the kingdom.
The aged King Keder wiped sweat with a handkerchief.
"Ethan, a heads-up when you're coming would be nice."
"I heard a new Demon King appeared."
He looked no older than thirty at most, casually using informal speech to the white-bearded king, yet no one batted an eye. The Deseval elementary students were already swooning under the hero's aura, squealing nonstop, while the boys shot dissatisfied glares.
"It was just an omen of the Demon King. Anyway, where have you been all this time?"
"……."
Ethan shut his mouth. With his social skills apparently eaten for breakfast, the king had no doubt suffered plenty.
"I want to take my sword."
The elementary kids grew even noisier.
"Claire, did you hear?"
"Huh?"
"The hero's sword! We might get to see it up close!"
The hero's demon sword, the legendary Walpurgis. Few had seen it in person, so everyone buzzed with excitement.
At the king's command, dozens of guards hauled in a massive cart bearing a black sword impaled in a boulder… the whole thing.
"I get why you brought it like this. No one but you could lift it."
"Leaving it there would've saved the hassle."
Instead of the silent king, a sharp-tongued-looking woman snapped.
"Who leaves a demon sword just lying around like that?"
Ethan glanced away, slightly embarrassed.
"Calm down, Regent…."
"No. Your Majesty."
The gray-haired woman adjusted her glasses sharply.
"I have to say it. To the careless hero who ditched such a dangerous item in a field."
"Nothing happened."
"It became a tourist spot! Locals kept coming to try pulling it!"
"……."
"……."
Isn't that good? But Walpurgis wasn't something for just anyone to touch. The only artifact called an ill omen among legends, it could only be wielded by Ethan in the whole world. Famous as the cursed sword that had drunk the blood of hundreds of thousands of monsters—and it was the wielder's own admission.
"Next time, please follow sealing procedures and store it properly. Ethan Hillel!!"
"……Still so noisy, Delia."
"And! Your Majesty said it was an omen of the Demon King, not that it had appeared."
"Same difference."
Delia glared daggers at Ethan. He wilted, unusually.
"There's a huge difference between 'under investigation' and the hero going around saying 'the Demon King appeared,' you know?"
"Fine. I'll get a room and wait."
"Did the saintess come too?"
"For an immature Demon King, I'm enough alone."
"You know subjugation approval is required, right?"
"Ten years later and you're still a pain…."
Claire tugged urgently at Daphne's sleeve.
"Huh? What, Claire?"
"What's subjugation approval mean?"
Shouldn't you just defeat the Demon King however? Claire, having come from the countryside not long ago, was ignorant of common knowledge.
"You don't know, Claire? Demon King subjugation means~ the whole world unites for it."
Daphne puffed out her small chest proudly and chattered on.
"Unites…."
"It's about national prestige or something. I don't get the hard stuff… but who leads is super important, apparently."
The hero effortlessly pulled the sword no one else could budge, sheathed it, and turned.
"Tell them Ethan arrived first."
As he moved to leave the audience chamber, the Deseval elementary students ignored the guide and swarmed for an impromptu fan meet.
"Hero!"
"Hero, you're so cool!"
"Strike a pose with the sword!"
The hero must be uncomfortable….
Claire fidgeted at the back, unsure.
"Kids, that's rude to the hero!"
Daphne stepped up like class rep, flustered as she reined them in.
"Hero, fight me!!"
A red-haired boy boldly challenged.
"Ugh, so childish, can't even watch."
A blonde girl crossed her arms, glaring disdainfully as if she were above it.
Ethan surveyed the Deseval students.
These are the White Flame generation, huh.
"Your term's almost up, so retire already? I'll be the next hero."
The guide rushed over and clamped the blonde girl's mouth.
"S-sorry! Hero!"
"……."
"Mmph! Mmph!"
"Beatrice, please behave…! This is before His Majesty!"
Ethan looked over the kids and said quietly,
"Ask what you want."
"How do you become a hero?"
"Get strong."
"Did the Demon King really appear?"
"It did. Next is your turn—build your strength."
"Ethan Hillel!"
The scary woman chased after him with fire in her eyes!
"…Sorry, question time's over. See ya."
Ethan dodged Delia and hurried out of the audience chamber.