The Professor's Offer
Knock, knock.
"Professor. It's Elicia."
I gave a light rap on the door and waited a moment. A voice answered from inside.
"Come in."
I opened the door and stepped through. My advisor, Professor Ferent, rose from behind his desk to greet me.
"Ah, good. Have a seat."
He gestured toward the sofa in the center of the room, then moved to the tea set behind his desk and began preparing a pot while he spoke.
"As you know, counseling sessions with my advisees are mandatory every semester. That's why I called you in."
Ferent carried over two carefully steeped cups, set one in front of himself and the other before me, then settled into the seat of honor.
"I'll be seeing the others as well, of course, but I wanted you first."
Sip.
I had nothing particular to say, so I lifted the cup and took a sip. The clean, refined flavor that spread across my tongue made it obvious the leaves were top-grade. A luxury I never could have imagined in my assassin days.
"So. How are your studies going these days?"
"Well enough. I'm keeping up without much trouble so far."
It was true. Both written work and practical training still posed no real problems. Once we moved into higher years and more specialized material, things might change—but for now, a little self-study was more than enough.
"Hmm. Elicia, you're already doing fine, so I won't fuss over that. Have you decided on a specialization for second year and beyond?"
"I'm still thinking it over."
Ferent took a sip to wet his throat, then continued.
"With talent and diligence like yours, you'll excel no matter what you choose. Still, if I may offer a personal word of advice—I wouldn't recommend the military track. You strike me as better suited to charging in yourself than to pure tactics."
Soldiers and knights. The line between them wasn't especially sharp. If you went the military route and became an officer, your main job would be commanding troops.
Knights, on the other hand, were more individual. Special forces, if you had to put a label on it. A single knight was a fighting force that ordinary soldiers simply couldn't match.
Of course, once you reached knight-commander rank and above, the distinction blurred. At that level you needed not only personal strength but tactics, strategy, results, reputation—even politics. Everything had to be flawless.
There were knights outside the orders as well—wandering knights, free knights, whatever name they went by. With very few exceptions, most of them simply weren't good enough to get into an order in the first place.
Ferent had advised against the military, but I had never planned on becoming a soldier anyway. I had finally gained my freedom; the last thing I wanted was to chain myself to the army and waste the best years of my life. If anything, the knight path made more sense. Knights had more freedom—and, more importantly, they looked cooler.
"I've also been considering becoming an adventurer."
And if freedom was the measure, adventurers topped the list. Think of them as mercenaries operating under the central Adventurers' Guild system: take whatever commissions you can handle and make a living. Some people looked down on them as mere money-chasers, but that kind of prejudice was easy enough to ignore. Plenty of knights treated chivalry like a joke, and plenty of adventurers understood it perfectly well. It all came down to the individual.
Griffin Academy was the finest academy on the continent. Simply graduating guaranteed you a solid footing no matter which path you chose. Scouts started approaching students long before graduation, but there were always those who slipped under the radar or held out until the last moment. That was why every year the graduation ceremony turned into a year-end festival of recruiters and representatives from every field swarming the campus.
The military guaranteed at least a centurion's post; with the right background you could walk straight into a chiliarch's rank. Knight orders waged something close to open war over the best talent. The Adventurers' Guild issued a silver-rank plate or higher the moment you graduated.
"Hmm. Is that so? Good thing I prepared ahead of time, then."
Ferent stood, retrieved a few documents from his desk, and returned. He tapped the stack neatly against the table and set it in front of me.
I gave him a questioning look. He simply gestured for me to read. Reading was no hardship, so I picked up the papers and went through them one by one.
"I had planned to wait a little longer before making the offer, but if I took my time someone else would snatch you up. So I rushed these together. What do you think?"
The documents were straightforward: a scouting offer from the Empire's Third Imperial Knight Order. They lacked the fame, the raw strength, and the influence of the First Imperial Knight Order, of course—but an Imperial Knight Order was still an Imperial Knight Order. The First was the absolute elite of the Empire; comparison was pointless.
"I stepped down as commander some time ago, but my successor has been whining nonstop. Says they're short-handed these days and asked me to recommend any promising talent I find at the academy."
Right—Professor Ferent had once been commander of the Third Imperial Knight Order.
"This is... honestly surprising. I never expected a preemptive approach in first year, and the terms are beyond anything I imagined."
The conditions listed were extremely attractive. A cash stipend for living expenses while I was still enrolled, plus full coverage of dormitory fees, tuition, and meals. The starting salary upon joining after graduation was staggering. There wasn't even a clause for failing to graduate—clearly they only made this offer to people they were certain of.
"And you are the surviving member of House Franz, correct? If you become an Imperial Knight, restoring your house will become considerably easier. I can guarantee that."
Belonging to an Imperial Knight Order meant belonging to the Imperial family itself. The Emperor wouldn't handle everything personally, but you would still enjoy imperial backing. Under those circumstances, rebuilding a fallen house wouldn't be quite as simple as eating cold porridge—but it would be as straightforward as Ferent claimed.
I had already decided to restore House Franz. That made Ferent's offer all the more tempting.
"I'm grateful for the offer. But I'd like more time to think it over."
I declined and gently pushed the documents back toward him.
I was still only a first-year. More than three years remained until graduation. I didn't know which path I would ultimately take, but I was confident I could at least double my current value before then. I intended to aim for a scouting offer from the First Imperial Knight Order—or at least terms better than these.
"Heh. A wise choice. As a former Imperial Knight commander I'd love to lock you down right now, but as your advisor I support your decision. Still, when the time comes to choose, I hope you'll remember that the Third Imperial Knight Order was the first to recognize your worth."
"Yes. Thank you. But if you're making this offer to me... does that mean you'll approach Selian with the same—or better—terms?"
It felt a little embarrassing to say out loud, but I was clearly one of the top talents in the first-year class. I just wasn't the absolute best. That title belonged to Selian. I was firmly in second place—Selian-and-then-me.
"No. I won't approach her. Even if I did, she wouldn't accept. House Deretia is hoping a Hero will emerge from this generation, so there's no reason for us to risk souring relations by making the first move."
Fair enough. Knight, officer, adventurer—none of it mattered once you became a Hero. The Hero was the world's sole destined opponent of the Demon King, chosen by the world and the Goddess. Someone like that had no time to join a mere knight order. Only after successfully defeating the Demon King and returning would the dynamic reverse: the Hero would choose the order, not the other way around.
"If it's Selian, I'm sure she'll become an outstanding Hero and defeat the Demon King."
"Then will you join her party as a companion for the Demon King subjugation?"
Even if the Hero was the Demon King's only true rival, no one could walk that brutal road alone. Every previous Hero had gathered the finest companions from every field before setting out.
So when Selian became the Hero, who would she consider first for her party? It felt a bit self-congratulatory, but under the current circumstances... wasn't it me? My skills weren't bad, and more importantly we were now genuine "best friends." She would definitely ask. The Demon King subjugation was no easy task, but the risks came with equally certain rewards.
"I'll have to leave that as no comment for now..."
I didn't give a firm answer. Honestly, if it were up to me I wanted nothing to do with any Demon King subjugation. The risks were far too high. Even if the world was supposedly in danger, it wouldn't fail just because I wasn't there. Plenty of people on the continent could take my place. Lately, though, my resolve had begun to waver.
At first I had only drawn close to Selian out of obligation. Now I truly thought of her as a friend. If she asked me to come with her, I couldn't swear that her friend Elicia would be able to refuse.
"Well, it's far too early to be thinking about that anyway. Reflect on it yourself if you like, but if you ever need counsel, come to me anytime. You're my advisee, after all."
With that, Ferent gathered the documents again.
"Or how about working under me as a teaching assistant? With your ability you'd earn a degree in no time and—"
"Th-the tea was excellent. I'll take my leave now."
I set down the empty cup, gave Ferent a quick bow, and made my exit.