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Chapter 31: My Gift to My Subject

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The sun began to turn red, already approaching the sea’s horizon.

Antolich Naval Base, the Apprentice Knight’s candidates had just finished their third screening. Due to the problem in the Gladdio forest, the eight teams were divided to the other two sites.

Because of this, it had taken much more time than expected.

“Hm, hm, hm,”

Krone was humming.

Wearing a brand new white tunic, he was sitting by a bed, peeling off an apple.

His head and arm had bandages all over, yet he was cheerful.

“Come on, if you’re not going to wake up, I’ll finish all the fruits,”

He spoke to the patient in front of him, lying on bed with a white blanket covering her.

An apple peel entered his mouth, crushed.

After the Vow, he used his mana to inform his position to Natalia outside. With both inside and outside coordinating, they managed to get out safely.

Thankfully, Arnea already erased all traces of her scales, leaving only human flesh.

He came out from the rubble, with her on his hands, covered by his shredded white tunic.

Remembering what happened back then, Krone touched his head.

Wondering.

“The hell’s Natalia all angry for? Ladies really are,”

“Mmn,”

He startled, looking around.

He sighed, glad the devil did not appear. It seemed the patient started to wake up.

“Hey, sleepyhead. Enough sleep yet?”

“Un, ah?”

Julia opened her eyes, slightly.

Still sleepy, she seemed all too tired. Her eyes still blurry, his voice reached her.

Yet she was too dizzy.

“…Who?”

“It’s me, Krone.”

“Krone…?”

She was silent for a while.

Her memory was in haywire. Seemingly, her mind was patching things up.

Soon;

“Ah, Krone! What did you do to Shana? Ouch,”

She was quick, hands grabbing his collars. As she did, she felt pain all over, even her grip was weak.

Krone raised his hands, in a gesture of surrender.

“Wait, calm down. Think clearly first.”

“How could I, wait,”

She looked around her.

She noticed it was an infirmary. With a window beside her, she recognized the buildings, the field, the cruisers further away, and especially so the wretched obstacle course.

“This is, the base?”

“Yes, the base.”

“Krone, you,”

As she was about to say something, steps resounded. The sound implied some people were closing in, then;

The veil next to them, shifted.

“Bu!”

“Whoa!”

“Haha, look at you, all wrapped up like a mummy!”

“…Sh-shana?”

It was her team.

Shana, Kyril, Ryan and Ron came in, bringing some fruits and flowers. They greeted her, leaving her dumbfounded. Kyril stepped forward, replacing withered flowers in a vase beside her with new ones, a pair of Sunflowers.

“Glad to have you back,”

“You, you guys, are all,”

“We’re fine,”

“Shana?”

Julia still could not believe her standing there, all fine and no injury.

“It’s a ruse, I thought I told you?”

Ryan answered.

Such thought did not cross her mind, at the time she was too shocked to think.

Shana stared her, close.

“Hey, it’s not that easy to kill me, so don’t you worry. You’re the one all beaten up, especially with that dragon incident. Ah, too bad,”

“Dragon?”

“What, you can’t remember? Krone said,”

“Dragon, right! I remember!”

She recalled.

The sight of that monstrous existence, coming out all of a sudden. The mana pressure, the huge fangs, the sharp eyes staring at her, as if ready to tear her apart.

Its presence overwhelmed her, she fainted soon after.

It happened all too quick, so it was like a dream.

Shana continued;

“It cast a high-level magic, what was it?”

“Gravia Luha, Gravity Well.”

Ron answered. Shana nodded;

“Yeah, that. You’re lucky Krone was there.”

“Eh, Krone?”

The party soon told her the official story. After she fainted, he brought her away with him. Not knowing why, the dragon cast the magic. Krone managed to avoid a direct hit, yet unfortunately, they still ended up being trapped under the hill.

The dragon left, so the knights could focus on saving them.

With their help, and Krone’s cooperation, it ended up well.

“So that happened,”

“Yeah, but don’t worry about the test, we did our best,”

Shana’s eyes turned to Krone, eyes shimmering.

He shivered, but did his best ignoring her.

The place turned lively.

During the team’s reunion, Krone maintained his silence. It was not proper to butt in, so he just focused on the fruits, eating them as he pleased.

Dong…

Later, the bell rang.

It was 6.00 pm. Candidates had to gather for the final announcement.

Ryan and the rest bid them farewell.

“Well then, Julia, Krone, we’ll have to go. Rest well.”

Both of them nodded.

The place turned from lively to deserted.

All silent.

…

“Krone?”

“Hm, yeah?”

“Thanks,”

“…Don’t mention it.”

Awkward.

Seriously, he felt like he did not deserve that thanks. He was so close in making the wrong decision, he felt lucky he did not go on to extract the core out.

Had he done that, she would be in a coma, perhaps for life.

“The announcement, you’re not going?”

“I will, after this.”

“After this?”

“Here,”

“Ouch,”

“Ah, sorry,”

He took her hand, and placed a ring on her palm.

“This is?”

“You did hint you want to join my team, my party?”

“Eh, you mean?”

“Julia S. Garde, welcome to Krone’s party: Defenders of the Homeland. Hope you won’t decline,”

“Krone’s party,”

She was stupefied.

It happened all out of the blue.

“This ring?”

“It’s a communication ring, we can communicate with each other this way,”

“C-communication ring? Isn’t this, err, expensive?”

“Very, but a real party ought to have one.”

He explained how the ring works.

The ring acted with the presence of other rings, linked by similar magical circle. Other rings could also be added, but that required personal circles to be added into the ring.

Using the user’s mana, the best communication ring could be used for over several hundred kilometres. In Krone’s case, this ring could cover over a thousand kilometres before communication became unclear.

Just knowing this fact, she knew this ring was not common.

“A thousand kilometre?”

“At least with that distance, it’ll be useful, yes? Or do you wish to decline? I won't force you."

“Of course I accept! B-but, you giving this, does this mean,”

She had concern.

Krone had said he might not enter the Knights Academy, so such thought crossed her mind.

As she did, Krone sat with his back straight, eyes firm.

“Julia S. Garde,”

“Eh, ah? W-why are you formal all of a sudden?”

“I’ve something to tell you, I hope you’ll take this seriously,”

“…I understand.”

She changed her demeanor.

While she could not sit straight, her eyes turned solemn.

“The thing is, I have some secrets I kept from you,”

“Secrets?”

“Yes, it concerned you especially, since you’re now my party member. I cannot divulge them to you. Yet, I hope you’ll understand.”

“...These secrets, are they necessary?”

“They are. I’ll tell you when you’re ready. Again, I hope,”

“Speak no more, Krone Kozak.”

“…”

She shook her head, he turned silent.

“Since you said so, I’ll believe it. There ought to be good reason?”

“Yes, there is. More than one,”

“Then there’s that. But you’ll tell me later, right?”

“When the right time comes, yes.”

“Em, then let’s speak of it no more.”

“Thank you, Julia… You better go back to sleep,”

“Ah, I want to see the result,”

“No, it’s fine, rest. I’ll have someone woke you up later. Rest,”

Hearing this, she did not quite understand why, yet she became sleepy.

Krone took ahold of her head, placing it on the pillow.

After a while;

“Awake?”

“Yes, Master.”

Julia, now Arnea, opened her eyes.

She struggled to sit, yet Krone raised his hand, prompting her to keep lying.

“You did well, she remembered the dragon,”

“I was worried, my imagination, not enough time,”

“It’s fine, it’s enough. She already believes it. Still, this leaves a bad aftertaste,”

Of course it left a bad aftertaste.

Krone had instructed Arnea to use her imagination to influence Julia’s memory. Since their souls were bound, it seeped into her dream.

With just a trigger, she would believe it to be the truth.

“Felt like a liar, I swear,”

“Master?”

“Nothing. It’s necessary.”

Planting false memory like this truly could not be said as honorable. However, Krone made such decision after weighing everything.

Her personality, her mentality, she could not bear knowing the truth.

At least, not yet.

Had she known, she would start to doubt everything. Her world view would be shaken, not in a good way. In front of her masters, she would not be able to act normal.

Her awkwardness would be the sign, enough sign to make her masters investigate.

That, would not be good at all.

‘There’s a chance her Masters are Grandmaster-level. I’ll have to steer clear, or my ship would sunk before it even set sails. It’s too early for her to know.’

He sighed.

Arnea stared him, eyes upward, considering something.

“Master, I’ve something to say.”

“Hm? Just call me Krone already Arnea. What is it?”

“…Master, my core.”

“What? Did something happen? It’s not broken, is it?”

“No, it’s just that, it changed.”

“Changed?”

“By a lot too, I… worried.”

“…Let me check,”

Krone channeled mana into his eyes.

His eyes passed through her bandages, clothes, flesh and blood.

Landing on the core, his sight delivered the image.

The core, violet, had grown a little. However, the shape, the texture, had become more refined, better. Seeing the core right now, it was akin to one belonging to a Grand Beast.

Hardly a difference, albeit a lot smaller.

“What the…?”

“Is, is it a problem, Master?”

“Problem?”

Krone pondered.

Why would the core changed, all of a sudden?

More accurately, why would it improve its quality, just like this?

…

He blinked.

He remembered that one option he was excited about, from the Lesser Throne.

“Twice enemy aggression, twice core quality? Is that it?”

“Master?”

“…It’s nothing to worry. It’s safe, Arnea.”

“Truly?”

“Yeah,”

He assured her, soon relating her to one of his perks. Hearing this, she blinked.

Somehow, it turned out to be good news.

As she felt relief, she knitted, frowning. As if she was holding something within.

“Um,”

“What, what is it?”

“I’m suppressing, my scales, from growing. It took, too much energy, growing.”

“I see. Well, I’ve enough for now, so,”

Krone checked his spatial ring.

The scales Arnea shed, he gathered most of them. As much as it pained him, he left some as evidence for the existence of a dragon. Dragon scales, even baby-sized such as hers, would still fetch high price in the market.

The amount of dragon scales he gathered was not much, but it should still give him a generous sum. He could also use it on weapon or armor too, further hiking their value and price.

With Arnea, he could gather more and more scales.

‘She’s like a golden goose,’

Thinking of this, he snickered. His hand covered his mouth.

Keke sound slipped through.

“…You’re thinking, something nasty, Master?”

“Nasty? What nasty! It’s called practical, Arnea, practical. I’m a pragmatist, you see?”

“Yes, I could see that,”

She covered her body with the white blanket, blocking his perverted eyes.

Enough playing around, he turned serious.

“Arnea, Julia’s joining the academy.”

“You’re coming, Master?”

“No, I’m leaving.”

…

“…Didn’t you, promise?”

“I did. And I intent to fulfill it.”

“Then, why? How can, you protect me, when you’re away?”

“It’s one way of protecting, just listen, alright?”

“…Alright.”

Krone explained to her in details.

His plan, his long-term goal, what he needed to do, and why she needed to stay in the academy.

And the fact that he had given Julia the party ring, allowing him to monitor her condition and communicate freely.

“So you still, have to leave?”

“Yeah, please understand,”

“…You’ll still, fulfill, your promise?”

“I will.”

“…Then I’ll obey, your will, Master.”

“Like I said, just call me,”

“Master.”

“Gahh, whatever.”

As she did not relent, he pursued it no further. He taught her how to use the party ring, how to communicate with him.

It did not take long.

She tried to put the ring on, yet failed.

Too unfamiliar with human finger, she gave up.

“Master, help me out.”

“Eh, seriously?”

“Just, help me. Human fingers are too, ugh,”

“Fine, fine,”

Julia had her spatial ring on her left's pinky. Not sure where to put it, he placed the ring on her right's fourth finger.

At the time, he was praying she would not know the significance of this action. It was too embarrassing!

As he stood up, he told her to wake Julia up when he arrived down there, near the platform. He had a gift, a parting gift for both of them.

“So, I guess this is goodbye, take care Arnea.”

“…Take care, Master.”

“Whenever you wake up, don’t hesitate to call, alright?”

“Alright. I’ll call you, until you tire of me, Master.”

“…Just where did you learn jokes, anyway?”

“From one unreliable, master,”

“You’re one quick learner,”

====

Krone joined his team.

The Apprentice Knight’s Test, the final result had been announced. A hundred people passed, including the twins. When the two first heard of this, they were joyful, jumping.

However, the later result suppressed their joy. Worried looks on their face.

Doran had failed, it was not surprising. He did not have much in him to make him really stand out anyway, many were puzzled by what Krone seen in him.

He had his head down, silent.

As for Krone, his result was unique; in review.

He and Athea, was not given a pass, but a review. There were things still unclear, including their identity. Without background clearance, they could not pass.

Even with Krone’s superior ability, he was not an exception.

“Those in review, if you have anything to add, please come forward.”

Kent, who announced the result beside Sir Medron, turned to the two.

Krone and Athea.

Athea had her head down, unsure how to make of this.

She knew, the knights had found her background suspicious, thus resulting in this current situation.

She considered telling them, but she knew her family would not sit still, knowing her being here. Once the government knew, her family would too.

However, she did not expect Krone would be in the same position.

“Krone,”

As she turned to him, he stepped forward.

His green spear by his side.

“I do have something to add,”

He announced, not in private, but in public.

His action startled Natalia, but Kent and Medron were calm. They had registered him as uncommon, thus his action did not come as a surprise.

‘This will be my gift, my parting gift.’

His hand took his spear, the tip was held toward the knights.

His action, jolted many. It was quite rude, considering his status as a candidate.

Because it was, a gesture of challenge.

“I wish to challenge the knights, anyone, one on one.”

...

==== Chapter 31 End ====