A blond man was waiting at the entrance of the gym. When he saw me, he flashed a warm smile.

“So this is your friend, huh?” he asked me when I walked towards him along with Momo.

“Yes. This is Momo. Momo, meet Temma Kishido. He’s the vice captain of the 13th unit”, I introduced them to each other.

“Good afternoon. It’s nice to meet you. Now then, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be heading to my class”, she bowed and walked away.

Temma was deep in thought.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“It’s nothing. I just had a feeling I’ve met her somewhere before”, he answered.

Of course you met her. She’s the thief that brought trouble to your unit many times already.

“It’s probably your imagination”, I said.

We then walked towards the backstage. I gulped down when I peeked at the audience. There were many students and I was expected to deliver a speech in front of them. I could take on many thugs and even fight monsters but somehow, talking in front of many young people made me nervous.

The school principal went forward and began talking about the importance of careers. He talked about the Westa Knight Order and gave the stage to Captain Noel.

She walked straight to the center of the stage, removed the armor on her right arm, and threw a punch. A strong gust of wind blew after she swung her fist and she grinned. Captain Noel put on her armor and grabbed the mic.

“That’s the power of a captain”, she said.

The students were speechless. Of course they would be. Captain Noel didn’t use any magic. That meant the wind that was produced from her punch was all because of her brute strength.

“My name is Noel Shirogane, the captain of Westa Knight Order’s 13th unit. The Westa Knight Order has many units with its own jurisdictions. The 2nd to 6th units are in charge of Westa North, the 7th to 11th units are in charge of Westa South, the 12th to 16th units are in charge of Westa West, and the 17th to 21st units are in charge of Westa East.”

She walked towards the podium and continued talking.

“As the captain of the 13th unit, I am in charge of the major decisions involving our operations. For example, I review each and every report the knights in my unit would make and see if everything was going well.”

That was a lie. I was the one who would read their report and decide if I should forward it to her in order to make her decide on the proper course of action.

“The responsibilities of a captain are huge since you are managing an entire unit and protecting Westa’s peace. That’s why it’s not easy to become one. The process for becoming a captain is difficult. First, you have to be recommended by two captains. And then you’ll be sent to do an A-ranked quest from the Adventurer’s Guild all by yourself. Once you finish the quest, you’ll be facing another captain in one-on-one combat.”

A student raised her hand and Captain Noel pointed at her.

“What’s your question?”

“Umm... I heard you were the youngest captain in history. Can you tell us your story?”

“Very well. I am from a family of knights. My father and brother are members of the 1st unit and my grandfather used to be the captain of the 13th unit. When I was a child, I was blessed with amazing battle instincts and strong muscle strength. That was why I was placed in the Knight Academy’s accelerated program.”

“Accelerated program?”

“The accelerated program is a program in the Knight Academy that takes in students who just graduated elementary and train them as knights. Normally, you have two chances to enter the Knight Academy. Once you graduate middle school, you can enter the Knight Academy. Another option is entering the Knight Academy after finishing high school. However, the accelerated program would take children who just graduated elementary and train them.”

From what I read, the Knight Academy trained its students for four years. Once they finish those four years, they would get assigned to a unit and spend their lives working. If Captain Noel went to the Knight Academy after elementary, that meant she became a knight when she was 16.

“Thank you, Captain Noel”, the student bowed and returned to her seat.

“As I was saying, I became a knight when I was 16. After a year of service, I was recommended to become a captain and when I passed, I became the youngest captain at the age of 17.”

She walked to the center of the stage.

“A captain’s job is difficult. That’s why we have an assistant called the vice captain. My vice captain is a man named Temma Kishido. It’ll be his turn to talk about his job.”

Temma walked towards the stage and received the microphone from Captain Noel. He gave the audience a warm smile.

“Hello. My name is Temma Kishido, the vice captain of the 13th unit. A vice captain’s job is simple. We assist our captain. Our duties are the same like managing the unit and making important decisions. However, a vice captain’s duty is to be the bridge between the captain and the regular knights.”

He pointed at himself.

“As the vice captain, I have to be very approachable. Any concerns that the knights in my unit would have, I should be the one who should know first and would talk to the captain. Also, if the captain is away, it is my job to lead the unit.”

A student raised his hand.

“Yes?”

“How does one become a vice captain? Do you have to undergo a tough trial too?”

Temma smiled.

“No. The vice captain is chosen by the unit’s captain. There are no requirements to become one.”

“Why?”

“It’s because the vice captain and the captain have to get along with each other. We would be working closely with each other and so, our compatibility must be amazing. Captain Noel chose me because I was her grandfather’s vice captain before he retired.”

“I see. Thank you very much.”

The student sat down and Temma continued with his speech.

“Now then... As the vice captain, I have to deal with things that aren't urgent enough to get the captain’s attention. However, the workload would sometimes become so large that we would get overwhelmed. That’s why we have another special knight called an administrative officer. I’ll be passing the mic to the 13th unit’s administrative officer.”

I walked towards the stage and I could feel their stares. It wasn’t that much of a problem. I fought in front of an audience back in the Idol Fan Tournament. It shouldn’t be that tough.

“Hello. I’m Mikage Kamishiro, the administrative officer of the 13th unit.”

I looked at the students.

“My job as an administrative officer is reading all of the knights’ reports. Captain Noel said that she had to read the reports, right? There’s a bit more than that. I was the one who would sort the reports for her. If I find anything urgent, then I would pass it to her and let her decide what the unit should do.”

Captain Noel looked away in guilt.

“Another job I have is that I should keep track of the unit’s expenses. From the living expenses of each knight in the dormitories to weapon purchases to salaries, I was the one who made sure that everything stayed within budget.”

I was about to explain more when my shadow automatically rose up and formed a wall. A ball made of darkness crashed into it and exploded.

“What?!” I couldn’t contain my surprise after my enchantment activated on its own.

An eerie feeling appeared in my gut as creatures that looked like my Shadow Companion appeared on the stage. There were around 15 of them.

Capture him, I heard a voice in my mind.

And all of the Shadow Companions charged at me.