| Euphoria, the City of Phoenia, Present Day |

I yawn as I get up from my bed, looking over to the forested balcony letting in a cool breeze.

My feet touch the carpeted ground as I unclip the blue-night gown from my back.

It's been about a week since I've come here, and honestly, it's quite disappointing…

I sigh and tap the air three times. A white rune appears, and my clothing changes to my normal attire consisting of a long white shirt with a blue armored breastplate.

After the ceremony, we were all given our mentors, and training started promptly...

I walk over to the balcony's edge and loom over to find two figures, one with white hair and another with purple hair sparring in the royal garden.

"Make sure you always strike with the intent to kill!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

Minori threw a pair of blades that were shielded by her mentor's large axe.

That looks so cool…

I can also hear Yuumi and her BFF running all the dam time. It's like… Do they even do anything else?

I gaze to the left of the garden, and I see Yuumi lagging behind her brisk mentor.

"You good back there? You definitely need to work on your stamina!" The elf's ears bounced as she jogged, facing backward while giggling.

I would even settle for that…

Along with getting lessons from our mentors, we also have a ton of other duties…

—Knock Knock

"Momoko, are you ready? We need to meet the others for guard duty in the Port District." A feminine voice protrudes from the other side of my door.

"Coming!" I yell back as I run towards the door.

I take a deep breath and exhale. My armor appears in rays of light, along with a sword at my hilt.

I learned how to materialize a makeshift set of armor for excursions around the castle. Apparently, whether knight or squire, you must wear a set when on-duty unless you have a high enough rank.

I make it towards the door and clasp the handle opening it to a comforting smile.

"Let's get going." Mimi starts to walk towards the spiral staircase leading to the main part of the castle.

While most of the other squires have mentor training in the morning, Mimi and I are pretty much in the same predicament.

"No show again, huh?" We make our way down the red-carpeted stairwell.

Mimi lets out a sigh as we reach the final step.

"I get that she's a high-ranking officer and has stuff to do… But it's kind of down-setting when I see everyone else training with their mentor."

"Well, at least you've gotten to see your mentor in the past week or so. I haven't seen mine since the ballroom inauguration!"

Mimi's ears perk up as we walk past the hallway with large windows leading towards the main castle. The floor shines as it basks in the light coming from the panes.

"W-well, it can't be helped. She is a general, after all."

I open the door and gesture for her to walk forward. I glance at her silver armor with blue outlines along the breastplate as she walks past me, bowing.

"So that was a gift from your hometown? That's pretty cool."

"Yep!" She stops walking and does a twirl in the large corridor. "When they heard the news of me becoming a knight, they were so proud that they made me a custom set of armor."

The set of armor looks practically weightless. The only area armored is the breastplate along with the hands and feet. They're all being connected by a strong-looking blue fabric that has a dim glow.

We finally traverse through the elaborate castle and enter the main hallway leading to the outside of the castle. Knights, almost like statues, stand at attention as we walk past the large staircase leading to the upper area of the castle. Looking above, I see a picture of a stern man with a gold crown looking down at us as we walk to the large brown doors.

I put my feet together and salute along with Mimi as two knights stationed at the sides of the door salute back to us. They then walk to the sides of the door and usher it open.

We reach the vast castle grounds. A large bed of flowers is introduced, along with a white granite statue of a lady riding a sword with a sword raised in her palm.

"Totally different from a few weeks ago…."

Mimi nodded while glancing at the greenery.

"Can't believe it was only but a few weeks ago when this place was full of people wanting to be knights."

We walk past the castle gates and head towards the right, away from the castle. We approach a large gate with three knights stationed on either side, one standing on the left and two on the right.

"Back on patrol, squires?" One of the knights lowered his head toward us.

Mimi stops and salutes as I continue walking.

"Y-yes, sir! We're doing a routine patrol through the marketing district by orders of my mentor!"

The stationed knight looked toward his comrade and sighed, turning back.

"You know we're around the same rank, right… You don't need to do all that."

"Yes! Understood!" She continues marching forward as the guard on the right lets out a chuckle.

"I don't understand why you do that every time we travel through the gates… I don't think anyone takes the whole militant respect crap seriously unless an officer is nearby."

"Better safe than sorry! You don't know who may be watching!"

"What? Did someone tell you that?"

Mimi puts a finger near her mouth and smiles while dashing forward.

"What is that suppose to mean?!"

I race after her into the next district.

. . .

The Market District is home to many clothing boutiques, stores, even having a bazaar (a street of small shops) in the middle of the area.

We walk into the bazaar where a group of haggling merchants and busybody customers were trying to negotiate deals and sell items. The ample amount of tents aligned contiguous, each with a distinct color and symbol to beckon customers for a specific food, ware, or grain.

We make our way past different stalls as the zest of lemon and the freshness of herbs cloud my nose.

All of the squires were given the Obsidian rank on becoming a knight, except Yuumi, who acquired Ruby by winning the tournament.

But despite our rank…

"Look, mommy! It's the knights that fought in the tournament a few weeks ago!"

"H-hi… We're just on duty. Don't mind us." I respond while waving to the young girl.

"Hey there, Ms. Momoko! Come by our shop sometime, and we'll treat you to a hot meal."

I bow while giving a nervous smile. "Of course, Ola, who would pass up on your delicious pastries?"

"Hey, there girls! Take some food with you on your patrol. Keep us safe!"

"You got it, Ms. Veru!" I hand Mimi an apple from the hoard that was placed into my arms.

"We'll give these to the others once we get back." I tap the air once, and a brown runic circle appears. I toss the apples into the circle, and it closes.

… Our reputations exceed us.

I honestly can't say how it happened. But Mimi's mentor summed it up pretty well:

"The Rites of Passage is held every 10 years, not only that, but it's quite popular around the entire world—not just Phoenia. We prepare months ahead for it, and the citizens are eagerly waiting to witness the blood bath… I-I mean show."

Mimi finishes her apple as we make it to the end of the bazaar.

We turn back and look at the buzzing marketplace.

"Everything seems in order… Do you want to try going down—"

"NO! NOT AGAIN!" Mimi's ears slump as her tail shudders.

I sigh and look behind us to the rest of the district. A small road leading towards an alleyway filled with suspicious-looking characters beckons us with knives and slimy expressions.

"Y-you know what, I think patrolling the bazaar was enough for today… We can totally go back!"

"I agree! We did our job; No need to over exhort ourselves!"

We start to stride through the marketplace, not taking a moment to glance back at the welcoming individuals behind us.

. . .

After an hour of patrolling, the sky starts to turn a yellowish-red as the sun starts to set along with the kingdom's eastern gates. Mimi and I cross into the castle's inner gates as we pass a few guards talking near the front fountain.

"Man… I don't really feel like doing it…."

"Is there someone else that—HEY, YOU TWO!"

We both stop and face the group of knights. One of them takes off his helmet to reveal his smooth black hair.

"Which one of you is General Calina's squire?"

Mimi backs away and starts to dash toward the tower. "W-well bye Momoko, hope you have fun doing whatever!"

I look behind me, holding my hand out. "But wait—!"

"… Excellent…!" One of the knights puts a hand on my shoulder.

I feel the deceptive gaze of the knights behind me.

`Why me…`