3. Did you hear the news? (3)

I met my ex-girlfriend again after 3 years. And when I said hello to her for the first time in three years, I stuttered.

For the first time in Maxim Appart’s life, the desire to commit suicide welled up. If I could, I wanted to run into a bamboo grove or something and let out a grotesque scream of “Kie Aek!” Or did he slap his forehead on a huge oak tree?

I thought it would be better if you laughed at me. But Maxim’s ears could only hear the wind rustling through the grass.

Because of that, Maxime Appart’s face quickly turned red. If it were morning instead of late afternoon, you would look like someone who had at least one drink during the day.

Maxim struggled to fix his blurred vision. A few steps away stood Theodora Benning. oh, what a dream If someone said it was a dream, I could understand it. Maxim’s reddened face slowly regained its color.

“Nice to meet you. This is Theodora Benning, the new general manager.”

Theodora didn’t care if Maxim stuttered or if his face was flushed. Maxim thought he was happy, but he felt bitter. It seems that Maxim is the only thing he is conscious of.

Shuk.

Theodora held out her hand. Maxim looked blankly at the white gloved hand. It was still a delicate, thin finger. It took me a few seconds to realize that it was a hand asking for a handshake.

“Please take care of me, vice-captain. What is your name?”

Maxim’s face, which had been regaining its color, heated up again. Maxim quickly reached out his hand and took Theodora’s hand.

“…Maxim Appart. I will leave it up to you.”

handshake. That brief hand-to-hand contact. However, it was enough time for Maxim to recall various memories. Maxim quickly let go of his hand and returned to his normal position. Theodora approached Christine, who stood relatively casually next to Maxim. Christine greeted Theodora by holding her outstretched hand.

“Wizard, Christine Watson.”

“Thank you, Mr. Watson.”

“Call me Christine.”

When Christine said that with a refreshing smile, Theodora’s cold spirit softened slightly.

“Yes, yes, Christine.”

During that time, Maxim regained his composure. How long will you be out of your mind? If it was a personal feeling, I had to push it into a corner of my head first, and now I had to act as the vice-captain of an order of knights. Maxim swallowed dry saliva and walked away. Theodora and Christine had just finished greeting each other.

“I will show you around headquarters.”

“Yeah. Please.”

A cold smile came across Theodora’s face. Seeing that rose-like smile made of ice, Maxim was slightly intimidated. Maxim walked into the headquarters of the Raven Knights with the mindset that there would be no future if he expressed his feelings even now.

“Follow me.”

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No answer came. Christine followed Maxim, in front of Theodora and slightly behind Maxim. The two soldiers serving as attendants joined behind Theodora. The headquarters building, covered with ivy, caught my eye. Maxim was ashamed of the shabby exterior of the building. Before entering the headquarters, Maxim introduced the training ground in front of the building.

“This is the training ground for the Jackdaw Knights.

Theodora blinked and turned her head to scan the training grounds as if searching.

“It’s neat…than I thought.”

Theodora opened and closed the cover of the scarecrow’s helmet. Less greased and creaking noises were heard.

“Besides this, there’s also a backyard, an armory, and a riding arena…”

“I don’t have much time, so I’ll look around later. I would like you to guide me inside the headquarters.”

Theodora said that, but she did not pass Maxim. It was to consider the position of the guide. His words were cold, but the actions he took never ignored the guide. Maxim confirmed that her disposition had not changed and let out a sigh of relief. At the same time, the feeling of longing began to tickle a corner of my heart.

Maxim tried hard to ignore the feeling and stood at the head of the party to open the headquarters door. A needlessly wide lobby was revealed beyond the door. The floor of the lobby, which had been swept and polished after a long time, was giving off an appreciable luster. Rather than worrying, Maxim and Christine felt a little proud of the well-organized lobby.

“This is the lobby. A hallway on either side contains bedrooms for knights in their preparatory courses. Right now, there are no articles for the preliminary course, so the room remains empty.”

There was no answer. Theodora just glanced around the lobby with a cold gaze this time.

“…I will guide you to the second floor.”

Theodora didn’t say a word even as they walked to the second floor. Maxim could guess her mood just from the calm atmosphere. Theodora was annoyed now.

Maxim could not fathom why she was in such a mood. Did you think the cleaning was poor? Or did you not like the interior of the building? Maybe he doesn’t like his very existence. A cold sweat ran down Maxim’s back. He tried to evoke the atmosphere by quickly explaining the structure of the second floor.

“The second floor is actually where we do our administrative work. There are the offices of the captain and vice-captain, and there is a library for storing old documents.”

Maxim and the others slowly walked up the second floor. The creaking of the old hardwood floors was unusually loud.

“This is the headmaster’s office.”

Maxim opened the door to his office. There were no noticeable objects in the room. There were bookshelves full of tactical books and swordsmanship manuals that he hadn’t even read, and unnecessarily expensive desks and carpets. The current leader and the old man’s arrangements were roughly wrapped up and thrown into the storage room.

“This is the place where 30 captains stayed. It is no exaggeration to say that it is the history of the Knights of the Ravens.”

Still no answer or response. At this point, I wish I could say something sarcastic. or even curse Maxim said not to care, and urged himself to lead the group to the library. It was called a library, but there was nothing special to look around. It was just a room lined with shelves that smelled of rotting old documents.

The last place they headed was the vice-captain’s office. The vice-captain’s office was located at the edge of the corridor on the second floor with the library in between. It is different from the director’s office from the door.

“This is the vice-captain’s office.”

When I opened the vice-captain’s office, I heard a small sigh. Maxim held his head back as he tried to turn back. The introduction of headquarters, which seemed to be sitting on a cushion of thorns, was finally over. Theodora was looking around the vice-captain’s office, turning her head around.

“This is the rough outline of the headquarters of the Knights of the Raven… I know you’ll be visiting again on Monday morning.”

Maxim said to Theodora. Our eyes met her. Theodora did not shy away from his gaze and answered.

“Yes, I plan to go to work a little earlier than the other members go to work. I was thinking of getting a takeover right away.”

It was a cold voice. Maxim chose to put an iron plate on his face.

“All right. Then, we will be able to go through the handover process within the weekend.”

Theodora nodded faintly. Seeing that they didn’t look for the leader, they seemed to be fully aware of what was going on with the knights. Maxim decided that disbanding by the time the introductions were over would be good for his mental health.

“Then, thank you for your hard work…”

Of course, Maxim had nothing to take care of his mental health.

“I have something to talk about with the vice-captain.”

Maxim’s lips hardened at the words that came out of Theodora’s mouth. Theodora’s gray gaze met the people in the office one after another, then stopped at Maxim.

“It’s going to be a story that only needs a captain and a vice-captain, so everyone else should go back first. It’s past work time, and it would be rude if you hold on longer.”

The two soldiers who acted as attendants chatted as if they were embarrassed. Then he looked at Theodora as if he had made up his mind and said.

“How can we go back first?”

“That’s right, Captain. We will be waiting below.”

Theodora shook her head.

“No, it’s fine. You must have had a hard time following me after work today, but please leave work first.”

The two soldiers seemed to be thinking about it again, but then they saluted and turned around.

“Thank you for your hard work, Captain.”

“Yeah. Thanks for your work.”

The two soldiers opened the door and left the vice-captain’s office. Left behind, Christine stood still, watching Theodora and Maxim. Maxim nodded slightly to Christine, who was still not moving her feet.

“Go first. It’s the weekend tomorrow, so I need to rest.”

“…Yes, vice-captain.”

Christine took a step back and saluted Theodora and Maxime in turn. When Christine left, the door to the vice-captain’s office was closed.

thud.

Silence passed. The afternoon sunlight, which had been beating down yellow, changed its appearance to the crimson of the setting sun. Outside the window, blue clouds were drifting across the crimson sky.

Maxim hesitated. It was difficult to get the words out right away. When he opened his mouth, Maxim did not know what to say.

“…long time no see. Theodora.”

So, Maxim decided to just say hello. I mean casually.

“yes. Long time no see, Maxim. After three years?”

Theodora was greeted. The chill in his voice did not go away. It was three years, and it was a pretty painful time for Maxim. Maxim nodded slowly.

“Three years. I know. It seems like not too long ago.”

I didn’t ask how you were doing. Because after that three years ago, she would never have gotten along. It was absolutely the sin of Maxim. Maxim looked straight into Theodora’s face.

Three years had passed, but time seemed to have only blessed her. Platinum blonde hair. It wasn’t the long hair I remembered. His hair was cut off around his neck and his hair was bobbed. thin chin. There was a sharp nose above the red lips that contrasted with the pale skin that could hardly be called white jade. Not to mention the large gray eyes directed at Maxim.

It was an eye that didn’t feel the slightest emotion from the past. Maxim could accept that fact.

“Why did you suddenly come to such an ugly knight?”

When Maxim said with a bit of self-control, Theodora narrowed her eyes.

“It’s a decision made by the Central Knights.”

“Would you like to change this order of knights to something useful?”

Theodora did not immediately answer Maxim’s question. He closed his fine lips as if he didn’t like it and just stared at Maxim. Maxim did not urge Theodora, who suddenly shut up. I heard the chirping of birds against the backdrop of the setting sun.

“You have changed, Maxim.”

Those were the words finally spoken by Theodora. It was off topic, but Maxim nodded and agreed. He changed unintentionally.

“There is no one who does not change. You know, Theodora.”

If the agonizing time of three years was a blessing to Theodora as a reward, it was a curse to Maxim. Maxim gritted his teeth and continued with his next words.

“Three years ago I changed.”

“right.”

A piercing voice was heard. The irreversible flow was getting stronger. Even though Maxim was suffering, he had to be swept away by the flow. Silence passed. Theodora broke the silence by questioning Maxim again.

“How is your fiancée?”

Theodora pretended to be indifferent. Maxim’s eyes flickered for a moment. Maxim forced his mouth open to speak.

“take care. I come and go sometimes.”

“…I see.”

Theodora stroked the wall of her office. Silence falls again. There was no continuity between conversations. Maxim waited for Theodora to speak again.

“I’m going to reform the Raven Knights.”

The conversation between the two returned to its original subject. Theodora had her eyes closed. When she opened her eyes again, even the presence of a block of ice had disappeared.

“Reformation.”

“…His Majesty the King and the Central Knights want to resurrect the Jackdaw Knights to a knighthood worthy of their former reputation.”

Maxim made a small noise.

“Are you the leader?”

“yes. And at the same time as I take over as the general manager, a large-scale personnel reorganization will take place. Most of the knights who are just hanging out here will probably be kicked out.”

Yes. Maxim licked his lips bitterly.

“But there was also an order to leave articles that I thought I could write. Because we can’t completely ignore the existing greetings.”

As Theodora said, it is difficult to completely overthrow an entire order. The question is, how do you select the number of people to leave behind?

“There will be a screening test. The number of people who want to give up… I have no intention of stepping out and catching them.”

Theodora said as if warning Maxim.

“The vice-captain is no exception. If you want to give up, the story will be a bit different…”

Gaze towards Maksim. Maxim had a hard time accepting that gaze.

“no.”

Maxim shook his head.

“I will take the exam.”

It wasn’t because of Theodora. Maxim thought so. If he gave up here, Maxim as a knight would be as good as dead. Not because of his attachment to Theodora, but because of his attachment to himself as a knight, Maxim expressed his will to take the screening test.

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Never, there was not a single penny of lingering attachment to Theodora. Maxim repeated it in his mind.