4. not giving up (1)

Monday after the weekend. The old leader who didn’t want to look at him finally retired. The ordinary and shabby knight was shabby even with his words. The captain himself didn’t care much about him, though. Even if someone spat in his face at his resignation ceremony, he would not have been excited and angry at the fact that he was leaving office. And I’ll spend the rest of my time in the waiting room before I retire.

So the captain went. With or without it, there wasn’t that much of a difference. Maxim could feel as if his stomach had been hollowed out. Maxim, who had time to spend as he pleased, quickly grabbed a wooden sword and went to the training ground.

“Vice-captain…You seem to be in a good mood again today?”

“You went to the leader.”

“Yeah…what.”

Maxim, who was no longer in charge of the leader’s duties, was brandishing a wooden sword with a relieved expression. Even if the person who came to the post after the leader was his ex-girlfriend, for now, he just wanted to enjoy the fact that the leader who had only bothered him had disappeared.

Christine sat on a bench in the corner of the training ground and watched Maxim’s performance. Christine’s head moved little by little, following the path drawn by the tip of Maxim’s sword. An hour had passed since Christine had been watching, but Maxim was moving his body without a break.

“Hasn’t it been a while since you wielded a sword? You’re still doing it for a long time.”

“I see… well, I don’t think I’ve wielded it for that long.”

“I was swinging it to the point where anyone could see that it looked like a knight who had just started using the sword.”

“It’s fun because it’s been a while.”

Maxim paused the wooden sword and looked at his hand wrapped around the hilt. The hand, which never had a day to heal, was completely healed, leaving only a few ugly scars. After joining the Jackdaw Knights, he couldn’t experience combat. I couldn’t even swing my sword until the calluses in my hands burst.

It’s been a while for sure.

Maxim laughed and swung his sword again. For now, it was enough just to find the persimmon.

“By the way, why did you suddenly pull out the sword?”

Christine asked curiously.

“Are you doing this to impress the new captain?”

At the words that followed the question, Maxim flinched.

“Oh, he responded.”

“No, it is not. There is a different reason. You will find out later.”

At this point, Maxim quickly stopped Christine from teasing her. Christine said, “Hmm,” patting her chin, but didn’t ask why. Maxim concentrated again and began swinging his sword. However, that concentration soon broke.

“I, vice-captain.”

A muffled voice was heard. When Maxim turned his head, a member of the group was approaching.

Members of the Knights of the Raven can be divided into two main groups. The one who is always angry, unable to accept the reality that he has been relegated to such a knighthood, and the one who just lives without thinking or caring.

Usually, the former often becomes the latter after eating some jjambab in the knights. The other thing they had in common was that both of them were always drunk.

A member who looks five years older than Maxim. It was just that he had no idea.

“What is going on?”

“Isn’t the new headmaster coming today?”

“yes. Come.”

Maxim nodded.

“Are the rumors really true?”

“What rumors?”

“Right now, rumors are spreading among the members. The new manager is a very famous prospect in the kingdom…”

An anxious-looking member. Maxim hid his desire to click his tongue. Maxim turned his wooden sword and stuck the point into the ground.

“hit. It seems that this time, the Jackdaw Knights will be completely reorganized.”

The member asked in a voice full of bewilderment.

“No, then what should we do with the existing ones… Are you saying you’re just going to throw them away?”

“It is not.”

There was hope on the member’s face.

“then…”

“I’ll take the good guys with me.”

After saying that, Maxim pulled out the wooden sword that had been planted in the ground. The Danwon stared blankly at Maxim, lost for words. Then, the member came to his senses and clung to Maxim.

“Can’t the… Vice-captain say something?”

Maxim frowned. Danwon really seemed like a person who had no self-respect or anything. Normally, Maxim was used to the behavior of the members and did not even get angry at most things, but the member’s remarks now succeeded in approaching Maxim’s ignition point.

“What are you talking about? Do you want me to take all of you?”

When Maxim said in a high-pitched voice, the member shrugged his shoulders and answered.

“You can’t be tyrannical like this. The knights who had been fine all of a sudden…”

Maxim just shrugged.

“It would be nice to be seen as a useful existence.”

The member mumbled his mouth and tried to protest, but gave up. Maxim wandered around again and looked at the back of the member as he walked away.

“Vice-captain!”

what else is this time Maxim saw the member running up and down. This guy is probably always on the angry side.

“Is it true that the Knights will be reorganized this time?”

“Yes, yes. It is true.”

The member asked me with hopeful eyes.

“then…”

“Wield your sword. Nothing has been decided.”

Maxim said that and sent the member back. You’ll know everything soon after the inauguration ceremony anyway, but what’s so urgent about it? Since it was related to the lives of their knights, I could understand their reactions, but rather than that, their cynical mind preceded them.

‘Am I the same anyway?’

Maxim helped himself. It was ridiculed to think that he was different from those members. Even if there were any circumstances, it was true that he was struggling in the same order as the Jackdaw Knights.

“Vice-captain, you are popular today.”

Well, you could say Christine is really different. Maxim glanced at Christine. Her dark blond hair was rustling in the wind.

“Its popularity is only until today.”

Huung.

The wooden sword Maxim was holding cut through the air. A very simple downstroke. Maxim narrowed his brows in dissatisfaction and visualized the trajectory of the wooden sword in his head. A lot of sharpness has died. Maxim thought so in his heart.

It’s funny to finally stand up to try to be a knight again. It seems that the embers in my heart were also flames. I thought I had half abandoned myself as a knight, but the human heart is a mass of contradictions.

Maxim pondered and suddenly asked Christine, who had been sitting there since the beginning of training and had been watching him.

“Christine,”

“Why, vice-captain?”

“Are you not training?”

Christine shook her head, avoiding Maxim’s eyes.

“Christine doesn’t know that.”

…Perhaps that guy might not be any different from the other members, so Maxim changed his evaluation of Christine in his heart.

—

The high sun was heating up the training ground. It was the weather that signaled the start of summer in earnest. Thirty members of the Knights of the Ravens gathered at the training ground wearing black uniforms, just like the name of the Knights. Of course, few people were dressed properly according to the regulations. Most of them stood crookedly with sullen expressions or could not hide their anxiety.

Maxim, who served as the commander of the troops, did not come out and point out the behavior. As the time for the inauguration drew near, the door to headquarters opened behind the training ground and Theodora walked out. intimidation. Maxim realized that Theodora was deliberately giving off some sort of intimidation. Thanks to this, the volume of the training ground, which had been noisy, slowly subsided.

As always, Theodora was adamant. Standing on the podium, she looked around at the 30 knights who filled the training ground. Maxim raised his voice and shouted.

“Chongwon, get ready!”

The members were sloppily dressed and posed. Theodora took a step back after saying, “Take a break from the troops.”

“Take a break!”

The members stood with their hands behind their backs, showing no unity. Theodora didn’t care. A voice amplified by magic resonated throughout the training ground.

“Nice to meet you. My name is Theodora Benning, who was appointed as the leader of the Jackdaw Knights.”

The members were strangely silent. The sense of intimidation that Theodora radiated could have silenced those idiots.

“The Raven Knights were once the sharpest swords of the Empire.”

During the Empire, when a word like a taboo word was mentioned, the members became agitated. Theodora radiated a stronger sense of intimidation. The members closed their mouths again.

“Now it’s gone downhill… but I don’t think there’s anyone here who doesn’t know the glory once enjoyed by the Knights of the Ravens.”

Theodora paused for a moment. It was her habit of warning before telling a serious story.

“The kingdom will change the Knights of the Ravens. To seize the glory of the time.”

Members who gave up being real knights and drank alcohol, satisfied only with their titles, members who had an accident without being able to control their arrogant nature, and members who had no skills, talent, or willpower fixed their eyes at once.

“The Knights headquarters will be moved to the forefront of the kingdom, and all personnel will be reassigned.”

As if they had waited, the idiots became noisy. Theodora did not silence them.

“but,”

Because I knew the fuss would subside at the next word.

“There are opportunities for existing members as well.”

At the word opportunity, the members lowered their voices. It seemed that some of them had already given up when they said they were moving to the front line.

“I will take a screening test for those who wish.”

It was a word that could be said to be cruel to the blunt knights. However, if they do not seize this opportunity, they will be expelled from the Knights, and the only option left will be to become adventurers.

“The test is due tomorrow. Tomorrow morning, those who do not show up at headquarters will be deemed to have given up on the exam.”

Theodora’s unwavering voice stuck like a nail in the ears of all the members. After taking one last look at the members, she concluded her inaugural address.

“Above, I wish all members good luck.”

“Call up!”

The knights hesitantly corrected their posture. The inauguration ceremony, rather than an inauguration ceremony, seemed more like a reading of a sentence about a ruling.

Theodora finished speaking and slowly came down from the stage. The boots tumbled and the heels rang. Maxim looked at Theodora as she came down from the stage, and her eyes met. What she was thinking right now, Maxim did not dare to guess.

Theodora opened the front door of the headquarters again and entered. When the front door closed with the sound of hinges creaking, in an instant, a commotion broke out among the members.

“No, sh*t, what are you talking about!”

“Move the Knights Headquarters to the front line?! Where are you going?”

“I hope it’s not a no-man’s land. Then I’d rather quit writing.”

Maxim immediately ordered the disbandment and return, and then fell behind the members who were in a heated competition. For the time being, the training ground will be the market for slaughtering. Even if he didn’t see it, it was obvious that he would bother asking all sorts of questions.

I wouldn’t have to face you now.

Maxim turned his steps toward the main building. Even though they were the current and vice-captains, they had an uncomfortable relationship. There was no need to deliberately confront him. Maxim ignored the awkwardness he felt inside and opened the door to the headquarters.

“Vice-captain.”

Maxim’s hand, which was heading for the door, stopped. Maxim turned his head in the direction of the voice calling him.

“Can I talk to you for a minute?”

Christine’s expression and voice were different from her usual bright appearance. Maxim pretended not to know her attitude and responded as usual.

“What else? If it’s pointless…”

“Vice-captain.”

But Maxim couldn’t keep the iron plate on his face when he faced Christine’s expression. Maxim let out a long sigh.

“Shall we move to a quieter place?”

Maxim and Christine moved to the backyard.

Christine, who had half dragged Maxim, stood still facing Maxim. Maxim asked Christine, who was looking at him with a hard expression. He was determined to keep pretending until the very end.

“what’s the matter?”

Christine shook her head at such Maxim and opened her mouth.

“I don’t know if you’ll listen to me just because I say it, but Vice-captain.”

After Christine said that, she took a deep breath. Just like a person before trying to say something embarrassing. Her eyes close for a moment and then open.

“Can we not take the screening test that the captain just talked about? no,”

Christine’s green eyes met Maxim’s golden ones.

“The screening test, just don’t take it.”