‘Anyway, I didn’t know that Caldeiras wouldn’t notice the twin swords,’ Davey thought, but he didn’t show it on his face.

“It looks like a pretty old design; is it being maintained by magic?”

Illyna smiled bitterly when Davey asked her while looking around with light footsteps. She called out, “Davey…”

“It’s managed quite well.”

Unlike Davey, who had already shaken it off, Illyna was feeling both shocked and sorry. She mumbled, “I’m sorry… I didn’t expect such an extreme response…”

Creakk!!! The thick door made of black wood slowly opened as Sio Howl, who was leading Davey and Illyna, pushed it. Soon, they could see the large hall of the faintly shining palace.

“I’m going to take Davey with me to the dorm. I’ll report it myself,” Illyna said.

“No, you follow me. And Treve.” Sio, walking in front of Davey, looked at him with cold eyes. “Lead the civilian to the outside lodging. An order was given to not let him out until a verdict is reached about this situation.”

“Okay.” Treve silently looked up at Davey like he wasn’t going to compromise one bit. Unlike Sio, who was similar in height to Davey, the boy named Treve was on the shorter side. He then warned, “I really don’t want to use force.”

“You don’t want to use force?”

“I can kill someone with a word. But don’t worry; I don’t often use it on humans.”

“Well, I’m looking forward to it.”

Treve looked a little confused as Davey’s smile widened.

* * *

[The Special Ones? They are like people with superpowers from what you know from your past life. To be honest, it’s difficult to see them as human… if you analyze them. They are not born from humans.]

[How do you fight against one if you meet them as an opponent? Well, a manifestation-type Special One wouldn’t matter.]

[A mental-type? Do you think you have something like that, you lunatic? Have you seen that crazy God of Mages come under a mental magic spell?]

“Here.” Treve led Davey to a small room along the High Palace’s perimeters, then lightly knocked on the door with his staff. The door opened smoothly like a ripple of water.

“Illusionists are hard to come by.”

“…”

“Can I ask where you are from?”

Treve’s expression slightly stiffened when he heard Davey’s question. However, he left the room immediately as if he had shaken it off.

‘The opportunity to solve the mystery of the century has disappeared!’ Davey didn’t know who brought it here or when, but he could see a tray with delicious-smelling bread and milk. Although the boys were both very cold, if the boy named Sio Howl was hostile to everyone and everything, this boy named Treve seemed like he didn’t care about anything that was going on around him.

Davey wolfed down a piece of bread and laid down on his bed while closing his eyes. He automatically smiled as he felt the soft and cozy feeling of the bed. ‘Hm. Ergonomics.’

It seemed like Davey had fallen asleep as drowsiness took over him, relaxing on the bed with his eyes closed. He could see two boys silently staring at him when he opened his eyes after feeling a faint presence. He asked, “Is it time?”

“…Follow me. The teachers are calling.” As Sio spoke, Illusionist Treve’s hand blinked in the air. With a weak power, a sturdy rope appeared from thin air and tied Davey up. It was clearly different from magic.

“That rope is an illusion, but it will feel real to you. Don’t try to get out of it too hard since you might get hurt.”

Davey looked at his arms in intrigue when Treve explained emotionlessly. He began wondering if the power of an illusionist, which affected one’s senses by showing them an illusion with a unique power, would work on a nonliving golem. Unlike talismans, the power of illusionists was completely unknown. And even Davey couldn’t judge whether it would work on a golem that had no will.

* * *

Davey arrived at a room on the palace’s top floors that seemed like a reception room as he followed Sio and Treve. However, the inside looked more like a hearing hall than a reception room or office.

“I have brought him here,” Sio reported while bowing his head as the large doors opened.

Davey could see a lot of eyes as he looked around. There were various looks, such as curiosity, intrigue, wariness, and surprise, but he didn’t really care about them.

There were three people sitting at the large table in front of him: a woman in a robe, a large man, and a regular-sized man with two swords on his back. And there was Illyna, who was standing alone in the middle as if being interrogated, and a few who were watching.

“I will check once again, Trainee Illyna de Pallan.”

“Yes.”

The large man opened his mouth to speak after Illyna answered calmly. “You violated your oath and brought an outsider to the base of Alpha Reinforcements. Do you agree?”

“That’s because!”

“Only answer the question.”

Illyna clicked her tongue at the stern voice. “Yes.”

The boys and girls who were watching Illyna looked surprised. Then, the woman beside the large man spoke up. “No matter the rank a member of the knight order holds in the continent, we cannot allow the violation of the oath. Do you agree?”

“…Yes.”

“There’s nothing more to see. Punishment for Trainee Illyna, and we will erase the memory of that boy at a certain time. We will consider execution for the maintenance of confidentiality if he fights back,” the regular-sized man spoke up after the woman to try to wrap up the situation.

“Before that, I will say something.” Illyna still looked confident as she continued, “The rules clearly stated that outsiders couldn’t be brought in.”

Everyone went silent, listening to Illyna speak. Davey sat back and watched the situation as it was quite amusing. Whether he liked it or not, Illyna was now his friend. It would actually be wise for him to step up when she was really in a predicament. Then, at least, she wouldn’t needlessly be put on the spot.

“That’s right.”

“What if they aren’t an outsider?”

“What?”

“I’m saying that I am going to use my right.”

The three people in front of Illyna buzzed as she spoke boldly.

“What you are saying is that you will bring in a student, a right that is only given to you once in your lifetime?”

“Yes, that is the reason why I brought Davey here. Teachers, you tried to take away my right to take the test, but I am determined to take it.”

“The whereabouts of your partner, Sharan Selim, are still being investigated. It is reckless…”

“I have given it a lot of thought. And about the incident with Sharan Selim.”

Someone frowned at Illyna’s cold words.

“But you are still a trainee. Who are you going to teach? How could you do something this reckless? And you can only bring in a student once. Can you really trust him? And are you confident that you can teach him?” The woman asked. Unlike how cold she was before, her tone now seemed to be more worried.

Staring directly at the woman, Illyna answered firmly. The assumed premise that Illyna was going to be the teacher was already wrong.

“That is not important, Teacher Sylia. The important thing is that I used my right, and Davey fits the criteria. Although, I don’t know why you are being overly wary about him.” Illyna slurred the end of her words. “The policy of Alpha Reinforcements is to protect mankind. This isn’t right.”

“Illyna! Watch your words! Are you saying we have to accept that unknown person with your sophistry!!” That was when Sio Howl, the blue-haired boy who was standing, shouted toward Illyna with great anger.

“That’s not for you to decide. Don’t overstep, Sio Howl.”

“Honorable Teacher! This is nonsense. Her logic seems to be right, but it contains two pieces of error!”

“I never allowed you to speak, Sio Howl.”

The large man spoke sternly, but Sio still shouted without thinking to stop. “We do not even know if he has a sense of mission! Furthermore, we do not know if he has talent or some worthwhile thing to see!”

“Sio Howl!”

Sio ignored Illyna’s shouting. He went on, “Mana can’t even be felt from him. According to the rules of Alpha Reinforcements, only those who can prove their talent in front of more than two teachers can enter as a trainee! However, he is nothing but an ordinary being.”

“…”

“It wouldn’t be strange to think this was her plan to leak information from Alpha Reinf…”

Clang!! Illyna came down from the podium and put her sword to Sio’s neck.

“Not everything can be done with words, Sio Howl. Shut your mouth because I don’t want to see you, a fellow trainee, die no matter how nasty your personality is.”

“You think someone like you can slash me?”

“Don’t be arrogant. You think you’re all that because you received the blessing of mana? And your premise is wrong since I never said I would slash you.”

“Ha! Then, are you saying that person, who I can’t even feel an ounce of mana from, is going to run wild?!”

Davey thought he was watching a soap opera, observing Illyna and Sio’s fight.

-The blessing of mana… It must be a huge honor for a mage.

As Davey turned his glance over from the two, he saw the three people staring at him from the table. Those who were called Teachers were all extraordinary people. It seemed like extremely skilled people were selected as they had to teach others.

‘One elementalist and two swordsmen.’

-They are all above Master in terms of their skills. I guess I understand since it is a secret knight order, but…

Not everyone could be a Master. These people who were called Teachers were probably outstanding knights among the members as well.

“Order!! This is a trial! Trainee Illyna! Trainee Sio! I will order you to leave if you disturb this court one more time!”

Illyna clicked her tongue after the woman shouted at her. Then, Sio glanced at Davey with a cold expression and walked away with a look of despise.

-You are quite good at holding yourself back.

‘It can be solved when the opportunity presents itself.’

“However, it seems like Sio is right.” Then, the normal-sized man spoke quietly. “It is unknown where that boy is from, but his mana is quite ordinary.”

It seemed like even they could only feel an extremely small part of Davey’s mana; although, it was better than those who couldn’t feel it at all.

“Illyna de Pallan. Do you have anything to say about this?”

“I can vouch for his power…!” Illyna shouted.

“Isn’t that to your standards?”

“Teacher!”

“Like Sio said, we cannot feel any sense of a gift from that person. And it doesn’t seem like he has a sense of mission either. As such, your request is denied.”