Chapter 419: An Oddball

There was a hierarchy among the recruits, and it was either related to your origins or personal strength. Their official t.i.tle was Junior Knights instead of being a full-fledged one, but it seems their arrogance rivaled that of t.i.tled Knights.

"You might not know this," the black-haired knights, which Arthur gave the nickname of Arrogant Mole, glanced at him and started. "We are receiving a Lord today, and he is looking for personal knights. Make sure to return to the room once that happens, understood?"

"Yessir~," Arthur said absent-mindedly, but he could feel the blonde knight, who earned the nickname Red Nose, glance at them with worry.

"Erase that tone before I erase your existence," Arrogant Mole barked harshly, but Arthur was busy looking around the academy.

Most of the knights had lackeys or followers, but there was also a fair number of loners. He wouldn"t judge any of the two for their social behaviors, as Arthur had followers of his own as well.

They reached the cafeteria where the knights had breakfast, a short respite before their training started. As the four walked into the dining hall, the sudden noise reminded him of his past.

"Bring me my meal," Arrogant Mole flicked his badge toward Arthur, which he caught with his right arm with confusion. Then, Red Nose did the same and gave his badge to the oddball.

Strangely, the oddball didn"t say anything and simply went toward the food stalls. Arthur wasn"t too interested in the two, so he decided to follow along.

After all, he didn"t want to beat a pre-neo knight up and end up killing him in one slap. But, he also knew that people showed their worst to those who they thought as weaker.

"His hair is quite messy," Arthur noted as he walked behind the knight. "And he reeks of a bad stench like that of sewages."

Knight was always disciplined and cared for their hygiene, so this oddball looked like he didn"t belong here. But, if Arthur had to name the aura surrounding him, it was of untamed monsters.

"That young master likes chicken soup in the morning," the oddball suddenly turned to Arthur with bloodshed eyes and advised. "I think he"s trying to humiliate you when you bring him the wrong order, so it"s best if you bring him a garlic chicken soup with lentil."

"Thank you," Arthur smiled and nodded. "And what about Red Nose?"

"Red Nose?" the oddball was confused before realizing who Arthur was talking about, and he scowled. "Don"t give him weird nicknames!"

"Oh?" Arthur was surprised as he felt the sudden killing intent and witnessed how defensive the oddball became. Then, finally, the oddball restrained his intent and calmed down.

"Kaza is unlike the rest of these n.o.bles," the oddball turned back to order the meal. "The reason he treats us that way is because if you are no one"s lackey, then you get pushed around more."

"And do you think that"s the best solution?"

"The alternatives aren"t a lot better," the guy took the meal and turned to meet Arthur"s eyes. "It"s better than killing a n.o.ble," he said with a smirk before walking back toward the two n.o.ble knights.

Arthur could tell he didn"t say that as a joke and would live up to his words if anyone harmed Red Nose, which has been promoted to Kaza after Arthur knew he wasn"t a total idiot.

It made sense now that Kaza felt nervous around Arrogant Mole, as he was trying to fool the n.o.ble into thinking that the oddball was his lackey. However, all of this felt childish to Arthur, and he had no intention of picking anyone immature.

"I wonder where they are?" Arthur took the lentil chicken soup back to Arrogant Mole, who seemed unhappy that Arthur brought his favorite.

"You are getting arrogant, shoemaker," Arrogant Mole glared at the oddball knight, knowing fully well that he helped Arthur. "I guess you forgot your place?"

"Don"t bully my servant, Jeffery," Kaza frowned as he placed down his fork. "What would others think if they see you do that on my behalf?"

"Are you going to do it, then?" Arrogant Mole, named Jeffery, asked with a smile.

"Don"t command me," Kaza refused to back down. "I"ll punish him when I see fit," he said with a frown that made Jeffery raise his hands in surrender.

"Whatever suits your possessive nature," Jeffery turned to Arthur. "As for you, I"m glad that you are an obedient dog."

As he thought that this guy was getting ahead of himself, some noise came from the Junior Knights around them. Arthur turned to see a female knight walking into the dining hall, and he could almost see her resemblance to Courage.

"The Mad Prince is here," Jeffery placed down his soup as if he lost appet.i.te. "It seems she was training before breakfast too? What a freak!"

"Overtraining is never the answer," Kaza shook his head with a sigh.

"Why is she called the Mad Prince?" Arthur asked with interest, and it seemed Arrogant Mole loved nothing more than gossiping. He leaned in to whisper with a smile as the person in question walked through the hall.

"She does nothing but train, and look at that flat body! She looks more of a man than most knights here, I tell you," Jeffery seemed to have loads to talk about her. "I heard she was the daughter of a tailor. She should have stuck to what life gave her!"

"Man, does this guy have no redeeming qualities whatsoever?" Arthur inwardly sighed as he looked at the knight drying herself before ordering a meal.

None of the knights dared to mock her in her face, and Arthur could tell that she earned this through her strength. But then, a few other knights appeared, and Jeffery didn"t hold back criticizing every one of them. As long as he criticized them, Arthur would know that this person was promising.

A bell rang in the hall, and the students stood up at the same time. Then, as the devil possessed the knights, they left their unfinished meals and hurried out of the dining room.

Arthur could tell that the training was starting, but he had no idea what to do. That"s why he followed after the oddball toward the field where they stood in line. A senior knight strolled toward them with approving gazes.

"No one is late," the middle-aged man nodded. "I believe that you are aware of who"s coming to visit us in a few days. The Seika of Living Beings and the Lord of Hidden City is recruiting knights for his lordship."

The Senior Knight scanned the knights and gave an approving smile when none of them got out of line, even at the mention of the Seika.

"We are followers of his Majesty, and King Solomon himself approved of the Seika. However, I believe that you realize what his t.i.tle means," the Knight grinned. "Although it is not confirmed, many believe that the Seika has methods to awaken hidden potential."

As the words fell on the ears of the young knights, Arthur could feel their blood boiling. They stood in line, but their auras shifted in unison into an overflowing thirst for power.

"Each of them has goals of his own," Arthur glanced around. "And they believe that I can give them the strength they need to achieve those goals."

They weren"t wrong, and nor was the Senior Knight. The tales of how he awakened the duke"s daughter made him coveted by man, even by the king himself.

"Therefore, we"ll be having a h.e.l.lish Training Day!" the senior knight announced, and the knights shouted and saluted. Their zeal shook the field, and Arthur realized this was his chance to find potential candidates. "First of all, twenty-five laps in thirty minutes!"

"Did I mishear that?"

Arthur looked around the field and could tell that its circ.u.mference was about one kilometer. For twenty-five laps, that would be twenty-five kilometers in thirty minutes.

While 50km/h wasn"t that abnormal for properly trained neo-rankers, maintaining such a velocity was different. However, the Senior Knight made it seem as if this was their warm-up.

Arthur started running along with the knights, and there were about a hundred of them per batch. But, as he expected, some knights began to fall behind, and the first one to do so was the oddball that caught Arthur"s interest.

"Are you okay?" Arthur acted as if he wasn"t breezing through this training as he asked the young knight. However, the knight was barely catching his breath, so he was in no state to talk.

Sweat poured out of his body unceasingly, and it made Arthur tempted to help him a bit. However, he knew better than interfering with such things, as this was also proof of the man"s ability.

What confused Arthur was the fact that this man felt dangerous yet seemed to be so weak. As he started to think that he overestimated the man, the person in question shocked him again.