Chapter 18 - 2-8
The King's School was a system that gathered the children of nobles from across the country in one place to cultivate brave warriors who would swear loyalty to the King; it had apparently existed for about three hundred years. It was said to have been established originally for the second and third sons of regional lords who flocked to the capital in search of government posts. These outcasts of regional administrations, if handled incorrectly, would form gangs and resort to violence, disturbing the public peace. The bait to keep them docile—bait seasoned with words of hope—was the "King's School." If one trained at the King's School, they could be appointed to the royal palace—the children of nobles who could inherit nothing improved their conduct and welcomed this system.
Yugis Necrat was precisely the son of such a fallen regional lord.
When he thought that such a splendid system had been created for people like him, he trembled with emotion. At first, he was more enthusiastic than necessary.
Noble children were to report for duty by six in the morning. The castle gates opened at five. On his first day of duty, Yugis stood before the gates at four, staring down the sentries.
After three days, he began leaving his boarding house with the aim of arriving just in time for the gates to open, and by the time a week had passed, his spirit had slackened to the point where he would rush into the castle just before being late, like everyone else.
He would return to his boarding house while the sun was still high, shortly after one in the afternoon.
"Young master, what did you do today?"
Dash asked him that every day.
"The same as yesterday."
"The same? Then, did you wash the horses again?"
Since that was the truth, he had no choice but to nod. It wasn't that he enjoyed washing them. On the first day he entered the castle, an old man who seemed to be a castle servant had instructed him to start by washing the horses. Since then, he had been washing them while thinking it was strange.
Looking around, he saw other noble children similar to himself washing horses, occasionally tilting their heads in confusion.
"How long are we going to keep doing this?"
Yugis asked whoever was nearby every day.
Not a single person ever gave him a proper answer.
It wasn't just washing horses. They also cleaned the stables.
Around the time that was finished, boys not much different in age from Yugis and the others would arrive. Without a word of thanks, they would mount the horses Yugis and the others had polished and begin their riding practice.
They were said to be noble children with connections to the Thora family.
This frustration was one of the things that made Yugis melancholy. But there was a deeper disappointment. The school life in the royal palace that Yugis had dreamed of was more glittering. More elegant. Moreover, just the other day, Yugis had held in his arms a being who was like the crystallization of the royal palace's grace. Now that he knew of that existence, the reality of a horse's backside before his eyes was difficult to accept.
He was in the same castle as that supreme being. Despite that, he felt as though he would never meet her again. His attendant, Dash, would have no way of knowing, but Yugis often sighed when he was alone.
After a week had passed, Yugis became acquainted with a dark-skinned little man with a face like a mouse.
"I'm Cloden Danforth of Dint. Are you the lecherous bastard from Carossa?"
"I have no idea who you're talking about, but Carossa is indeed my hometown. What does the mouse of Dint want?"
"I hear the mountain apes of Carossa bark loud. You hugged the princess?"
Yugis's hand, which had been stroking the horse, stopped.
"That's a poor way to put it. I didn't exactly..."
"Cut it out. It doesn't matter. You're a rumor now."
"A rumor? What kind?"
It was a rumor that some country bumpkin had committed an impudent act toward Princess Lucy, the treasure of the kingdom.
"It's about you, right?"
"It seems so."
"Be careful. There are some guys fuming, saying they'll hunt down the insolent culprit and deliver divine punishment."
"Who?"
"Those guys."
Cloden moved his chin. Looking over, a group of boys wearing colorful cloaks were emerging from the service entrance of the royal army barracks.
One of them approached. He placed his foot in the stirrup of the horse Yugis had been washing and mounted the saddle. During this, Yugis held the reins, but the blond boy, who looked every bit the son of a high noble, gave no greeting whatsoever. He simply rode off toward the training grounds.
"They're students of the King's School too, right?" Yugis muttered, watching the group of riders depart. "It seems we're treated differently."
"They're from the clan of the currently popular Sedias-Thora-dono," Cloden answered, flashing his front teeth like a mouse. "Those guys will become knights in this castle in the future. No matter how we struggle, we'll end up as mere squires. More importantly, about what I said before."
"Yeah."
"Do you know? Princess Lucy's fiancé is Laicanel Thora," Cloden grinned. "In other words, Sedias-Thora-dono's brat."
"That brat is going to deliver divine punishment to me?"
"Or the brat's comrades will."
He thought it was ridiculous. He had done nothing to be ashamed of.
His blood surged rapidly, staining his face red, as if it wanted to escape as sweat. A fiancé? Did that buck-toothed bastard from Dint just say that? Princess Lucy, a woman that beautiful, is engaged to someone other than me? Is such a thing allowed to happen?
Cloden Danforth looked at Yugis with interest.
"Your face is bright red."
"I'm angry."
"You've got a crazy look on your face. Are you that smitten?"
"Yeah, I am. Enough to kill someone."
When Yugis glared at him, Danforth frowned.
This mouse bastard was a man of leisure. He hadn't come to inform him out of kindness anyway. He was likely just so bored that he wanted to watch if someone got punched.
Nonetheless, from the next day onward, Yugis chatted with this man every day. In truth, Yugis was also bored, and if someone was coming to punch him, that was better than taking care of horses. If this so-called fiancé were to come, he felt his arms were itching for the fight.
"About that talk from before,"
Cloden said.
Cloden was said to be the seventh child of the Lord of Dint.
It was a terrible story. When a noble's child is the seventh, their education is insufficient. They use crude language.
"Laicanel Thora?"
"Not that. About the difference between the knight candidates and us who stop at squire. Yesterday, my big brother came to my boarding house, and I heard a bit about it."
He apparently spoke about how the King's School had become corrupt.
The King's School had initially begun for the relief of poor nobles with no means of eating. But as times changed, the nature of the system changed. The powerful of each era set their sights on this system. To ensure that what they had built was passed on to their successors, the King's School was convenient. That is to say, they would enroll the children of their own clan, arrange for them to certainly become knights, and have the King recognize their fiefs.
This usage had a certain effectiveness for the stability of the administration and continues to this day; for the last fifty years, the Thora family has utilized the King's School to their heart's content. They treat it almost as their own private property.
For that reason, in the city of Malfa, the clan of the royal army's commander-in-chief, Sedias-Thora-dono, is called the "Third Army" and treated with courtesy. Conversely, noble children of unknown origin are called attendants and looked down upon. For attendants, there isn't even a clue for advancement. An attendant's duty is chores. They cannot touch anything beyond that. No matter how much skill they have.
"I don't really get it."
"What don't you?"
"Why I'm here, I mean. I've stopped understanding it."
As the days passed, the disillusionment etched in Yugis's heart became clear disappointment upon hearing Cloden's story.
It seemed he could not become a knight. It meant there was no future. He could find no meaning in being here.
That said, he had nowhere else to go.
—And.
And, to be honest, he felt as though such things didn't even matter.
Whether she was engaged or not, the princess was right nearby.
When he thought about it, Yugis might not have a feeling strong enough to definitively call love. It might just be curiosity. Rather than romance, it might be an admiration, a desire to see that beautiful face once more.
Still, for Yugis, this was love. She was a beautiful woman. That was enough. When he thought of a beautiful woman, he felt a surge. He felt a bounce. In both body and soul. Princess Lucy had the scent of adventure. Rather than her leading to adventure, she herself was it.
Yugis looked toward the detached palace where the royal family resided. A tall man was standing in his field of vision.
He was a boy with a long neck like a swan, hair of loosely waving gold, and eyes of lake-like blue.
Yugis tossed aside the pig-bristle brush and stood before the boy with a smile.
"It's been a while."
"You remembered me?"
They put their arms around each other's shoulders.
The boy was Haider Skyner, the third son of Count Belgau; his maternal grandfather was the same as Yugis's, meaning they were cousins.