Chapter 1 part 1

1st of June, 0721 AED, Military Training School, Royal Capital Zarens

Perhaps if I’d have just run away immediately, I would’ve never have had to be here. But— ‘I will make sure to send word of your participation to the instructors’ was the threat that hindered me. What would have happened if I’d have not came here as instructed? I shall continue to shudder in my thoughts.

However, the situation’s not that hopeless—we are made to train here, yeah? There’s no use crying over spilt milk. IF I was soooo bad at it, they’d have no other choice but drop me out, right?

As I racked my mind to make sure this plan works, in the surface, I had lined for mana testing alongside fellow potential trainees—elder and youth alike.

I had hoped to lie about magical aptitude but it can no longer be overturned. Magic aptitude testing is done during confirmation. I say that but in actuality, commoners do it during their baptism—which is when they also reach seven. Nobles have it different though, baptism is during infancy and there is something called confirmation instead, at age 7. Although it is rare as blue moon for a noble to have no magic, it is not rare for them to have no godparent. So confirmation allows us to confirm whether the magic aptitude is there and have a second chance on getting one or more godparent. Nonetheless, I had my baptism and confirmation just like a real noble child.

So, the only thing I can do here during mana testing is to limit that which could be detected—in other words, I’m hiding my real mana range. I feel anxious though, since I’ve never really tested if it could work.

“The kingdom is desperate,” the common whispers of the people around me. We have gathered here—all who’ve had different expressions and views regarding this compulsory enlistment. Most have been sighing on the kingdom’s situation and their own inability to migrate to a neutral kingdom.

The Kingdom of Iremia’s state is only natural as it is against the huge powerhouse that was Phaedros Empire. You could say that the kingdom is that small of a speck, it might as well be not on the Empire’s radar. ‘We should’ve stayed neutral’—it was everyone’s thought but our geographical placement and duty in alliances will not allow that—at least, not forever.

Seven years since the start of war between Phaidros Empire and Thuella Empire, a year since Iremia Kingdom joined and we have devastatingly lost so much. Who would’ve thought we have lagged that much in terms of magitech and magicology? At that time, the brass didn’t think it would be that one-sided as we had similar tech and magicology to the empire pre-war—but it awfully was that one-sided.

Truly, war had a way of boosting development.

To add in our pile of ever-increasing problems, our other neighboring kingdom had been suspected to have started making unofficial agreements with Phaidros, pushing our timely defeat into certainty.

Due to this, most archnobles and some mednobles had already fled the kingdom—most of them, I heard, were to Stelle Kingdom. Even the King had already openly entrusted our continued resistance to those nobles leaving the kingdom led by his brother, duke and next-in-line to the throne.

—So why are we still struggling, you ask?

The answer is painfully mortifying. As I had heard, the King and the top brass of military would like to go down with a bang.

If you want to, then don’t go bringing others with you! At least don’t bring ME along!

“What’s with that look? Are you not happy we get to be heroes?”

—And why did my wing mate have to be this guy?

 A hero-wannabe with flowers all over his head who thinks war is just for medals. One look at him, and I saw right through that enthusiastic eyes…just my luck, DAMN.

“I’m a kid. Of course, I don’t want to be sent to war,” I reasoned, trying to cut this conversation short immediately. I know full well that I’d be spending some time—before they drop me out—flying with this guy, but we can do it without unnecessary conversations, yeah?

The silver lining of this is that hiding the real capacity of my mana pool worked, they identified the mana pool that I showed them as similar to that of a lower ranked laynoble—a normal range to that of a commoner magician. And so, they had decided to train me as a scout mage. Hooray to no combat mages!

The annoying thing is…

“Come to think of it, have you really passed the threshold of ten years old?” the annoying boy circles around me, eyeing me as he holds his chin. I steadily breathed in and out. Yes, this is self-control. I may have a little height complex and he, like, mentioned that part of me, but I will NEVER resort to GREAT violence. I am a PACIFIST, after all. This will just make me wallow in depression, haha, that’s all.

He grinned, “I’m Hector”

Uhmm… and I didn’t ask for your name?

“I’m Arietta.”

“You truly are a noble! Nobles like beautifuuul names!”

“Say what you assume, but my House was demoted two generations ago.” My somehow-noble origins should’ve been obvious by the way I clothe, anyway.

“—Oh, I apologize,” Hector bowed his head a little.

Still, why would you apologize? I’m happy about it, you know. I get to live like a commoner somehow.

to be continued...