Interlude II

The bootheels clicked, and a crisp, loud voice filled the large

chamber.

"Elite Disciple Eugeo, I have a report to make! Today's cleaning

has been completed to satisfaction!"

The voice belonged to a red-haired girl dressed in the gray uniform of a primary trainee, her facial features still containing

traces of childhood.

Less than a month had passed since she had traveled through

the academy's gate and achieved the honor of being an elite disciple's page, and there was a painful, awkward stiffness to her actions and posture.

Eugeo tried to treat her as warmly and kindly as he could, but

he knew from his own experiences that it wasn't that easy to just

relax in her situation. To the new students, the twelve elite disciples were a more forbidding, frightening presence than even the

strictest teacher.

It took two months at a bare minimum for pages to be able to

interact comfortably, and Eugeo hadn't been an exception to the

rule. That honor went to his partner, who had never met a bit of

common sense he couldn't overturn.

Eugeo closed the textbook of sacred arts, stood up from the

high-backed chair, and replied, "Thank you, Tiese. You may now

return to the dorm. Oh, and…err…"

His eyes moved left from Tiese's red hair to another girl with

dark-brown hair, similarly stiff-backed.

"…I'm sorry about this, Ronie. I've told him over and over to

be back by the time the room is cleaned," Eugeo apologized,

speaking for the partner who had disappeared the moment his

drills were finished.

The trainee named Ronie shook her head, eyes wide. "N-not at

all! It is my duty to complete my report!"

"Well, I'm afraid you'll be waiting here a bit longer. I don't

know what to say…I'm so sorry that I share a room with him…"

The North Centoria Imperial Swordcraft Academy may have

been the most prestigious swordsmanship school in the empire,

attracting the children of noble families and wealthy merchants

from all over Norlangarth, but once on the school's soil, even an

imperial child started at the same entry level of a primary trainee.

The first year afforded nary a chance to touch a real sword. Instead, students practiced their forms with wooden swords and

spent all day learning battle theory and sacred arts. On top of

that, primary trainees had to undertake a number of school

chores as part of their education.

The type of job depended on the score the student earned in

the swordsmanship test just after school started. Ninety percent

of them were assigned to cleaning duties, maintaining school

supplies, tending to the holy flowers, and so on, but the top

twelve scorers were assigned as pages to the twelve disciples,

earning them the envy of their peers and two months of very awkward adjustment.

In fact, page duties weren't really that different from the other

students', except that instead of cleaning the classrooms or training hall, they cleaned the disciples' rooms. But if that disciple was

mean-spirited, or a total slob, or liked to vanish into thin air and

not return in a timely fashion, kids like Ronie wound up with a

major headache.

"Umm, if you want, Ronie, I can tell the teacher and have you

switched to shadow someone else instead…I think you're going to

have a very rough year working for him. In fact, I guarantee it."

"N-not at all, sir!" Ronie insisted with another vigorous shake

of the head. Just then, a familiar voice spoke up—not through the

door but from the open window.

"What are you telling her about me while I'm gone?"

Climbing through the third-story window was his second-year

partner, Kirito, dressed in the disciple's uniform. Their styles

were exactly the same, except that Eugeo's was a deep blue with a

touch of gray, while Kirito's fabric was straight black. One of the

many privileges of being an elite disciple was the right to choose

one's uniform color.

Ronie's face briefly softened into a relieved grin at the sight of

Kirito's return, complete with a delicious-smelling paper bag,

then tightened up again as she slammed her bootheel into the

floor.

"Elite Disciple Kirito, I have a report to make! Today's cleaning has been completed without incident!"

"Cool, thanks," he replied as he scratched his black hair, still

not comfortable with the presence of the trainee pages.

Eugeo snorted and pointed out, "Listen, Kirito, I'm not saying

you can't go outside, but they've got tons more work to do than

you do, so at least get back before they're done cleaning. And why

do you need to use the window in the first place?"

"Because this is the quickest route when coming back from

East Third Street. You should tuck that fact away, Ronie and

Tiese; it'll come in handy someday."

"Don't fill their heads with nonsense! Oh…if you went to East

Third Street, does that mean those are honey pies from the

Jumping Deer?"

The sweet smell wafting from Kirito's arms exerted almost violent force on Eugeo's pre-dinner stomach. "Listen, I know they're

great, but…you don't have to buy an entire pile of them."

"Hah! If you want some, just be honest and say so, Eugeo."

Kirito smirked. He pulled two of the golden, circular pies from

the bulging sack, tossing one to his partner and popping the other

in his mouth. He dropped the remainder of the sack into Ronie's

arms. "Share it with your entire room when you get back to the

dorm."

Tiese and Ronie exclaimed like the fifteen- and sixteen-yearold girls they were, then regained their proper posture.

"Th-thank you, Elite Disciple, sir!" Ronie said.

"We shall return to the dorm posthaste so as not to allow our

precious cargo's life to drop! Until tomorrow!" Tiese shouted.

With a very quick and abbreviated salute, the two girls

marched across the room, boots clicking, and exited into the hall.

They bowed again through the doorway, shut the door, and then

rushed away, their shrieks of excitement clearly audible.

"…"

Eugeo took a large bite of the fresh-baked pie and threw a

sidelong look at Kirito.

"…What?"

"I didn't say anything. I was only wondering to myself if the

great Elite Disciple Kirito has forgotten the exact reason we're actually here."

"Hmph! As if I'd forget," Kirito protested. He licked his

thumb, already finished with the pie, and turned his black eyes to

look out the window at a sight not visible from the primary

trainee dorm—the looming tower of the Axiom Church in the very

heart of Centoria.

"Three more to go…We've come this far already. First, we beat

the other ten disciples at the graduation test match and earn the

title of academy representatives. Next, we enter the Imperial Battle Tournament and defeat the old fogeys in the knighthood and

imperial guards. Lastly, we both win out at the Four-Empire Unification Tournament. Then you can be an Integrity Knight and

walk right through the gate of that tower."

"Yeah…one more year…One more year, and I'll finally…"

Be able to see her. The old friend who was taken away by an

Integrity Knight eight years ago.

Eugeo looked away from the Central Cathedral, back at the

two swords stored on the wall of the room, white and black.

As long as they had the swords of fate that had brought them

to this point, they would never falter.

Eugeo believed it without a shred of doubt.