4. Registration (part 2)

"Oh, Sir Baltra and Sir Jacob! It's too early for dinner, wasn't it?" The chef cheerfully welcomed the two knights, and they took off their helmets before sitting down on the tall chairs next to mine.

"Well… Jacob here hasn't eaten since breakfast, so…" One of the knights said after sitting down, and the other knight named Jacob turned to him angrily.

"Hey, you also haven't eaten crap! We were so busy the entire day cause all the aristocrats from all over the land are coming here, and the mayor tripled the security since so many important people are coming over!" The knight called Jacob spilled the beans to the old chef, and the chef nodded in understanding.

"Hmm, that is true… I'm glad that the mayor is taking precautions like increasing the security. But, that would mean you boys will have to work extra harder, right?" The chef said with a grin, and the two knights laughed hearing it.

"You really knows best, Uncle Josh! So, the usual dish for me, please." The knight sitting next to me, Baltra, said to the chef. "What're you eating, Jacob?"

The knight named Jacob turned into thinking quite immediately, and he wondered what he wanted to eat. "I want to try out something heavy. Do you have lambs, uncle?" 

And so, the two knights ended up talking to the chef about the current processes within the knights regiment. I didn't really get any chance to speak out to the chef because these two seemed to know the chef quite closely. But, since I'm a visitor from the outer lands, I also find their topic to be quite interesting.

"Yeah, I heard that the second princess from the water empire is already here!" Jacob the knight spilled something so secretive, or so I assumed.

"I think everyone knows that! Then, have you heard about the son of the holy knight from the earth nation?" The other knight, Baltra, asked the chef about another visitor that will be joining the academy.

"Huh? Uh, I'm not quite bright about all the rumors about the visitors. But, wasn't the holy knight supposed to be from a religious place like the wind temple?" The chef asked out of confusion, and Baltra the knight shook his head.

"No, because the wind temple people are all monks. The earth nation was also quite religious to a different deity, and they have a unique military system that centered around a church. Their strongest is known as the 'Holy Knight', and that man's son was rumored to be entering the academy this year." Baltra explained long and wide about earth nation's military system after that, but I only take the most important parts about it.

"I also heard about a news from the fire kingdom. Wasn't it rumored that both the princes are attending the academy?" Jacob chimed in with a rumor he heard, and Baltra nodded in agreement.

There was a rumor like that, huh…? I wonder why.

"I heard that too. It seems like the two princes wants to join together."

The old chef then recalls all the rumored attendees of the academy, and he listed them together. "The two princes of the fire kingdom, a princess from the water empire, and the son of a holy knight from the earth nation. It sounds like this generation is about to be so interesting."

"Yeah! And who knows what other attendees are capable of! Maybe, there are other important nobles or even royalties hiding their identities as they applied for the academy!" Baltra the knight agrees, and Jacob turned quite confused by something.

"But, wasn't it rumored that the second prince is already here?" Sir Jacob suddenly asked, but the two individuals they were talking to did not know the answer to such a question.

"Not sure… why don't we ask the one from Fiordall himself?" The old chef then redirected the conversation to me, and I became quite surprised finding all the eyes suddenly turned to me.

Hah… I can't even enjoy this lovely soup the chef made for me…

"If you ask me… I know nothing of that." I said while shaking my head, which made the chef looking at me very confused.

"But, aren't you from Fiordall?"

"I am, but I'm not really well-versed in the recent news. Especially not about the rich people and royalties." I lied as I breathed, and the chef understands what I'm trying to say.

Next to me, the knights turned quite interested in me since I'm from Fiordall, especially Sir Baltra. "Then, have you ever… seen your princes before? If they really are entering the elemental academy, then we'd like to know a bit more about them."

The princes of the fire kingdom, huh…? I wonder just how much I can make up a story about it. But, as I thought, the best way to answer this is to just pretend I know nothing about them.

"I don't know that much about them. All I know was the first prince is seventeen years old, while the second prince is sixteen." I said to the two knights, and they turned quite disappointed by that answer.

"That's really sad… Wait, if you're from Fiordall, then must've come to Ellen to apply for the academy, right??" Sir Jacob suddenly said again, which made me amazed by how smart this guy's intuition is.

"That's right. I applied to the academy just today."

"Then, those two princes are going to be your schoolmates! And the other important children, too! Aren't you excited that you'll be in the same classroom as some of them?"

"Well…"

Truthfully, I am quite curious about the special kids from the other kingdoms. I heard the water empire was very strict on rules, so I'm half expecting their princess to be stern or whatever. As for the son of the holy knight, I guess I'm quite interested in how strong he can be in combat.

As for the two princes of the fire kingdom… well, I know them too well.

"I am more curious about the son of the holy knight, I suppose. If he is the son of such a powerful person, then wouldn't he be strong as well?" I said to the two knights, and it looks like they both agreed.

"I thought so too!" Sir Baltra seem to agree on this idea as well. "If you have heard about the holy knight's accomplishments, then naturally you'd be interested in what kind of a person his son would be."

"That's right! I mean, royalties are great, but… I think the potential of the son of the holy knight, as a person, is definitely more interesting!" Sir Jacob added, and I can't agree more.

"What's your name, young man?" Sir Baltra lifted his hand at me for a handshake, and I grabbed his hand firmly.

"Call me Nate. I'm just a visitor here in Ellen." I introduced myself and the two knights nodded at me.

"I'm Baltra. This guy is Jacob. We're both still new at the knight's regiment, but we'll rise through the ranks soon." Baltra said proudly, but Jacob seemed to be more interested in knowing more about me.

"That sword behind your back. Are you a swordsman?" Jacob pointed at the sword on my back, and everyone turned their eyes into it. "If you're good at using swords, why bother going to an elemental academy? Won't your talent be a waste there?"

"That's… because I have something I want to find in the academy." I said while taking the sword away from my back, and I placed it on top of the table. "I do want to learn elemental and origin stuff from the academy. On top of being good at swords, being good at using origin powers makes it even better, right?"

Hearing me talking about it made both knights turn confused. Something about their questioning stare must've come from something I said, and I don't really see what was wrong with what I said.

"But… A person who is good at swords and a person who is good at using their origin… is rare, right?" Jacob murmured while thinking, but Baltra disagrees.

"It's not that it's rare. It's quite common, actually. But the quality of their work will not be… the best. It's like splitting your focus into two, you know? It's great if you have the talent to be good at both, but if you force it, then you won't be as good as if you were only focusing on one." Sir Baltra explained what he thinks, and I can't help but agree.

"That's what I was wondering as well when I saw you having that sword, little man." The old chef even chimed in this time. "If you're good at swords, then wouldn't it be better to just focus on swords instead of splitting your time into studying origins?"

Their words aren't really wrong, but… they just don't know much about me. I'm good at both, but I don't really want to go around and tell people that.

"It's fine, because I have a big interest in learning origin powers. It's something I'd love to be good at, and I wouldn't go to the academy if I don't know I have the capabilities for it, right?" I gave them a reasonable answer that is good enough so they stop trying to change my mind. 

And looking at their expression, looks like it worked.

"If that's what you want, then…" Sir Baltra gave up talking to me, and he was about to switch topics. But before he could do that, a plate suddenly arrived in front of him.

"Now, now! Stop harassing the little man! Eat your fill, you hungry animals!" The old chef saved me by placing the knights' dinner on the table, and I can't help but notice the lamb meat are much larger than the one I ate.

"H-Hold on! Those meats look bigger than what I ate!?" I complained, and the old chef only folded his arms.

"Hah!? As if you can eat anything bigger than that. Looking at your frail and thin body, I'd be amazed if you eat three times a day!" The chef successfully made me annoyed, and I can't help but feel challenged.

"Then, give me something big! I'll eat it and show you what I can do."

"But you just ate like… an hour ago?"

"Who says I ate three times a day? I actually ate FIVE times a day! You will need to eat at least that much if you're training all day everyday!" I boasted massively, and I managed to amaze the two knights sitting next to me.

""Woah!!!"" The two knights said at the same time, and I just folded my arms while staring sternly at the chef. From the looks of it, he is really going to challenge me with something.

Twenty minutes later, he placed down a plate of lamb meat in front of me, almost the same size as the one the knights ate. I was a little bit regretting challenging him since I was still really full, but I ate the meat anyway.

Fast forward to about an hour later, I ended up puking at the inn I managed to book with a bloated stomach. I was terribly amazed by my ability to still being able to talk to people when I ate two plates of massive lamb meat with only an hour in between.

Regardless… the night ended up being quite festive. Talking to the two knights and the chef gave me more information than I needed about the city, and I even got myself an inn thanks to their suggestion.

I just hope I'll be able to walk the next morning. God, my stomach really hurts.