Julian's POV


I took a deep breath of the pleasant morning air as I began my warm-up exercises.

Even though summer is just around the corner, it still feels cold in the morning. Maybe it's because I was born in the South and my body is accustomed to warmer climates.

"Good morning, Julian. You're early again today."

"Good morning, Captain Nils."

When my name was called, I immediately straightened my posture and saluted.

The captain waved his hand and gave me a wry smile, indicating that I should ease up. With that, I decided to start my warm-up exercises.

"Then I'm going to run first."

"Okay, do your best."

With the captain's encouragement, I started running through the training grounds.

Compared to the other knights, I'm lacking in muscle strength. The only way for me to overcome this disadvantage is to run and build my stamina.

Once I became part of the cavalry, I didn't need to worry about the difference in muscle strength. At that time, the one who will survive will be the one who has great stamina.

Believing that, I have been running earnestly every day and night.

I need to hurry up and become a full-fledged knight as soon as possible.

As soon as I become a full-fledged knight, I will be able to help my brother.

That's my current goal right now.

By the time I had completed running three laps in the large training area, the other members of the Third Knight Order had begun to show up one by one.

Due to the nature of their missions, the Third Knight Order often goes into actual combat, and because of this, their strength is increasing with every mission that they undertake. Another special characteristic of the Third Knight Order is that there's no member from a high-class family; most of the members of the knight order are those people who can't inherit their house.

"Are you giving your best again today, Julian?"

"What a serious person."

As I pass by every one, they are patting either my shoulder or my head while saying different kinds of things to encourage me.

"I can't lose forever to Senpais; that's why I'll do my best to catch up with you."

While saying that, I stuck out my fist in front of them. They wryly smiled back at me, and they started running with me.

"For Julian-chan to say that, you're really serious now, huh?"

"What are you guys saying? Since the very beginning, I've been very serious about this."

Ughhhh.... When I remember the days when I was starting out as a beginner in the knight order, just thinking about it makes my face turn red with embarrassment.

Before I joined the Order of the Knights, I had the illusion that knights acted like gentlemen, but reality isn't like that, as a lot of knights are rude and loud. Though, if you think about it for a moment, there's no way that most knights will behave like gentlemen because most of them put their lives on the line.

Right now, it's been almost a year since I joined this knightly order.

Now during training, I'm close enough to my senpai on the order to the point where I can say, "Die! You bastard!.".

Hmmmm? Now that I think about it, is this also part of my growth as a knight?

"Come to think of it, Julian-chan, it's almost time for the cavalry exam, right? Do you think you can make it?"

"Oh! That's right! Now that I think about it, didn't you join the knight order because you wanted to be part of the cavalry unit"?"

"Yeah, I'll do my best; after all, I'm finally qualified to take the exam!"

"You're joining the cavalry unit because you want to help your brother, right?"

"That's right; if I joined the cavalry, the situation in our household should become a little more comfortable."

I clenched my fist as I nodded back to my senpai.

"Hmmmmm. That's really an admirable goal. Where's your house located?"

"Ah? Don't you know... You... Your Highness?!"

At the sound of my senpai's voice, everyone stopped in surprise and turned around to see where the voice was coming from.

In this country, only the royal family has black hair, and eyes that tend to be slightly slanted.

Olea Kai Hortessa

His Highness is the Crown Prince of this country.

He used to be a person who always had a gentle smile on his face, but recently, after his engagement was broken off, it's rumored that he's revealed his terrifying nature.

"You are here very early again today, aren't you?"

One of my senpais asked.

His Highness sometimes shows up for training in his spare time from government affairs.

Since he is a member of the royal family, it would be better to have the Royal Guards train him, but even before his personality changed, for some reason His Highness showed up to train in our unit belonging to the Third Knight Order.

When I asked him about it before, he told me with a refreshing smile, "I could train here until my heart's content without worrying about my surroundings."

At my senpai's question, His Royal Highness scratched his head while smiling wryly.

"Actually, the other day I tried to put the "King's Knight" into full power, but..."

Ah, it seems His Royal Highness is talking about that incident.

It was even reported in the headlines in a lot of newspapers saying: "The Crown Prince, Roar of Anger".

I could clearly remember the dragon's roar from the academy's courtyard dyeing the night sky of the royal capital.

"Because of that, I was bedridden with muscle pain for a few days. That's why I'm going to leave the political affairs to Sophia for a few days so I can train here. I'll be in your care for a few days, but don't worry, I won't bother anyone during that time."

His Highness said so in a friendly manner and started running again as if to lead everyone.

Formerly His Highness, with a refreshing atmosphere, was cool, but I think that currently His Highness is easier to talk to. But for some reason, the nobles seem to be afraid of him.

"So again?  "Where's Julian's family home?"

His Highness asks while running next to me.

"The Slough family. The... frontier margrave's family."

Even though I wasn't the one who would inherit the territory, I was embarrassed to give the name of our territory, so I answered with a slight chuckle.

"Ah, so you belong to the Slough family, the Guardians of the Black Forest! Then, if you become a cavalry knight, you can certainly bring back a "Cavalry" with you."

His Highness nodded in agreement and smiled.

"What do you mean by that?"

One of my senpai, while confused, asked that question.

"You should also train your mind while training your body. Listen carefully, okay? In our country, nobles are prohibited from possessing military power, right?"

This is because the civil war that caused the fall of the Lucius Empire, the predecessor of the Hortessa Kingdom, happened because the nobles possessed too much military power.

In order for the same thing not to happen again, the kingdom forbids nobles from possessing military power such as a private army.

Of course, people who guard the city are an exception to this.

"And for that reason, squads of the Second Knight Order were dispatched to different territories around the kingdom to supervise the guards in case they plotted something. And to support them as a quick response team, the Third Knight Order is on standby in the royal capital."

By the way, the role of the First Knight Order was to protect the royal capital.

We, in the Third Knight Order, are only dispatched at the request of a lord when a situation arises that can't be handled alone by the Second Knight Order, like subjugating monsters.

"But a margrave's territory is an exception to that law." 

Most of a margrave's territory is on the frontier, with a lot of borders with the nearby kingdoms. That's why it's more efficient to have a margrave train and manage the soldiers directly rather than having the knights from the royal capital stationed there at all times.

"How does that have anything to do with Julian?"

"A margrave's army is also normally treated as a knight order, it's a frontier knight order, so to speak. If Julian becomes a cavalry knight, he can request a transfer, and he can bring his "Cavalry" back to his parent's house."

After His Highness's explanation, all of my senpais looked at me while being surprised.

"You've been thinking about a lot of things, haven't you?"

"Unlike you senpais, I'm using my brain; it's not like I'm the same as you guys who only have muscles for brain."

Everyone burst out laughing at my words.

This is really a good place.

I laughed again as I thought about that.