148. Luke(1)
A small territory outside the empire.
“wah wah!”
A man was born on the bed. The doctor wiped off blood and amniotic fluid from the child, wrapped it in a soft cloth, and handed it to the mother.
“Congratulations. A healthy boy.”
“ah···.”
The woman’s face was pale. Not only that, but her hair was sweaty and tousled.
A single tear ran down the woman’s cheek. Tears of joy, not tears of pain.
“Honey, you’ve worked hard.”
The man next to her wiped away her tears, saying that she was proud of a woman and her child. However, the man’s eyes were moistened as well, as if he was about to shed tears any minute.
“You too.”
“What did I do? Honey did all the hard work.”
The fruit of love between a woman and a man. Tears were flowing from their eyes, but they were smiling at the joy of becoming parents of a child.
“What’s the best name for this child?”
“It’s all set, too.”
The man gently stroked the sleeping child’s cheek and said.
“Luke. Starting today, your name is Luke.”
***
The year Luke turned 7.
-puck!
A stone flew and hit Luke’s head. In the area where the stone hit, blood flowed along with burning pain.
“Disappear, the demon’s child!”
Black hair was rare in this world. Even adults see Luke’s head as ominous, so what do kids his age think?
The result was this situation now. Being outright bullied. The ones who ostracize him are the children who belong to the wealthy side of the territory. And at the center was the son of the viscount, the lord.
“An orphan with no father!”
It wasn’t like Luke didn’t have a father from the beginning. Because the rich are infinitely rich and the poor are infinitely poor, his father worked hard to feed his family.
But… just as Luke started babbling, his father went out to work in the woods and was attacked and killed by monsters.
That’s why Luke didn’t even know his father’s face. Only the blurry image I saw as a baby remains in my memory like the swaying water.
Nothing strange. Because it was not uncommon for people to die. But it wasn’t that it wasn’t weird.
When his mother first heard of his father’s death, he cried for several nights.
The father’s absence forced Luke, who was still young, to grow up faster than others, even for his mother. Mainly in the mental part, not the physical part.
-puck!
Once again, a stone landed on Luke’s head.
“·······.”
It must have been quite a pain for a young child to endure, but Luke silently hit the stone without making a sound.
The moment the stone flew toward Luke once again.
– Tup.
“·······?”
Someone caught a flying stone. The sound that comes immediately after is the sound of the armor moving.
When Luke raised his head, questioning what had happened, a knight in large white armor with gold embroidery stood in front of him as if to protect him.
“You should get along well with your friends.
A middle-aged man’s heavy voice rang out. The children who were bullying Luke were startled and ran away.
Judging by the armor, there was no one among the imperial people who didn’t know that he belonged to the Imperial Knights.
No matter how noble they were, they were all just ordinary children in front of the Imperial Knights.
The knight, who had been watching the children running away, turned around and faced Luke. He took out a small handkerchief from somewhere and wiped the blood from Luke’s forehead.
“Little boy. Why were you beaten?”
“…Even if you fight, you won’t win, and that’s not too wrong.”
If you fight and then get hated, it becomes even more difficult. In that case, I thought it was good to be bullied like this sometimes.
“Aren’t you angry?”
“·······.”
Wouldn’t you be angry that you got used to it? It wasn’t. Nothing changed though. They were stronger than Luke, and Luke was a weakling with no magic since he was born.
Besides, if Luke, who has no father, causes trouble, all responsibility will go to his mother.
Luke, who didn’t want to burden his mother who worked hard to feed herself, played the calmest child as much as possible.
“I see. Then I’ll tell you a funny story.”
The knight sat next to Luke.
“When I was young. I was very energetic, so I was subject to a noble’s restraint and disputes. I found out later that the noble was the eldest son of the estate where I lived.”
As expected… All of the nobles’ personalities seem to be there. Luke thought.
“So, what do you think I would have done?”
“well. “
Normally, I would kneel. The knight laughed heartily and gave a completely different answer.
“I beat the lord’s self-restraint right before he died.”
“…How the hell are you still alive?”
It was amazing. What he said was such a serious crime that he would have nothing to say even if he was executed on the spot.
“Of course, all the knights in the territory flocked to me to catch me. And I beat them all.”
“·······.”
“But I was caught when I was young. Fortunately, right before I was executed, rumors of me accidentally reached His Majesty’s ears, and I was recognized for my future and was selected to join the Imperial Knights.”
Not realistic. Luke thought so, but couldn’t refute it. In the end, the article in front of me was no different from a living witness.
“The world is unfair. But if you think that unfairness only applies to you, you are very mistaken.”
As the article said, there were many worse children than Luke on the continent.
An orphan who lost both parents to monsters. A child with a physical disability from birth. There was even a child who was abused by parents who should be loved.
If they see Luke, they’ll say he looks happy.
“Anything like unfairness, overcome it with your skills and prove it to everyone.”
Immediately after, the knight gave Luke a gold coin and disappeared. That was the moment Luke had a dream.
According to rumors heard later, today is the day of regular inspection of the territory where Luke lives.
Since the inspector visited the territory, all the residents of the territory including the lord were excited, and it is said that the knight who helped Luke was one of the imperial knights in charge of escorting the inspector.
Waiting for Luke to return home was his mother, who was preparing a meal. Luke looked at his mother’s back and carefully took his luck.
“There you are, Mom.”
“Huh? Why, Luke?”
“I want to go to the academy.”
An academy diploma was indispensable to Luke, who had become a knight. Especially if it was an imperial knight rather than a regular knight.
That’s why Luke asked his mother for the first time.
However, the cost of admission to the academy was so high that commoners could not dare to exceed it. It’s embarrassing to say that Luke, who has a hard time earning a living every day.
“Sure.”
“······!”
But parents don’t know anything about their children. Since she already knew that Luke was acting modestly for her sake, she readily agreed.
Luke, who didn’t expect to be granted permission so easily, was taken aback.
“But isn’t the academy very competitive?”
“·······.”
Literally, the academy is crowded with students trying to enter every year. If you can show your skills after graduating from the academy, becoming a member of the Imperial Knights like the knight you just saw is a piece of cake.
At that, Luke quickly became sullen.
“So, you have to work hard from today, right?”
“······!”
Even if it was Luke without magical powers, she believed in her child.
“···Yes!”
Since then, Luke’s night and day have changed.
During the day, he helped adults with their work to save money to enter the academy, and in the evening, he devoted himself to training with a wooden sword he carved out of wood.
But even with no magical powers, Luke fell behind others. If others have a body of 5 and can use mana to generate 10 power, Luke had to exert 10 power only with his pure body, so at least twice as much as others… no, he had to make more effort.
It didn’t break though. Even with a goal that others would have given up long ago, he swung his sword with one single thought.
Time passes like that and Luke turns 20.
The day Luke leaves for the Empire to take the entrance exam.
“Be careful. Don’t get sick.”
“Yes. I will definitely come back as a proud son. Mom should be healthy too.”
After a short goodbye, the hats hugged each other tightly. The son she gave birth to in tears is already an adult and leaves in search of his dream.
Tears flowed from her eyes as she felt lonely at the empty seat she would feel in the future and proud of her son who had grown up well.
Luke smiled and wiped away the tears.
“I’m really going to go now.”
“Yeah…you can always come back if you’re having a hard time, so don’t overdo it, okay?”
“Yes. I’ll keep that in mind.”
Immediately after, Luke got on the carriage to head to the academy.
***
After two weeks of traveling from the territory to the empire.
Upon arriving in the Empire, Luke couldn’t help but admire. The territory he lived in felt so big, but the empire was much bigger than that.
The strong and high walls seemed to be able to stop any monsters coming.
The young man from the countryside, who was visiting the capital for the first time, forgot that he was an adult and looked around the empire with sparkling eyes.
‘ah···! Entrance exam!’
Today is the day of the entrance exam. If you are late, you will be automatically disqualified, so you quickly head to the academy. It was not difficult to find the way because I memorized it while looking at the map of the empire from the previous day.
“Wow······.”
When Luke first stepped into the academy, he naturally exclaimed. Indeed, it deserves to be called an elite educational institution.
“Oops, this is not the time.”
If you let go of your mind a little, you will sell your eyes. Concentrate, you have to concentrate. At the main gate of the academy, there was an arrow pointing to the location of the test site, so I moved along it.
The test seemed like a training ground. When I arrived at the training ground, there was someone checking my name in front of me.
“What’s your name?”
“This is Luke.”
“It’s confirmed. You just have to sit in an empty seat inside and wait for the examiner to call you.”
“thank you.”
The test method is to enter the training ground one by one after being nominated by the examiner and demonstrate their martial arts against a dummy.
‘Huh… I’m shaking…’
In order to pass the test, he had to show as much as he could to the examiners.
– Overcome unfairness with your skills and prove it to everyone.
Words I heard from a knight when I was young. I’ve never forgotten that word. In this test, all you have to do is prove that you’re stronger than the magical gossip.
Luke clenched his fists trying to calm his trembling hands.
“Aren’t you too nervous?”
“·······?”
He turned around at the sudden voice and saw a man with a dignified appearance, who seemed to be a nobleman somewhere, was looking at him from the side.
“That… Excuse me, but what is your name by any chance?”
Because of that, I unconsciously respected him. If you disrespect a noble, you don’t know what problems will arise even before admission.
The other person smiled and said, as if the respectful self was funny.
“You don’t have to be so nervous. The academy doesn’t distinguish between commoners and nobles, everyone is equal, right?”
You haven’t entered the academy yet, but you talk as if you’ve already entered.
“And I’m a commoner like you.”
“How could I be a commoner…?”
“Nobles don’t get nervous. Look around you.”
I looked around at his words. All the examinees around him looked confident in their eyes, not doubting that they would take the top spot.
“It’s exactly as you said…”
“right?”
But being a commoner means being a commoner. Who the hell are you? As I was looking at the man with eyes full of such questions, the man who noticed the look in his eyes shook hands with a friendly smile.
“I’m sorry. I’m late with my introduction. I’m Arthur. Please take good care of me.”