Turning Chapter 1341

Early morning, close to dawn.

Melvern Clant was walking toward the Cavalry’s external training ground. It looked so quiet it seemed no one would be there, but as he neared the entrance, he heard people murmuring.

The owners of those voices were new recruits who had come out early for training.

‘Three of them are already out? There’s still quite a while before we start.......’

It had been several days since, on Yuder Aile’s advice, he joined the new recruits’ basic physical training. The thing he felt most strongly was that the Cavalry members loved this place fervently.

It wasn’t merely because they trained hard that he felt so. He’d heard these new recruits were far more mixed in status and place of origin than the first-batch members. Usually, such a group is bound to fail to understand one another and fight every day, but Melvern never saw anyone boast before their comrades because of status or try to draw lines and take sides.

That was because this group chose to transcend existing elements like status, gender, and origin, and bind themselves under the identities of “Awakener” and “Cavalry member.” Here, they were simply fellow Awakeners, the same as each other.

And that peculiar inclusiveness applied exactly the same to Melvern as well, who was “an Awakener guest temporarily visiting to meet the Commander and, while here, experiencing Cavalry training.”

They called him not by name but simply “Guest.” No one was curious about his real name or identity—much less interested.

Their greatest concern was only one.

It was surviving the daily, never-ending training.

‘Well....... Considering what the training is, that’s only natural.’

Hearing it called basic physical training for recruits, he had inwardly thought at first it wouldn’t be much. But it was nothing like that. The one-on-one training he’d done with Yuder Aile had been so grueling he thought nothing could surpass it, yet the group physical training was hell no less than that.

Melvern, who had some confidence in using his body, felt that way—how much harder must it be for new recruits who had lived ordinary lives? Even so, the Cavalry members never whined.

The glint of ferocity and pride in their eyes. Their boldness, as if they knew neither sorrow nor fear, was fascinating.

Among them, the one who struck Melvern as most curious was a certain new recruit now loosening up in the distance.

‘His name... was Elpokin, wasn’t it?’

Even within the Cavalry, where various Awakeners gathered, his appearance stood out. A large frame and antler-like horns sprouting from his head—the result of a pair of massive wings merged as one.

Though he drew eyes wherever he went, he didn’t care in the least. Showing outstanding talent in using his body, he took first place in training every time, earning his comrades’ envy instead.

‘He skipped training for a few days, and now he’s here today. And very early at that.’

Elpokin had been absent from training the last few days. A few other recruits had missed as well, and there was a rumor that seniors had rescued them after they were caught in an accident while out together on their day off. The fellow recruits believed it and were simply sorry, but Melvern knew something they didn’t.

‘Including the Cavalry Commander and Yuder Aile and even the Vice Commander, the core personnel of the Cavalry all went outside together a few days ago. Elpokin’s absence began after that.’

He didn’t know the particulars yet. But if even the Commander went out, he could only suppose it had been important.

In any case, Elpokin returned today. He came to the training ground earlier than anyone, diligently loosening up while talking with two other recruits.

Melvern was going to head to a corner of the training ground so as not to draw their eyes, but Elpokin spotted him first.

“Oh! The Guest is here.”

“Gah.”

The two other recruits talking with Elpokin flinched in surprise for an instant. Though Melvern hadn’t exactly been hiding his presence, it seemed they hadn’t noticed until Elpokin did.

‘Hmm....... Looking now, those two... seem a little familiar.’

One was a gaunt, delicate, timid-looking man. The other, a woman whose long, black, curly hair made her look particularly melancholy.

If Elpokin was the talent who always took first place, those two were the ones who traded off last place. And they were also the recruits who had been absent during the period when Elpokin wasn’t showing up.

Had all three of them been discharged today and returned? He was curious what had happened, but if he asked, would that be prying too much into Cavalry business for a “guest come to cooperate”?

Melvern smiled pleasantly without betraying his thoughts.

“Ah....... Yes. Long time no see. I heard you were injured—are you all well now?”

“Haha, I suppose the rumor spread enough to reach even your ears, Guest. Yes, we’re all better!... I wish I could say, though.”

Elpokin grinned and then scratched his head.

“In truth, we haven’t been given permission to return yet.”

“Hm? In that case, shouldn’t you not be here?”

“Y—Yeah....... Right....... That’s why we came at this hour......”

Elpokin’s awkward smile deepened. Quick on the uptake, Melvern immediately grasped what he meant.

“Aha. Since you can’t formally attend, you came early to loosen up separately when no one’s around.”

“Heh-heh......”

“To want to train to that extent—the three of you are impressive.”

“Ah....... N—No.”

The two last-place recruits behind Elpokin were terribly embarrassed. The black-haired woman carefully opened her mouth.

“Um, Guest. If they find out we came here, we might get scolded a bit... Could you possibly keep it secret?”

“That won’t be difficult. But if you say you came to loosen up because you wanted to train voluntarily, wouldn’t they praise you as admirable instead? I’ve felt the Cavalry is very generous to people who work hard.”

“If it were the seniors who oversee training, that might be so....... But there’s someone else who’ll scold us.”

“Who would that be?”

After hesitating a moment, she muttered with a face full of worry.

“......The pharmacist.”

“Ah. You mean the one who planted all those fine herbs along the Cavalry’s outer wall.”

One thing that had impressed Melvern since coming here was the various climbing plants that draped the Cavalry’s outer wall like a splendid ornament. They seemed to freely cover the wall, yet without marring the building and surrounding scenery in the least, making it feel like delicate patterns drawn by nature. He’d heard that the place where the trend of vines—now slowly spreading among the Nellarun nobility with a passion for gardening—first began was the Cavalry, and indeed, it was beautiful enough to merit it.

‘They say the one who cultivated them is a pharmacist of commoner birth—I’d been a little curious.’

He had once gotten a small injury while training and visited the Medical Unit. But everyone he encountered was Priest Lusan, so he hadn’t yet directly met the pharmacist they spoke of. The Cavalry’s Medical Unit was currently greatly increasing its personnel and seemed busy in many ways.

Judging by their reactions, however, the pharmacist seemed to be regarded as quite frightening here. Seeing even Elpokin show fear the moment the word “pharmacist” came out, the image of Inon in Melvern’s mind grew rugged and burly. Without showing that fancy, he smiled.

“Understood. I’ll keep it secret. I’ve no one to tell anyway.”

“Thank you!”

The three, faces brightening, went back to loosening up. Watching them move with the expression of finally being able to breathe, he suddenly felt a pang of envy.

‘They look truly happy. I feel like I’m lost right now and don’t even know what I’m doing.......’

Yuder Aile seemed to think that if Melvern did this training, something would change for him, but aside from being worked to death, he still didn’t know anything. What if his skills hadn’t improved by the time he returned to Nellarun?

Thinking of his comrades in Nellarun, who must be struggling even now, and of Crown Prince Ezein, his chest grew ever more stifled. It was just then that Melvern let out an unconscious sigh.

“Guest. Your face looks very dark—are we getting in your way......?”

The black-haired woman asked Melvern. No matter how heavy his worries, for his expression to be so poorly controlled that others could see—it was embarrassing. Melvern quickly changed his face and shook his head.

“Not at all. Not in the least.”

But the woman didn’t seem to believe him. Watching him like a cat hiding in shadow and gauging, she suddenly stopped loosening up and took something from her bosom.

“Would you... like to have me read your fortune for today?....... Since you agreed to do us a favor... in return.”

“Read... my fortune?”

At the unexpected words, Melvern was quite taken aback. The woman gave a mysteriously charming smile.

“I don’t have stamina, but I can do this a bit....... My name is Glowe. Before I came here, I played the role of a fortune-teller in a traveling troupe, and now this has become my new ability.”

“Glowe. You’re going to divine for the Guest?”

The timid-looking man chimed in with interest.

“Mm. He looks like he has some worries.”

“Right. You said you need to use it once a day anyway to keep your touch. This should be good.”

“Can I watch from the side?”

Elpokin had come up beside them at some point as well.

“Of course.”

Though Melvern had not agreed, the mood had already settled on doing a reading. He felt awkward, but soon decided to take it positively.

‘Card-divination as an ability... She has a power I never imagined. Since I also have a rather unusual ability, it might do me no harm to see it.’

“All right. Then let’s begin.”

The cards shuffled intricately in Glowe’s hands.