Next day, at first thing in the morning, a knock on the door wakes Arthur up. He groggily sits up, rubs his eyes and combs his messy hair with his fingers before getting up to answer the door.

Behind it is the castle’s steward, a man probably around his 40s with short hair and a mustache. He’s the same person that acted as the referee in the tournament.

“Mr. Arthur, good morning.” He bows. “I realize this is a bit earlier than your usual time to wake up, but your presence is required on the second-floor basement.”

‘He knows at what time I wake up?’

But wait. His presence is required?

“Did the Sanctus Brigade arrive?” Arthur asks.

“Yes, sir. They arrived last night and are gathering in their training room later. Would you like me to take you there?”

“That’s fine. I’m familiar with the castle already.” Arthur assures. He’s had a few days to explore, after all. “I wouldn’t want to make you wait for me.”

“Very well then.” The steward smiles and bows again. “If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to let me know.”

It’s just as Arthur is about to thank him that a cold sensation runs through his chest as he realizes he doesn’t remember the steward’s name.

“Uh… This is really embarrassing, but… What was your name again?” Arthur asks, massaging his neck.

“My name is Raymond. I realize that there are many people in this castle, but please try to remember my name at least, Mr. Arthur.” The man sighs. “I coordinate all the staff here, so I can help you with anything you need.”

“I-I see. I’m sorry.” Arthur says as his shoulders drop.

“Pay it no mind. Then, if you’ll excuse me.” Mr. Raymond bows again and turns to leave.

Arthur closes the door and starts getting ready. He’s finally meeting the other members of his brigade.

The brigade’s training room is basically the same as the general one, but while that one could hold about 30 people, this one can only hold about 10. There are less training weapons in the racks, but there are still training dummies and shooting targets.

Arthur is also the first one here. Did he arrive too early? He was expecting to find everyone already here. Well, since his only options right now are to either stay still waiting or train while waiting, he decides on the latter.

He picks up one of the few training longswords and stands in front of the dummy. Without enhancing his body, he simply starts striking it with the sword. These are moves nailed into his body by three years of constant repetition.

A downward slash to the neck. An upward slash to the armpit. A thrust to the shoulders. And many more. He barely has to think about what he needs to do before his body is already moving. Three years’ worth of muscle memory. But what’s scary is to think that other knights can do things like this at a higher level. They likely have even more years of intense training and live combat experience than him.

He remembers Marina’s words.

‘Sir Erik Lumiere. The Strongest Human.’

How strong is he and how does Arthur compare? How big is the gap between Sir Erik and Sir Samuel?

As he’s thinking, and without noticing, he starts putting more strength behind his strikes. Sweat starts forming on his forehead, his breathing starts getting heavier. What was originally just meant as warm-up turned into 30 minutes of full-strength sword swinging.

The thing that stops him is the sound of the door opening. He stops his sword and turns back to look. His eyes meet the ones of a young woman.

Blonde and with her shoulder-length hair tied into a small, high ponytail. She has beautiful blue eyes and is about half a head shorter than him. She’s wearing dark brown boots, thick black pants and a white brigandine with long sleeves. Just slightly below her left shoulder is a small metal pin with a familiar design. It’s the four-pointed star that’s the symbol of The Church of the Goddess.

Basically, the young woman is wearing exactly the same outfit as Arthur. It’s the armor they’re given as members of the Sanctus Brigade, and the metal pin works as their official symbol.

The woman looks at Arthur silently as she stands near the door, her eyes going up and down his frame, studying him and making him self-conscious.

“Um… Hello.” Arthur finally says with a small bow. “I’m Arthur, the new trainee assigned to the Sanctus Brigade.”

The woman nods in acknowledgement and bows back. “Lianne Silva.” She introduces herself in a quiet, yet earnest voice. She looks around the room and sighs, looking frustrated, before she takes a seat on one of the benches next to the walls.

‘W-What should I do? Do I talk to her? Her name’s Lianne Silva. From house Silva? That’s one of the four great noble houses! W-What do I do!?”

But as Arthur is racking his brain, Lady Lianne turns to him with a neutral expression. “The others should arrive soon. I’d suggest you rest before they get here.”

“A-Alright.” Arthur nods. “Thank you.”

Because of the nerves, Arthur opts for sitting down on a bench at the opposite end of the room. He couldn’t just walk up and sit next to her just like that, could he? Not when she’s giving that vibe of… what is it? It’s like she’s uninterested or frustrated. Did she have expectations of him that he didn’t meet?

He swallows. This doesn’t bode well. What will the rest of the members be like?

After about ten (awkward) minutes, the other members all arrive in a group. There’s five of them in total. Lady Lianne turns to them with a glare, but then she quickly shuts her eyes tightly, bites her lip and turns her face away from them.

‘Uh… What was that?’

“Sorry, Lianne.” The man at the head of the group says. “We’re late. We know.” He smiles wryly. “We overslept…”

“It seems we were more tired than we thought.” Another man sighs. “It doesn’t excuse our tardiness, however. We apologize.” He bows.

“…No. I understand. I’m sorry.” Lady Lianne’s expression softens, but she just looks… kind of sad, for some reason.

“Anyway, what do we have here?” The first man turns to Arthur with an easy grin and puts his hands on his hips. “We finally got a new member. Nice to meet you! I’m Erik Lumiere, captain of this brigade.”

The captain!

Arthur quickly stands up and bows.

“Sir! My name is Arthur! I’m the new trainee assigned to this brigade!”

As he has his head down, he hears steps closing in before a heavy hand pats his back a couple of times.

“Relax, kid! You’re too tense!” Sir Erik laughs. It’s such a good-natured and honest laugh that it does help Arthur relax.

Sir Erik Lumiere is about a head taller than Arthur. He looks young and can’t possibly be older than 25. He’s the picture definition of the word ‘handsome’. Or perhaps ‘pretty boy’ would be a better match. And the fact that he manages that despite his odd features is impressive.

Sir Erik has bright white hair in a semi-short style. Not blonde. It really is bright white. His eyes are of a dim yellow that’s kind of off-putting at first glance, but seem to fit him oddly well. Arthur has never seen something like this.

No. Wait. Ms. Ariana had pink hair, but that made her look more exotic. Sir Erik’s bright white hair and yellowish eyes look unnatural, but there’s an air of peace around him.

Sir Erik, unlike the rest of the people present, is wearing a full set of plate armor. If he compares it to Sir Samuel’s armor, this one looks like it’s seen more use. It’s also not as decorated as the vice-general’s but it’s still an impressive and imposing sight.

“Proper introductions are still necessary, Erik.” Arthur hears a woman giggle. She’s wearing the same outfit as himself. She also looks young, and her long hair, which is tied into a braid, is exactly the same color as the captain’s. So are her eyes, for that matter. She looks beautiful with very fair features and a kind smile adorning her face.

“Hello, Arthur. My name is Eliza Lumiere.” She bows with her hands on her stomach. “I’m the vice-captain of the brigade and Erik’s wife.”

‘W-Wife!? I thought they were siblings!’

“And I’m Mary-Beth Lumiere. I’m Erik’s second wife.” Another young woman introduces herself with a cheerful voice and a bright smile. She’s small. The smallest person here. Just guessing, Arthur thinks she must be around 1.65m tall. No more than that. What’s more, her shoulder-length wavy hair is also white and her eyes that dim yellow.

‘S-S-Second wife!? I… I guess those are the privileges of nobles?’

Arthur swallows the jealousy rising up inside him. Both of these women are extremely beautiful, the unnatural hair color only adding to their charm. But any kind of indecent thoughts he might have had are pushed away before they can even enter his head.

He’s jealous because he wants something like that for himself. And he knows he’ll get it eventually if he tries hard enough.

‘It’s just… Man, a noble title, a captain position, steel armor, two gorgeous wives and good looks. Sir Erik has it all.’

“Hey, new kid! I’m Edward Cormag. Second son of Marquis Cormag.” Another man introduces himself with a smirk. He doesn’t look that much older than Arthur. He has clear brown hair and green eyes. He stands taller than Arthur, but their builds are about equal. “We’ll be working together from now on, so make sure you keep up, okay?”

He seems friendly enough.

“Greetings.” A man next to him bows politely. He’s about as tall as Sir Edward, has a similar build, green eyes and short, neatly combed blonde hair. “I’m Luis Astram. Second son of Duke Astram and First Lieutenant in the brigade. That means that I come after Vice-Captain Eliza in the chain of command.”

“I see. I didn’t know about lieutenants. Thank you for telling me.” Arthur bows back, and he notices Lt. Luis smiling and nodding in satisfaction.

“And I guess our lovely Lianne already introduced herself?” Sir Erik asks you, though he’s looking at the sitting girl.

“W-We only exchanged a short greeting.” You say.

“Lianne?” The vice-captain turns to the younger woman with a smile and tone that seem kind and warm but hide some sort of malice that sends a chill down Arthur’s back.

“Y-Yes!” Lady Lianne stands up in a hurry and bows politely. “Lianne Silva, third daughter of Duke Silva and… the newest recruit until you came.”

“I-I see. Well, I hope to learn a lot from you.” Arthur tries to smile despite the awkwardness and bows back.

“Well, that makes all of us!” Sir Erik says, clapping his hands once and smiling as if the air between him and Lady Lianne wasn’t heavy at all. “Edward beat me to it, but let me say it anyway. Welcome to the Sanctus Brigade, Arthur! We’ll be working together from now on. I want you to be comfortable with us and give it your best. So long as you do that, you can expect everyone here to support you with everything we’ve got. We’re a small brigade, but we like it that way. Keeps things more personal! So don’t worry too much about formalities and the like. Luis will glare at you if you don’t address him by title, but that’s about it and he’ll forget about it in a week!” Sir Erik laughs heartily. The others chuckle along with him, while the man in question just frowns and grumbles to himself.

“T-Thank you very much!” Arthur straightens up. “I promise to do my best and not slow you down!”

“Good! Now that that’s out of the way, there’s a little something I’d like you to do, Arthur.” Sir Erik says, his smile turning devilish.

“W-What would that be…?”