Nocturne in Black and Gold

I stared the Captain in the eyes. He fit his title well from appearances, wearing a slim fitting white cloak with blue threads woven in. Underneath, medals glimmered on his chest and bits of chainmail poked out underneath. Authority wasn’t something that every person could grasp, but I could tell this man knew how to wield it as a weapon of his own.

“So what can I do for you, Aila?” He said with a smooth, amused tone.

“I want to register my new partner here as a knight!” I raised an eyebrow. Despite her usual tone, I could tell there was a bit of nervousness beneath the surface.

“New partner? It’s about time.” Richard chucked. “What is your name, son?”

Unconsciously I clenched my fists. The way he talked down to me, like I was some newbie entering the real world for the first time, made my blood boil. I never was good with authority.

With an effort I shoved the feeling aside. I needed a bed, and becoming homeless on my first night here would be a nightmare. “Rin.”

“Rin? Interesting name.” He walked out from his desk and leaned against its front. “I can tell by your clothing you’re a rescorge. Do you know what god summoned you?”

“It’s a Senn I've never seen,” Aila butted in before I could talk. “Like a giant circle of fire!”

“Fire?” That hint of amusement came back. “Now that is interesting. Would you mind if I took a look?”

“Not at all,” I pushed my collar down, controlling my expression.

As he walked over, I made sure to never look away from his gaze. Richard wasn’t the first of his kind I had met. The novelty of a new world wasn’t a major factor when it came to people, they stubbornly refused to adapt.

Richard’s eyes lingered as he analyzed my shoulder. Part of me hoped that he could be a bit of help. Aila didn’t seem like the type of person to have memorized Senn patterns. Richard did.

“I’m afraid I’m just as mystified as you Aila. It’s not everyday someone appears with a brand new Senn pattern, Rin, consider yourself blessed by the gods.”

“Thank you, sir,” I said, feeling anything but blessed.

“Moving on, I’m sure Aila explained the basics to you, but let me give you a refresher. Gallai Academy serves as the main institution for training knights all around the Gallai Empire, all for his majesty King Elron. We serve, live, and die for the sake of the kingdom, and that all starts at this very building. Does that sound like a life you’re willing to live?”

“Better than living on the streets,” I said.

“Now,” He tossed a sheet of paper from his desk, letting it fall onto my hands. “Typically, admittance to Gallai Academy consists of a long rigorous process with tryouts and auditions lasting for months at a time. However, with both Aila’s recommendation and your Senn, I am willing to let that slide.

I gripped his paper with shaking hands that threatened to tear it in two. “What is this?”

“An employment contract for rescorge. You will sign on for a two-year training program, and for the next three years after that you will serve as a soldier deployed somewhere in the Empire. As a rescorge, I must warn you that odds are likely you will be deployed to the front lines if there were to be a skirmish or war that broke out during your employment. However, in exchange your benefits and pay will be higher than the average fresh recruit.”

As he went on, I scanned the contract. It seemed pretty typical, detailing the same nonsense and restrictions as any other contract.

It wasn’t until the second half where things got interesting. “Desertion, defined as the abandonment of military duties while under this contract, will result in the penalty of imprisonment with the option of death. Am I reading this correctly?”

“Correct.” Richard said with a stern voice. “We serve to protect the people of the empire. We put our lives on the line; we signed up for that responsibility. The average commoner did no such thing.”

I shrugged. “Fair enough.” Death and I were more friends than strangers at this point. Real life was no fantastical adventure. I needed to remember this wasn’t a game, some funny simulation where death resulted in a game over screen. This would be something to keep me grounded. “One more question. This specifies that I will be placed in Unit E–”

“That’s my unit!” Aila perked up, interrupting my sentence. “It's a special unit for specialized talent such as Senn bearers.”

“And you’re in it?” I raised an eyebrow.

“I am a bit fast for a Riverrunner.”

Richard chuckled. “Like Aila said, Unit E serves as a specialty unit within the academy for those recruits for which typical training would prove insufficient. Its focus is the partner system, where each recruit has a partner which they train and live together with.”

“So that's the partner thing you mentioned earlier,” I said. “I have no complaints, we fought well while taking down those bandits.”

A pen resting on the ground caught my attention. I picked it up, taking off the tip. “I assumed you would only have a quill and ink.”

“They were a gift from a rescorge from long ago,” Richard said. “With factories powered by the great rivers they are no rarer than paper.”

“Well, at least this world won’t be completely miserable with luxuries like that,” my flingers let the pen dance on the page. “There, contract signed.”

“Thank you!” Aila let out a sign of relief. “Anything to avoid the recommendation pool.”

“Rin, as your captain, let me give you an official welcome to the Gallai Knights. Let me show you around the premises.

֎ ֎ ֎

The academy halls were noticeably less busy as we walked through them a second time. Richard led us through more rooms than I could hope to keep track of. There was the mess hall, barracks, training arena, and twenty other places filled with knights swinging their swords and practicing whatever maneuver they could think up.

But those weren't the parts that I needed to pay attention to.

We left the main campus, walking on a cracked stone path leading into the gardens. Waist high rose bushes separated the path from the massive grass-filled practice fields. The mess hall shone even more spectacularly as we passed by. Forget training grounds, there was an entire city hidden within Gallai!

With the walls blocking everything but the highest buildings in Gallai, it was easy to forget there was an entire city just a few feet away.

Trees began to pop up around us. First sparingly, though as we walked deeper into the grounds they quickly overwhelmed the scenery and blocked us off from the academy.

“Beyond here is the last building on the academy grounds, and the one you’d better get used to quickly. Welcome to the Unite E barracks.”

A clearing appeared at the end of the path, trees and grass alike giving way to a quaint castle waving a singular yellow flag. Unlike the massive ramparts and banisters of the headquarters, there was only a single tower, and the store wasn't stacked nearly as high.

Yet by every definition it was still a castle, with several metal pipes running through the stone walls inside and a yellow flag with green stripes flapping around in the air.

Aila ran ahead, a smile on her face. “It may not be as grand as the rest of the academy, but trust me, this place is better than the rest of campus combined.”

“She's right,” Richard grinned. “Unit E has its benefits: your own room, better pay, personal space—but that doesn’t mean everything is sunshine and roses.”

“I’m not expecting sunshine and roses.” I muttered.

“Good, otherwise you wouldn’t last a week.” With a dull creaking, Richard pushed the door open. “Come on in.”

My first thought was how small everything felt. There wasn’t a trace of the grand halls or massive ceilings from before. Instead, the place looked nearly identical to a western temple, with the same kind of old architecture that seemed to stand the test of time.

Our footsteps fell mute on the wooden floors, cast in the light of small arched windows that lined the walls on either side. Chairs with clear signs of long term use were scattered around the quaint room, a quiet bar near the other end littered with bottles of brown and red liquids.

“Francis! Nice to see you again.” Aila waved at the man behind the bar. He was rather tall, with a build that was slim yet muscular adorned by messy blonde hair.

As he looked up, his handsome face and grey eyes had this otherworld intensity to them that gave me pause. I’d been in my fair share of fights, seen more combatants than the average person would in their entire lifetime.

One look was all it took for me to realize, this man was more dangerous than them all combined. Richard, those bandits, none could compare.

“Aila, I see you're cheerful as ever.” Frances grappled with a dusty glass, wiping it clean with a small white cloth. “Who's the new guy, Rich?”

“Rin.” I said, “It is nice to make your acquaintance.”

“Another foreigner then. Japanese I presume?”

“Yeah…” My eyes widened. “You’re from Earth too?”

“You could say that. I lived there for a few years, fun times, though like every show even that had to come to an end. Not that I can complain, women and booze here are both sublime!”

“Francis!” The door leading deeper into the keep burst open, a woman around my age bursting through, wearing the fakest frown I had ever seen.

Her black hair was tied in a ponytail, framing her tanned face and green eyes. I was never one to judge by appearances, but I had to admit she was rather pretty. “At least wait until I’m in the room before talking about women?”

“My bad, Mia. Don’t worry, I’ll let you remind me tonight?”

I rolled my eyes as Mia gave him a peck on the cheek. “I’m assuming you’re taking him on a tour, Rich? Don’t let us keep you waiting.”

Richard just gave a slight grin. “Wouldn’t have it any other way. Come on.”

“We can talk later tonight. Oh also, remember to show him around the wanted posters, Rich. You never know what a newly summoned rescorge may have heard.” Francis said as we went into the keep.

“Sounds good.” I gave him a polite smile. Though just before the door closed I caught a knowing grin on his face.