I must have met them somewhere…

“Ah!”

I remembered. Those kids! I met them when I was not yet a servant to Asphayren, in the corridor behind the Cronen Palace, where I was facing off against Awsom.

I didn’t expect to meet them again. I happily greeted them.

“We met in the corridor about a month ago, right?”

“Yes, yes! We were helped by Lady Shuria back then in the corridor! I’m sorry we’re late in greeting you. My name is Nina.”

“I’m Lulu.”

Nina and Lulu bowed their heads. Their actions betrayed their youth.

These kids… They might be younger than I thought. Although they are slightly taller than me.

‘Back in Korea, I wasn’t that short…’

As I briefly savored life’s bitterness, the two friends clung to each other, their faces flushed, and hesitated. Then they suddenly bowed.

“We should’ve thanked you much earlier, we’re so sorry!”

“We’re really ashamed!”

“What? No, it’s fine! I didn’t do much!”

I raised my hands in surprise, and the girls shook their heads vehemently.

“No, you helped us a lot! It was really scary… If Lady Shuria hadn’t been there, something terrible might have happened.”

“Thanks to you, we were safe.”

Well, when you put it that way… Ah, I’m blushing. I chuckled and scratched my flushed cheeks.

“I’m glad I could help, but there’s no need to feel so apologetic and shy. Also, please drop the ‘Lady.’ It makes me uncomfortable.”

“But you’re our benefactor…”

“Please? Okay?”

Finally, the girls nodded. Then they hesitantly extended a package.

“Um, this is a small token of our gratitude. It’s very humble, but…”

“Please accept it!”

Pressed by their enthusiasm, I inadvertently took the package. I couldn’t refuse; their eyes were twinkling too brightly.

In the end, I carefully held the package.

“Thank you. I’ll cherish it.”

“……!”

“Yes!”
The children’s faces brightened. I left a word for the cute children to greet me if we met again, and casually asked a question that had been on my mind.

“But how old are you?”

“I turned 13 this year.”

…….

Wow.

They were really kids.

“Loarkin’s young friends are impressive.”

Sophisticated word choice. Dignified. When I was their age, I was running around like a monkey in its hyperactive phase.

While deeply reflecting on myself, I arrived at the breeding ground.

The old mutt was lying on a sunny flat surface, taking a nap. It wagged its tail gently as if it knew I had arrived.

‘Cute.’

I walked carefully to not wake the sleeping children, took a seat, and got curious about what the young friends had prepared with their fern-like hands.

I carefully untied the beautifully wrapped ribbon and unwrapped the cloth. When I saw the contents, I exclaimed.

“Wow!”

Wrapped delicately in the cloth were all sorts of snacks.

Cookies that looked homemade, pretty candy in glass jars, and dried fruits along with nuts like peanuts and walnuts.

I could feel the thoughtfulness and effort of the young friends everywhere.

“Ah, how precious and smart.”

I took a walnut from the bag of nuts with a joyful heart. It was the most genuine walnut I had ever seen.

Ah, this, I can’t just wipe my mouth and pass on this.

“I should also prepare something for them.”

Hmm. What would be good? Should I make a pocket they can hang inside their skirts? Or should I borrow the kitchen and make something tasty?

As I was pondering, I naturally squeezed the walnut in my hand. I had always been able to easily crack walnuts this way.

“……?”

But it didn’t crack.

“What? Is the walnut a bit hard?”

This time I used both hands to try and crack it. But it was in vain. Not even a slight deformation.

“……I can’t crack a walnut?”

Me, who had been called the strongest arm wrestler for 12 years throughout elementary, middle, and high school and boasted a grip strength of 47?

“That’s ridiculous.”

Snorting, I exerted strength into my hand again. But still, not a single dent on the walnut.

Crack, the sound of my self-esteem shattering echoed in my ears.

I gritted my teeth. Fine, let’s see. Today, I will eat this walnut.

At that moment, the Knights’ training ground.

The training ground of Loarkin knights, stained with their sweat and blood, was bustling with new faces today.

Innocent faces with a hint of awkwardness. These were none other than the apprentice knights training at Belroy Castle.

The training ground, deep within Belroy Castle, was usually strictly off-limits to outsiders.

But today was an exception because of the quarterly performance evaluation. On evaluation days, apprentice knights were summoned here to take lengthy tests in the presence of the lord and official knights.

The apprentice knights waiting for their turns were all quite tense. If they were lucky today and caught the lord’s eye, they might be knighted immediately.

It was a rare opportunity. Burning determination lit up on the faces of the young boys and girls dreaming of becoming knights.

Meanwhile, our lord Asphayren, the one who intensified the tension in the training ground…

‘Would he be feeling regretful?’

……was contemplating the promise he had canceled today with an unpleasing face.