"So, six months from now will mark the 600th year since the end of the war."
"Yes. We will have a big festival in the evening with fireworks at the end, but before that we will meet in the morning around the church for a special prayer."
"It sounds nice."
"Right ?!"
Karl sounded really excited while talking about the festival. I hope I could take part to this.
"Oh, I almost forgot to tell you. Just so you know, the former king, named Gerfried Fretzia is in charge of the church of the two crowns. After the sudden death of her wife, so the former Queen of royal blood, Diana I Fretzia. He decided to step down from his royal duties and let their daughter, the Queen Diana II Fretzia, holder of the Holy Sword and still in activity, run the kingdom."
Wow, that's kind of... sad... I guess...
"Holy Sword ?"
"Yes, the Holy Sword. A weapon said to be capable of killing a god and only reacting to members of the blood line of the royal family."
I see. I'd better not mess with them.
" That's a lot of information. You can be useful sometimes."
"A 'thank you' instead would be really appreciate."
When we arrived at the Royal army base, I was impressed at how big it was. It was a large field surrounded by a large grey wall that acts as a barrier with black spears above it. At the entrance, above the gate was the ensign of the nation and above it an iron plaque with "Army of Fretzia" engraved on it.
And next to it a little further away was " Academy of the Army of Fretzia"...
"An academy ?! What does it mean ?! KARL !!"
"Ooh, I see you noticed the academy. Don't worry about it, it won't take you long there if you pass the test."
"A TEST ?! You never mentioned that !"
"Really ? You didn't ask thought."
"Yea but - NO NO NO ! The great surprise here it's the academy. You could have told me that !"
Seriously, even in another world I have to go to school. Well it's true that I have to learn how to read and write but still...
"Don't worry just follow me and as I said before 'If you're not satisfy, you'll always be able to quit.'"
Aaahh man, compared to me who was agitated during the whole conversation, Karl was perfectly calm and told me that last sentence with a big smile. How wouldn't I want to trust him even a little right after that ? He looked so cool that it was almost unfair.
"Tch !"
"What was that for ?!"
Then, Inside Fretzia Army base were three buildings. The functions of each of them were: Administrative offices, dormitories, and an indoor training room. In addition, there were an outdoor training area and one large enough for horses too.
Karl took me directly to the archer section offices. He wanted to introduced me to its captain, the captain Anujin (Anu in short) Sohor. Before entering her office, he told me something.
"It's said that she can see a target as far as sixty-two miles (100 km) away and hit it by a single arrow."
"Is that even possible ?!"
"Who knows ?" Karl said while shrugging his shoulders.
What was the point of telling me that then ?
Then, Karl opened the door without knocking and greeted her cheerfully.
"Hii my love Anu, how are you? Did you miss me?"
"Huh ? that's you Karl. Learn how to knock at the door before you enter and stop calling me 'my love', people might get the wrong idea."
"Huuuhh, but it just shows how much I love you Anu."
"Aarrgghh okay okay. You don't need to said that."
What was that ? "My love Anu." Captain Sohor is right, if she hadn't said anything, I might have get the wrong idea... And how could a weirdo like him have a girlfriend ? I didn't know Karl was this blunt. Well he looks like it but sill... Did he just pretended to be a cool, reliable knight for once in front of me? Give my praise back !
"I didn't come empty-handed. I brought you a surprise... Tadaa ! A new recruit ! His name is Jemuel... Euuhh..."
"Hi ma'am ! My name is Jemuel Shirakami ! It's a pleasure to meet you !", I said while bowing.
"Hi Kiddo, nice to meet you too", she replied while smoking.
Captain Sohor appeared to be in her thirties, and was quite tall with an athletic build. She had black eyes and a ponytail hairstyle with a bangs. She wore semi-round glasses and her brown hooded cloak with Fretzia's ensign engraved on it seemed to be part of the archers' official uniform.
When we've entered her office, she was sitting face to the window behind her desk while smocking. At first, I hadn't noticed the smell of the cigarette because of Karl's extravagant entry, but now I can say it bothers me.
"A new applicant eh. It's rare to hear you say "new recruit" so easily, I guess this shows how confident you are that he'll pass our entrance test. Usually you say that they're boring and don't want anything to do with them. You should feel special kid, it's hard to get close to this guy."
"Who said we were close ?"
"Ahah don't say that, What will he think of me now ?" Karl said, smiling embarrassed while blushing with his hand on the back of his head.
"I already think that you're a weirdo, sadist since when you said you wanted to 'have fun' with a 'robber', and I think that it'll get worse if you don't stay away from me."
Right after that, Captain Sohor with a big smile on her face raised her hand:
"You can also add pervert."
"Ooohh, thank you Captain Sohor. I'll do it right away !"
"I can feel your love for me," Karl said sarcastically, grasping his chest.
"Hey kiddo ! If you're okay with that, you can take the test now. If Karl saw something in you, I definitely have to see it."
" That's fine by me. Thank you for giving me a chance !", I answered while bowing.
"No need to thank me. The hardest part will be to convince the general Fei."
"Fei ? That's the general of the archer section ?"
"Yes, Harper Fei. Compared to me her precision is monstrous. If you pass, you might get the chance to see her in action."
"I'm looking forward to it."
Then Karl left us to return to the knights section due to a job he had to do, while captain Sohor was taking me to the outdoor training area where I'll be taking the test. Actually, it happened that Karl is the captain of his section, but also the strongest.
But seriously, who would let a man like him lead a group ?
According to captain Sohor, he can be lazy at times but he hasn't always been like this.
I wonder what happened to him.
Arrived there, captain Sohor gave me a bow with some arrows.
"Here you go. You can practice a bit while I'll go look for the General Fei. It'll take ten minutes. Good luck Kiddo."
"Ok, thank you Captain."
The place looked like a small stadium, with bleachers around and a grassy field at the center.
I stepped on the field and there were targets aligned so I shot some arrows but I missed all the targets.
"Argh ! Looks like I'm really bad at this, but if I adjust my balance, I think I'll be fine."
"Look at this ! What do we have here ? Are you new ?"
Eh ? Who is this guy ? I haven't seen him coming.
He seemed to have the same age as me, a couple inches shorter than me, pretty well-build with short red hair and thin green eyes. I noticed he also had a bow with him him so, I assumed that he's probably an archer.
"I might be in a few minutes. I'm here to take the entrance test to be an archer in the army."
"Really ? Interesting. However, I've never seen you at the academy before."
"Yea I'm not from Fretzia. It's Karl- I mean captain Künh who recommended me."
"A knight who recommends someone for the archer section, there's no way something good could come out of this", he said followed by a petty laugh.
I don't know why, but I felt a little irritated by what he had just said.
"What do you mean by that ?", I asked while frowning my eyebrows.
"Ah, sorry, it's nothing. I didn't mean to upset you", he replied while putting his hand on the left shoulder of Jemuel.
"I'm not upset. Why would I be ?", I said with a sulky face, then, he looked at me with astonishment for a moment.
"You're right", he replied while smiling with his eyes closed.
I don't know what he wants from me, but I think we're already off to a bad start.
"So, you know 'the green curse' ? I hope he doesn't give you too much trouble ?", he said sarcastically.
"The green curse ?"
"Yea that's Karl nickname, didn't you know ?"
"No..."
"Eh really ? Look, I'll give you a friendly advice from my personal experience. Don't stay to close from him, you could die", he said as he moved closer to my face with scary wide eyes.
*Gloups*
"That's it for me. I have to go now, good luck and see you later."
While I was looking at him walk away, I noticed that I haven't even asked for his name; but I didn't try to stop him. I didn't know what to think of what he just told me about Karl, but I didn't have time to worry about it.
"I have a test to pass."
After that, I saw many other members of the Royal army arrived followed by captain Sohor with general Fei and... another girl ? Who's she ? They looked in my direction then went to sit in the stands.
General Fei looked old enough to be considered my mother. She was tall with long straight blonde hair and grey eyes. I noticed the scar on her nose and the army brown beret she wore.
In comparison, the unknown girl might be around my age. Standing next to the general, she seemed to be around five foot three inches with shoulder length pink hair and large eyes of the same color. She wore the same coat as Karl with a sword thus, I figured out that she was a knight.
Then, captain Sohor started to explain the rules. She explained that there's targets which will be throw in the air, and I'll have one minute to hit as many as I can, but obviously there's more than that.
"This test will be a duel between you and the best archer student of our academy."
A duel ?! Seriously ?!
"Your opponent name is Laurenz Künh !"
Künh ? It's the same last name as Karl. Could it be his brother ?
Next, he appeared behind me. Eh ? But... That's the guy I've met a few minutes earlier ! I just remember now that he told me 'See you later', but I hadn't paid much attention to it.
"You'll be judge in function of that, take it seriously."
How could I not be serious about it ? That's a test after all.
"Just let me tell you something. If you got some respect for yourself you should just leave. You'll never be able to defeat me", Laurenz said in an unpleasant tone.
Huh ? What's suddenly wrong with him ?
"I don't know what's your real motive, but I can't let you disrespect the academy and the archers of this nation."
What is he talking about ?
"The rest of the academy students and I went through a lot to one day be able to join the royal army. We wish to be the future proud archers who will protect this nation. But you !... You suddenly appeared in this city, and decided to take directly the entrance test ? Don't look down on archery, it's more than just shooting some arrows ! It takes dedication, discipline and more !"
"How do you expect me to understand that when I just got here ?! You might be a snob but at least I see your feelings are real ! You're not wrong. I have no rights to be standing here but even so... I'll do it anyway ! And you know why ?! Because life isn't fair ! It never was and never will ! So stop bragging and just show life that it was wrong to put me in your way !"
"Are you an idiot or what ?!"
"Yes ! I might be an idiot but just so you know, I also have my reasons to be here. There's someone who is convicted that I can do it, so the least I can do it's trying to look good."
"Very well then. I'll show you the difference between you and me."
"Bring it on", I said while we were staring at each other with intensity.
The test was finally about to started. Laurenz was in position and at the signal of Captain Sohor, the targets were thrown into the air. I could see he was focused; his eyes were locked on the targets like an eagle that targets its prey. Then, he began to shoot his arrows.
What's going on ? I'm having trouble to follow his arrows. Could it be that he's shooting so fast that I can barely see them ? I thought as my heart started to beat.
His vision and speed are incredible but his balance is less though. He lost it a bit, which led to the fact that he missed some targets and his speed decreased. Before captain Sohor signals the end, he shot two arrows at the same time and they were so fast and powerful that they hit four targets at the same time. After that, we could saw smoke coming out of it. It was breathtaking.
Then, Laurenz proudly walked toward me.
"I hope you understand now. We live in different worlds. I bet you won't to be able to even hit one target. Well, let's see what you got."
But inside him, Laurenz was very upset, and was telling himself that he could have done better.
I knew that he was trying to provoke me so I didn't answer him.
In total, Laurenz hit twenty-nine targets. It's hard to admit but he's not only all talk.
My turn has finally come. I went to position myself and could feel that everyone were staring at me. I did some breathing exercises then I was ready to start.
"LET'S GOOO !"
Captain Sohor gave the signal and the targets were throw in the air. I saw them but my arrows weren't reaching them. I was not stable on my legs and had poor coordination of my movements, so my arrows were going in all directions except where I wanted them to go.
"I told you ! Not even one !" Laurenz shouted, looking satisfied.
"Shh, Laurenz you can't scream like that." said the unknown girl.
"Is it this guy who want to enter the army ?"
"You can tell he doesn't know how to use a bow."
"Why is he even here ? Is he making fun of us?"
"It's impossible for him to defeat Laurenz. I mean, he's the best of the academy."
"It's the end, he no longer has any chance of winning. Not that he even had one at first."
"He thought he just could walk in and become an archer ? What an idiot."
"Just go home already moron !"
"Don't ever think that you're better than us !"
As the crowd continued to complain, the general Fei put on a serious look, wondering what move Jemuel was going to do next to get out of this situation.
Damn, it's harder than I thought...
Hum, I still have time left. Let's start again.
I think I understand how it works now. I'll add more power to it by stretching more my arm, aligned my arrow as much as possible with my eyes, adjust my balance and here we go.
"Uh ? Don't you find that his shoots seem to have become more precise ?"
"Yea that's true."
"How did his movements change so quickly ?"
"Right. They are more fluid but I don't think I have seen this style before."
"I haven't seen him missed for a while now."
"Yea that's kind of impressive."
"What happened ?"
"Could it be tha- Can he really win ?"
Some of the students and soldiers in the arena wondered.
"Shut up ! That's impossible ! He can't win. It's just dumb luck, I'm sure it won't last long", Laurenz exclaimed while he started to feel a bit anguish.
I don't know how much targets I've already hit until now but I've to speed up.
"AARRGGHHH !"
I increased the speed and started to hit more targets. My movements was as if I was using a gun even though I've never used one. I was moving my eyes so fast I could see everything. I felt like my arrows merged with the wind and became one.
*THREE !*
General Fei made a smug face.
*TWO !*
Well, let's end it with a 'breathtaking ending', I though while smiling and grinding my teeth with a determined look.
I took two arrows and just like Laurenz, I shot them at the same time.
"Are you kidding me ?! This bastard," thought Laurenz as he stood up while clenching his fist with a disgusted look.
*ONE !*
The whole crowd stood up, looking astonished while waiting for the moment of truth. Will Jemuel arrows hit their targets?
*ZERO !!*