"Sir Knight!" Daron gave a salute. Normal citizens were to solute knights by clicking their heels together before placing their hands on their chests and bowing down slightly. To nobles on the other hand, citizens were to completely kneel down and not say a word until the noble greets them or passes.
These two were the basic learnings of most citizens within the city. Naturally, Head priestess Anna did not deem this tradition worth her time, and did not teach the children. However, Daron had still observed this behaviour on normal days, and just yesterday when all the children and soldiers met the Intermediate knight noble of the 'Baron' rank, Zack Bard.
Since he had only seen this a few times, even with the help of the system, it would still take him around 2 times to completely perfect it.
The problem with the system was that even though it could record everything, it could not transfer everything directly into Daron's brain. This meant that he still had to spend time on watching, learning and practicing things. Naturally, each time he did something, Sirious could correct him after some time of analysis, which would basically mean that his speed of practicing any movements was nearly 10 times faster than normal people.
After giving the salute, Sirious began her analysis and pointed the nearly hundred things Daron had done wrongly in a 3-step salute.
The knight at the door simply nodded and waited for Daron to raise his head before asking.
"Are you Daron?"
"Yes."
"Lord Zack Bard invites you to the palace."
The knight moved to the side pointing at a carriage outside the church gates. This carriage was decorated with a few unique woods which clearly stood out from the normal wood used in the city due to the lines ingrained within the wood, and the quality of the wood.
Daron turned around to find everyone was already waiting for him to leave. Although he wasn't invited to learn to become a knight, it was still the first step in doing so, and not only Joanne, but even the kids understood that as they just looked at him coldly.
"Get out of here!" Hans rushed to push him out with an angry face, while the others just stared at him coldly. Only Joanne put on an expression of waving a loved one goodbye as she sent him off with a smile on her face.
However, as soon as the door shut and Daron began walking towards the carriage, Hans, Greta, Lily as well as Mako all burst into tears.
Although they were only 6 years of age, they understood that this point in time was the crossroads of each of their individual lives, possibly separating them for life so that they could pursue their dreams and aspirations.
Soon, Daron had arrived at the castle gates as he got off the carriage with his bottom, as well as spine hurting intensely just from this short 10-minute ride. Although it would normally take 15 minutes by carriage to complete this journey, and nearly 30 minutes by walking, everyone had made way for the Lord's carriage which allowed Daron to reach rather quickly.
Even though Daron now had enough money, he had never used a carriage not only from the fear of getting kidnapped that Joanne adamantly held onto, as well as the fact that the church was merely a 4-minute walk from the restaurant. And if he ran, he could reach within around a minute.
This was his first time in a carriage, and he could not say anything to make it seem any less pleasant.
HE was led to a room within the castle, where the Baron Zack was waiting for him.
"So, you are Daron?"
"Yes."
"…" Zack was at a loss for words. For some reason, he had not thought this far into the conversation, just assuming that Daron would enter the room and kneel in front of him, offering everything he has for the chance to serve the lord of the city. But his fantasies were completely destroyed by Daron's nonchalant attitude.
"Why are you not greeting me like a noble?"
"Sir Baron Zack, as of the time I won the competition, I was hired as my lady Zoey's bodyguard. Therefore, in order to not ruin her reputation, I cannot bow down to anyone unless they introduce themselves as someone of a higher rank than my lady."
"I am her father."
"Very well then"
Daron lowered his head in a manner that one would great their own father while he was in active duty in an official post, which somehow ticked Baron Zack off. However, he was able to understand the logic behind this and could not help but laugh at the guts this 6-year-old kid had. Naturally, since he could not do anything to the kid, he could only laugh it off.
"Alright then. But you cannot be her bodyguard yet. You need to be strong enough in order to be the bodyguard of a noble heir. You need to become at least a Novice knight of the 2nd rank in order to be accepted as a bodyguard."
"Of course, my lord. However, I do not know how to."
"Don't worry about that. I presume you have met Fals? He is the knight that came to pick you up. He will teach you how to become a knight for the time being. Until you become a Novice knight of the second rank, you will only be considered a night-in-training to be. Fals should be waiting outside for you. Go now, and do not treat me like this until you become a novice knight of the second rank."
"Yes." Daron gave a deep bow almost touching the ground this time round, since not only was he grateful at the opportunity to become a knight, but he was also temporarily removed from the position of personal guard.
NOTE:
Bodyguard has been changed to personal guard since it suits the setting of the story better.