Standing before me was a middle-aged man in formal and classy clothes. His name is Steven and he is the mayor of the city of Blight.
After entering the mayor's residence with Aldoun, he was the first figure to appear before us. It was very unexpected because I thought a person with such high status would tell his subordinates to meet me before meeting him.
Aldoun gave a salute and said to the mayor, "I have brought the newest recruit of magic knights. As I explained earlier in the letter, I would like you to see him say the magic knight's sacred oath so that he becomes part of the magic knights officially."
"This is my obligation as a mayor. Young man, my name is Steven and as you already know, I am the mayor who will be a witness to your oath. Now say your oath and you will officially become a magic knight of Arcanium Kingdom."
Previously I had asked Aldoun about what I should say as an oath and how to do it. when the mayor took out a ceremonial cane and pointed it at my body, I immediately make a half-kneeling pose.
"In the name of Arcanium, I, Crimson Clover, swear to guard the kingdom's peace as a magic knight. I will protect this kingdom with all my body and soul and if I violate it, I'm willing to be punished according to applicable law."
After saying the oath, I felt something was a little different in my body and a system notification appeared in front of me.
[You have taken the oath as a magic knight of the Arcanium Kingdom.]
[Special buff have taken effect.]
[In the Arcanium Kingdom, your mana increases by 500 and your intelligent stats by 500.]
[If you break the oath, debuff will apply as long as you are in the Arcanium Kingdom.]
"You have said your oath. Congratulations, you are now officially a magic knight." Said the mayor while helping me to stand up.
Getting the chance to speak, Aldoun started praising me in front of the mayor.
"You know, he just made a big contribution to the kingdom because he discovered several intruders who wanted to steal our kingdom's information."
"Is that true?" Asked Mayor Steven with a surprised expression.
Aldoun then told the mayor about the drama I made before we arrived at the mayor's residence. He said about cameras and several people who were captured and imprisoned for interrogation.
Then I heard Mayor Steven talk about seeing the contents of their memories using magic which made me break out in a cold sweat because I imagined whether they would also know the memories of the real world from that magic.
"But of course that's impossible because of the system … right?"
Of course I didn't say it out loud and it was just what I thought in my mind.
After finishing our business at the mayor's residence, Aldoun took me around and by chance we met Melissa who was shopping for groceries.
Our eyes met and my steps immediately stopped just as her hand also stopped in the air while holding an apple.
Next to me, Aldoun smiled and greeted Melissa but as usual, Melissa ignored him and instead said, "Shut up, Aldoun. You still owe me one thing. Don't talk to me before you pay your debt and you, whatever your name is. You still haven't finished your training with me and as a perfectionist, I can't accept it."
Turning to Aldoun I asked, "Is she always like this?"
"Yes, she is."
Thinking for a while, I felt there was no harm in continuing my training with Melissa. Maybe if this was the real world I would be too lazy to do it but this is a game world. Practice will make me stronger and that benefits me a lot.
Walking up to Melissa, I stretch out my hand with the intention of helping her carry her shopping bag but Melissa only looking at me with a fish eyes and asked, "Why are you extending your hand? You want this apple?"
"Huh? Didn't you say you wanted to train me? I intended to help you carry your shopping bag so we could start training immediately. Hey, why are you so silent all of sudden?"
"N-no, It's nothing. I'm just shocked because this is the first time someone has said that to me. Besides, you don't need to, I can use my wind magic to carry my shopping bag like this."
Manipulating the natural mana around her shopping bag, a small vortex of wind appeared and lifted her shopping bag with easy.
I swear I saw her face turn red for a moment but because it was only for a moment, I wasn't so sure either.
Aldoun, who felt neglected, finally said, "Enjoy your time. Remember, Crimson Clover, even though you are training with Melissa today, tomorrow morning you must take part in training with the other magic knights."
Without waiting my response, that guy was already walking in another direction.
Now standing in front of Melissa, I spoke to break the silence.
"After this, where do you want to go next?"
"I will put my shopping bag at my house first and then we will go to the same place as last time to continue your training."
Walking next to Melissa, I following her while asking some questions to increase my knowledge of magic.
Melissa also began to answer my various questions patiently and even provided more detailed explanations to help me understand everything.
My questions are very varied. Including various types of magic other than elemental magic. magic with recitation and without recitation, weapons used by magic knights, etc.
I really enjoyed the time we spent because thanks to Melissa I gained a lot of new knowledge about magic.
Talking about magic also made me realize another side of the witch next to me. Even though her attitude seemed cold and indifferent to her surroundings like she didn't care about Aldoun or forgot my name even though she had taught me quite a lot about magic.
When Melissa talked about magic, her eyes was shone like starts and I could see her smile.
"Oh no, don't tell me I was fascinated and fell in love with an NPC!"
When I arrived in front of Melissa's house, I was waiting in silent to understand my own feelings. This taboo feelings should not happen. This is the same as an otaku who is crazy about a 2D anime girl.
"Alright it's done. Now let's go to our training spot. By the way, Crimson Clover, now I'm very sure that you're lying about everything."
Thanks to her, I regained my focus before asking her what did she mean by that.
"Like I said, I know the truth. You don't come from the magic kingdom like Arcanium because you don't understand magic at all. I know you have sworn an oath and officially become a magic knight, that's why I won't reveal your secret. But you have to tell me, who exactly are you or rather who exactly all of you and why did you come to this city?"
This is where I realized that my thirst for knowledge about magic had become my weak point. I was cornered by an NPC who even managed to make me fall in love.
Realizing there was no point continuing to lie, I said to Melissa, "You're right, I did lie. I'll say it but not here. I'll explain when we get to where you trained me last time."
While we on the way to our training spot, many players saw us and some rumors started to emerge.
When we arrived, Melissa seemed to be waiting for my explanation and confession.
"I confess. I had lied but it was so we wouldn't be arrested and jailed but I also can't tell the truth. Because this is a big secret. I swear I have no bad intentions towards the Arcanium Kingdom. I even taken an oath to protect the peace of this kingdom with my body and soul. We just want to survive and get a job. It's just that."
When Melissa saw my serious expression, she sighed and said, "Well, I trust you for now."
I didn't expect that on my 2nd day of playing this game, the NPCs had started to question the identities of us players who suddenly appeared before them. Something like this wasn't supposed to happen. Gaia Project, this game is completely different from any other game and very mysterious.
Trying to change the conversation, I asked her, "Are you going to train me magic or what?"
This time Melissa asked me with a surprised expression, "You still want me to train you after I forced you to tell me truth?"
I nodded and answered, "I don't mind that. It did create some awkwardness but my desire to learn magic isn't that easily extinguished."
This is the second time I saw Melissa smiling and say, "Okay. I will train you and this time you have to last a long time. I will teach you about casting type magic and this magic is more difficult than magic without casting because you need high concentration to do it. In exchange for the difficulty, this type of magic will deal greater damage or effects."
"The name of the technique I will teach you is 'Mantra Recitation' or 'Spell Casting'."