The Arrow of Destiny Cuts Through the Night

#30

It was strange.

Kain Starchis was walking down the wide corridor of the Gerold Marquis’s mansion with his usual disinterested expression.

However, every human he encountered had been approaching him to talk. The servants who had previously ignored him in the annex where he originally stayed were now openly speaking to him. Is this how the main building usually is?

“Good day, sir. Is there anything you need?”

Humans other than Jersian were neither comfortable nor interesting to Kain. He only slightly tilted his head in response to the servants’ questions and greetings. Due to his cold face and tall stature, some seemed satisfied with this level of response, but the rest persistently clung to him.

“Are you looking for Young Master Jersian?”

“…”

Even though Kain Starchis, who could find Jersian on his own, showed signs of annoyance, the mouths of the servants on both sides didn’t stop.

“Young Master Jersian should be in the west wing right now.”

“If you’d like, I can guide you to the west wing.”

“Ah, shall I send a message ahead to let them know you’re coming?”

“…”

Why? It was especially strange that Jersian was consistently mentioned in their conversations.

Kain’s feet, which had been walking down the corridor, suddenly stopped. The servants who had been trailing behind him also halted in place.

“… Not necessary.”

Although it was kind of them to inform him about Jersian’s whereabouts without being asked… for Kain, who preferred to move around alone, it was just annoying.

“You there.”

Medis, the head butler who discovered the situation while passing through the corridor, intervened.

“I told you to quickly come to the banquet hall, what are you doing here? Don’t trouble the young master’s guest.”

“Ah, yes. We’re sorry, Head Butler.”

“Hurry along now.”

“Yes!”

“Yes!”

Only then did the servants around Kain scatter. As Kain was about to continue on his way, Medis spoke to him.

“Lord Kain, I apologize for yesterday’s rudeness.”

“… Likewise.”

He was apologizing for suddenly calling Kain out of his room and guiding him to the Marquis yesterday. Since Kain wasn’t the type to hold onto such trivial matters, he accepted the apology with an indifferent face. However, it seemed that Medis’s business wasn’t finished.

“And was the newly prepared room comfortable for you?”

It was a question with a significant undertone. It seemed like there was an intention to find out something, but Kain couldn’t tell what it was.

“Ah, yes. It was more comfortable than the annex. I like that it’s closer to Jersian.”

Kain answered honestly, recalling his body feeling refreshed after a good night’s sleep. It must have been the effect of being destined partners. He was so surprised to find Jersian nestled in his arms when he woke up. Given Jersian’s personality, there’s no way he would have willingly cuddled up to sleep, and judging by how he demanded Kain to remove his hands as soon as he woke up, it probably wasn’t voluntary. While Kain was lost in these thoughts,

“… I see. That’s good to hear.”

Medis’s disgruntled response was heard.

Hm? As Kain slightly tilted his head, Medis quickly disappeared in the direction the servants had gone, saying, “Ahem, well then. I’m busy, so I’ll be off.”

“…”

After briefly watching the back of the hastily retreating head butler, Kain slightly shrugged his shoulders and continued on his way.

It was in the direction of the west wing, where Jersian was said to be.

* * *

What filled Kain’s vision when he found the west wing was a line of knights filling the training grounds. Sharp shouts were accompanied by the sound of metal.

Gerold was the most powerful family in the empire. The scale of the knightly order run by the family was the largest, except for the imperial knights. Of course, for Kain, who was still adapting to the human world, it was a shocking sight even without knowing this fact.

‘All these people train with swords?’

Elves don’t learn swordsmanship. Instead, elves learn archery from a young age. With a bow, you don’t directly feel the impact after shooting an arrow. When accurately hitting and striking something, the practitioner naturally feels a sense of satisfaction. The bow was the weapon that kept its owner furthest from that satisfaction.

For this reason, learning archery for an elf is a process of learning to restrain that sensation as much as possible. It’s training to lower emotional excitement, to minimize breathing sounds, and to not reveal one’s presence.

“…”

Kain lowered his gaze as he watched from the end of a dark corridor at one side of the training grounds.

Training with a sword is completely different in nature from training with a bow. Knights remember the impact transmitted to their palms when cutting something and strive to move their swords faster and stronger. It’s a training method that inevitably involves seeing blood.

Of course, he’s not trying to disregard or belittle their methods. It’s just that these points further remind him of the differences between humans and elves.

In the distance, he could see Jersian sitting in a position where he could overlook the knights training in the grounds. He was closely observing each member of the knightly order. The image of the boy with disheveled hair that he saw in the morning was nowhere to be seen.

It was then.

Their eyes met in mid-air as Jersian was flipping through documents. Jersian’s red pupils fixed on him for a moment before returning to their original position. Then, he could be seen gesturing to Peter, who was waiting beside him.

He seems busy, maybe I should go.

Kain Starchis thought this as he turned his body.

“Lord Kain?”

A familiar voice was heard. As Kain slightly turned his head, Peter, the knight commander who had been beside Jersian until just moments ago, waved his hand.

“What brings you here? Aren’t you here to meet Young Master Jersian? He’s over there.”

“… That’s not it.”

“You can comfortably observe from there. The young master will probably allow it.”

“I’ll pass.”

He wasn’t interested enough to sit and watch. Kain was about to move his feet after shaking his head from side to side.

Hey, Peter’s voice caught Kain’s ankle again as he was about to leave.

“Actually, the invitation to stay at the training grounds is my request. Everyone has been pestering me for days, curious after hearing that an elf is in this mansion.”

Ha ha, Peter laughed with a very kind face.

Just as Kain was about to reject Peter’s request, not wanting to become a spectacle,

“Ah, come to think of it, there’s something I forgot. We’ve set aside the belongings from the lodging where you stayed on the day we brought you to the mansion, Lord Kain.”

“Ah.”

If it’s the luggage from the lodging.

Honestly, it’s a bit of a stretch to call that forceful invitation ‘bringing you here,’ but Kain decided to generously let it slide. After all, Kain had forgotten about his belongings as well.

“Yes. There was a wooden bow and a few arrows. I’ll return them to you right away. Hey, bring that from the training ground storage room.”

“Yes.”

That was fortunate.

Setting aside the arrows, the bow was a family heirloom passed down for generations, so if it had been lost forever, it would have been a concern deep down.

A trainee who quickly carried out Peter’s order huffed and puffed as he respectfully held out a bow and quiver as large as his own body towards Kain.

“Here it is!”

“…”

As he received it, Kain closely examined his bow that he hadn’t held for a while. He thought dust would have settled on it after not using it for so long, but the bowstring was smooth and taut. It was in a condition where it could be drawn right away without any issues. It wouldn’t have been like this if it had just been left alone.

Noticing Kain’s gaze, Peter spoke up.

“Well… since it’s a seasoned bow, we couldn’t just store it without care, so we had it maintained. The best weapon caretaker in the castle took charge of it, so you needn’t worry.”

“I’m not worried, it just looks too new.”

That was actually the case. The bow looked in better condition than when Kain had inherited it from his father.

“…”

After personally checking the condition of the bow, he actually wanted to try shooting it. If he nocked an arrow and let it fly, he could intuitively feel how prime its condition was.

Peter, who had cherished and maintained his own sword for a long time, could accurately see through Kain’s current thoughts. Whether elf or human, there were inevitable aspects for a warrior.

He carefully asked Kain while gesturing towards an archery target far in the corner of the training grounds.

“Would you like to try it out?”

At that question, Kain raised his gaze from the bow.

“Alright.”

Clearly, before recovering his bow, he had no intention of mingling with other humans here, but now that had changed.