The day to enter training camp had arrived.
“Shall we go?”
Bella, who had come out to the mansion yard early in the morning, loosened up with a few quick motions.
Eugene looked at her with sleepy eyes.
Bella’s outfit had changed.
The first things that stood out were the thick shackles on her wrists and ankles. Apparently, those were the restraints that had caused such a fuss last night over whether she would wear them or not, the ones that sealed off magic use.
They would probably look extremely awkward worn over the Order uniform, but with her simple martial uniform, they did not look that strange.
At a glance, they even looked like armor protecting her arms and legs.
Perhaps because of the restraints, the martial uniform itself was also a simple form stripped of any cumbersome parts.
A sleeveless leather outfit that clung tightly to the body, short pants.
And leggings pulled on to protect her skin.
Though they were entering training camp, the Dragon Knight Order was not an organization with such strict regulations. It did not matter what clothes they wore there.
‘And as long as that beggar-like training uniform exists, anything else doesn’t really matter anyway.’
When Eugene looked at her closely, Bella asked,
“What is it? Do I look awkward?”
Perhaps lacking confidence in her outfit, she looked herself over. Without Monica, who had always taken care of her by her side, it was natural for her to feel uneasy.
“No, it’s fine…… There’s just something else bothering me.”
Eugene hummed and stroked his chin, then suddenly said,
“Could you put your arms together in front of you?”
“……?”
Bella found the sudden request strange, but she obediently gathered both arms in front of her chest.
Eugene rummaged through the pouch of magic tools at his waist, took out a cord, and wrapped it around her neatly gathered wrists.
Then he let the end hang down and held it himself.
The shackles around her wrists, and the cord connected to them.
Bella frowned.
Didn’t this make her look like some sort of criminal?
“What are you doing right now?”
“Just stay still for a second.”
Eugene looked at Bella while shaking the end of the cord.
At a glance, Bella looked like someone whose pride could pierce the sky. But now that shackles had been placed on her limbs and both hands had been gathered and tied with a cord, the result was an image as if her four limbs had been bound and restrained.
She looked like a captured female knight.
Eugene stroked his chin and spoke seriously.
“You…… If you go out onto the street like this…….”
“If I go out?”
“You’re going to get love calls pouring in from people with certain special tastes.”
“You lunatic, seriously.”
***
Eugene and Bella arrived at the Dragon Knight Order barracks.
The assembly point was the parade ground. On Bella’s shoulder as she passed through the wide gate was Eugene, hanging limp like a corpse.
There was someone who had arrived at the parade ground ahead of them.
She was a woman who looked good in uniform.
Her blond hair was neat, and her waist was straight. The uniform itself belonged to the Dragon Knight Order, but the insignia on her shoulder was engraved with the Solari symbol, which signified a paladin of the Sun God.
She was Bella’s close friend and her partner in the previous life. Monica Samaras.
The two of them did not even need greetings. Seeing Eugene draped over Bella’s shoulder, Monica asked in confusion,
“Um…… what happened to him?”
“He said something ridiculous, so I gave him a bit of a massage.”
As Bella said that, she threw Eugene onto a pile of luggage stacked to one side.
Eugene tumbled with a groaning sound, and his limbs trembled weakly.
Seeing that, Monica made an ugh expression.
“Don’t tell me you used Muscle-Separating Hand?”
“Yes.”
“That isn’t massage. It’s torture.”
“It only hurts. It is good for the body.”
Bella said it confidently.
There was nothing wrong with her words. In truth, Muscle-Separating Hand was a technique used in her school by a master to loosen the stiff body of a disciple.
Its effect in loosening hardened muscles was certain.
It was merely very, very painful.
“Nghhh…… I’m dying.”
Eugene, sprawled out on the ground, flailed his arms and legs. Monica looked down at his pathetic state and said,
“Is this really all right? It isn’t that I don’t trust your choice, but…….”
She was asking whether Eugene could fulfill his role as Bella’s partner.
Bella smiled.
“Do not worry. He does what he needs to do when it matters.”
“I see.”
Monica smiled bitterly. Then she clasped hands with Bella and bumped shoulders with her.
Bella asked,
“Where is your partner?”
“Over there.”
Monica gestured with her eyes to one side.
A wall encircled the parade ground along its boundary. Behind a tree inside it, someone had poked out their head and was fidgeting.
Monica beckoned.
“Don’t do that. Come here.”
Only after hearing her gentle voice did a woman emerge from behind the tree.
The woman dawdled for quite a while, then cautiously approached and hid beside Monica.
Though even if she hid, she was too large to be hidden.
She was a truly large girl. But unlike her bear-like build, her brown hair flowed down softly, and her face looked so gentle that she seemed unable to kill even a single bug. She was also plump, so her whole body looked soft.
She looked like a huge teddy bear come to life. That was the impression the dragon gave.
Monica said,
“I told you about her before, right? This is my friend Bella. Say hello.”
“I’m Bella.”
Bella stretched out her hand first without hesitation. The girl hiding behind Monica hesitated, then abruptly grabbed Bella’s hand.
“I-I’m the Green Dragon, S-Suiseiki! I-I look forward to working with you!”
“Likewise.”
Bella smiled. She knew Suiseiki.
They had been in the same cohort in the Order.
Because of her fragile impression, which did not suit her size, she looked unreliable at first glance, but in Bella’s memories, Suiseiki had been an unyielding wall.
And she had also been a brave dragon who sacrificed herself to protect people.
Originally, Suiseiki’s rider had been someone else, but it was fine. Monica would be more than capable of taking care of Suiseiki and helping her grow into an excellent Dragon Knight.
“I am Eugene Brace.”
“I am Monica Samaras.”
When Bella turned her head, Eugene had gotten up at some point and was exchanging greetings with Monica.
Eugene immediately turned and greeted Suiseiki as well.
“Uh, um, that is…….”
Eugene held out his hand, but she could not take it. She hesitated, not knowing what to do. Like Bella, Eugene knew her nature, so he naturally withdrew his hand and greeted her once more with proper etiquette.
“I look forward to working with you, lovely lady.”
He gave a slight wink and smiled.
It was a sweet smile that might have melted an ordinary girl.
“Ah, aaah.”
At the same time Suiseiki’s face flushed bright red, Bella’s eyebrow twitched.
She pulled Eugene by the nape.
“Stop that. You are making Suiseiki uncomfortable.”
“No, she seems to like it…….”
“Shut up.”
You have no gravitas at all!
Just as Bella was scolding Eugene and the two were starting to squabble, a clear voice rang out.
“Oh my, it seems the wonderful people have already gathered.”
Everyone turned their heads. Two young ladies in dresses were there.
“I am the Gold Dragon Escalena. I look forward to working with you.”
“I am Rosetta of the House of Count Arize. I look forward to working with you.”
The socialite duo, who contributed to the Dragon Knight Order’s growth through social ability rather than combat power, had arrived.
That was not all. Two enormous masses of muscle were entering through the entrance of the parade ground.
“Everyone is here!”
“You are all diligent! Admirable!”
Thunderous voices boomed in their ears.
When the two hulking figures entered, it felt as if the parade ground had grown full.
The assault tank duo, consisting of the Red Dragon Alex and the Flame Knight Guts Breaker.
With the socialite duo and the chariot duo joining them, most of the members had gathered.
Because Eugene and Bella had formed a partnership due to what happened at the Dragon Master Assembly, the selection of riders could differ from the present one. But the number of dragons joining the Order was decided before the Dragon Master Assembly took place.
The number of dragons decided to join this year was five.
Therefore, only one Dragon Knight team remained.
Eugene looked toward the entrance of the parade ground.
‘When is Henri coming?’
Henri was the name of the dragon who had originally become Eugene’s partner.
As he watched the entrance like that, he saw a small figure trudging in at just the right moment.
A shaggy-haired boy walking in while yawning, haaam.
He was a beautiful boy who, at a glance, could be mistaken for a girl, but he wore an expression that said everything in the world was bothersome.
‘That guy…… stayed up all night reading again.’
Eugene clicked his tongue.
He knew the boy well.
Because the boy walking this way right now was his original partner, the Black Dragon Henri.
Then who was Henri’s rider?
Eugene became curious.
Among the dragons who had joined this year, a total of three had different dragon riders.
Bella, Suiseiki, and Henri.
But since Eugene, who had been Henri’s rider, formed a partnership with Bella, and Monica, who had been Bella’s rider, became linked with Suiseiki, the composition of the members had not changed until now.
Strictly speaking, Suiseiki’s original rider had been removed…… but she was not someone who could receive Henri’s selection.
That was what he was thinking when Eugene’s eyes caught sight of the person entering behind Henri.
“Oho.”
A smile spread across Eugene’s lips. Blue hair reflected in his pupils.
He was a man with blade-like beauty.
He wore a monocle with a cord over one eye and had neatly swept his bangs back.
And that face was far too familiar to Eugene.
Recently, there was a rumor among mages.
‘In the west, a Blue Hawk rises. In the east, White Lightning strikes.’
That was said to refer to the two people whose stock had risen the highest among young mages due to their achievements at the Magic Tower Grand Competition and other feats.
Of them, the Blue Hawk was the title referring to Eugene, the greatest prospect of the Arcane Magic Tower.
And the other one was…….
“Noan Gottlieb of the Lightning Magic Tower.”
Noan introduced himself in that arrogant tone.
‘When it comes to stiff-necked arrogance, he’d be second to none.’
Even at the moment of his death, that personality had not gone anywhere. Eugene smiled faintly.
Noan Gottlieb.
White Lightning, the Fastest Mage, and many other aliases. In his previous life, he had been called one wheel of the mage world’s two-horse carriage alongside Eugene—his rival.
Eugene smiled and stood before Noan.
“Well, look who it is. Isn’t this the white empty husk from somewhere?”
“Eugene Brace.”
Recognizing him, Noan Gottlieb slowly directed his cold gaze beyond his monocle.
“I heard you became a Twinstella Dragon Knight.”
Eugene shrugged.
“Yeah. Killer, isn’t it?”
Noan snorted.
“You were born with a talent far too good for you. Knowing such talent will rot away in the future, I simply found it regrettable.”
He spoke coldly and raised a hand to adjust his monocle.
Judging by his completely relaxed attitude, it seemed he had no particular thoughts yet about Eugene being Twinstella.
But Eugene’s provocation did not stop there.
“Really? Then can you say the same after seeing this?”
He chuckled and lightly rolled up his sleeve, showing the tattoo embedded in his forearm.
“That is……!?”
As expected of a model student, perhaps. Noan recognized it, and his eyes widened.
He looked back at Eugene with an expression of disbelief.
“The Pure Refinement Bracelet…… Where in the world did you get that?”
“Ah, this? Sir Nidbolg gave it to me.”
Eugene spoke as if it were nothing. But those words seemed to strike Noan like a shock.
“F-from Sir Nidbolg? How on earth?”
Anyone who knew even a little about the history of the mage world would be that surprised.
After all, every person until now who had received Nidbolg’s recognition and something from him had achieved accomplishments great enough to leave their name in history.
Well, Eugene was a somewhat different special case from them.
But there was no need to explain that point to Noan.
Eugene simply smiled with a hmph and looked at Noan as if he found him laughable.
“……!!”
Noan ground his teeth. He must have thought he had fallen behind Eugene in magic research.
He probably would not be able to sleep tonight out of frustration.
That was when Eugene was teasing Noan.
Henri, standing beside them, opened his mouth wide, yawned, and muttered,
“Sleepy. I want to sleep.”
Only then did Noan’s eyes leave Eugene. Noan straightened Henri up as Henri tried to sit down right there and fall asleep, then spoke sternly.
“Do not sleep. This is not such a place.”
He spoke coldly, yet with his hands, he was straightening Henri’s disheveled clothes.
When Henri whined like a child, Noan even summoned a cold water spirit and placed it beside his cheek.
Watching that, Eugene clicked his tongue.
‘If he tries to take care of him like that, he’ll be dragged around until the day he dies.’
Henri had a strong tendency to go entirely at his own pace and no manners. If left alone, he would probably spend the entire day sleeping in bed.
How much effort had Eugene gone through to rehabilitate that bastard?
Still, before the war with the Voidnir broke out, he had succeeded in making Henri get up on his own, feed himself on his own, and go to work in front of the Order building on his own. It had been remarkable progress.
Eugene sighed as he thought of the hardships from that time. Then he looked at Noan, who had taken on the troublesome baggage in his place, with pitying eyes.
“There are five dragons joining this year…… so it seems everyone is gathered now.”
Escalena, the Gold Dragon of the socialite duo, opened her mouth. She gave a soft, smiling laugh and cast her gaze toward one side of the five teams.
“And this year…… there is a very special Dragon Knight.”
Naturally, everyone’s eyes turned toward Eugene and Bella.
A Twinstella Dragon Knight who had appeared for the first time in a full 500 years.
A man and woman who said they were connected by their souls.
“…….”
The people here were all hot-blooded young people. So of course they could not help being interested in a fated meeting like Twinstella.
“Huh?”
“…….”
Bella looked flustered, and Eugene let out a hollow laugh.
“How did you meet!?”
“Are you dating? You are dating, right?”
“How far have you gone? Speak honestly!”
The glittering gazes of their classmates soon turned into a terrifying storm of questions.