Chapter 16
"My parents?" deon lightly spoke as he stared at the couple.
"Are they not? Where did you get this ring?" The Chairman asked
"My parents gave it to me as a memento," Deon unconsciously replied while staring at the couple
"That's your answer then, beside the man looks a lot like you, don't you think?" The Chairman said, noticing the similarities between deon and the man in the image
Deon was silent momentarily before replying, "Are they really my parents?" with a complicated expression.
*Sigh*
The Chairman saw deon's complicated face and couldn't help but feel empathy toward the young man in front of him: "Maybe, but I could be wrong."
Growing up, Deon believed that he didn't need his biological parents because Father James was always there for him. However, as he looked at the couple in front of him, he couldn't help but wonder what his life would have been like if they had been his parents instead.
And he doesn't know what to feel about it. On the one hand, it made him angry for feeling that way for the people that abandoned him, and on the other hand, it made him think about what Father James told him and that this couple might have a valid reason for why they abandoned him.
Deon shook his head and thought, 'There's no point in thinking about this now. I don't even know who they are. To me, they are just strangers.'
Deon denied the couple as his parent. Maybe it's because he felt it would be easier to hate his parents if they remained faceless, or maybe he doesn't want to think about what his life could've been if he wasn't orphaned. Whatever it is, deon doesn't like thinking about it.
"Thank you, Chairman," Deon spoke while trying to sound composed
"It's my pleasure, but I do have a favor," the Chairman said
"What it is, chairman, ill do my best to do it," Deon said, trying to divert his mind to something else
"Could you lend this ring to me for a couple of days? I swear that I will give it back to you," The Chairman said
"Yes, I don't mind," Deon replied. He didn't mind getting some space with his 'parents' as he sorted his mind toward them.
"Thank you," the Chairman said with a gentle smile. "Well, I won't hold you up any longer. It would be best if you weren't late for your awakening celebrations, but we will be in touch. Gerald, please escort our young friend to the imperial knight office."
"Yes, Chairman," the administrator said and looked toward deon. "Follow me"
Deon nodded and followed the administrator outside the office. As he exited, deon couldn't help but look toward the black ring in the Chairman's hand but quickly diverted his eyes.
"The apprentice knights probably already started their march back to their branch office, but we can still give you a carriage so that you can catch up to them." the administrator said while they walked toward the exit of the awakening temple.
"Thank you," Deon said
…
After the administrator escorted deon out of the temple, he returned to the Chairman's office. The administrator politely knocked.
"Come in," the Chairman on the opposite side of the door said
"Pardon my intrusion," the administrator politely said
"What is it? Did you get into trouble escorting deon?" the Chairman asked
"No, Chairman. I asked Willard to escort deon personally," The administrator said
"Good," the Chairman replied but saw that the administrator in front of him seemed to be hesitating about something. "Is there anything you want to tell me?"
"I'm just curious, Chairman. Why did you let deon go? If deon truly has a way that can increase the chance of awakening, I'm sure the kingdom would do anything to acquire it, and it would be a great achievement if we handed deon to the kingdom," the administrator said
"Hand deon to the kingdom?... Heh.… Deon is already part of our kingdom. Why do we need to hand him in? You said yourself. He is an apprentice knight of our kingdom," the Chairman said
"I didn't mean it like that… I meant—" administrator was about to clarify himself when the Chairman interrupted him.
"I know what you meant, but as part of the awakening temple, we must be neutral in all of the politics within the kingdom. That is how we earn the trust of the three factions," the Chairman said. "And besides, I've thoroughly inspected deon as you had seen, and I didn't find anything wrong with him except for this black ring, and although I don't specialize in divination magic, I still know enough that a newly awakened won't be able to hide anything from me."
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
"I understand. I just feel we could do more," the administrator said
"We can… We still need to report to the kingdom, and we can include deon in that report and let them sort it out themselves, and if they do find anything, then we will still be commended for it, and if they don't find anything, then we have done our job without compromising our standings" the Chairman said
"I see. Forgive me for my short-sightedness." The administrator said
"Don't be. Soon you will take my office, and the more experience you accumulate, the more assured I am of appointing you as the next Chairman." The Chairman said
"Thank you, Chairman," the administrator said
"You're welcome, so how about you start with the report now and include this ring," the Chairman said as he threw the black ring toward the administrator.
"Yes, Chairman," the administrator said as he left the office.
The Chairman stood from his seat and walked toward the office window overlooking the city. The Chairman's office was high enough in the awakening temple to see the majority of the city in its window.
"To think I still encounter unexpected events even after so many years in the office, Life is really full of wonders," the Chairman said as he enjoyed the view in front of him.
…
Imperial Knight Institute Headquarters
Deon safely arrived at the institute with the help of a carriage from the awakening temple, he had missed the celebratory march, and all the other apprentice knights were already in the institute.
At the entrance of the institute, deon saw instructor cain standing beside the gate, seemingly waiting for someone, and when instructor cain saw deon, he immediately approached deon
"You're finally here, and here. I thought you got kidnapped by those temple people," instructor cain said
"Thank you for waiting for me, instructor cain," Deon said, quite glad that instructor cain was waiting for him to see if he was fine.
"Don't thank me, I promise your instructor to take care of you, and besides, if they really kidnapped you, I won't be able to do anything," instructor cain said
At first, Deon had the impression that Instructor Cain was an unapproachable and stern teacher. Nevertheless, after interacting with him, Deon came to the realization that Instructor Cain is, in fact, a caring and concerned teacher who is invested in his students' progress. Despite his strict demeanor, Deon is appreciative of Instructor Cain's guidance and has revised his initial opinion of him.
'I guess that makes sense. If he didn't, then he would've never got the job of an instructor,' deon amusedly thought.
"Come, the celebration just started," instructor cain said as he led deon to the banquet area for the apprentice knights.
"You surprised a lot of people when you awakened first out of all the participants, and you have definitely made our institute look good," Instructor cain said as they walked.
"I was the first?" Deon asked, quite startled, but after thinking about it, it made sense. 'I guess that makes sense since I awakened in just a few minutes in my soul space which should be just a few seconds in the waking world.'
"You didn't know that? I thought you knew. That's probably why the temple people were curious about you," Instructor cain said
'So it wasn't just because of my score but also because I awakened first? No wonder they were very curious,' Deon thought. 'This is bad. I won't get into trouble, right? I mean, I'm a high knight now, or at least about to become a high knight. Surely they won't do anything to me, right?'
After a minute of walking, they arrived at the banquet area. It was just in the outdoor training ground, except all the training equipment was removed with large tables and chairs properly organized for all the apprentice knights to sit.
At the training ground, there were precisely 31 tables, each assigned to a specific institute. Furthermore, there was a main table exclusively reserved for the most significant figures of the institute. Deon noticed the head of the institute comfortably seated at that table.
"Deon! Here!" Deon heard Caleb's loud voice from one of the tables.
Many people were walking around the banquet area, so when deon and instructor cain arrived, no one paid attention to them.
At the table where Caleb was seating, deon saw all the apprentice knights from the 24th institute, including Rayner, and two vacant seats.
Deon sat at one of the vacant seats between Lucien and Caleb while instructor cain took the other vacant seat.
"What took you so long? You missed the celebratory march. the crowd was bigger than our morning march." Caleb asked
"Let's talk about that later. I'm starving," Deon said as he looked toward the food on their table. The foods were oysters, smoked salmon, soups, and pâtés. "Is this all the food?"
"Heh… No, this is just the entrée. the main course is after this," Instructor Cain said
"Oh. I see," Deon said and began tasting some entrée on the table. It was already 1 pm, and deon didn't have breakfast yet.
"So when are we going back to the institute, Instructor?" a grade 10 asked
"Two days from now, tomorrow is the knighting ceremony, and we must attend to support your fellow apprentice knights. After that, we will return," the instructor said as he ate
"When is our knighting ceremony?" asked the other grade 10 who failed the awakening ceremony.
"Yours will be when we get back," the instructor replied
Although two of the grade 10 apprentice knights failed to awaken, they can still become regular knights, a lower rank than high knights
"How come we aren't doing our knighting ceremony here?" the grade 10 asked
"Because your station is completely different from a high knight," instructor cain said. "Although you can still be a knight for the imperial knight, you must understand that a high knight is a completely different level, even if they are just one higher rank. Even nobles have to be respectful of high knights, much less us commoners."
Hearing the harsh words from the instructor, the two grade 10 fell silent as their sorrow deepened, and they weren't the only ones. Even Lucien, Caleb, and Rayner fell silent as they clenched their fists.
Seeing the sorrowful atmosphere. Instructor cain sighed. He didn't mean to damper the mood, but it was the harsh truth that they had to learn like he did when he became just a regular knight.
"Look, you might've not become a high knight, but that doesn't mean your life is over, look at me. When I was your age, I didn't even get the chance to participate in the awakening ceremony, but I raised my ranks and became a successful instructor whom everyone in our town respects. You can still have successful life even if you fail now, and besides, who knows, maybe in the future you can still naturally awaken your mana," Instructor cain said, trying to sound encouraging as he can
"As for you three grade 9s, you three still have a chance to awaken, learn from this experience and be ready for the next awakening ceremony. Don't be down for long, or you might regret it."
After hearing the rare encouragement from instructor cain, the mood slightly improved as they began talking again but changed the topic to something else that won't make them down.
The festivities went on for a solid three hours, and the main institute saw to it that the apprentice knights were treated to live entertainment to truly heighten the celebration.
Deon and his friends absolutely enjoyed their celebration with an abundance of meat as their main course while music filled the training ground.
In these celebrations, deon and others seemed to forget their result and fully enjoyed each other company.
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Thought for Thoughts
* What will happen to deon once the kingdom finds out his result?