Chapter 31
A Dream of Fame
With the year 1065 just around the corner, Hans and his family were preparing to leave for Concordia. Thanks to Vanessa's hard work, the boy had finally grasped the manners of a decent man, and his slightly elegant way of speaking was showing proof.
Sierra settled on Vanessa to be her assistant, which satisfied Hans's desire to not separate from her. He was going as a recommended student and a ward to Aldrich Richardson. During his three months of stay in the County, not only he changed mentally, but the changed appearance was also noticeable.
He got a new haircut with a medium-length natural quiff that complemented his golden eyes and new gentlemanly vibes. His looks were not enough to kill a lady with a glance, but they made him quite presentable as compared to his previous rough appearance.
The only thing that was going to make him stand out was his short height. He was already two years younger than most of the students attending the first years, and his height was not doing him any justice either. The servant packed the belongings, not forgetting the sweet treats for their young Lord, and the company left the mansion.
SOMEWHERE ELSE
A ladylike figure was meeting someone in a secluded place. The hooded person bow and knelt in front of her and greeted them,
My queen,
The lady spoke to the kneeling person,
You have a task, observe a boy Named Hans, entering as a first-year.
The person remained silent and waited for further instructions, but the lady whom he called queen didn't add anything extra. The kneeling person asked her,
Do you want me to get rid of him?
The queen replied in a solemn voice,
No, not yet.
The person got confused because of the ambiguous order, but assured her,
I will do as your command.
EDENBERG COUNTY
The party was on the move, and this was the first time they had brought Hans outside. After the visit of the unknown dark mage. Rudolf was adamant about Hans leaving the mansion, so Hans was eagerly looking forward to seeing the new things.
They finally reached the SpaceDoor associated with Concordia. It was very different from what Hans had imagined, not like a loose rift that he had seen in Ghost isles but a well-built enormous architecture, a semi-circular arch that was stopping any mana to move outside. The smokey grey-coloured space mana was whirling inside of that enormous arch.
Hans found the SpaceDoor beautiful, but it was not the only thing he was looking at with ManaVision. He was observing the crowd of children that were going to travel together with him. He got excited and almost forgot about his space sickness.
Aldrich moved ahead of them to inform the person in charge of SpaceDoor about the arrival of his lord. Rudolf was planning to proceed quietly but his plan fell apart as the SpaceDoor Manager came running in and greeted them with a loud voice, which attracted everyone's attention.
There was more publicity this year due to the official announcement six months earlier that Sir Rudolf was returning to Concordia with the High Priestess as Dean. It was an opportunity for new students to learn from the man himself, so they put in extra effort to get in.
When the people heard that Alastor was standing among them, they began to clamour, and Rudolf had no choice but to reveal himself. He greeted everyone politely and said,
I hope to see you all in next year too.
These words were addressed to the students who were going in as first-years as many of them would be rejected after one year. These words were nothing to him, but it was everything to the aspiring knights out there.
They shouted in excitement, and the man made his exit with his companions. Many speculated about the people travelling with him, but no one knew who they really were because they had disguised themselves with an artefact, thanks to Sierra.
Hans knew that his grandfather was famous, but that in itself was something else to see. He also wanted the same treatment. He was in deep thought and did not realise that they had come to the SpaceDoor. The act of everyone bowing in respect surprised him enough to snap out of his thoughts.
His grandpa was a living example of the saying, "If a man has fame, what is the value of other ornamentation?" A dream was born in him to surpass his old man in fame.
They stepped inside, and within moments they were at the Concordia. The space travel was more comfortable than his previous experience as he did not feel any nausea and was in very good shape.
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The SpaceDoor didn't let them enter the Midlands, but an entry island known as the land of opening. This was the island which was connected to the outside world. Concordia’s security protocols were strict for entering and exiting. This was the farthest guardians of students could accompany them. The senior students came and took the entrants in an orderly fashion. The first-years followed the seniors like ducklings following mama duck.
Hans was not sent among them, but before they stepped into the inter Concordia SpaceDoors, he glanced at the students with his ManaVision and became quite uncomfortable. All of his life he lived believing that he was quite special, like the protagonists of the novels that he used to read.
But what he inspected from others were bi and tri-mana properties. Hans knew for a fact that having more than a single mana type was a sign of talent, and here they were as common as rodents in the old house.
His confidence in being number one here was shaking, and these were only part of admissions. The real deal was waiting inside. Concordia boasted of being impartial, but the "recommended" were treated differently in the beginning because they surpassed everyone in talent.
The one thing when Concordia becomes partial to is when they discover a talent that was worth nurturing. This happened with Rudolf too, when Concordia discovered his raw talent and tenacity, they threw every resource they could to make him the youngest warlord in history.
After Aldrich bid them goodbyes, Rudolf lead them to the receptionists and asked the lady looking at him,
Four Midland, please.
The receptionist looked at them in surprise because entering directly to Midland meant the child with them was on the recommended list. She asked him,
What is the name of the child?
Hans answered in confidence,
Hans Richardson.
The receptionist matched the name and papers submitted by Rudolf and approved their entrance. With another one of SpaceDoor, they finally reached the institution. Whatever Rudolf had told Hans about the institution turned out to be a cheap gimmick of this grand place.
Hans was growing restless and was eager to explore, but one of the senior students came to them and asked the group,
Is there a Hans Richardson?
Hans, hearing his name, raised his hand and the senior boy, who was not even sixteen, hurried and shouted at him,
Why are you so late?
He looked at the adults and wanted to scold them for almost missing Hans’s initiation ceremony, but he was stunned because he recognised whom he was going to yell. The man was looking at him with happy eyes. Meeting him was nothing but an honour for any student at Concordia.
The boy said in excitement,
Oh, sir.. bewitched…Sir Rudolf.
The boy closed his mouth with both of his hands. Rudolf has a teasing name in the world, they called him the Bewitched knight and he almost made the mistake of calling him right to his face. Rudolf didn't mind him and just said,
You must be the boy in charge of recommendations, right? Take the boy. He is the brother of my wife’s aide.
The senior student looked at the lady and realised that she was a newly appointed dean for mages. He quickly greeted her and looked at the boy, who was looking here and there like a country bumpkin. He turned his attitude totally 180 and politely asked Hans to follow him and Hans learned another lesson about how much connections mean in this world.
He said his goodbyes to the family. When he was leaving, Vanessa stopped him by the shoulders and said,
Remember, Lil brother, the nail that sticks out gets hammered first.
But what if I still wanna be that nail?
Then be a nail so strong that the hammer will think twice before striking.
Hans chuckled and left, leaving everyone in worry. He understood Vanessa’s advice, either be low-key or shine so brightly that no one can touch him. This was not only for today's initiation ceremony but for all of his life in Concordia.
The senior asked Hans,
So do you know, Sir Rudolf?
Hans could see the excitement on the elder boy’s face, but he replied calmly,
Not closely. My guardian is the chief knight of their mansion.
So how come you came with them?
My sister…
The senior interrupted,
Ah yes, she is lady Sierra's aide, right?
Yes, but senior, you were calling gra..Sir Rudolf something.
Oh, you will know soon. Here, sir Rudolf is known as “the bewitched knight”.
Hans looked at him with questioning eyes, but the senior added,
We call him that in respect.
Hans doubted that calling someone bewitched was a way of showing respect. He also heard the same thing from Samwell back at Ghost Isles and was curious about this, but Rudolf never allowed him to know about it, even in the mansion, no one talked about that. He guessed it must be about her granma and by chance he crossed his path with Rudolf’s fanatic so Hans strike the hammer of conversation in him.
Why the bewitched knight though?
The senior looked like he was going to explode because he was so excited to tell his favourite tale to another one of his juniors, who seemed to know nothing about his own lord. Hans regretted poking his curiosity at this senior.
***