The Perfect Knight and the Illusionist (BL)
Chapter 33: A Noble Duty

Chapter 33: A Noble Duty

MARIUS

"Come in."

I heard the Dean’s voice from inside his office, almost immediately after I knocked on his door. I was summoned here just after the physical training class finished. I had no idea what it could possibly be about as Instructor Knox simply told me, "Marius, please go to the Dean’s office immediately."

But now that I had permission to enter, I was about to find out.

Once I walked into the Dean’s office, the Dean got up from his seat and walked around the desk to greet me by the door.

"Thank you for coming, Marius," he said.

"No problem, Sir," I replied, noticing the gentleman standing by the window, looking outside. He did not turn to face me, but I could tell it was Mathias Falken.

"I have a guest who would like to talk to you," the Dean said, leading me to his desk until I stood just in front of it, facing the empty chair.

"I have someone to visit, so I will leave you here to have a chat with the gentleman," the Dean said and promptly left the room without speaking to Falken.

Once it was just the two of us in the room, Falken spoke, but without turning to face me. He was still looking out of the window.

"Marius."

"Yes, Sir."

"I heard you had a little... extraordinary encounter on your way back to the dormitory from the mansion."

The word ’extraordinary’ clung to my mind. Of course, this was something I knew I should report to Falken at some point. I just didn’t think he’d visit me at the Academy to hear the story.

"Yes, Sir."

"Tell me what happened," he said.

"On our way back, we were attacked by bandits."

"In the city?" He finally turned, looking at me. But there was no sign of surprise on his face. He already knew about the incident—somehow—so I understood his question as a cue for me to provide my own theory on what happened.

"Yes, Sir. That was completely unexpected and unusual. I had never heard of bandits making such attacks on random travelers in the capital."

"How did they look?" Falken asked.

"Nothing noteworthy, Sir. They were dressed in casual clothes—no armor—and wore masks so I couldn’t see their faces."

"Tell me more about the engagement."

"I split our group into three. One group on each side of the carriage initially, then we moved to confront the bandits at the front and back of the carriage."

"Any difficulties in the combat?"

"The bandits were surprisingly cautious and deliberate in their movements, Sir. Very organized. They also had two slingers: one supporting from behind at an unreachable distance and another one at the top of the roof."

"And what does that tell you?"

"The fact that they had one positioned on the rooftop tells me the ambush knew our route well in advance. They didn’t just spot us on the way and take the opportunity. It was as if they were waiting for us to pass through that alley."

"Do you believe you were targeted?" Falken asked, raising his eyebrow.

"I can’t fathom why they chose us, specifically, but the circumstances tell me we were targeted. Yes, Sir."

Targeted for what, though?

This was a question that had lingered in my mind for the past few days, but I could not answer it. But as I hesitantly considered asking Falken his views on why we might have been targeted—hesitating because I might be crossing the boundary—his words cut off my chain of thoughts.

"And tell me, Marius. You said you split the groups into three, but you talked about only two groups engaging with the bandits. What did the other group do?"

This was a difficult question for me to answer, but I knew I had to give an honest account.

On the one hand, I wanted to say that Skylark and Dimitri fought together valiantly, just like everyone else. But at the same time, that was just my wish—not the reality—and a report must be truthful, not wishful.

"I asked them to stay inside the carriage."

"That is interesting. Who stayed in the carriage?" Falken asked, moving away from the window and taking a step closer to me.

"Skylark and Dimitri, Sir."

"Dimitri is strong. He would have been the biggest asset in the actual combat. Why did you leave him out of the engagement?"

His voice felt probing rather than reprimanding. I knew, on reflection that night, that it was a bad decision. But then again, I also had my reasons for it, reasons that made sense in the heat of the moment at the time.

"Sir, Skylark isn’t ready for combat and he does not seem to be able to fully command magic yet. I do not wish to belittle a classmate, but he was the weakest person and needed protection."

"So you sacrificed the biggest asset in battle to protect the least useful?"

His words stung.

"Now, Sir, I see the error of my ways."

"An error of judgment, indeed."

Then there was a long pause, after which he asked me,

"Anything else happen? Something unusual?"

This was a straightforward question for me to answer, although I could not provide an explanation.

"The night suddenly turned dark, I believe, due to a cloud passing by, and there was a sudden fog filling the alley. I... then thought the carriage had escaped and the bandits chased it. Then the fog cleared, and the carriage was still there, as if it hadn’t moved."

"How is that possible?" Falken asked, clasping his hands behind his back, lowering his head, and leaning forward slightly.

"I’m sorry, Sir. I could not explain it in any other way than the moon’s blessing."

"A miracle then?" he asked with a smile of amusement.

"I can only think that way, Sir."

Falken then walked right up to me, stopped just a pace before me, looked into my eyes, and asked,

"So did you manage to protect Skylark in the end?"

"Yes, Sir."

Falken then put both palms on my shoulders and leaned a little closer. My whole vision was filled with his face and I couldn’t look away from his eyes.

"You set the wrong mission objective," he said.

"I’m sorry, Sir. It was my error of judgment."

"Nevertheless, you achieved your objective: protecting Skylark."

"Yes, Sir."

He then kept his eyes and hands on me for a few more seconds, and spoke slowly.

"You’ve done well, Marius. And your cause was noble. Can I trust you to stand by your principles and protect the weak—such as Leo Skylark?"

I felt relieved at those words—even a little flattered.

"Yes, Sir. You can trust me in this."

"Good."

With that, he gave me a warm smile, stepped back, and walked to stand by the window again, looking outside.

"You may return to your class now," he said.

"Yes, Sir," I responded with a deep bow, but he didn’t turn to look at me as I left the room.

’You’ve done well,’ I repeated Falken’s praise in my head.

’And I shall never abandon my friends,’ I swore to myself, quietly.

I was confident it was a promise I could keep as long as I breathed.