My fellow rookies all seemed worried about poor Thibault.
All of a sudden, the squad leader’s shrill voice echoed from behind us. “What are you doing, standing there and chatting?! Get to your positions, and make it quick!” she barked, two of her minions flanking her.
“Our...positions?” I asked, confused.
The squad leader pointed at a table. “Over there! The knight captain especially asked for you rookies, so you’d better be grateful!”
We were told to sit at the same table as Gahariet, with two of us on each side of him.
Four new female recruits sitting on either side of the knight captain...? That’s a little strange, isn’t it?
The squad leader shooed us toward the table, and we did as we were told. Once we were seated, she and her two minions took their places in the chairs arranged behind us, like they were watching us.
Why are they sitting there and not at the table?
We’d already spent the entire examination test with Gahariet breathing down our necks, and now, the squad leader would be doing the same. I was sick of it. Meanwhile, the remaining female knights settled into their seats at the other tables, each one placed among groups of men.
This seating arrangement is so odd, I thought, confused.
“What are you doing, rookies?! Hurry up and serve the men drinks! It’s almost time for the welcome toast!” the squad leader barked from behind us.
“Huh...? Ah, y-yes, ma’am!” Ahn, who sat behind me, all but jumped out of her seat. She grabbed a bottle and poured what seemed to be red wine into the captain’s glass.
Following her example, we served alcohol to the nearby male knights and the three seniors behind us, before returning to our seats.
Well, I suppose this is our job as new recruits. Oh, but hold on a minute... The male knights are still sitting down. Aren’t they going to get in trouble?
Looking around, I noticed that the female knights were the only ones bustling about. Our seniors were working, yet the new male recruits were just lounging at their tables.
When everyone’s glass was full, Ahn turned to our squad leader and asked timidly, “Um, I can’t drink alcohol... Could I go get some water for the welcome toast?”
The squad leader immediately burst into exaggerated laughter, making a show of mocking Ahn. “You can’t drink alcohol, you say? Trying to be cute, are you? You know, that kind of thing isn’t exactly popular these days.”
“N-Not at all. It’s just, I feel sick when I drink...” Ahn tried to explain herself.
“How dare you make demands when you’re just a rookie?! Be grateful for the alcohol, and drink what you’re served! We went out of our way to get these bottles just for you all!”
“Y-Yes, ma’am...” Ahn muttered, visibly dejected.
“You’re not ‘making demands,’ though,” I whispered to her.
Some people’s bodies just couldn’t process certain components in alcohol. When they drank, they would feel unwell, and in worst-case scenarios, they might even collapse and have to be taken to a doctor. I assumed Ahn must’ve suffered from that type of constitution.
“Don’t worry—I’ll swap out the wine in your glass for grape juice. Don’t tell anyone, okay?” I whispered to her.
“How are you going to do that?” she asked.
“I’m actually a mana wielder.”
Her eyes shot wide open at the confession.
When I teleported our plates back to the kitchen earlier, I had used my magic to search the room and saw that they had several different types of fruit juices in the pantry, including grape juice.
I’ll sneakily return the wine in her glass to the bottle, then pour in some of the juice instead.
Hiding her glass so that no one saw what I was doing, I used my magic to make the transition seamless. Wine and grape juice were the same color, so no one would be able to tell the difference at a glance. Ahn stared at her glass, complete befuddlement written over her face.
Oh, right... This nation is full of devout followers of the Faith, and most people here hate mana wielders.
I’d used my magic to help her, but I began to worry I may have done more harm than good. I considered her a friend, so it truly would be a shame if she started despising me because I was a mana wielder.
But to my surprise, Ahn offered me a little smile. “Thank you, Lam.”
“You’re not upset?” I asked.
“Of course not. I’m surprised that you’re a mana wielder, but I would never hate you for helping me. You almost made me wish I could use magic myself,” she whispered to me so that no one would overhear our conversation.
“You can,” I assured her.
“But I don’t have mana.”
“You do. It was just sealed by the Faith when you underwent their blessing ceremony. Oh, the welcome party is about to start, so I’ll tell you more about it later, all right?”
I had been so engrossed in my conversation that I’d completely lost track of my surroundings...and didn’t realize the squad leader had been eavesdropping on us the entire time.
Finally, Gahariet stood up, raising his glass high. “Today, we welcome fourteen new members to our ranks! Let’s celebrate by drinking the night away!” he announced.
“Yeaaah!”
“Cheers!”
Ferocious roars erupted from the crowd.
Glancing at Char, I saw that he was sporting a look of displeasure. He hated loud places. As he took a sip of his wine, his expression soured even further. I assumed he didn’t find the taste pleasant.
Well, he is used to fine alcohol.
He was an earl, after all. House Mercure was a bit of an odd one, but the food and drinks were always high quality. However, the wine served here was clearly cheap, meant only to get the knights drunk. Fouet and Barre hadn’t even deigned to sample it. Too good for it, huh?
Wait, the captain is drinking a different type of wine from everybody else.
Taking a good look at the bottle in front of him, I saw that he was the only one drinking expensive wine, as if it were a given.
That’s not fair now, is it?
Throwing him a sidelong glare, I drained my glass of grape juice. I had changed the contents of my glass alongside Ahn’s earlier. Fortunately, it wasn’t too sweet, which made it easy to drink.
Once the welcome toast concluded and things had settled down a bit, the knight captain announced, “It’s time for each of you rookies to introduce yourselves! After you do, you’ll chug an entire bottle of wine to prove your commitment to the order!”
“Yeaaah!”
What in the world was that logic? As far as I knew, drinking wine wasn’t part of a knight’s duties.
Five hundred years ago, some countries had royal and imperial “knights” whose only duty was to keep their masters company while they drank, but Thibault told us that the Royal Knights of Hanche had no such obligations. Well, at least the men didn’t. I was still confused as to what the duties of the female knights were.
Ahn, whom I had narrowly saved from having to drink alcohol earlier, had paled at Gahariet’s statement.
“Don’t worry. I’ll swap the wine in all the new recruits’ bottles for grape juice,” I told her. “I feel a bit bad for those who actually like alcohol, but oh well.”
It wasn’t good to imbibe such a large volume of alcohol at once, even for those with a strong tolerance.
The male recruits began introducing themselves one after the other. All were commoners, perhaps because the working conditions were so bad here that nobles would find it beneath them. They’d definitely choose a more lucrative job.
Thibault said this was the place where all the good-for-nothing noble children ended up.
Each rookie grabbed one of the large wine bottles, a resolute look on their faces, before slamming the contents back and gulping it down their throats. Their expressions would shift after a few seconds, realization dawning in their eyes that the bottles were filled with juice.
It was soon Thibault’s turn.
“M-My name is Thibault! I’m a farmer! I-I’ll do my best...” he stammered, his voice pitching up an octave due to his nerves.
“Gya ha ha, good job! C’mon now, drink up!” Gahariet urged him.
Thibault let out a whine and reluctantly did as he was told. When he was done, he looked at his empty drink in confusion. “Huh... This...”
Realizing that I had fiddled around with the wine, Char immediately stood up to prevent Thibault from saying anything out loud. “I’m Char. I’m a hunter.”
Each of us had come up with our own fake job, and I found myself thinking that, in a way, Char’s duties weren’t that different from those of his cover’s—except that he hunted monsters instead of game.
“I’m Fouet, a, uuuh...a hunter.”
“The name’s Barre. I’m also a hunter.”
That all three of them were claiming to be hunters made them look incredibly suspicious.
Couldn’t they have gone for, I don’t know, fishermen? Or anything else?
Knowing the twins, they were probably too lazy to come up with their own backstory.
The three of them downed their bottles of juice and turned to me in unison.
They know it was me. No surprise there.
I nodded as if to confirm that, yes, I had magically replaced the wine with juice.
The last young man to introduce himself was the one who’d scored first at the entrance exam. He had dark red hair cut right above the shoulders and a rather slim build.
“I’m Ves. I’m a lumberjack.”