The Perfect Knight and the Illusionist (BL)

LEO

The morning came, which I both looked forward to and dreaded.

After all, it was a festival—something I always loved growing up. These were highlights of the year and always left good memories and funny stories that were told for many years, like everyone had stories like ’during the spring festival when I was six years old...’

But at the same time, the things we were told to do, or rather, the things we were told to look out for, were stupid. No matter what Mario said, they didn’t make sense to me.

Nevertheless, this was my first actual ’mission’ and a path to becoming a Royal Knight, a dream job that I had told everyone back in the village I would make come true, a future that everyone was cheering on for me to achieve.

The breakfast was simple. Hard bread and some soup, but at least it was better than the ’ration’ that Mario gave me the other day. After we finished our meal, we had a final assembly in the field where Lieutenant Gerlsbeck gave a brief speech to remind us how important our task today was.

Then we began our patrol. The official opening ceremony was to start at noon, so this was going to be our ’security check’ to ensure that everything was safe before the festival began.

And right from the first point, I got nervous.

There were three boys hanging out in the back alley, our entry point that Sergeant Becker told us must be kept clear with no one ’loitering’ in the area.

"Should we report to Sergeant Becker?" Beatrice asked for the first time as we approached the narrow street.

"We can probably ask them to leave first before we do that," Isabelle said.

"The order was to report first and act according to the instruction," Mario added.

"But then we’d be going back and forth between everything and Sergeant Becker. If we asked them to leave first and they left, then there would be no problem to report about, would there?" Isabelle questioned Mario.

"Good point," he nodded, and before anybody could say anything further, he approached the boys first.

"Good morning, gentlemen."

"Good morning, Mister!" they greeted him rather cheerfully.

"You are not supposed to stay in this area. Please leave," Mario said.

"Why?" one of the boys asked.

"To ensure the safety of the festival," Mario explained to them.

"We are not doing anything wrong, though?" another boy challenged.

"You are doing something wrong by loitering here, I’m afraid," Mario added patiently, for which I was relieved.

"But, Mister—this here is my house," yet another boy said, tapping on the wooden board wall to his side. Others didn’t care to look, but when I saw the wall, I saw a little gap in the poorly constructed wall through which I saw a mother feeding something to a child at table.

"And you are welcome to stay inside there," Mario said as I was wondering if they were indeed the boy’s mother and younger sibling.

"What if we said ’no’?" the same boy asked mischievously.

Mario turned to look at us, as if to gather our opinion on whether we should report them now. I looked to my side and saw Beatrice nod, probably signaling that we should report, and Isabelle deep in thought, probably thinking about how to best handle this situation.

"Hey, guys—" I said, in my growing nervousness. "Why don’t you guys hang out at the main festival area? I’m sure some of the stalls are already set up."

"But we have no money to buy anything," the boy who challenged Mario earlier said.

I then remembered that we were all given a little bit of money to use as our expenses during the trip. I reached into my pocket and found a coin.

"Here, this should get you a candy or two," I approached them with the coin, and they all jumped in excitement.

"Really?!"

"Yeah, take it. Treat yourselves to a candy," I told them with a smile.

"Yay! Thank you, Mister!" one of them ran up to me to receive the coin, bowed politely, and they then ran down the alley toward the festival square.

"What are you doing, Skylark?" Mario asked, more curious and puzzled than annoyed.

"Come on, they are just kids. Who knows what trouble they might get into if we report them to Sergeant Becker?"

Mario thought about it for a moment, then stated,

"It was probably okay this time. But Skylark, if we find people doing something illegal, such as selling things without a license, we can’t let them off like this. Those activities will have to be reported."

"Fair enough," I said, without thinking too much about it because it sounded reasonable then—something illegal, report it. Sounded perfectly fine.

We then walked through the alley and came to a mini square where we saw the grannies selling vegetables the day before, and to my horror, I saw one granny who was unpacking her things to sell, setting them up on the ground just like the day before. I saw that the others noticed too, so before they could say or do anything, I ran up to the granny and said,

"Grandma—I’m so sorry, but you can’t sell them here today."

"Oh good morning, young man. Nice weather today, isn’t it?" she greeted me casually instead.

"Erm, yeah. The weather’s great for the festival, right? But, but—please, we can’t sell things here today because of the festival," I said.

"Don’t worry, I wouldn’t bother anyone," she smiled and continued, "This place shouldn’t get too crowded so I wouldn’t get in anyone’s way, I think."

"Ma’am, please kindly pack your things," Beatrice turned up next to me and said to the granny.

"Good morning, young lady. Is it really a problem...?" she asked, looking a little confused.

"I’m sorry you don’t seem to have been informed earlier. But yes—no unauthorized sales in the area are allowed today," Beatrice explained calmly.

"Aw, but how am I supposed to make money today? It’s tough going as is... but at least I can get by if I sell a few carrots and other veggies each day. If I can’t sell any today, then..."

"Here, Grandma—" I interrupted her and took out the coins from my pocket, about to hand them over, but Mario turned up and grabbed my wrist firmly.

"You can’t do that, Skylark. We talked about it just earlier."

"But she needs help—"

"There are day-work centers in each district normally for people with no jobs. Maybe you can visit one today and see if there is a day job available for you?" Beatrice suggested to the granny.

"Day-work center? I never heard such a thing," the granny said.

"That is odd. There is one in every district in the capital," Beatrice said.

"Either way, Ma’am, I’m afraid you are not supposed to sell without a permit today," Mario explained one last time.

Beatrice stood next to Mario, her face agreeing with the final verdict. Isabelle was looking at the granny’s toes poking out of her worn-out sandals.

The granny stood there, looking more concerned about her money—or lack thereof for today—than bothered by the new ’rule.’

"I’m so sorry grandma... I really am," I said, my heart heavy with remorse.

She then looked at me, and her concerned face turned into a look of sympathy.

"I see, young man. I’ll find a way to get by for today."

After that, she adjusted and straightened the collar of my uniform, which I didn’t realize was crumpled, gave me a pat on the back once, packed her stuff, and left.

"Right, let’s move along," Mario said, heading toward our next destination—the festival center.

I followed, but my feet felt heavy.

So very heavy.