The Perfect Knight and the Illusionist (BL)

LEO

The second round of the patrol went uneventfully. Everyone seemed more focused than in the first round, scanning the area with hawk-like eyes. Mario in particular was super alert; had I been a resident on the receiving end of his gaze while ’loitering around,’ I would have left the area out of fear.

I was feeling down, though, and could barely concentrate. I couldn’t process what had happened with the boys earlier. And I felt bad about the little chat I had with Mario. He was clearly mad at me. I tipped them off to run away, after all, although he didn’t ask me about that. But he saw through me—he knew I was lying about what happened and how the boys got away. But then again, it was Dorian who came up with the story and I just went along with it—but then again, I probably shouldn’t have, but if I didn’t go along with it, I would have made Dorian a liar and it would also come out that we chose to let them go, which would be a bad thing, but then again, because I didn’t speak up, I became a liar to Mario—

All this was too much for me.

But I wanted to make up with him.

I didn’t want to lie. I didn’t want to be a liar—not to him, although it is bad to lie in any case...but it was extra bad because before we came here he just told me that we could be ’brothers in arms’—something more than just friends. No one ever said such a thing to me before. I didn’t fully understand what it meant, exactly, but friends were supposed to be very close and honest and open with each other and always help and support each other. If it were more than friends, it’d mean even more of that, which was very nice but—

All this was going over my head now.

It was then, as I was lost in my thoughts and a storm was raging in my head, that I saw him—Mathias.

This was just after we returned to the checkpoint after the second round of the patrol. He was talking to Lieutenant Gerlsbeck, who stood rather stiffly and was saying something to Mathias.

It looked serious and that got me scared, but at the same time, I was so confused and lost that it was good seeing Mathias here, and I wanted to go see him.

So throwing caution to the wind, I approached Mathias.

Then he noticed me and broke into a smile, opening his arms wide to welcome me. I jogged over and, to the surprise of Lieutenant Gerlsbeck, he gave me a big bear hug. I felt a little embarrassed, but it was comforting.

"How are you doing, Leo?" Mathias asked.

"I’m... I don’t know, Mathias."

Then the Lieutenant yelled at me.

"YOU SHALL ADDRESS HIM PROPERLY!"

My heart shrank instantly.

"It’s fine, Lieutenant," Mathias said calmly.

"But, Sir—"

"I’m sorry, Lieutenant, but what did I just say?"

I had never heard Mathias’s voice sound so sharp before.

"I’m sorry, Sir."

"Why don’t you take a break? Take a little walk to stretch your legs," Mathias suggested to the Lieutenant, his voice warm and kind again.

"Yes, Sir."

With that, the Lieutenant went away.

"So what is troubling your mind, Leo?" Mathias asked me.

"Something happened and I don’t know if I did the right thing... I don’t understand why and how things turned out the way they did, and—I had an argument with a friend and now he hates me... I think," I rambled.

"Who’s this ’friend’ you speak of?"

"Mario..."

"Mario?"

"Mauricio."

"Mauricio?"

"Va—Vayleencraft, Mister."

"Mauricio Vayleen—Haha!" Mathias broke into hearty laughter.

"I’m sorry!"

"No, it’s fine, Leo. That was great. Thanks for the laugh," he said, genuinely enjoying himself.

I didn’t know what more to say, and I became aware that I was fidgeting.

"Do you want me to have a chat with him, Leo? I’m sure it’s all just a misunderstanding. I can’t imagine you’d do anything to anger anyone," Mathias said.

"No—no! I... need to make up for it myself," I quickly replied.

Mathias took a step back, looked at me from head to toe, and said with a smile,

"That is a fantastic attitude, Leo. I’m sure you can do it. But if you need any assistance, or just want to talk about what’s in your heart, feel free to talk to me any time."

"Yes, Mister."

"Mathias is fine when it’s just us together. But yes, let’s use ’Mister’ when there are others. Some people might react a bit unnecessarily when they hear you call me by my first name."

"Okay... but Mister—why is the Lieutenant calling you ’Sir’?"

Mathias looked up slightly, grabbed his chin, then leaned in to say with a grin,

"Just a formality. Don’t worry about it."

Then I realized I never really knew or had been told what his actual work at the Academy was. Initially he was introduced to me as my personal trainer, and we did a few sessions of that until it... stopped. Since the survival mission, we haven’t had any personal training sessions yet.

But I didn’t want to think about that for now.

Sitting in the darkness facing a mirror was no fun.

Better not remind him to start it again.

Then a familiar voice came from behind.

"Good morning, Sir."

It was Mario.

"Good morning, Mario," Mathias said with a laugh.

Mario didn’t respond, and I didn’t dare to look at him. I wondered what kind of face he was making.

"Is everything going okay?" Mathias asked Mario.

"Yes, Sir."

"Anything extraordinary?"

Mario paused for a moment, then spoke.

"There was an incident involving three young boys."

My heart sank.

"Oh?" Mathias was intrigued.

"We spotted them stealing from a stall."

"Who spotted them first?" Mathias asked.

"Sir...?"

"Who saw them stealing? That’s what I’m asking."

"It was Dorian, Sir."

I wasn’t sure why that mattered. And I didn’t know how or why Mathias would know Dorian.

"Good. Do continue."

"We chased them, but they ran away."

Mathias cracked his left index finger, making a clicking sound.

"That is indeed extraordinary. How did they get away?"

My heart was beating so fast.

Mario was quiet.

Mathias gave him more time.

But Mario didn’t say anything.

Mathias looked at me, then at Mario, then at me again. Then he said,

"The mistake wasn’t that you guys lost them," he paused for a second, then continued, "the mistake was that you guys chased them in the first place. If I may give you a piece of advice, it would be to follow the orders as given: report first before acting."

"Yes, Sir," we said together, but after a bit of hesitation, Mario asked,

"I’m sorry, Sir, but... does that mean we simply watch these kids steal? If we reported first, we would not have been able to catch them."

"Catching them would have caused a scene, Marius. Our presence here is to deter, not to enforce. You will understand later, but it’s not a good look for the local residents to see Royal Knights Academy students in uniform arresting young boys. That is the big picture."

"I... will keep that in mind, Sir."

"Good."

Mathias smiled, and placed his hands on our shoulders, one hand on each of us.

"Now, enjoy the festival, gentlemen."