Chapter 65: Recruited
As soon as Lumis said "Enter," the door cracked open and a tall, broad-shouldered man in a gambeson stepped into the room.
"Kir Gale, meet Sir Cael Dunn, Vice-Commander of Norneau’s Arcane Knights, Sir Dunn, meet Kir. He’s the prospect I told you about."
"Demkin, eh?" the man - a human - smiled at Kir and offered a hand to shake. Kir took it and received a vigorous wrenching of the arm, along with a firm, testing grip which he countered with his own squeeze but did not escalate. "Strong arm. Good." He took his seat. "You know what they say," he released Kir and spoke to Lumis as he took his seat. "Any hand against Hell is worth shaking."
"Not all of your compatriots see things that way, Sir Dunn. I would like to know that Kir will not receive... undue attention should he be allowed to shift his courses as I indicated."
"What changes?" Kir asked.
Lumis cleared her throat. "Obviously given the seals on your abilities, you will no longer be able to participate in the standard magic courses. So I’ve arranged a new schedule that would be more in line with what you are capable of at this time." Lumis reached, opening a drawer and presenting Kir and Sir Dunn with copies of his new schedule.
It showed, quite simply, that he would retain his usual mathematics and history courses. The rest of the day simply said "Arcane Knight Training."
Sir Dunn raised an eyebrow. "I’m sorry, Chancellor, but is this some sort of joke? I understand he wasn’t sealed as a criminal, but no mage has ever elected to spend this much effort in joining our training without, well, being expelled."
"It is no joke, Vice-Commander," Lumis said. "As you are no doubt aware, the disturbance at the Guild was caused by the appearance of the Demon Breaker. What you are not aware of is that this young man was responsible for the majority of the damage to the Guild, as well as the explosion in the lake about a month ago. Given the upcoming war, what Halie has essentially done is take one of our most powerful potential pieces off the board." She looked at Kir. "This is the best I can propose without having to resort to special treatment. My contract with the Academy forbids me from doing much more."
Sir Dunn’s jaw dropped.
The way she emphasized the word told Kir that it had to be more than a simple contract. That also partially explained why she allowed so many students to skip their first year of basic courses.