Chapter 127: A Badge of Recognition

MARIUS

“Marius Valenkraft.”

As my name was called out, I got up from my seat in the second row for the student council, walked to the front of the assembly hall, and stepped onto the stage. The Dean gave me a knowing smile and guided me with his eyes to stand next to him, facing the audience.

“Thomas Whitmore.”

With a little hesitation and a face full of grudge—with no attempt to hide his displeasure at all—Thomas also got up and came forward. He stood next to me on the stage.

“Dorian Ashcroft.”

Dorian looked indifferent, as if he knew something of this sort was going to happen.

“Isabelle Moreau.”

Her steps were labored and slow as she also came onto the stage. She looked dreadful, as if she hadn’t had a blink of sleep the night before.

“Leo Skylark.”

He must have known why the five of us were being called to the front, considering our operation last night, but seemed to have genuinely no idea how that might link to why we were lining up on the stage now.

As the five of us finally assembled on the stage, the Dean began to speak.

“Dear students of the Royal Knights Academy. Today, I’m proud to present these fine young men, and lady, with a badge of recognition for their service to the Empire as Royal Knights.”

There was a murmur among the students. The Autumn Festival’s final day was about to start, and probably everyone thought this unscheduled assembly was going to be about the Dean giving some sort of closing speech.

“These students were selected for a special Royal Knights operation last night. Despite having no advance notice or mission training, they fulfilled their duty when called upon to the highest possible standard, resulting in a total shutdown of long-running criminal activities and the arrests of thirty-four dangerous criminals.”

There were a lot of wows and woos, together with gasps and whistles, among the crowd.

“As you see, from time to time, outstanding students with outstanding potential will be selected for missions such as this, where you will have the opportunity to prove your value to the institution. The commitment, decisiveness, and bravery these students demonstrated last night against armed criminals were extraordinary and deserve commendation. So please, a round of applause for Marius Valenkraft, Thomas Whitmore, Dorian Ashcroft, Isabelle Moreau, and Leo Skylark!”

An overly enthusiastic and frenzied applause erupted in the assembly hall. I looked to my sides to find everyone staring ahead with blank expressions, with only Skylark’s face lighting up with a bright smile and some fist pumps of joy.

After that, the Dean himself put a small, golden badge on the top left side of our uniforms, just above the shirt pocket.

‘So I could return home this weekend wearing this,’ I thought to myself, remembering what Falken said the night before.

The students clapped and chanted our names for each one of us as the badges were awarded, with Skylark receiving the biggest applause—mixed in with a lot of laughter as he yelped once in sheer pride.

After that, we all returned to our seats. The Dean moved on to the topic of how this was the final day of our Autumn Festival and he hoped that we’d close it as successfully as we’d started it.

Successful.

Just like our mission last night, then.

But I now felt that ‘success’ didn’t bring me the same sense of excitement as the word ‘challenge.’

I would happily take on another challenge, should Falken or the Academy assign me to another mission. But ‘success’ like last night—I didn’t look forward to repeating it.

When the assembly was over, Briant, Dimitri, and Alexis came over to congratulate me. Alexis in particular was lyrical in his praise. The man certainly seemed to have gotten better at speeches after his successful work at the debate club two days ago. Briant offered me a handshake and then a short, friendly hug. Dimitri then literally lifted me with his big arms, then realized that this was rather awkward, put me down, and moved on to lift Skylark standing next to me instead, which was probably what he meant to do in the first place. I looked around the hall to see how the others were doing. Dorian was nowhere to be seen, probably gone already, and Thomas was leaving the hall alone. Isabelle was being congratulated by Beatrice and Janice, and some others that I recognized as members of her drama club. Isabelle was smiling almost as well as she had performed on stage.

Once we headed out of the hall, Thomas, who had been standing next to the door just outside, called out to me.

“We need to talk,” he said.

I told the rest of the group to go ahead, promising Skylark that we would find some time to meet up again today once my morning activities with the student council were over.

I was then alone with Thomas, who said nothing. I read that as meaning he was waiting for Isabelle, so I showed him the courtesy of not saying anything either.

He probably no longer wanted to talk to me unless he needed to.

Then Isabelle came. She still wore the smile on her face, but as soon as Beatrice, Janice, and everyone else passed us by and only the three of us were left, something changed. The smile was fixed on her face like a mask she couldn’t take off, but her eyes swelled up with tears, and eventually a single drop ran down her cheek. Thomas tried to put his arm around her, but she pushed it away. Thomas then gave up, then suddenly exploded in a fit of rage and grabbed onto his badge as if he was going to tear it off. Isabelle stopped him, pressing his hand down, forcing him to keep it on, simply whispering—

“Don’t.”

A minute or two passed like that, with the two of them struggling, and me standing there feeling the weight of the badge.

Then Isabelle finally turned to speak to me.

“We need to talk about Leo.”

The time had come.