The Perfect Knight and the Illusionist (BL)

MARIUS

"I’m glad to hear that Leo has recovered well enough to perform magic again," Falken said, watering a plant in a clay pot that sat on the windowsill of his office.

"Yes, Sir. And there was no overt sign of strain after his performance," I reported dutifully.

"Very well," he said, taking a step back to study the plant in front of him, as if trying to estimate when its budding flower would fully bloom, then continued,

"But I don’t suppose you came here just to tell me that Leo survived his magic class?"

The man was sharp, as always.

"No, Sir."

"Feel free to tell me what’s on your mind, Marius," Falken said, carefully feeling the leaves of the lone plant with his fingertips.

"I found something strange about his magic," I said.

That made Falken stop, turn to me, walk back to his desk to put the watering can down, and ask me,

"What is ’strange’ about his magic?"

"Sir, Skylark made a water sphere. He held it in the air admirably well, keeping it steady. But when the demonstration was over, he lost control, and the water sphere broke and splashed onto the ground."

Falken sat and sank into his seat, cracking the joints of his fingers lightly. His eyes told me to continue.

"I checked afterwards, but the ground wasn’t wet."

He then asked me, leaning back in his chair with his chin raised slightly,

"His water sphere did not make the ground wet, even after it splashed onto it?"

"No, Sir. It didn’t."

A faint smile appeared on his face, then he drummed his fingers on the desk.

"What do you make of it?" he asked.

"I... don’t know, Sir. I’m not familiar with magic. But it seems strange that water doesn’t make something wet," I said honestly.

"Is this the first time you have noticed this?" Falken asked again.

I thought about it. I couldn’t think of another time Skylark had used water magic. But—

"There was one time when he set fire to some firewood, but it didn’t catch fire."

Falken sat still, his piercing gaze fixed on my eyes. His fingers drummed more slowly on the desk, and he said,

"Stop your thoughts right there."

It was difficult to follow this particular order. Now that he had drawn my attention to it, I couldn’t help but wonder why and how Skylark’s fire or water did not burn or wet the materials they were cast upon.

"And tell me—did anybody else notice this too?"

He stopped drumming his fingers. His eyes, almost interrogative earlier, went blank. It was impossible to read the intention behind them. I couldn’t even tell whether he was interested in my answer to this question anymore.

But something inside me held me back from telling the full truth.

"No, Sir."

Falken said nothing and just kept his blank stare fixed on me. The long pause was unsettling, and I thought about telling him that Isabelle had also noticed for a moment. But then again, I was the one who told her not to tell anyone about this discovery. It seemed only fair that I did not tell anyone about her either. A pact of secrecy must be honored by both parties, I told myself.

"Very well. Thank you for telling me, Marius. You may leave now."

That was all Falken said, so I bowed, left the room, and closed the door behind me.

I was uncomfortable with the fact that I hadn’t told Falken the full truth, but also quietly convinced that I had done the right thing. For now.

When I returned to the classroom, I saw Skylark standing just outside the door. The lesson was about to start, and it seemed everyone else was already inside, seated, but Skylark stood by the door fidgeting.

"What are you doing outside, Skylark?" I asked him.

"Hi... Marius," he greeted me. I just stood in silence and gave him a chance to speak.

He didn’t take the chance.

"Anything I can help you with?" I asked him again.

"I... was wondering... erm... what you think about club activities," he finally said.

"I think they are an integral part of Academy life that fosters community spirit and also helps with personal development," I said.

Skylark just blinked a few times, as if he was waiting for me to continue.

Ah, I see now.

"Are you interested in joining any clubs?" I asked him.

"YES!" Skylark said excitedly.

"Then the application is due on Friday. Make sure you don’t miss the deadline, as you won’t be able to join until the next semester if you miss the chance this week."

"But..."

I waited for him to continue.

"What club are you joining?" he asked me this time.

"I haven’t given it much thought. I am looking to join the Student Council," I answered.

"I see... just as the others said, then."

"Oh? I haven’t told anyone yet, though."

"I think your friends understand you well, heh," Skylark said with a smile, finally.

"How about you, then?" I asked him.

"That’s the thing—I don’t know what club to join. I don’t even know what clubs there are..."

I gave it some thought, then said,

"How about something to do with physical activity? Sports like kick-ball or running would help you get fitter. You are flexible, so maybe the acrobatics club would work too, although I’d advise doing something that involves running to build your basic stamina."

"But that doesn’t sound very fun..."

"Then how about the hunting club? It would help you improve your survival skills in the wild."

"I can survive just fine by picking fruits and herbs..."

"The debate club would be good too. Alexis told me once that he wanted to join it. It would help you build confidence in speaking in public."

"I would be terrible at it."

"That’s why you should join—so you can get better at it."

"Gees, Marius... can’t I just do something fun?!"

Skylark seemed annoyed all of a sudden. I wasn’t sure what I had said that might have irritated him.

"But Skylark, as I said, club activities are an opportunity for personal develop—"

"I get it! BUT... I want to do something fun..."

Fun.

That was right.

I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but what Skylark had called ’fun’ before, like that time we built shelters together during the survival mission, wasn’t ’fun’ in the same way that training in swordsmanship was ’fun.’

I then had an idea.

"A lot of clubs are holding open sessions this week so that first-year students like us can go and check them out. Why don’t you visit some of them and see which one you like?"

Skylark’s face lit up, and he exclaimed,

"Yes! THAT sounds like a plan! Let’s go after lessons today!"

With that, he gave me a thumbs-up and ran inside the classroom, leaving me alone to consider just what part of what I had said made him think I had suggested that we would be checking out the clubs together, but then, more importantly, what acceptable reasons I could come up with to tell the Student Council that I could not make it to the introductory meeting they had invited me to attend today.

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