knights and magic Lightnovel

ch3

One day, Ernesti sat with his arms crossed in the living room at home, thinking with a serious expression. The reason was the letter spread on the table before him, with 'Laihiala Pilot Academy student prospectus' written on the top. At the age of eight and a half years, he finally received an offer to attend Laihiala Pilot Academy.
Eru's family resided in Laihiala Academy City, named after the best educational facility in Fremmevira, Laihiala Pilot Academy. The education system was divided into three stages, primary school from age 9, middle school from age twelve, and high school from age 15, taking three years for each stage. Most students only complete the first six years of school because high school was similar to college on earth, intended for students who seek further specialised education. It was customary to recognise all those above the age of fifteen as adults. Most people started their career around the age of 18, but depending upon the circumstances, some may join the workforce at 15.
Even though Laihiala Academy had the term 'pilot’ in its name, not everyone enroled had the goal of being a Knight or a Knight runner. One reason was the sponsorship from the kingdom for primary and middle school education, so children from all social standings studied there. Fremmevira's education system differed from modern compulsory education, a result of the special circumstances of the nation.
Fremmevira was known as the 'Kingdom of Knights'. Its name sounded great, but it actually meant that 'battles' occurred frequently. There was a large number of Demon beasts lurking on the outskirts of the nation, where the majority of the citizens were defenseless farmers working on the vast fields, making them vulnerable to attacks. The threat had always been there. In order to secure a steady supply of tax and food, protection of the farmers became an important policy to the nation, but Fremmevira did not plan to eradicate all of the Demon beasts because they appeared to be infinite.
The Knights existed to protect the citizens, but there were lapses in their defence due to the large area under their protection. The Knights were usually deployed after the discovery of a Demon beast, which was a passive strategy. This meant that the citizens would be under threat before the Knights moved in, to intercept. With this historical background, at some point the farmers hoped to possess skills to protect themselves, which was fulfiled by the nation in short order, by setting up a ministry and related facilities to teach them the minimum combat techniques, and magic knowledge needed for defence. In the end, Fremmevira was not a peaceful nation; even the farmers needed to pick up weapons to defend themselves.
There was opposition among the aristocrats ruling the country, on educating the lowly farmers to fight, but the policy remained in place to keep the nation running. Based on the results, the policy was a success. By pushing for a minimum standard of education among all people, it unified the citizens and their concept of pride as a nation. The improvement in domestic security was also a lucky bonus.
With this back-story, a trend of setting up education facilities was started all over the country. Laihiala Pilot Academy took advantage of its geographic location near the Capital and enroled students who were peasants, merchants, and even nobles. The academy was thus divided into an agricultural faculty, a business faculty, a pilot faculty, etc. All majors included classes on combat techniques, but most of the curriculum was tailored to make the students employable. The school holds many different classes to accommodate the family circumstances of its students, as well. Students need to attend at least 3 years of class and achieve a certain level of proficiency to graduate.
Chid and Ady sat beside Eru, who was studying the prospectus seriously. They had already flipped through the prospectus, and were eating the snacks on the table. When the snacks were almost gone, Eru was still deep in thought, which surprised them.
"Hey, what's troubling you? You wanted to be a Knight, right? Just take the Knighthood major."
"Erm, that was my plan... But there is something bothering me."
"Bothering you? Is it something like, 'the Knighthood major is too easy'?"
"No, that's not it... My goal from the very beginning was to be a Knight runner."
Knights certified to ride on Silhouette Knights are known as Knight runners. Eru's family knew about his ambition, and Chid and Ady had heard about it several times, too.
"The number of Silhouette Knights is limited, and only the elites of the Knighthood major can become pilots. The Knighthood major will take 6 years to complete and is followed by the piloting course. When all of that is done, including the deployment process... It will be a long time before I am actually riding a Silhouette Knight."
It is not easy to become a Knight runner; Silhouette Knights are 'weapons', something created to protect the nation. That's why, it requires years of training before it is possible to pilot one.
Eru thought about it for a while and faced Mathias.
"Father, I have a question, does the Knighthood major allow the skipping of grades?"
Mathias frowned, his son had asked something difficult. He understood Eru's worries and also knew how tough it would be.
"With the efforts you put in, and your magical capabilities, that is certainly possible... but the Knighthood major is different. Not only are you tested on your sword and magic abilities, you will also go through ethics lessons, and you have never learned about ethics officially, correct?"
This was a blind spot. Mathias continued with a troubled expression:
"Silhouette Knight pilot training is the final class before you enter pilot school. Students usually enroll at age 15... But for you... eh, if you are not tall enough, there won't be a suitable machine for you to pilot."
Everyone looked at Eru, and the scene fell into a hellish silence. Eru was smaller than the peers in his age group, which was obvious compared to the Olter siblings beside him. But no one thought this would be important.
Eru looked down in utter disappointment. He would need to wait 7 more years to pilot the giant robots of his dreams. He didn't mind waiting, but no one would blame him for thinking the process would take too long. But not everything will go your way. Eru wanted to change the mood in the room, when he felt a shadow loom over him. He lifted his head and saw Tina standing before him.
"I'm sorry, Eru. Because you look like me... your height..."
Seeing his mother rubbing his head with an apologetic face, Eru opened his eyes wide and shook his head.
"That's not it! Mother, it doesn't matter! I am still young, and this is not the only way..."
Eru stopped suddenly as he remembered something, surprised by his own words and closed his mouth slowly. This inspiration gave birth to a new possibility.
"...That's right; this is not the only way. I was too focused on piloting and wasted too much time. I should be spending my efforts in the right place..."
Tina tilted her head in confusion, as she watched Eru slowly raise his head with resolve.
"I can just make one myself."
"Make what?"
Chid asked on reflex when he heard Eru's fragmented words.
"A Silhouette Knight. I will make one myself."
"... Ah?"
"...E...Eru? Are you serious?"
Eru looked more determined than ever. His words were too surprising; everyone in the room didn't know what to say.
"Wait... Wait a minute, what do you mean... by making?"
"I mean literally. All my actions thus far are based on piloting, but now that I think about it, I won't get my personal machine this way."
Everyone was stunned, was Eru thinking of hogging a Silhouette Knight for himself? Aside from a handful of powerful nobles and merchants, no one owned a personal Silhouette Knight. Creating and maintaining one would require enormous funds and manpower, going the pilot route is a short cut compared to this. That is the common sense of this world, but for the robot nerd from an alternate world, Eru didn't care about all that.
"That's right, isn't it? The machine issued by the kingdom cannot be modified too drastically! Why didn't I think about something so basic? A custom Silhouette Knight is the way to go. I will need related knowledge to modify one completely anyway... I overlooked this."
Chid and Ady put their hands on their foreheads when they saw Eru's evil smile, they knew that this was bad. The normal Eru would always act maturely with a casual air. But he had an unbelievably passionate side to him too, erupting unexpectedly. Chid and Ady felt that they were looking at Eru's true obsessive nature.
"You're doing it for real? Eru..."
"Yes! I am sure that I will be wasting my time if I carry on this way. Setting the goal of building one myself will be a good hobby, and is more practical than saving money and buying one, right?"
Chid thought either choice would be crazy, but he chose silence intelligently. Mathias glanced at the uninterested Chid and said sternly:
"Eru... I understand how you feel, but it is not as simple as you think."
"I know, father. But if possible, I want a personal Silhouette Knight, so I am going to do all I can."
"I see... alright, then. But, work hard on your Knight lessons, too."
"I will. I really want to be a pilot, so I won't take it lightly."
Eru had no hesitation on his face. Ady started patting Eru's head for some reason, moving from being stunned to being impressed.
"Well, you are really willing to do whatever it takes for your goal."
"... I am a bit concerned with the way you put it, but there is no reason to give up when there are choices for me to take."
"Amazing. Eru looks so cute, but is so passionate."
Because of how I look, normal methods won't work on me.
Eru looked out the window; he could see the facility that took up half the space in the city... Laihiala Pilot Academy.
"Well... I am looking forward to the day I go to school in Laihiala."
Mathias and Tina smiled at each other; they didn't want to see their son depressed. Even though his goal was ridiculous, if it is Eru, he can definitely strive towards it wholeheartedly.
"... I don't want to lose, Eru is too amazing."
"Chid?"
"Noth... Nothing. Okay, let's work hard to be Knights!"
"Yeah!"
Chid and Ady had decided to major in Knighthood, too. The three of them wanted to work hard on their goal together at Laihiala Pilot Academy, and looked forward to their campus life in the future.