It had been a full week since Kenji arrived at the Coral Peacocks headquarters, and so far, he had absolutely no complaints. He'd mostly been given free time to acclimate to his new environment, with his days consisting of training, eating excellent food, sleeping in, and overall having a great time.
Contrary to what he'd first thought, he hadn't seen Dorothy again since their last meeting. She must be busy, he figured.
Now sitting in the cafeteria with Ash and Dmitri, eating breakfast, he heard Dmitri speak up while absentmindedly stirring his eggs around his plate.
"When do you think our first mission will be? The first week here as a knight hasn't really been what I thought it would be."
Ash swallowed a bite of toast. "Probably soon. I can't see us getting paid to do nothing much longer here."
Kenji joined the conversation with a lazy grin. "Hey, I for one don't mind how my time has been here. What's better than getting a paid vacation on your first week on the job?"
That garnered a smile from Dmitri. "Yeah, well, not all of us are lazy like you."
Ash nodded in agreement.
Ignoring the comment, Kenji continued, "I imagine today will be the day, though. A week seems to be more than enough to get comfortable here." He glanced toward the cafeteria entrance and spotted Rick walking toward their table. "Well, seems vacation's over."
He directed the other two's attention to the approaching senior knight.
Rick arrived at their table, stopped, and looked them over for a moment before saying flatly, "Finish up your food quickly. The vice-captain's looking for you."
Without waiting for a response, he turned and walked back toward the exit.
Kenji sighed and turned to the other two. "Well, I guess it's showtime."
He got up and placed his plate on the dish tray. "Thanks for the food, Franny! Was great as always. My offer still stands to get married—I can no longer live without your cooking in the morning."
Fran, an older lady in charge of the kitchen on base, turned to him with an amused smile. "No problem, dear. Glad you liked it." She pointed her spatula at him playfully. "As for the marriage, I'm afraid I'll have to decline. You just couldn't handle me."
Kenji laughed. "Well, you're probably right. Worth a shot, though!"
He waved and headed toward Vice-Captain Kirsch's office, the other two following behind.
____
A short time later, Ash, Dmitri, and Kenji stood outside the vice-captain's office. Ash turned to Dmitri.
"You nervous?"
"Yeah, a little. He's the vice-captain, after all."
Kenji laughed and slapped his shoulder. "Haha, settle down! He doesn't bite."
He stepped forward and knocked three times.
"Come in!" called a voice from inside.
They opened the door to find their eccentric blonde vice-captain sitting behind a large ornate desk, looking as perfectly composed as ever.
"Hello, my little newbies! It's great to see the beautiful me this fine morning, I imagine. Hold your awe—you're here for business."
All three of them sweat-dropped at that.
Kirsch's expression became slightly more serious. "So, how have you found your time here at the Coral Peacocks? All good, I hope. Have you managed to get acclimated to the headquarters this week?"
The three nodded in response.
Kirsch clapped his hands together. "Well, good! I'm glad. But unfortunately, your downtime is over, as we need you for missions. Now, usually we would have a senior member accompany you on your first missions to show you the ropes, but unfortunately we're stretched thin due to the war, and all of our members still here are busy with their own tasks."
The three remained silent, waiting for him to finish.
"That being said, since new knights rarely get dangerous missions, I have deemed that you three are capable of handling it yourselves... especially with our captain's favorite new protégé here taking part."
Kenji could swear he heard a bit of jealousy in Kirsch's usually joyful tone at that last part, but he ignored it.
"Oh, that reminds me! Our beautifully divine captain asked me to give you her apologies, as she had to rush to the battlefield a couple days ago and couldn't inform you before departing."
Well, that makes sense now why I didn't see her, Kenji thought.
"Thanks for passing the message," Kenji said, nodding at Kirsch, who smiled in return.
Kirsch continued, "Now, before I tell you about your mission, there are some things we should go over. Firstly, our fabulous squad here runs a bit differently than most others, and by that I mean I am mostly in charge of the day-to-day operations. So when you have missions or need anything from the squad, you should come directly to me. Our captain's time is most precious, so don't bother her with these mundane problems."
Yup, Dorothy is a genius. This guy really does everything for her, Kenji thought, hiding a smirk.
Kirsch continued, "Now, as you may or may not know, us Magic Knights have different ranks, starting from the lowest—the Junior Magic Knights, which is you. Your jobs mostly consist of easier missions like guard duty, patrolling the capital, transporting goods for the Magic Knights, animal exterminations, and other smaller duties that avoid putting you in too much danger. Junior knights rarely, if ever, see combat with other mages or criminals, and on the odd chance you do, you're to immediately contact headquarters or the closest branch for support. This especially pertains to you three as new members. Any questions so far?"
He looked at them to make sure they were listening attentively.
Dmitri raised his hand as if in school, causing Kirsch to smile and play into the role, pointing at him. "Yes, you there! The average-looking fellow."
Dmitri felt an invisible arrow pierce his heart at how he was addressed. He asked timidly, "Wh-why don't we see combat or have to call for backup?"
Ash looked at him strangely for asking such an obvious question.
Kirsch answered with theatrical flair, "Why, that's because you junior knights are developing little flowers not yet ready to sprout! We can't have you being put into danger before you're ready and stop you from blossoming into the beautiful rose that you have the potential to become! No, no, we just can't have it! How ugly a thought—banish it from your mind!"
Dmitri nodded, too nervous to make a funny face at the analogy.
"Now, since there are no other questions and you seem to understand so far, let us continue. The next rank is our Intermediate Magic Knights. These are the majority of our ranks and the ones who are able to take on a little more challenging missions than the former. They still partake in the same kinds of missions you do, but in this rank, they have the honor of being able to do more—like being stationed to participate in active conflicts like the current one with the Diamond Kingdom, or dealing with camps of criminals like bandits and such. In this rank, you see more combat, and the most challenging outside of war will be fighting lower-ranked mana beasts. But for the most part, outside of war, they tend to refrain from fighting other mages."
He paused, seeing them following along, then nodded. "Now for the next—the Senior Magic Knights, which includes my beautiful self. Us senior magic knights are the strongest and most experienced knights in our forces, just under the captains. You will see us as vice-captains or senior members in a squad, and we are responsible for managing lower-ranked knights and taking the more challenging missions when needed. Now, this is still far out of reach for you now, so I won't bore you with the details and move on."
He took a breath. "The next is the Grand Magic Knights, better known as our captains. These are the backbone of our kingdom, the crème de la crème. When one reaches this prestigious rank, they have the opportunity to form their own squad, which is why these knights are our honored captains. Those who wish to not form a squad and reach this rank also have the option of forming their own branch, like the healing division or research division, for example."
Kirsch's voice grew more reverent. "Now, after this, finally the highest and most prestigious rank... the Wizard King, who is our leader and strongest, in charge of all operations in the Magic Knights."
Kenji looked over and saw worship in the eyes of the other two at the mention of this title.
Kirsch nodded. "Now, I tell you this so you understand how we operate here, and so that you may freely strive to gain merit and work to increase your ranks. There is a five-tier system in each rank, starting at 5th rank—the beginning of each level—and ending in the 1st rank, whereupon achieving said rank in each level, you can then choose to increase to the next level."
He paused to drink some water. "Now that I've said this, it's time to tell you your mission! Are you excited?"
Anticipation built up in all three after hearing the previous information.
Kirsch paused for dramatic effect. "You will be..."
They leaned in slightly to hear.
"...hunting a wolf that's been attacking cattle!"
All three deadpanned.
I should have known, Kenji thought.
Kirsch looked at them playfully. "You will be heading out to a small village north of us." He handed the mission parchment to Kenji. "All the details are in this. Please make sure to uphold the beautiful image of our glorious Coral Peacocks while out there. And oh—"
He stood up and opened a closet behind him, taking out three pink cloaks with the squad symbol embroidered on them. Tossing one to each of them, he said with genuine warmth, "My gorgeous self would like to officially welcome you to the squad. Congratulations—you are now Peacocks. Stand proud!"
Despite the simplicity of their first mission, Kenji felt a small surge of pride as he caught the cloak. The fabric was high quality, the embroidery impeccable, and the weight of it in his hands felt... official.
He glanced at Ash and Dmitri, who both had similar expressions—a mixture of excitement and determination.
Well, Kenji thought as he draped the pink cloak over his shoulders, here we go. Time to see what being a Magic Knight is really about.
… Even if it was just hunting a wolf.