At last, I had arrived.

After ten long and grueling years as a squire, I, Trista Fairbright, have finally reached the much-coveted gates of Avalyne Academy! It had been one hell of a journey, but damn was it worth it. Among the thousands of applicants this year, I managed to land in the top hundred!

My skills with a blade were fairly average at best, and I wasn’t exactly the most mobile knight around either, but I’d somehow managed to earn victory after victory despite my mentor’s absolute lack of confidence in me at the start!

Honestly, it wasn’t all thanks to my own skill or effort though. I’d managed to catch quite a few lucky breaks, a few of them quite literal. As in my opponents’ swords actually snapping after a parry or two. But hey! Luck’s a part of skill too! And what can I say? Aluvsha’s on my side, hehe!

I took my first step onto the pristinely paved path that laid before me. Even the front gates that barred the way to the academy were fancier than anything I’d ever seen, and the patterned tiles that lead up to the main building’s heavy double doors were no joke either.

It genuinely felt like a crime for me to even step on such beautifully carved stones, but after watching a few students who I assumed were upperclassmen pass by, I finally gathered the courage to walk past the gates toward the place where I would be staying for the next four years of my life.

There was no doubt about it now. The mere fact that such a mediocre knight as I had managed to stumble into the academy was no simple coincidence. It just had to be fate. As I looked around, I just knew that what awaited me in the future was nothing short of greatness!

I puffed out my chest proudly as I walked, adopting the dignified attitude of what I thought a knight of this prestigious academy should bear. Hehe~! Look out, Avalyne Academy! The greatest knight in all of the empire is about to grace your grounds! I can see it now! Soon, they’ll be calling me Trista the...

“...Barista!?”

“Yes.”

“I’m so, so, so, so, so sorry, Trista!”

The voices belonged to my friends Emily and Loretta respectively. It had been around two weeks since I’d arrived at the academy, and though I’d finally started getting my bearings around the place, I was now being asked to do something that I thought was incredibly ridiculous by my two roommates.

“No way, Loretta. Absolutely no way.”

“Please, Trista! You’re our only hope!”

“Hell no! Are you serious right now!? You’re asking a knight, not a squire mind you, but a knight,” I emphasized, “to work at a goddamn coffee shop, and as a barista no less!”

“We’re knights too, you know?” Emily put in. “‘Sides, it’s Loretta’s family business and it’s just for this evening.”

While Emily and Loretta had trained under the same banner as squires, I’d only had the past two weeks to interact with them. Despite Emily being willing to sacrifice her pride as a knight to help out her childhood friend, I most certainly wasn’t in the same boat.

“Maybe try asking someone else. I’m a knight, not a squire. I won’t be doing stupid jobs that involve serving random commoners.”

The two girls stared at me, dumbfounded. A mixture of emotions flickered in their eyes. Confusion, disbelief, and most of all, hurt.

I immediately wanted to take back those words, but it was already too late. Loretta’s gaze had dropped already, and her lower lip was no doubt trembling as she struggled to hold back a deluge of tears.

While I’d only known the two for a brief while, we’d managed to become fast friends thanks to my easygoing attitude, but it seemed like I wanted to act like an asshole today. Honestly, I had no idea where those words even came from. After all, I was a commoner too.

Emily’s gaze sharpened as she glared at me, putting an arm around Loretta protectively. “Fine. We don’t need you anyway. Now, if you’ll be so kind as to grant us your noble leave, we’ll be on our way to do our ‘stupid job’, o great knight Trista.”

“W-Wait! I’m sorry!” I blurted out quickly. “I d-didn’t mean any of that! I don’t know what came over me!”

“Whatever. We were stupid to trust you in the first place.”

I wrenched my eyes shut as Loretta and Emily moved to leave. Am I really just gonna let this slide...? Hell no! I gotta make it right! Here goes!

Instead of allowing them to exit the room, I quickly leapt in front of the door and fell onto my knees, slamming my forehead against the hardwood floor in a gesture of absolute apology.

“...What the hell are you doing?” Emily glowered at me.

“I’m really sorry, I mean it! P-Please let me work at the coffee shop tonight!”

“No. We wouldn’t want our ‘stupid job’ to tarnish the reputation of such a superior knight.”

“B-But I...!”

“How about you get out of our way? We’re going to be late for the shift.”

“...O-Okay.” I sullenly stood, avoiding Emily’s gaze as I moved to the side. The door opened with a click and a creak as I waited for them to leave so I could slam my head against the wall for being such an idiot. 

I thought I would be free to punish myself in a few seconds, but when I looked up again, I saw that they had stopped in the middle of the doorway.

“...Loretta? What’s wrong? Did she make you cry? I’ll—”

“...No. I was just wondering if it’d be so bad to have such a distinguished knight in our shop,” Loretta said.

“Huh...? You’re not really going to just forgive her that easily, are you?”

“Y’know what? You’re right, Emily. I don’t think such an incredible knight should have to work at a run-down coffee shop...”

“N-No!” I burst out. “I’d be glad to work at your wonderful coffee shop, a-and I’m not an incredible knight! I just didn’t know what I was even saying!”

“Oh, I don’t know... Our coffee shop is owned by really weak and useless commoners, so just working there tonight might not be enough, but we couldn’t possibly impose on such a powerful and famous knight...”

“That’s not true! I-I’d love to work there! Even a week or a month is no problem for me, ahaha!” At this point, words just kept spilling from my mouth. All I wanted was to make up for the hurtful words I’d said.

“Really? A month!?” Loretta beamed at me as she reached over and clasped her hands around mine. “Then it’s a deal, Trista! Happy to have you on board!”

It was only then that I realized I’d been had, but it was too late to back out now. Emily kept her opal eyes trained on me, a dangerously threatening smirk adorning her lips.

“Oh, uh, y-yeah! Totally!” I managed to muster a grin before Loretta literally dragged me out of the room.

As we left, I couldn’t help but overhear Emily whispering to Loretta. “Y’know, you’re actually pretty scary, huh?”

I was inclined to agree.

True to my words, I’d spent a good month working at the cafe that Loretta’s family owned. It was a cozy, well-kept place and not at all run-down. The customers were friendly and easy to talk to, and the ever-changing menu was exciting and robust. Soon, that month turned into two months, and then three.

“And that’s all the dishes for today! Whew!” Valerie let out a sigh of relief as she finished putting away the last of the tableware after the last shift of the day. She was Loretta’s mom, and despite being in her mid-thirties, she was still quite the striking beauty. “Good work today, girls! I must be the luckiest cafe owner to have not one, but three knights working with me!”

“Hehe~! I’m glad we can help you out, even if it’s just a bit, mom!” Loretta smiled. “Did you know? When we first asked Trista to work here, she said—”

I rushed to clamp my hand over Loretta’s mouth, drawing a raised eyebrow from Emily. “That I’d be delighted and it’d be my pleasure, yup!”

“I... see? Well, I’m glad that you were so eager to work here, Trista!” Valerie smiled at me warmly. I felt a little bad for deceiving her, but I wasn’t exactly proud of what I’d initially said. “Watching you girls have fun makes me feel young again, honestly... But...”

“But?” Loretta prompted, my hand having been removed by Emily’s watchful glare. Over the past few months, I’d noticed that Emily was rather protective of Loretta, especially when someone touched Loretta’s eye-catching sky blue hair. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think Emily was in love with her.

“...I can’t help but think that Trista’s more suited for a different job, you know? She’s got a great voice and she’s a chatterbox. Loud, too.” Valerie grinned.

“L-Loud?” I asked worriedly. It must’ve been when I was calling out orders to the kitchen. As a barista in this small cafe, I was in charge of not only making drinks, but also passing orders to the kitchen. “Should I tone it down, then?”

Valerie shook her head. “Oh, no, no! It’s really quite helpful for the cooks! Gerard is deaf in one ear, anyway. Was next to a rather nasty explosion during the war with Kaslavna fourteen years ago when he served as a soldier.”

I nodded. “In that case, I’ll be as loud as I can, ahaha!”

Valerie grinned. “But seriously, Trista. I’ve heard that there are knights who work as announcers, right? A few of them are even treated like celebrities! They’re the only way us normal folk can keep track of the action whenever we watch one of ‘em matches, y’know? I think you’d go pretty far as one!”

“...Is that so?” I pursed my lips as I considered Valerie’s suggestion. An announcer, huh? “I’ll think about it.”

“Lemme know if you decide to become one! I’ll come listen whenever I’m free!”

“And us too!” Loretta and Emily chimed in.

“Mom’s right! You’d be pretty good at announcing with that voice of yours!” Loretta grinned.

“Just make sure you don’t speak before you think,” Emily remarked with a wry grin. “We can’t always cover your ass like we did yesterday.”

“Ahaha...” I scratched the back of my head sheepishly as Emily made me recall a rather embarrassing confrontation between myself and a customer. 

Though they’d been pretty rude, I’d responded with a string of curses that I never even knew I had in me. Needless to say, Emily and Loretta had to step in before I ended up hurting someone.

After all, fighting against someone who wasn’t a knight would’ve landed me in serious trouble even if I somehow managed to hold back enough to not injure my opponent.

I could only hope that I didn’t say anything stupid like that if I actually ended up becoming an announcer. The prospect was interesting, and I was never really good at fighting either. In fact, both Emily and Loretta could best me in a duel, and I had no doubt that they’d kick my sorry ass in a match too.

I sighed as the three of us made our way back to the academy. The sun was already halfway below the horizon now, but we’d probably make it back before it fully set.

“Something wrong?” Emily asked.

“No, just thinking.” I replied.

“Hm? What about?” Loretta stared at me with eyes full of curiosity.

“Well... What your mom said, I guess.”

“Oooh~ The stuff about being an announcer, right? Are you gonna give it a shot, Trista?”

The next few steps were walked in silence as I mulled over the question. Prior to Valerie’s suggestion, I’d never even considered the path. I’d always been fixated on becoming a strong and powerful knight who wielded their sword mightily, dispersing whole armies with a single swing.

In other words, I was striving toward a glamorized idea of a knight. Sure, there were a few senior knights at the academy who could actually live up to such an ideal, but they could be counted on one hand and they were incredibly talented and strong even as squires.

Nothing like me.

But my talents laid elsewhere. Even before I became a squire, I once dreamed of becoming a singer that could dazzle crowds with my voice. For some reason, I had forgotten about that on my journey to knighthood. It was only now that I was reminded of the dream I had as a child, and a smile touched my lips.

...It’s awfully strange, isn’t it? Even Lord Edward’s Crest ability is to magnify my voice... Hah. It’s almost like Aluvsha himself is telling me to do this.

“Trista?” Loretta prompted, noticing the light of clarity that blossomed in my eyes.

“Y’know what? I’ll have to give up on my dreams of becoming the greatest knight, but I think I’ll give being the greatest announcer a shot!”

There was a brief pause as Emily and Loretta both looked at Trista’s earnest declaration in surprise before the three girls shared a round of laughter.

“Don’t forget about us when you’re famous,” Emily joked. “You better visit us after the emperor appoints you as the imperial seneschal!”

Trista grinned, her smile bright and joyful as she took the first steps toward realizing her new dream.

“Hell yeah! It’s a promise!”