In front of the headquarters gate, Kenny was already standing there with an anxious expression. His eyes kept shifting toward the entrance road, then to the phone in his hand, before returning to the entrance again.
From the way he paced back and forth in front of the gate, it was obvious he had been waiting for quite a while.
The moment he spotted Rafka emerging from the crowd, his expression immediately changed. His previously tense shoulders seemed to relax slightly in relief.
"Hey! Finally!" Kenny called out, waving.
As soon as Rafka reached him, Kenny grabbed his arm without waiting for an explanation. "Hurry! It's your turn to give the welcome speech now. Ayu's already waiting."
Ayu was indeed already standing beneath the stage.
The girl was pacing back and forth without stopping while she waited. Her steps were quick, her arms occasionally folding across her chest before dropping again.
Every so often, her gaze flicked toward the large clock displayed in the hall before returning to the entrance.
Her face remained as expressionless as ever. Yet somehow, that made her look even more intimidating.
"Ayu!" Rafka called from a distance.
The moment she heard her name, Ayu turned.
Her eyes immediately locked onto Rafka through the crowd.
"Hurry," she said shortly.Without another word, she grabbed his arm and dragged him toward the stage stairs.
"Sorry, I ... I ...," Rafka stammered nervously. "anyway, I'm so sorry!" He glanced at the side of Ayu's face as she continued pulling him along. "You're ... not mad?"
"I am," Ayu replied shortly without looking back.
The view from the stage felt completely different from below. While standing among the crowd, the number of participants filling the hall hadn't seemed particularly overwhelming.
But the moment he stood on the stage and faced forward, Rafka immediately realized just how large the event actually was.
Rows upon rows of participants filled the hall before them.
Some looked relaxed, others looked tense, a few looked so confident it was almost irritatin
Some whispered to their friends, some stared straight at the stage. Others openly observed the two of them from head to toe.
Dozens of pairs of eyes were fixed on them, not merely watching, but judging and waiting.
Everyone seemed eager to see whether the rumors about the two new Mythical Knights were actually true.
Rafka's heart immediately slammed against his chest, hard enough that he could hear it over the oppressive silence filling the hall.
He took a slow breath, trying to calm himself, then glanced briefly at Ayu before they began taking turns speaking.
His eyes repeatedly darted across the sheet of paper Kenny had written.
Not because the handwriting was difficult to read, but because the reality that he was actually standing in front of everyone caused his mind to go blank several times.
And to make matters worse, he hadn't even eaten breakfast.
His stomach was empty, his mouth felt dry. In other words, this was a disaster waiting to happen.
"Those are the new Mythical Knights? What a joke! They're just kids! Look at that boy, he's shaking!"
Immediately, all eyes turned toward him.
A large, heavily built man stood firmly in place, his posture arrogant, arms crossed as if he were looking down on everyone present.
Rafka could live with the insult.
Honestly, the guy wasn't completely wrong.
But it seemed different for Ayu.
The girl casually crumpled her speech paper and tossed it aside. "Woah, did a musclehead wander into the wrong place?" she said lightly, a sharp smile curling on her lips. "This isn't the gym. Want me to show you the exit? Don't worry, it's not far!"
A brief silencer settled over the hall
Then several participants burst out laughing, others tried desperately to hold their laughter back, a few even slapped their friends on the shoulder while pointing at the large man.
Small cheers began rising from various corners of the hall.
"WOOO!"
The first shout exploded from somewhere in the crowd. "Hit him back!"
A skinny participant raised his fist high in the air with an excited grin, as though he were watching a boxing match rather than a welcoming ceremony. "Don't lose, man!"
Someone else yelled while laughing. "Keep going!"
Several participants began nudging their friends, clearly enjoying how the situation had suddenly become far more entertaining than the opening speech.
Within seconds, the previously calm atmosphere of the hall became noisy.
Some people whistled loudly, others laughed while waiting for the next comeback from either side.
It was obvious nobody had any intention of stopping this. They were actively encouraging it.
Rafka immediately closed his eyes for a moment. Why? Why? Why? Why, Ayu? Why couldn't you just let things end peacefully for once? he groaned inwardly.
When he opened his eyes again, he saw that the large man's face had already turned red. Veins bulged visibly on his forehead.
His glare was sharp enough to split steel.
Meanwhile, Ayu didn't look intimidated in the slightest.
If anything, the smug grin on her face only widened. She crossed her arms and tilted her head slightly.
Her eyes openly mocked him, and occasionally one eyebrow would rise ever so slightly as though challenging him to respond.
Rafka immediately panicked. His breath caught in his throat. Oh no! Hell nah! Not that smug smile!
The large man's face grew even redder. His jaw tightened, the veins on his temples became clearly visible.
No! Rafka shook his head rapidly. Absolutely not! I'll die if this turns into a fight!
Before Ayu could open her mouth again, Rafka hurriedly grabbed the microphone with both hands. "All right, that concludes our welcome speech. Thank you for your attention, good luck, and may you become the next ARMOR Knights!"
The moment he finished, he immediately handed the microphone back to the host.
***
The instant they stepped down from the stage, Rafka immediately grabbed Ayu's arm and dragged her as far away from the participants as possible.
His steps were quick and slightly frantic, as though he feared she might suddenly turn around and continue the argument he had barely managed to stop.
Behind them, the event had already resumed.
The host continued the program as normal, while the participants gradually redirected their attention toward the front.
Even so, some people still glanced toward the large man from earlier. Others whispered among themselves while trying not to laugh, clearly still discussing the incident that had happened on stage.
Once they were far enough from the crowd, Rafka finally stopped and turned toward Ayu with a look of complete disbelief. "Ayu, what is wrong with you?" he burst out. "Calm down! There was no need to take his words seriously!"
Ayu clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Things were finally getting interesting."
Rafka immediately clenched his left fist. His eyelid twitched. This girl ...!
He had been desperately trying to stop a conflict before it turned into an open fight in front of dozens of participants, while Ayu sounded disappointed because it had ended too quickly.
Rafka suppressed the irritation suddenly bubbling inside him. Seriously!?! What was wrong with her?!
He closed his eyes briefly and rubbed his temple. No, not today. Calm down, calm down, Rafka.
Then he released a long breath through his nose, trying to get rid of the frustration clouding his head.
After a few seconds, he let his hand drop and looked at Ayu. "You know what? Never mind." He sighed. "Want to grab a drink?"
According to the schedule, after the welcome speech, all participants would immediately proceed to the selection exam at the Fourth Division's training grounds.
Rafka had never been there before and had no idea what the exam would be like, since the selection method changed every two years.
Two years ago, he had heard that only four people passed out of roughly seventy participants.
Their division had relatively few applicants because it was the newest division and the last one to be established.
Its headquarters was also the smallest. And quite obviously, the most rundown.
That was why most people preferred taking the selection exam at one of the larger divisions rather than at this small headquarters.
The Fourth Division currently had twenty-three Knights.
Officially, the rest had been transferred to other divisions. But Rafka had heard a different story, a far more frightening version.
That they weren't transferred at all, they'd been kicked out.
Personally crossed off by the Captain because he deemed them unworthy of becoming Knights.
Just thinking about it made Rafka shiver slightly.
What if one day he was deemed unworthy too? What if the only reason he was here was because Agni had chosen him? What if the Captain eventually decided he wasn't good enough to remain here?
Those were only three among the many worries that often lingered in his mind.
"Hurry up! I already ordered guava juice for you!" Ayu called out, instantly breaking his train of thought.
Rafka quickly turned around.
The girl was already sitting in the cafeteria, waving at him.
Yeah. Future Rafka can deal with that problem. Rafka thought as he slowly walked toward her.
***
As usual, Ayu ordered orange juice, and as usual, she had already ordered guava juice for Rafka without even asking.
Apparently, she had memorized his favorite drink.
Rafka pulled out a chair across from her and sat down.
For a while, he simply sipped his guava juice while glancing around the cafeteria.
It was still just as quiet as yesterday. The usual bustle of staff and occasional Knights was nowhere to be seen.
After deciding the atmosphere was calm enough, Rafka cleared his throat. His eyes returned to Ayu. "Ayu, about earlier ... why were you so angry about what that guy said?"
He slowly stirred his straw inside the glass before leaning back in his chair. "I mean, maybe he was just surprised that the owners of Mythical Armor are teenagers like us."
He already knew Ayu well enough to understand that she wasn't the type to get offended easily.
That was precisely why her reaction had felt strange to him. And it wasn't that he wanted to bring the incident up again.
He simply didn't want her carrying unnecessary resentment.
If that guy ended up passing and joining the Fourth Division, things could become awkward.
Ayu immediately fell silent.
The fingers holding her glass slowly stopped moving.
After several seconds, she lowered her gaze as though carefully choosing her words.
Finally, she looked up at him. For a moment, her eyes seemed softer than usual. "To judge someone before even knowing them ...," Ayu said quietly.
Ayu lowered her gaze briefly. "That's just stupid."
Silence settled between them for a moment.
During that brief pause, Ayu absentmindedly raised a hand and brushed several strands of brown hair away from her face, tucking them behind her ear before lowering her hand again.
It was a simple gesture, perhaps even unconscious.
But for some reason, Rafka couldn't look away. He was genuinely looking at Ayu's face from this close without saying a word.
She really was beautiful.
Not the kind that demanded attention and certainly not the kind that tried to attract it.
Rather, the kind of beauty that felt natural.
And in moments like this, when her guard slipped just a little, it became impossible not to notice.
But Rafka quickly redirected his gaze back to his guava juice.
"If he'd only insulted me, I wouldn't have cared," Ayu continued, her voice unusually sincere. "But he was insulting you."
She lowered her eyes toward the orange juice in front of her. "And I didn't like that."
After that, she fell silent.
Several more seconds passed.
In the distance, participants could already be heard gathering for the next phase of the exam, the written test.
Laughter, conversations, and calls from staff blended together into a distant hum.
Ayu turned her face away. Her cheeks looked just a little red. So quietly that it was almost drowned out by the noise around them, she muttered, "I don't like people insulting the boy I love."
Rafka still caught part of what she said, his brow immediately furrowed. "Huh?" He blinked several times and leaned forward. "What was that last part?"
Ayu, already sipping her orange juice again, merely looked at him blankly. "Nothing."
Rafka fell silent for a moment before letting out a quiet sigh.
The atmosphere suddenly became awkward.
Rafka was completely out of topics and had no idea what to talk about anymore.
As a result, the two of them simply looked away from each other and slowly drank their juices.
From the outside, Ayu appeared exactly the same as usual. Calm, expressionless, and impossible to read. But in reality, she was trying very hard to keep her expression from changing.
Her fingers tightened slightly around her glass. Beneath the table, one of her legs moved restlessly, stopped, then moved again.
Nervous, something extremely unusual for her.
Ah, I'm such an idiot. Ayu stared at the straw in her drink. Why did I say that?
The words had slipped out before she even realized she'd said them.
Please let Rafka not have heard that last part! she prayed inwardly.
Her cheeks felt slightly warm, a faint blush appeared, almost invisible.
Ayu quickly lowered her head and resumed sipping her orange juice as though nothing had happened.
More than anything, she hoped he'd never bring it up again.