Graduation Day
Translator: Skythewood
Editor: Darkdhaos, Chris S, Storm Loki, alkin
C.E. 1280,
Spring.
The bell
situated at the centre of Laihiala Pilot Academy rung out, the clear sound
echoing within the campus before it dissipated into the clear blue skies.
That wasn’t the
short bell announcing the beginning and ending of lessons; the long and steady
ringing meant that this was a special day. Today, the campus will be holding a
graduation ceremony.
Students
wearing badges signifying their ‘graduation’ could be seen on campus
everywhere.
Their ages and
faculties were all different. This didn’t apply only to Laihiala Pilot Academy,
Fremmevira Kingdom on the whole was very liberal in terms of graduation; there
were plenty of graduates who didn’t complete all their classes.
The ceremony
did not differentiate between Elementary, Middle or High School, everyone who
was leaving the campus received a grand farewell on this day.
Among them was
a group of Laihiala Middle School graduates.
Their treatment
was slightly different from the other graduates. According to the custom of
this world, those who are fifteen years of age are treated as adults. The third
year students of Middle school are fifteen this year, so their graduation had
the same significance as a coming of age ceremony.
“A lot of
things happened, and our circumstances became weird in a lot of ways, but we
still graduated successfully.”
“To think that
the school is still willing to issue us graduation certificates after all the
willful things we had done.”
“It felt as
though they are asking us to get lost--”
“I don’t have
any recollection of studying seriously midway through my school life.”
There was a
very prominent group among the middle school graduates: A short boy in the
middle, a Dwarf youth, flanked by two tall twins made them a quartet with
uneven height-- Ernesti, Batson, Chid and Ady, the childhood playmates army, or
the Silver Phoenix Knight Commander and his merry friends. They will be adults
this year.
It was
understandable why they had complicated feelings as they were about to
graduate.
Thinking back,
they did as they pleased in school to the point of absurdity, they didn’t fit
the part of being good model students. Attending classes that were far from
being related was just the beginning; they even started creating new models
suddenly and used the machines on campus without permission. In the end, they
even took over an entire faculty, a high school on top of that. Such examples
were more than they could count.
They were the
most infamous problem children since the founding of the school.
“Indeed,
letting me lead a Knight Order at this age is already a special case, and we
started teaching how to use Silhouette Gear mid-way…”
They might be
problem children, but the results they produced were impeccable.
The biggest
accomplishment was probably the invention of the industrial work machine
Silhouette Gears, and pushing its implementation. The influence of Silhouette
Gears was wide and involved many industries. Thanks to this, there was a
revolution in the education content not just in Laihiala Pilot Academy, but
kingdom wide.
And so, the
‘inventors’ from the Silver Phoenix Knights received plenty of invitations to
be instructors from all over the nation, making the group wonder whether they
were students or teachers.
Due to their
special circumstances, graduation became the compromising way of dealing with
this troublesome group they couldn’t handle.
The graduation
ceremony proceeded without incident, which was followed by the current students
sending the graduates out of the school gates to end the ceremony.
From tomorrow
onwards, the graduates will go on their separate ways and move on with their
lives.
Some of them
looked back on their lives at school, others felt uneasy about the future. They
brought their own emotions and walked towards the main gate. At this time,
heavy footsteps came from somewhere.
Without needing
to search for the source of the noise, the group of Silhouette Knights appeared
a short distance away. The procedure that was not part of the ceremony confused
all those who were present.
In the face of
the crowd, the Silhouette Knight Squad spread out, lining on both sides of the
road leading to the main gate.
The Knights
straightened their backs and formed up beautifully, facing each other with
smooth movements. Immediately after that, all the Knights drew the swords on
their waist.
With the sword
in their right hand and sheath in their left, they raised their swords high and
crossed it with the Knight on the opposite side, before withdrawing it before
their face. All the machines stopped with the position of praying with their
swords, creating a path with the swords of the Silhouette Knights.
A Silhouette
Knight nearby spoke to the graduates who were at a loss:
“Congratulations
on your graduation, my juniors. We will be leaving this place in the near
future too, but allow us to send you off with a grand farewell.”
The scene
before them was as majestic as a gallery of statues. The procedure that didn’t
exist in the past years made the graduates blush in joy, and they went through
the path made by the giant Knights. This year’s graduation ceremony would
surely leave a deep impression in the hearts of many people.
And of course,
the pilots of these Silhouette Knights were the members of the Silver Phoenix
Knights.
Their special
course of action was because of the person walking slowly at the end of the
line of graduates-- The Knight Commander with a face full of smiles, humming
cheerfully as he walked slowly ahead. Ady had a similar expression, holding
Eru’s hand as she walked beside him. Chid and Batson who were not far behind
puffed their chest high as they grinned.
Thus ends their
six turbulent years of campus life.
After passing
through the campus main gate, Eru turned his head. The vast campus ground of
the Pilot Academy spread before his eyes. He said loudly with complicated
feelings:
“Laihiala Pilot
Academy, I have been in your care all these while! Well then… Silver Phoenix
Knights, move out!”
The members
moved quickly after receiving their Commander’s order.
The Silhouette
Knights began moving at the same time, and were followed by carriages. The rest
of the members were seated inside, along with all sorts of tools. These luggages
were all the Silver Phoenix Knights had, and would follow them to their new
base.
With the
graduation of their Knight Commander, the Silver Phoenix Knights officially
moved away from Laihiala Pilot Academy and began operation as an independent
entity. They will use the newly constructed ‘Olvecius fort’ near Laihiala
Academy City as their base, and work actively around the nation.
This day, they
started their journey in both ways.
These were the
peaks that separated the western nations from Fremmevira Kingdom, the Aubigne Mountain
Range.
The two sides
of the continents were linked by the road known as the ‘East West Highway’,
built along the mountains that were easier to traverse. The highway was built
perfectly, but due to the treacherous terrain, it took a lot of effort to
travel on it.
A convoy of
carriages was moving along the East West Highway.
The convoy was
escorted by a sizeable number of Silhouette Knights. They were not merchants
and hadn't brought much cargo with them. They only brought items necessary for
travel. In the middle of the pack was a carriage larger than the others.
It had a simple
design, but was built sturdily, making the high status of the passenger
obvious.
The convoy
advanced cautiously ahead, but when they passed over the tallest peak, a rough
voice bellowed out from the large carriage to stop the drivers.
“Hey, stop the
carriage!!”
The flag to
signal the stopping of the convoy was waved and the carriages stopped one after
another. The escorting Silhouette Knights assumed their defensive positions to
protect the entire convoy. It was an impulsive action, but the movement of all
the personnel was perfect, making it clear that such an action had probably
happened several times before.
The carriage
shook as the passenger alighted.
He was wearing
a well tailored suit that did not stinge on the usage of high quality clothes.
Regrettably, the man was too well built. He was almost two metres in height
with a solid body, the embodiment of wildness and ruggedness. The tidy and
refreshing clothes didn’t match the man’s powerful aura. Bystanders might even
think that the atmosphere was weird.
But the man
himself wasn’t concerned with this at all.
He took a deep
breath, and exhaled slowly as if he was tasting the air in his lungs carefully.
His solid muscles expanded with his lungs, the clean white shirt made sounds as
it was stretched tight. Sad to say, the clothes tailored for him was as fragile
as a candle in the wind in the face of his powerful muscles.
“The air here
is great! The air in the great Aubigne Mountains are so refreshing. Staying in
that tiny castle was so constraining.”
The mountain
breeze blew his unkempt hair. His blonde hair with a touch of red fluttered
like the mane of a lion.
“Yes, Your Highness.
This fellow is also saying its condition is better than usual.”
The Silhouette
Knight escort behind him imitated his actions and took a deep breath, and the
revving of the Ether Reactor became louder.
“Haha, I told
you so! Ohhh! Look, the home I missed so much!”
The entire
mountain was covered in greenery with the colours of the city standing out in
between. The capital Känkänen and the royal castle-- Shreiber was right there.
Further into the distance, the small image of Laihiala Academy City could be
seen.
“Oh, beautiful
Fremmevira. Well then, Your Highness, since it is right before us, let us make
haste into Känkänen.”
“Don’t be so
petty, I have been holed up in that small boring place all this time! If I
don’t stretch my body here, I won’t be able to do so when I go inside the
city.”
He was just
starting to stretch his limbs when his chest button flew out with a pop. It
sounded just like the scream of the royal tailor that made his shirt.
“Ara, this
expensive shirt is so fragile. It is a gift from someone, but I still don’t
understand the fashion of Gajdos.”
After uttering
his complains, the second son of Fremmevira Kingdom’s first prince, Riothamus,
‘Emrys Geijer Fremmevira’ got onto the carriage once again.
