"Lord Nayre, we're almost at Aurel Knight Academy, about five minutes away."
"Understood," he replied.
After bowing to Lord Nayre, the elderly train conductor glanced at the tall magical puppet knights on either side. Nayre sat proudly and elegantly on a large chair, with luggage belonging to both him and Vylushica piled on both sides.
Even though there were only two passengers on the train, the conductor remained completely focused on directing it. He had been on these two trains for over twenty years, working his way up from a humble train guard to the conductor he was today.
He had also watched Nayre grow from a child to the lord who would inherit the family legacy.
Because he was so happy to continue serving the former lord and now the young lord, he didn't leave. Instead, he looked up and said, "My lord, my position doesn't give me the right, but I still want to ask: are you sure you want to go to the Knight Academy?"
Nayre didn't respond at first, as the conductor's position didn't give him the right to ask. But he was a little surprised that he had the courage to ask, even though it was just a show of useless concern and loyalty.
But it was enough.
Nayre took out a small piece of magic crystal, tossed it to the conductor, and asked, "Is there anything going on at the Aurel Knight Academy?"
"Thank you very much. What I've heard is... there have been continuous disputes among the Four Knight Families, and..."
"And what?"
"It seems that Train One has had some issues and has been stopped. No one is maintaining it, and no one is directing it."
Nayre let out a clear sigh and waved for the conductor to leave. The principle was simple: if you don't maintain it today, you'll have to repair it tomorrow.
Train One had been gifted to Aurel Knight Academy decades ago for their free use. Train Two was for a fixed route, running through the entire Aurel Queen's Kingdom as a public train for everyone. Train Three was reserved as the private train for the Farshore family.
These three huge and stable trains were specially made by Nayre's father. At the time, to limit the dangers of magical technology and demonstrate its practical uses, his father had created a lot of civilian technology and donated it directly to the Aurel Queen and the common people.
As for why Train One was stopped, the reason might be simple—no one was maintaining it. A deeper reason was that the Aurel Queen's Kingdom, as a country based on faith, was already somewhat opposed to technology.
But this wasn't the real reason. More than fifty years ago, the magical technology created by Nayre's grandfather had been used to create many war machines!
This was something that neither his grandfather nor his sponsor, Queen Aurel, had anticipated, and it caused most of the people in the Aurel Kingdom to truly start rejecting magical technology.
When his grandfather finally passed away, he was filled with regret over the consequences of his unrestrained magical technology. This was a huge lesson for the Farshore family.
Nayre's father's generation had decisively stopped large-scale manufacturing and made every effort to prevent the misuse of magical technology, while also creating many magical technologies for civilian use.
His father's decisiveness had regained the trust of many people, especially since the Aurel Queen had taken the lead in encouraging and believing in him. The public's attitude at least shifted from disgust to a slight rejection.
When Nayre had first attended Aurel Knight Academy, he hadn't felt any rejection or disgust. Nayre was aware of this, which was why he was returning to Aurel Knight Academy now at the request of Her Majesty the Queen, Nayre Farshore, to return to Aurel Knight Academy.
"..."
The dark knight Vylushica watched the quickly receding scenery outside the window in astonishment.
But she wasn't looking at the beautiful nature; she was looking at a large, important group of buildings that was gradually expanding behind it.
It was a place that was remarkably conspicuous on the horizon, attracting everyone's attention like a beacon in the night.
The Aurel Knight Academy.
It occupied a large part of the capital's land! It was the true core of the Aurel capital!
The Aurel capital wasn't even that important; the Aurel Knight Academy was the real heart of the capital, and its politics, economy, and even the functioning of the entire country were all centered there.
The politics of the nobility were insignificant there; the Aurel Knight Academy's foundation, from its very beginning, was based on ability.
The destination was almost here.
He sent a message to his old knight friends to let them know.
[I'm back. Come and welcome Nayre of Farshore!]
On both sides of the ceremonial road, colorful flags whipped and fluttered in the wind! Each flag was embroidered with the emblem of the Aurel Knight Academy, symbolizing the knights' fearless spirit and unwavering conviction.
The six knights of the Aurel Student Council held long spears, their tips gleaming coldly in the sun, in a show of the highest respect for the important person who was about to arrive.
"Sister," Tina said, stepping back and giving up the main position to the last person to arrive, the leader of the Element Knight Family.
It was Lina Lessel, who had also accepted the fire element. Her fiery red short hair and eyes burned with an unyielding flame, making her look like a fire fairy.
"Hmm," she said, giving her sister a flat nod, and then stood at the front of the Element Knight Family's section, representing her status and rank.
Unlike the other female knights who wore full armor, Lina only wore small pieces of armor on less important parts of her body.
The rest of her was only covered by a soft, thin vest and shorts, carelessly revealing clean armpits, an abdomen with visible abs, and a healthy, muscular body. She looked like an exhibitionist pretending to be a female knight.
But the fact was that Lina dressed this way on purpose. Her flames were so hot they would melt most armor, so she couldn't wear it properly.
This was why she was the leader of the Element Knights in Aurel Knight Academy—her powerful strength and terrifying flames made her a very representative Element Knight.
As the last one to arrive, Lina carefully observed the situation around her. The knights of the Four Knight Families were already in position in their four respective sections.
They wore magnificent outfits or neat armor, with emblems symbolizing their family's honor, and stood silently in their places.
The knight orders of the Four Knight Families had composed expressions, but all had completely different attitudes.
In the section across from hers, the Dragon Knight Family, characterized by their dragon eyes and horns, was not represented by their most prominent member, the Dragon Mother.
Instead, the youngest and most promising boy, Elon Ryou, was at the front as the family's representative, watching his surroundings with a clear and curious gaze.
The Dragon Knights were powerful knights with dragon blood. They were the smallest in number but incredibly strong.
—This is the most dangerous Dragon Knight of the future... but his expression looks like he doesn't understand anything.
This means that the Dragon Knight Family is currently taking a wait-and-see approach, otherwise they wouldn't have sent a boy as their representative.
Next to the Dragon Knights, the people from the Moon Knight Family, who worship the three Moon Goddesses, were a big surprise to Lina!