Solomon awoke with a start.
He sucked air into his body only to immediately feel a deep ache travel up his back as a consequence.
His eyes stung unmercifully. If he were to discover a sudden inability to walk, it wouldn’t surprise him in the slightest.
"Well... That went about as well as I expected it to."
Solomon strained his neck to look up in the room.
Raizel sat in a chair opposite his guest and didn’t even bother to meet his gaze. Rather, he thumbed through the pages of an old book instead.
"It was a success, though. Or... maybe it’s better to say that it was a tentative one." He sighed.
Solomon struggled to talk through clenched teeth.
"Y-You... jerk..! What was all that?"
"Pomposity at it’s highest form, mostly. Family meetings are usually quite a dull affair, but today’s splash of violence will likely be on everyone’s lips for a while."
Solomon hurled the pillow nearest to him at Raizel. "Your dick face dad hit me!"
The young master tilted his head to the side and let the fluffy mass whiz past.
"He hits a lot of people, you don’t get to his position in life without it, I’m afraid."
Solomon reached for another pillow.
"Alright, alright, we’ll have no more of that. I’m keeping good on our word so you have no need to throw things at me." Raizel defended.
"Where’s the money you promised me?!"
"You’re earning it as of right now. All knight cadets of the Olethros household receive a small monthly stipend in addition to room and board."
Solomon was now certain that he’d been hit so hard he’d started to hallucinate.
"A knight?! When did I agree to that?!"
"When we shook hands, don’t you remember?"
"N-No!"
"I said that if you came with me, I’d give you gold. If you make it through tomorrow, you’ll have a place to stay and a little bit of money in your pocket, too. I think that means I’m holding up my end of the deal, no?"
"No."
"Oh well, you’re here now." Raizel shrugged. "Might as well give it a shot."
Solomon was stunned by this person’s shamelessness.
"...Why did you tell your dad I was going to be your vassal?"
"Because you are?" Raizel answered like it was obvious.
"But you don’t even know me."
"I’m a risk taker."
The look of suspicion Solomon gave Raizel only intensified. He sighed as he leaned back in his chair.
"Look, I don’t know why you’re complaining. This is a hell of an opportunity for you. How many other outsiders do you think would get an opportunity to join the illustrious Olethros family?"
"I hate your family." Solomon said defiantly. His face and body still stung from the pain of being slapped. His cheek had also started to swell.
He thought that his clear resentment would be the end of it. He didn’t understand why Raizel suddenly curled his lips in an odd smile.
"What a coincidence. So do I. Why don’t we figure out a way to take them down together?"
After trying and failing to understand Raizel for the past several minutes, Solomon reached a single irrefutable conclusion.
"You’re insane."
"I’m strangely okay with that."
- The Next Morning...
Before the sun had even fully risen, the cadet barracks of the Olethros clan were abuzz.
As they got dressed with no concern for modesty, the group of nine and ten year olds were abuzz with chatter.
"Did you hear..? We’re getting a new kid."
"Yeah, they say the youngest brought him in. Off the streets at that."
"My word... You must be joking!"
"Get this- apparently the youngest has decided he’s going to be his bi’an."
"What!? But my father expects me to secure that position! What am I supposed to do now!?"
Like clockwork, the door to the barracks swung open, and all external chatter ceased.
A man strode into the barracks purposefully. He was adorned in gleaming silver armor that had been expertly polished by the hands of one poor sod or another.
His hair was bound in a neat black braid, and his eyes were green and sharp.
He spoke in an alert tone that indicated he’d been up even longer than the children.
"Listen up. As you’ve no doubt heard, there’s a new recruit joining us from today onward."
The man glanced over his shoulder. "Get in here and introduce yourself, kid."
A shuffling sound came from behind him, and a new face appeared beside the knight.
Solomon raked his orange eyes over the expressions of everyone in the room to gauge the feelings around him.
There was shock, disdain, curiosity, and mild discomfort- likely constipation.
The knight nudged him, and he realized that he’d been staring too long.
"My name is Solomon."
"Family name?" The knight asked.
"Don’t have one, sir."
It wasn’t strange for a child from the streets not to have a family name. But for some reason, the knight had expected Solomon to have one.
’Is he really just a street child..? Or is he choosing not to telling me...?’
Eventually, the knight decided he didn’t particularly care very much and left the children to their own devices.
"Pick out a bunk and be outside with the others in ten."
The knight shut the door behind him, and Solomon was left alone in the stale room.
He carried a burlap sack over one shoulder- a gift from Raizel. Inside were three sets of spare clothes and some items to clean himself with during the appropriate hours.
Solomon was hoping that the shameless young master would have put the money he owed him inside, but he had no such luck.
’That crazy little bastard is probably never going to pay me what he owes...’
Solomon spotted a bunk at the very back of the barracks. The space was slightly cramped, but it wasn’t as if he was in any position to be picky.
Head down, he started to move to the back of the room.
He got maybe five paces towards his destination before a body stood in his path.
It was another young boy. Dark haired and eyes of crystal blue like the surface of a lake.
Like Raizel, he was very well built for his age. He was a full head taller than Solomon and possessed more than triple his muscle mass.
Solomon didn’t like the look in his eye. He’d seen it time and time again.
"...Excuse me." He tried to step to the side.
The boy continued to be an obstacle in his path.
"You speak well for a street urchin." The boy said distastefully. "Is it true that you are supposed to be the vassal of Young Master Raizel?"
Solomon had yet to truly understand just how quickly gossip traveled here. This place wasn’t much better than the streets.
"... That’s what he says." Solomon intended to be finished with the conversation and attempted to move past the boy again.
This time, the child blocked his way by shoulder-checking him. Due to the weight difference, Solomon had to take a whole three steps back to keep from falling on the floor.
"Don’t look past me when I’m talking to you, urchin. I happen to be Bernard Richards, the son of Duke Gregory Richards of the Floric Isles!"
Solomon had no mind for nobles, nor their significance. His patience was dwindling.
"Great. Will you let me pass now?"
Solomon saw Bernard’s face twitch before it became a boiling shade of red.
The fist that struck Solomon’s face hurt far less when compared to the back of Zadkiel’s hand, but it didn’t tickle either. It instantly caused the young boy’s brain to rattle, and he took a hard tumble.
Solomon was curled up in a ball, trying to protect all of his extremities while he waited for the room to stop spinning.
Powerful thuds shook his body as Bernard hurled kick after kick into his sides.
Solomon felt two of his ribs break before he was seized by shock.
The last thing he saw was Bernard lifting his boot to kick him hard in the side of the head.