There’s Something Special About Her - Chapter 58

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 58.
‘Damned if it isn’t sprawling.’
Directly in front of the sole entrance lay an extraordinarily spacious courtyard.
Whether it served as an outdoor training ground, the only features beyond the raised platform set back and the neatly arranged training equipment were patches of grass just begging to be rolled across—that comprised the entirety of the space.
Surrounding it, three- and four-story buildings stood packed together like a second set of fortress walls, their windows all facing inward toward the central plaza.
It was a nakedly deliberate structure—allowing those inside to observe training at any moment.
The path from the main gate to the central training ground sloped upward.
And atop the naturally formed elevation sat figures dressed in identical uniforms, watching me as I climbed.
‘Was this a training camp or a detention center?’
Judging by the dull, deep forest-green practical clothing bearing the Nox seal, they all appeared to be trainees.
The problem was their attitude.
They made mercenaries who’d rolled through actual battlefields look refined by comparison—their posture was slovenly, their bearing unmistakably hostile.
‘Did they become like that in just a week?’
I’d been told the trainees were from respectable families who’d passed background checks.
Several of them even came from noble houses, yet those glaring down at me as I ascended the slope looked less like trainees and more like prisoners.
‘Their stares could burn holes through me.’
What kind of light burned in those eyes?
Nox was hardly the type to be stingy with food.
Then was that famished gleam born from a hunger for stolen freedom?
I clicked my tongue inwardly and continued up the slope until a door opened on the distant building ahead, and someone walked out toward me.
A lean man who appeared to be in his fifties had ash-gray hair neatly groomed and wore thin-framed spectacles.
His bearing suited an administrative office or library far better than this forbidding training camp.
“Runelk Ains?”
His speech was clipped and rather sharp.
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“I’m Wilfred Kessler, instructor. The camp commandant is waiting, so follow me.”
The camp commandant would be one of the officers—Padilla Bandeis.
Meeting another officer on top of Deacon Gold and Dupon Klanscher was hardly in my plans.
Unable to even sigh freely in this place without the sound of a drawbridge echoing, I quietly followed Instructor Kessler into the building.
***
Padilla Bandeis.
A woman bearing the name of ‘Adila’—closest to the moon among the seven stars—age forty-two this year.
Of the Bandeis Family, vassal house of Nox, she had served as camp commandant for already fifteen years.
Padilla Bandeis possessed an unusually forthright temperament even among the officers, and was known to maintain close relationships not only with her fellow officers but with the leading figures of Nox itself.
A woman of power with striking beauty, she had a colorful romantic history, yet aside from that, she commanded universal respect regardless of social standing—the central pillar of Nox.
That summarizes the information I possessed about Padilla Bandeis.
Yet as I had felt upon first meeting Killian Nox, the knowledge stored in my mind through words and documents remained, ultimately, only words.
“So you’re the famous Little Hero?”
A fierce flame.
That was my first impression of Padilla Bandeis.
Not merely from her crimson hair and sharp amber eyes.
“I’m camp commandant Padilla Bandeis. Pleased to meet you.”
An unguarded confidence emanated from her bearing, her gaze, and even her voice—a palpable warmth.
Like a gallant, passionate knight, if I had to describe it.
The commandant’s office on the third floor of the administration building was much the same.
The light-colored wood furnished throughout created an atmosphere both sturdy and luminous, warm and welcoming.
She was the complete opposite of me—someone who had lived hiding her true nature, keeping her insides locked tight.
……We seemed unlikely to get along.
“A pleasure to meet you. Junior member of the Action Squad, Runelk Ains.”
“Yes, yes. I’ve heard a great deal about you.”
Padilla Bandeis laughed openly and approached, tapping my shoulder.
Her eyes, the color of a sturdy sunflower that had drunk deep of sunlight in open fields, seemed to overflow with goodwill toward me.
“You rescue the commander and recover trainees, and now you’ve even caught a spy. Your exploits are truly remarkable, Officer Ains.”
“You’re too kind. I was simply fortunate.”
I gave a light bow and answered humbly.
As if she’d spent years mastering combat arts, her grip tightened gently on my shoulder.
“I don’t think fortune alone explains those results.”
Wait—
For just a moment, something cool flashed behind Padilla Bandeis’s sharp amber eyes.
But she quickly returned to her smiling face and continued.
“To uncover hidden talent like this—Dupon really does have a good eye, doesn’t he?”
“Dupon Klanscher?”
Why was my captain’s name coming up here?
At my bewildered question, Padilla Bandeis laughed again.
“You can’t not know who recommended you!”
“Recommended…… Ah.”
Gisela Roth had said as much.
For Dupon Klanscher, getting one person into the training camp was trivial.
“It seems Dupon Klanscher was the one who recommended me for trainee status.”
“You really didn’t know?”
“No, I was simply ordered to pack my things and report to the camp.”
As I scratched the back of my head, Padilla Bandeis furrowed her brow and muttered, “What is that man doing with his work?”
So she was on intimate terms with Dupon Klanscher as well.
They were similar in age and must have grown up together within Nox’s walls, so it made sense.
Since Padilla Bandeis was several years his senior, her informal way of speaking to him was understandable too.
Seeing me stare stupidly, she sighed deeply and turned to Instructor Kessler, who had been standing guard in one corner of the office.
“What do you do in cases like this, Kessler?”
“If you ask me, ma’am……”
The instructor’s usual cold composure cracked at his superior’s absurd question.
After regarding Padilla Bandeis with a slightly troubled expression, he composed himself and spoke with measured courtesy.
“Officer Runelk Ains appears unaware of the circumstances that brought him here. Perhaps, ma’am, you might explain the situation?”
“Ah, that’s right. That would work.”
She praised her subordinate once over—”You really do know everything, don’t you, Kessler”—then turned those whiskey-colored eyes toward me.
“Officer Runelk Ains is being enrolled in the training camp as of today. It’s only possible because Dupon Klanscher personally wrote a letter of recommendation. It’s somewhat unusual, and there are precedents for it, though they’re rare. Your exploits have been remarkable enough to earn the nickname ‘Little Hero,’ so there’s no issue there.”
“‘No issue there’ being……?”
“The problem is that the intake period for trainee selection ended long ago, and the enrollment deadline has already passed.”
Padilla Bandeis let out a soft sigh and glanced out the window, where those prisoner-like trainees were scattered in small groups, sparring.
“Normally, internal recommendations are enrolled in the next cohort.”
“I see…….”
I wanted to sigh.
Based on her explanation, I had essentially cut in line mid-cohort without waiting for the next intake.
All thanks to Dupon Klanscher’s fluttering letter of recommendation.
Now the piercing glares from the other trainees finally made sense.
Many began preparing for the Nox Training Camp in childhood, some retrying for years.
So no wonder they were angry when some stranger showed up with nothing but a duffel bag.
Heat crept up my face in embarrassment.
“That’s the situation. Now let me tell you about my concern as commandant.”
With that, she gestured for me to follow her toward the seating area before the office.
“This might take a while, so shall we sit?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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