After Cale and Fengari reached the capital, the first thing Cale did was spend most of his money on buying a small house in the northwest of the city. He was lucky to have gotten the old blue house relatively cheaply at auction. It definitely needed some renovations, but nothing that Cale couldn't handle on his own.

Over the next few weeks, he spent his free time making the small terraced house livable. He disposed of all the old furniture and completely tore out the entire wooden floor and windows. Only then could he really get down to the actual renovation. After a few days of dusty and strenuous work, Cale laid new, light-colored wooden flooring, while Fengari had fun painting the walls. She even got her own room on the second floor, where she let her creativity run wild with the paint and painted one wall completely colorful.

After that, they were able to focus on the interior design. They placed a small kitchen, a rectangular wooden table, and four chairs at the end of the large room, while the area in front of it remained empty for the time being. Cale planned to build a cozy entrance area by the fireplace, but didn't want to sacrifice his limited funds for it. Both bedrooms remained similarly empty, with only a bed, a small table, and a clothes rail being installed.

The bathroom, on the other hand, was a bigger problem, even for Cale. He laid large, dark tiles on the floor and one side of the wall, leaving the remaining three sides white. Thanks to Fengari's help, the bathroom fixtures were also installed after a few hours, and by the end of the third week, the house was actually quite presentable.

They had a large room on the ground floor, and right next to the door, a corner staircase led to the second floor, where there were four more rooms. Two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a guest room - which was currently still empty. Since their house was at the end of a row of houses, they were right on the street and had a small front yard.

Since Fengari spent most of her time tending to the garden, the neighbors took notice of her. Some of them introduced themselves, mostly older ladies, while others helped Fengari remove weeds and trim the tall grass. Fengari seemed to delight people with her cheerful manner, because some of them brought whole flowers and small bushes and helped the young girl tidy up the garden.

Cale, on the other hand, spent most of his time in the house, building a shelf on the wall next to the fireplace. Even though he didn't currently own a single book, he was already planing on buying some in the future.

It was not until the spring of 60st that Cale and Fengari finally received their Sylve citizenship after a long wait and a lot of bureaucracy. They had submitted their documents to the authorities and heard nothing from them for several weeks, which was due to the fact that their registration of people was still in its infancy. In comparison, Altona was a good 50 years ahead of them, as they kept a entire register with only the names and places of residence of the people, which allowed them to estimate how many people currently lived in Altona. Sylve, on the other hand, had only started this type of data collection about 10 years ago and had only recorded slightly more than half of its population.

Thats how they spent almost the entire spring in Sylve. Cale talked to the Eldest numerous times a week and exchanged some information, but for the most part, things remained quiet. So Cale went to the public library and tried to learn as much as possible about the economy and politics of Sylve.

Fengari, on the other hand, was slowly becoming bored and found interest in the things that children her age usually did. One evening, when she saw three girls walking home from school, she was determined to attend school as well. At first, Cale thought it was not a good idea to send a dragon to a school full of humans who could not keep up with her intellectually, but Fengari would stop begging. So, a few days later, he looked around for a suitable institution and ended up at one he actually knew.

It was the school Ben was currently attending.

This school used to be open only to nobles, but since the reign of the current king, this rule had been abolished. Commoners could also receive their education here, provided they passed the entrance exams and could afford a certain amount of money.

That's why Cale set aside his last money to send Fengari to one of the most sought-after schools in all of Sylve.

He was now officially broke and had to find temporary work. Just like Fengari, he had to wait until summer, because unlike in Altona, the new year began a season later for them. This meant they had just over four weeks before Cale could take the entrance exam to become a soldier and Fengari could get her chance to attend this school. So Cale started working at a tavern at night, while both he and Fengari prepared for the written exams during the day.

The most difficult part was that although Fengari could read and write, her expression and style were not formal enough. She quickly learned human etiquette and had to pay attention to how she presented herself outwardly. This included showing respect to the older generation and expressing herself accordingly, which she had previously mockingly did. But Cale insisted that she could adapt to society and would not attract unpleasant attention from the teachers. Cale also mentioned how to interact with noble children, as it was forbidden for her, as a commoner, to behave condescendingly towards them.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

When the eagerly awaited first day of summer finally arrived, both were incredibly nervous. In the early hours of the morning, Cale dropped his new daughter off at school an hour before admission. Fengari therefore had to wait until the gates opened, but that didn't bother her. Cale had the problem that he had to be in another part of town at almost the same time to take his own exam. It was a busy morning for him, as he tried to keep to his schedule without coming across as megalomaniacal.

He arrived at his new job at 7:00 a.m. sharp, gave his information, and received a number before being let in and, like everyone else present, first took a written exam. He waited impatiently for a whole hour until the exam began, knowing full well that the Eldest would feed him information if he really needed it. In the end, he had to resort to this method, as many questions revolved around the identities of nobles he had never seen or heard of before. For the Eldest, however, it was no problem, as he had witnessed the rise and fall of entire noble families and found it amusing that Cale was having trouble with this point.

<"How does it feel to cheat during an official exam?">, the Eldest commented as Cale tried to jot down the last answers in the short time available. It felt as if there were more questions than the time they had been given. Some soldiers gave up during the exam and left the room humbly, which gave Cale goosebumps.

<"Not good. Just for your information, when I took the exam for the High-Magician positon, I wasn't able to cheat like that.">

<"You say that now, but you can't prove it">, the Eldest replied mockingly, causing Cale to sigh. He knew that the Eldest was just teasing him a little and didn't mean it seriously, but Cale still took it personally. In the coming weeks, he vowed to himself, he would be able to recite all the noble houses and their members in his sleep.

"Time's up, please put your pens aside and come forward one by one", one of the supervisors said, and Cale quickly put everything aside.

He had written the last paragraph in such messy handwriting that he wondered if it could even be deciphered. But what done is done, and he couldn't change it anymore. Nervously, he folded the sheet of paper and followed the man sitting next to him to the front. With a quick bow and a thank you, he handed in his work and followed the crowd through the door outside.

As soon as he stepped outside, the atmosphere was completely different. The men and women who had taken the exam with him suddenly relaxed and began discussing how impossible the exam had been. Without a word, Cale walked straight ahead, letting his gaze wander over the crowd, many of whom were new faces that Cale had never met before. He spotted a few soldiers he had met in his previous life, but their number remained small. Of the approximately 500 examinees, he probably knew only 10 people, until he suddenly noticed a source of mana he had not expected.

Curious, he turned in that direction and walked inconspicuously toward the person whose face he had never seen before. It was one of the men who had worked as a shadow unit for the king and had stood guard during the incident with Prince Marion. Cale spotted a young man in his early twenties talking to another man.

"By the gods, I'm glad that's over."

"I knew it would be difficult, but that felt impossible. How many questions were you able to answer?"

"Really answer... maybe 50? Writing something down everywhere was my biggest problem. I couldn't read through the last questions at all."

"I had a similar problem. I knew perhaps 60 and just guessed on 10 or 15", reported the man whose mana Cale had recognized.

He stood inconspicuously by a tree in front of him and leaned against it while listening to the conversation. He was surprised that they hadn't even come close to answering all 100 questions. Only three-quarters? Was that enough to be accepted as a soldier? What would happen if someone answered all the questions?

Had Cale perhaps... overreacted?

"Better than me. Did the Duke of Freigoud give you the questions or something?"

"What are you thinking? He'd rather make me do a hundred push-ups than reveal a single question", the brown-haired man quickly countered. Cale was surprised that this soldier already had contact with Ben's father. Perhaps that was the reason he had passed the exam. On the other hand, there was still a practical exam waiting for them, which would also influence their overall grade. "Don't worry so much, it's just the entrance exam. The school is designed to teach us what you need to know as a soldier of the royal family."

"That's true", muttered the other man, slumping against the tree, causing Cale to sit up in surprise and turn around. The two men seemed to have noticed his reaction and looked him in the eye as well. "Ah, sorry, I didn't notice you."

"It's okay", Cale replied politely and smiled.

"Are you new here? I've never seen you in town before", added the unknown man with freckles on his face.

"I moved here with my daughter at the beginning of the year. My name is Zod Adenia", Cale introduced himself politely and shook hands with the stranger, who grinned broadly. It was quite obvious that Cale was not from here, as he looked like a Frignezer.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Kasim Deure and this is my friend Cedrik Tanneur", the man replied politely, so that Cale now also knew the name of the shadow soldier from back then. "Childless."

Somewhat irritated, Cale looked at the young man before clearing his throat amusedly and returning Cedrik's handshake.

"Nice to meet you too. Did you have any major problems with the exam?"

"The questions would have been doable if we'd had a little more time. Twenty, maybe thirty minutes would have been enough", Cale replied calmly, trying to avoid the fact that he had answered all 100 questions.

"I think we're on the same page there", Cedrik said kindly, letting the matter drop. For a brief moment, there was an awkward silence, so Kasim stepped in.

"So, what now? When does the next part of the exam start?"

As if someone had heard his question, several high-ranking soldiers appeared in the crowd and drew everyone's attention. They read out a few numbers and divided the candidates into four groups, depending on the number they had received at the beginning.

Accordingly, Cedrik and Cale were in the first group and Kasim ended up in the second.

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