The Lancelot Empire Military Academy was different in nature from Babylon Academy. It specialized in cultivating military talent skilled in strategy; mages, swordsmen, and knights fell outside its training curriculum. Like every academy on the Qio Continent, the Empire Military Academy was always dominated by noble students.
One reason so many talented students came from the nobility was that the Empire Military Academy's expensive tuition deterred commoners. Another was that even commoners who actually gained admission struggled to receive systematic instruction in military knowledge from truly capable teachers.
However, nothing was absolute. Occasionally, one or two commoner students at the Empire Military Academy still managed to distinguish themselves despite these unfavorable conditions, their brilliance even overshadowing the noble students.
The Empire Military Academy generally made exceptions for such people, allowing them to study under its finest teachers. As long as these outstanding young commoners were a little obedient and docile, nobles and generals who recognized their talent would recommend and recruit them into their families or service.
Of course, some young commoners were proud and unruly, unable to conceal their brilliance, and ultimately angered their noble classmates. In the worst cases, jealous noble students had them killed; in less severe cases, their careers were obstructed, leaving them no chance of ever joining the army.
Dokes was precisely such an unfortunate commoner prodigy. At a young age, he had been exceptionally brilliant at the Empire Military Academy. Unfortunately, he was too headstrong to conceal his talents. He fell in love with a count's daughter, who returned his feelings, angering both her father and her fiancé's family.
In the end, Dokes was forcibly saddled with a fabricated charge. Not only was he expelled from the Empire Military Academy, but both families hunted him down and nearly killed him, turning him into a