Kang Yu
Kang Yu is Gideon's friend from their Academy days and the strategist of his squad. He is a self-declared “realist” to Gideon's “idealist,” and his favourite pastime is pouring cold water on Gideon's big dreams.
The strategist
Back at the Academy, his sharp remarks earned him the nickname “blade-tongue,” which he would rather everyone forgot. He is a loyal friend, but he has made it his job to turn every grand ambition into a joke. He calls himself a cynical “half-empty bottle” man with a talent for “crazy theories.”
He trained with the sword but prefers the bow, and his comrades tease him as a “pretty boy.” He has no sympathy for the Marked Ones: “The day they receive the Mark, they are already dead.”
His love of pranks backfires on Sharon's very first day in the squad, when Gideon and his cousin turn the joke around on him.
Spoilers up to Chapter 12Tap to reveal
Kang Yu's road to the Academy was hard. His father, a herbalist, was imprisoned after an untested herb killed a customer. Shunned for it, Kang Yu scrubbed tavern floors, was rejected by the Academy, and taught himself the sword. A veteran Swordmaster told him to “find your shortcuts.” He found one when he let an injured patrolman take the credit for catching a thief, and the grateful patrolman recommended him to the Academy.
When the squad must decide what to do with the refugees, he urges Gideon to protect the squad first, remembering what happened to their former squad leader Itoshi: “Just like Itoshi, a dead man can never do any good works.”
