Book 1 Chapter 219

219 The streets of Lorend, the capital of Rodren, the dominant nation in the west of the continent.

As expected of the capital of a nation reputed to be humanity's strongest power, there were countless people on the streets.

Recently, even more people flocked.

As it was the venue for the Lumern entrance integrated examination, it was a natural phenomenon.

However, a lively street didn't necessarily mean it was good.

"Catch him!"

"Thief!"

"Stop right there!"

On the outskirts of Lorend, urgent voices echoed.

"Hmph! Do you think I'd stop just because you told me to?!"

The robber grinned and quickly entered an alley.

As befitting the capital of an empire, Lorend's public security was excellent.

However, with countless outsiders flowing in, it became difficult for the existing guards alone to maintain public security.

The brighter the light, the darker the shadow.

Even in an age of heroes, criminal organizations are bound to exist.

Moreover, the more they are suppressed by heroes, the more secretly they delve into the shadows and grow their power.

The prime example was the Thieves' Guild.

And current Lorend was in the perfect state to become a target for Thieves' Guild members.

'I've already got this alley figured out completely!'

Outlying areas, not the city center, relatively had fewer guards.

As such, thieves who came from outside were running rampant.

Swoosh-!

At that moment, a girl stood in the middle of the alley with her arms tightly crossed.

"Huh? Get out of the way! Do you want to die?!"

The robber raised a dagger and shouted.

Looking at the robber, the girl snorted and raised her staff.

'A mage!'

The robber, eyes flashing, hastily turned his body and fled deeper into the alley.

As a member of the Thieves' Guild, one of the reasons he was able to commit robberies for a long time was because of his quick judgment of situations.

'Hmph! No matter how much of a mage she is, she can't catch me in this complicated alley…'

"Hey, it's a hassle, so why don't you just surrender?"

"Gasp?!"

At the voice heard from beside him, the robber flinched in terror.

The sky-blue haired girl who had blocked the robber's path just moments ago was running next to the robber with a bored expression.

The robber instinctively swung his dagger.

Whoosh-!

At that moment, a gust of wind blew.

"Aaaargh!"

The robber, high in the air, flailing, plummeted to the ground.

Thud-!

"Ugh!"

The robber, who had fallen onto the stone ground from a considerable height, writhed in pain.

Chelsea used magic with just her gaze.

Whoosh-! Thud-!

"Sa, save me… *gasp*!"

The robber, floating in the air, was again thrown to the ground.

Chelsea, lightly dusting off her palms, seeing that the robber wasn't breathing, tilted her head.

"Mister, breathe."

Even so, the robber's breathing had stopped.

"If you don't breathe, should I drop you from a height where you'll really die?"

"I, I'm breathing! I'm breathing!"

The robber, who had sprung up, knelt down.

Chelsea crumpled the robber's dagger with magic, making it useless.

And made him go to the guards himself.

As Chelsea brought the robber, the guards who had been dispatched after receiving the report saluted Chelsea.

"Thank you for your cooperation!"

"No, I just did what was natural as a Lumern student."

Chelsea said with a gentle smile.

The gathered onlookers murmured, seeing that.

"A Lumern student?"

"No wonder… I thought her skills were amazing."

"Is that a Lumern uniform?"

"Wait. Isn't that Chelsea Rwallyn?"

"Chelsea Rwallyn?"

The murmuring onlookers, recognizing Chelsea, cheered loudly.

Chelsea, looking at them, smiled gently and waved her hand.

Chelsea, who drew an even more enthusiastic response, left the place.

A moment later, Chelsea spotted a male student wearing the same uniform as herself.

It was none other than Kal.

Kal, like Chelsea, was on his way back after catching a criminal.

"How many did you catch today?"

"Five."

Kal grumbled, massaging his shoulder.

"No, why don't these darn criminals ever decrease?"

"Because all sorts of scoundrels, thinking there's something to pick up, are flocking to our country."

Where people gather, the crime rate naturally has no choice but to rise.

Especially this time, the number of travelers increased to take the exam.

The biggest characteristic of travelers is that they have a lot of money.

For the Thieves' Guild, they were a mouth-watering target.

Just as flies swarm food, thieves trying to empty the travelers' fat wallets and make a killing were flocking to Lorend.

To maintain public security, the measure taken by Lumern was the deployment of students.

Among the students promoted to the second year this time, all students without special circumstances were in Lorend.

Chelsea and Kal returned to the Lumern students' accommodation.

"To be dragged here during vacation and have to catch criminals!"

"How precious vacation time is!"

"Our school overworks its students too much, I tell you!"

Gathered in the luxury hotel lounge provided by Lumern, the Lumern students were expressing their complaints.

Kal, seeing that, suddenly started to chuckle.

"What useless thing are you going to do now?"

"Just watch."

At Chelsea's question, Kal cleared his throat and shouted.

"Professor Halind! Hello!"

"Gasp?"

"P-Professor Halind?!"

The students who had been complaining flinched in terror and looked towards where the voice came from.

In their eyes, there was deep fear.

"Pwahahahahahahaha!"

Kal, looking at his classmates, clutched his stomach and burst into laughter.

"Hahahaha! *Cough!* *Gasp*?!"

Of course, his ultimate fate was to be beaten by the other angry students.

Seeing that, while Chelsea wore a pathetic expression, two male students entered the hotel lounge.

"So you're too soft, Avard Rwallyn."

"Is that so?"

As Duran said, curling up the corners of his mouth, Avard scratched his cheek.

"Why are you picking a fight with my brother again?"

"I merely corrected Avard Rwallyn's incomparably soft judgment."

"What? What's wrong with my brother's judgment?!"

As Chelsea reacted sharply, Kal, who had been sprawled, stepped forward.

He put his hands under Chelsea's armpits and lifted her up.

As Chelsea, whose feet were off the ground, struggled, Kal said.

"Woah- woah- calm down. It's not like our prince's rude way of speaking is new today or yesterday, is it?"

"You are always rude, Kal Thomas."

"A person should be consistent."

Kal smiled slyly.

One was the heir to the Grand Duchy of Moira.

The other was a commoner of that Grand Duchy of Moira.

In some ways, their statuses were poles apart, but even if Duran and Kal's relationship was bad, it didn't escalate to catastrophe.

The Kingdom of Moira, as a knightly grand duchy, was a nation that highly valued talent because the country itself was not large.

Regardless of status, as long as one had skill, it was a country where one could be treated well.

And students of the Hero Academy were the best talents.

Whatever the reason, Kal succeeded in advancing to the second year.

Duran, in his own way, acknowledged Kal.

So, even if he acted slyly towards him, he didn't inflict much harm.

"So? What's up?"

As Kal tilted his head and asked, Avard replied with his characteristic gentle smile.

"There were a lot of entrance candidates outside. It seems they came to greet us, hoping to make a good impression on their future seniors. They also bought a lot of gifts."

"Gifts?"

"What kind of gifts?"

"There were a lot of confectionery items."

The female students cheered loudly.

Most Lumern female students were crazy about desserts.

"Hehe! What polite juniors!"

"This is why I love being a senior~"

The female students, with excited voices, tried to go outside the accommodation.

Seeing those female students, Avard added with a bitter smile.

"Duran chased them all away, so there's no one there now."

"They came to greet us, so why did you chase them away?"

As a first-year female student from Class 1, who had been in the same class for a year, grumbled, Duran snorted.

"Those guys don't have the right to call us seniors yet. Do you want to receive gifts from arrogant brats who call themselves juniors anyway?"

"But surely there must be some among them who could become juniors?"

"In my opinion, none of them were capable of passing the entrance exam. To dare call me a senior with such skills. They are utterly rude."

"When you see him sometimes, he really seems like a prince, I tell you."

"Wow… the arrogance that only royalty can possess. Nobles couldn't even imitate it."

Class 1 students who were somewhat friendly with Duran whispered among themselves.

Then, when Duran looked at them, they pretended as if nothing had happened.

Thus, the students who had gone out on patrol returned one by one.

Students from the Rodren Empire also spent their vacation here.

Not only because their school friends were there, but also because they could do the killer vacation homework together.

"By the way, where are Celia and Chloe?"

"They haven't returned yet?"

"Are they perhaps eating dinner outside?"

It was then that the Class 1 students made puzzled expressions about the class president and vice president who hadn't returned.

Celia and Chloe entered the accommodation.

But they weren't the only two who came.

The students doing homework on the first floor wore surprised expressions, seeing the three people who came with them.

They were also wearing uniforms, but it wasn't Lumern's uniform.

Runia, Eiran, and Luca, whom they had seen during the Russe War.

The Seyrun class representatives had visited.

"They came as guests today to watch the Lumern entrance exam, and they dropped by to say hello."

At Chloe's explanation, Runia stepped forward and smiled beautifully.

"Hello, Lumern students. My name is Runia El Runda."

"Nice to meet you! Seyrun class representative!"

"How's Seyrun?"

"Is the recovery over?"

The Lumern students swarmed over.

Eiran, who was rather shy, startled, hid behind Runia.

Luca, seeing that, burst into laughter.

"Yes. Thanks to all of you, Seyrun has returned to its original state. At that time, I was too flustered to properly express my gratitude… but I want to thank you all."

Runia, with a beautiful smile, bowed her head.

"Thank you for fighting for Seyrun."

"Lumern and Seyrun have been rivals for a long time, but to put it another way, aren't we friends who engage in friendly competition?"

"That's right! And it was an invasion by Tartaros, wasn't it? It's only natural to combine our strengths!"

"It's nothing to be thanked for!"

At Runia's beautiful appearance, the male students cleared their throats and acted reserved.

"Anyway. Those guys lose their minds whenever they see pretty people."

"By the way, I thought this before too, but Seyrun's third-place student… isn't he incredibly cute?"

"Yeah! He's the type you want to protect."

The female students shrieked and chattered, looking at Luca.

"What's the difference between you and them?"

Kal, who wore a pathetic expression looking at the female students, looked at Runia.

Runia was acting like a perfect Seyrun honor student.

But Kal knew.

that Runia was actually a terrifying elf, like a gangster.

As he recalled her true nature, Kal shuddered.

"S-Sir Kal! Have you been well?"

"Oh, Eiran."

Eiran spoke to Kal, with whom he was closest among the students present.

While exchanging greetings warmly, Eiran cautiously glanced around and asked.

"Um… that… Sir Kal. Where is Sir Leo?"

"Leo isn't here due to family circumstances."

At those words, Eiran drooped his ears.

'Leo! You lucky bastard!'

Kal shouted inwardly.

Just as the Lumern students' accommodation was becoming boisterous with the visit of the Seyrun students.

"Come out right nooowww!! You brat, Leo Flovvvvv!"

A tremendous sound, as if to rip eardrums, echoed.