Book 1 Chapter 234
234
The day after the opening ceremony and entrance ceremony ended.
Second-year Magic Lecture Hall.
The second-year students of the Department of Magic gathered, waiting for Ren.
“Still, it’s great that we can have magic class with the same members as last year!”
Karl said with a cheerful expression.
Although their dorms had changed, their department hadn't.
During integrated departmental classes, they could gather like this to attend lessons.
At Karl's words, Leo rested his chin on his hand and chuckled.
“Why? Is dorm life that hard?”
“Listen, Leo! It’s brutally difficult!”
Karl complained to Leo.
“All the guys in the dorm are incredibly proud! It’s like only kids with similar personalities to the dorm leaders are gathered there!”
Third Dormitory.
Noble, meaning 'noble' or 'honorable', primarily consisted of students from prestigious families.
Even the dorm leaders themselves were heirs to heroic noble families.
As a result, naturally, students with strong pride gathered there.
“Eventually, even that Emio guy came into our dorm.”
Karl sighed, "Ugh-".
“Anyway, there are so many kids united by a sense of authority. They constantly look down on commoners. Tsk!”
“It must be tough in a place like that.”
Karl was a commoner, not from a prestigious family, nor even a noble.
Moreover, his grades were among the lowest.
It was inevitable that he would struggle amidst the Noble students.
“Well, there are some good points too.”
“What are they?”
“Everyone’s families are loaded, so their pockets are loaded too, you know?”
Karl chuckled, stroking his chin.
From Karl’s perspective, with his keen interest in commerce, he was truly grateful for the Noble students who had good financial situations and high purchasing power.
“How’s Glory?”
The name of the First Dormitory was Glory, meaning 'glory'.
“Are you already trying to figure out the situation?”
Chloe asked, her gaze fixed on a thinner book than usual.
“I just asked because I was curious. By the way, what are you reading?”
It clearly wasn’t a textbook.
Nor was it a grimoire, which she always carried around.
Rarely, she was reading a book of general knowledge.
Chloe showed them the title.
“The History of Shadows?”
“Yeah. I suddenly became interested.”
“Shadows, huh. The new headmaster did proudly declare himself a Shadow, didn’t he?”
Karl shook his head repeatedly.
Shadow.
It wasn't the exact term.
Since the Age of Heroes began, those who fought against Tartaros and protected world peace were called Heroes.
But those were only the ones who were active in the bright world.
Where there is light, there must be darkness.
And the path to peace cannot always receive only public cheers.
There are also those who live in the dark.
“A Shadow as headmaster. The board of directors must have grudgingly approved.”
“There are Shadows among Lumerne graduates too, you know.”
“Still. Nobody really wants to become a Shadow.”
Karl smacked his lips, and Chloe nodded in agreement.
Shadows, like Heroes, are essential beings for maintaining world peace.
In particular, their importance is no less than that of Heroes, given that they track down and eliminate traitors who betray the world and side with Tartaros.
It is also the Shadows who hunt the Hero Killers who target Heroes' lives in unseen places.
Despite this, the perception of Shadows was not good.
Living in the darkness, they inevitably do many dirty deeds.
Even if they are hunters of Hero Killers who target Heroes' lives, their pure purpose is to kill people.
Therefore, people feared Shadows and did not want to get close to them.
‘Shadows, huh.’
Leo rested his chin and narrowed his eyes.
During his Kyle days.
Leo also did similar work.
He ferreted out and eliminated traitors.
He didn't tell his comrades about it.
Only Lisinas and Dweno knew that Kyle was doing such things.
‘Because it was something someone had to do.’
Lisinas and Dweno said Kyle didn't need to bear it alone.
But Leo had meticulously stained only his own hands with blood.
‘Because not everyone needed to be stained with blood.’
Leo looked down at his hands.
‘I had hoped that there wouldn’t be such people in this era…’
He smiled bitterly.
‘Speaking of which, what happened to her afterward?’
Leo recalled a girl in his mind.
Biharu.
She was a girl who learned swordsmanship from Kyle, just like Belkia, the Elf known as the disciple of Luna, the Progenitor of the Nebula.
She had been saved by great Heroes and often followed Kyle when he went to hunt traitors.
‘Did Biharu ultimately walk a different path than Belkia?’
Unlike Belkia, who worked hard for the reconstruction of the world as an Elf leader, Biharu left no name in world history.
Leo let out a small sigh, recalling the disciple whose name remained absent from the Hero Records.
“So, did you find anything about Shadows?”
Normally, Hero candidates don’t pay attention to Shadows.
All students dream of becoming Heroes.
They had little interest in Shadows, who could be said to be at the opposite end of Heroes, and didn't try to learn about them.
“Yeah. The nation with the most powerful Shadows is the hegemonic power of the Eastern Continent. The Shan Empire, they say.”
“The Shan Empire, huh…”
Karl stroked his chin.
Along with the Rodren Empire, it was one of only two empires for the human race.
“I hear the Shan Empire has a lot of problems too?”
“Right. There was that incident 100 years ago when the newly formed Hero Kingdom of Trihan was destroyed by Shadows dispatched from the Shan Empire, remember?”
“The Trihan Kingdom. It turned out they really were traitors in the end, didn’t it?”
“Yes. But the problem was destroying a country based solely on suspicion, without any evidence.”
Hearing Chloe’s words, Karl clicked his tongue in amazement.
“Does that mean a hegemonic power like an empire can do whatever it wants?”
“Isn’t it only possible because it’s the Shan Empire?”
Shan wasn't merely the hegemonic power of the East.
It was also a country boasting a profound history of 4000 years.
“Leo, what do you think?”
“Destroying a country based only on suspicion is a bit much.”The three of them were talking about Shadows.
*Thud!*
The lecture hall door opened, and Ren appeared.
Beside him, Anna followed, holding an attendance book.
*Step-step-step-*
As students’ gazes gathered, Ren, standing at the lecture desk, surveyed the students.
“Greetings, everyone.”
Ren smiled his characteristic charismatic smile.
“I am Ren, who will be teaching your magic theory class again this year, following last year.”
“Professor Ren~”
“It’s good to see you!”
“We look forward to working with you this year too!”
Students gave a fervent cheer.
Young and capable, Professor Ren was a highly popular and renowned professor among the Department of Magic students.
Nodding at the students’ reactions, Ren received the attendance book from Anna.
“I will now call attendance. Chloe Mueller.”
“Here.”
“Karl Thomas.”
“Yep! Professor!”
“Leo Plov.”
“Yes.”
‘Student Leo!’
Ren covered his mouth, an emotional expression on his face.
Of course, other students couldn't see it.
‘How much effort I put in to study with you…’
Anna, who was watching Ren’s expression in real-time, looked up at the ceiling and sighed in exasperation.
In fact, the selection of this year’s second-year department professors was fiercely competitive.
This was because all the major professors at Lumerne wanted to teach the second-year students, who were regarded as the golden generation, some of the most outstanding in history.
And Anna had seen everything Ren had done.
After many twists and turns, he secured the position of second-year major professor.
All of it was to mentor Leo.
From Ren’s perspective, it was an emotional situation, but from Anna’s perspective, who had to suffer because of Ren, she just wanted to cry.
‘Should I quit?’
While seriously contemplating submitting her resignation, Ren, who had finished calling attendance, spoke.
“Before class, everyone.”
Ren swiftly surveyed the students.
“Is there anyone who can tell me what the strongest spell among existing magic is?”
At his words, students began to murmur.
There were countless powerful spells in this world.
Various answers could arise depending on the magician’s inclination, primary attribute, and affiliation.
“What do you think?”
“I don’t know.”
“It’s difficult.”
Students discussed among themselves.
Then Chloe raised her hand.
“Yes, student Chloe.”
“The strongest existing magic is Star Magic, The End.”
At her words, Ren nodded.
“That’s correct.”
Ren surveyed the classroom and said.
“At first glance, it might seem like a subjective answer, but there is no magic more powerful than The End in this world. Power-wise, mana efficiency-wise. Crucially, even the spell activation time is short.”
Ren smiled.
“The End is a perfect work of art created by the Progenitor of the Nebula.”
Ren spread his arms wide and said.
“Seeing her defeat the Monster Queen during the last Luse War, I became even more convinced of that idea.”
Listening to Ren’s words, the magic students swallowed dryly.
How could they forget?
Although the exact reason why a legendary hero appeared was not revealed, everyone present had personally witnessed that miracle.
The great magician whom everyone in this world had only encountered in stories.
The greatest genius in the history of magic.
Everyone here had been present at the scene when Luna Rubynans, the Progenitor of the Nebula, descended.
And they had witnessed 'The End' that she used with their own eyes.
“But The End is a difficult spell to use.”
Ren walked *step-step-step-* to the blackboard.
And picking up chalk, he began to write about the spell formula for The End.
Complex and abstruse formulas filled the blackboard.
“Powerful force, excellent mana efficiency, and short casting time. If one can use it, it’s a perfect spell, but to use it, one needs to understand all the complex magic formulas created by the Progenitor.”
The students looked exhausted at the sight of the spell formula.
Then one student raised their hand.
“Recently, activation formulas have been developing. Couldn’t it be possible to simplify the spell formula using activation formulas in the distant future?”
“Simplifying the spell formula of The End is very easy.”
“Huh?”
“This is the result.”
Ren smiled faintly.
‘Is *that* the simplified version?’
‘No way!’
‘Even with the formula written out, I can’t understand it at all!’
Students clutched their heads.
“This is the result of elves who later learned Star Magic simplifying the spell formula themselves. If it’s simplified any further than this, the magic itself won’t activate. Therefore, it’s impossible to simplify it as much as an activation formula. Crucially, the magic won’t activate just by simplifying the spell formula. The most important thing is that you must learn Star Magic.”
Students nodded.
Star Magic.
Only by learning the elves’ unique magic could one finally learn The End.
“We’ll never get to learn The End in our lifetime.”
“Ugh. I tried learning Star Magic myself, but… it didn’t work out.”
Some students shook their heads repeatedly.
Star Magic was the elves’ unique magic.
Of course, it wasn't that other races couldn't learn it.
However, one needed to have a wavelength that matched Star Magic and mana, as well as outstanding magical talent and insight.
Seeing the students shake their heads, Ren grinned.
“Certainly, for humans, Star Magic has always been a realm of talent and insight. But you all know. Last year, Senior Ain supplied the Breath of the Hero to the students of the Knight Department in Azonia.”
At his words, the students looked puzzled.
And a moment later, understanding the implied meaning of his words, they looked at Ren with expressions of 'no way'.
“S-surely…”
“Did you succeed in increasing the versatility of Star Magic?”
Making Star Magic versatile and widely available had long remained in an unfinished stage.
Although the Progenitor’s remaining spell formulas were modified to be learned by elves, other races couldn't even attempt it.
By now, it was treated as the unique magic of elves, and the academic community judged it impossible for other races to use.
“During this winter break, a groundbreaking and miraculous magic thesis came out of Lumerne.”
“N-no way!”
“Who on earth did such a thing?”
“Could it be Senior Torua who graduated…?”
“No! It could be Senior Elena!”
“Or did other professors accomplish it?”
The entire student body was gripped with excitement.
It couldn’t be helped.
Star Magic?
To be able to directly use the Progenitor’s magic, which had long been blocked by the wall of race!
As a magician, what could be more exciting than this?
“Hahaha. You must be curious who the author of that great thesis is!”
The students held their breath.
“The co-author of that thesis is right here!”
Ren raised his hand.
The students’ gazes followed his fingertip.
And what was at his fingertip…
“Huh? Me?”
At this completely new piece of information, Leo couldn’t help but ask Ren again.
“Hahaha. Student Leo. I was certain from the first time I saw you last year. That you would leave a great mark on magic in the near future.”
“So… me?”
“Hahaha. As expected, you are the greatest talent in the history of Lumerne’s Department of Magic.”
“……”
Looking at Ren, who only said what he wanted to say no matter how much he was questioned, Leo wore an absurd expression.
“When did you write such a thesis?”
At Karl’s question, Leo had a puzzled expression.
“I never wrote such a thesis?”