Book 1 Chapter 276

"My arms and legs are numb…"

Kal, fallen on the floor, mumbled in a dying voice.

Kal wasn't the only one groaning in pain.

Most of the students who had been targets of the Demian students' scramble were half-exhausted and collapsed.

"Pathetic, all of you!"

Chelsea, with her hands on her hips, said, tilting her chin up.

"If you show such weakness, the students from other hero academies will look down on you!"

Chelsea, who had been growling, grabbed Kal and shook him violently.

"Get up! Kal!"

"Hey! Hey, hey, hey! Don't shake me by the arm!"

Kal screamed.

Seeing this, Leo asked,

"What happened? You don't seem to be in a good mood today."

"Leo, you don't know, but she's always this sharp."

At Kal's words, Chelsea glared at him.

"You're just pretending in front of you… *cough*? I surrender! *cough*! I surrender!"

Kal, who had been teasing, struggled and shouted as Chelsea choked him.

Kal, barely released, asked,

"By the way, why are you in such a bad mood?"

"Those Azonia guys looked down on me for being small."

The reason Chelsea was gloomy was none other than the Azonia students.

The Azonia students, who found Chelsea avoiding them like a bothersome dwarf, said,

"Lumern even has someone as small as that attending school. Who is it?"

"Isn't that Chelsea Lewallyn?"

"Chelsea Lewallyn? Isn't she quite a famous student? But she looks like she'll fly away if you just poke her?"

"Hey! Who are you calling small and weak? Fight me!"

At that, the Azonia students looked at each other and burst into laughter.

"Sorry, but it seems like it would be a big deal if I fought a child like you."

"If you're offended, I apologize. This is for you as a token of apology."

They say they gave him a candy and left.

He was so angry at their words that he tried to retaliate, but failed because the Demian students were swarming.

"They treated me like a child? Hmph, prepare yourselves, you damn beast-like creatures."

With veins bulging on her forehead, Chelsea clenched her fist.

Seeing her fierce expression, Kal whispered to Leo,

"Hey, try to comfort her. It's hard for me when she's like this."

At that, Leo took something out of his pocket and gave it to Chelsea.

"Here's a candy, so cheer up."

What Leo handed her was none other than a candy made by Kal using a fatigue recovery potion.

Seeing Leo, Kal screamed inwardly,

'What do you mean by treating me like a child too!'

"Thank you, Leo oppa!"

However, Chelsea smiled brightly, put the candy Leo gave her in her mouth, and rolled it around.

Watching her, Kal muttered,

"She really is a child."

"You and I are only a year apart, you know?"

Chelsea gave him a sideways glance.

"Kal, I have something to ask you."

"What is it?"

"Why is that girl Dryana from earlier on bad terms with the Demian students of the same grade?"

"Dryana? The cute-looking dwarf from earlier, right?"

Chelsea also looked curious.

Seeing their reactions, Kal said,

"Ah, that? I was curious too, so I squeezed in some time to investigate even while being harassed by the Demian kids."

Kal, adept at information gathering, crossed his arms.

"Dryana. She's the granddaughter of Gerwin, the principal of Demian. And she was admitted to Demian through a special recruitment without taking the entrance exam."

"Then it's no wonder the Demian kids dislike her."

Chelsea nodded, as if understanding.

"No, they don't dislike her for that reason. In fact, not a single student has protested about that part."

"Why?"

"Dryana was a naturally gifted genius smith. They say she made an enchanted magic sword at the age of five!"

"An enchanted magic sword at the age of five?"

Chelsea's eyes widened.

There were two main ways to make magic swords.

The first was to make them using materials imbued with mana.

The second was to make them by enchanting mana.

"That's amazing."

Chelsea clicked her tongue.

Making an enchanted magic sword was much more difficult than making a magic sword with mana-imbued materials.

Enchantment magic is not a very difficult magic.

Chelsea, who had been called a genius since she was young, learned enchantment magic at the age of five.

However, enchantment used for magic swords is a completely different concept from general enchantment magic.

Enchantment used for magic swords literally means imbuing the item itself with mana.

It's an ability in a realm that is impossible without talent, not just magical aptitude.

"With that much ability, special admission is natural. But why do the Demian students hate her so much?"

Chelsea tilted her head.

Seeing Chelsea, Kal scratched his head.

"Dryana diligently made weapons until the first semester of her first year. In fact, she was the class representative until then. But in the second semester, she lost interest in making weapons one day."

"What?"

"Even if she makes them, she just imitates the weapons made by Master Dwe'no."

"Why on earth? It's a waste of her talent!"

Chelsea was surprised.

A craftsman who can make enchanted magic swords at the age of five.

A person with the talent to create weapons that heroes of the future could wield to write legends.

And yet, she's letting that talent go to waste!

"The reason is unknown. They say she just makes strange objects, claiming to be an artist."

"Art?"

"Yes. She calls herself the greatest artist born of Dwe'roni'a. They say she even held an exhibition in the city."

Chelsea looked at him with an absurd expression.

The blacksmith of Demian, who should have the highest pride, imitates rather than creates.

Moreover, the subject is Dwe'no, the divine blacksmith whom they revere immensely.

It's no wonder the Demian students disliked Dryana.

"It seems the Demian students think Dryana is defiling Dwe'no's name."

At that, Leo raised his sword.

It was the Wolf Fang he had brought earlier.

'But her skill is undeniable. She managed to replicate Dwe'no's skill, even if imperfectly.'

She wasn't taught by Dwe'no.

Yet, she managed to recreate swords made by Dwe'no to this extent.

'It would be impossible without skill.'

Leo narrowed his eyes.

'Then why did she stop making weapons?'

***

That evening.

Lunia returned to her dormitory in Seirun and went to her room after dinner.

Normally, Lunia, who was considered a candidate for the next student council president, was surrounded by people.

Lunia was the pride of Seirun, and Seirun's pride was symbolic of the elves.

To curry favor with Lunia, who was expected to grow into a hero representing the elves in the future, elves from the lower and intermediate classes hovered around her.

However, after the incident during the day, they were busy whispering about Lunia.

"I didn't know Ms. Lunia was such a violent elf."

"Scary."

Lunia snorted as she looked at her whispering classmates.

Lunia had fully expected her classmates to react this way.

'There's no need to care about those people anymore.'

The moment she decided not to pretend, Lunia stopped caring about her surroundings at all.

"Ah, welcome, Ms. Lunia."

Eiran, who shared the room, hastily hid the book she was reading behind her pillow and greeted her.

Her hair was wet, as if she had just showered.

'She's reading a novel written by a human author again. Is it interesting? She never shows me.'

When asked about the content, she would hide even the title like that.

Eiran closed the door and watched Lunia sit on the chair with a worried expression.

"Ms. Lunia, are you okay? Aren't the other elves looking at you negatively?"

"I expected this anyway. I actually feel relieved. I don't have to pretend anymore, right?"

Lunia smiled faintly.

"Or do you prefer me when I used to pretend?"

"No! I think your current self is much cooler. Luca must think so too."

Eiran said, clenching her fists.

"Thank you."

Lunia smiled brightly at Eiran and said,

"Ah, more importantly, Eiran."

"Yes."

"Leo asked to see me."

"Did Mr. Leo?"

Eiran's ears perked up, and her face brightened.

"When! When did Mr. Leo ask to see me?"

"He said to meet at the main auditorium later, after midnight."

"M-midnight? Isn't that curfew?"

"That's right. He said to sneak out."

"W-why at midnight…?"

"He said he'd give you private lessons."

"P-private lessons?"

"Why are you so surprised? Of course, he's in the same grade and younger than us, but Leo has a lot to learn from."

"Th-that's right! Mr. Leo has a lot to learn… *Hau!*"

Eiran covered her face, her face beet red.

'She's having weird fantasies again, I guess. Eiran really has a rich imagination.'

Lunia shook her head, thinking Eiran was embarrassed after having strange fantasies and then hearing it was private lessons.

"Yes. So get ready."

Lunia left the room to shower, leaving Eiran to her embarrassment.

Meanwhile, Eiran, left alone, had her ears turning red.

'M-Mr. Leo and… alone… late-night private lessons…!'

As Lunia had predicted, Eiran's fantasies were running wild.

The problem was that the rampage was ongoing.

Eiran took out the novel she had hidden behind her pillow.

[A Male Teacher's Secret Private Lessons.]

'I-it was true. H-humans… have private lessons in the middle of the night…'

The former recluse, who gulped dryly, was misinterpreting the situation smoothly.

***

Mount Erdien.

The easternmost end of the continent.

A cursed land where monsters are born.

However, for dwarves, this land was also another blessed land.

Numerous magic stones and rare ores are buried here.

It is a very important place for dwarves who make weapons.

Therefore, beyond the forest adjacent to Mount Erdien, lay the dwarf's great city, Tarkham.

And Tarkham's walls were high.

Once every few decades, monsters launch a large-scale invasion, crossing Mount Erdien and the forest.

That day too, guards on Tarkham's walls were looking at Mount Erdien.

Rumble-rumble!

At that moment, the ground shook.

"Is it an earthquake?"

"Earthquakes are frequent lately, aren't they?"

Earthquakes are frequent around Mount Erdien.

Therefore, Tarkham was accustomed to earthquakes.

While talking as if accustomed, a dwarf guarding the highest point of the wall, the watchtower, felt something strange.

Thump! Rumble!

It felt like the earth was shaking.

It was different from an earthquake.

'What is it?'

At that moment, darkness descended on a part of Mount Erdien.

For a moment, it felt like the moonlight had disappeared.

He rubbed his eyes for a moment.

In that fleeting moment, the moonlight shone down again as if nothing had happened.

'Did I… see wrong?'

Feeling strange, the dwarf picked up his telescope.

And he intently gazed towards Mount Erdien.

Suddenly.

Flash!

Even in the darkness, their eyes met with a pair of jet-black eyes shining.

"A-alert! Alert! A m-monster has appeared!"

Ding ding ding-

Seeing the giant monster, the dwarf panicked for a moment and rang the bell wildly.

Tarkham fell into utter chaos.

However, the dark giant, which had exuded a thrilling presence, had disappeared at some point.