Book 1 Chapter 31
[31] 30.
“This is my first time coming to Rumeria since enrolling.”
As Leo spoke, disembarking from the regular ferry traveling between Rumern and Rumeria, Celia nodded.
“Me too. I’ve been busier than I thought, so I haven’t had a chance to come out.”
Many Rumern students come to Rumeria every weekend, but not many first-year students regularly visited Rumeria yet.
The reason was that they hadn’t gotten used to their course schedules yet.
Leo grabbed the collar of his school uniform.
“Isn’t it a pretty strict school rule to have to wear our uniform even when we come to Rumeria?”
“I don’t care. Our academy uniform has a good design, and being a Rumern student itself is a huge honor.”
Celia shrugged.
“And the reason for such a rule is to tell us not to act foolishly in Rumeria. If you’re wearing a uniform, the school will immediately know who did something stupid. That’s why I heard it’s a rule that many students break. Of course, the moment they get caught by a professor…”
Celia made a cutting gesture across her throat with her hand.
“It’d be ‘game over,’ though.”
As she said, quite a few students come to Rumeria wearing casual clothes, and a fair number of them get caught by professors.
“By the way, why did the student council president ask to see you and me?”
It was quite unusual for the student council president, who was on assignment, to ask to meet them outside.
But at that question, Celia made an exasperated face.
“Are you really asking because you don’t know?”
“I’m asking because I don’t know.”
“You don’t know who the student council president is?”
“I don’t know.”
Hearing Leo’s answer, Celia let out a deep sigh.
Entering Kuraju Street, a bustling downtown area, Celia spoke.
“Student Council President Rhys is the heir to our family! So he’s your cousin!”
“Oh? My cousin was the student council president?”
“Oh? Really? How can you not know Rhys? He’s the best student at Rumern and the heir to our family!”
“Well, I might not know him.”
Seeing Leo shrug as if it was no big deal, Celia clutched her head.
While they were talking, they arrived at the accommodation where they had stayed before the entrance ceremony.
*Clink- clink-*
As they opened the door and entered, a bell chimed.
“Welcome! Ah, you’re students from Rumern! Are you planning to stay for the weekend?”
As the attendant asked with a bright smile, Celia said,
“Rhys Gerdinger is staying here, right?”
“You mean Mr. Rhys Gerdinger? Yes, he is staying here. Are you with him? Or do you have a separate appointment?”
As the heir to the Gerdinger family and the student council president of Rumern, he was a very famous person.
Many people came unannounced, hoping to make connections with Rhys.
The hotel attendant had seen such situations many times and showed caution.
This was because, as an attendant at a luxury hotel, they had a duty to provide the best resting space for their guests.
“I am…”
“Oh? Look who it is! Isn’t that Celia?”
Just then, someone in the first-floor lobby acknowledged them.
The man, an Easterner with black hair and eyes, approached with a bright smile.
“Senior Lee Zamua. Long time no see.”
Celia greeted him, adopting a proper posture.
Lee Zamua.
He was a fifth-year student at Rumern.
“Haha! Aren’t you being too formal with me?”
Lee Zamua laughed heartily.
“Miss attendant. These are our guests.”
“Ah, my apologies.”
“No worries. Let’s go inside.”
Waving his hand, Lee Zamua led Celia and Leo inside.
“By the way, who is this?”
“This is Leo Flov. My cousin.”
“Oh? You’re that famous first-year representative?”
Zamua’s eyes sparkled.
An All-Class ability user.
That fact alone was enough to surprise not just his grade, but the entire school.
Even in the history of Rumern, where only students with extraordinary talents were admitted, an All-Class ability user was unprecedented.
In fact, some students and even professors still considered Leo a fraud.
‘Well, in my previous life, too, people would look at me with curious eyes if I mentioned being All-Class.’
Leo, who well understood why people were distrustful, just took it in stride.
“You seem to be an excellent knight, by the looks of it.”
Zamua grinned, looking at Leo.
“Rhys is waiting. Let’s go up.”
Walking ahead, he puffed out his chest.
“Magic is good, and summoning is good too! But above all, the best thing is this body!”
Zamua thumped his chest with his fist.
“If you hone your swordsmanship while complementing it with magic and summoning, you’ll probably become a great knight!”
At his words, Celia nodded.
“That’s right. Leo, you seem to have been neglecting your swordsmanship lately.”
“Oh dear! No! You can’t become an excellent knight if you neglect your training.”
“Oh really? Celia. How about we increase our training intensity a bit?”
Celia, who had unnecessarily brought up the topic and had it thrown back at her, avoided Leo’s gaze.
Zamua, unaware of the situation, thought Leo was enthusiastic and smiled with satisfaction.
“That’s a good attitude!”
“Quiet, Zamua.”
Just as they had finished climbing the stairs, a sharp voice was heard.
“Don’t you remember the professors telling us not to arbitrarily talk about majors to dual-class students? And you’re even trying to force a major on an All-Class junior from the very first meeting?”
A Southern woman with light brown skin and reddish-brown eyes was leaning against the wall in the second-floor hallway.
Judging by her Rumern uniform and the badge with a ‘5’ on her left chest, she was also a senior.
Given the embroidered book and staff patterns on her right shoulder, she seemed to be from the Department of Magic.
Taking her back off the wall, she walked with clicking heels, pushed Zamua aside, and stood in front of Leo and Celia.
“Hello, my name is Torua Yan. So you’re Celia? I’ve heard a lot about you from Rhys.”
“Hello, Senior Torua.”
Though they were meeting for the first time, Celia had also heard about her from Rhys.
She had heard that Torua was an honor student who ranked first in the fifth-year magic department’s written exam.
“And… you’re Leo Flov?”
Torua looked at Leo silently, then snorted.
“Professor Ren praised you endlessly, so I had high expectations… but what is this? That pathetic amount of magic power? I feel like a fool for having expected anything.”
“Did you just call Leo pathetic?”
Celia flared up.
“I merely stated the facts. So, Leo.”
*Click-click-*
Torua walked closer to Leo and said,
“Quit your knight and summoning classes right now and focus on magic.”
Torua put her arm around Leo’s shoulder and pointed at the ceiling.
“Leo. Look up. Can’t you see your potential, shining like stars in the night sky?”
“I only see the magic lights of the chandelier attached to the ceiling.”
“You misunderstood me. I meant to see it with your eyes closed.”
“Then I’d only see darkness.”
“You possess the ability to intuitively evaluate things. That’s a crucial quality for a mage. It seems you’re a mage by nature.”
Torua was a typical mage who only spoke her mind.
“Senior Torua. A moment ago, you said we shouldn’t force majors…”
“Celia. I’m sorry, but this is a matter for the Department of Magic, so could you not interfere?”
Celia frowned and asked Zamua,
“Is she allowed to do that?”
“Of course not. But she’s a magic fanatic, so no matter what you tell her, she won’t listen.”
Zamua shook his head.
“If the professors find out she did that, she’ll probably get a huge scolding, won’t she?”
“But the professors don’t know, do they?”
“They will find out.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m going to tell on her.”
At the tearful friendship built over five years of life-and-death situations, Celia wore a blank expression.
***
“Brother!”
“Celia, how have you been?”
Celia, entering Rhys’s room, smiled brightly and clung to Rhys.
At that sight, Leo made a curious expression.
This was because Leo had never before seen Celia, who always upheld neat appearance and proper conduct as a motto of the Gerdinger family, act childishly.
‘Looking at her like this, she’s definitely a fifteen-year-old kid, isn’t she?’
As he chuckled at her age-appropriate behavior, Rhys spoke to Leo.
“So you’re Leo. I’ve heard a lot about you. Is Auntie doing well?”
“Yes. Have you met my mother before?”
“I met her when I was young. And I’ve sent her several letters since coming to Rumern.”
“To Auntie?”
Rhys laughed as Celia looked surprised.
“Auntie was famous during her school days. You’ll naturally hear about the legends once you get used to school life.”
“For example?”
“It’s really famous how she gathered students and stormed the principal’s office because the dormitory cafeteria’s dessert was awful.”
“That was Auntie?”
“As expected, that was Mom.”
Celia’s mouth fell open, and Leo wore an “I knew it” expression.
“Yes. Thanks to her, students can now eat delicious desserts even in the dormitory cafeteria. I once tasted the dessert from back then… and as student council president, I wholeheartedly agreed with Auntie’s opinion.”
Rhys, chuckling and nodding, said,
“Anyway, I’m sorry for calling you on the weekend. I thought I wouldn’t be able to see you for a while once school started. That’s why I called you separately like this.”
“I’m fine with it!”
Celia, seeing Rhys after a long time, chatted happily, acting a bit childish.
While looking after his sister, Rhys also paid attention to Leo.
‘I can see why Celia admires him.’
As the heir to Gerdinger and the student council president of Rumern.
Rhys was a flawless person.
His skills were exceptional, and his character was outstanding.
‘He’s truly like someone close to becoming a hero.’
It felt like only a matter of time until Rhys would ascend to the position of a hero.
“So, Brother! Which hero dungeon did you clear this time? What kind of hero was it?”
Celia asked while they were deep in conversation.
“That’s still classified, so I can’t tell you. But I can tell you that I recovered two pages.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Though one of them is so severely damaged that even a hero’s world cannot be manifested.”
Rhys, speaking regretfully, checked his watch.
It was already evening.
“It’s dinner time already. You don’t know Rumeria’s hidden gourmet spots, do you?”
“No, I don’t. Are there such places?”
“Of course there are. Do you think I’ve been attending Rumern for five years for nothing? I’ll take you to a really delicious place today.”
“Wow!”
Celia smiled brightly and stood up from her seat.
“Leo, is there anything you can’t eat?”
“I eat everything well.”
“Okay, I understand. Go downstairs first. I’ll tidy up my things and come down.”
Celia hummed a tune, pushing Leo’s back, and went outside.
Rhys took out a sealed box containing the pages of the Hero Record he had recovered this time from his luggage.
It was an item that absolutely could not be shown to regular students, so he had to carry it with him when going out.
Rhys, holding the box slightly smaller than his palm, paused.
He felt an unusual surge of power from the box.
‘What is this? Is the hero dungeon I cleared this time about to go out of control?’
Rhys wore a tense expression.
The torn page was in an unstable state.
Even after clearing it, there were often cases where it would surge again and create a hero dungeon.
Rhys opened the box to check and furrowed his brows.
The Hero Record showed no reaction.
‘Wait. Could it be?’
He hurriedly opened the box containing the severely damaged page.
A small piece of page, about the size of a finger joint, was emitting a faint grey light.
Rhys couldn’t help but be surprised when the page, which had shown no reaction until now, revealed its power.
‘What in the world is this…?’