Book 1 Chapter 313

313

After breakfast.

Leo and Chelsea left the dormitory cafeteria for Mel's special heroism class.

"Chelsea. Leo is with you too?"

"Sister Nella! Let's go to the lecture hall together!"

Nella, one of the prettiest girls in the second year, approached with her characteristic languid smile.

"It's been a long time since the three of us went to class together like this."

Nella said with a gentle smile.

"It has. Back in the first year, Class 5, the six of us often went around together."

Chelsea made a regretful expression.

Leo, Chelsea, Karl.

They were close friends who had been together almost since their first year.

In addition, Nella, Illiana, and Teide.

They were the core force of Class 5.

"Since it came to mind, shall we go play in Lumeria City this weekend?"

"Let's! Let's go with the Class 5 kids who have time too!"

Chelsea smiled brightly, delighted.

"Leo, that's okay with you, right?"

"I'll clear my schedule."

Nella smiled faintly at Leo's answer.

"By the way, how are your dorms' mock battle preparations going?"

At Leo's question, Chelsea's eyes widened, then she gave a shy smile and brought her index finger to her lips.

"Are you trying to spy? Even if it's you, big brother Leo, you're an enemy during midterms, so I won't tell you who the King is!"

"I wasn't asking who the King was, just about the mock battle preparations."

Chelsea scratched her head with an awkward laugh.

Seeing her, Nella smiled and answered.

"It's going well. We've already picked the King too. How about Glory?"

"Our King has already been decided too."

They chatted casually.

"Do you get asked a lot about who Harmony's King is?"

"Yeah. The Class 5 kids ask often too."

Nella gave a languid smile.

Chelsea made a fed-up expression.

"Karl and Teide keep subtly asking whenever they get a chance. In Illiana's case…"

"Oh! Chelsea and Nella! And the class president!"

Illiana smiled brightly, waved her hand, and ran over.

"Perfect! Who's Harmony's King?"

Chelsea made a cold expression.

"This idiot asks so openly."

"Who are you calling an idiot?"

Illiana pounced on Chelsea.

And poked Chelsea's soft cheeks repeatedly.

Chelsea, as if used to it, bit Illiana's finger.

Amidst the boisterous atmosphere,

"Oh! What brings the four of you together today?"

"Let's go together too."

Karl and Teide also spotted the four and approached.

"It's been a long time since we gathered like this."

As Teide said with a laugh, Chelsea nodded.

"Right, it just came up. Do you have time this weekend? I was thinking of going out with the Class 5 kids."

"That sounds good!"

"I'll clear my schedule."

The six of them chatted happily.

"By the way."

Karl said, placing his interlocked hands behind his head.

"All of your Kings have been decided, right?"

At Karl's question, Chelsea narrowed her eyes.

"Even if you ask, I won't tell you, you know?"

"Who's the idiot who asks that openly? You have to probe subtly."

Karl chuckled.

Meanwhile, they arrived at the lecture hall.

"Leo."

As he settled down in a seat in the lecture hall, Celia approached.

"Professor Mel is looking for you."

At Celia's words, Leo rose from his seat with a puzzled expression.

"I'll be back in a bit."

"Go on~"

Chelsea smiled brightly and waved her hand.

Celia narrowed her eyes, watching Chelsea.

"You didn't happen to tell Leo any information about our dorm, did you?"

"What do you take me for? No matter what, I wouldn't just carelessly spill dorm secrets, you know?"

"You talk a lot of things to Avad, though."

"Still, I wouldn't blurt out classified information!"

Chelsea stuck out her tongue.

"Then that's a relief."

Celia nodded and returned to her seat.

"What do they take me for, anyway? I'm a dorm leader too, you know."

Chelsea grumbled softly.

Seeing Chelsea, Illiana, resting her chin in her hand, said.

"I understand why Celia is worried like that. Chelsea, you just fall head over heels for the class president or Avad, don't you?"

"Who falls head over heels…"

"Besides, what should I say? Like a cute little sister, it feels like she'd tell you if you coaxed her gently?"

"Right! Right! It feels like you could kidnap her with candy!"

"What do you take me for, anyway?"

Chelsea punished Karl and Illiana with a cold face.

Seeing Chelsea, Teide said.

"Indeed, Chelsea, you do have a different vibe from the other dorm leaders."

"What's different?"

Seeing Chelsea ask, tilting her head, Karl said.

"Even in our dorm alone, we're brimming with ambition. Well, as heirs of great families, it's natural, I guess."

The Rawlin family and the Hergin family.

Famous hero families everyone knew just by name.

As heirs of those families, Avad and Eliza couldn't help but have great pride and ambition.

And Duran.

As the Crown Prince of Moira, a small kingdom known as a knight kingdom, his pride was no less than Avad's and Eliza's.

Listening to Karl, Illiana said.

"In our dorm too, if you look at the three of them, their paths are clear."

Chloe, whose goal is to complete the world's best grimoire, written with her original magic.

Chen Xia, who aims to rise to the position of a hero as a shadow and change public perception.

"And the class president, well… his very existence is heroic."

"Right, he boldly declared it in the first year. The complete annihilation of Erebus."

"The scale itself is different."

The students shook their heads.

"What are the goals of Harmony's dorm leaders?"

"In Waredeon's case, he said 'the strongest'."

Nella smiled faintly and answered.

At that answer, Teide crossed his arms.

"Hmm, that's definitely a goal fitting for him."

"The class president's performance is so extraordinary that people forget Waredeon is also a monster."

Illiana stuck out her tongue.

"I'm curious about something. If the two of them really fought, who would win?"

"Leo would win, right?"

Waredeon's strength was rated as superior to other top students in their year.

If Leo hadn't been there, the undisputed year representative would have been Waredeon.

"Celia's goal is to become a knight who surpasses her predecessors."

Karl crossed his arms.

"Everyone has such firm goals, you see. That's why everyone dreams of being a hero."

"……"

Chelsea blinked.

"Chelsea, why do you want to be a hero?"

"Well… because I entered Lumerne. To help my brother and be useful to the family…"

Chelsea, who was rarely flustered and hesitated in her answer, asked back.

"Then do all of you have goals? Is there a reason why you want to be a hero?"

"Hmph! Of course! I'll become the greatest magic swordsman worthy of my family and make a name for myself! So that many people look up to me! Oh ho ho ho ho!"

Illiana covered her mouth and burst out laughing.

"I want to make a contract with a fairy."

Teide grinned.

"I want to become a hero and save many people."

Nella displayed a benevolent smile, not her usual languid one.

"Me, well, I don't aim for hero status. I just want to last as long as possible and succeed by actively working as a supporter."

Karl shrugged his shoulders.

Seeing her friends, each with a clear goal, Chelsea became even more flustered.

The reason she entered Lumerne?

'Because I liked hero stories since I was little.'

It was still the same.

She had talent and skill.

That's why she vaguely came to Lumerne.

There wasn't a specific reason why she enrolled at the young age of 14 either.

'I just wanted to go to school with my older brother.'

If Chelsea had the ambition to aim for the top of her year, she should have enrolled a year later.

'Why did I enter Lumerne?'

Chelsea, who had never thought about such a question in her first year, asked it for the first time in her second year.

In her first year, she had no intention of worrying about such things.

It was enough just to always follow those in front of her.

Avad, the wizard she had admired since childhood.

And Leo, the hero she came to admire the day she first saw him.

Studying together and overcoming difficulties together was enough.

The girl who had never once stood on her own stage was bewildered.

'Why… do I want to be a hero?'

It was while Chelsea was deep in thought.

"Karl, where are you going?"

When Karl stood up from his seat, Illiana showed a puzzled reaction.

"Bathroom."

Karl, who answered nonchalantly, headed towards the lecture hall door.

As he did so, he naturally passed by Celia's desk where she was sitting.

Thump-

Celia looked puzzled, seeing Karl drop something on her desk and leave.

But she soon hid it in her arms without showing any expression.

'It's starting.'

***

In the evening, after the day's classes were over.

All second-year students gathered at Lumerne's pier.

Gathered by dormitory, they eyed each other warily and flew over the lake.

The mock battle inter-dormitory competition, the total practical exam for this midterm, made the strongholds play a very important role.

Each dormitory was assigned one of the islands in Lumeria City.

"Wow, do we have to engage in espionage from the preparation period?"

Karl scratched his head, looking troubled.

In front of Karl, students were seen constructing defensive towers to protect the stronghold.

In addition to this, all sorts of traps for stronghold defense were being set up in the surroundings.

Eliza, filing her nails, said with her legs crossed.

"Other dorm members are struggling, why don't you help out too?"

Karl said, looking at Eliza who blew on her nails with a "whoosh."

"No, you're playing too."

"Are you telling me, the heir of the Hergin family, to do such trivial work? That's a bit much for a joke. Besides, I'm not doing nothing."

Eliza, looking satisfied at her neatly filed nails, glanced at Karl.

"I'm keeping watch in case of any espionage, you see."

If the location or type of traps were exposed, a strategy to overcome them could be devised, so keeping watch was also an important mission.

Currently, Eliza's summoned beasts were monitoring the entire island.

"Yeah, yeah. By the way, I'm here with Avad's permission too."

"Avad's?"

Eliza tilted her head.

Avad was currently in charge of Noble's overall command.

"Yes."

"It seems Avad has given you some task."

Eliza curled the corners of her lips.

"What's the mission?"

At her words, Karl said.

"Perfect timing, you're here."

At that, Eliza's eyes twitched.

"Celia Gerdinger? How are you here…"

"I called her. I gave her the mark you gave me."

If Noble students kept coming and going from the island, Eliza's phantom beasts would surely inform her.

To prevent that, Eliza had distributed marks to the dorm students.

If they had that mark, the phantom beasts wouldn't be on alert, and Karl had given that mark to Celia.

"Hmm? Interesting."

Eliza curled the corners of her lips.

Noble students also started to murmur when they spotted Celia.

Duran, who was standing on the defensive wall protecting the stronghold, noticed Celia and his eyes twitched.

Avad rested his chin in his hand and smiled faintly, looking at Celia.

Celia stood in front of Karl.

"I read the letter well."

Celia glanced at Noble's stronghold.

"What's your scheme?"

"There's no scheme. Just making an alliance proposal."

At Karl's words, Celia crossed her arms.

"You're suggesting a joint attack on Glory? Your dorm leaders won't agree to that, will they?"

Duran and Eliza, as Celia knew them, were embodiments of pride.

They wouldn't agree to two of the three dorms allying to attack one dorm.

Even if it was to overthrow Leo Flove.

'Whether they succeed or fail, they'll only be satisfied if they defeat him with their own hands.'

"Me neither."

Chelsea would object.

Waredeon, who was targeting Leo, wouldn't accept it either.

Lumerne allowed duels between students but didn't permit full-scale, earnest combat.

Because it would be a big problem if a student got hurt.

But the exam was different.

It was an opportunity for anyone to seriously fight Leo.

They wouldn't want to miss that opportunity.

The same went for Celia.

At Celia's words, Karl said.

"It's not about combining forces."

Karl made a serious expression.

"If we openly form an alliance, Glory will notice. Then they'll focus solely on defense. If Glory is determined to defend, it'll be hard to break through their stronghold. And as you said, there will be kids who dislike the idea of an alliance itself."

The preparation period given for one month.

That preparation period was also a time to fortify the strongholds.

If a stronghold is deliberately defended, it would be difficult to break through, even if two dorms allied.

"Then?"

"Let's sign a non-aggression pact."

Karl said seriously.

"The term is until Glory's stronghold falls."