Book 1 Chapter 335

Wheeeeee-!

A cold wind was blowing.

At that moment, magic swirled from the warp gate.

Flash-!

As the bright light receded, Leo revealed himself.

It was full spring.

But regardless of the season, the frozen land exuded its coldness.

"Hoo."

Leo exhaled lightly, and his breath obscured his vision.

He stepped out of the warp gate, carrying a suitcase full of luggage.

Leo was the only one who had taken the warp gate from Rumeln to Seirun.

'It's not the academic conference period yet, so Professor Anna will probably come according to the conference schedule.'

Thump- thump-

Leo walked across the marble floor, looking around.

It was already late.

All academic schedules at Seirun had ended.

Only the mages operating the warp gate were present.

'Luniana or Eiran. I thought one of them would have come to pick me up?'

Leo knew he wouldn't be welcomed in Seirun.

Still, among the students, Lunia and Eiran were his close friends, and among the teachers, Heridium spoke highly of him.

Therefore, he hadn't expected that no one would come to pick him up.

Feeling puzzled, Leo approached the elf mage operating the warp gate.

"Excuse me."

The elf mage glanced at Leo.

The warp gate had likely already been informed, so the elf mage showed no surprise at the sudden appearance of a Rumeln student in Seirun.

"What is it?"

"I'm Leo Flove, an exchange student from Rumeln. Is there no one here to pick me up?"

"No."

The elf mage shook his head, guided Leo out of the warp gate, and pointed to the Seirun campus visible in the distance.

"If you go to the entrance of the Seirun campus, a staff member will probably be waiting for you."

Hearing the explanation, Leo nodded and left the warp gate.

The elf mage watched Leo's retreating figure, hesitated, and then said,

"Um… good luck."

At those words, Leo stopped and turned back.

As their eyes met, the elf mage quickly turned his head and swept the snow in front of the warp gate.

'His magical abilities as a mage are high, but his achievement in star magic is not outstanding.'

Star magic.

It was a unique magical system created by Luna, and it had now become the unique magic of the elf race itself, a symbol of elves.

Any elf mage could use star magic.

However, just because one could use star magic didn't mean everyone could achieve great success.

There were undoubtedly elf mages whose proficiency in star magic was low, even if they excelled in other magic.

'And I heard such elves are not favored?'

This tendency was even stronger in Seirun.

At the Hero Academy founded by the Comet Mage, the most important thing was star magic.

No matter how talented one was in aura or summoning, they couldn't pass the entrance requirements for Seirun if they couldn't learn 'star magic.'

Therefore, students at Seirun who handled aura or summons were basically dual-classed.

As much as they valued star magic, their pride in it was immense.

Leo's story had already become famous worldwide, beyond just humans.

Perhaps the elf mage, anticipating how Leo would be treated in Seirun as an exchange student, had said those words.

'Judging by his reaction, could he be reprimanded just for having a private conversation with me?'

Despite that, he had said those words out of concern for Leo, whom he had just met.

'No matter where you go, there are people with good intentions.'

Leo smiled faintly as he headed towards Seirun.

Lisinas said that the world was worth risking one's life for, just because such people existed.

Crunch- crunch-

Every step Leo took left footprints in the snow.

Before long, he reached the main gate of Seirun.

And there stood a stern-looking elf.

She adjusted her glasses and said,

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Leo Flove, student from Rumeln. I am Orlen Azel, in charge of etiquette education for the second year students at Seirun."

"I am Leo Flove. Please take good care of me for the next month."

Leo greeted her politely.

However, before his greeting was even finished, Orlen sharply turned around and walked away.

A short while later, Leo arrived at the castle within Seirun.

Upon opening the elegant castle gate, a vast entrance hall unfolded.

He didn't encounter a single staff member, let alone a student, until he reached a small room inside the castle.

The vast castle was as quiet as a dead mouse.

Orlen entered the small room and then turned back to Leo, saying,

"Even though it's a short time, as an exchange student, you must follow Seirun's strict school rules."

With a flick of Orlen's finger, the door of a closet on one side of the room opened, and uniforms and what appeared to be textbooks were placed on a table.

"Books and luggage brought from outside are not permitted. Leave them all here."

At those words, Leo nodded and placed his suitcase on the table.

"One more thing, Leo Flove. You came to Seirun to study, right?"

"Yes."

"Then please do not draw attention to yourself as an exchange student."

Orlen adjusted her glasses.

"To learn at Seirun, you need to look the part. While you are in Seirun, I want you to live like an elf. Even your appearance. Your presence could cause confusion among the students."

At those words, Leo made a strange expression.

"Aren't Seirun's second-year students already aware of the exchange student situation?"

"No, they are not."

Leo tilted his head.

"Even if I dressed like an elf, I don't think they'd fail to recognize me."

"Your self-confidence is unnecessarily strong, Leo Flove."

Orlen's lips curled.

"This is Seirun, not Rumeln. It's an elven society, not human society. I don't know how famous you are in Rumeln and human society, but it's a mistake to think your fame will carry over here."

With a snort, Orlen said coldly,

"Change into the uniform, put on the necklace that comes with it, and I'll give you a campus map. You can stay there."

With that, Orlen left the room.

'What is she talking about? Seirun's second-year students all know my face anyway.'

Leo, about to change into his Seirun uniform with a bewildered expression, stopped as his gaze fell on the textbooks.

After looking at the textbooks, he let out a chuckle.

"So that's what she meant?"

He now understood Orlen's words.

The textbooks Orlen had given Leo were none other than those for first-year students at Seirun.

'Indeed, she seems to dislike me quite a bit.'

She probably didn't want him to attend the same classes as the second-year students.

Furthermore, it seemed she wanted to prevent him from meeting Lunia and Eiran.

'Does she think I'll have a bad influence on those two?'

During the previous Smith exclusive contract.

Lunia had fallen out of favor with the head teacher of Seirun.

From Seirun's perspective, Lunia had become a delinquent student, and their prestige had been damaged.

In fact, they had even threatened to exclude Lunia, who was being considered as a candidate for student council president in front of everyone.

'But the situation must have changed with Lunia conquering Dweno's world.'

She had obtained a divine artifact created by Dweno himself for Lunia.

Not only that, but she had inherited the flames of the Phoenix King, whose lineage had been severed during the Age of Disaster.

It was, quite literally, unprecedented.

Discarding Lunia would mean losing too much of her value.

Therefore, they would try to mold Lunia to their liking.

"…How can someone learn bad things so well without being taught?"

Leo let out a bitter laugh, recalling the ways of the High Elves from 5000 years ago.

After changing into his Seirun uniform, Leo put on the necklace Orlen had mentioned.

It was a necklace imbued with star magic and illusion magic.

He went to the mirror.

Wearing the white Seirun uniform, his ears had transformed into elven ears.

He was, literally, a complete Seirun student.

"It looks like I'll be acting as a first-year student at Seirun, which is unexpected."

Leo chuckled at his reflection in the mirror.

"This will be interesting."

After all, Leo hadn't come to study.

He had come to Seirun at the request of Tina, who hoped he would have a positive influence on Seirun in exchange for obtaining Kieran's wings.

And she had asked him to teach magic to her nephew, who had enrolled this year, if possible.

'It wouldn't be a bad idea to properly assess the level of Seirun's first-year students while I'm at it.'

Leo picked up his textbooks and left the room.

***

Following the map Orlen had left, Leo walked towards the dormitory.

It was practically a situation where Leo had been abandoned.

However, Leo had no difficulty navigating the map and heading towards the dormitory area.

A short while later.

Leo reached the dormitory area without difficulty.

Despite the late hour, two people were sitting on a sofa in the lounge, talking.

"Did you hear about that?"

A male student sitting in the middle of the lounge said, crossing his arms.

"The student council president of Rumeln in Rumeln's midterm exams."

"Are you talking about Leo Flove?"

A female student tilted her head while sipping her tea.

"Yeah. They say he summoned a fairy during the exam?"

"Pfft! You believe that?"

Upon hearing the male student's words, the female student burst into laughter.

"He's already the contractor of the Phoenix, right? And then suddenly a fairy? Does that make any sense?"

Other students around them also chuckled.

"That's not all. They say he summoned a Pegasus too."

The male student who first brought up Leo's name spoke with a still serious expression.

"Hey! That makes even less sense! No matter how great he is, do you think it's possible for a mere second-year student to make contracts with all three mythical beasts?"

Tsk tsk tsk- The female student clicked her tongue as she looked at the male student.

Seeing the female student, the male student said seriously,

"Even if the stories are unbelievable, it's worth listening. We need to prepare for the next Seru Battle. We don't get much information from Rumeln, so we have to gather even the smallest bits of information to prepare."

He seemed to be cautious.

The female student smirked at the male student, who made remarks that suggested he was wary of Leo.

"Well, I acknowledge that Leo Flove is amazing. But among Rumeln's first-year students, who are our actual competitors, aren't there any particularly famous ones? At most, the great-granddaughter of the Sword Master, who was already famous?"

Sipping her tea, the female student smiled meaningfully.

"Moreover, who do you think is the top student in our batch this year? It's Rhea Tingel."

With a slight smile, the female student showed a confident grin.

"With Rhea, who succeeded in summoning the Fairy King after thousands of years, why should we worry about Rumeln? With Senior Lunia and Senior Eiran here, our victory in the Seru Battle is certain!"

"Sorry to interrupt your conversation."

"Eek?"

The female student jumped in surprise at the voice that suddenly came from behind and turned around.

Leaning forward from the sofa, Leo asked with a smile,

"Who did you say summoned whom?"

In this world.

The story of the only friend who shared the same time as him naturally drew Leo's great interest.