Book 1 Chapter 347

The starting grounds of the castle, where almost all the students of the academy had gathered.

Lunia stood with her arms crossed in the spectator stands on the training grounds, watching the first-year students.

"Lunia El Lundar."

Turning her head at the voice from behind, Lunia uncrossed her arms and stood up.

"Marben-senpai."

The one who called Lunia was none other than Marben, the fifth-year top student and number one in the entire academy.

Lunia, with a bright expression, spoke as if surprised.

"It's unexpected to see you at a school official event?"

"I'm graduating this year, but I'm also curious about what kind of juniors have enrolled."

Marben, bursting into laughter, pulled up a chair and sat next to Lunia.

"So? Are there any outstanding juniors among the first-years?"

"The most eye-catching student would probably be over there."

In response to Marben's question, Lunia pointed at Leah.

"Leah Tingel. She's definitely the best among the new students."

Marben rested his chin on his hand.

"With that diligent honor student image, she seems boring. Just like Hardin's type."

Lunia smiled faintly as she watched Marben, who wore a slightly bored expression.

"You might find her interesting once you get to know her."

"Huh?"

"She's surprisingly not all there either."

Recalling the incident in Leo's room, Lunia wore a displeased expression.

"Is she like Rienia-senpai?"

"…You're not praising me by calling me Rienia-senpai, are you?"

"Of course not."

"You old geezer…!"

Marben chuckled.

Lunia, feeling a surge of anger, sighed and asked, "What about Evertoon-senpai?"

"Our young master was called by the acting principal."

Marben chuckled as he thought of Evertoon, the fifth-year second-ranked student.

"Since he's from a prestigious family, the Pureblood Association is after him."

"Evertoon-senpai leans towards the Pureblood Association's ideology. Aren't you worried if you get close to him?"

As Lunia asked cautiously, Marben chuckled.

"It's true that kid has a lot of pride as a Seirun student, but his ideology is a bit different from the Pureblood Association. He has strong pride as a Seirun student, but he doesn't think elves are superior just because they are elves."

'Isn't that similar?'

Lunia tilted her head.

"Oh, right, Marben-senpai. Is the Hero Record of Seirun-sama that was discovered this time really Seirun-sama's Hero Record?"

"Well, the record itself was definitely Seirun-sama's. But who knows. There are so many fake Hero Records."

Marben had retrieved the Hero Record on this mission.

"If the vice-principal were here, we could have quickly verified its authenticity… but it's a shame she's absent."

Nerjia, the vice-principal of Seirun, who actively encouraged Seirun students to conquer the world of heroes.

She was currently attending the Elf Council to select the next principal.

Because of that, she had been absent from school since the beginning of the semester.

"Would the school have been a little better if the vice-principal were here?"

"Hmm. The vice-principal never participated in school management or personnel matters. Still, the acting principal and the Pureblood Association wouldn't have been able to run rampant like they are now."

Marben, shaking his head as he watched the first-year students, suddenly spotted someone.

"Wait a minute. That first-year…"

As Marben narrowed his eyes and wore a surprised expression.

"Lunia! Lunia!"

Someone urgently called out to Lunia.

There, the fraternal twins, Garin and Aris, ran breathlessly towards Lunia.

"Leo Flowb was among the first-years!"

"How on earth did he get here? Could he have secretly infiltrated to find out Seirun's secrets?"

"He's here as an exchange student."

"Huh?"

"It seems the Pureblood Association teachers arbitrarily assigned him to a lower-tier first-year class."

At Lunia's answer, Aris looked embarrassed.

As she ran towards Lunia, she had been telling Garin all sorts of speculative claims, saying Leo was a spy who secretly infiltrated Seirun.

"Spy, what spy."

Garin looked at his younger sister with a pathetic expression, and Aris bristled.

"You were convinced too, weren't you?!"

"Never! I knew it the moment you started writing those delusional novels about forbidden love between a Seirun student and a Lumern student…"

"Die!"

Aris genuinely jabbed Garin's temple with her elbow.

Marben, watching Aris drag the unconscious Garin away, burst into laughter.

"They're interesting kids."

And then he turned his gaze towards Leo.

"I've never even heard of an exchange student program, and it's Leo Flowb, not someone else, in a lower-tier first-year class… They're not sane."

Marben narrowed his eyes and looked at the place where the Seirun teachers were gathered.

Lunia said, looking at her senior.

"The exams will probably be quite interesting this time."

Lunia smiled faintly.

"The exams will begin shortly."

Geras, the homeroom teacher of the advanced first-year class, bowed his head to the acting principal, Rhagen.

Rhagen narrowed his eyes as he looked at Geras.

"Your preparations are perfect, aren't they?"

"Of course."

Geras laughed heartily.

"Looking at the roster, the class representative has been assigned to the same group as the dropouts from the lower-tier class. What is the meaning of this?"

"Because student Eclair does not have the qualifications to be in the advanced first-year class."

"Hmm?"

"With the exams so close, he was seen associating with the dropouts from the lower-tier classes. I judged it to be an act that lowered the standard of the advanced class and assigned him to the same group as the lower-tier students. Well, he was destined to fall from the advanced first-year class soon, seeing as he was associating with such dropouts anyway."

Geras clicked his tongue.

"Student Eclair was excellent at admission but has hardly grown since then. His magic power is almost the same compared to when he entered. Furthermore, his spell casting speed is the same as when he entered. He is currently below the average for the advanced class."

"Hmm."

"Through this exam, it will be clearly determined whether or not he has the qualifications to be a hero candidate as a Seirun student."

Rhagen smiled with satisfaction.

"All right, shall we begin the exam then?"

"Yes."

Geras ascended the podium.

-The practical exam for the first semester's midterm for the first-year students will now begin. The groups that are called will please come forward.

All the first-year students wore tense expressions.

"Advanced first-year class, Yoinia's group, please come forward."

As Geras called out, a group of 10 students, led by a female student from the advanced first-year class, went onto the training grounds.

-And the lower-tier class, Berus's group.

At the announcement, Berus's face showed surprise.

"Geras-sensei! Why was our group called?"

-Did you not hear the announcement?

Geras clicked his tongue.

-This exam is a competition between groups, and the side that defeats the monsters faster wins, isn't it?

"What?"

Not only the lower-tier students but also the middle and advanced-tier students wore surprised expressions.

The exam content had completely changed.

All students had practiced how to efficiently hunt monsters using effective tactics, strategies, and teamwork.

But with competition added, the story changed completely.

From the moment they had to defeat monsters faster than the opponent, the strategy changed entirely.

The lower-tier students were flustered, but the advanced and middle-tier students' eyes gleamed.

Especially the students in the advanced first-year class, Yoinia's group, had their mouths stretched almost to their ears.

If they had to defeat more monsters faster than the opponent…

'Naturally, it's advantageous to face the weakest, the lower-tier students, right?'

Berus's face grew tense as he saw the advanced first-year students looking at them with shining eyes.

"Berus, what should we do?"

"Can we win against the advanced first-year class?"

Seeing his worried group members, Berus took a deep breath.

"Let's do our best. You all know it too. Our skills have improved a lot."

"Still… they're the advanced first-year class."

As he spoke to the female student who drooped her ears, Berus said,

"We worked hard, even risking expulsion. It would be unfair if we couldn't perform because we were timid, right?"

Berus's expression became resolute.

"Even if we can't win, let's show them that we're not to be trifled with!"

At his shout, laughter erupted among the students of the first-year middle and advanced classes.

The lower-tier students gritted their teeth.

"What nonsense is he spouting?"

Leo wore an incredulous expression.

"Don't you understand Berus's feelings, Rail? We have to compete with the advanced class. That's why Berus, that guy, senses defeat and steels himself! Kh!"

As the lower-tier male student expressed his resentment, Leo said calmly.

"So why would you sense defeat?"

"Huh?"

The male student wore a dazed expression.

"It's perfect."

Leo smiled faintly.

"We can show the seniors how the advanced class gets utterly crushed by the lower-tier class."

***

At the opposite ends of the training grounds.

The two groups took their positions and faced each other.

Woooong-!

A magic circle appeared in the center of the training grounds.

Screeeech-!

At the same time, monsters poured out.

These were monsters caught by Seirun for the exam.

"Hmph, goblins. Simple."

Yoinia scoffed and took out her staff.

Yoinia, who possessed the strongest magic power among them, chanted a spell.

'A horde of goblins can be dealt with by one large spell…'

As Yoinia prepared her magic.

Flash! KABOOOM!

A blinding magic attack poured down.

Seeing that, Yoinia's face hardened.

"What is this…!"

Her eyes widened at the unexpected situation, and Yoinia turned her head.

"You guys! What are you doing! You're in charge of defense!"

The ones who quickly dealt with the goblins by casting offensive magic were none other than the students in Yoinia's own group.

Yoinia was a conventional mage who could freely wield powerful large-scale magic.

She was known among the teachers as a promising mage and was one of the top three students in the advanced class in terms of magic power alone.

In fact, she was an excellent student, ranking 4th in the entrance exam.

That's why she was assigned to attack duty for this exam.

However, the nine students in her group, who were supposed to be in charge of defense, began to unleash magic wildly.

A Seirun student wielding fire magic laughed at Yoinia's shout.

"This exam is about defeating monsters faster than the opponent, isn't it? What if they finish off the monsters before you finish casting?"

"There's no way the lower-tier students can defeat so many goblins quickly. Stick to the plan!"

Yoinia shouted angrily, and another female student giggled.

"I don't think that'll happen, you know, Yoinia."

"What?"

"Anyway, there's no way we'll lose to the lower-tier students. This isn't a fight between us and the lower-tier students. It's a competition among ourselves."

Yoinia's eyes blazed.

"You're going to compete with me using magic now? Know your place."

"Yes. I admit you wield more powerful magic than us. But… don't you only know high-level offensive magic?"

"……!"

Since her admission, teacher Yotren had focused on teaching Yoinia high-level magic.

She was literally trained to be a star mage specializing in wielding powerful magic.

Of course, Yoinia wasn't unaware of low-level offensive magic.

However, she had never studied or practiced low-level offensive magic since her admission in order to achieve results.

"You, you guys…"

Yoinia's shoulders trembled.

And she looked up at the sky.

A scoreboard showing the number of monsters defeated floated above.

Yoinia's eyes widened as she saw the numbers.

'Huh…?'

Only a few minutes had passed since the exam began.

Even so, low-level monsters like goblins posed no threat to the first-year students.

As a result, over a hundred goblins were swiftly defeated by the advanced students.

But it wasn't the advanced students' score that made Yoinia's eyes widen.

The lower-tier students had also defeated goblins at a similar speed to the advanced students.

'No… they're even slightly faster?'

As Yoinia looked at the lower-tier students with a flustered expression.

ROOOOAR!

A roar echoed.

An ogre had appeared from the summoning circle.

Seeing that, the advanced students faltered.

"Yoinia! It's an ogre!"

"What do you want me to do?"

Yoinia's expression was filled with malice.

"What?"

"Try dealing with it using your supposedly great magic!"

"Hey, you…!"

"Hmph! Do you think we can't do it?"

The advanced students bristled.

As they said that, Yoinia looked up at the sky again.

The ogre was a powerful high-level monster, unlike the goblins, so the lower-tier students' momentum would surely falter.

'…They're still faster than us!'

With a desperate expression, Yoinia chanted a spell.

She realized that now was not the time for infighting among their group.

Yoinia blew away the ogre with her magic.

"You guys! From now on, follow my instructions…"

"The ogre is down!"

"Attack!"

"Let's not give Yoinia points!"

"I found her annoying from the start!"

The advanced students, driven by their competitive spirit to rise higher, began to act on their own again.

"Just listen to me!"

Yoinia clutched her head as she watched them.

***

Lunia's jaw dropped.

It wasn't just Lunia.

All the second-year students…

No, all the students from every grade wore expressions of disbelief.

Everyone watched the exam in silence.

The faculty members also looked at the exam results with grim expressions.

"Hmm."

At that moment, a sigh of annoyance was heard.

Evertoon Levham, the fifth-year second-ranked student.

He was a student full of pride and authority as a Seirun student.

Furthermore, he was the son of Elbratin, the chairman of the Elf Grand Council.

He was one of the most authoritative figures in elven society.

He was also a talent sought after by the Pureblood Association, as he believed in Luna and Seirun.

Therefore, he was observing the exam closely next to Rhagen.

He said coldly.

"Acting principal."

Evertoon crossed his legs and rested his chin on his hand.

"I was told to expect the new Seirun to be reborn, so I was looking forward to the first-year students' abilities."

Evertoon wore a cold smile.

"Are the first-year students this year subpar? Or is it the new Seirun system introduced by you, the acting principal, that is the problem?"

"Student Evertoon… this is…"

"It's not even worth watching."

Evertoon said coldly and was about to stand up when.

"Oh ho, what is our young master dissatisfied about this time?"

A hand that suddenly appeared pressed down on Evertoon's shoulder.

"Get off me, Marben."

Evertoon glared at Marben, who had forcibly sat him down, with annoyance.

Lunia, who had followed Marben, said as she looked at Evertoon.

"Evertoon-senpai, please watch until the end. The real fun is about to begin."