Book 1 Chapter 405
405.
“World Summit?”
Carl’s eyes widened at Leo’s words.
Not just Carl, but everyone dining with them showed a surprised reaction.
World Summit.
As the name suggests, it refers to a meeting where the world’s power holders gather.
Its beginning was 3000 years ago from now.
The place where the first World Summit was held was none other than Dragonia. At that time, it was Rodia, the Dragon of Genesis, who gathered the world’s leaders in one place.
The reason the World Summit was held was the re-emergence of Erebus.
The attendees were Lumerne, Seirun, Azonia, Damian, who are now called the Heroes of Genesis, and the heroes they led, gathered in one place.
Since then, whenever major events occurred in the world, a World Summit was held.
There were five main locations.
Summits were held at the four Great Hero Academies, with Dragonia at the forefront.
“Wow, a summit! So all the world’s power holders are gathering in Lumerne?”
Iliana gasped.
“Probably? Attending the meeting isn’t mandatory, but just not attending a summit can mean falling behind, failing to properly grasp the flow of world affairs. Most will probably attend?”
“Chloe, how do you know all that?”
“Books.”
When Iliana asked, Chloe pointed to the book in her hand and said.
“The library’s closed, though.”
“Yeah. I happened to keep a book related to the World Summit in my subspace.”
“…You keep books in your subspace?”
For Iliana, who usually avoided books unless they were textbooks, magic tomes, or sword manuals, it was a cultural shock.
“But they don’t happen often, do they?”
“Of course not. As they possess immense influence and ripple effects, the conditions for them to be held are extremely strict. It requires the consent of the four Great Hero Academies, and ultimately, the permission of the Dragon Lord.”
Carl stroked his chin and mumbled.
“Wasn’t the last World Summit about 100 years ago?”
“To be exact, 97 years ago.”
“Wow.”
A grand conference that might happen once in a lifetime.
They would be witnessing the historical site of it very closely.
“I feel my heart pounding somehow?”
Iliana grumbled at Carl’s muttering.
“My heart is pounding, alright. But we’ve also taken on a troublesome task. Won’t we be busy with guest welcoming preparations?”
“That’s right. Many people will want to see our school’s students on this occasion.”
“We might have to prepare something to show those people.”
“We’re already busy preparing for final exams, and now we have to be treated like animals in a zoo?”
Complaints erupted from all sides at Iliana’s words.
It was always the case that when a school had a big event, students were stressed in many ways.
Amidst that, Celia spoke.
“Does the fact that a World Summit is being held mean that the ‘Silent Dragon’ has finally broken its silence?”
At that, the students’ eyes rounded.
The Silent Dragon.
It was Melina’s epithet, given to her because she had barely shown herself for a long time.
“It feels like it will be a noteworthy meeting in many respects.”
It was palpable that the world’s history was moving.
Amidst this, Chelsea spoke to Leo.
“You’ll be the busiest this time, Leo oppa.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re the student council president. Don’t you have a lot to prepare?”
Chelsea said, bringing a piece of cake, which was served as dessert, to her mouth with a fork.
Leo chuckled, watching Chelsea stuff her cheeks with cake like a squirrel and chew.
“I have many capable seniors above me, so what would I be busy with?”
“Isn’t it still some time until the vice president returns from his mission?”
“It is.”
“Then until then, shouldn’t you be preparing for the meeting, Leo oppa?”
“It’s fine if I don’t. Hark senior will handle it on his own. Hark senior is the type whose efficiency increases when time is tight.”
Everyone shook their heads at Leo, who calmly said words that would have made Hark grab the back of his neck and charge.
‘Isn’t Leo afraid of Hark senior?’
Even after spending a year in Lumerne and having juniors, many sophomores were still afraid of their seniors.
Especially Hark, who was the strongest among the fifth-years and also the heir to one of Lumerne’s three great noble families.
Leo, however, was only thinking of making Hark work for him.
Everyone looked at Leo with a sense of exasperation.
As Leo got up to put away his tray, Iliana quickly said.
“It’s such a relief to be in the same year as Leo.”
“Right. If he were a senior or a junior, we would have been worked to death.”
Chelsea nodded in agreement with Iliana’s words.
“The power of a student council president comes from their executive ability. But Leo seems to have nothing to do with that.”
Celia also propped her chin and mumbled, and Chloe nodded.
“Right. He has Hark senior completely under his thumb. Hark senior has the actual power, but… it feels like he’s always being outmaneuvered by Leo in the end.”
“Let’s offer our condolences to our seniors.”
Iliana clasped her hands as if in prayer.
Carl clicked his tongue, looking at his friends.
“These kids know one thing but not the other.”
“What?”
Chelsea looked at Carl with a puzzled expression.
“Hey. Why do you think Leo makes the seniors work for him?”
“Because he doesn’t want to work and wants to be comfortable.”
Everyone looked at Iliana with a pitiful expression at her answer.
“Is Leo you?”
“Even if you think that way.”
“Chloe! The kids from other dorms are ignoring me!”
Iliana complained to Chloe with a tearful face, but Chloe agreed with her.
Carl looked at them and said.
“Leo makes the seniors work for him because they are capable. What if those seniors graduate? Who do you think he’ll make work?”
At that, everyone’s faces hardened.
“The current state of the seniors is your future, you know?”
Carl chuckled.
“Well, it’s the sorrow of capable, high-achieving honor students. Hahahaha! I won’t be made to work by Leo anyway because I’m not capable.”
Carl laughed confidently.
The other classmates narrowed their eyes, looking at Carl.
‘Somehow, you seem like you’ll be worked the hardest.’
Everyone here who had experienced Leo knew him to be someone who would somehow find the other person’s strengths and make the most of them, and then some.
“Should I tell you? That Carl seems like he’ll be worked to the bone the most?”
Iliana grinned at Chelsea’s mumbling.
“Let him enjoy himself.”
“Why? He’s annoying.”
“His grades are at the bottom, but he’ll suffer the most, so he’s pitiful.”
Chelsea, who had tilted her head at Iliana’s words, soon nodded.
***
Among the first-year students, a sense of vitality permeated as the major school event of the World Summit approached.
“The time has come to make my skills known to the world.”
“Ah~ What if I receive a scout offer from a country stronger than our kingdom?”
“Will there be sponsorship offers too? I know quite a few seniors who got them.”
The first-year students showed an excited reaction.
Most wore boastful expressions.
Especially with the World Summit held just before the final exams, it was enough to inflate their expectations.
Even if they were hero candidates, it was rare for first-year students to show off their skills in front of the world’s power brokers.
The final exams were an opportunity to show all their achievements from the past semester.
Having truly felt their growth during the first semester, all the first-year students were brimming with confidence.
And so, the students gathered in the large auditorium of the first-year classroom building were busy sharing their dreams and talking.
Luke looked at them and said.
“Everyone seems to be looking forward to the final exams.”
“Aren’t you?”
Habiden, sitting next to Luke, narrowed his eyes and said at Luke’s muttering.
“I think I’d just be grateful if I could attend Lumerne in the second semester somehow.”
Luke gave an awkward laugh.
Then, snickers were heard from all around.
“Pfft, did you hear that?”
“His goal is to attend Lumerne in the second semester.”
“Wow, how can he be so shameless? To even think about attending school in the second semester with those grades.”
“He’s doing that because he trusts the student council president, isn’t he?”
“Probably.”
“But even with the student council president’s backing, isn’t it too unfair for a failing student to attend school?”
“Right.”
“Isn’t the student council president going to be expelled along with him because of that guy?”
“That would be interesting, wouldn’t it?”
“Nah. No way. They’ll just expel that guy.”
“That’s unfair in its own way!”
Scorn mixed with snickers poured out from all sides.
“Shut up and stop barking, it’s noisy.”
At Habiden’s chilling words, the students who had been laughing at Luke bristled.
“What did you say?”
“Are you done talking?”
Habiden was the second-ranked student in the Knight Department.
Among all first-years, he was one of the top five strongest.
Usually, people wouldn’t bristle at Habiden’s words, but these were different.
They were what was called the Aina line.
In other words, students who followed Aina and formed a faction.
In Lumerne, factions were like a tradition.
It was a school where talents from all over the world gathered, but there were bound to be overwhelmingly talented individuals among them.
And people naturally gathered around those heroic figures.
In the fifth year, Hark’s faction was representative, and in the fourth year, Elena’s faction was famous.
In the third year, Lil stood out, but given Lil’s personality and the strong individualistic tendencies of the students, there wasn’t a strong faction.
In the second year, there were so many formidable students that in the early days, there were signs of splitting into several factions.
There were concerns among the faculty that it might become a ‘bean flour generation’ before a ‘golden generation,’ but now it had become the generation with the least factionalism.
And the current first-year.
Among them, the representative was the first-year representative Aina faction.
The problem was that Aina had no interest in factions and, naturally, wasn’t even managing them.
Students who called themselves Aina’s faction were arbitrarily sticking around Aina.
Aina was solely focused on her personal training and studies, so the Aina faction’s wild behavior had recently become more frequent.
Habiden curled the corners of his lips, looking at those who showed hostility towards him.
“Interesting. I suppose I’ll find out whether Aina Vadena protects you or not by beating you up.”
The Aina faction flinched, seeing Habiden’s cynical smile.
At least within the Knight Department, Aina was the only student who could stop Habiden.
“Just you wait.”
The students of the Aina faction, gritting their teeth, abruptly left.
Habiden snorted, watching them.
“Thank you for helping me.”
Luke gave an awkward smile.
Habiden narrowed his eyes, looking at Luke.
“You too, stop pretending to be some clueless, clumsy failing student, Luke Elda.”
“Huh?”
Luke looked flustered at the sudden words.
Habiden stood up.
“It seems you see my eyes, and the eyes of others, as mere decorations.”
Habiden said coldly.
“I know very well how you’re looking at me, at us. It’s a very irritating gaze.”
Habiden knew.
That this failing student was aiming for the position of class representative.
The first person to tell him that fact was none other than Duran.
‘If you’re aiming for the class representative position, be wary of Luke Elda.’
At first, he didn’t understand.
‘If Leo Flove chose him, it means there’s a reason. And his eyes are the eyes of someone looking up.’
Duran curled the corners of his lips.
‘Don’t just look forward and sideways. There are rivals behind you too.’
When Habiden looked into Luke’s eyes after hearing that advice, he realized.
Even though Luke wasn’t showing it.
That Luke was truly trying to surpass him.
‘He doesn’t even seem to realize it himself. That makes it even more annoying.’
And in the last mission training.
Habiden and the other first-years saw it.
The honor students who were on the front lines, including Habiden, saw it.
Luke’s sword strike in that moment.
“Being irritatingly kind is a natural personality, so it can’t be helped, I suppose. But at least if you’re going to challenge, bare your fangs.”
Habiden snorted and said, as if declaring war.
“That way, I can beat you down with a clear conscience.”