Book 1 Chapter 576
576.
As the opening ceremony ended, the spectators who had watched the Festival of Heroes were swept into a frenzy of excitement.
“To think I’d live to see a Phoenix!”
“It was amazing… but also incredibly scary.”
“Ugh! I even thought it might be a monster!”
“Hey! Man! How can you call a sacred mythical beast a monster! You’ll be struck down by the gods!”
Spectators from outside chattered excitedly.
Amidst them, what stood out most was an enormous group of boys and girls.
“Seeing him blast away a Lava Golem in one hit was incredible, even now!”
“If I enroll next year, will I be his junior?”
“He looks small and cute, but has that much strength… *sigh*~”
Leading roughly a thousand boys and girls were Artian, the first-year professor of Lumern’s Summoning Department, and his associate professors.
“E-Everyone. Please don’t clump together; move in a line~”
“I heard Luke Elda is from a commoner background. That’s amazing.”
“Lady Aina could do that much too, couldn’t she?”
“Lord Habidun too. He just stepped up first, that’s all.”
Artian spoke in a timid voice, almost pleading with the children.
But those who appeared to be nobles didn’t listen, busy saying what they wanted.
“What does nobility or commoner status matter at Lumern? Skill is always supreme!”
At that, a girl flared up and stepped forward.
“What? A commoner. Are you defying me, a noble, right now?”
“Hmph. The way you immediately assert your authority, you’re clearly from the West. That’s why people from the Rodren Empire’s sphere of influence just don’t get it.”
“Hah? Are you, a commoner, demeaning the Rodren Empire right now? You’re not unaware that the student council president of Lumern is Lord Leo, a direct descendant of the Gerdinger family, are you?”
“Funny. So what? Are you Leo Flobe himself?”
“Ugh!”
“Hey, hey, calm down.”
“That kid. He’s the heir to the Lola Merchant Group.”
“What?”
The Lola Merchant Group.
It was a colossal merchant group based in the southern continent.
They monopolized all trade routes used by humans in the southern continent and, based on that power, wielded immense influence across the entire continent.
Though a commoner family, their influence was so immense that even royalty from small nations would bow to them.
The Rodren noble boy, intimidated, quickly flared up again.
“Even so, he’s just a rich commoner! Which named student in Lumern right now is a commoner?!”
“First-year representative Luke Elda is! And acting student council president Kal Thomas too!”
This time, another commoner boy flared up and shouted.
“Hmph, isn’t Kal Thomas a legacy admission? His grades are terrible…! *cough*—!”
*Thwack*—!
The Rodren noble student who had been scoffing was kicked in the side and sent flying.
“Have these kids… got stakes in their ears? You don’t listen when I speak nicely, do you?!”
Artian’s sinister voice made the children feel goosebumps all over their bodies.
“W-What…?”
“When I speak, listen! You impertinent little chicks!!!”
“Kyahhh!”
“S-Save… *cough*!”
Artian’s wrath poured down on those who had ignored his control and chattered as they pleased.
“Who are they, getting hit by Professor Artian?”
As Iliana tilted her head, watching from a classroom window, Kal informed her.
“They’re exam candidates.”
“Exam candidates? What exam candidates?”
“While preparing for the Festival of Heroes this time, we also prepared the entrance exam for next year. They’re the final candidates who passed up to the third round of that process.”
“Why didn’t I know at all? Did you know?”
“I didn’t know either?”
“They were preparing for the entrance exam for new students while preparing for the Festival of Heroes?”
The second-years looked surprised.
“It’s understandable that you didn’t know. You were all busy preparing for the Festival of Heroes, weren’t you? Leo, I, Senior Elena, and the professors prepared the entrance exam together.”
*‘Of course, the dragons helped too.’*
Kal recalled the Wisdom students Leo had brought.
Kal knew Leo’s true identity.
As such, nothing Leo did surprised him.
However, Elena’s reaction upon seeing Leo bring the Wisdom students as labor was unperturbed.
*‘Wow~ I was so exhausted preparing for the Festival of Heroes, but now I can finally breathe a little. Thank you in advance, everyone, dragons.’*
She was simply purely happy about having new labor.
*‘Hmph. Are you Elena Zeron? Nice to meet you. I am Ridden. If you have any difficulties, just say the word. As your guide, I will help you.’*
A dragon named Ridden said with a slightly arrogant expression.
And…
*‘Kal! You tell that witch! Stop piling on more work! How is it that the more we work, the more work increases?!’*
Before long, Ridden and the Wisdom dragons were clinging to Kal’s pant leg, pleading.
Of course, Kal himself also felt like crying.
Elena’s truly scary point wasn’t that she forced work or squeezed people dry to the end.
It was her initiative to immediately start something new whenever she had the slightest capacity.
Kal shuddered, recalling Elena, who had laughed happily the moment she saw the Wisdom students, saying, *‘Now we can hold the entrance exam during the Festival of Heroes too.’*
“Senior Elena really seems to have amazing abilities. I definitely want to emulate that.”
“No, Nella.”
“Huh?”
“Listen carefully, Nella.”
Kal placed his hands on Nella’s shoulders and leaned his face close.
“That woman is a witch. You must never emulate her.”
The students fell silent, watching Kal speak with a terrified voice.
“Leo! You say something too.”
“Well, I thought she was rather cute.”
As Leo, who was sitting by the window, spoke with a smile, the surrounding second-years gasped.
“Wow, Leo is Leo.”
“How can he call Senior Elena cute?”
“Class president, are you treating Senior Elena like a child too?”
Leo shrugged at the reactions around him.
Frankly, for Leo, who had suffered under the far more malicious Lisinas, Elena was on the cute side.
“Anyway! That witch must never be emulated….”
Kal, who was speaking sternly, fell silent when he realized that all his friends were looking behind him.
Cold sweat ran down his back.
“…Is she behind me?”
When Nella nodded to his question, a small, pretty hand settled *thump* on Kal’s shoulder.
“Kal-kun. What were you talking about so enthusiastically? Perhaps talking behind my back?”
It was a soft touch and a beautiful voice that pleased the ear, but upon hearing those words, Kal involuntarily sank to the floor.
Then, with trembling eyes, he looked back and saw Lumern’s queen looking down at him with pink eyes.
“P-Please forgive….”
“It’s okay, you can talk behind your senior’s back.”
Elena smiled sweetly and patted Kal’s head.
“Instead, my promise to let you rest after the Festival of Heroes is canceled.”
“T-That’s…!”
Kal despaired, his face turning pale.
Leaving Kal behind, Elena smiled faintly and walked back towards the classroom entrance.
Seeing her, Leo rose from his seat.
“Then, everyone, prepare well.”
Leaving those words, Leo exited the classroom.
Elena, waiting at the classroom door, followed behind Leo.
“Seeing them like that, Senior Elena looks like a secretary.”
“They’re the student council president and vice-president. It’s naturally a similar relationship.”
“How to put it, lately, looking at Leo, he doesn’t really feel like he’s in the same grade as us. It’s like he has a lot of experience.”
The students whispered, watching them.
“It feels like the class president has gone far away.”
Iliana mumbled, slumping her shoulders.
The second-years had increasingly felt a distance from Leo recently.
It wasn’t just the other second-years.
The top students of each department also felt anxious about the growing distance from Leo.
Chloe tightened her grip on the grimoire she was reading, and Celia clenched the sword at her waist.
Duran clicked his tongue, and Waredden, who had been sitting with his arms crossed and eyes closed, uncharacteristically let out a small sigh.
Watching them, Chen Shia mumbled to herself.
*‘Everyone feels a distance from Young Master Leo.’*
It couldn’t be helped.
Leo and they were fundamentally different.
Their years lived and experiences were different.
They couldn’t even be placed on the same starting line.
But Chen Shia knew that fact, while others did not.
Chelsea, who knew Leo’s true identity, said in a fluster.
“Why is everyone so downhearted?”
“I don’t want to show weakness, but Chelsea. Honestly, looking at Leo… it feels like despair?”
Abad gave a bitter smile and patted his sister’s head.
“Brother, why are you like this too! Hey! Celia! Don’t make a face like a campfire caught in the rain!”
“…That’s a funny analogy.”
Celia frowned and glared slightly at Chelsea, but there was no fiery reaction as usual.
Seeing this, Chelsea stomped her feet.
Chelsea knew.
That Leo wanted comrades who wouldn’t give up and would stand with him on the final battlefield.
And that they were those candidates.
That’s why Leo had subtly encouraged the growth of those around him.
But they couldn’t rely on Leo’s help forever.
*‘What should I do?’*
Chelsea bit her lip tightly.
*‘I promised Lord Arion.’*
That she would help Leo.
That she would support Leo.
She couldn’t do it alone.
Eliza sneered, watching Chelsea, who was at a loss.
“That’s strange, Chelsea Rwallyn. Why are you so anxious?”
“Who was it again who gets training from Leo in the early morning because they’re anxious?”
“Kyaaaah?!”
Eliza shrieked, seeing Kal, who had approached behind her without a sound and whispered.
Then she gritted her teeth, strangled Kal’s neck with her whip, and whispered.
“I told you not to blab about that, didn’t I?”
“T-That’s why I spoke quietly… *cough*! P-Please save….”
Eliza released Kal, panting with a flushed face.
“Eliza, even if he startled you, this is a bit too much. Look, there’s a mark left.”
When Chen Shia spoke reprovingly, Eliza paused, then clicked her tongue and pulled a small container from her pocket, tossing it to Kal.
“I went too far. It’s a good ointment I use for wounds. Apply it.”
“…….”
“…….”
Chen Shia and Kal stared blankly at Eliza.
“What is it?”
“Miss Eliza is admitting she went too far and giving a good wound medicine?”
“Are you perhaps terminally ill?”
Eliza’s hand trembled, and she furiously lashed out at Kal with her whip.
“Why just me?!”
“Chen Shia doesn’t get hit anyway!”
After a brief commotion, Kal applied the ointment to his body and said.
“Why are you acting so unlike yourselves? How is it just a day or two that Leo feels like a wall?”
“Hmph. You speak well as it’s not your problem.”
Eliza sneered coldly.
“You’re a failing student who always just barely scrapes by, so you can comfortably giggle with Leo Flobe, right? Do you even know how we feel?”
Momentarily choked up, Eliza spoke more sharply than usual, then made a flustered expression.
Kal smiled faintly, looking at Eliza.
“You’re right, it’s not my problem.”
Kal shrugged and said.
“Anyway, it’s true that I’m a failing student candidate for whom it wouldn’t be strange to drop out of this race at any time.”
“No. What I mean is….”
“Well, I’ll never be a hero or anything.”
Kal shrugged.
“But I’m not not trying. I’ve struggled to survive somehow. And in a way, watching you challenge Leo without giving up also gave me courage.”
“…….”
Eliza involuntarily shut her mouth.
“The others are probably similar to me. Just as you chase Leo. The other kids are chasing behind you. As long as you don’t give up chasing Leo, the others won’t give up either.”
Just as Leo led them.
They too had led those around them.
“So don’t show weakness. Because I’ll continue to consistently support you like that.”
Leaving those words, Kal clenched his fist tightly and left the classroom.
“Where are you going?”
To Chelsea’s question, Kal shrugged more exaggeratedly than usual.
“Bathroom.”
*Thud—Click—!*
As Kal left the classroom, everyone looked at Eliza.
“I, I mean….”
“That was too much, Eliza.”
When Chen Shia spoke reprovingly, Eliza bit her lip tightly and left the classroom.
Watching her, Chelsea tilted her head.
“Where is she going?”
“She’s probably going to apologize to Kal.”
“That lump of pride?”
“Even though she’s proud, Eliza is kind. It’s a bit of a shame she’s not honest… but that’s also cute.”
“Shia, your permissible range for ‘kind’ seems a bit wide.”
“Of course~ I call Chelsea kind too, don’t I?”
“What does that mean?!”
“Kind~ Kind~”
“Don’t treat me like a child!”
Chen Shia giggled, watching the flustered Chelsea.
***
*Whoosh—Creak—*
Kal, who had washed his face at the sink, turned off the water and let out a self-deprecating laugh.
“What’s wrong, Kal? You usually just brush it off.”
Kal, who had spoken to his reflection in the mirror, took a deep breath.
“It seems I still have lingering regrets. Hey, you. You’re amazing enough already. It wouldn’t have been strange if you’d failed the first-year first-semester midterms, but you can finish your second year, can’t you? Let’s know our place. Huh? Let’s not be foolish and have unnecessary regrets.”
It was as Kal was repeating this to himself and shaking his hands.
“How interesting.”
“*Cough*?!”
Kal shrieked at the voice from behind him, which had appeared without a sound.
“G-God?!”
“Truly peculiar.”
Rian, holding a bag of snacks bought from the street, crunched on a snack from inside, looked up at Kal, and said.
“In the history of Lumern Academy, you, Kal Thomas, are the first student who resembles Lumern not one bit.”
“Haha.”
Kal gave an embarrassed laugh.
Watching Kal, Rian licked the snack crumbs from her palm with her tongue and said.
“But, quite interestingly.”
Rian grinned.
Kal felt goosebumps all over his body when he saw her eyes.
They were, quite literally, the eyes of an absolute being looking down from an unfathomable height.
“You possess something Lumern could not.”
“Huh?”
“Two things, in fact.”