Book 1 Chapter 64
【64】63.
“Death Knight?”
“A Death Knight in a sacred sanctuary?”
Harland and Rune looked serious after receiving Leo's report.
“Unbelievable.”
But an elf wearing glasses, who was sitting in Rune’s office, raised a question.
“Certainly, monsters have tragically begun to appear in the Fairy Forest a long time ago. But a Death Knight? There’s no such precedent, is there?”
Shaking his head, the elf asked Leo.
“Are you sure you really saw a Death Knight?”
“There’s no reason for me to say I saw something I didn’t, is there?”
“I’m not saying you’re lying, Lumen student. We received reports from our students that skeletons appeared. That’s why I came to speak to the Grand Council President. But we haven’t received any reports about a Death Knight.”
‘Looks like a Seirun professor.’
The Seirun teacher adjusted his glasses and asked.
“Lumen student. Have you ever seen an undead in your life?”
“Not in this life, no.”
“In that case, you might have mistaken a Skeleton Knight for a Death Knight. It’s a relatively common mistake.”
‘I’ve defeated entire units of Death Knights in my past life; there’s no way I’d make such a mistake.’
Leo let out a snicker and said,
“Seirun students often make mistakes, it seems?”
At his words, the Seirun teacher paused, then cleared his throat.
“Ahem. It’s a mistake our students sometimes make too.”
Saying that, the Seirun teacher changed the subject.
“Anyway, Lumen student. If you encountered a Death Knight, it would be difficult to escape unharmed, wouldn't it? Even our first-year Seirun students would find such a monster hard to handle alone. So you’re saying you escaped alone?”
“Yes.”
“You seem quite confident in your abilities.”
With a smirk, he turned to Harland.
“What do you think, Professor Harland?”
“I trust the words of a student from our school, Teacher Herdium.”
Seeing Harland state it so bluntly, Herdium narrowed his brow and then looked at Rune.
“What do you think, Grand Council President?”
“He’s not one to lie.”
When Rune also smiled and spoke, Herdium wore an expression of resignation.
“Let’s discuss the matter of the Death Knight later.”
Harland and Herdium nodded at Rune’s words.
“Professor Harland, Leo. You two may go first. I have something to discuss with Teacher Herdium privately.”
“Understood.”
Harland bowed and left the office with Leo.
“Looks like the schedule has changed.”
As they left the office, Harland murmured.
Leo looked puzzled at his words.
“The schedule changed?”
“Teacher Herdium is the homeroom teacher of Seirun’s first-year Advanced Class 1. Coincidentally, his entire class came here for practical training.”
Harland let out a chuckle.
“Knowing that we were here on a field trip, Professor Herdium requested a joint class.”
“A joint class?”
“We’ll experience Seirun’s teaching methods, and Seirun will experience Lumen’s teaching methods.”
“Sounds interesting.”
“Of course it will be interesting. But it shouldn’t just be fun. This is a great opportunity to broaden our horizons. It’s not something you can do just because you want to experience it. In that sense, our class is quite lucky.”
“That’s true.”
“Advanced Class 1 gathers Seirun’s most outstanding first-year students. It will be a great help to us as well.”
“Oh ho.”
“Teacher Herdium invited us for dinner. Go and announce it to the class.”
“Yes.”
***
“Hoo! We get to meet Seirun students!”
“Hey! How do I look? Is my hair set well?”
“Does this necklace suit me?”
The Class 5 students were generally in an excited mood before the evening banquet.
“Carl, what are you doing?”
Leo looked at Carl, who was sitting on the first floor making a booklet, with a puzzled expression.
“Making a catalog. Wouldn’t the items I handle be useful to Seirun students too?”
Chelsea crossed her arms, looking dumbfounded as she watched Carl grin.
“You’re going to do business right there?”
“It’s promotion, promotion. Well, I don’t plan to do it at the party. I’m preparing to do business during the joint classes starting tomorrow.”
Chelsea nodded at his words.
“Time’s up. Let’s go.”
When Leo checked his watch and spoke, the Class 5 students rose from their seats.
And as soon as they stepped out.
“It’s so cooold!”
“This makes setting my hair meaningless!”
They screamed at the swirling blizzard.
Carl chuckled at the sight.
“Are you guys idiots?”
Of course, he brought it up for no reason and was showered with snowballs.
“At least it’s close, thankfully.”
Nella smiled sweetly and said.
Seirun’s accommodation was a luxury hotel right in front of Lumen’s accommodation.
“So Seirun rented out this entire place, huh. Hmph! They must have a lot of financial power.”
Carl snorted, and Chelsea shrugged.
“Seirun is known as the wealthiest among the hero academies, after all.”
The hero academies hold different statuses in each race.
Just Lumen alone had many factions dissatisfied with the current system.
Because of the Hero Record, they are forced to enroll their nation’s top talents in Lumen.
While many of them gain good positions in their home countries after graduation, not a few also join the hero guilds operated by Lumen.
Naturally, discontent arises from the brain drain of their nation’s talents.
But Seirun was different.
Seirun itself served as the core of the Elf Nations Alliance, essentially one giant power encompassing all elves.
“Indeed, I heard the conveniences Lumen provides to its students are paltry compared to Seirun’s, right?”
“Yes. Especially elves, they value ‘bloodline’ more than us humans. So it’s safe to say there are almost no students from obscure noble families or commoners like in our school.”
“Their sense of authority must be no joke.”
While Carl was shaking his head,
Class 5 arrived at the hotel.
A bellhop waiting at the hotel entrance politely opened the door.
“Welcome, everyone.”
“I’ll take your coats.”
“Give them to me.”
Bellhops politely took their coats in the lobby.
Some students, like Chelsea, handed them over accustomed, while others, like Carl, fumbled.
“Please come this way.”
Guided by the bellhop, the students entered the hotel’s grand ballroom.
“What is all this?”
Carl mumbled in an awestruck voice.
The grand ballroom was luxury itself.
“This is on par with a party hosted by His Majesty the Emperor of our Empire?”
Even Chelsea, a direct descendant of the Rwaleen, a family among the most prestigious, found it excessively lavish.
While everyone was surprised,
Herdium approached.
“Welcome, first-year Class 5 students of Lumen. I am Herdium Wintel, who, though lacking, teaches students at Seirun. I would be grateful if you would call me Teacher Herdium.”
“Thank you for inviting us to the party, Teacher Herdium.”
The Class 5 students greeted him politely.
“As first-year students who will lead Seirun and Lumen in the future, I hope this becomes an opportunity to forge deep friendships.”
After finishing his words, Herdium smiled once and returned to his seat.
Harland and Sena had already arrived and were eating.
“First, I’m hungry, so shall we eat?”
Carl rubbed his hands and said, and Chelsea glared at Carl sharply.
“Don’t make a fuss without manners like you usually do. The Seirun students are watching.”
“I know, I know. I don’t intend to disgrace the school either.”
While curious about Seirun Academy, Lumen and Seirun have long been rival hero schools.
Especially in recent years, Seirun has surpassed Lumen in various exchange events.
Lumen was looking for an opportunity to somehow overtake Seirun, while Seirun, conversely, was trying to maintain its current advantage.
This gathering, in a broad sense, was also an opportunity to meet rivals from other schools with whom they would clash throughout their school lives.
That was why they paid more attention to their appearance than usual. They didn’t want to appear inferior.
Thus, the party began.
Lumen and Seirun students explored each other with curiosity.
Initially, they were awkward, but being peers and sharing the common goal of becoming heroes, they quickly opened up.
Several Seirun students also approached Leo, showing curiosity.
“I’m studying Spirit Magic at Seirun. You?”
“I’m in Summoning Arts too.”
“Oh ho. How are Lumen’s Spirit Magic classes?”
The first student introduced himself as a Spirit Mage.
“I’m training in spear mastery.”
“I’m also in the Knight Department.”
“Ohh. I’d like to broaden my perspective on what Lumen’s knights are like. Could I request a duel tomorrow?”
“By all means.”
The second student introduced himself as a knight.
Afterward, various students came and went.
Amidst this, Leo felt a question.
‘Why isn’t there a single person studying magic?’
During this time, the music flowing through the party hall changed frequently.
Sometimes calm music for conversation played, then suddenly upbeat music would start.
In rhythm with the music, the elves danced frequently.
Class 5 seemed utterly unaccustomed to the atmosphere.
Because human social parties usually had a separate dance time.
But to Leo, it wasn’t an unfamiliar sight.
‘Elves loving to dance is the same now as it was then.’
From ancient times, elves were a race that loved dance and song.
It was common to woo a partner with dance and song.
Luna also often sang and danced during their encampments.
The dance the Seirun students were doing now was a dance Luna had done long ago.
‘Dwenor used to praise that sight as a work of art.’
‘How can someone with such a peculiar personality sing and dance so beautifully, it’s truly a mystery!’
‘…though spouting such nonsense and then fighting was their main repertoire.’
While he was recalling the past, someone approached.
“You?”
“Hello, we meet again.”
Lunia smiled sweetly.
Just then, dance music started playing at the perfect time.
Hearing it, Lunia asked,
“Would you like to dance?”
“Shall we?”
When Leo extended his hand, Lunia took it.
And they began to dance lightly.
“You know elf dances?”
“I learned it a long time ago.”
Leo replied as if it were nothing to Lunia, who asked in surprise.
“Are you enjoying the party?”
“Yes. But I’m a little curious, does Seirun not have a separate magic department?”
“We don’t divide departments like Lumen. We focus on learning what we specialize in.”
“Hmm. That’s the impression I got.”
He recalled the previous students who introduced themselves as Spirit Mages, Summoners, Spear Knights, and Sword Knights.
“But I didn’t see any students studying magic?”
“You don’t seem to know much about Seirun. Magic is mandatory at Seirun.”
“Mandatory?”
“Yes. Because we are a race of magic.”
“Even for a race of magic, there must be students who aren’t naturally apt for magic?”
“Such people cannot enroll in Seirun.”
‘So, basically, they all have dual classes.’
Lunia gracefully stepped along as she answered.
Leo easily assisted Lunia.
Lunia greatly enjoyed dancing with Leo.
‘He dances incredibly skillfully?’
His skill made it more fun than usual.
Soon, as the dance time ended, Lunia stepped back with a slightly regretful expression and asked,
“Oh, I haven’t asked for your name yet? What’s your name?”
“Me? Leo Flov.”
“…?”
Lunia’s face, which was about to release Leo’s hand, stiffened abruptly.
Leo looked puzzled by her reaction.
“What’s wrong?”
“It was you?”
“What?”
The friendly, top-student atmosphere she had just moments before vanished.
Lunia’s eyes widened, exuding an intimidating aura, almost like a thug.
“You were the thief who stole someone else’s contractor?”
“Ah.”
Leo nodded, as if understanding, and smiled.
“I’m using it well.”
“Is that what you call it?!”
An excited Lunia grabbed Leo by the collar.
“F-fight! A fight broke out!”
The party atmosphere was utterly ruined.