Book 1 Chapter 648

648.

Evening, as the sun was setting.

All students of the school gathered at the Erek training ground for the entrance ceremony.

Returning students were seated in sections prepared on the outer perimeter of the Erek training ground, arranged by year.

In the center of the Erek training ground, 500 new students stood in lines, grouped by region.

All the returning students had once stood in that very spot during their freshman year.

That's why, during the entrance ceremony, everyone tended to fall into a strange mood of reminiscence.

It was certainly like that, but…

"What on earth did you do to make all the freshmen so dispirited?"

Third-year seating.

Chelsea spoke reprovingly from the seats of the magic department students.

"My only sin is having worked hard."

"You should have known where to stop. What do you do if you completely break their spirits?"

Chelsea, with her arms crossed, furrowed her brow.

Usually, on the day of the entrance ceremony, the eyes of Lumerne freshmen sparkle brightly.

'It's like they own the world.'

Just enrolling in the Hero Academy, which could be called the world's best educational institution, was enough to feel proud.

Dreams and hopes.

Freshmen who should be filled with anticipation for their future school life.

Yet, the faces of these freshmen were all clouded with darkness.

Kal, the culprit behind this atmosphere, wore an expression of injustice.

"What happened?"

Chloe also asked with a puzzled look.

"I just thoroughly set traps and tricked the first-years. I had a rough profile of all 500 in my head from preparing the freshman entrance exam, you see."

Kal pulled out a potion bottle from his pocket and gently shook it.

"Change Potion. It's a potion that allows you to take on the appearance of any desired person for a short time."

"Isn't that a party toy you made?"

"It is a toy."

Kal smiled triumphantly.

Because its duration was short, it was literally a surprise potion made for parties.

"I slightly extended the transformation time. Then I disguised myself and sneaked among the first-years. And I caused chaos among the kids."

The effect was certain.

A situation where they didn't know each other well.

And a strategy possible because the perception of being competitors was deeply ingrained.

"Later, I even deliberately approached them in disguise, even when the real culprit was there."

"You didn't get caught?"

"Hmph. I'm quite the politician."

Knowing the entire first-year class well became an advantage.

It wasn't that difficult for Kal to frame an inexperienced genuine person as a fake.

"That's a bit sneaky."

"When 500 people are ganging up on me, I have to be sneaky."

Kal shrugged.

Divided and even fighting amongst themselves, the first-years literally self-destructed.

It was only natural for them to be intimidated, having been thoroughly played by a single person.

Moreover, to be frank, Kal only properly fought in the first battle.

They were literally played by one person, Kal.

Chelsea shook her head.

"In my opinion, you should change your alias."

"To what?"

"King of Dirty Tricks."

"Hoo… I'm drawn to that for some reason?"

Chelsea giggled, watching Kal grin slyly.

"The first-years must have learned a lot."

Avad said with his characteristic gentle smile.

Strength isn't everything.

It's a very obvious statement, but a difficult truth for first-years to grasp.

Having learned it painfully through Kal, it could be said to be a valuable experience for the first-years.

No one was worried about them encountering a wall and becoming frustrated.

'If they can't overcome even that much, they're not Lumerne students.'

This was the common thought among the returning students.

-We will now have the freshman representative's speech. Freshman representative, Perena Hergin. Please come forward.

At the name of the student called, the third-years' gazes all turned to Eliza, who was sitting at the very front of the summoning department seats.

Eliza, who had been sitting, trimming her nails as if uninterested in the entrance ceremony, spread her manicured fingers and said,

"Why are you all staring so much?"

Eliza blew on her nails with a "Hoo-" and looked at her classmates with bored eyes.

Jureden, the third-ranked student in the summoning department, sitting next to her, asked,

"Did your younger sister enroll this year?"

"Yes."

"Is she as ill-tempered as you?"

"Pfft!"

"Cough!"

"Ahahahaha!"

"He asked it so bluntly!"

Sounds of people trying their best to suppress laughter could be heard from here and there.

Of course, Chelsea and Illiana, for instance, were holding their stomachs and laughing openly.

"You want to die, don't you?"

It was then that Eliza, standing up from her seat, sharply yanked her whip!

-Third-years. All of you who were laughing and chatting just now, go to the training ground and put your heads on the ground.

Harind's chilling voice was heard.

At his words, the third-years made tearful faces and went down to the training ground, putting their heads on the ground and lying prostrate.

Everyone's resentful gazes turned to Jureden, who had unnecessarily spoken.

"No, I just asked a question, that's all."

Jureden wore an aggrieved expression.

Thus, a spectacular scene unfolded where many third-years were punished.

No student subtly slipped away.

Because as long as Harind was the one who gave the punishment, pretending otherwise and getting caught later would literally unleash true hell.

"Pathetic bunch."

Celia opened her mouth in agreement with Duran's murmur.

"Honestly, they have no sense of tension."

After that small commotion.

Perena walked onto the stage.

-Respected Lumerne professors and seniors. We, the freshmen, sincerely thank you for welcoming us…

Perena read her speech shyly, in a demure manner.

-…Freshman representative, Perena Hergin.

As Perena finished her speech and was about to descend the stage, the host said,

-Perena, student. Don't you have anything to say as a representative?

Perena, who had paused at that, smiled shyly and said,

-I will be a student who works hard and does my best.

With those words, she quickly descended the stage, looking embarrassed.

Watching her, Chloe murmured,

"Eliza's sister is well-behaved. That's unexpected. Kal, how was she during the exam earlier?"

"…"

Kal recalled Perena.

He remembered her ferociously charging at him as if her life depended on it.

'She's quite the hypocrite.'

"Well, just looking at her, she seems like a young lady from a noble house… but she's not naive enough to get into Lumerne."

Kal shrugged.

There was no reason to expose someone's true nature when they were outwardly hiding it.

'If things go well, I might even be able to use her later.'

-This concludes the entrance ceremony. From now on, please follow your respective homeroom teachers to your dormitories by year. That is all.

***

"Professor Artian!"

"Wow! Our homeroom teacher is a professor!"

The third-years greeted Artian with happy expressions.

"Everyone, did you have a pleasant vacation?"

Artian welcomed the third-years with a smile as warm as the spring sunshine.

Artian was one of the most popular teachers at Lumerne.

She was known as a kind and benevolent professor who generally gave good grades.

Of course, while being a popular teacher, she was also an object of fear.

Naturally, this was due to the spirits that possessed her if students didn't listen to her.

The Wall of Lamentation and the Mace of Punishment; never defy Harind and Artian.

It had already become common knowledge at Lumerne.

"This time, I will be in charge of both the 3rd-year Heroics class and Combat Studies class!"

"Combat… studies?"

"Aren't you only supposed to teach Heroics?"

The entire third-year class froze.

"Yes!"

Artian, who had been appointed at the same time as the current third-years enrolled, was a professor belonging to the summoning department and only taught Heroics.

However, since the second semester of last year, she had also taken on the Combat Studies class.

This was because Headmistress Riina had judged that Artian, who could be possessed by knight heroes and wizard heroes, would be a great help in practical education.

Riina's judgment proved accurate.

The problem was that Artian's Combat Studies class was thoroughly a 'dialogue of fists'.

Thanks to this, the screams in the second-years' Combat Studies class last year had been incessant.

Artian's closed eyes opened as she looked at the frozen third-years.

"Hmm? Are you dissatisfied?"

"Wow! This is exciting!"

"Haha! I love it!"

At Artian's intimidating gaze, the third-years let out shouts of joy.

"Everyone… you're so happy."

Swoosh- Artian's eyes closed again, and she wore a moved expression.

With a feeling of not knowing whether to laugh or cry, the third-years followed Artian's lead to the dormitory.

"By the way. Which dormitory will we be staying in this time?"

Last year, the third-years were divided into three dormitories and lived separately.

They attended classes not divided by existing classes, but by dormitories, and each dormitory also competed against each other.

"Will it be like that again this time?"

"Class president! Me! Me! Pick me again this time!"

Illiana, pulling her suitcase, stood next to Leo and pointed at herself with her finger.

"Hmm. Leo, is there anything Kal is doing?"

Leo shook his head at Chloe's question.

"The student council knows nothing about the dormitories."

"Hmm. For the second-years, will they continue the mentor system like last year? It wasn't bad, was it?"

"That's right."

It was when the third-years were putting their heads together, pondering about the dormitory system and academic departments.

"Everyone. You see over there, don't you? That's the new dormitory building!"

Artian pointed to a giant clock tower building.

"The entire third-year class is using that place?"

"Awesome! It's super luxurious!"

Cheers erupted among the third-years.

Watching them, Artian said,

"This time, we've decided to use dormitories by academic department. So there are a total of three dormitories."

"Ah. So that's why the building is triangular?"

"Those towers at the ends must be the dormitory buildings then?"

"Is everything else inside the facility? That's amazing."

The third-years burst into exclamations.

"Professor Tina was in charge of the dormitory building design."

Elf Professor Tina Tingel, who had come as a visiting professor for the magic department last year, became a full professor this year.

"Professor Tina, with her strong experimental spirit, was in charge of the design? This is making me anxious already."

Kal murmured with an uneasy expression at the mention of Tina designing the building.

"Professor! I have a question."

"Yes, Chelsea student."

"Which departmental dormitory building will Leo be using?"

At that question, all the third-years wore curious expressions.

Which dormitory would Leo, the All-Class student, go to?

This was certainly a matter of debate.

"After a faculty meeting, it was decided that Leo student would be provided with a separate dormitory room as an independent resident."

It was special treatment, but it made sense.

Because no one at Lumerne would express dissatisfaction or question Leo receiving special treatment.

"What? Class president. He's a loner?"

"Yeah, he is."

Illiana giggled, looking at Leo.

"I'll come visit often."

Illiana gave a thumbs-up!

"Now then, everyone. I will hand out the dormitory room keys."

Artian called out students' names and distributed keys.

The third-years who received the keys wore puzzled expressions.

"Everyone, spin your keys in the air."

At her words, the students spun their keys without suspicion.

At that moment.

"Hoo?"

Leo let out an exclamation of surprise.

Before he knew it, Leo was in a spacious room.

A room so vast it didn't feel like a dormitory room.

Leo, who had been looking around and exclaiming in admiration, went out to what seemed to be a terrace.

Bang-

Whoooosh-!

A strong wind blew.

Not only the entire Lumerne landscape, but also Lake Lumeria and Lumeria City in the distance were visible at a glance.

"It's the top of the clock tower."

Admiring the view, Leo came back inside.

Then he cocked his head, looking at a single door at one side of the room.

"Is there another room?"

This room alone was enormous.

And yet there was another room here?

With a puzzled expression, Leo opened a door and went inside.

And…

"Huh? Oh! President!"

"Young Master Leo?"

"Gasp! Class president! How did you get in here?"

Leo saw the female students from the knight department and subtly furrowed his brow.

"Where is this?"

"Young Master Leo. This seems to be the dormitory for female students of the knight department. But why did you come out of the storage room?"

At that, Leo exited through the door he had entered.

Then the scenery changed back to Leo's room.

Leo opened the same door and went in again.

"Leo? Why are you opening the bathroom door and coming out?"

This time, Kal greeted Leo with a flustered expression.

"Is this the magic department male students' dormitory?"

"Yeah. I think so. Hey. It seems like all grade levels are using this dormitory building."

Leo clicked his tongue at Kal's words.

'It seems my room is connected to various parts of each dormitory building.'