Book 1 Chapter 656
656.
That evening, after the first day of classes had concluded.
The Lumerun students gathered in the central hall of Clock Tower Dormitory were engrossed in discussing the World of Legions, which had been announced today.
“It’s much harder than the World of Heroes, and there are no rewards for clearing it.”
“Exactly! There’s a limit to how unreasonable things can be!”
“Those Tartaros guys are truly useless in life!”
Playful complaints erupted here and there, but they all knew the situation itself was serious.
It was at that moment, when all the students were abuzz with the hottest topic.
“Look over there.”
“Wow, is she planning to read all those magic books?”
“It’s the first day of the semester… outstanding students really are different.”
Exclamations burst forth among the first-year students as they watched Iliana appear in the central hall after dinner.
Especially the students from the Department of Knights and the Department of Magic literally looked at her with eyes of envy.
They had literally been fooled by Iliana’s show-off act of being an honor student.
“Austin. Why on earth is Senior Iliana acting like that?”
Martina, the captain of Leo’s knighthood, Slater, asked with a serious expression.
Needless to say, unlike the first-year students, the second-year students knew Iliana’s true nature.
“I don’t know either.”
Austin, who had been Iliana’s mentee during his first year, shook his head.
“She said she was going to seduce Leo.”
Ella, passing by, sighed softly.
“What? Seduce Young Master Leo?”
Martina asked with a slightly flustered face. Ella replied.
“Yeah. This semester, Leo has reward and punishment stamps, right? She said she’d seduce Leo, get a bunch of those stamps, and become the MVP of the inter-dormitory competition.”
“So that’s what it was.”
“Oh my?”
Ella gasped, covering her mouth as Leo appeared from behind.
“I wondered why she was acting like such an honor student.”
“Iliana told me not to say anything.”
As Ella showed a slightly troubled expression, Celia, who was beside Leo, clucked her tongue.
“Whether you tell or not, Leo wouldn’t fall for such a pathetic trick.”
“That’s true, but Iliana herself was very enthusiastic, saying she could do it.”
Nella gave a slightly wry smile.
“Stamps, huh.”
Leo took out a stamp from his pocket.
Leo hooked the loop at the end of the stamp onto his finger and twirled it, then let out a small chuckle.
“An interesting idea has come to mind.”
Seeing Leo’s smiling face, Nella’s eyes widened.
“An interesting idea? What is it?”
“It just came to me. I’ll tell you when it’s clearer.”
“What’s that? That’s sneaky.”
At his words, Nella pouted slightly.
But in contrast, Celia’s and Martina’s faces turned pale.
‘What wicked thought is he having again?’
Leo’s smile now was the same smile he wore when he trained them.
“Well, we’ll talk about that later. How was it? The meeting about party formation?”
The third-year tops, led by Leo, had held a meeting to form parties after their academic schedules ended.
A large party integrating all three academic years.
Naturally, the only ones capable of being party leaders were the top students among the highest grade, the third-years.
Of course, the nine students who had served as dormitory leaders last year were the top candidates for party leaders.
Other candidates mentioned were Kyle, who had ascended to the rank of hero, and Jureden, who ranked third in the Department of Summoning.
Naturally, no one objected to that.
“Who decided to be the party leader?”
There were six party positions in total.
And the selection of party leaders promised to be difficult.
‘Because no one will easily give way.’
As top students in their departments, they were fully qualified to be party leaders.
It was natural that no one would want to yield the party leader position.
‘Would Chelsea and Sia perhaps yield?’
Nella muttered to herself.
Just then, the third-year tops appeared in the central hall.
The first and second-year students watched them with nervous faces.
The party members weren’t decided today, but the party leaders were.
Since a party leader could determine a year’s performance, the first and second-year students couldn't help but be focused.
“Leo oppa! Nella unnie! What were you talking about?”
Nella answered with a smile to Chelsea’s question, who had run over with light movements.
“Heheheh.”
Chelsea put both hands on her waist and puffed out her chest.
Celia’s face crumpled at the sight.
“Chelsea, surely…?”
“Yep! That’s right! One of the party leaders is me!”
“Wow!”
Nella burst out an exclamation.
“Leo oppa, me, Sia, Woreden, Jureden. The last one was Kyle! But…”
Chelsea clicked her tongue.
“He was dragged away by Senior Elena, who barged in.”
‘Huh? You’re going to be a party leader? Are you out of your mind? What about student council work? How can you be so irresponsible?’
‘No! Leo is also a party leader!’
‘Leo is the student council president, and you’re the acting student council president. In other words, you’re a slave.’
‘Am I openly a slave now?!’
Chelsea shook her head, recalling Kyle, who was dragged to the screaming student council room.
Kyle’s end, who had enthusiastically pursued the party leader position saying he could escape Elena’s grasp, was tragic.
“The last party leader became Abard oppa!”
Having said that, Chelsea cleared her throat—then lifted her chin and said.
“In that sense, Celia. Get me some water.”
“Hey! Do you want to die?!”
As Celia glared, Chelsea frowned.
“Isn’t it natural for a subordinate to bring water when the leader is thirsty?”
“Who are you calling a subordinate?! You damned brat!”
“You.”
“Leo! I told you to switch me to your party!”
Celia whined, grabbing Leo and shaking him vigorously.
The students who heard the list of six party leaders looked surprised.
“Wow! Jureden! How did you become a party leader?”
“It’s amazing!”
“…Is it really that amazing?”
“Of course!”
Jureden made a mournful expression at his friends’ reactions.
“Straighten your shoulders, Jureden. I, as your party member, cannot tolerate a party leader being intimidated.”
“Thank you, Eliza.”
“Hmm… If I got rid of him, could I become the party leader?”
“What did you just say?! Get rid of me?! Hey! Hey! Eliza!”
Jureden gasped in horror and scrambled after Eliza, who had breezed away.
Watching them, the students from the Department of Summoning clicked their tongues.
“He’ll really be just a figurehead there.”
As the central hall became boisterous, Luke approached Leo.
“Senior Leo, congratulations on becoming a party leader!”
Leo chuckled, looking at Luke, who was smiling brightly.
“It’s not really something to congratulate.”
“Indeed, it must be natural for a senior like you.”
“What criteria were used to select the party leaders?”
Aina’s expressionless face, who came with Luke, rarely showed interest and curiosity.
Even for Aina, the current party leader selection was a bit unexpected.
“It was incredibly fierce.”
As Leo said with a smile, Luke’s face showed excitement.
“Perhaps the seniors dueled each other for the party leader position! Senior Jureden is amazing too! To win in such fierce competition!”
“We decided it fairly with rock-paper-scissors.”
“…”
“Everyone was going all out, like it was a matter of life and death. It was brutal. Jureden didn’t seem to want to do it, though.”
“Then why didn’t you let me opt out!”
Jureden wailed at Leo’s words.
Leo smiled broadly, looking at Jureden.
“Nonsense.”
***
Late at night.
The top floor of the clock tower.
A shadow quietly fell beside Leo’s bed, where he was sleeping with his eyes closed.
“What are you doing?”
Leo opened his eyes and asked Mel, who was sitting beside his bed, looking down at his face, with a dumbfounded expression.
“I was watching you sleep, Lord Leo.”
“You’ve been whining about how hard it is because of the World of Legions, but now you seem to have free time.”
“Free time? No way. I’m still swamped. I’m just taking a little break.”
Mel sighed deeply—! and gently tapped his shoulder with her fist.
“Oh dear, oh dear. My body aches. I think I might have to hand over the Lord position.”
“You sound like an old hag.”
At his words, Mel narrowed her eyes.
“You treat me like a distant child and then say such mean things.”
Leo shook his head and sat up.
“So, what brings you to my room at this late hour?”
Leo walked over to the starkly placed reception table and sofa in the middle of the large, empty room and slumped down.
Mellina, who sat down next to him, said.
“We received a request from Damian.”
“Damian?”
Leo paused, then tilted his head.
Damian, also a Hero Academy, resolves requests from all over the world, just like Lumerun.
Leo furrowed his brow at the mention that Damian, which was usually capable of resolving most requests on its own, had sent a request to Lumerun.
“Is it a request for support?”
“Yes. They say they need the power of Lumerun’s student council president, Leo Plov.”
“Anything else?”
“In Azonia, Miss Ar was called.”
Hearing that, Leo stroked his chin.
“It’s a reconnaissance request.”
“How did you know?”
“If they requested support from me or Ar, it means they urgently need a hero-class strong individual.”
Recently, the world’s heroes have heightened their alert status in preparation for Tartaros’s provocations.
As such, they cannot easily move.
The ones who are free in that situation are the students of the Hero Academies.
And in Seirun, there is also Lunia, a student who has risen to the rank of hero.
However, Lunia did not receive a request for support.
“Even Lunia of Seirun would have been enough to call, but the fact that only Ar and I were nominated means they need people who can move quickly.”
Leo shrugged his shoulders.
“Then there’s only one answer. A reconnaissance mission.”
“Wow, you truly are Lord Leo.”
Mellena exclaimed, then spoke seriously.
“The frequency of monster appearances in the Tartaros border region of the Eastern Yeonja Continent has sharply increased. There’s a high possibility of a Hero Dungeon appearing, so Damian dispatched an investigation team, but contact has been lost.”
“Hmm.”
Leo made a serious expression.
“It must be a request for support to determine the whereabouts of the investigation team and the presence or absence of a Hero Dungeon.”
“Yes.”
Leo nodded at Mellina’s words.
“When do I have to go?”
“You need to go to Damian by the day after tomorrow. Conveniently, the Lumerun second-years are also going to Damian the day after tomorrow for their Smith contract, so you could go together.”
At those words, Leo nodded.
“Alright. I’ll form a party by then.”
“Are you planning to form a party with students?”
“Yes. It’s a good opportunity to gain experience.”
Leo rested his chin on his hand.
“Shall I pick mainly the fast ones?”