Book 1 Chapter 701

701.

As soon as Leo's words fell, the one who moved immediately was Millia, who had topped the entrance exam for the Knight Department.

Whiz-!

Millia immediately ran into the bushes and hid herself.

"Whoa-!"

"What in the world is going on?!"

Millia's actions became the signal, and the startled first-year students quickly began to scatter.

Thwack-!

At that moment, Millia, who had hidden herself in the bushes first, shot an arrow towards a first-year student from the Magic Department.

"Whoa-?!"

The first-year Magic Department student quickly threw their body to dodge the arrow.

"Isn't attacking like this a foul?!"

As the Magic Department student stood up and protested, Leo smiled.

"I told you a moment ago. Fight from now on."

"Th-that's…!"

The first-year Magic Department student turned pale, and the eyes of the other first-year students began to change.

"Everyone, think of it as a real battle. If an attack is severe enough to cause a major injury, we will intervene."

At Leo's words, the first-year students simultaneously drew their weapons.

Watching them, Chloe said.

"Even if you get hurt, I'll use healing magic for you. Don't worry and fight!"

"Kuh-huh! Senior Chloe!"

"I think Senior Chloe is the kindest among the third-year seniors!"

"I'm happy to be in the Magic Department!"

The first-year Magic Department students looked moved.

Hearing Chloe's words, Leo looked puzzled.

"Are you going to use that recovery magic you've been researching recently?"

"Yeah."

"Didn't you say it's incredibly painful for the injured?"

"Yeah. But the effect is good, isn't it?"

Chloe clenched her fists and her eyes sparkled.

"I modified the spell a bit recently. So I tried to boost its effect a bit more."

"And the pain increased?"

"Yeah."

Chloe took out a notebook from her pocket and scribbled down the spell.

"I needed an experiment to see how much the effect improved and how much the pain intensified, so this is perfect."

Watching Chloe, whose eyes sparkled with an excited expression, Leo shook his head.

"You've become a complete mage too."

"Huh? I was a mage from the start, though?"

Chloe's current appearance reminded him of Luna.

'Luna used to sparkle her eyes like that when she was doing magic experiments.'

Recalling Luna, who had tried to use him as a test subject, Leo clicked his tongue.

"Senior Leo. What should we do?"

Luke approached and asked, and Leo sat on a nearby rock and said.

"The third-year students will prepare for the attack on the Orc settlement. Second-year students, watch over the first-year students and intervene in any fights that might cause serious injuries."

This was, after all, a mock battle to see how well the first-year students could react to sudden situations.

Even if injuries could be healed, it was best to prevent serious injuries beforehand if possible.

"Yes."

Luke nodded and conveyed Leo's words to his classmates.

Upon hearing that, the second-year students entered the forest to watch over the first-year students.

"Wow. That Luke. He's gained quite a bit of experience, hasn't he?"

Kyle approached Leo and exclaimed.

"He really seems like the class representative now."

"Right. Well, whether he can keep the class representative position or not depends on Luke."

"Indeed. Juen is really gunning for it. Hmm~ I wonder if Juen will be the next second-year representative?"

Kyle grinned.

It was then.

Chloe, who had been writing in her notebook, looked up.

"Why?"

"No. I might be mistaken, but…"

When Leo asked with a puzzled face, Chloe made a bewildered expression.

"I was wondering if it might snow."

"Snow? In spring?"

Kyle made an incredulous expression.

Perhaps in the northern part of the continent.

The spring nights in the central part of the continent are quite chilly, but not to the extent of snowing.

At Chloe's words, Leo looked up at the sky.

The setting sun's sky was clear.

Chloe also stared at the sky intently, then shook her head.

"I guess I must have been mistaken."

***

Millia, who had been the first to hide in the forest, concealed her presence.

'This is perfect for me.'

Millia was the top student in the Knight Department entrance, but she was a little different from typical Knight Department students.

Students in the Knight Department had traditionally valued honor.

Most of the students admitted to Lumen were from knightly families, so it was, in a way, natural.

As descendants of knightly families, they couldn't help but value chivalry.

It wasn't that she disliked it.

Rather, she considered it noble.

The problem was their attitude towards Millia.

'They despise me.'

Millia was in the Knight Department, but she wasn't a knight.

From a merchant family, she had a natural talent for archery since childhood.

Naturally, her aura talent also blossomed.

However, she was closer to a hunter than a knight.

She dug traps to catch targets and struggled to gain advantageous positions.

In that process, methods that knights might consider somewhat cowardly were also employed.

Not to the extent of stopping at nothing, but.

She would do anything for victory.

Like a merchant, she prioritized efficiency and profit\/loss, and this tendency naturally manifested in combat.

Because of this, Millia naturally faced disdain from her aspiring knight peers.

And all those aspiring knights were nobles.

As the successor to a large merchant family, Millia had many occasions to see noble children from a young age.

Not all nobles were like this, but from Millia's perspective, most noble children were fools who bragged about their good families despite having no ability.

Only a few nobles were truly capable and sensible.

She knew it was unavoidable, but Millia didn't particularly like nobles because of it.

Especially when they looked down on the achievements of commoners, it would annoy her.

In the midst of this, she heard a story about a student named Kyle Thomas from Lumen.

A commoner student with mediocre talent, yet who gained fame.

Most nobles ridiculed such a Kyle.

But for commoners, Kyle was someone they couldn't help but be interested in.

Millia was the same.

She naturally found herself cheering for Kyle and was happy when she heard the news that he had become a hero.

And when she met him in person.

'He was totally cool.'

Recalling Kyle, who had perfectly subdued her while saying it wasn't bad, Millia blushed.

'Though I unknowingly showed my true nature and made a spectacle of myself then.'

Remembering her sadistic tendencies, Millia shook her head.

'I just need to make a good impression from now on. Senior Kyle is watching!'

Millia's eyes sparkled as she drew her bowstring.

Thwack-!

An arrow flew into the sky, and a red firework exploded.

Seeing that, the first-year Knight Department students' faces hardened.

Juen, who was looking down at Millia from a tree, narrowed his eyes.

"Juen, why are you only watching Millia? Millia doesn't seem likely to get seriously hurt?"

At that moment, Luke, passing by, landed on the tree where Juen was hiding with a puzzled face and asked.

"That one, she's dangerous."

"Dangerous?"

"Yeah. My eyes can't be fooled. That kid is a dangerous element."

"She's an honor student, though. She's kind and takes good care of the other students around her."

Millia had a very good reputation within the school after her admission.

She was kind to everyone and followed the professors' words well.

A perfect honor student praised by classmates, seniors, and professors alike.

"Compared to you guys who caused accidents all the time in the early days of first year, she seems less dangerous."

"Ah, well, compared to us, of course… Wait. What do you mean by that?"

As Juen's eyes widened, Luke scratched his cheek.

"Don't you remember your first year, first semester?"

"…"

At those words, Juen fell silent.

At that time, Juen, along with Sasha, Harvidon, and Aina, were, to put it simply, clear troublemakers except for their grades.

Aina, who cared about nothing but being recognized by Leo.

Juen, Sasha, and Harvidon, who were furious at being ignored by Aina.

The four of them were like soda that would fizz and fight whenever they clashed.

Their relationship improved greatly in the second semester, and they became friends, but for Luke, who remembered that time, seeing Juen call the seemingly normal Millia a "dangerous element" was simply preposterous.

Juen, who had been silent at Luke's words, spoke.

"That's that! Anyway, she's dangerous! I heard she's been investigating Senior Kyle since day one. Plus, she's the successor to a big merchant family. Senior Kyle is doing business, so she might approach him under that pretext. Huhu. I'll keep a thorough watch on her!"

At Juen's words, Luke scratched his cheek.

"Good luck."

"Yeah. I will."

Leaving Juen with sparkling eyes behind, Luke headed elsewhere.

***

"This is a bit unexpected."

Late at night.

Kyle stroked his chin, looking at the eight first-year students standing before him.

Millia's eyes sparkled as she looked at Kyle.

'Ugh, that's a lot of pressure.'

Kyle lowered his hand from his chin and subtly avoided Millia's gaze.

Meanwhile, Leo looked at Millia and said.

"Did you talk beforehand?"

"Yes. To some extent."

Millia nodded.

Eight students remained out of 100.

They were all from the Knight Department.

"I somewhat expected the student council president to test us from the first day. Accordingly, I thought of various situations and gave a heads-up to the Knight Department students. To avoid fighting among themselves as much as possible."

"It's the same party. Didn't you think that bringing departmental rivalry wasn't right? And if only Knight Department students remain, the party's balance could collapse."

"If the party's balance was considered, I believe the number of people would have been decided by department from the beginning. I thought that in this mission, first-year students' role was ultimately just to support the seniors. Also, if they considered party harmony, they wouldn't have said that participants would be thoroughly selected based on skill from now on, nor would they have pitted all 100 students against each other. In other words, we have to compete endlessly within the party."

That's why a red firework was immediately set off at the start.

It was a signal for Knight Department students to refrain from fighting among themselves.

As discussed beforehand, the Knight Department students first eliminated all students from other departments, then competed among themselves based on skill.

The eight students remaining were those present now.

At Millia's words, Leo stroked his chin and said.

"You could have chosen to leave any students you wanted as the final eight, couldn't you?"

"Yes."

Millia, who uses a bow, could intervene in the competition among Knight Department students as much as she wanted.

"What's the reason for leaving these seven?"

Millia glanced at the Knight Department students standing beside her.

"I heard you don't particularly like nobles?"

Except for Millia, all of them were from noble families.

And they were also students who hadn't gotten along particularly well with Millia after admission.

"Because they have skill. Leaving them is efficient for the party."

"Hmm."

Leo chuckled and gestured to Millia.

Millia approached Leo with a puzzled look.

"Palm."

Leo stamped an extra point mark on Millia's palm.

"We're camping tonight. The subjugation of the Orc settlement starts tomorrow morning."

"Yes!"

"Everyone, good job! Time to eat!"

The third-year students called the first and second-year students.

"She's quite something."

Chloe said with a gentle smile, and Leo nodded.

"Indeed. I'm looking forward to this year's new students too."