Book 1 Chapter 701

As soon as Leo's words fell, the first to move was Milia, who had taken first place in the Knight Department's entrance exam.

*Fapak-!*

Milia immediately ran into the bushes and hid.

"Waaah!"

"What is this situation!"

Milia's action served as a signal, and the startled first-year students began to scatter quickly.

*Fiiing-!*

At that moment, Milia, who had already hidden in the bushes, fired an arrow at a first-year magic department student.

"Waaah?! "

The first-year magic department student hastily dodged the arrow.

"Isn't attacking now against the rules?!"

As the magic department student protested after standing up, Leo smiled.

"I just told you. You're supposed to fight from now on."

"Th-that's…"

The first-year magic department student was dumbfounded, and the other first-year students' eyes began to change.

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

As Leo finished speaking, the first-year students drew their weapons simultaneously.

Watching them, Chloe said,

"Even if you get hurt, I'll use healing magic, so don't worry and fight!"

"Kuh! Senior Chloe!"

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

"I'm happy to be in the magic department!"

The first-year magic department students looked moved.

Leo looked puzzled at Chloe's words.

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

"Yes."

"Didn't that cause the injured person immense pain?"

"Yes. But the effect is good, right?"

Chloe clenched her fist and her eyes sparkled.

"I slightly modified the incantation recently, so I tried to enhance the effect."

"And the pain increased?"

"Yes."

Chloe took out a notebook from her pocket and scribbled some incantations.

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

Seeing Chloe's eyes sparkle with excitement, Leo shook his head.

"You've really become a mage."

"Huh? I was always a mage?"

Chloe's current appearance reminded Leo of Luna.

'Luna's eyes would shine like that when she did magic experiments.'

Recalling Luna, who tried to use him as an experimental 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 orc colony attack. The second-year students will observe the first-year students and intervene if a fight is likely to cause major injury."

This was merely a mock battle to see how the first-year students could respond to a sudden situation.

Even if they could heal, it was best to prevent major injuries beforehand.

"Yes."

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

Upon hearing this, the second-year students entered the forest to observe the first-year students.

"Wow, Luke. You've really gained some experience, haven't you?"

Carl approached Leo and exclaimed.

"You're worthy of being the grade representative now."

"That's right. Well, whether he can maintain the grade representative position depends on Luke."

"Indeed. Juen is really determined. Kuku, maybe Juen will be the next second-year representative?"

Carl grinned.

Just then.

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

"Why?"

"No, it might be my imagination."

Leo asked with a puzzled look, and Chloe showed a bewildered expression.

"Is it going to snow? I thought."

"Snow? In spring?"

Carl looked incredulous.

Not in the northern part of the continent, at least.

Even in the central part of the continent, spring nights are quite chilly, but not enough to snow.

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

The sky was clear as the sun began to set.

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

"I guess I was mistaken."

***

Milia, who was the first to hide in the forest, concealed her presence.

'This is perfect for me.'

Although Milia was the top student in the Knight Department, she was a little different from ordinary Knight Department students.

Many students in the Knight Department have historically valued honor.

It was understandable, as most students entering Lumern were from knightly families.

As they were from knightly families, they naturally valued chivalry.

She didn't dislike that.

In fact, she thought it was noble.

The problem was how they treated Milia.

'They look down on me.'

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

She came from a merchant family and had a natural talent for archery from a young age.

Naturally, her aura talent also bloomed.

However, she was more like a hunter than a knight.

She would dig traps to target her objective and strive to gain advantageous ground.

In the process, she sometimes employed methods that knights might consider cowardly.

It wasn't to the extent of using any means necessary, but rather, she would do anything for victory.

Like a merchant, she prioritized efficiency and profit, and that inclination naturally manifested in combat.

As a result, Milia had naturally been despised by her aspiring knight peers.

And all those aspiring knights were nobles.

As the heir of a large merchant family, Milia had many opportunities to see noble children from a young age.

While not all nobles were like that, from Milia's perspective, most noble children were fools who boasted about their family background without any ability.

Only a few nobles were truly capable and thoughtful.

She knew it couldn't be helped, but Milia didn't particularly like nobles for that reason.

She especially got annoyed when they looked down on the achievements of commoners.

Amidst all this, she heard about a student named Carl Thomas at Lumern.

A student of common birth with only mediocre talent, but who had gained fame.

Most nobles scoffed at such a Carl.

However, for commoners, Carl was an individual they couldn't help but pay attention to.

Milia was no exception.

Naturally, she began to root for Carl, and she was overjoyed when she heard he had become a hero.

And when she met him in person.

'He was so cool.'

Recalling Carl, who had completely subdued her while saying it wasn't bad, Milia's cheeks flushed.

'I showed my true nature and made a fool of myself then.'

Recalling her sadistic tendencies, Milia shook her head.

'I just need to show him my best from now on. Senior Carl is watching!'

Milia's eyes sparkled as she drew her bow.

*Fiiing-!*

The arrow flew into the sky and a red firework burst.

The first-year Knight Department students who saw it stiffened.

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

"Juen, why are you only watching Milia? Milia doesn't seem like she'll get seriously hurt?"

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

"That guy is dangerous."

"Dangerous?"

"Yes. My eyes don't lie. That kid is a dangerous element."

"She's a top student. Kind and takes good care of the students around her."

Milia had received very good evaluations at the school since her admission.

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

A perfect top student praised by her peers, seniors, and professors alike.

"Compared to you guys who only caused trouble in the early days of the semester, she seems less dangerous."

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

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

"Don't you remember the first semester of the first year?"

"……"

At those words, Juen fell silent.

At that time, Juen, Sasha, Harveyden, and Aina—these four were, in short, clear troublemakers except for their grades.

Aina, who cared about nothing but earning Leo's approval.

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

These four would growl and fight whenever they bumped into each other.

Although their relationships improved significantly in the second semester, and they became friends, Luke, who remembered that time, couldn't help but find it absurd that Juen called the seemingly normal Milia a dangerous element.

Juen, who had been silent at Luke's words, said,

"That's that! Anyway, she's dangerous! I heard she investigated Senior Carl from the first day. Moreover, she's the heir of a major merchant family. She might approach Senior Carl under the pretext of his business. Hoo hoo. I will thoroughly monitor her!"

At Juen's words, Luke scratched his cheek.

"Good luck."

"Yes. I will."

Leaving Juen, whose eyes were gleaming, behind, Luke headed elsewhere.

***

"This is rather unexpected."

Late at night.

Carl stroked his chin as he looked at the eight first-year students in front of him.

Watching Carl, Milia's eyes sparkled.

'Oh, that's pressure.'

Carl lowered his hand from his chin and subtly avoided Milia's gaze.

Meanwhile, Leo looked at Milia and said,

"Did you discuss this beforehand?"

"Yes. To some extent."

Milia nodded.

Eight people remained out of a hundred.

They were all from the Knight Department.

"We somewhat expected that the Student Council President would test us from the first day. Accordingly, we informed the Knight Department students about various situations and told them to avoid fighting amongst themselves as much as possible."

"You're in the same party. Didn't you think that bringing in departmental competition would be problematic? And if only the Knight Department remains, the party's balance could be disrupted."

"If the party's balance were considered, I think the number of people per department would have been fixed from the start. I believed that the first-year students' role in this mission was merely to support the seniors. Furthermore, if harmony between parties were considered, they wouldn't have said they would strictly select participants based on skill in the future and then made all 100 people fight. In other words, we have to compete endlessly within the party."

That's why she fired the red firework right at the start.

It was a signal for the Knight Department students to refrain from fighting each other.

As the Knight Department students had discussed beforehand, they first eliminated all students from other departments and then competed amongst themselves for skill.

That's how the remaining students became these eight.

At Milia's words, Leo stroked his chin and said,

"You could have made the students you wanted remain in the final eight, couldn't you?"

"Yes."

Milia, who used a bow, could easily interfere in the competition among Knight Department students.

"Why did you choose these seven?"

Milia glanced at the Knight Department students standing next to her.

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

Except for Milia, they were all from noble families.

And they were also students with whom Milia hadn't had a very good relationship after admission.

"Because they have skill. It's more efficient for the party to keep them."

"Hmm."

Leo chuckled and beckoned to Milia.

Milia approached Leo with a puzzled look.

"Your palm."

Leo stamped a bonus point on Milia's palm.

"We'll be camping tonight. The orc colony subjugation will begin tomorrow morning."

"Yes!"

"You guys worked hard! Eat up!"

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

"You're quite something."

Chloe said with a smile, and Leo nodded.

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