Book 1 Chapter 742

The shared bathhouse of the Knight Department is crowded from early morning.

It was a natural phenomenon, as many students woke up before dawn and trained until they were covered in sweat.

*Splash, creak, squeak.*

Celia, having turned off the shower, left the bathhouse.

After lightly drying herself with a towel, Celia stood in front of her locker in the changing room.

She then used her aura to quickly dry off the remaining moisture and dressed neatly.

"Celia, are you done washing up?"

"Yeah. Are you ready to go too?"

"Yes. Let's go together."

Celia and Chen Xia left the bathhouse.

As they shared the room next door, they often moved together.

"This school really always surprises people."

Celia grumbled.

"But in a way, it's an honor. We got to spar with Master Lisina."

"That's true, but… More than that, I'm disappointed I didn't get to see Leo have a mock battle."

Celia licked her lips.

In the last mock battle, Leo did not spar with Lisina.

Many students who had been looking forward to this anticipated match felt great disappointment.

'If those two fought… it's terrifying just to imagine.'

They probably wouldn't have held back if they fought.

'The entire school might have collapsed.'

Chen Xia shook her head, thinking of the worst-case scenario that could have actually happened.

Celia, having arrived in front of the room, tilted her head.

"A letter?"

Lumen students living in dormitories were accustomed to letters.

Basically, unless it was a significant matter, they couldn't go home during the semester.

Also, they rarely left Lumen City unless it was for a mission, and regular students, unless under special circumstances, could not go out of Lumen City except on weekends.

As such, countless letters were delivered to Lumen every day.

However, it wasn't the usual time for letters to arrive.

"There wasn't one when I checked earlier?"

Celia, with a puzzled expression, opened the personal mailbox in her room.

"I have one too."

Chen Xia also looked at her mailbox and tilted her head.

Celia flipped over the letter envelope and checked the seal imprinted on the wax.

"It's from the student council? Chen Xia. Yours too?"

"Yes. Mine is also from the student council."

After confirming the source, Celia and Chen Xia opened the envelopes and checked the contents.

"They want us to come to the student council first thing in the morning? What's going on?"

Celia, putting away the letter, had a puzzled expression.

"You two, what are you doing standing in the hallway?"

At that moment, Nella approached with Iliana.

"They want us to come to the student council right now."

"Huh? The student council?"

Nella, tilting her head, checked her mailbox.

Iliana also flinched and quickly opened her mailbox.

"Oh, me too?"

Nella tilted her head.

Iliana sighed in relief after checking her mailbox.

Then she said,

"The three of you, did you break any school rules?"

"Huh? We haven't done anything like that? Why are you asking so suddenly?"

In response to Nella's question, Iliana crossed her arms.

"Being summoned to the student council first thing in the morning usually means you've broken school rules. And it's for a very serious offense. Minor rule violations are usually dealt with on the spot with penalty points."

"This is the first I'm hearing of it. But Iliana, how do you know that?"

"I was summoned in my first year."

"Ah. Come to think of it, that did happen, didn't it?"

Nella burst out laughing.

"You went excitedly thinking they recognized your talent, but you came back looking deathly pale for the rest of the day, right?"

Iliana, looking glumly at Nella teasing her, said,

"Anyway, apart from cases like that, I've never seen students summoned to the student council in the morning."

"But we're far from breaking any school rules."

"Right. Do they think it's us?"

Iliana pouted at Celia's words.

"Well, let's get ready and go."

At Nella's words, Celia and Chen Xia nodded.

"Come back alive."

Iliana waved goodbye to the three of them.

***

The three who came to the student council room in the morning encountered a male student.

"Warden?"

Celia's eyes widened.

"You were also summoned by the student council?"

"It seems you've been summoned too."

Warden replied in his usual indifferent voice.

"Iliana said that being summoned in the morning usually means you've done something seriously wrong. Do you have any memory of that?"

"No. If you were summoned, it wouldn't be for that reason, at least."

"Right?"

Celia smiled faintly.

Chen Xia whispered to Nella, watching Celia's expression.

"Celia and Warden seem to get along well."

"We were roommates in the second year, so we had a lot of interaction. He even mediated between Celia and Chelsea surprisingly well."

Chen Xia looked a bit surprised to hear that Warden, who was highly individualistic, had mediated for harmony.

"You guys are here too?"

At that moment, Chloe and Abad walked over.

Abad glanced at Celia, who was talking and laughing with Warden.

Celia looked back and forth between Chloe and Abad and nodded.

"This confirms it. It's definitely not a rule violation."

If Chloe, who was as much a model student as herself, was here, then the possibility of a rule violation, however slim, could be completely dismissed.

At that moment.

The door to the student council room opened, and Lil appeared.

"Oh! Third-year students! You're here."

Lil, smiling as usual, guided the third-years.

"Please come in."

As they entered, Elena and Lunba were sitting in the middle of the student council room sofa.

"Senior Elena, did you summon us?"

At that question, Elena put down her teacup and pointed upwards with her finger.

"Above me."

"Then…"

"Yes, it's the president."

At those words, the faces of the third-years, except for Warden, became serious.

"With this lineup, are we going to war?"

"Perhaps."

Elena clicked her tongue.

The people summoned this morning were unusual.

Anyone could tell that Leo was going to cause some trouble.

As the students, led by Elena, wore anxious expressions.

"Aren't you excited! To see what great thing brother will do again!"

"It will be interesting."

Lil clenched his fist and reacted with excitement, and Warden also smirked.

Elena, watching them, rested her chin on her hand.

"Just looking at Senior Ulta, who has already graduated, you can tell that the Summoning Department students have something wrong with their heads."

"Hey. Don't use Senior Ulta and them as a benchmark. I'm perfectly normal."

Lunba protested with an aggrieved expression.

*Knock knock-*

"Excuse me… Huh? Seniors?"

With a knock, the student council room door opened, and Juwen and Betty from the Magic Department, both second-years.

And Shasha from the Summoning Department, also a second-year, entered.

Shasha looked surprised at the faces of the students, then chuckled.

"This looks like it's going to be interesting."

Elena clicked her tongue at Shasha's reaction.

"As expected of the Summoning Department…"

"She's also strange."

"You're not strange?"

"I'm normal! I am!"

At Elena's words, Lunba bristled.

At that moment, the door to the student council president's office opened.

"Everyone's here. Everyone, go to the conference room."

At those words, the students rushed into the conference room.

Elena, sitting next to the head seat, crossed her arms and asked,

"So? What's the reason for gathering us here first thing in the morning?"

"It's a mission."

"A Hero Dungeon must have appeared."

"No. It's not a mission related to a Hero Dungeon."

"Then?"

"We intend to intervene in the civil war in Devian."

At those words, Elena frowned.

"President, Lumen has an obligation to remain neutral. Even if the East is in danger of being devastated, we shouldn't carelessly intervene in a civil war."

As Lunba tilted his head, Leo said,

"Normally, we shouldn't. But I heard that Seirun has entered the war to help the second prince's faction."

"Wait. Where? Seirun?"

Lunba showed a look of disbelief for a moment.

The other students were the same.

Seirun all of a sudden?

Even Elena, who was usually unfazed by most things, looked dumbfounded.

"No. Have they gone mad? Why are they suddenly intervening in human affairs?"

Seirun, like Lumen, was a hero academy, but it was different in nature.

Lumen, with its role as a mediator at the center of the human race, often mediated between various nations.

Therefore, Lumen maintained neutrality in all conflicts.

However, Seirun represented the Elf Alliance.

The Elf Council was deeply involved in the operation of Seirun, and Seirun's will often represented the will of the entire elf race.

The reason why Seirun as a whole was shaken by the Pureblood Society in the past was also due to this characteristic of Seirun.

Therefore, Seirun siding with Devian's second prince and participating in the civil war was equivalent to the entire elf race supporting the second prince.

And in Seirun's history, this was the first time.

This was understandable, as one of the fundamental principles of the Elf Council was not to interfere in the wars of other races.

That fundamental principle was now broken.

"Moreover, elves tend to look down on humans especially."

Not all elves looked down on humans.

Many elves considered humans as friends.

In fact, many Lumen students had developed friendships with Seirun students and actively corresponded with them.

However, even so, it was not easy for the perception of the entire race to change.

The arrogance of the elves was something that even beastmen and dwarves shook their heads at, not just humans.

The history of the world is a history of war.

Indeed, the terrestrial races have repeatedly alternated between harmony and discord.

However, among them, humans were the only race that had engaged in the most wars with other races and, moreover, had shed blood fighting amongst themselves endlessly.

It was no exaggeration to say that human history was a history of war.

And most of those wars were caused by "greed."

Elves viewed humans, who constantly waged war for wealth and power, as the most barbaric and vulgar race.

That's why they had a particular tendency to look down on humans.

Yet, Seirun, of all wars, was participating in Devian's civil war, a war fought over power, which they considered the most vulgar?

It was impossible not to be taken aback.

Seeing Elena dumbfounded, Leo clicked his tongue.

"From what I've heard, the entire race seems to have gone mad."

"Huh? What do you mean by that?"

At Leo's words, everyone looked puzzled.

Leo scratched his head.

"Anyway, those pointy-eared people have no sense of moderation."

"So, what does that mean?"

"Elves are a race with particularly strong beliefs."

Leo sighed and began to explain.

"And beliefs don't change easily, but they can easily become distorted. Elves tend to blindly follow even those distorted beliefs."

Therefore, elves were a race that easily became influenced.

If their beliefs were righteous, the entire elf race could become good.

Conversely, if they became distorted, the entire race easily became distorted.

"What does that have to do with Seirun participating in Devian's civil war?"

Celia asked with a puzzled look, and Leo clicked his tongue.

"Do you know what's been trending in Seirun lately… No, in the entire elf society?"

"How would we know that?"

"Human culture."

"What?"

"Human cuisine, fashion, architecture, literature, and so on. All of it is trending."

"…Didn't elves dislike our culture, saying it was vulgar?"

Chen Xia asked with a bewildered expression.

Even Eiran, who admired humans and was immersed in human culture, was treated as quite eccentric within Seirun.

"Yes. But it's trending."

Leo covered his face.

"And they say they treat us like a sibling race."

"…What is that? Why are they suddenly so creepy?"

Elena scrunched up her face.

"It's because of the Progenitor of the Nebula."

"What?"

Elena showed a look of disbelief, and Abad stroked his chin.

"Luna's declaration the other day."

"Right."

Leo recalled that moment.

"I! Love Kailllll!"

The cry of the Progenitor of the Nebula, destined to be remembered in history.

And that cry completely changed the ideology of the elf race.

If it was Luna's word, elves would insist that cold was hot, even if it was hot.

And the fact that Luna's disciple, Berchia, was actually 'Kail's disciple' was recently announced in elf hero academia.

'There are even rumors that Berchia is actually a half-elf born between me and Luna?'

Just a while ago, calling a great figure of the race a half-elf would have led to charges of sacrilege in elf society.

However, currently, despite Ersar's strong denial, such bizarre rumors were circulating.

"Ah, no matter how you look at it, the entire race suddenly came to like humans whom they hated overnight?"

"The most popular person in Seirun recently is said to be a Lumen student."

"What is that? Scary."

Leo let out a wry laugh.

"The second prince of Devian, in desperation, is said to have asked Seirun for help as a last resort."

Of course, they would have proclaimed their legitimacy when asking for help.

"You don't mean to tell me they fell for that argument?"

Lil asked with a disbelieving face, and Leo smiled bitterly.

"It seems they believed it without thinking. So they decided to dispatch troops to help those pitiable humans."

"…Are those people idiots?"

Lil asked again with a shocked expression.

"Let's talk about those elf guys later. Anyway."

Leo said.

"The members gathered here will go to Devian tomorrow. So, be prepared by the end of today."

At those words, the students nodded.

"Then, dismissed. Ah, seniors from the 4th and 5th years, please stay behind."

At those words, the students, except for Elena, Lunba, and Lil, left.

"Do you have anything else to say?"

"It's a secret from the other students."

Leo looked at the three with a serious expression.

"There is a high probability that a fragment of Erebus has revived in Devian."