Book 1 Chapter 830

831.

Chelsea and Chloe stared at Karl with blank expressions.

To them, Karl was their closest classmate.

For Chelsea, he was in the same class in freshman year and was always with Leo.

In Chloe's case, he always sat with Leo and the three of them in magic class, where she had the most lessons.

Considering Leo's presence, Karl was their closest and dearest friend, and in some ways, even closer than Leo.

Leo, who always stood in front and led them, was a figure they couldn't help but admire.

A dazzling presence they had to chase with all their might.

A being they wished to be equal to.

In contrast, Karl was always the one who supported them from behind.

That's why they could spend their school lives together so casually.

Because of that, both Chelsea and Chloe thought they knew Karl well.

Therefore, both of them looked at Karl with bewildered expressions.

Karl's face was as usual.

A kind smile always spread across his face, as always.

‘A moment ago, Karl clearly…’

‘He seemed to have used rough language?’

If third-year students were asked who among their classmates had the best personality, everyone would answer Karl.

Basically, a kind personality to everyone.

He was sociable and never lost his smile even in front of people who disliked him.

He didn't care if he was cursed at or insulted by others, and he would cheerfully brush it off.

He tried his best not to make enemies with anyone.

That was the Karl they knew.

In fact, when Emio attended Lumerne, he would pick fights with Karl whenever he had the chance, but Karl never rose to the bait, not even once.

It was common for Emio to get even more frustrated by Karl's easygoing nature.

Such a Karl had cursed.

And a very foul curse at that.

It was not strange, in a way, that Chelsea and Chloe doubted their hearing.

“Did you just speak to me?”

“Well, is there any other horny son of a bitch here besides you?”

Karl still spoke harshly with a smiling face.

“You bastard! Do you want to die?! How dare you utter such nonsense to me!”

At that, a furious Emio approached Karl and roughly grabbed him by the collar.

At that moment, Karl glared at Emio with a cold expression.

Emio flinched for a moment at his intensity.

“Let go.”

“What?”

“I’ll count to three. One. Two.”

“This bastard, just because he made a name for himself, he thinks he can get away with anything…”

“Three.”

Thump-!

As soon as he finished speaking, Karl tripped Emio, throwing him off balance, then reached out, grabbed Emio's neck, and slammed him down.

Wham-! Bang!

“Gah?!”

Emio gasped, feeling the impact on his back.

Karl knelt and climbed on top of the fallen Emio, subduing him.

Emio made an angry face and tried to summon magic.

But before he could, a dagger, pulled from beneath his wrist, touched Emio's neck faster.

“If you summon magic, I'll stab you.”

Emio gritted his teeth at Karl's ominous killing intent.

“A mage, so cowardly…!”

“You, a soldier, are talking about cowardice in a fight? Why? Are you going to challenge an enemy general to a fair fight on the battlefield?”

Emio couldn't answer Karl's scathing words.

“Kuh-heuk!”

“I understand that you ignored me, and I understand that you feel wronged about being expelled from Lumerne. Because in magic, I can never keep up with you. But.”

Karl said with an angry face.

“If you've come to assist your master, shouldn't you do well? Or is your master a dog, so you've become a dog too? How dare you babble such nonsense to anyone.”

Karl's gaze turned to Zephard.

At Karl's fierce gaze, Zephard turned pale and instinctively hid behind his escort knight.

“H-how dare you! Do you know who I am! Is a mere commoner like you threatening me, the Crown Prince of the Great Gedwan Kingdom!”

At Zephard's words, Karl chuckled.

“It's always the ones with zero ability who bring up their status. If you're the Crown Prince, I'm a hero whose name is on the Hero Records, you know? What are you going to do, Mr. whose greatest achievement in life is being born well?”

“Eeek! Again, such rude insults only a street urchin would blabber to me!”

Zephard's face turned crimson.

Chelsea and Chloe stared at Karl with blank eyes.

Karl's angry appearance was unfamiliar, but more than that, his cursing was too unfamiliar.

The language and tone itself were different from what they used.

Born into an alchemist family, Karl had actually used such natural words since childhood, associating with commoners and playing in the market.

As he matured.

And as he gained recognition for his talent and moved into circles with many nobles, his speech naturally became refined, but it was also the kind of speech that erupted when he saw a friend being insulted.

Zephard, trembling, shouted at his escorts.

“What are you doing! Without making this rude commoner kneel before me!”

If it had been another hero, such a thing would have been unimaginable.

No matter how much of a ruffian or scoundrel one might be, everyone knew very well how transcendent a 'hero' was.

But regarding Karl, they weren't too worried.

When Karl rose to the position of hero, countless theses related to Karl poured out from the hero academia.

Karl's Lumerne grades were clear.

His grades in his major, the Department of Magic, were also the same.

If one were to only look at his pure combat power, it was below the average of his classmates.

So, for such a Karl to become a hero, it wasn't particularly strange for the hero academia itself to be turned upside down.

Leo was also unprecedented, but Leo was at least understandable.

Because he possessed countless achievements unsuitable for his young age and the combat power that allowed him to accomplish those feats.

But Karl was at a level that was completely incomprehensible.

The most anomalous hero in 5000 years of the Age of Heroes.

That was Karl Thomas, <The One Who Prepares for the Beginning>.

As there were many hero scholars researching Karl, the truth about Karl's abilities also spread widely.

Because of this, many people in society secretly looked down on Karl's magic skills.

Especially those who simply perceived heroes as beings with powerful strength.

Zephard was such a type of person.

Seeing Zephard's escorts begin to move, Chelsea and Chloe tried to act.

It was already impossible to settle things quietly.

People's attention had been focused for a long time, and the opponent was also ready to fight.

Just as the two were about to step forward.

“Don't you two get involved. I'll handle it alone.”

Karl said.

Watching him, Chelsea exclaimed in admiration.

“Wow, what power.”

“Hmph. I can do it when I have to.”

As Karl playfully retorted as usual, Emio burst out laughing mockingly.

“You think you're something just because you became a hero! Karl Thomas! Do you think we'd be intimidated by your insignificant reputation!”

At those words, Karl looked at Emio with a slanted gaze, then immediately raised his dagger and stabbed Emio in the neck.

“Guh-huh?!”

Emio clutched his neck and stopped breathing.

The other approaching escorts also stared with wide eyes.

Then Karl pulled out the dagger and, using its tip, poked his other hand, saying:

“Don't be scared. It's a toy.”

The tip of the dagger couldn't penetrate his palm but instead went into the hilt.

Karl left Emio, who was stiff with shock, and stood up.

“My magic skill is certainly terrible. Forget Chelsea and Chloe here, I'm no match for you either.”

Karl shrugged.

“But combat power isn't determined by magic skill. Well, that doesn't mean I'm stronger than Chelsea and Chloe, of course.”

Karl watched Emio struggle to get up and curled up the corners of his mouth.

“Someone like you, who was expelled in second year, I'm enough to handle alone. Emio Luchan.”

“You bastard!”

In a head-on confrontation, Karl would have no chance of winning.

But engaging in a disadvantageous fight was something only fools did.

Whether it was using cunning and exploiting the opponent's weaknesses.

Or digging traps to weaken the enemy.

There were many factors that determined victory or defeat, and Karl thoroughly delved into such things.

‘It’s a trick.’

But what if it was a trick?

This too was a way to survive.

Moreover, Karl's insight into the flow of a fight and his ability to assess situations were recognized even by Lisinus himself.

And Karl had watched.

Countless legendary battles.

Those experiences made Karl a hero who, though weak in combat power, could change the flow of a vast battlefield just by his presence.

It was a fact he himself denied, but when serious, Karl was strong.

Just as a volatile situation was about to erupt.

“Oh my? Our cute Karl is showing a cool side for once?”

A clear voice was heard.

Click- clack- click- clack-

For a moment, it was as if time around them had stopped.

Elena, who overwhelmed the surrounding atmosphere, naturally walked into the center of the incident.

Everyone stared at Elena as if enchanted.

“Today was such a pleasant day.”

Elena stood in front of Zephard, smiling like the warm sunshine of spring.

“But you know.”

Elena made a twisted expression.

The gentle smile from a moment ago had somehow turned into a smile full of malice.

But even that expression was so beautiful that gasps of admiration poured out.

Thanks to her overwhelming beauty, it felt lovely.

Zephard felt like he would give up his liver or gallbladder if it meant he could make that expression disappear.

But anyone who knew Elena knew better than anyone that the time when overt malice appeared on her face was the most terrifying.

The capricious Queen of Lumerne.

A villainess who would truly pull out a liver or gallbladder if it would put her in a better mood.

Because that was Elena Jeron.

“You guys are making me feel like crap, you know?”

“Guh-!”

Elena's eyes shimmered with magic.

Zephard's body floated in the air.

“I-I… who… guh-huh!”

“Who are you?”

“G-Gedwan Kingdom… guh-huh! T-the… Crown Prince… guh-huh-huh!”

“So what if it's Gedwan? What about it?”

Zephard's face turned pale at the Queen's voice, which showed no emotion whatsoever.

“Senior Elena! We came to meet Leo Flove… guh-huh-huh?!”

“Who's your senior? Are you a Lumerne student? No, you're not?”

Elena's eyes gleamed eerily.

“And what? You lowly people are meeting Sir Leo? Then behave yourselves, shouldn't you? You flirted with a Lumerne student and tried to have an audience with the Lumerne student council president? Are you missing something?”

The escorts of the Gedwan Kingdom were also subdued by Elena.

It was then, as the three of them hesitated, watching the scene.

“You're getting demerits.”

Leo appeared.

Chelsea, Chloe, Karl. The three of them hunched their necks.

“Chloe.”

“Yes?”

“What should I do?”

At Leo's words, Chloe said.

“I'll vent my own anger.”

Leo nodded at her words.

Then he glanced at Zephard.

“But I don't think it'll be your turn to step in.”

“Huh?”

“Because this isn't an atmosphere where we can just leave it alone.”

At that, Chloe scratched her cheek.

Leo chuckled, looking at Elena.

“Indeed, the most effective way to deal with a scoundrel is with another scoundrel.”