Book 1 Chapter 897

It's the afternoon, three days before the dance party.

Kal was enjoying a rare, leisurely lunch break.

"Wow, how many days has it been since I've had this much free time?"

Sitting in the Lumern cafeteria, Kal smiled refreshingly, enjoying the sunshine.

Currently, Leo, as student council president, was out of Lumern with Elena, the vice president.

'He said he was meeting with the Lumern board, so he won't be back until at least dinner!'

Groan-!

Kal stretched and massaged his neck.

"Oof, my whole body aches as if I've been too tense these past few days."

With Leo gone, there was no need to keep an eye on anyone else today.

'Well, if Elena senior and I are confirmed as partners at the dance party because the atmosphere is good, that would be killing two birds with one stone.'

Picturing the best-case scenario, Kal recalled the current situation.

'The plan is proceeding smoothly.'

Ril was being thoroughly monitored by Eliza.

'Though she looked displeased every time I passed by.'

Thinking it was because he had pushed off a troublesome task, Kal decided to put the matter of Eliza aside for now.

'I'll let her off after the dance party. Chelsea is smoothly not saying anything to Leo. Chloe is preoccupied with a new magical theory. As for Iliana, Chelsea and Shia are handling her, so there's no need to worry.'

Thinking that far, Kal thought of Chen Xia.

'It's suspicious how unusually quiet she is… but for now, there seem to be no major issues.'

The situation was very optimistic.

Even he thought the plan was going well.

'It's going so well that it makes me uneasy?'

For a moment, Kal felt a sense of unease but decided to think positively.

'Let's think positively. It would be great if the plan proceeds perfectly like this!'

"Your order is ready!"

"Oh! I shall enjoy my meal!"

Kal clapped his hands at the steak placed on the table and began to eat.

"Mmm. The meat here is really tender, isn't it?"

Kal was in the middle of eating with a happy smile.

However, there were eyes watching Kal.

'Finally, I've met him. Senior Kal.'

Hidden in the bushes of the park adjacent to the Lumern cafeteria,

Milia watched Kal with shining eyes.

Upon hearing about the dance party, Milia had intended to ask Kal to go with her.

However, she never found the opportunity.

It wasn't because of Juen's interference.

It was simply because Kal was genuinely too busy.

First of all, Kal and Milia are in different departments.

As such, they had almost no interaction, so Milia had to seek Kal out directly to meet him.

But Kal had been too busy these past few days, orchestrating a grand operation with Leo and Elena, to even see his face.

But today, she finally saw him like this.

'Senior Kal is so cool today too.'

Milia's eyes sparkled.

Kal, who was devouring his food as if he was hungry, was a little far from being considered cool.

Anyone would have pointed out that she was infatuated, but to Milia's eyes, he looked cool.

Milia's interest in Kal began when she started preparing for her admission to Lumern.

Born as the successor to a great merchant family, Milia possessed an excellent eye for business from a young age.

However, she wasn't just born with the qualities of a great merchant.

She also possessed overwhelming aura talent.

She was born with an aura talent that could be called genius.

Her family saw this as an opportunity to produce outstanding knights beyond mere merchants and provided her with full support.

As a result, Milia achieved the feat of being the top student admitted to Lumern.

However, Milia had no intention of being satisfied with just being the top student.

Being the top student was just a gateway.

Her ultimate goal was to become a top student, a key figure in Lumern, and furthermore, to have her name inscribed in the Hero Records after graduation, rising to the ranks of heroes.

And she was a girl with the ambition to further solidify her family's position.

Her goal was to make her family a powerful trading house with strong influence throughout the continent in her generation.

Milia did not intend to merely enhance her reputation as a knight.

In her view, Lumern was not just a place to further hone her skills as a knight, but also a new market that allowed her to aim higher as a merchant.

To control the market where the best talents gathered.

She judged that there was nothing more profitable than that.

Therefore, Milia meticulously researched Lumern before her admission.

The market in Lumina City, the professors of Lumern,

She even understood the students.

That's why Milia knew Kal from the moment he entered.

'At first, I wasn't very interested.'

Kal Thomas was a student with grades close to failing, who could be expelled at any time.

She felt a fleeting interest when she saw information about him acting as a merchant, but she thought there was no need to pay much attention to someone who would soon be expelled.

However, defying her expectations.

Or rather, defying everyone's expectations, Kal stubbornly survived at Lumern.

Furthermore, using her family's information network to understand the capital flow within Lumern, she discovered that Kal had begun to exert strong influence at some point.

'I was surprised to hear that he started out like a peddler and became a general store used by all Lumern students in just one year.'

This was partly because Kal, with his excellent alchemy talent, made good products.

However, it was also due to Kal's great skill as a merchant.

When she heard that Kal had almost taken over the Lumern Merchant Association club, her heart was captured.

Kal had preempted what Milia intended to do.

Crucially, the fact that Kal was a commoner also drew Milia's attention.

In Lumern, where one is evaluated solely on merit, the difference in status between nobles and commoners holds little meaning.

Rather, it is foolish for those without merit to flaunt their status in Lumern.

After a semester of admission, that fact is etched into one's bones.

However, outside of Lumern, the chasm of emotion between classes is deep in most cases.

The class disparity is significant.

Even Milia, who lived as the successor of a great merchant family, was often looked down upon by the upper echelons of nobility.

Of course, Milia was not foolish enough to harbor deep animosity towards nobles just for that.

Whatever it is, they are customers.

Especially influential nobles are often easy marks.

Being ignored is nothing if they are fools who bring in money.

But even so, there is a sense of solidarity with commoners who were treated the same.

And it was not difficult for that solidarity to turn into favor.

Milia had no intention of forming connections with good families to grow her own.

'It's only valuable if I build the family solely on my own abilities.'

Thus, she developed a deep liking for Kal, and eventually, when Kal rose to the position of hero, she came to worship him.

'In my opinion, Senior Kal is even more amazing than Senior Leo.'

Leo seemed like someone born to be a hero.

But Kal was not.

Kal, who was always at the bottom of Lumern, survived tenaciously.

And he emerged as a new type of hero, forging a new path.

Upon entering Lumern and seeing Kal on the entrance ceremony day, she was completely captivated.

'He was so cool.'

Recalling that moment, Milia smiled shyly.

Then she took an arrow from her waist.

A letter was tied to the arrow.

If she approached Kal rashly now, she would undoubtedly be stopped by Juen, who might be lurking somewhere.

Even though Milia was the top student in her first year of the Knight Department, it would be difficult to get past Juen, who was determined to stop her, to reach Kal.

'I should convey my feelings from afar.'

Thinking so, Milia nocked the arrow onto her bowstring.

Creak-!

The bow bent, and Milia, aiming at Kal's desk, released the string.

Fwiiiing-!

The arrow flew at tremendous speed, and as it passed the midpoint between Kal and Milia.

CRACK-!

Something flew and destroyed the arrow.

'Magic sniper!?, Senior Juen!'

Milia urgently turned towards the direction of the shot.

At that moment, feeling a murderous intent, Milia used her aura armor and took out a potion bottle from her pouch, scattering it in the air.

Clang-!

The potion bottle exploded, creating a barrier.

Jing-!

Something hit the barrier, and the sound of breaking glass echoed.

'Sleep dart!'

Milia desperately concealed her presence.

***

"Tch! I missed!"

Juen ground her teeth.

"I couldn't even talk to Senior Kal, and this first-year is so insolent!"

Suspicion arose in Juen's eyes.

'I knew that Milia girl was dangerous!'

Her gaze towards Kal was unusual.

That's why she wanted to quickly ask Kal to the dance party, but even Juen, who was in the same department, found it difficult to meet Kal.

Even within the same department, being in different years made it surprisingly difficult to find common ground.

Juen had also seen Kal's face for the first time in days, and when she tried to speak to him, she spotted Milia and immediately became wary.

'I need to tell Senior Kal to go to the dance party quickly… I hope she hasn't already agreed to go with Senior Eliza.'

Juen felt uneasy.

Kal and Eliza.

Lumern students regarded the two as having a peculiar friendship.

Even in Juen's eyes, their relationship seemed unlikely to develop into romance, as they were friends.

After all, although they were close, their opposite personalities made them seem incompatible.

Yet, Juen was uneasy about the relationship between Kal and Eliza.

After the mentor-mentee period ended, Juen had often spent time with Kal.

As a result, she naturally had many opportunities to meet Eliza.

And Juen occasionally saw it.

When Eliza's cold gaze met Kal's, it sometimes held a warm light.

Shaking off her unease, Juen watched Milia warily.

'For now, dealing with Milia is the priority!'

Just then, she saw Milia rapidly approaching Juen.

'She must have figured out my position. Impressive.'

Magic sniper and archer.

Fundamentally, they fight enemies from a distance, so their combat methods are almost identical.

However, as a mage and a knight, their matchup is also the same.

A magic sniper is defeated if they allow an archer to approach.

Of course, Juen had no intention of passively allowing Milia to approach.

Even if she allowed her to approach, she intended to defeat Milia.

Juen had combat experience that a first-year like Milia could not match.

Just as Juen was about to generate mana to subdue Milia.

"Don't you know that using mana and aura outside of the practice field and training grounds is a violation of school rules?"

"Huh?! Senior Iliana!"

Juen exclaimed and turned around.

Milia, who was approaching Juen, also saw Iliana and tried to escape but made eye contact.

As Iliana beckoned with her finger, Milia hesitantly approached.

A moment later.

Iliana looked at the two people kneeling before her and said,

"Do you know what will happen if Professor Halind finds out that you used mana and aura indiscriminately within the school?"

"Uh, we'll get in a lot of trouble."

"No, you're wrong. You'll die."

Iliana said seriously.

At those words, the two felt an inexplicable fear.

"Why on earth would our juniors fight, breaking school rules? Is it because of that fool?"

"Senior Kal is not a fool."

Milia retorted slightly.

Looking at Milia, Iliana gave her a sympathetic look.

"You should get glasses."

Saying so, Iliana crossed her arms.

Looking at Iliana, Juen and Milia tensed.

Although she gave off a casual aura, Iliana was a senior with top-tier skills among the third-years.

She was someone they couldn't dare to defy.

Especially now that they had been caught breaking school rules.

As the two cowered, Iliana said,

"Alright. I'll let this slide this time. However, if you're going to fight over Kal, set some rules."

"What kind of rules?"

"For example, the one who hits Kal first gets to ask him to the dance party, or something like that."

Juen said at Iliana's words.

"Even if it's a non-lethal projectile, it hurts when you get hit, so how can I hit him?"

"That's right. How dare you tell us to hit Senior Kal, we can't do that."

Looking at the two juniors shaking their heads, Iliana pointed at Kal with her finger.

"Even if it's like that, you don't want to hit him?"

At those words, Juen and Milia looked at Kal.

There, a group of female students who had gathered by chance were charming Kal.

"Senior Kal~ Will you go to the dance party with me~"

"No! Go with me!"

"Wow, this is an honor? Who should I choose?"

As Kal laughed heartily, Juen's face gradually turned cold.

Milia shook her head.

"Even so, I can't hit Senior Kal…"

"I will."

"……?"

Milia looked at Juen.

"If you're scared, then give up."

"Yeah. That's right. If you're scared, give up."

Iliana also chimed in with a smile.

At those words, Milia, who had been contemplating, smiled shyly.

"Okay."

"……?"

"Actually… I'm curious to hear Senior Kal scream."

Seeing Milia's lips quirk, Iliana thought.

'This kid is a bit dangerous.'

Of course, Iliana felt no guilt.

Having succeeded in making Kal the prey of the two juniors, Iliana looked at Kal with malicious eyes.