Book 1 Chapter 919
919.
Leo, perched on the mast of the dragon ship, a flying vessel, gazed at the empty deck and fell into thought.
“What are you thinking so hard about?”
Elena, levitating herself with magic, asked, sitting cross-legged in the air.
“None of the Lumerne sophomores or juniors seemed flustered, right?”
“Right.”
“Hmm.”
“But isn’t that natural?”
“Why?”
Elena gently twirled a strand of hair around her fingertip and said.
“Because there’s a nasty old man in Lumerne who constantly worries about how to torment students more efficiently.”
“There’s such a bad-tempered person? That’s a big problem.”
Elena shook her head, looking at Leo who responded nonchalantly.
“Anyway, because of him, the kids have developed a thick skin, I guess.”
“Hmm. Indeed… it seems raising them tough has paid off.”
Leo nodded with satisfaction.
“Now we can use even more drastic methods.”
“……”
At his words, Elena thought.
‘It would be better for my health to just graduate quickly.’
She had considered postponing graduation, but this Great Demon King’s skill at tormenting hero candidates was getting more malicious by the day.
‘…Now that I think about it, I’m getting a job at Arhi after graduation, right?’
Regardless of affection, Leo was a truly wicked superior.
“The chairman said something,”
Leo said when Elena was re-evaluating her career path.
“He said no returns.”
Elena frowned, looking at Leo who spoke indifferently, as if he had seen through her thoughts.
“And no intention of letting you go easily.”
But then, Elena’s eyes lit up at Leo’s subsequent words.
“What does that mean? Does it mean you’ll keep me forever?”
Leo pushed away Elena’s face as she leaned in close and asked.
“It means I’ll work you hard.”
Despite Leo’s words, Elena smiled brightly, seeming pleased.
Looking at Elena, Leo said.
“By the way.”
“Hm?”
“Why are you here?”
Leo warped the dragon ship, abandoning all the students who were on board in the middle of a desert.
He used Dragon Language magic in the process.
It was a magic that sealed mana, created by Lysinas by reinterpreting Tartarus’s Curse.
It was also the highest-difficulty Dragon Language magic that Leo had cast over this entire area.
Naturally, Elena should have been included in its scope.
Yet, Elena nonchalantly followed the dragon ship and was now by Leo’s side.
“Of course, I dispelled your magic and followed you, Leo.”
Elena shrugged, as if it was nothing.
Leo stroked his chin and descended from the mast to the deck.
Elena continued to follow behind Leo, still levitating herself with magic.
Originally, this exam was supposed to be supervised by the third-year students.
From the outset, hero academies had entrusted the first-year exams themselves to the students.
The reason was that the hero academies knew that the current third-year students were the core that would lead the next generation.
Currently, all hero academies have third-year students as student council presidents.
And whether by fate or coincidence, all of them became successors who inherited the legacy of the Great Heroes.
The hero academies, which had cultivated heroes for thousands of years, intuitively realized.
That a great wave of world transformation was approaching.
And that the current third-year students were at the forefront of it.
That’s why they decided to entrust the evaluation of the first-year students, who would follow them, to the third-years.
But Elena coolly intervened.
Since she participated by force, it had to be fair as long as she participated.
There was no intention of condoning any shortcuts.
‘She must have come prepared for this, so she won’t have any complaints.’
Leo cast magic on Elena again.
Thump!
Elena, whose mana was restricted, fell to the deck floor.
“Do you want to jump off with your own feet? Or should I throw you?”
Once magic is dispelled, it would take some time, but she could undo it anytime if she really wanted to.
Elena didn't do that.
Because she had something else in mind.
Elena looked up at Leo and stretched out both arms.
“Leo, pick me up and throw me yourself!”
Leo let out a chuckle at her words and picked up Elena.
Held in a princess carry, Elena shrieked with delight, “Kya~!”
“Don’t act childish, it doesn’t suit you.”
Despite his words, Elena just leaned her face against Leo’s chest, seeming pleased.
Upon reaching the railing, Elena slipped out of Leo’s arms and sat perched on the railing.
“Well then, Leo, see you later!”
After waving her hand, she dove down without hesitation.
Watching her, Leo shook his head repeatedly.
“Sometimes, Miss Elena seems to have a naive, girlish side.”
“Naive girl, my foot. She’s just not acting her age.”
Leo clicked his tongue at Melina’s words, who appeared from behind.
“Still, compared to her wild days, isn’t she much cuter now?”
“Cute, hardly.”
Leo replied curtly and asked.
“So, are the preparations done?”
“Everything is complete. The shadows will block the students.”
Leo nodded at Elena’s words.
“It’s troublesome because this area has no monsters. They’re never around when you really need them.”
Leo grumbled lightly, then curled up the corners of his mouth.
“Surely no one will arrive later than the first-years, right?”
Leo vowed to make sure any second or third-year students who did would have a “fun” time.
***
“Ughhhhhh!”
Ar suddenly shivered.
Chloe, who had fallen with her nearby, asked with a puzzled face.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Just a sudden chill.”
Ar looked around sharply, on guard.
Eiran looked at Ar with a worried expression.
“Miss Ar. You haven’t gotten heatstroke, have you?”
“I’m not that weak!”
Ar sprang to her feet, lifting her chin.
“Anyway, it’s a relief that our falling speed slowed down right before we hit the ground. Otherwise, we really would have died.”
“No matter what, you really would die if you actually fell.”
“Still, the Black Rabbit has some human conscience left!”
Ar, who had been gritting her teeth remembering Leo, then slumped down and muttered, sticking out her tongue.
“But it’s really hot.”
Ar, having muttered that, looked at Eiran and Chloe.
“Why are you two so unaffected?”
Eiran pondered Ar’s question, then said.
“Perhaps it’s due to our mana characteristics?”
The power passed down through generations of the Ersar family was similar to the power wielded by fairies.
The power of lush, vital vegetation.
As such, they could maintain their freshness in any climate.
In fact, unlike Lunia, who despite being an elf, detested harsh cold weather, Eiran was not greatly affected.
“And Miss Chloe, who uses ice-elemental magic, would also be strong against the heat.”
“That’s right.”
As she wielded ice magic to its extreme, she had strong resistance to cold and could emit powerful chill to overcome the heat.
In contrast, Ar, who was born and raised in the desert, surprisingly had weak resistance to heat.
She was rather strong against the cold.
Normally, she would use aura to block the heat, but now, with mana restricted, she was fully experiencing the scorching heat of the desert.
Ar looked up at the sky with resentful eyes.
“Why in the world is the Black Rabbit doing such a malicious thing!”
“I expected this much.”
Chloe muttered resignedly and shrugged.
“Why do you think his nickname is the Great Demon King?”
“Lord Leo’s nickname is the Great Demon King?”
“Among Lumerne students, he’s jokingly called that.”
“It suits him! Great Demon King!”
Ar, with a mischievous expression, echoed Chloe’s words.
Once she finished complaining.
“First, let’s focus on getting to the exam site as quickly as possible.”
“Yeah. Given the Black Rabbit’s personality, if we arrive later than the first-years, he’ll definitely torment us!”
“What? Lord Leo wouldn’t do that!”
Eiran’s eyes widened as she defended Leo.
“The Black Rabbit is exactly the type of person who would do that and more!”
“Eiran trusts Leo a bit too much.”
“Lord Leo is kind, though.”
“Kind? Kiiind?”
Ar flared up.
She remembered being caught by Leo and forced to train when she went to Seirun some time ago.
Eiran flinched her neck at Ar’s fiery reaction.
“Enough chitchat. Do you happen to know where we are?”
At Chloe’s question, Ar pulled out a map from her pocket.
“Just a moment. I’ll figure out the exact location.”
“What is this?”
“Azo Desert map.”
The vast southern continent is famous for its deserts, but not all terrain is desertified.
Each desert region has a name, and the desert chosen for the exam was the Azo Desert.
Ar unfolded the desert map, took out her watch to check the time, identified the sun’s position, and then pulled out a semi-circular mechanical device from her pocket.
“What is this?”
Eiran asked with a curious expression, and Chloe, who had read many books and was knowledgeable, explained instead.
“It’s a surveying instrument that identifies locations. But I hear it’s difficult to use; can you use it?”
“Hmph. An Azonian student should know how to handle it as a basic. Especially in the Azo Desert, there are areas where compasses are useless and spatial transfer magic doesn’t work, so knowing this kind of land navigation is essential…”
“That’s amazing!”
Chloe exclaimed.
The object Ar was using was a very complex machine that even Chloe barely understood the operating principles of.
“Wow! Miss Ar! You’re truly amazing! I thought you were clumsy at everything except brute strength!”
“Hee hee? Huh?”
Ar’s face, which had been beaming with pride at Eiran’s pure admiration, suddenly took on a strange expression.
“Does that mean I’m just a strong idiot?”
“Um… No. I didn’t say you were an idiot…”
Eiran looked flustered.
Seeing her reaction, Ar glared intensely.
“You perverted elf!”
“I’m not a pervert!”
“Hmph! Then show me what’s in your bag!”
“What? M-my bag, suddenly why?”
“If there are no strange novels in your bag, I’ll admit you’re not a pervert!”
“L-looking into someone else’s bag is an invasion of privacy!”
Eiran protested, hugging her backpack tightly to her chest.
Just then.
“Hey, guys~ Can someone catch me?”
Someone’s voice was heard from the sky.
At that voice, Ar looked up at the sky.
And spotting Elena falling, she moved quickly.
Whoosh—!
Ar leapt high, caught Elena in mid-air, and landed on the ground.
“Thanks, Ar.”
Elena, who landed comfortably thanks to Ar, patted Ar’s head.
“You haven’t moved yet?”
“We were figuring out our current location.”
“Hmm. Then, after you’ve pinpointed the location, should we move together for now?”
“That would be good. Leo wouldn’t just let us easily find our way to the exam site.”
Being mana-restricted and thrown into the desert was a sufficient trial, but Leo was not the kind of person to be satisfied with just that much.
“What kind of obstacles will there be?”
“I wonder.”
Elena opened her palm.
Whirr—!
A tiny speck of magic power emanated.
It was the minimal mana allowed for combat.
“How benevolent she is.”
Elena, who had been slightly sarcastic, withdrew her mana.
“I think that since this first-year assignment is about conquering the Book of Shadows, the shadows might obstruct our path.”
“That’s highly probable. There are no monsters in this Azo Desert, after all.”
Ar nodded, agreeing with that opinion, "Mm-hmm!"
“Um…”
Just then, Eiran spoke.
As attention focused on her, Eiran cautiously pointed a finger at a sand dune.
“Is that… aren’t those Sand Goblins?”
At her words, everyone’s gaze turned towards the sand dune.
As Eiran said, about 20 Sand Goblins were approaching, revealing their murderous intent.
“No way… did he release monsters into an area that’s supposed to have no monsters? What a malicious…”
Ar was aghast.
Chloe put a hand on her head and shook it, and Elena gritted her teeth, glaring at the sky.
“Does this damned human really not know what moderation is?”