Book 1 Chapter 998

998.

Seirun, located at the northernmost tip of the continent, is covered in snow 365 days a year and is extremely cold.

When winter comes, the cold wave intensifies even further.

However, despite being the middle of winter, Seirun's campus was warm.

"To block the cold wave with magic and artificially control the weather."

Luna gasped in awe at Seirun's overwhelming magical engineering design.

Inside the warm Seirun campus, students were busy welcoming guests.

Meanwhile, stalls were being set up on Seirun's parade ground, where people could play simple games for food, souvenirs, and prizes.

Most of this was led by students from the Lumerne Merchant Club.

"Hmm… I think it would be better to place the 뽑기 game over there? It'll catch the customers' eyes more along the flow of traffic."

"Hoo. Hoo."

It was Karl who was giving instructions to a 4th-year Seirun student.

Seirun students were inexperienced in operating such stalls, so they were receiving help from Lumerne students.

"I really wanted to try something like this."

"I heard there are a lot of these at human festivals."

"I saw it before during the Twilight Festival…"

The Seirun students seemed very excited and thrilled.

Until now, the act of selling something in Seirun had been shunned.

More precisely, even though there were those who were curious, it was not accepted due to the prevailing notions of elf society.

However, with the recent influx of cultures from other races, student-run stalls were also set up at Seirun's festival.

"Never in my life did I imagine I'd be in charge of sales at Seirun."

"Is it going well?"

"Oh! Leo! You're here! And… huh?"

Karl, who had been wearing a welcoming expression, tilted his head when he spotted Luna.

"Who is this beautiful elf young lady here?"

Due to the perception-lowering magic, Karl did not recognize her as Luna.

Leo said, looking at Karl whose eyes were sparkling.

"Lunia's younger cousin."

"Ah. I see. But why are you taking her around?"

"Lunia's a bit busy, so I'm looking after her instead."

Karl, who nodded at Leo's answer, pulled a lollipop from his pocket.

"Pretty young lady, would you like one?"

"Thank you."

"Haha. Are you taking the entrance exam for Seirun next year?"

Karl looked puzzled, watching Luna obediently accept the lollipop.

"Maybe?"

"I see! So you're an exam taker! Good luck."

"Then, could you give me some pocket money or something?"

"Uh, huh?"

"I'll study hard."

"Um… Y-yes."

Karl pulled out his wallet from his pocket with a reluctant expression.

'Well, if I just give her enough to buy snacks at the festival tomorrow…'

"I like gold."

"Gasp?!"

At Luna's words, Karl's face turned pale.

"Since you're such a cool big brother, you'll give it to me in gold coins, right?"

Though she didn't know the currency units of this era, gold coins were the most expensive currency in any era.

Leo wore an incredulous expression, watching Luna shamelessly raid Karl's wallet.

'Seeing this, Luna is indeed Luna.'

"Wow! Thank you!"

"Kuk…"

Karl, having incurred an unexpected expense, made a tearful face.

Unlike Karl, Luna smiled brightly.

Then she came in front of Leo and shook the coins she had received from Karl.

"Oppa. Look at this. Your friend gave me pocket money."

"Hey."

"Yes?"

"Don't call me by that title."

"Why?"

"If I tell you not to, then don't. Just call me by my name."

Luna wore a somewhat displeased expression, looking at the serious-faced Leo.

"Karl, I'm going. Good luck."

"…Okay. Goodbye."

Karl waved goodbye to Leo and Luna with a gloomy expression.

Luna, who had been wandering around Seirun with curious eyes, soon perked up her ears.

A song could be heard not far away.

Luna, her eyes sparkling, headed towards where the sound was coming from.

Leo followed silently behind her.

The place they arrived at was Seirun's auditorium.

A poster was affixed to the grand entrance of the auditorium.

Luna tilted her head after seeing the poster.

"The Love of Nebula and Beginning? Is this a story about me and Leo?"

"…"

Leo did not bother to answer.

At his reaction, Luna, realizing it was their story, put her hands on her hips and grumbled.

"Oh, come on! I keep getting paired up with someone who isn't even my type, and I'm really displeased!"

"That's what I should be saying."

"Don't be ridiculous! You should be grateful to be paired with a pretty elf like me!"

Luna glared at Leo, snorted, and then walked into the auditorium.

Beyond the audience seats, Chelsea, dressed in elf attire, was singing on stage.

The story seemed to have reached its climax, and a dramatic battle scene was in full swing on stage.

Chelsea, playing the role of Luna, was preparing her magic.

And the actor playing Kyle, harmonizing with Chelsea, was…

"Airan?"

Leo wore a slightly surprised expression.

It was none other than Airan, disguised with gray hair and human ears instead of elf ears, playing Kyle.

The two people's song resonated grandly throughout the entire auditorium.

Luna's eyes widened as she watched them.

"President. Welcome."

Just then, the head of the Lumerne Drama Club approached Leo.

"Is Airan playing Kyle?"

"Yeah. This performance aims for harmony between humans and elves, two races, right? Lumerne took on the role of Luna… and Seirun decided to take on the role of Kyle. Among them, Airan was the one who best portrayed the Hero of Beginning."

As Airan loved heroic tales, he was thoroughly knowledgeable about Kyle.

It seemed he was able to portray Kyle with such detail because of that.

"Airan is a bit timid, so this is surprising."

"Uh-huh. But surprisingly, he's a complete natural on stage. I was surprised too."

As the 4th-year head of the drama club, Weed, said, Airan was perfectly portraying Kyle as written in the script.

Of course, in Leo's eyes, he didn't resemble him in the slightest.

"Prepare yourself! Demon race! My companion! As long as Luna is behind me, I will never be defeated!"

'I'd rather tear my mouth than say something like that.'

Leo thought so.

"How is it? It's a rehearsal, but it's perfect, right?"

"It's excellent."

"Ahem! So, President. Our school's drama club… we might perform in Seirun in the future, you know? So, about the budget…"

"It should be sufficient already?"

"Oh, come on! The more budget, the better, right?"

"The budget allocation is already complete."

"Mm-hmm! Of course, I know that! That's why I'm saying…"

Weed looked around and then whispered in a low voice.

"To take the music club's budget and allocate it to our drama club…"

"Oh? What kind of dog act is this again?"

"Tch!"

Weed clicked his tongue at the furious voice coming from behind.

Carmeli, the 4th-year head of the music club, cracked her knuckles, then grabbed Weed by the collar.

"This darn weakling, what?! Cut the music club's budget?"

"No violence! No violence!"

"If you don't want to get hit, then don't do things that'll get you hit!"

"Oh? Yeah! Hit me! Hit me! Instead, I'll take the music club's budget as alimony!"

It was highly unlikely that Weed, from the magic department, could resist Carmeli, from the knight department.

Watching the two threaten to claim compensation instead, Leo sighed and stepped in to mediate.

"Um… Chelsea. Your school seniors are fighting?"

"Leave them. Let's just keep practicing."

Chelsea said coolly as Airan whispered softly.

Club presidents fighting over budget was not a new occurrence in Lumerne.

Among the club presidents, not only cunning schemes but also violence was rampant, so clumsy individuals could not survive.

It was especially severe between the music club and the drama club, as they had been rivals for generations.

And so, moving to the climax, Chelsea and Airan continued their performance, defeating the final boss.

Eventually, the song ended in the ending scene, and a wistful yet hopeful background music played.

As in the script, Chelsea and Airan embraced each other.

And they brought their faces close.

The music ended at a distance where their breaths could meet, and the story reached its conclusion.

Clap clap clap clap clap-

Luna, who had been focused on the two people's performance, oblivious to the fight between the Lumerne Drama and Music Club presidents, clapped her hands with sparkling eyes.

As Chelsea and Airan were about to pull apart, hearing that sound.

"Aren't you going to kiss?"

'Gasp?! Lady Luna?'

Last night.

Airan, having heard the story from Lunia, knew that the girl was Luna.

"It would be a perfect picture."

Airan said, flustered, looking at Luna licking her lips.

"Um… well, it is in the script, but since it's still acting, a kiss might be a bit much…"

"Whistle! Whistle!"

Luna whistled and instigated.

"Show us! Show us!"

At Luna's demand, Airan was caught between a rock and a hard place.

"Sister Airan. You don't have to react to everything."

"Th-that is… Chelsea."

"Huh? Were you really going to do it?"

"Th-that… but that person…"

"You don't need to pay attention to things like that!"

Chelsea, flustered, seeing Airan whose face was bright red and didn't know what to do, pulled out of Airan's embrace.

Meanwhile, Luna was dragged out of the auditorium by Leo, who had grabbed her ear.

***

"Tch. It was a good scene."

"Don't tease the kids."

"If it were me, I would've definitely kissed in that situation, you know?"

Leo sighed at Luna, who was rubbing her ear and grumbling.

Young Luna had a strong mischievous streak.

He could understand why Luna had said she was "twisted" when she was young.

'She just enjoys tormenting kids.'

Karl, and just now Chelsea and Airan.

Luna was pretending not to, but she was enjoying tormenting them.

The Luna Leo knew, though she had a bad personality, was not an elf who enjoyed tormenting others.

Leo, who was taking Luna around, showcasing her mischievous streak, pointed to a bench.

"Shall we rest there for a bit?"

"Okay."

Leo and Luna sat on the bench.

Leo took out the thermos he had received while overseeing the festival preparations.

Leo poured tea into the cup attached to the thermos, handed it to Luna, and then drank his own share of tea.

Luna, sipping the tea she received from Leo, spoke.

"Leo."

"Why?"

"In the future, did we… perhaps sleep together?"

"Pfft! Cough! Cough!"

Leo choked, spitting out the tea he was drinking, and coughed.

Luna burst into laughter, watching Leo.

"Why are you so flustered? Something really must have happened!"

"Nothing happened. There was no time for romance during that period."

"Hmm? That's strange. If it were me, I don't think I'd hide my feelings, no matter how grim the situation was? If I liked someone, I would have confessed right away?"

Luna narrowed her eyes.

Leo clicked his tongue at her expression.

'Unnecessarily sharp.'

Luna, who had been looking at Leo for a moment, gazed up at the sky.

Seeing Luna like that, Leo asked.

"So? Does it still not feel like the future here?"

"I no longer doubt that it's the future. Just looking around for about a day, I could tell how preposterous a place this Seirun is. It would be nearly impossible for Valhallrune to hide a place of this scale."

In terms of scale alone, Seirun is comparable to Valhallrune.

Even if they were ignorant of external forces outside of elf society, if there was an elf force of this magnitude, Valhallrune would have labeled them as 'undesirables.'

But Luna had never heard of such a place existing.

Leo said, looking at Luna who was silently gazing up at the sky.

"You must be very scared."

"Wow… it seems you and I really were in love with each other. Seeing as you know my heart just by my expression."

"It was your one-sided crush."

"My future self is a bit of a fool. To be charmed by a man with such a bad personality."

Luna retorted mockingly.

Seeing such a Luna, Leo asked.

"What's so scary?"

"The situation itself."

Luna's eyes sank.

"My future self is respected as a greater person than any elf I know, right?"

"Yes."

"I don't think I obtained this reputation for free."

"It was terribly difficult."

"That's why I'm scared."

"…"

"Of the things that will happen to me in the future."

Luna trembled slightly.

"I'm not that noble or dignified… I don't even want to sacrifice myself for others… I worry that I might have been pushed by others' expectations to walk a difficult path for no reason…"

Luna's eyes trembled.

"Leo. What kind of elf was the Luna you know?"

"I won't tell you."

"Why? You said you would tell me yesterday."

Leo smiled, looking at Luna who asked with a slightly annoyed expression.

"If I tell you now, won't you just act that way?"

"…"

"There's no need for that."

"Why?"

"Because no matter what your appearance, the fact that you are Luna remains unchanged."

"What is it? You only say difficult things I can't understand. I really don't think I can like a person like you."

Leo chuckled, looking at Luna who was frowning.

"You fell for me in the end, didn't you?"

"No. I won't fall for you. You must have clung to me, and we reluctantly became a couple. Right?"

"We weren't a couple."

"Unless he's an idiot, what man wouldn't date a pretty woman like me if she said she liked him?"

"…"

"See? It's not that I liked you, it's that you liked me… Ow! Why did you hit me?!"

Leo flicked Luna's head, who was looking triumphant.

"Because you're annoying."

"You can't win with words, so you resort to violence!"

Leo flicked Luna's head once more as she bristled, and Luna bit Leo's hand.

***

Whoosh.

The cold wind from the Northwest Sea swept in.

Crack-

Along with it, a masked man walked through the blizzard.

Crunch- Crunch-

He broke through the thick ice of the Northwest Sea and entered the ocean.

Eventually, the man who reached the bottom of the sea was engulfed in a bright light.

Whoosh-

The place where the man regained consciousness was engulfed in black flames.

In the space where black flames blazed, the man shouted.

"Great primordial evil! Lend me your wisdom!"