Editor : Amethyst00



“Ha, has the time finally come for this body’s name to be known to the entire world?”

“Yeah, keep dreaming.”

“Why would anyone even need to know your name?”

That evening, the entire dormitory cafeteria was in an uproar over the topic of mission training.

“Everyone’s excited about the mission practice.”

Chelsea opened her mouth wide and took a spoonful of the pudding that came as dessert.

“Mmm~”

Seeing Chelsea hold her cheeks happily, Carl asked,

“What’s up? Is the pudding that good?”

“It’s a limited edition today, so I’m not giving you any.”

Watching Chelsea’s overly defensive attitude, Carl said flatly,

“Fine, I don’t want it anyway.”

“Good. Don’t. Leo oppa, do you want a bite?”

“What’s with this difference in treatment?!”

Carl protested with a teary face.

Ignoring him, Chelsea scooped a spoonful of pudding and looked at Leo.

“I’m fine.”

“This is really good! You’ve never had limited-edition pudding before, right, Leo oppa?”

“Yeah, Leo. That stuff’s amazing. There’s a reason everyone’s fighting to get some.”

Carl, who had tasted it before, nodded in agreement with Chelsea.

“Then maybe I’ll try a bite.”

“Mm-hm.”

Just as Chelsea was about to feed Leo a spoonful—

Snap!

“Mmm~! As expected, limited-edition pudding is delicious.”

Someone suddenly swooped in and ate it.

Chelsea’s eyes shot wide open, and she tried to stir the spoon still in Celia’s mouth like crazy.

But Celia bit down hard on the spoon and even snatched it away from Chelsea’s hand.

“Are you a crocodile?!”

“Hmph.”

Celia brushed her hair back with a smirk.

When Chelsea tried to grab the spoon back, she glared at Celia and Carl and warned,

“If anyone touch my pudding, you’re dead!”

“I’ll make sure no one does.”

When Leo laughed and said that, Chelsea finally relaxed and hurried off to fetch another spoon.

“Leo, you still haven’t decided where to go for the mission training, right?”

“I already decided. Why?”

“With who? Don’t tell me you’re going with the Class 5 kids?”

Celia frowned.

If he was going with his classmates, that obviously meant Chelsea would be included.

For Celia, who had planned to pair up with Leo for the training, that was an unwelcome idea.

“No. I’m going alone.”

“What? Then perfect! Go with m—”

“Guess who?”

Just then, someone covered Leo’s eyes from behind.

Leo calmly moved the hands away and said,

“What is it, Chen Xia?”

“Aww, you’re no fun.”

Chen Xia looked deflated by his dull reaction and withdrew her hands.

Celia tilted her head.

“You two play like that often?”

“I try to tease Leo-doryeon, but he’s always so unreactive, it’s no fun.”

Grumbling, Chen Xia poked Leo’s cheek.

Watching that, Carl turned his head—

And saw Chelsea, frozen in place, holding her spoon.

“Chelsea-yang. Hello.”

Chen Xia waved with a smile.

“Oh, uh, hi.”

Chelsea replied awkwardly and sat down across from Leo, glancing between him and Chen Xia.

“You came about the mission training too?”

“Yes. I thought it’d be good to team up with Leo-doryeon. If Celia-yang is also planning to form a party with him, could you include me too?”

“Hm. The top three from the Knight Department doing mission practice together… not bad. That’s a luxurious lineup.”

It was Carl who responded to Celia’s comment.

“It’s not like I have a thing for our country’s prince, but still—second place is Duran, right? And why is Leo even in the Knight Department?”

“Yeah! Exactly!”

Chelsea swung her spoon in protest.

Celia replied indifferently,

“What are you talking about? Once it’s officially announced that Leo’s my cousin, he’ll definitely be in the Knight Department.”

“Huh? That’s going to be announced publicly?”

“Yeah. Probably soon.”

Carl blinked in surprise while Celia nodded casually.

“So it’s true Leo-doryeon and Celia-yang are blood relatives.”

“You figured it out?”

“The flames the two of you use are similar. Any observant student could’ve guessed.”

Chen Xia shrugged.

“Anyway! Leo! Let’s do mission training together!”

“She’s right. It’d be better for people from the same department to team up.”

Chen Xia chimed in with Celia.

“I haven’t even chosen a department yet. And besides, I already picked my mission training.”

“Then we’ll go with you. If you chose it, it must be high-level.”

“Leo oppa said he’s going on a bandit extermination.”

“Bandit extermination? Are there any major bandit groups still active right now?”

“I haven’t heard any news about that.”

The two girls looked puzzled, and Leo just gave them an indifferent look.

“It’s just clearing out a bandit gang in some rural backwater.”

“What? Why?!”

“That kind of mission training won’t help your grades at all.”

As they complained, Chelsea muttered with her spoon still in her mouth,

“I told him so many times, but he wouldn’t listen.”

“He must have his reasons.”

Carl leaned back in his chair, and Chelsea pouted.

“Still, with Leo oppa’s skills, he could easily handle a much better request.”

Even after Celia tried several more times to persuade him, Leo didn’t budge.

After they finished eating and left the cafeteria—

Murmur, murmur—

A commotion was happening in front of the dormitory.

“What’s going on?”

Carl asked, and a Summoning Department student answered excitedly,

“The senior members of the Dungeon Raiders are here!”

“What?”

“They’re recruiting first-years to join them for mission practice!”

Dungeon Raiders— a party made up of honor students with outstanding grades.

They’re officially approved by the academy to participate in hero-dungeon expeditions.

In short, they were the best of the best at Lumene.

As they headed toward the entrance, they saw a group of upperclassmen—third and fourth years, by the looks of it.

Fifth years didn’t participate in recruitment since they were graduating this year.

“Ah! Celia!”

Someone called out to her.

A boy with black hair and red eyes— Barden Zerdinger, Celia’s relative and a second-year student at Lumene.

“Perfect! I was waiting for you!”

“Why?” Celia asked, crossing her arms.

Barden grinned widely.

“Why else? To invite you to join our party!”

For ordinary students, getting into a raider party was a huge honor.

Dungeon Raiders were the top of the top, and joining meant building valuable connections.

So everyone tried desperately to get in.

But of course, there were exceptions.

The prodigies.

Especially those like Celia—students the raider parties were begging to recruit.

They already had enough talent to become dungeon raiders themselves once they reached upper grades.

So the top parties naturally sought them out.

“You haven’t joined any raider party yet, right? Brother Rhys’s team is all fifth-years, so they’re disbanding this year.”

Rhys Zerdinger’s raiding team, Red Wing, was a legendary party he formed himself.

It was built around powerful peers like Torua and Jamua, and had been active since their third year.

Many third- and fourth-years had wanted to join, but since Red Wing only accepted members from the same year, it would end with this term.

“I’m part of Elena-sunbae’s raider party, Blue Moon! I guarantee, the only team as influential as ours in all of Lumene is Red Wing!”

As Barden boasted proudly, Chelsea sneered.

“Perfect. Then you can go ahead, Celia.”

“Chelsea Lewellin? Want me to invite you too?”

“No thanks. And who do you think you are, calling my name like that?”

“What? You don’t know me? You’ve never heard of Barden Zerdinger?”

“Why would I memorize the names of collateral branches of the Zerdinger family?”

“What did you just say?”

Barden snapped, offended by Chelsea’s sharp remark.

But she wasn’t wrong.

Even if the Zerdingers were prestigious, a direct descendant of Lewellin had no reason to remember a distant relative’s name.

“A-anyway! We’re going to explore a hero-dungeon this time! It’s during the mission period, so if you come with us, it’ll be a huge advantage. You’ll even get easy credit management!”

Celia replied,

“I’m not planning to join a raider party yet.”

“What?”

“Let’s go, Leo.”

Celia walked off, and Leo followed.

‘That bastard…!’

Barden glared at Leo’s back.

As a Zerdinger himself, he knew Leo might be named the next successor.

‘He doesn’t even bear the Zerdinger name!’

Though Leo’s bloodline was closer to the main branch, Barden refused to accept him.

As Leo, Celia, Chelsea, Chen Xia, and Carl walked away, the raider recruiters rushed toward them.

Among first-years, Leo, Celia, Chelsea, and Chen Xia were must-recruit targets.

Along with them, the students who had distinguished themselves by defeating Gigantes during the inter-department tournament were also being surrounded by seniors.

“Lucky popular kids.”

Carl muttered from a few steps back.

“True. Leo’s quite the celebrity.”

“Huh? Wha—!”

Hearing the clear, elegant voice beside him, Carl gasped for air.

He wasn’t the only one. Everyone around turned and froze.

It was an overwhelming presence.

‘Elena Zeron!’

She was a senior so far above the first-years it was like looking at the sky itself.

Even the other upperclassmen doing recruitment stopped, startled.

Elena—the so-called Queen of the Academy—was rarely seen, even by the older students.

She smiled brightly at Carl, and his face flushed red at her breathtaking beauty.

The Blue Moon party quickly gathered around when they realized Elena had arrived.

But no one dared to stand beside her or speak to her.

The recruiters present were only minor members; even regular members found it difficult to approach her.

When Elena began walking, the crowd instinctively parted.

She moved through the students with practiced grace—

And stopped right in front of Leo.

“Hello, Leo.”

“Hello, Elena-sunbae.”

Leo greeted her calmly, even in the face of her dazzling, almost enchanting smile.

Finding his composure amusing, Elena said,

“My raider party is heading to explore a hero-dungeon.”

“Yes.”

“Join us. I’ll take you in as a full raider-party member.”

Everyone gasped at the offer.

The leader of a raider party inviting a first-year to join? Unheard of.

“I’ll make you the best, Leo Plov.”

Elena smiled confidently and held out her hand.

Beautiful, powerful, and wielding enormous influence—who in their right mind would refuse such an offer?

“I’ll pass.”

‘What did he just say?’

‘He refused?’

Everyone froze, unable to process Leo’s words.

Even Elena’s perfect brow furrowed slightly.

“Why?”

“As I said before, I’m expensive.”