Editor : Amethyst00



After morning assembly came class prep time.

The first class was the Knight Studies major course.

Leo headed toward the training ground with the Knight Studies students of Class 5.

“Suddenly a joint class? That’s way too abrupt.”

At that, Eliana tilted her head.

Seeing her, Nella spoke.

“They say joint classes with the three great class academies happen from time to time.”

“True. But those were cases where Lumene students themselves went to take classes at each academy.”

“Right. But this time the three academies’ students are the ones coming to Lumene, aren’t they?”

The Three Great Class Academies.

Even if they were treated as second-choice, that only showed how exceptional Lumene was. They were by no means low-level.

The Knight Academy Icott was founded by the Knight League, the Magic Academy Emerald by the Mage Tower, and the Summoning Academy Skarn by the Summoner’s Guild.

As institutions created and run by groups that represented each class, they were places where humans could receive the best education in their respective fields.

Not only Lumene, but the three academies too had produced many heroes.

And yet, they could never surpass Lumene’s reputation.

“Wasn’t the whole reason those academies were founded to put a stop to Lumene’s monopoly?”

The Lumene Academy and the city of Lumeria belonged to no faction. Neutral in name, yet powerful enough on their own to sway the continent.

Because they monopolized the Hero Records, every nation had no choice but to depend heavily on Lumene.

Naturally, outstanding talent from across the continent flowed into Lumene.

Of course, most returned to their homelands after graduation. But once formed, that sense of belonging to “Lumene” didn’t vanish easily.

Not a few students moved on from Lumene into other countries or entered the “Hero League” founded by Lumene itself.

To challenge this dominance, rulers of nations dissatisfied with Lumene banded together and created the Three Academies.

At first, the academies did achieve their purpose of preventing talent drain.

“But as time passed, they inevitably came to be seen as second-choice compared to Lumene.”

Eliana muttered, hands clasped behind her head.

It was humiliating for the academies, but reality was reality.

They could not surpass Lumene in any respect.

Still, Lumene sought active exchange with the academies.

After all, Lumene’s founding purpose was hero cultivation.

But Lumene could not raise every student into a hero.

Thus, academies with the same goal served as valuable institutions to train those students whom Lumene could not embrace.

So Lumene pushed for exchanges with the Three Academies.

Joint classes were often held, and student exchanges valued.

Yet, never before had they invited such a large group from the academies to Lumene itself.

In the second semester, excellent students sometimes came as exchange students—but that was a small handful.

There was no helping it.

Lumene’s course level was far beyond the average of the academy students.

Slowing class progress for their sake would be too great a loss.

Above all, with the Hero Records in Lumene, large-scale entry of outsiders was a severe security risk.

And yet this time, for once, the academies’ students were coming en masse to Lumene.

Students were understandably perplexed.

Seeing Nella and Eliana’s doubtful expressions, Leo spoke.

“Political reasons, probably.”

“Mm. Could be, as the class rep said.”

During the first semester, many incidents had struck Lumene.

During midterms, the Hero Record ran out of control.

In the inter-department tournament, Tartaros launched a massive assault on the entire first year, aiming for their lives.

Though they overcame everything, to those who disliked Lumene it was a feast of ammunition.

So the school had been opened to the academies.

The greatest purpose of this exchange meeting was to show Lumene’s resilience.

When they arrived at the training ground, students from other classes were already buzzing about the joint lessons.

And the moment Leo appeared, all eyes shifted toward him.

Joint classes aside, Leo—who had conquered Luna’s world—remained a burning topic.

As students stared at him with curiosity,

“Leo.”

Celia approached.

As always, neatly dressed in her uniform, she brushed her hair back and spoke.

“Are you feeling alright?”

“Yeah.”

“Honestly, only you. How did you go out for a bandit subjugation and end up conquering Lady Luna’s world?”

Her expression shifted from wonder to bright-eyed excitement.

“So? What was Lady Luna’s world like? You met her in person, didn’t you?”

At her question, the students fell silent, all attention fixed on Leo.

Everyone was deeply curious about the great heroes’ worlds.

Even Duran, who had dropped by their class earlier, stared intently at him.

“There you are, Leo.”

Suddenly, someone broke through the crowd of first-years.

Turning their heads, they saw a famous student standing there.

None other than the Vice Student Council President, and a fifth-year of the Magic Department—Torua.

The sudden appearance of a fifth-year mage in the first-year Knight Studies class startled them.

Torua walked straight to Leo.

Then spoke.

“Leo, what are you doing here? You’ve got Magic class.”

“It’s not Magic class right now.”

Leo replied with an incredulous look, and Torua nodded.

“Yeah. But one just came up. Professor Len told me to bring you.”

“Why me?”

“I heard from Elena. The magic the Poet wanted to create—you deciphered it during the first-semester trip, didn’t you? Professor Len’s holding a special lecture about it. And he says the one who interpreted it has to be there.”

And indeed, that was true.

Just earlier.

Len had received Elena’s raid report and was practically trembling with excitement.

The Poet of the Stars was not only revered by elves but admired by all mages.

And the magic tied to Luna—Leo had deciphered it.

Len could not help but be thrilled.

Unable to contain himself, he had announced a special lecture.

Hearing Torua’s explanation, Celia looked incredulous.

“Hold on. That’s a lecture sprung up out of nowhere. Why does Leo have to skip Knight Studies for that?”

“Because Leo’s in the Magic Department.”

“No, he isn’t! Leo’s in the Knight Department!”

Celia snapped, yanking Leo’s hand toward her.

Torua grabbed his other hand.

“Why so uptight? Missing one Knight Studies class won’t hurt.”

“It will hurt his Knight Studies credits!”

“It’s fine. He’s a mage.”

‘This girl is impossible to talk to!’

Thinking so, Celia tugged on Leo like it was a game of tug-of-war.

Leo let out a long sigh.

“You’re strong.”

Of course, though first-year versus fifth-year, Torua was a pure mage—there was no way she could overpower Celia, a Knight student.

Still gripping his arm, Leo was pulled toward Celia’s side, when Torua suddenly noticed something, released his hand, and—

“Kyaa?”

Unable to resist the force, Celia toppled backward.

But she quickly caught her balance before hitting the ground.

Leo too steadied himself easily.

“Torua Yan. What are you doing in the first-year Knight Studies class?”

A cold voice rang out.

Everyone swallowed hard.

Standing there was none other than Ain.

Seeing him, Torua quickly bowed.

“Hello, Professor Ain. I came to fetch Leo for a Magic Department special lecture.”

“What is this about?”

She pulled out Len’s letter and handed it over.

Ain read it flatly, then said:

“Tell Len to stop spouting nonsense.”

Ain was notorious for his strict adherence to rules.

A sudden “special lecture” and pulling students out of class would never fly with him.

Torua, however, produced another letter and passed it over.

Unfolding it, Ain gave a chilly smile.

“Associate Professor Claria.”

“Yes.”

“Continue the class. I’ll go have a word with Len.”

“…Understood.”

“Torua Yan. You’re coming too.”

“Yes, sir. Later, first-years.”

Cheerfully waving, Torua left the ground with him.

Her look made it obvious she was marching off to break LenW in half.

“Quiet down. I’ll start roll call.”

Claria stepped in, unfazed, and carried on with the lesson.

‘Guess Anna will be back to complain again today.’

She thought of Len’s assistant Anna with a wry smile.

Watching this, Nella leaned to Eliana.

“Eliana, you’re a magic swordsman. How would you feel if professors fought over you like that?”

“As I’ve said before, I’d rather not have that kind of popularity.”

Eliana shook her head firmly.

bl

Back to daily life, Leo quickly adapted to school again.

Peers and seniors still shot curious looks at him, but such interest faded with time.

Meanwhile, concrete details about the joint classes emerged.

“Hey! Crazy news! Each academy’s sending two hundred students!”

About three days after Leo’s discharge,

Carl, the class gossip, burst into Class 5 with the news.

Students’ eyes widened.

Two hundred per academy—six hundred outsiders in total.

Truly unprecedented.

“How long are they staying?”

“Two whole weeks, they say.”

“Then what about our classes for two weeks?”

“Midterms are coming soon.”

Voices of worry rippled through Class 5.

Two weeks of joint lessons would surely disrupt progress.

Though all of Class 5 had survived thus far, some were beginning to struggle just keeping up.

As concerns spread,

the door opened, and Chelsea appeared.

“Leo oppa.”

“What is it?”

“Professor Harrid is calling for you.”

Leo stood, puzzled, and followed her to the staff office.

There, he found other students waiting.

Including Chelsea, the top-three first-years of each department had been gathered.

They too looked confused by the sudden summons.

Leo joined them, still puzzled.

Then Harrid emerged from the office.

Creak—

Step, step—

Students watched him tensely.

Whatever the reason, Harrid’s summons was no small matter.

“You’re all here.”

He spoke evenly.

“There is something you must do regarding the joint lessons.”

“What is it?”

Celia asked, frowning.

Harrid’s lips curved slightly.

“You’ll be given authority over the academy students.”

The students looked baffled.

“Authority?”

“What exactly do you mean?”

Harrid’s smile widened.

“Simply put, you’ll be their instructors.”