Editor : Amethyst00



The news that Leo had visited the Horticulture Club spread throughout all the clubs in an instant.

Since it was the period right before the Lumeiren Competition, everyone was particularly sensitive about budget matters.

For that reason, most clubs welcomed Leo’s arrival to their club.

Among them were quite a few who harbored the sneaky intent of squeezing more funds out of the easygoing first-year and soon-to-be student council president.

“This one probably won’t get additional funding.”

“—Huh?!”

At Leo’s words, the head of the Magic Engineering Club made a shocked face.

“W-why?! Why not?! Why can’t we get additional funding when the Horticulture Club did?!”

The fourth-year head of the Magic Engineering Club, Jaime Dect, flared up.

Looking at him, Leo said,

“The spatial movement magic formula that drastically reduces mana stone consumption, It’s been your club’s long-term project for the past two years, right?”

“Yeah! Once it’s complete, the profit will be greater than all the funds we’ve used so far!”

“Be honest, sunbae. From your perspective, how complete is it?”

“It’s almost complete!”

“Almost?”

Leo’s face went expressionless.

At that, Jaime flinched and stammered,

“H-halfway.”

“Halfway?”

“We’ve solved all the difficult parts! Only the minor details are left now!”

“You’re graduating next year, aren’t you, sunbae? When the head of the Magic Engineering Club graduates, who’s going to continue this project?”

“I’ve got capable, smart juniors!”

At Jaime’s words, the other club members sighed.

He was always scolding them for not understanding things — yet now he was calling them competent.

‘He’s just like the last club head.’

‘Still, if we want the budget, we’d better play along.’

All the club members had invested at least half a year of research into this magical project.

So they wanted to secure more funds at any cost.

“That’s right, Leo. We’re going to carry on the project after sunbae graduates!”

“Yeah, since it’s research that’s been continuing since our senior’s time, it’s steadily developing!”

The first-, second-, and third-years emphasized the project’s importance.

‘Well, it’s not theoretically impossible,’ Leo thought as he examined the magic formula.

It was clear that research had made significant progress.

However, it was still far from yielding any real results.

“Even so, it’s not something suitable to present at the Lumeiren Competition, is it? The additional budget is meant for Lumeiren Competition preparations.”

At Chen Xia’s words, Jaime sighed and pressed his hand to his forehead.

“Ai, ai. That’s why the Knight Department is hopeless. Even research in progress has presentation value. Every year, our Magic Engineering Club has been praised by Seiren’s teacher during the Lumeiren Competition!”

“Yes. And every year, you’ve been rated lower than Seiren’s Magic Engineering Club, which presented practical magic formulas — according to this record here.”

Chen Xia spoke with her usual gentle smile, and Jaime’s face reddened.

“Magic is the realm of exploration and creation! Don’t compare us to Seiren’s club, who chase nothing but practicality with no dreams!”

“That's true!”

“Our Magic Engineering Club will complete this spell no matter what! We’ll bring revolution to the world!”

The club members cheered enthusiastically at Jaime’s speech.

“Now! Let me explain, one by one, why our club needs additional funding! Blackboard! Chalk!”

At Jaime’s shout, members brought a small chalkboard and some chalk.

“Spatial movement magic works by folding space to move between points, right? To connect distant spaces, you inevitably have to fold a huge area, which consumes massive power! So! We fold the space multiple times into smaller layers! Like a spring! Then the mana consumption…”

As Jaime launched into a complicated explanation, Chen Xia gave Leo a helpless look.

After all, she was a complete outsider to magic. She couldn’t possibly follow such technical details.

Meanwhile, Leo nodded thoughtfully as he listened. “Hmm… hmm…”

Seeing that, Jaime smiled inwardly in triumph.

‘Professor Len and Torua-sunbae also praised our research!’

The Magic Engineering Club had always managed to secure generous funding without tangible results, largely thanks to Len’s and Torua’s influence as both known for encouraging innovative research.

‘Leo Plov is a mage too! He’ll surely recognize the value of our work!’

Confident, Jaime put the chalk down.

“So, what do you think?”

“It’s impressive.”

“Right? So the additional budget—”

“But with this progress, I think not only should we not add funding. We might even have to cut next year’s.”

Crack!

At Leo’s unexpected words, Jaime froze.

“You—you didn’t understand my explanation, did you?”

“I understood perfectly. Which is why I’ll now explain why it should be cut.”

Leo picked up the chalk and began marking the board, he's pointing out every section that needed correction or improvement.

Tap.

Setting down the chalk, Leo looked at the speechless Jaime and said,

“With this research direction, you can actually save on costs. So naturally, the budget should be reduced, right?”

The points Leo made were ones even Jaime himself was aware of, he’d just avoided mentioning them to justify a bigger budget.

“W-wait! We also have other research—”

“You said you’d complete this spell with your club’s honor on the line and change the world, didn’t you? Then you should focus entirely on that. Xia, note the budget cut and report it to Elena-sunbae.”

“Understood, Leo-doryeong.”

“W-wait—E-Elena?”

The one handling most of the administration work, Hark, wasn’t fond of magic.

So anything magic-related would naturally go to Elena.

And Elena was also the acting director — essentially the source of all school funding.

‘She’ll be delighted to slash our budgets.’

Indeed, Elena was sure to cut them without hesitation.

Torua, the Magic Engineering Club’s biggest supporter, was about to graduate.

And as for Len—

‘Leo recommended cutting their budget? Then we’ll cut it,’ he’d say without a second thought.

It was well-known how eagerly Len wanted to recruit Leo into the Magic Department.

In the end, Jaime could only cling to Leo’s pants and beg.

“Please, anything but a budget cut! Forget the additional budget. Just don’t cut it, please!”

The other club members also grabbed Leo’s legs, pleading desperately.

In the end, the Magic Engineering Club received no additional budgets.

bl

The next place Leo visited was “The Power,” the physical training club mainly composed of Knight Department students.

As Leo and Chen Xia entered, they saw members working out with weights.

“…Do you need additional budget support?”

“Yes! We need to buy supplements to help with muscle training.”

“Do those actually help?”

“Of course! Look at this magnificent arm!”

Dyck Bickler, the fourth-year head of The Power, flexed his arm proudly.

Seeing the bulging muscles twitch, Chen Xia exclaimed in admiration.

“Leo! As you know, in real combat, aura and technique matter, but physical training is just as vital! Our club pursues the pinnacle of bodily discipline! Behold this beautiful physique!”

With a grunt, Dyck tensed — and his muscles rippled all over his body.

Watching this, Leo said flatly,

“For actual combat, you don’t really need that much muscle. We’ll pass on the additional funding.”

“Wait, don’t say it so firmly! Just a little. Half, no, even a quarter!”

Dyck pleaded desperately.

Many clubs had thought they could easily wring funds from the first-year president, but in the worst cases, they ended up having their budgets reduced instead.

By evening, Leo had become known among the club heads as the Grim Reaper of budgets.

bl

“Welcome, Leo.”

When Leo entered the Art Club, Celia greeted him.

“Where’s the club president?”

“She ran away. She said she was too scared. Apparently, the Art Club doesn’t need any additional budget.”

Celia sighed softly, recalling how the president had been eager to request more funds until the rumors of Leo’s visits spread.

“Ran away before I even got here? Hm. Feeling guilty, maybe?”

“N-no! Not at all!”

The Art Club president, Myria Juliet, burst out of the storage room, pale with panic.

Panting heavily, she forced a smile.

“W-welcome to the Art Club! Since you’re here, want to see the pieces we’re presenting at the Lumeiren Competition?”

“Yes.”

Leo nodded readily.

Guided by Myria, Leo and Chen Xia observed the artworks in progress.

Among them, one painting stood out most — a depiction of the Phoenix.

“It’s magnificent. The way the flames are rendered is remarkable.”

“Right? Celia painted that.”

“Oh.”

Leo looked at his cousin with admiration. Celia brushed her hair aside nonchalantly.

There was also a stunning sculpture beside it — a figure of Luna, smiling gently.

‘That’s… no semblance of her at all.’

Suppressing a chuckle, Leo asked,

“Who made this one?”

It was clearly the work of an exceptional hand.

“Walden.”

“Walden? He’s in the Art Club too?”

“Yeah. He doesn’t come often, but his sculpting skills are amazing.”

“I see.”

Leo nodded appreciatively.

After viewing everything, Myria asked nervously,

“So, what did you think?”

“Excellent.”

“Right?! Our Art Club has beaten Seiren’s every year in the art exhibition!”

She puffed out her chest proudly — only for Leo to reply,

“Then, shall we talk about the budget now? Don’t you think your club’s funding might be a bit too large?”

Thud—!

Myria’s legs gave out and she collapsed onto the spot, looking up at Leo in terror.

“P-please, anything but the cuts…”

“I’m joking.”

Leo smiled and left the Art Club.

Celia narrowed her eyes as she seeing him off.

“Leo.”

“What?”

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

“Yeah. It’s fun.”

‘…If he’s like this already, I can’t even imagine how terrifying he’ll be once he officially starts his presidency.’

Thinking her cousin was fully capable of ruling through fear someday, Celia shook her head.

bl

That evening—

Lumene held its annual banquet.

Every year after the second semester midterms, the school gathered all grades for a grand banquet.

It marked the end of summer and the beginning of autumn.

And autumn was also the season when Kyle had defeated Erebos.

So the banquet carried the meaning of celebrating the return of peace.

‘Back then, I didn’t even know it was autumn.’

In the great hall next to the Tower of Heroes, students from all grades sat and dined.

Above them, wind elementals flitted through the air, delivering small gifts to the students.

As this season symbolized new hope, it was traditional for adults to give children presents they had long wanted.

Leo, too, had received many gifts from his parents around this time every year.

But this year was different.

“…That’s a lot of gifts.”

Leo looked at the flurry of wind elementals carrying boxes toward him and frowned slightly.

Carl checked the names written on the boxes and clicked his tongue.

“Looks like the rulers and faction leaders of every nation. They’re probably trying to curry favor since you became student council president.”

Rip—

Leo unwrapped a palm-sized box and checked its contents.

Inside was a necklace.

“Whoa, that’s an artifact from Dyden!”

Carl exclaimed.

“Dyden, that’s the workshop Chelsea likes, right?”

“Yeah. Even most noble families can’t afford their stuff.”

Clicking his tongue, Carl examined it closely.

“There’s a shield spell on it. That’s insanely expensive. They must really want your favor.”

Leo placed the necklace back in its box.

“I don’t need it.”

“Still, better to have it than not.”

Carl chuckled and picked up another package.

“This one doesn’t have a sender’s name.”

Indeed, the long box was simply wrapped in brown paper, with no signature.

“Everything coming in from outside goes through a security check, so it’s probably safe… but still suspicious.”

Chelsea, busy eating pasta, mumbled through a mouthful,

“Mmm, open it.”

Rip—

With a curious look, Leo unwrapped it.

Inside was a smooth, old wooden box.

He carefully opened the lid.

Click—

Inside lay a plain longsword and a letter.

“A longsword?”

“Huh, it looks ordinary.”

Both Chelsea and Carl tilted their heads.

When everyone else had sent extravagant gifts, this simple sword stood out.

“I can feel some unusual mana from it…”

“Wait, I’ve never seen this material before!” Carl, coming from an alchemist family, was astonished.

Leo brushed a finger along the blade’s surface and murmured,

“It’s dragon bone.”

“What?”

“Dragon bone?!”

The shocked exclamations drew everyone’s attention toward Leo.

He unfolded the letter.

It was written in small, neat handwriting.

[Congratulations on becoming the Student Council President.] [Please make good use of this.]