Editor : Amethyst00



“It’s my first time coming to Lumeria since admission.”

As Leo spoke while stepping off the regular ferry that went back and forth between Lumene and Lumeria, Celia nodded.

“Same for me. Things were busier than I expected, so I never had the chance to come out.”

Every weekend, many Lumene students came to Lumeria, but among the first-years, there still weren’t many who came regularly.

The reason was that they had yet to adjust to the academy schedule.

Leo tugged at the collar of his uniform.

“Don’t you think having to wear the academy uniform even in Lumeria is a bit of a stiff regulation?”

“I don’t mind. The academy uniform’s design is nice, and just being a Lumene student is an enormous honor.”

Celia shrugged her shoulders.

“And the reason that rule exists is so we don’t do anything stupid in Lumeria. If you’re wearing the uniform, the academy will immediately know who caused trouble. That’s why lots of students break it. But of course, if you get caught by a professor…”

Celia drew her hand across her neck.

“It’ll be the end like that.”

As she said, there were quite a few students who walked around Lumeria in plain clothes, and just as many who got caught by professors.

“By the way, why would the student council president want to see the two of us outside the academy?”

It was strange for the president, who had been dispatched outside, to ask to meet off-campus.

But to that question, Celia made an exasperated face.

“Are you asking because you seriously don’t know?”

“I’m seriously asking.”

“You don’t know who the student council president is?”

“Nope.”

Hearing Leo’s reply, Celia let out a long sigh.

As they stepped into the bustling Courage Street, Celia spoke.

“The student council president, Rhys-oppa, is the successor of our family! Which means he’s your older cousin!”

“Really? My cousin’s the student council president?”

“‘Really?’ Really?! How can you not know Rhys oppa? He’s Lumene’s honor student and our family’s successor!”

“Not knowing is possible.”

Looking at Leo shrugging as if it wasn’t a big deal, Celia grabbed her head.

While talking, they arrived at the inn they had stayed at before the entrance ceremony.

Jingle-jingle—

The bell rang as they opened the door and stepped in.

“Welcome! Ah, students of Lumene! Will you be staying over the weekend?”

The clerk greeted them brightly, and Celia replied:

“Rhys Zerdinger is staying here, isn’t he?”

“You mean Rhys Zerdinger? Yes, he is. Are you companions of his, or do you have a separate appointment?”

As the successor of the Zerdinger family and the student council president of Lumene, Rhys was a very famous figure.

Many people came uninvited just to try and form a connection with him.

The inn clerk, having seen plenty of that, spoke with wariness.

As an employee of a luxury inn, it was her duty to provide the guests with the best rest.

“I am—”

“Oh? Who do we have here! Isn’t this Celia?”

Someone from the first-floor lobby called out to them.

A man of eastern descent, with black hair and eyes, approached with a bright smile.

“Senior Li Jamua. It’s been a while.”

Celia bowed properly in greeting.

Li Jamua.

A fifth-year student at Lumene.

“Haha! No need to be so stiff with me!”

Li Jamua laughed heartily.

“Miss clerk, they’re with us.”

“Ah, my apologies.”

“No worries. Come inside.”

Waving his hand, Li Jamua led Celia and Leo further in.

“By the way, who’s this?”

“This is Leo Plov. My cousin.”

“Oh? You’re that infamous first-year representative?”

Jamua’s eyes gleamed.

An all-class ability holder.

That alone was enough to shock not just their grade, but the entire academy.

In the long history of Lumene, where only the most gifted students were admitted, no one had ever been an all-class ability holder.

In fact, some students and professors still considered Leo a fraud.

‘Well, even in my past life, people always stared at me in wonder whenever I was called all-class.’

Leo wasn’t fazed by their doubt.

“You seem to have the makings of an excellent knight.”

Jamua grinned as he looked at Leo.

“Rhys is waiting. Let’s go up.”

Taking the lead, he squared his shoulders broadly.

“Magic is good, and summoning is good too! But above all, the best thing is this body!”

Jamua thumped his chest with his fist.

“If you train in swordsmanship while supplementing with magic and summoning, you’ll become an incredible knight!”

At those words, Celia nodded.

“That’s true. Leo, you’ve been neglecting swordsmanship too much lately.”

“That's unacceptable! If you slack in training, you’ll never be a fine knight.”

“Really? Celia, maybe we should turn up the intensity of your training sessions.”

Celia quickly avoided Leo’s eyes, regretting she had said anything.

Unaware of the situation, Jamua smiled, thinking Leo was full of passion.

“Good attitude!”

“Quiet, Jamua.”

A sharp voice rang out as they reached the top of the stairs.

“Do you not remember the professors warning us never to force our majors on dual-class students? And yet you’re already trying to shove a major on an all-class junior the very first time you meet?”

Leaning against the second-floor corridor wall was a southern woman with light brown skin and reddish-brown eyes.

She wore the Lumene uniform with a badge marked ‘5’ on her chest—clearly another senior.

On her right shoulder was an embroidered emblem of a book and staff, marking her as a student of the magic department.

She pushed off the wall, heels clicking, and stepped past Jamua to stand before Leo and Celia.

“Hello, my name is Torua Yan. You must be Celia? Rhys told me a lot about you.”

“Hello, Torua-sunbae.”

Though it was their first meeting, Celia had also heard of her from Rhys.

She was said to be the top scorer in the fifth-year magic department written exams.

“And… you must be Leo Plov?”

Torua silently looked him over, then scoffed.

“Professor Len praised you to the skies, so I expected something more… but what’s with that pitiful mana capacity? I feel like a fool for expecting anything.”

“Did you just call Leo pitiful?”

Celia bristled.

“I only spoke the truth. Anyway. Leo.”

Click, click—

Torua walked up to Leo and said:

“Quit the knight and summoning classes right now. Focus on magic instead.”

She slung an arm around his shoulder and pointed toward the ceiling.

“Leo, look up. Don’t you see your potential shining like the stars in the night sky?”

“All I see are the enchanted chandelier lamps.”

“You didn’t understand me. I meant close your eyes and look.”

“Then I’ll only see darkness.”

“You’ve got the ability to judge things literally and intuitively. That’s an essential quality for a mage. Clearly, you were born to be one.”

Torua was the textbook example of a mage who only ever said what she wanted to say.

“Torua-sunbae, just earlier you said we shouldn’t force majors on others…”

“Celia, sorry, but this is magic department business. Don’t interfere, alright?”

Celia frowned and turned to Jamua.

“Is this okay?”

“Of course not. But she’s a magic hardhead—doesn’t matter what you tell her, she won’t listen.”

Jamua shook his head.

“If the professors find out what she’s doing, she’ll get chewed out badly.”

“But the professors don’t know.”

“They’ll find out.”

“How?”

“Because I’m going to snitch.”

Celia blinked blankly at the teary-eyed camaraderie built over five years of life-and-death friendship.

bl

“Oppa!”

“Celia, how have you been?”

When Celia entered Rhys’s room, she beamed and clung to him.

Leo looked on curiously.

It was his first time seeing Celia act spoiled—normally, as a Zerdinger, she always emphasized neat appearance and proper conduct.

‘So she really is just a 15-year-old girl.’

Leo chuckled faintly at her age-appropriate side.

Then Rhys turned to him.

“You must be Leo. I’ve heard much about you. Is your mother doing well?”

“Yes. You’ve met my mother before?”

“When you were little. And after I came to Lumene, I’ve exchanged letters with her many times.”

“With Auntie?”

Celia looked surprised, and Rhys laughed.

“She was quite famous in her student days. You’ll naturally hear the legends if you stick around long enough.”

“Like what?”

“For example, when the dorm cafeteria’s desserts were awful, she rallied the students and stormed the principal’s office. That one’s really well-known.”

“That was Auntie?”

“So it really was Mother.”

Celia’s jaw dropped while Leo looked unsurprised, as if he’d expected it.

“Yeah. Thanks to her, students can now enjoy good desserts in the dorm cafeteria. I’ve tasted the old dessert myself, and as student council president, I couldn’t agree with her more.”

Chuckling, Rhys nodded.

“Anyway, sorry to call you out on the weekend. Once the semester kicks in, I’ll be too busy to see you for a while. That’s why I asked to meet like this.”

“I don’t mind!”

Happy to see him again, Celia chatted cheerfully with her cousin.

While caring for his younger cousin, Rhys also kept an eye on Leo.

‘I see why Celia admires him.’

As successor to the Zerdinger family and as student council president of Lumene—

Rhys was flawless.

His skills and his character were both extraordinary.

‘He’s someone close to being a hero already.’

Leo felt it was only a matter of time before Rhys reached the seat of hero.

“So, oppa! Which Hero Dungeon did you raid this time? Whose hero was it?”

In the middle of their talk, Celia asked.

“That’s still confidential, even to you. But I can tell you that I recovered two pages.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Though one is so badly damaged it’s impossible to reproduce its Hero's World.”

Speaking with regret, Rhys checked the clock.

It was already dinner time.

“Time to eat. You don’t know Lumeria’s hidden gourmet spots, do you?”

“No. There are places like that?”

“Of course. I haven’t been in Lumene five years for nothing. I’ll take you to a really great place tonight.”

“Wow!”

Celia laughed brightly and jumped to her feet.

“Leo, is there anything you can’t eat?”

“I eat anything.”

“Good. Then head down first. I’ll pack up and go down.”

Humming happily, Celia pushed Leo out the door.

Rhys then pulled out a small sealed box containing the Hero Record pages he had recovered.

As something ordinary students must never see, he always kept it on him when going out.

Just as he lifted the palm-sized box, he froze.

A strange wave of power pulsed from it.

‘What is this? Is the Hero Dungeon we conquered trying to go berserk again?’

Rhys’s expression tightened.

Torn pages were unstable.

Even after being conquered, they sometimes went berserk again and spawned new Hero Dungeons.

Opening the box to check, Rhys frowned.

The Hero Record inside showed no reaction.

‘Wait. Don’t tell me…?’

He hastily opened the box containing the heavily damaged page.

A tiny fragment the size of a fingertip glimmered faintly with gray light.

Until now, it had shown no reaction at all—but now, it was revealing power.

Rhys could only stare in shock.

‘What on earth is this…?’