Editor : Amethyst00



The Flame of Calamity that appeared during the Festival of Heroes.

A tremendous incident that unfolded under the gaze of the entire world.

But the calamity soon turned into a miracle.

The appearance of the Hero of the Beginning—Kyle.

The world was soon ecstatic at the sight of Kyle, who defeated the Flame of Calamity and then vanished.

After the chaos was settled, the Festival of Heroes resumed.

There had been a crisis, but no casualties.

“Phew~ I really thought it was the end for a moment there.”

Carl, who was preparing his stall, chuckled with a laugh.

“You seem to be in a good mood.”

“Of course! Do you know how much blood and sweat I put into preparing for the Festival of Heroes? It would’ve been so unfair if it got canceled!”

After the incident was settled, there was talk about whether the Festival of Heroes should continue.

But because of the countless people who had been waiting for it, the decision was made to carry it out to the end.

“Rather, thanks to that incident, it’s gotten even more attention. All thanks to the timely appearance of the Hero of the Beginning.”

Three days had passed since the start of the Festival of Heroes.

Currently, the four Hero Academies were neck and neck, competing fiercely while maintaining nearly identical scores.

The spectators watching the hero candidates' performances grew more and more excited.

Before long, as Leo had wished, the event had truly become a festival for everyone to enjoy.

“So, what are you preparing?”

Leo asked with a puzzled expression, and Carl grinned.

“My final grand score in Lumene.”

Carl proudly raised his thumb with a confident face.

“Shouldn’t the finale be dazzling?”

“What are you planning to do?”

In response to Leo’s question, Carl showed him a signboard.

“A raffle?”

“Yeah, nothing says festival like a raffle, right? I’m teaming up with Drianna to open a booth.”

“Why Drianna?”

“She’ll be running another stall right next to mine.”

Carl hummed a cheerful tune.

Watching him, Leo asked, “What about advancing to 3rd year?”

“It’d be nice if I could. But it’s hopeless, right?”

Carl shrugged.

“But that doesn’t mean I’m giving up or going back to my hometown.”

“Then what?”

“I bought a small building in Lumeria City.”

“When? With what money?”

“A while ago. I’ve been hustling since I enrolled, haven’t I?”

Carl made a circle with his thumb and forefinger and grinned.

“Our noble clients are big spenders. I managed to save up nicely. With that, I bought a building.”

While preparing the stall, Carl explained.

“Starting next year, I’ll base myself in Lumeria City and expand my business using what I learned in Lumene.”

“Business?”

“Not just battle gear, but information too. I want to build a system that can instantly detect incidents happening around the world and report them to Lumene. I’d even like to set up my own warp gate using the connections I’ve built.”

Carl looked at Leo.

“You guys are going to be active all over the world now. I need to be ready to support you properly before you graduate.”

“And you’re satisfied with that?”

“I always wanted to be a supporter. So I just have to give my all to support you, right?”

Carl cleared his throat with a proud little cough.

“And to be honest… even if I could advance to 3rd year, I’m scared.”

He grabbed his head with both hands and trembled.

“That witch… just how much more thoroughly would she wring me out next year? I hate it… I really hate it!”

Leo shook his head as Carl shuddered.

‘She was extreme, for sure.’

If something looked like it might work out, Elina wouldn’t finish it—she’d find a way to make it worse.

What made it even more cruel was that she always pushed exactly up to the breaking point, no further.

“So I’ll head out into the world first, prepare properly, and wait.”

bl

In the principal’s office of Lumene, Principal Rina was discussing the Festival of Heroes schedule with Vice Student Council President Elena and Professor Sedgen.

“How’s the public order in Lumeria City?”

“It’s good. Because of the tension from the first day’s incident, people are staying on edge, so crime seems to have gone down.”

“So we actually benefitted from that damned incident?”

Rina scratched her head.

Indeed, if it weren’t for the appearance of the Hero of the Beginning, Kyle, there would’ve been heavy casualties.

“What about identifying the culprit behind the incident?”

“The Dragon Queen is personally tracking them.”

“Then it won’t take long.”

“Right.”

There’s no way this incident happened without planning.

A fragment of Lumene’s Hero Record had gone berserk right in the middle of the Erek Grand Training Grounds.

That meant someone had brought the Hero Record inside—an outsider.

“Just like Seiren has the Pureblood Society, there could be traitors within our walls too.”

Rina’s eyes turned cold.

Even if she’d stepped away from the front lines, she was still a shadow.

Her principle was to hunt down and destroy traitors.

“First, let’s focus on completing the Festival of Heroes properly.”

Sedgen said to Rina.

Just as Rina nodded—

Knock knock.

With a knock, the door opened and Harrid entered, holding documents.

He handed them to Rina.

“The documents you asked for.”

“You’ve prepared everything. Impressive, considering how busy things are.”

Rina admired as she received and checked the documents.

Watching this, Elena asked curiously, “What are those documents?”

“Documents about Carl Thomas’s promotion.”

At Harrid’s indifferent words, Elena’s eyes widened.

Harrid was nicknamed the Wailing Wall of Lumene.

Among upperclassmen, he was an object of fear.

He was known for expelling students who didn’t meet standards without mercy.

Last year and this year, he’d been in charge of first-years, so that tendency had eased—but only because his evaluation targets changed.

Elena had seen countless seniors packing their bags because of Harrid.

For someone like him to be preparing documents not for expulsion but for promotion was shocking.

And Carl didn’t even have the grades for promotion.

“That’s surprising. I didn’t think you, Professor Harrid, would prepare promotion documents for a student with poor grades.”

“I simply thought Lumene’s current evaluation system couldn’t properly assess Carl Thomas’s potential.” Harrid said plainly.

“He enrolled with the goal of becoming a supporter. He’s always shown more strength in aiding others from the background rather than taking the lead.”

Elena nodded at that.

“I thought that was all. But the more I watched, the more I saw something different.”

Having closely observed Carl since first year, Harrid had come to understand his abilities.

“Drawing out the potential of others and combining strength to produce something greater—that’s what I believe Carl Thomas’s real power is.”

He looked at the report on Carl Thomas in Rina’s hands.

“That’s a new kind of ability we hadn’t recognized before. I see that as a potential heroic trait. That’s why I prepared the documents.”

Elena nodded.

“That’s a good intention. But persuading the board won’t be easy.”

Sedgen clicked his tongue.

He agreed with Harrid’s opinion.

But special exceptions aren’t made easily.

Even with the long-standing influence of professors like Harrid and Sedgen, creating a special case was ultimately up to the board.

And the conservative board was unlikely to recognize Carl.

“I’m just doing my best for a student.”

Harrid’s calm words made Elena nod.

“You really are the academy’s best professor.”

“What do you mean? The best professor in Lumene is me—Sedgen!”

Sedgen yelled in mock outrage.

“Yes, yes, you’re also the best, Professor Sedgen.”

Elena smiled sweetly as she looked at the documents in Rina’s hand, her eyes sparkling.

bl

Several more days passed.

As the Festival of Heroes neared its conclusion—

“……What is this.”

Eliza looked at the long line in front of her with a sour expression.

In her hand was the winner’s medal from the Divine Beast Race.

After winning, she finally had some free time and remembered that Carl was selling things to the crowd—so she decided to drop by, only to find a monstrous crowd lined up at his stall.

“Ladies and gentlemen! This isn’t a chance that comes every day! Knights! Mages! Summoners! Here! A chance to win weapons crafted by none other than Drianna—personal blacksmith of Leo Plov himself! Don’t miss out!”

Carl stood on a stage, megaphone in hand, shouting to the crowd.

Around him, knights, mages, and summoners gathered like clouds, hoping to get their hands on weapons, magic staves, and summoning catalysts.

Then, a knight stepped onto the stage with a tense face.

“Everyone! A knight from the Kingdom of Dell in the southern continent is challenging the 10-spin draw!”

As Carl shouted excitedly, the crowd roared in response.

Bright magical lights lit up the stage and spotlighted a giant glass container at the ceiling.

Inside, colorful gem-like balls the size of fists shimmered.

Rrrrattle—!

The balls inside began to spin rapidly, then the lid opened and ten balls dropped.

Upon seeing a crystal-shaped one, the knight roared.

“DIAAAAA!”

He dropped to his knees, clutching the crystal ball in both hands and raising it high, while groans and gasps echoed around.

“Nooo! A diamond grade! That’s what I was aiming for!”

The knight opened the crystal ball with trembling hands and looked at the slip inside—and despaired.

“Uaaaaah! A magic staff!”

“Yes! You’ve drawn a diamond-grade magic staff! Congratulations!”

It was an excellent prize, but since he couldn’t use it, the knight howled.

Then mages rushed to the stage.

“Sell it to me!”

“No, to me—!”

“Me!”

Amid the chaos that verged on madness, Eliza’s jaw dropped.

“What even is this?”

“They say it’s a toxic, ultra-premium gacha.”

“Leo Plov?”

Eliza turned to Leo in shock.

“I’m still deciding whether to crack down on it as part of the student council.”

Carl’s products were literal raffle tickets.

Slightly expensive, but not outrageous compared to the possible prizes.

The issue was the absurdly low probability.

Dazzling presentations sucked people in as the tickets kept selling.

With the slim chance of getting a weapon crafted by Drianna, people emptied their wallets like mad.

Even when someone succeeded in getting what they wanted, it didn’t end there.

“There it is!”

A beastkin mage raised the magic staff they’d drawn and shouted in triumph.

Then they turned to the side stall, eyes bloodshot.

Drianna stood there with a hammer.

“I’d like to enhance this.”

“This is your 3rd attempt. I recommend you take what you have and go.”

“Hmph. I am a beastkin.”

The mage scoffed.

“A beast’s heart beats in my chest.”

“A brave soul, following in Lord Aaron's footsteps.”

“Hmph.”

Drianna accepted the magic staff and placed it on the anvil.

Then she began to hammer.

Clang— Clang— Clang—!

Not just the beastkin mages, but everyone nearby held their breath, watching.

As the tension built—

Crack!

“…Oops. My hand slipped.”

Drianna clicked her tongue.

“Noooooooo!”

The mage who’d attempted the enhancement clutched their head and screamed.

“Try again next time.”

Drianna patted their shoulder.

“……”

“If you survive the low odds, you get an even stronger weapon.”

Of course, it wasn’t really enhancement—it was just staged with dummy weapons that might or might not survive the hammering.

But for some reason, the effect was intense, swaying people’s emotions.

Even more people got hooked on enhancement.

“I don’t know how he comes up with this stuff.”

As Leo watched Carl hawking his booth with amazement—

“Leo-oppaaaaa!”

Chelsea came running at full speed from the distance.

“Huff— Huff—!”

Catching her breath with hands on her knees, Chelsea looked up.

“What’s wrong?”

“Caaaarl! Where’s Carl?”

As she gasped, Leo pointed to the stage.

“Carl!”

Chelsea shouted.

Thanks to wind magic amplifying her voice, everyone turned toward her.

“Chelsea? What’s going on?”

Carl asked, puzzled.

Chelsea answered, her voice shaken.

“It’s just been confirmed! Your name’s on the Hero Record!”

“Huh?”

“What?”

Murmur, murmur—

Carl froze in place while Eliza’s eyes widened.

The crowd began buzzing.

“Oho?”

Leo stroked his chin, his eyes shining.

Still unable to grasp the situation, Carl stood dumbfounded.

Chelsea stamped her foot in frustration.

“I mean—you’ve become a hero!”

“Eeeeh?!”

Carl let out a scream of disbelief.

Just then, Elena appeared behind Chelsea.

“Oh my, you’re already here to deliver the news? That was fast.”

With a gentle smile, she looked at Carl.

“Carl, the board has convened. They’re holding an emergency meeting about your 3rd-year promotion… and judging by the atmosphere, it looks like it’s going to happen.”

With her soft smile, Chelsea broke into a bright grin.

Even Eliza, uncharacteristically surprised, couldn’t hide her joy.

“Ooooooh!”

Even though they didn’t fully understand, the crowd cheered at the birth of a new hero.

The only one still frozen, lips opening and closing, was Carl.

Elena smiled at him.

“So, I’ll be counting on you next year too, as Vice President.”

Carl clutched his head at her smile, visible only to him.

“Nooooooo!”

As Carl screamed, Leo muttered quietly.

“He succeeded at grade promotion.”