Editor : Amethyst00



The evening Leo's family visited the Zerdinger mansion.

A celebratory party was held at Zerdinger.

It was a bit different from the typical noble party, which usually involved inviting numerous nobles for merrymaking.

Only families related to Zerdinger were invited to this one.

Looking at the attendees of the party, Leo muttered quietly.

"Quite extravagant."

"Huh? What are you talking about? The country’s in turmoil due to the rebellion. We can’t be extravagant. This is actually modest."

"Yeah. I sometimes forget that you’re the daughter of a prestigious family."

"You’re also the son of that prestigious family, you know? And what’s that supposed to mean?"

"It means your idea of ‘modest’ is very different from normal."

"You’re making fun of me for being out of touch with the world, aren’t you?"

Celia squinted her eyes at him.

As Leo lightly waved his hand at her in amusement, someone approached.

"Young Master, Lady Celia."

Five boys and girls approached Leo.

Led by Martina, there were Austin, Valerie, Julan, and Karin.

They were first-year knight department students at Lumene—and Leo’s knights.

As the five came to greet him, Leo said,

"You all passed your second-year advancement exams, right?"

"Yes, all thanks to you, Young Master."

Martina smiled warmly.

Leo chuckled as he looked at her.

"I didn’t really do anything. Celia took better care of you all than I did, just because you're Zerdinger knights."

It was true.

Even before they were juniors in the knight department, they were Zerdinger knights. As a senior, Celia had been the one who took care of them the most.

"Lady Celia helped us immensely as well! Thank you!"

Karin stepped forward, beaming brightly in gratitude. Celia tucked her hair behind her ear.

"No need to thank me. I simply did what was expected of me as a direct member of Zerdinger."

Celia smiled sweetly.

"You are knights of Zerdinger before you are Leo’s knights. Don’t forget that. You worked your fingers to the bone for the honor of Zerdinger. Be proud of your achievements. Leo may be the protagonist of this party, but it’s also for you."

Martina scratched her cheek and smiled awkwardly at those words.

‘Honestly, I worked hard just because I wanted to survive.’

Celia did indeed take good care of them.

But before that, it was Leo who had pushed them all to their limits.

bl

At the end of the second semester, during the preparations for the Hero Festival.

Leo had called the five of them and smiled as he spoke.

"You’ve all been diligently attending school. How’s it going these days?"

At his words, Valerie, Julan, and Karin responded energetically.

"Thanks to you, Young Master, we’ve managed well!"

"Lady Celia and Senior Niel have taken good care of us too!"

"This might be our last chance, but we’ll do our best!"

Martina was a solid honors student with top-tier grades, and Austin was mid to upper level.

But unlike the two, the other three were not failing but were at risk of not advancing to the second year.

Even honor students could fail Lumene’s advancement exams.

So, Valerie, Julan, and Karin were focused on doing their best so they wouldn’t have any regrets.

Leo smiled gently at their words.

"Last?"

The three of them shivered at that smile.

"That’s odd. The exam hasn’t even happened yet, and you’re talking about it being your last?"

"T-That’s just… because we might fail the advancement exam."

"It’s not like we’re mentally weak or anything! We just want to try our hardest so we won’t have regrets! Right? Hahaha!"

"Y-Yeah! Young Master! We’ve worked hard, but if it doesn’t work out, there’s nothing we can do, right?"

Leo said, watching the three try to cover their tracks quickly.

"The fact that you’re even thinking it ‘might not work’ shows that your mindset is weak. And you know what they say? ‘Make the impossible possible.’"

The three of them turned pale at Leo’s words.

"If you fail, you’ll undergo training that’ll make the pre-enrollment training seem like child’s play."

"Eeeek?!"

The three screamed in fear as Martina and Austin gave them sympathetic looks.

"All five of you."

"Wait, Young Master! Why us too?"

"Are you saying if those three fail, we’ll have to train as well?"

Martina and Austin asked in panic, and Leo responded,

"You know what they say about collective punishment? You’re in the same knight order, so it’s only natural that you share hardships."

At that, Martina and Austin put their hands heavily on the three’s shoulders.

"Don’t even think about slacking off."

"It’s special training time."

As the two made grim faces, Leo smiled.

"Nice to see such strong camaraderie."

‘Does that look like camaraderie to you!?’

The five of them screamed internally but didn’t dare speak out loud.

Recalling that incident, Martina glanced at Celia.

Receiving Celia’s proud gaze somehow made her feel a twinge of guilt.

"Lady Celia, Young Master Leo. And our cute juniors!"

Just then, Niel approached with a smile.

Seeing the gathered Lumene students, the trainee and apprentice knights attending the party looked on with envy.

‘Ugh, I’m so jealous.’

‘I want to talk with Young Master Leo too.’

‘With them all gathered like that, it feels awkward to approach.’

Among the younger knights, Leo was already a legendary figure.

And the five who became his knights last year were now the objects of envy.

"Seeing the young knights, who are the future of our family, talking like this warms my heart."

An old knight approached them.

"Hello, Sir Edgerson."

Celia greeted Edgerson.

Leo looked at Martina and asked quietly,

"Who’s that?"

"That’s Edgerson Zerdinger. He’s an Elder Knight from the Council of Elders."

Elder Knight.

A knight honored with the title of Elder.

His red eyes and glimpses of brown hair among the white suggested he was from a branch family.

‘He’s the one who yelled at me during the conversation with Regas.’

It was the same elder who had scolded Leo earlier.

"This is our first time greeting, Leo Plov."

"I’m Leo Plov," Leo said as he shook Edgerson’s outstretched hand.

"I should’ve greeted the famous Nameless Hero first."

Edgerson laughed heartily, but Celia frowned slightly.

The Nameless Hero.

One of Leo’s many nicknames circulating in public.

He was the only hero without a recorded title in the Hero Records.

So the public gave him various nicknames.

All Master.

The Heir of the Beginning.

And so on.

Leo found most of them cringe-worthy and disliked them.

But among them, "Nameless Hero" was particularly derogatory.

At Edgerson’s words, Niel, Martina, and the others all frowned.

Regardless of being Zerdinger retainers, as Lumene students, they deeply respected Leo.

As Student Council President, he had demonstrated enough to be admired as a hero.

In Lumene—filled with elite talent—Leo was indisputably recognized as its leader by both seniors and juniors.

He was literally the pride of Lumene students.

So even if Edgerson was a family elder, it was hard to tolerate such mockery.

Just as Celia opened her mouth, Leo spoke.

"Actually, I should’ve greeted the Council first. Sorry for being late."

"Haha! You’re even polite. Hard to believe you’re that unruly woman’s son! I worried a lot when she married that useless man. But to give birth to a son like you! Zerdinger’s blood must truly be exceptional!"

‘Wow, he keeps crossing the line. I guess it’s his home turf.’

Perhaps resentful of Leo’s earlier attitude, Edgerson kept making unnecessary remarks.

‘He blabbered like a fool earlier, but with so many eyes here, he won’t dare spout nonsense again.’

As an Elder Knight, he had strong influence in the family.

Leo, on the other hand, was still an outsider.

Any misstep by someone like Leo—without established influence—could be punished severely.

‘And youngsters with fame often care too much about public opinion.’

Edgerson laughed inwardly and lashed out freely.

But Leo was not someone who cared about such things.

Leo smiled gently, and Celia grew uneasy.

‘Why is he smiling like that? What’s he going to say?’

"It’s a relief we at least got to greet like this. I might’ve never seen you otherwise."

"What? What do you mean…?"

"Imagine being born in the same era as the heir of a great hero but dying before ever seeing him. How regrettable would that be?"

Edgerson, not immediately understanding Leo’s implication, soon turned red with rage.

Celia’s jaw dropped.

‘Seriously? Did you just imply the elder is about to die!?’

Niel and Martina held their breath in silence.

"And Zerdinger isn’t amazing."

"What—what did you say?"

"I’m the amazing one."

Edgerson's mouth fell open.

Leo said to him, "What? Never seen someone this amazing before?"

He looked at Edgerson with pity and muttered inwardly, ‘Compared to Luna, I’m tame.’

‘Huh? You picking a fight? Want me to return you to nature before you die of natural causes?’

If it were Luna, she would’ve said it outright.

"You insolent brat! Have you no respect for your elders?"

"I know elder respect."

"You arrogant fool! You’ve done a few little feats and now you think you’re above everyone! The world is bigger than you think!"

As Edgerson yelled, everyone’s eyes turned to Leo.

Receiving all their gazes, Leo calmly said,

"If fighting alongside the Brave against Erebos to stop the Return of Calamity is a little feat, then what’s a great one? Have you fought Erebos before?"

"Y-You—!"

Realizing any more words would only hurt him, Edgerson stormed out of the party, barely suppressing his fury.

As everyone whispered, Celia covered her face.

"You… that was too much. Now the entire Elders Council will be against you. They’ll do everything to put you at a disadvantage."

"They would’ve done that even if I played nice."

Leo chuckled.

"What are you going to do tomorrow?"

"Mother said to just trust her."

"Aunt Reina?"

Celia turned to Reina, who was smiling their way.

‘That makes me even more anxious.’

bl

The next day.

Leo and Reina were summoned to the Hall of Elders.

The reason: to determine the territory Leo would inherit.

Once the meeting began, Reina brought up the land she was originally supposed to inherit.

"You think that’s reasonable? Do you realize how long ago that was?"

Edgerson scowled.

"What has your son even done for Zerdinger? He may have been acknowledged as direct blood, but he doesn’t even bear the name! He’s an arrogant fool claiming he’s better than the family! How can he be treated the same as the other direct heirs?"

"Why not?"

"Of course not!"

Edgerson raised his voice, and other elders nodded in agreement.

Reina pouted.

Seeing her, Regas smiled awkwardly.

‘What is she planning now?’

Though they hadn’t seen each other in years, as her father, he knew well.

When Reina made that face, she was up to something unpredictable.

Staring at the elders with visible displeasure, Reina stood up.

"Leo, get up."

"What for?"

"Pack your bags. We’re leaving."

At Reina’s sudden words, Leo stood with a puzzled expression.

The elders were thrown into confusion.

"What’s the meaning of this? Where are you going?"

"Lewellin."

The Elders of the Council were speechless.

"Why would you go to Lewellin!?"

"To request Leo be accepted as a direct heir. With his abilities, I’m sure they’d even make him a Patriarch."

"W-What did you say!?"

The Council was in uproar.

"You were once a proud knight of Zerdinger! And now you betray us to join those magician lowlifes!?"

"I already severed ties with Zerdinger."

"Leo Plov is a knight!"

"What knight? He’s an All-Class."

Reina placed her hands on Leo’s shoulders and smiled.

"Youngest Student Council President, a hero in his own right, and the successor of Kyle, the Hero of the Beginning. Lewellin would welcome him with open arms."

"You think Lewellin would accept someone with Zerdinger blood!?"

"Hmm? Then Leo, want to marry Chelsea? My family can’t offer you anything, but Lewellin might be different."

Reina’s explosive statement sent the Council into chaos.

Anyone but Lewellin—they could not accept that.

As the Council panicked, Leo asked Reina,

"Is this really okay?"

"My son, do you know the basic principle of negotiation?"

"Intimidation."

"Correct. And if you’re going to threaten someone, do it in the way they hate the most."

"What if it doesn’t work?"

Reina smiled sweetly.

"Then it becomes a game of chicken."

"That’s irresponsible."

"I’m not the one getting married, am I?"

‘Now I get why they call her a witch.’

Leo let out a hollow laugh.