Editor : Amethyst00



The day after the entrance ceremony.

Students began pouring out—quite literally—into the central hall beneath the clock tower.

Since the dormitory was now shared by the entire student body, it was naturally crowded and lively.

Unsurprisingly, the majority of the students were first years.

Just yesterday, during the entrance ceremony, the new students had appeared gloomy and subdued, but after a night's rest, they had recovered and regained some of their energy.

Seeing groups of freshmen chattering away within their respective departments, Luke wore a tense expression.

"Luke. Why the stiff face?"

His classmate and rival from the Knight Department, Haviden, asked with a puzzled look.

Luke responded in a trembling voice.

"W-Well, they're our juniors. As their senior, I have to set a good example… Phew… I'm nervous!"

Haviden frowned as Luke fidgeted awkwardly.

"I've said this before, Luke. You're the representative of our grade. If you act like this, they won't take you seriously."

"Y-Yeah, but… I mean, to get them to follow me, I need to set an example, right?"

"Hmph. You don't need to 'set an example.' Just being a second year makes you a senior."

Snorting, Haviden called out to a passing freshman from the Knight Department.

"Hey, you."

"Y-Yes!"

The freshman stood at attention, visibly nervous. Haviden pointed to Luke.

"You know who this guy is, right?"

"He's second-year representative Luke Elder, sir!"

"What do you think of him?"

"I respect him! And I respect you too, Haviden-sunbae!"

"Good. You may go."

"K-Keep up the good—"

"Tsk!"

"—Keep it up!"

"Y-Yes! Thank you!"

When Luke instinctively tried to speak politely, Haviden glared, prompting Luke to quickly switch his tone.

The freshman, visibly moved, dashed back to his new friends.

"I just talked to Luke-sunbae and Haviden-sunbae! Luke-sunbae told me to hang in there!"

"Oooh!"

"Lucky!"

"I wanna talk to them too!"

"They seem kinda hard to approach though!"

Seeing the excited first-years, Haviden chuckled.

"See how happy they got from just a word of encouragement? Be confident."

"T-Thanks."

Luke looked touched.

Haviden smirked.

"I can't allow the grade representative to be underestimated."

"Right. I'll try to be someone more fitting of the title…"

"Because I'll be taking that title soon."

"…"

"Be ready, Luke. I'm coming for your neck."

"Uh… wait, what do you mean 'coming for my neck'? That's kind of intense…"

"What's going on, Luke?"

"Aina! Haviden said he's coming for my neck!"

Aina's face instantly hardened.

She shot a sharp glare at Haviden.

"I won't allow that."

"Aina…"

Luke looked even more moved.

"Because I'll be the one to take your neck."

"…"

Luke could only remain silent.

"What's with the mood here?"

"Come on, Luke. The grade rep shouldn't look so pitiful on the first day."

Juen and Shasha approached Luke.

"Aina and Haviden said they're coming for my neck."

"The Knight Department sure has scary ways of talking."

"Right?"

"Yeah. I'll just put a ventilation hole in your forehead."

"That's scary too…"

"Oh my. Talking about slicing necks and drilling holes? Everyone, your words are quite violent. Let's soften the tone a little."

Shasha, covering her mouth with a fan, spoke gently.

"How would you rephrase that?"

Juen gave her a half-lidded stare, and Shasha responded with a bright smile.

"Execution."

"I think yours is the scariest."

'Why are my friends all like this?' Luke thought, nearly in tears as he looked at his ever-threatening peers.

From a distance, the first-years gazed at the second-years with admiration.

Then it happened.

Click-clack. Click-clack.

The sound of heels echoed.

The first-years all turned toward the source.

"Oh! It's Eliana-sunbae!"

"Wow!"

"She's beautiful!"

Gasps and admiration rang out at the arrival of Eliana, one of the honor students among the third years.

She was already well-known as part of the "Golden Generation," the most outstanding class in Lumene's history.

Excluding the absolute top elites of that class, few could rival Eliana's skill, making her an object of admiration for the freshmen.

"But I heard she's kind of… flighty? Like, overly cheerful or something."

"Yeah, I heard that too."

"Was that just a rumour?"

"Probably! Someone so elegant couldn't possibly be like that!"

The first years whispered curiously, tilting their heads.

Then, they locked eyes with Eliana.

Frozen on the spot, they didn't know how to react.

Eliana gave them a gentle smile.

The first-year boys blushed in unison.

Eliana elegantly brushed back her hair and walked toward the dining hall.

Chelsea, having just stepped out of the dorms, spotted her and made a bewildered face.

Then she approached Nella, who had emerged from the Knight Department's area.

"Nella-unni, what's up with her? Did she eat something weird last night?"

"I don't know. This morning, she was talking about some 'trump card' to win the dorm competition."

Nella looked genuinely concerned.

"Did she hit her head during yesterday's fight with the seniors? I didn't see any visible injuries."

"If it's a concussion, how should we treat it?"

As a top-tier healer with Healing Aura, Nella was the third-year's go-to specialist.

She thought for a moment, then said,

"Well, we'd need to give her a good knock to the head… Should I try hitting her once with my morningstar?"

"…She might die, Nella-unni."

"You're right."

Unaware of her friends' deadly remarks, Eliana entered the dining hall and looked around.

Then her eyes sparkled when she saw Leo eating.

"So, this ring popped out from your cloak's subspace storage, even though it wasn't connected to any emotional trigger?"

"Yeah."

Leo nodded while sipping coffee from a mug in response to Carl's question.

Carl examined the ring and marveled.

"Wow~ This thing is beautiful! I'd believe it was a piece of art."

It was a stunning silver ring, so delicate it looked like it could melt away.

A small sapphire was embedded in it.

Within the sapphire was an almost imperceptible magic circle.

Even the inner surface of the ring was etched with a lovely floral design.

It truly could be called a work of art.

"This alone could probably buy a small fortress."

"Because it's made by Dweno."

"Ahh, no wonder. A ring made by Master Dweno, huh."

Carl nodded, impressed.

"This could probably buy a whole country. Geez, I'd be too scared to even hold it."

He handed the ring back to Leo, who stared at it silently in his palm.

"Does it hold any special meaning?"

Carl asked cautiously, thinking of Luna's earlier confession.

Leo gave a faint smile.

"It's just one of the many magical rings Luna owned."

Aside from her magic staff, Luna had countless magical artifacts.

This ring, named Snowflower (Seolhwa), was one of them.

"It simply enhances ice-type magic. It was one of Luna's last remaining possessions. That's why it was stored inside my cloak."

"Oh? Then you should use it."

"Luna's magical items were powerful, but most were difficult to use."

Dweno had crafted them to Luna's exacting specifications.

"To get full performance from this one, you need to be an ice-attribute mage."

Leo could still use it effectively.

But doing so would weaken his other elemental magic.

For Leo, it was more of a downside.

Only someone like Luna could wield all these rings while maintaining full power across her magic.

"It'd be better for Chloe."

"Isn't it a keepsake? Isn't it precious?"

Carl asked carefully. Leo smiled faintly.

"It's a fake anyways, I got as a reward from the Hero's World. The real ring disappeared long ago."

Leo tossed the ring into the air and caught it with a flick.

"Most of our relics—those left by my friends—never made it to the future."

They all burned with him in the final moments.

"Then how come nothing's left from you and the Great Heroes?"

"Huh?"

Carl pointed downward.

"This world."

"You're being unusually serious."

"I'm a proper hero now. I can be serious when needed."

Leo laughed at Carl's declaration.

"Actually, I couldn't give this ring to Chloe even if I wanted to. It only works while it's with me. In someone else's hands, it's just a shell."

"That's a shame."

Carl crossed his arms.

"Maybe because you inherited Dweno's mana?"

"Probably."

Anything made by Dweno would respond to his own mana, briefly returning to its original glory.

This ring was likely the same.

As Leo and Carl ate—

"Class rep, Carl. Good morning."

Eliana arrived with a tray, smiling elegantly.

"Good morning."

Leo replied with a smile.

"What, did you eat something weird? Why are you greeting us all fancy in the morning?"

"Hmm? Did I? Fufufu."

Eliana giggled behind her hand. Carl frowned.

"Why are you acting like Nella? Ah, I'm taking one."

He stabbed a sausage off Eliana's plate with his fork.

Normally, she would have gone ballistic—but today, she just smiled kindly.

"Carl, you must be very hungry. Want more?"

"…"

Carl grimaced and scratched his arms.

"Ugh, goosebumps."

Eliana chuckled and demurely began eating, chatting with Leo.

"I'm looking forward to today's combat training. I heard it's a joint class with first and second years."

"You already checked the board?"

"Yeah, it was posted in the central hall."

Watching Eliana's honor student act, Leo had a strange expression.

"Where's Nella? Nella!"

Carl stood up and urgently began searching for her.

Eliana shook her head with a helpless smile.

"Carl's being noisy again this morning."