Editor : Amethyst00



The evening after the 1st day of classes.

The students of Lumene gathered in the central hall of the Clocktower Dormitory, were immersed in conversation about the Legion's World that was announced today.

"It's way harder than the Hero's World, and there's no reward for clearing it?"

"Yeah! There's a limit to how unreasonable things can be!"

"Seriously, those Tartaros bastards are useless in life!"

There were some half-joking complaints here and there, but they all understood the seriousness of the situation.

While the entire student body was abuzz with this hottest topic—

"Look over there."

"Wow, is she really planning to read all those magic books?"

"It's just the 1st day of the semester… Honor students really are on another level."

Gasps of admiration rose among the 1st years as they saw Eliana appear in the central hall after dinner.

Especially the students from the Knight and Magic Departments looked at her with open admiration.

They had been completely fooled by Eliana's display of being a model student.

"Austin, what's up with Eliana-sunbae acting like that?"

Martina, the leader of Leo's knight order, Slayer, asked with a concerned expression.

Naturally, unlike the 1st years, the 2nd years were well aware of Eliana's true nature.

"I have no idea."

Austin, who had been Eliana's mentee in his 1st year, shook his head.

"I heard she's trying to seduce Leo."

Nella, who happened to be passing by, sighed quietly.

"What? She's trying to seduce Leo-doryeon?"

Martina asked, a bit flustered. Nella replied, "Yeah. This semester, Leo has the merit-demerit stamp, right? She's planning to seduce him and collect as many stamps as she can to become the MVP of the Dorm Competition."

"So that's what it was."

"Oh dear?"

Nella, startled by Leo appearing behind her, covered her mouth.

"So that's why she's pretending to be a model student."

"Eliana told me not to say anything about it."

Nella looked slightly troubled, and Celia, standing next to Leo, clicked her tongue.

"Whether you say it or not, it's not like Leo would fall for such a pathetic trick."

"True, but Eliana seems pretty confident she can pull it off."

Nella gave a faint, wry smile.

"Stamps, huh."

Leo pulled out the stamp from his pocket.

As he hooked the ring at the end of the stamp onto his finger and spun it around, he chuckled.

"A fun idea just came to me."

Nella's eyes widened at Leo's smiling face.

"A fun idea? What is it?"

"It just came to me now. I'll tell you once it's more concrete."

“What’s that supposed to mean? That’s cheating.”

Nella pouted a little at that.

On the other hand, Celia and Martina's faces turned pale.

'What kind of wicked scheme is he thinking up this time?'

Leo was wearing the same smile he had when he was about to train them harshly.

"Well, we'll talk about that later. So, how was it? The meeting about party formation?"

After the departmental schedules had ended, the honor students of the 3rd years, led by Leo, held a meeting to form parties.

A large party composed of all three grades.

Naturally, the only ones qualified to be party leaders were the honor students among the 3rd-years.

Of course, the nine students who served as dorm heads last year were priority candidates.

Other candidates mentioned were Carl, who had ascended to the rank of Hero, and Jurgen, who was ranked 3rd in Summoning Department.

No one objected to their qualifications.

"Who ended up being party leaders?"

There were six party leader slots.

And selecting the leaders was expected to be a fierce battle.

'No one would give up easily.'

As honor students of each departments, they were all more than qualified.

It was only natural that no one wanted to step down.

'Maybe Chelsea or Xia might give up their spots?'

Nella thought to herself.

At that moment, the 3rd years honor students entered the central hall.

The 1st and 2nd years watched them with tense expressions.

Although party members weren't being selected today, the party leaders would be.

Depending on who led, the academic performance of an entire year could be affected, so it was only natural that everyone was on edge.

"Leo-oppa! Nella-unnie! What were you talking about?"

"We were asking Leo who the party leaders turned out to be."

Nella smiled as she answered Chelsea, who had bounded over lightly.

"Hehe~"

Chelsea placed her hands on her hips and puffed out her chest.

Celia's face crumpled at the sight.

"Chelsea, don't tell me…?"

"Yup! That's right! I'm one of the party leaders!"

"Wow!"

Nella gasped in admiration.

"Leo-oppa, me, Xia, Walden, Jurgen. And the last one was Carl! But…"

Chelsea smacked her lips.

"He got dragged off by Elena-sunbae who suddenly showed up."

'Huh? You want to be a party leader? Are you insane? What about your student council duties? How can you be so irresponsible?'

'But! Leo is a party leader too!'

'Leo is the student council president. You're the acting president. Which means, you're a slave.'

'So now I'm officially a slave now!?'

Chelsea shook her head as she recalled Carl being dragged off to the student council room, screaming.

Carl had eagerly aimed to become a party leader to escape Elena's clutches, but had met a tragic end.

"The last party leader is my brother, Abad!"

After saying that, Chelsea cleared her throat and proudly lifted her chin.

"Which means, Celia. Go get me some water."

"You brat! Are you asking to die!?"

Celia glared, and Chelsea frowned.

"When the captain is thirsty, it's only natural that the subordinate brings water, right?"

"Who are you calling a subordinate! You damn brat!"

"You."

"Leo! This is why I told you to switch me to your party!"

Celia cried, grabbing Leo and shaking him.

The students who heard the list of party leaders looked surprised.

"Wow! Jurgen! How did you become a party leader?"

"Amazing!"

"…Is it really that surprising?"

"Of course it is!"

Jurgen looked sorrowful at his friends' reactions.

"Stand tall, Jurgen. As a fellow party member, I won't tolerate my party leader being intimidated."

"Thanks, Eliza."

"Hmm… Maybe if I get rid of you, I can be the party leader instead."

"What did you just say!? Get rid of!? Hey! Hey! Eliza!"

Jurgen panicked and chased after Eliza, who just walked off.

Summoning Department students clicked their tongues at the sight.

"He's just a figurehead leader, huh."

As the central hall grew more rowdy, Luke approached Leo.

"Congratulations on becoming a party leader, Leo-sunbae!"

Leo smiled faintly at Luke's bright face.

"Not really something to congratulate."

"Well, for you, it's only natural."

"How were the party leaders chosen?"

Aina, standing next to Luke with her usual blank face, showed rare curiosity.

Even she found the leader choices unexpected.

"It was really intense."

Leo said with a laugh, and Luke's eyes sparkled.

"Did you all duel for the positions!? Jurgen-sunbae must be amazing to have won such a fierce competition!"

"We decided fairly through rock-paper-scissors."

"…"

"Everyone was desperate. It was brutal. Though Jurgen seemed like he didn't want to participate."

"Then you should've let me out!"

Jurgen cried at Leo's comment.

Leo smiled gently.

"Not a chance."

bl

Late at night.

At the top floor of the Clocktower.

A shadow crept beside the bed where Leo was sleeping.

"What are you doing?"

Leo opened his eyes and looked up at Mel with disbelief as she sat beside his bed.

"Watching you sleep, Leo-nim."

"You've been whining about being busy because of the Legion's World. Looks like you have time to spare now."

"No way. I'm still swamped. Just taking a little time to heal."

Mel sighed and tapped her shoulder with a fist.

"Oof, my joints. Maybe I should give up the Lord position."

"You sound like an old hag."

At those, Mel gave him a sleepy look.

“You treat me like some little kid and then say such mean things.”

Leo shook his head and sat up.

"So, what are you doing in my room at this hour?"

Leo walked over to the plain sitting area with a table and sofa in the middle of the spacious room and dropped into a seat.

Melina followed and sat beside him.

"An assignment came in from Damien."

"Damien?"

Leo paused and tilted his head.

Like Lumene, Damien was a hero academy that handled missions from around the world.

Leo furrowed his brows at the fact that Damien, which could handle most requests itself, reached out to Lumene.

"Request for support?"

"Yes. They said they need the strength of Lumene's student council president, Leo Plov."

"And?"

"Aru has been summoned from Azonia."

At those words, Leo stroked his chin.

"A reconnaissance mission, huh."

"How did you know?"

"If they're calling for me and Aru, it means they need a hero-class combatant urgently."

Recently, the heroes around the world had increased their alert levels due to Tartaros' provocations.

That meant they couldn't easily mobilize.

In that situation, the ones free to act were the students of the Hero Academies.

And in Seiren, there was also Lunia, a student who had already reached Hero rank.

But no request was made to her.

"They could've called Lunia from Seiren too. The fact they asked for just me and Aru means they need people who can act fast."

Leo shrugged.

"In that case, there's only one answer. A reconnaissance mission."

"Wow, as expected of Leo-nim."

Melina looked impressed, then turned serious.

"Monster appearances have drastically increased in the eastern border region of the Yanze Continent near Tartaros. There's a high chance of a Hero Dungeon appearing. Damien sent a survey team, but they lost contact."

"Hmm."

Leo's expression turned serious.

"So, It's a request for support to find out what happened to the survey team and confirm the dungeon's existence."

"Yes."

Leo nodded at Melina's reply.

"When do I have to leave?"

"You need to be in Damien by the day after tomorrow. Coincidentally, the Lumene 2nd years are also heading to Damien for their Smith contracts then, so you can travel together."

Leo nodded.

"Got it. I'll form a party by then."

"Are you planning to take students?"

"Yeah. It'll be a good experience for them."

Leo rested his chin on his hand.

"Maybe I should pick the quick ones."