Editor : Amethyst00



The next day

As always, the Clocktower Dormitory bustled with energy from the morning.

"Hey, hey! Look at this. I learned it in Magic class yesterday."

A girl, who appeared to be a first-year from the Department of Magic, showed off a spell in front of a boy who seemed to be a first-year from the Department of Knight.

Her body floated and began to soar freely through the corridor.

"Impressive, right?"

The boy from the Knight Department snorted as he watched.

"Hmph! What's so great about flying with magic? Let me show you something even cooler."

He leapt up and landed smoothly on the wall of the corridor.

"See that? This is the latest trend in Aura techniques."

"Is that impressive? With magic, you could just do that easily."

"Hmph. What would a mage, who solves everything with a simple spell, understand?"

"What? Did you just say magic is simple? You've said enough!"

"I haven't said everything! What are you gonna do about it?"

Just as the two first-years were butting heads and growling at each other—

"You two, over there."

"Eek!"

"N-Niel-sunbae!"

Niel appeared before them.

Even though they now shared the same dormitory, to the newly enrolled first-years, Niel was a distant and towering upperclassman.

"Oh my, how cute. Were you two fighting?"

Behind Niel, Elena peeked her face around.

With the appearance of Elena, the effective president of the Lumene Student Council and the reigning Queen of Lumene, the already frightened first-years turned pale.

Getting on Niel's bad side alone was enough to ruin your school life. But now, even the power behind the school had shown up.

Fighting in the hallway was a violation of the school rules.

Niel looked at the trembling first-years for a moment, then spoke in a stern voice.

"No fighting in the halls."

"Y-yes ma'am!"

"O-of course not! We weren't going to actually fight…"

"Didn't you two already have your hands on your swords and wands?"

"Gasp?"

"T-that's…"

At Elena's remark, the first-years looked like they were about to cry.

Watching them, Elena laughed like a witch.

Niel let out a small sigh and nudged Elena with her elbow, as if telling her to stop teasing.

"Don't do it again, okay?"

"Yes!"

"Of course!"

"Now, both of you—pinky swear that you won't fight anymore."

"W-what? A pinky swear?"

"Yep. Face each other."

The two students looked flustered as they turned to face one another.

"Come on, pinkies out. Promise."

Hesitantly, the two linked their pinkies.

"Now, as punishment, you'll eat breakfast together."

"Y-yes ma'am!"

"You're friends now, right?"

"O-of course."

"We won't ever fight again."

"Good! That's what I like to hear."

Niel smiled brightly, looking satisfied with their response.

"First-years are always full of energy. They tend to get emotional easily."

She shook her head as if troubled.

Elena nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, really. We used to be like that too, didn't we?"

Niel gave her a sour look.

"No, I can say for certain—you were never like that."

She remembered clearly.

The monstrous scene of Elena making a fifth-year kneel on the first day of school.

Niel shuddered at the memory.

"Anyway, don't you think you treated them a little too much like kids?"

"Huh? Oh… now that you mention it."

Niel scratched her cheek.

Indeed, making them pinky swear might've been a bit childish.

"Maybe it was too much? But I just wanted them to get along."

"Why? They're in different departments."

"Even if they are. They'll have to work together often in school, right? Especially now."

Dormitories were now divided by department.

"It's a shame they have fewer chances to bond from the start of first year."

Of course, competition was necessary.

A strong sense of rivalry drives students to grow.

Honestly, Niel herself grew quickly because of the rivalry she felt toward a certain mage.

She blushed slightly, thinking of that mage.

"Thinking of Marcel-sunbae, are you?"

"Well, yeah."

Elena smiled slyly at the awkward Niel scratching her head.

"So? When's the baby coming?"

"What are you talking about!?"

"Oh my? You two are getting married, aren't you?"

"T-that's true, but—!"

"Aha. So it's already gone that far…"

"Shut up!"

"Oh? Not denying it, huh?"

"Hey!!"

Niel flushed red and grabbed Elena by the collar, shaking her.

The two of them bickered like that as they continued patrolling the hallways.

There was a reason they were patrolling from early morning.

Incidents like the one earlier happened frequently.

Especially this year, with the department competition allowing the winning department to promote all their students to the next year without expulsion.

At Lumene, it becomes exponentially harder to advance each year.

Even fourth-years, who are well-adjusted to school life, desperately want to move up to fifth year.

Naturally, motivation to win the competition was extremely high.

Professors, too, were pushing students hard for the honor and pride of their departments.

Now that everyone was settling into the new semester—

'It's about time the competition starts heating up.'

Third and fourth-years, at least, avoid fighting in the dorms.

'After all, the dormitory has the strictest rules in all of Lumene.'

Breaking rules and losing points would be catastrophic.

But immature first and second-years?

Especially first-years—they often got into fights like earlier.

At this rate, there was no guarantee these fights wouldn't spread to the upperclassmen.

Fighting in the dorm would be a nightmare.

And one of the dorm's supervising professors was none other than Artienne.

Given all that, the fifth-years volunteered to patrol the dorms.

Since fifth-years didn't need to worry about advancement, Elena figured they could keep things under control objectively.

'Though I didn't expect Elena herself to lead the charge.'

Niel glanced at her with some wonder.

The capricious and self-centered Queen of Lumene, often called a witch—Elena.

But since last year, she had become a perfect model student.

'Well, except for that twisted personality.'

Still, considering how wild she used to be up until third year, it was a shocking change.

'Why the sudden change? Did she finally mature?'

The biggest troublemaker in Lumene, matured?

'Yeah, that's probably not it.'

Just then, Niel spotted someone walking alone in the corridor.

"Oh, Master Leo."

It was Leo, returning from his mission the previous day.

Niel smiled brightly.

At that moment, Elena, who had been walking, suddenly stopped in front of a mirror in the corridor.

She fussed with her outfit, adjusted her hair, and smiled sweetly at her reflection.

'Ah.'

Niel let out an internal gasp.

Elena, looking like a pure-hearted girl, ran up and leapt onto Leo's back.

"Leo! It's been so long!"

Her radiant smile carried a charm quite different from usual.

Normally, she exuded a dangerously alluring charm that could enchant anyone—but this was a different level.

She openly revealed herself without hesitation.

'Wow.'

Fanning her face, Niel quietly slipped away.

Partly because she was starting to feel strange watching them.

And partly because seeing such an innocent side of the Queen felt like blasphemy.

After all, Elena Zeron was the proud Queen of Lumene.

"You're heavy."

"Did you come back safely?"

Elena ignored Leo's comment and asked with sparkling eyes.

Leo used magic to lift Elena off his back and set her in front of him.

Her pink eyes sparkled.

They held an enchanting magic.

Not that they worked on Leo.

And Elena hadn't meant to release any magic—it just came out naturally because she was in a good mood.

"You took a long time. Whose Hero's Dungeon was it?"

"That's classified."

At his answer, Elena pouted, then gave him a seductive smile and clung to his arm.

"You can't even tell me something like that?"

"What exactly is our relationship?"

"The kind where I support you? I even visited your bed at night, remember?"

"That's something people might misunderstand."

"But it's true."

Still smiling, Elena tightened her grip on his arm.

At some point, a few buttons of her uniform had come undone.

"So? Want to tell me now?"

As she asked in a sultry voice, Leo stared at her—then pulled something from his pocket and stamped her forehead.

"What's this?"

"A demerit stamp."

Elena's forehead now bore the clearly childish phrase: Try harder next time.

"…What did I do wrong?"

"Violation of school rules due to lewd behavior."

Elena scowled.

"Usually, You just give them a look and fold."

"I'm not a kid."

"You old man."

Elena scowled, and Leo gave a faint laugh.

"I cleared a world under Dweno's world."

Elena looked genuinely shocked.

"And I also defeated Giath."

"Wow…"

She was speechless.

'When he acts like this, he really feels like the Hero of the Beginning.'

Elena laughed dryly and shook her head.

"Anyway, this."

She pointed at her forehead with a sulky expression.

"Is this really a demerit? I worked hard as the Vice President while you were gone. I was even patrolling just now."

Leo chuckled and took out another stamp, pressing it onto her cheek.

It read: Great job!

Elena clicked her tongue.

Then Leo stamped her other cheek.

Elena looked at the two stamps on her face and grumbled.

"You're treating me like a kid."

"I'll treat you like an adult when you start acting like one."

"Hmph."

Elena scoffed and turned her head sharply.

Leo chuckled and started walking again.

Elena followed with a disgruntled face—then suddenly stopped.

"Wait. Why did I get two merit stamps?"

Sure, her earlier behavior was a rules violation.

So getting a demerit was understandable.

And the first merit was for her diligent work as Vice President.

But what was the second one for?

"It means I expect even more from you."

Leo grinned.

Elena narrowed her eyes.

"Leo. Come here for a second?"

Leo quickly walked away.

"Hey! Leo Plov, stop right there!"

Elena chased after him, now serious.

"You're planning something again, aren't you? That second stamp was for me to clean up your mess, wasn't it?!"

Wearing a fierce expression, Elena looked ready to devour him as she chased him around the corner.

But when she turned it herself—

She was met with an empty hallway.

She held her head in her hands.

People often called her the tyrant of Lumene.

But…

"I'm adorable in comparison."

Because the true tyrant was someone else entirely.