Editor : Amethyst00



"Everyone, attention."

Chloe lightly drew the students' attention.

"Let me introduce him. You all probably know, but this is Leo Plov. He's our student council president and the leader of our party."

At Chloe's words, the second-years all bowed their heads in unison and shouted, "Pleased to meet you! Senior Leo!"

"Nice to meet you!"

Following the second-years, the first-years also bowed their heads.

Leo was basking in the admiring and respectful gazes of his juniors when—

"Chloe?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I talk to you for a moment?"

Eliana asked with a smile.

At her call, Chloe followed Eliana with a puzzled expression.

Behind the training field's warehouse, where the combat training class was held, Eliana urgently spoke.

"Why did you put me in the party?!"

"What do you mean? Obviously because we needed your strength."

The newly established Joint Combat Training class this year was a mandatory subject for all students from first to third years.

To keep up with rapidly changing global conditions, it was structured so that first- and second-years would participate in parties led by third-years, helping them improve their skills.

Among the third-years selected as party leaders were Leo, Chelsea, Chen Xia, Warden, Abad, and Jurgen—six in total.

Due to long-term missions, Leo and Chelsea had to leave the school, so their respective parties were temporarily led by the second most prominent and skilled students—Chloe and Celia—who took over the member selection.

Since Chloe was now leading the party in Leo's stead, and she considered Eliana a necessary member, she had recruited her as her top choice.

"Why though!"

"Because right before your mission, you begged me to put you in the party."

"Gaaaah!"

Eliana clutched her head, cursing her past self.

"You were more popular than I expected, so I had some trouble."

"What do you mean 'than expected'! I am popular! I'm talented!"

"Anyway, why are you so against this? Weren't you eager to join Leo's party because it'd be easier?"

Eliana had initially devised a silly yet ambitious plan to cozy up to Leo and collect as many extra credit stamps as possible.

In fact, the demure act she had shown in front of the underclassmen on the first day was still ongoing.

'I thought she'd be happy knowing she was in our party.'

Chloe looked puzzled at Eliana's unexpected reaction, and Eliana stomped her feet in frustration.

"Because of the Demon King! The Demon King!"

"The Demon King?"

"The class president! The president!"

"Leo. Eliana's calling you the Demon King. Shouldn't you punish her?"

"Eep!"

At the voice from behind, Eliana let out a squeal and hid behind Chloe.

She peeked her head out and glared at Carl, who was giggling.

"Thought I'd come see what you were talking about."

Carl smirked as Leo chuckled beside him.

"You've known since first year that Eliana's got a screw loose, right?"

"Carl! You—!"

Eliana angrily lunged at Carl, who quickly hid behind Leo.

Eliana stopped just short in front of Leo and then hastily backed away again.

"Did something happen during the mission?"

Chloe asked. Leo answered indifferently, as if it wasn't a big deal.

"I just decided to stop coddling her so much."

"Oh."

Chloe nodded, understanding.

Eliana, however, looked on the verge of tears.

"That's so mean! You used to be so kind! Why the sudden coldness?"

"Well, you seemed like you wanted to be treated like an adult."

Leo smiled faintly.

Eliana, staring at him, asked, "Can I switch parties?"

"Sure. But the professors said you'd need the party leader's permission first."

Eliana slumped her shoulders.

Carl, watching her with pity, approached to comfort her.

Swish—

"…?"

He was confused when Chloe stopped him with her hand.

Chloe shook her head slightly.

A moment later—

Eliana raised her head and slapped both her cheeks.

"Alright! If it's come to this, I might as well enjoy it!"

With renewed determination, Eliana pointed a finger at Leo.

"President! Train me all you want! I'll do it all!"

"Oh?"

"Actually, maybe not all."

As Leo chuckled in amusement, Eliana quickly shook her head.

Chloe smiled softly at the sight.

"Eliana may be lazy, but she gets it done when it counts."

"Yeah."

Carl nodded in agreement.

"We should go back. The others are waiting."

At Carl's suggestion, the four of them returned to stand in front of the party members.

"Leo."

At Chloe's call, Leo stepped forward.

'Wow. It's Leo Plov.'

'The youngest student council president!'

'The successor of Kyle, the Hero of Beginnings!'

The first-years' eyes sparkled even more as Leo stepped forward.

Their faces were filled with pride at being in Leo's party.

When Chloe had posted the recruitment notice for the party, literally all the first-years submitted applications.

Among them, the third-years personally selected the members.

As a result, 100 out of 500 applicants were chosen to join Leo's party.

That significantly lowered the proportion of second- and third years.

Naturally, those selected became the envy of the other first-years.

Even now, first-years from other parties glanced over enviously.

Consequently, the first years in Leo's party held their heads even higher.

"They're so happy, not even realizing it's hell."

"Juen. Shh."

"What? Am I wrong? Right, Luke?"

"Haha…"

Juen muttered under his breath. Betty urgently tried to quiet him, while Luke just gave an awkward laugh.

Meanwhile, Leo spoke.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Leo Plov."

"Nice to meet you!"

"President! You're so cool!"

"Kyaa~!"

As male students answered stiffly, a chorus of excited squeals erupted from the first-year girls.

Carl and Eliana made sour faces at the scene.

"They're loving it."

"No kidding."

Thwack—!

"Ow!"

"Gah?!"

Chloe punched both Carl and Eliana in the ribs.

As the two of them doubled over—

Leo continued.

"As you know, today is the first day we've gathered as a party. It's a time to get to know one another. Party leaders have the discretion to use it however they want, including free time."

The first-years nodded. They had already been informed.

Plus, this was the last class of the day, and tomorrow was the weekend.

Some of them had hoped class might end a bit early.

"On that note, our group is heading off campus today."

"Huh?"

"Wow! I was planning to go into Lumeria City tomorrow!"

"President, you're the best!"

Cheers erupted among the first-years.

"We'll be moving to the dock now. Line up."

Chloe began organizing the first-years into formation.

First-years from other parties looked on enviously.

"Is it because Leo-sunbae is the student council president?"

"Wow, ending class early just like that…"

"I'm jealous."

"You guys jealous?"

Chelsea suddenly appeared behind them and asked, startling the first-years.

"N-no, not really…"

"Why not? Didn't you just say you were jealous?"

The first-years shrank back at her words.

"You're scaring them."

Celia appeared behind Chelsea and pushed her head down.

"Do you even realize that's insubordination toward your boss?"

"How long are you going to keep calling yourself 'boss'?"

Celia clicked her tongue at Chelsea's words.

"There's nothing to be jealous about."

"Huh?"

As Celia spoke, Chelsea smirked at the first years.

"Do the second- and third years in Leo's party look happy to you?"

The first years quickly turned to look at the upperclassmen in Leo's party.

Unlike the bright first-years, the upperclassmen looked utterly resigned.

Seeing their puzzled expressions, Chelsea smiled.

"Just being student council president doesn't mean you get to leave campus early. I have that authority too. But I'm nice."

"As if."

"Silence, minion."

"You little—!"

Celia snapped and pulled Chelsea's cheek.

As the two squabbled, one person answered instead—Martina, a second year in the Knight Department and one of Leo's knights.

"They're not going out to have fun."

"Then what?"

"They're being taken to the slaughterhouse."

Hearing that, the first years felt chills down their spines.

'Just what are they going to do?!'

bl

On the ship from the dock to Lumeria City, the first-years were in high spirits, as if they were going on a field trip.

Luke considered saying something, but Juen stopped him.

"Let them enjoy it while they can."

The other upperclassmen seemed to feel the same, letting the first years stay cheerful until they arrived in Lumeria City.

The first hint of something wrong came when they left the city.

Once outside, Leo's party began moving at an incredible pace.

Even using their abilities, the first years struggled to keep up—but the speed never slowed.

They realized something was seriously wrong when—

"Leo-sunbae will leave anyone who falls behind. Do your best not to be one of them."

Luke's warning pushed the first years to their limit in desperation.

By the time Leo finally stopped, the sun was setting.

At the foot of a rather tall mountain—

"Mount Luderwa?"

Carl nodded knowingly.

"You know it, Carl-sunbae?"

At Juen's question, Carl answered casually.

"Recently, a large number of orcs have begun inhabiting it."

"Ahh."

Juen nodded, understanding Leo's intent.

Leo stood before the first years, most of whom were sprawled on the ground.

"Joint combat training is all about practical experience. There's a set number of field missions to complete. The more difficult the mission, the higher the score. And your personal performance during the mission also affects your grade."

The first-years nodded. They had already been told this by their professors.

"A report came in about a large orc settlement in Mount Luderwa. Our party's first mission is to eliminate them."

The mention of a mission on the first day made the first-years nervously gulp.

"However, the mission requests 50 participants. So we'll send 50."

Leo took the request form from Chloe and continued.

"We have 42 second- and third-years. All of them will participate—no exceptions."

The first-years' faces stiffened.

That meant only eight spots were left.

"From now on, participation in missions will be based purely on skill."

Only by completing field missions could they earn good grades.

Even though first-years couldn't be expelled, not all would make it to second year.

Only the winning department in the academic tournament would automatically advance.

But even then, no one could guarantee their department would win.

That meant good grades were essential.

And joint combat training accounted for half of the total combat class grade.

Fall behind, and you wouldn't get any points.

Seeing the determined eyes of the first-years, Leo spoke.

"You all get the gist, right?"

With a gentle smile, Leo said,

"Start fighting each other now."