Editor : Amethyst00



Leo, perched on the mast of the flying ship, looked out over the empty deck and fell into thought.

"What are you thinking about so hard?"

Elena, floating in the air using magic, sat cross-legged and asked.

"Not a single second or third-year student from Lumene panicked, right?"

"Yeah."

"Hm."

"But isn't that to be expected?"

"Why?"

Elena twirled her hair around her fingertip and said,

"Because Lumene has one nasty guy constantly thinking of ways to torment students more efficiently."

"There's someone that mean? That's a problem."

Shaking her head at Leo's nonchalant reply, Elena continued,

"Anyway, because of that person, the students have built resistance."

"Hm. Certainly… Seems like the tough love paid off."

Leo nodded in satisfaction.

"Now I can use even more extreme methods."

"…"

At those words, Elena thought to herself,

'Guess graduating quickly is best for my safety.'

She had considered delaying graduation, but this demon king who torments hero candidates is getting more ruthless by the day.

'…Come to think of it, I'm getting a job at Arhi after graduation, right?'

Regardless of her affection, Leo is an extremely vicious superior.

"The director told me," Leo said just as Elena was rethinking her future.

"No returns accepted."

As if he had read her mind, Leo spoke calmly, and Elena frowned.

"Not planning to let me go easily, huh."

But then Leo continued, and Elena's eyes sparkled.

"What does that mean? That you'll keep me forever?"

As she moved in close and asked, Leo pushed her face away and said,

"It means I'm going to make you work."

Despite his words, Elena beamed with delight.

Watching her, Leo spoke again.

"By the way."

"Yeah?"

"Why are you here?"

Leo had warped the ship and dumped all the students in the middle of a desert.

He had used draconic language magic in the process.

It was a spell created by Lysinas through reinterpreting the curse of Tartaros, meant to seal mana.

It was an advanced-level draconic spell, the same one Leo had cast on the surrounding area.

Naturally, Elena was among the targets.

Yet she had calmly followed the ship and was now beside Leo.

"Of course, I undid your spell and followed."

She shrugged her shoulders like it was no big deal.

Leo stroked his chin and climbed down from the mast to the deck.

Still floating with magic, Elena followed close behind.

Originally, this test was to be overseen by the third years.

Each hero academy had already left first-year exams in the hands of the students.

Because the academies knew that the current third years were the core who would lead the next generation.

Currently, every hero academy had a third-year student as their student council president.

Whether by fate or coincidence, they had all become successors to the legacy of great heroes.

The hero academies, which had trained heroes for thousands of years, instinctively realized:

A massive wave of change was coming to the world itself.

And leading that wave were the current third years.

So they decided to leave the evaluation of the first years to them.

But then Elena had jumped in.

Since she forced her way in, it was only fair to treat her equally.

Leo had no intention of turning a blind eye to shortcuts.

'She must've come prepared for that, so she can't complain.'

Leo cast his magic on Elena again.

Thud—

With her mana restricted, Elena dropped onto the deck.

"You want to jump down on your own? Or should I throw you?"

She could probably break the spell again if she wanted to, even if it took some time.

But she didn't.

Because she had another goal.

Elena looked up at Leo and held out her arms.

"Leo, throw me down yourself!"

Leo gave a snort and picked her up.

Held in a princess carry, Elena let out a joyful scream.

"Don't act all cutesy, it doesn't suit you."

Still, Elena just smiled and rested her face against his chest.

When they reached the railing, Elena slipped from his arms and perched on the edge.

"Then see you later, Leo!"

Waving her hand, she dived without hesitation.

Watching her, Leo shook his head.

"Sometimes, Miss Elena acts like an innocent girl."

"Innocent girl? More like someone who doesn't act her age."

Melina, who had appeared behind him, clicked her tongue at Leo's comment.

"But compared to her wild days, she's a lot cuter now, don't you think?"

"Cute, my foot."

Leo answered curtly and asked,

"So, is everything ready?"

"All done. The Shadows will block the students' path."

Leo nodded at Elena's words.

"This area has no monsters, what a hassle. Those things always disappear when you need them most."

Grumbling lightly, Leo smirked.

"No way any of the upperclassmen will arrive later than the first years, right?"

If any did, he'd make sure they had a memorable time.

bl

"Ughhhh!"

Aru suddenly shuddered.

Chloe, who had fallen nearby, looked puzzled and asked,

"What's wrong?"

"I don't know. I suddenly got chills."

Aru looked around warily.

Seeing this, Eiran looked at her with concern.

"Aru, are you suffering from heatstroke?"

"I'm not that weak!"

Aru jumped up and raised her chin proudly.

"Anyway, I'm glad the fall slowed just before we hit the ground. Otherwise, we might've died."

"Yeah, falling straight down would definitely be fatal."

"At least the Black Rabbit still has some human decency!"

Thinking of Leo, Aru ground her teeth and then flopped back down, sticking out her tongue.

"But it's really hot."

She glanced at Chloe and Eiran.

"How are you two so fine?"

After thinking for a moment, Eiran replied,

"Maybe it's because of our mana traits?"

The Ersar family's power resembled that of the fairies—lush with life and greenery.

So they remained fresh and unaffected by extreme climates.

Unlike Lunia, who detested the cold despite being an elf, Eiran wasn't much affected.

"And Chloe uses ice magic, so she must be resistant to heat."

"That's right."

Mastery over ice magic granted strong resistance to cold, and even countered heat with chilling power.

In contrast, Aru—born and raised in the desert—ironically had low heat tolerance.

She was stronger against the cold.

Normally, she used aura to block the heat, but with her mana sealed, she was feeling the desert's blazing heat directly.

Aru looked up at the sky with resentment.

"Why does that Black Rabbit do such cruel things!"

"I expected this much."

Chloe mumbled in resignation and shrugged.

"He's not called the Demon King for nothing."

"Demon King? That's Leo's nickname?"

"Among Lumene students, it's a running joke."

"It's fits him! Demon King!"

Aru grinned mischievously and agreed.

Then she got serious again.

"First, we should focus on reaching the exam site as soon as possible."

"Yeah. If we arrive later than the first years, the Black Rabbit will definitely torment us."

"What? Leo would never do that!"

Eiran looked shocked and defended Leo.

"He totally would!"

"You trust Leo too much, Eiran."

"Leo is kind."

"Kind? Kind?!"

Aru exploded.

She remembered how Leo had forced her into training back in Seiren.

Flustered by Aru's fiery reaction, Eiran shrank back.

"Anyway, enough chatter. Can we figure out where we are?"

In response to Chloe's question, Aru pulled out a map.

"Just give me a second. I'll pinpoint our location."

"What's that?"

"Map of the Azo Desert."

While the southern continent was known for deserts, not all of it was pure sand.

Each desert area had a name, and this test's location was the Azo Desert.

After checking her watch and the sun's position, Aru took out a semicircular mechanical device.

"What's that?"

Eiran asked curiously, and the well-read Chloe explained,

"A surveying tool. But I heard it's difficult to use—can you handle it?"

"Hmph. Any student from Azonia should know how to use it. Especially since compass and teleport magic don't work in this desert, this kind of navigation is essential…"

"Impressive."

Chloe admired her.

The device was so complex that even Chloe had barely figured out its workings.

"Wow! Aru, you're amazing! I thought you were only good at brute strength!"

"Fu-fu— Huh?"

Aru's proud expression suddenly twisted.

"So you mean I'm just a strong idiot?"

"Uh… No, I didn't say that…"

Eiran looked flustered.

Seeing her, Aru flared up.

"You perverted elf!"

"I'm not a pervert!"

"Hmph! Then show me what's in your bag!"

"Huh? W-why my bag all of a sudden?"

"If there aren't weird novels in it, I'll admit you're not a pervert!"

"L-looking in someone's bag is an invasion of privacy!"

Eiran hugged her bag tightly in protest.

At that moment—

"Hey~ can someone catch me?"

A voice rang from the sky.

Looking up, Aru saw Elena falling and moved swiftly.

Woosh—!

Leaping high, Aru caught Elena midair and landed.

"Thanks, Aru."

Elena patted Aru's head after landing softly.

"You guys haven't moved yet?"

"We were checking our location."

"Okay. Then let's move together once we're ready."

"Good idea. Leo would never let us find the test site easily."

Just being dumped in the desert with sealed mana was already a tough trial, but Leo wasn't someone who'd stop there.

"What kind of obstacles will we face?"

"Who knows."

Elena opened her palm.

Wuuung—!

A tiny speck of mana leaked out.

Just enough for basic combat.

"How generous of him."

She scoffed and withdrew the mana.

"My guess is that since the first-years' task involves the Shadow Book, the Shadows will try to block our path."

"Highly likely. There are no monsters in this desert."

Aru nodded in agreement.

"Um…"

Then Eiran spoke up, pointing nervously at a sand dune.

"Are those… Sand Goblins?"

Everyone turned to look.

Just as she said, about twenty Sand Goblins were approaching with murderous intent.

"Don't tell me he let monsters loose in a monster-free zone? That's just…"

Aru was dumbfounded.

Chloe put a hand on her head and shook it, and Elena clenched her teeth and glared at the sky.

"Seriously, doesn't that damn man know the meaning of restraint?"