Chapter 94
Editor : Amethyst00
“Who are you?”
“I’m Elena.”
“Elena-sunbae? Really?”
Chloe’s eyes widened.
“Yeah.”
“I’ve been reading your magic papers!”
“Hm?”
“Especially the part about the effect of mana vibrations in the atmosphere on magic—I found it really fascinating!”
“You understood something that difficult?”
“Yes!”
“My, my, such a cute junior came in, huh?”
Floating gently with magic, Elena cupped Chloe’s cheeks with both hands and brought her face close.
Seeing Chloe flustered, Elena’s eyes curved into crescents.
At that gaze, Chloe felt a faint shiver run down her spine.
“What brings you here, Elena.”
“Uncle!”
Elena flew over to Albi.
“I heard you were teaching class, so I came! Thought I’d sit in!”
“It’s not a special class. I’m just giving first-years some advice. And you can’t attend a first-year class. Go to your third-year classes.”
“Such boring classes. Not worth attending.”
Elena scoffed.
“Then don’t disturb the class and leave.”
At that, Elena frowned.
Then, mumbling softly, “Boring,” she was about to leave when—
“Sunbae.”
“Why are you calling me, Leo?”
“I have a favor to ask. Can I visit your mansion after class?”
“A favor?”
Tilting her head, Elena folded her arms with a disinterested expression.
“Why should I grant your favor? You rejected mine earlier, didn’t you?”
“That was a favor?”
“Of course.”
Sitting cross-legged in the air, Elena smiled brightly and floated upward.
“Before the other professors swarm me with nagging, I’ll leave.”
Waving exaggeratedly, Elena flew off somewhere.
Watching her leave, Chloe looked utterly shocked.
For a model student like her, skipping class to goof off was pure culture shock.
“C-can she really do that?”
“No. There are more than a few professors waiting for a chance to get her.”
“Then why don’t you say anything? She’s your niece.”
“It’s her choice, so I’ve no reason to interfere. And she wouldn’t listen even if I did. You lot just focus on practicing.”
Saying so, Albi returned to his seat.
Leo looked toward where Elena had disappeared.
To enter the Forbiden Library, Elena’s permission was necessary.
‘Judging by her attitude, she does whatever she pleases.’s
At the moment, even if he showed Albi’s letter of recommendation, she clearly wouldn’t care.
‘For now, focus on the Inter-department Tournament.’
Right now, he needed to concentrate on the upcoming school event.
Two weeks had passed since the Academy lockdown had been issued.
During her free period, while self-studying in class, Eliana grumbled.
“How can there be no refreshments during self-study time? Does that make any sense?”
Most of Lumene’s students were nobles or from upper-class families, so it was natural to have tea and snacks while studying.
But since the lockdown, not a crumb of snack could be found, let alone refreshments.
“Why do you even need tea and cookies to study?”
“Class rep! Studying always needs a bit of energy!”
“By the way, where’s Carl?”
Nella asked with a puzzled face.
Creak—
The classroom door opened, and Carl pushed in a refreshment cart.
Chelsea and Eliana leapt up from their seats.
“Carl! What’s that?!”
Their eyes sparkled as Carl bowed gracefully like an excellent butler.
“Unfortunately, I couldn’t procure cake or cookies.”
Click—
“Oooh!”
Lifting the cart’s cover revealed a teapot and teacups neatly set.
“Ladies, I’ve brewed this with care.”
“Oooh! Black tea!”
“Black tea alone is enough!”
With tea leaves so rare these days, even this felt like a luxury.
Trickle—!
A clear liquid poured into the cups.
“It’s plain water.”
“……”
“……”
“Pfft! Puahahahahaha! Look at your faces! Fooled you, didn’t I? Fooled—urghk?!”
Chelsea’s face twisted savagely as she drop-kicked Carl in the stomach.
Then she and Eliana kicked him over and over as he writhed.
“W-wait! My ribs—Argh! I’m sorry! Sorry!”
Carl’s pitiful screams echoed.
“I’ve got big news.”
“What news?”
“The location for this Inter-department Tournament has been decided!”
“What? Where?”
All the Class 5 students rushed over.
Carl cleared his throat and spoke seriously.
“Neigrang.”
“Neigrang?”
“Isn’t that a restricted zone?”
Neigrang.
A city in the continent’s southeast, famous for having been destroyed overnight by a Hero Dungeon rampage.
The Neigrang tragedy, caused by concealing a Hero Dungeon, was a lesson taught widely across the continent.
Though the dungeon was later cleared, the land was cursed by its influence, making it uninhabitable for humans.
“Is it really okay to go to such a place?”
The students swallowed dryly.
“I heard that while it is a restricted zone, it’s not extremely dangerous.”
At Chelsea’s words, Nella nodded.
“Right. It’s dangerous, sure, but only mid- to low-level monsters appear, and curses linger around the area.”
Terrifying to ordinary people, but for Hero candidates, it was a challenge they could handle.
Once the tournament battlefield was set, Class 5 pulled out geography books to study it.
Unlike the predictable Academy grounds, Neigrang posed unknown threats, so the students studied it more seriously than ever.
Leo too opened his geography textbook and searched for Neigrang’s map.
“Neigrang… Neigrang… here it is.”
Leo froze.
“This place?”
The names of places he remembered and the current era’s names were different.
That was natural, given the centuries between eras.
But he remembered what had once happened in this region.
“This was where Lysinas and I took down our first Legion Commander.”
Even as student complaints piled up under the lockdown, time moved on.
Especially for the first-years, who were busier than ever.
Crackle! Crack-crackle!
Duran clenched his fist, seeing the aura sparking in his hand.
Bzzzzt—!
Responding to his strength, currents of lightning burst outward.
“A-amazing! Duran, you’ve almost mastered the Breath of the Hero!”
Shouted one of his followers, but Duran snapped irritably.
“Mastered? I can’t even use it smoothly yet. And besides…!”
Crunch—!
With annoyance, Duran snapped the wooden sword he was holding.
“Compared to that sword strike Leo Plov released that time, this is pathetic!”
“Well, sure, but Leo Plov hurts himself with the recoil whenever he pulls off an attack like that, doesn’t he?”
A girl crossed her arms and said.
“Such a self-destructive method has limits. At best it’s a trump card for emergencies.”
At her analysis of Leo, Duran snorted.
“This time, I’ll defeat Leo Plov and prove who the real number one is. And also…”
His eyes flicked sideways.
“I’ll take down Celia Zerdinger.”
Whoosh—!
“Incredible, Celia. To control aura flames to that degree.”
At her classmate’s words, Celia brushed back her hair.
“This much is basic.”
Wearing a confident expression, she snuffed out the fire.
For the past month, Celia had focused on fine control of aura.
As she dismissed the flames, her eyes met Duran’s.
Celia pulled a sour face, then pointed at him and mimed slitting her throat.
Infuriated, Duran responded by giving her a thumbs-down.
Meanwhile, in the magic practice field…
Whoooosh—!
Chelsea’s eyes went wide as she watched Abad.
‘Amazing. As expected of my brother.’
The delicate way he controlled wind magic left her speechless.
Thud— thud—!
When Abad released his mana, the rocks floating midair dropped to the ground.
“To be able to control even this level of output so precisely! As expected of you, Oppa!”
Beaming, Chelsea ran over as Abad wiped the sweat off his forehead.
“Chelsea.”
“Yes!”
“How do I compare to Leo?”
“…!”
At that, Chelsea fell silent.
In pure magical ability, Abad had the edge.
But overall…
‘Who should I cheer for?’
As a mage, she respected Abad.
As a hero candidate, she respected Leo.
Seeing her torn, Abad smiled.
“So Leo has the edge, huh.”
“O-Oppa! I mean, um…!”
“Not bad.”
“Huh?”
“Having someone to aim for.”
Abad smiled deeply, leaving Chelsea stunned.
Meanwhile, in the library, Leo sat surrounded by books on Neigrang.
“Neigrang has five large lakes in total.”
As expected of a major city, five large lakes existed within.
“Which of these is Lake Erdhiana?”
Leo scratched his head.
While the other students were busy preparing for the tournament, he was focused on something else.
An old memory had surfaced.
“Given the centuries, it’s unlikely it’s still there.”
He crossed his arms.
In the past, within Lake Erdhiana, an elemental had lain dormant.
An elemental long forgotten now.
But until the Age of Calamity, it had been praised as a mighty Elemental Lord.
Lysinas’s lost contracted summoned.
“The Elemental Lord of Brilliance, Luminus.”
Closing the book, Leo stood up.
“I’ll just have to check all five, then.”
At Lumene Academy’s central training ground, Erek, vast crowds had gathered.
Not only students but countless visitors filled the space.
“Oooh! Let me see my daughter! How was school life?”
“It was fun!”
“Son! You are the pride of our family!”
“I know!”
“Do nothing to bring dishonor to the family name.”
“Yes, sir.”
Normally, only authorised individuals could enter Lumene Academy.
But for the large-scale event of the Inter-department Tournament, family visits were allowed today.
It also helped dispel negative public sentiment over the month-long lockdown.
Thanks to that, Lumene now buzzed with festival-like excitement.
Of course, with more outsiders came more problems.
“Hey! I want to see where my son studies, and you won’t even allow that?!”
“Due to security regulations concerning students' research projects, external entry is prohibited. Please use only the permitted areas.”
“Tch! Do you know who I am?!”
Since outside entry was usually banned, many were curious and tried to slip into restricted areas.
Though most were stopped by assistants, some were unreasonable.
Atop the Hero’s Tower, the highest point of the Academy, Kalian gazed down on Erek.
“Allowing so many outsiders in at once—I worry an intruder might sneak in.”
Professor Yura voiced concern, and Kalian sighed deeply.
“Thankfully, the powerful suppressive force has returned. An incident like before won’t happen again.”
At his words, Yura glanced toward a red-haired woman sipping tea on a guest sofa.
It was Phoenix, Fyrina.
‘I’d love to speak with her, but!’
As a beast summoner, facing the strongest of familiars, Yura’s tongue itched to talk.
Unlike Leo’s Fiora or Ulta’s Aeria, Fyrina was a fully matured being.
The dream and legend of all beast summoner, a being of absolute power.
‘We can’t keep this hidden forever. Through cooperation with Seiren, we must make it public.’
Kalian’s eyes hardened.
‘So the Tartaros scum can no longer run rampant.’