Editor : Amethyst00



Returning to her dorm room, Eliana sat down at her desk and opened a book.

"Create moments together, hoo. Hoo."

It was a romance book she had bought in Lumeria City.

If Chelsea or Chloe had seen her, they would've told her to study that hard instead.

Unfortunately, she found reading books like this far more entertaining than actual studying.

And just as Eliana's eyes sparkled while she read—

Knock knock—

A knock came at the door.

Without lifting her eyes from the book, Eliana waved her hand.

Click—

"Come in."

She figured it was probably just Nella stopping by, so she didn't even bother looking toward the door.

Step, step—

"What are you reading so intently?"

"How to win a man's heart… huh?"

Eliana, answering automatically to the familiar voice, flinched and turned her head.

And what met her gaze was a pair of crimson eyes, gleaming like jewels.

"Class rep?!"

Eliana shot up in shock.

"Why is the class rep in my room?! Boys aren't supposed to just barge into a lady's room!"

"You told me to come in."

"Ah, right, I did say that."

Eliana nodded—then shouted.

"No! Still, this is the girls' dorm! How did you get here?!"

"There's a door in the student council president's room that connects to anywhere in the dorms."

"Oh, right. I totally forgot, since you never abuse it."

Mmh! Mmh! Eliana nodded in agreement, then tilted her head.

"But why did the class rep come to my room?"

Curious, Eliana looked at Leo, who replied,

"Eliana, come with me somewhere."

"Huh?"

At those words, Eliana paused—then quickly grew nervous.

"Don't tell me, just the two of us?"

"That's right."

"Then it's a date?!"

"It's not like that."

"Date~ Date~ A date with the class rep, just the two of us~"

Eliana didn't bother listening to Leo's follow-up and hummed as she skipped toward her wardrobe.

Then she said to Leo,

"Class rep. Wait outside for a bit."

"Why?"

"Surely you're not planning to watch a lady change clothes?"

Narrowing her eyes seductively, Eliana pushed Leo out the door.

"So, it's not a date…"

"Yup yup. I'll be ready in a sec!"

High on excitement, Eliana wasn't listening at all.

Left alone, she quickly picked out a cute winter outfit and changed into it.

Even though it was winterwear, the cute stuff tended to be thin.

Normally she would've bundled up, declaring warmth the ultimate priority—but if she was going somewhere with Leo, what was a little cold?

'I hope it snowed a lot. It'd be so nice if we could watch the snow together, all cozy.'

Thinking of the romantic situation, Eliana let out a squeal—kyaa~

And a moment later—

Whooooooosh!

In the middle of a viciously howling snowstorm, Eliana screamed.

"Coooold—! So, so, so, so cold!!"

"Why did you wear something that thin in the first place?"

"I thought it was a date!"

Eliana teared up.

Right now, she and Leo were standing atop the frozen sea in the northwestern part of the continent.

Dressed in light clothing to look pretty, Eliana couldn't help but scream at the intense, biting cold.

"Claassss reeeep! It's cooold!"

Eliana clung to Leo like glue.

There were no impure intentions behind it.

It was a desperate attempt to escape the cold—even just a little.

Had it been a regular person, no matter how much they bundled up, they would've died in this cold.

Sighing as he watched Eliana make a pitiful face, Leo took off the coat he was wearing and draped it over her shoulders.

Sniffling, Eliana wrapped the coat tightly around herself.

"This coat is super warm."

"It's made from phoenix feathers."

Leo, who used Zerdinger's flame aura, didn't really mind the cold even without a coat.

"Still, you said to come somewhere alone with you, so I thought it was a date."

"That's why you need to listen to what people say all the way through."

"Ack—!"

Leo flicked Eliana's forehead.

Rubbing her head, Eliana pouted.

"But why did we come here?"

"To scout the area. A Hero Dungeon might've formed."

Before she knew it, Eliana had become the fastest in Lumene.

Because of that, she was perfectly suited for wide-area recon missions.

"Aha! So what you're saying is, the Lightning Swiftblade Eliana is needed!"

Eliana gave a smug chuckle, and Leo nodded.

"Exactly."

"Hmph! Leave it to the great Eliana!"

Pounding her chest, Eliana beamed brightly.

"For the class rep to trust and rely on me—I'm feeling fired up!"

'She'll probably sulk if I say it's just because she looked the most free among the others, huh…'

Leo gave a wry smile as Eliana proudly burned with motivation.

It was true that Eliana was perfect for the recon task, but the reason he brought her was also because—compared to Chelsea, Eliza, or Duran—she seemed the least busy.

Leo briefed Eliana on the scouting range and began investigating his own designated area.

'Luna and Seiren, huh…'

As he walked across the frozen sea, Leo recalled what Lunia had told him.

Even Leo found the story unsettling.

That the Hero of the Dawn, Seiren, had appeared in the current world wasn't all that shocking.

But that she had appeared together with Luna—that was the strange part.

As he thought about Seiren, Leo remembered that encounter several months ago—with Azonia and Damien.

When those two had departed, their eyes had met with Erebos's.

Thinking of Erebos—who hadn't shown any signs of stirring—Leo came to a stop.

His snow-white hair blew wildly in the blizzard sweeping across the vast icy sea.

With eyes as red as fire that looked ready to ignite at any moment, Leo narrowed his gaze and activated his heightened senses.

First, he needed to locate the entrance to the Hero Dungeon.

"Lulu~ Lala~"

Eliana hummed as she walked across the frozen sea.

It was a deadly, bone-chilling cold, but thanks to the coat Leo had given her and anti-freezing magic, it was just barely bearable.

"Achoo!"

Still, it wasn't as if the cold had completely gone away.

"Khmm. But seriously, this place is too wide."

Sniffling, Eliana glared out over the vast, frozen ocean.

"Can I even finish this today?"

Staring out at the dizzyingly large search range, she suddenly remembered something.

"If I don't finish today… then I'll have to spend the night out with the class rep?"

Her heart fluttered for no reason.

'Now that I think about it, Chloe once got stuck in a snowstorm with the class rep, too…'

She had tried pressing Chloe about what happened back then, but Chloe had never answered.

Still, judging by her reaction, something definitely happened.

Just as Eliana started feeling strangely giddy at the thought, she shook off her stray thoughts.

'Focus on the search first.'

Eliana concentrated.

Among her various senses, her vision was heightened to the max.

She was still inexperienced with hyper-sensory perception.

The only transcendent sense she had gained so far was sight.

But unusually, she had obtained a level of vision that far surpassed the other senses.

As her field of view expanded, she began to see the flow of mana, normally invisible to the eye.

As she scanned the surroundings, Eliana's eyes twitched.

'A person?'

In a blizzard so thick she couldn't see a step ahead.

She caught sight of human presence.

"Hmmm~!"

Crossing her arms, Eliana narrowed her eyes.

'Suspicious!'

This was elf territory. And not just elves—there weren't even cold-adapted animals in this land.

Someone moving around in such a place was bound to be suspicious.

A traitor moving in elven lands? Or a demon?

With various thoughts crossing her mind, Eliana drew her sword.

Then, relying on her heightened senses, she began approaching the person.

At that moment—

It seemed the figure beyond the snowstorm had also noticed her, as they suddenly began to flee.

"Ah! Stop right there!"

Eliana quickly gave chase.

But her target's speed was not ordinary.

Even after beginning the pursuit, she found it difficult to close the distance, and thought to herself—

'Should I stop and call the class rep instead of chasing recklessly?'

But then she accelerated.

She couldn't yet gauge the enemy's full strength.

Still, she reminded herself of why Leo had brought her here in the first place.

'The class rep brought me to help explore the Hero Dungeon.'

That meant he had anticipated combat situations as well.

If he thought she couldn't handle danger, he wouldn't have brought her.

'No, if he thought a battle might happen, he would've told me not to pursue and to call him instead.'

But Leo had left the judgment to her.

'Even if the enemy is overwhelmingly stronger than me, the class rep believes I can hold out until he arrives.'

That was Leo's trust in her.

'I'll pursue.'

Eliana had trust in Leo, too.

Even if the enemy could defeat her in an instant, she believed Leo would arrive before that happened and save her.

She had to live up to that trust.

Eliana was well aware that compared to her friends, she disliked studying and training.

She hated hard work.

Ever since her first year, she had dreamed of a life spent goofing off in comfort.

But what had changed was this:

More than that laziness, her desire to meet Leo's expectations—Leo, who had always affirmed her potential—had grown stronger.

Flash—!

Eliana accelerated in an instant.

Before she knew it, she'd passed the frozen sea and entered a forest.

Flash—!

In a blink, she closed the distance and slashed her sword through the air.

A blade of light surged forth and blocked the escape route of the fleeing figure.

Tap—!

Taking advantage of her opponent's pause, Eliana stepped in front of them and said,

"Hohoho! You think you can escape from Lumene's Lightning Swiftblade, Lady Eliana?!"

Covering her mouth and laughing gracefully, Eliana continued,

"Identify yourself. What were you doing loitering in a place like this, and why did you run?"

She pointed her sword at the person and studied them carefully.

A girl with snow-white hair and striking red eyes.

About 15 years old?

'Doesn't seem like a bad kid…?'

Eliana tilted her head.

"If you surrender peacefully, no blood will need to be spilled."

At that, the girl pulled a dagger from her coat.

"Huh? You're resisting, even though I'm not a bad person?"

Eliana gave a troubled smile.

She didn't seem evil—but that didn't mean Eliana could let her guard down.

'I'll just subdue her first.'

With that in mind, Eliana moved.

Whoosh—

In an instant, she closed the distance, but the girl spread out her empty hand.

Flash—!

A magic circle unfurled above her palm.

'Star Sorcery?'

And not the reinterpreted star sorcery system Len had developed—but the original star sorcery used by elves.

Eliana marveled as she deflected the incoming spell with her sword.

And just as she moved to grab the girl—

She swung her dagger through the air at incredible speed to stop Eliana from closing in.

It wasn't an attack—just a threat.

"Hmmm?"

Backing off, Eliana let out a frustrated breath.

She was stronger than expected.

"Hmph. What a cocky brat. Do I look like an easy target just because I was being nice?"

Eliana gave a sly smile as she warned the girl.

The girl, who had been silent until then, muttered in a voice that sounded strangely emotional—

"You were never planning to go easy from the start, you old hag."

"……"

Of course, Eliana had never planned to go easy.

If she could win, she made sure to win thoroughly—even if her opponent was a kid under ten.

But rather than that being a problem, it was the insult—the title she'd never heard in her life—that truly struck a nerve.

"Fufu… Fufufufu. Little girl. I feel like I just heard something strange come out of your mouth? I must have misheard, right?"

"You didn't mishear, old hag."

"Got it. I'll rip that arrogant little mouth of yours right open!"

Eliana's eyes gleamed wildly as she lunged at the girl.

Whooooosh—!

In that moment, a fierce snowstorm blew in and instantly swallowed up Eliana's field of vision.

"Kh—?!"

Just as she paused—

The storm cleared, and the girl was nowhere to be seen.

Seeing that, Eliana let out a furious roar.

"Where did you run off to?! You damn white-haired brat! Get back here this instant!"

Practically spewing fire from her mouth, Eliana activated her heightened senses to their limits and searched the area.

But there was no trace of the girl anywhere.

Only Eliana's hollow fury echoed across the empty snowy landscape.