Chapter 172
The café in the first-year classroom building.
Rhys sat down in front of Leo, carrying the coffee he had ordered.
The nearby first-year students spotted Leo and Rhys and stared in amazement, whispering among themselves.
The meeting of the first-year representative and the fifth-year representative, who was also the student council president.
Of course, it drew attention.
On top of that, ever since it was revealed that Leo’s maternal family was the Zerdinger family, interest had only grown.
The heir of the next generation of the Zerdinger family and his cousin.
Anyone could see it was a combination worthy of discussing the empire’s future.
At that moment, a few female students blushed and approached Rhys.
“Um! President! Could I have your autograph?”
“Me too! We’re both in the Knights Department!”
The two first-year girls, eyes sparkling, asked for his autograph.
Rhys smiled and signed for both of them.
“It’s no trouble. Study hard.”
“Thank you!”
“Wow! The president’s autograph!”
Squealing with excitement, the two girls looked at Leo, waved brightly, and left.
“See you in the next class, Leo.”
Watching the two girls leave so happily, Leo spoke up.
“You’re really used to this, huh?”
“I am. You’ll be like this too once you’re a year representative and the juniors start coming in.”
At Rhys’s words, Leo looked puzzled.
“The other upper-year representatives don’t seem as popular as you, though?”
The fourth-year representative, Hark, was always asleep and never dealt with people.
The third-year representative, Elena, was the queen of the school.
Leo could approach her comfortably, but there was always a group of guards around her.
The second-year representative, Lily, was kind and friendly, but she cared so much for the juniors that she’d grab them and keep them talking for hours. Because of that, the first-years were scared to go near her.
Rhys let out a small laugh at Leo’s words.
“Well, those guys are a little eccentric.”
‘A little? That’s an understatement.’
Leo snorted inwardly as Rhys spoke.
“Well, let’s save this kind of talk for another time.”
Clink—
Rhys lifted his coffee cup.
After taking a sip, he smiled gently.
“The coffee here hasn’t changed.”
“Haven’t been here in a while?”
“This is my first time since first year. As you know, the Lumene class schedule is a lot busier than you’d expect.”
Putting down the cup, Rhys leaned back comfortably in his chair.
“I honestly haven’t had time to look back on old memories. It’s only now, as a graduating student, that I have a chance to visit these nostalgic places.”
Leo nodded at Rhys’s words.
“True, and you must have had even less time since you’re the Zerdinger heir.”
As the successor of the great hero family Zerdinger, Rhys would have had to devote himself even more to his school life.
Celia was also a flawless honors student, famous among first-years.
It was her determination not to leave even the slightest blemish as a direct Zerdinger.
As Celia’s older brother and the Zerdinger heir, Rhys could only lead a perfect school life.
‘With his personality, he must be even stricter with himself than Celia.’
That’s why he was called the flawless student council president.
In a place overflowing with talented students, Rhys Zerdinger had risen to the top.
A student council president recognized by everyone.
That was Rhys Zerdinger.
“Yeah. But thanks to all that hard work, I’m really enjoying school now.”
From the second semester on, the fifth-years all became more relaxed.
After five long years of fighting for survival and competing, there was no longer any reason to be so tense now that graduation was near.
When fifth-years reached the second semester, they passed on their club or department responsibilities and enjoyed a leisurely time.
Even the professors rarely intervened.
It was a reward for five years of hard work.
Rhys was no different.
He said he’d already finished passing on all his student council work.
“Well, there are still some headaches left.”
“Headaches?”
“The next student council president.”
At those words, Leo recalled the two students being mentioned for the next president.
The first was Hark Riguard, a fourth-year.
He’d be a fifth-year next year and was one of the top three strongest in the entire Knights Department.
He was also the heir to one of Lumene’s three great heroic houses.
“In terms of grade, ability, and background, honestly, there’s no one like Hark.”
Rhys sighed lightly.
“But he’s not interested in being student council president. He doesn’t think he’s suited for it.”
“That’s surprising. I heard rumors that he wanted the role to keep Elena in check.”
“Hark and Elena are rivals, but whether she becomes president or not, he doesn’t really care. Those rumors are just because the fourth-years don’t like Elena much.”
Leo propped his chin in his hand and thought of Elena.
‘She really is the type to make enemies.’
Leo gave a wry smile.
She did whatever she wanted without worrying about others.
She could seem immature, but the problem was, Elena actually had the ability to back it up.
Especially since she’d had a lot of trouble with her seniors from the beginning of the semester.
‘In that sense, I’m kind of similar?’
Leo shook his head.
‘No, I only get into it when the second-years pick a fight. She’s the type to start trouble. I’m more of a moderate.’
“Anyway, it doesn’t show on the surface, but the third and fourth years don’t get along.”
The third-years were under Elena’s control.
Naturally, the fourth-years who disliked Elena and the third-years clashed.
“Right now, the fifth-years keep things in check, but after we graduate, there will be real problems.”
Rhys sighed lightly.
“If Hark would just become president, he could keep things stable. But forcing someone who doesn’t want the job would only backfire.”
“That makes sense.”
Leo nodded, then looked puzzled.
“But why are you telling this to a first-year like me?”
It would make sense to discuss this with Lily, the second-year, since she had more options than Leo.
But Rhys had come to talk about upperclassmen matters with Leo.
“Now for the real reason.”
Rhys put on a serious expression.
“Since Hark’s out, my mind’s leaning toward Elena. I feel a bit sorry for the fourth-years, but I can’t hand the role to someone who doesn’t want it. But giving it to someone who’s not good enough is also a problem.”
Leo looked surprised at Rhys’s words.
He thought for sure Rhys would just give the role to a fourth-year.
But to hand it over to a third-year? That was a bold move.
“Even if she does her own thing, Elena has what it takes to control the third-years. She’s got the qualities of a student council president.”
Rhys sighed again.
“And right now, the role of president is more important than ever.”
“More important?”
“Yeah. Things are tense out there right now.”
Tartarus, which had been quiet for so long, was starting to stir.
They were even reaching into the hero academies.
In all the thousands of years of Lumene’s and Seiren’s history, Tartarus had rarely targeted the hero academies directly.
On the surface, Lumene and Seiren were calm, but under the surface, they were moving faster than ever.
“Normally, it wouldn’t look good, but at times like this, it’s not a bad thing for the president to have a longer term.”
If the leader of a group stayed in place, it would stabilize things.
Whether Hark or another fourth-year became president, or Elena took the role—it was basically a given that Elena would become president.
So Rhys thought it was better to make her president early.
“Besides, there’s not much difference in ability between the fourth and fifth years. Elena never cared about grade level in the first place.”
Leo looked puzzled at those words.
“Then why not just make her president?”
In any case, the current president picks the next one.
And it wasn’t unprecedented for a third-year to become president in Lumene’s history.
“You’re right. In terms of ability and skill, Elena’s more than qualified. She wants the job, too.”
Leo nodded at Rhys’s words.
“Then there’s no problem, right?”
As Leo asked, Rhys let out a long sigh.
“Yeah. There wasn’t…”
“……?”
Leo looked confused at Rhys’s sudden statement.
Rhys took a sip of coffee and rubbed his temple.
It was unusual for him to show any emotion.
‘Did something happen?’
“This morning, I called Elena to talk about the president’s role.”
Rhys made a troubled face.
“But she refused the position.”
“Isn’t she just trying to mess with you? She loves teasing people.”
With Elena’s twisted personality, that was possible.
“I thought so too, but she said something different.”
“Different?”
“Yeah. She said she wasn’t fit to be president, then recommended someone else as a candidate.”
“Who?”
For Elena to recommend someone else—that was interesting.
Leo asked, and Rhys raised his index finger.
“…….”
Leo frowned.
“No way…”
“Yeah.”
Rhys’s finger pointed straight ahead.
Right at Leo.
“Leo, Elena recommended you as a candidate for student council president.”
‘That woman, honestly…’
Leo felt a headache coming on.
—
“Hmm-hmm-hmm—”
Third-year classroom building.
Elena sat on the café terrace, resting her chin on her interlaced hands, swinging her legs, and humming.
“How strange, Elena. You’ve been going to class so diligently lately. Are you aiming for student council president?”
A third-year classmate asked, and Elena gave a sweet smile.
“Not really. I’m not interested in that anymore.”
At her sudden words, her classmate’s face stiffened.
“What?”
“I’ve found something else I want to do.”
“What’s that?”
Elena smiled faintly.
“It’s a secret.”
Elena thought of a boy.
A boy with white hair who radiated the aura of a true hero.
‘Leo Plov.’
Right now, Elena’s greatest interest.
She wanted only one thing.
‘The birth of a flawless great hero.’