Chapter 186
After the sparring evaluations ended, Leo approached the spectator stands where the first-years were waiting.
Everyone held their breath and focused on him.
It was shocking that a first-year had held his own, even briefly, against the strongest student.
On top of that, Leo was the Phoenix’s contractor.
Before long, he would possess strength truly fitting of a student council president.
That’s why everyone realized—
Even as a first-year, Leo was clearly qualified to be student council president.
The first-years looked at Leo with tense expressions.
‘Is Leo really going to become student council president?’
‘Seriously?’
‘Are we going to have to start watching our backs around upperclassmen?’
‘So basically, he’s already the most powerful student in Lumene, and he’s just a first-year?’
Their feelings were complicated.
But the upperclassmen weren’t any different.
‘Damn it! At this rate, that first-year might really become student council president!’
‘But there’s no reason to oppose it. Elena was the one who nominated Leo Plov in the first place.’
‘At this point, maybe we really do need to win him over. If this is how things are going, Leo Plov seems easier to handle than Elena Zeron anyway.’
Second-years were silently screaming inside.
Third-years were still gauging Elena’s reaction.
And even the fourth-years began to think that maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if a first-year became student council president.
As conflicting thoughts swirled—
Peep—
“Hungry?”
On his way back to Class 5’s seats, Leo furrowed his brows and pulled out a piece of chocolate from his pocket, placing it on his palm.
Flap— Fiora flew into Leo’s hand and pecked at the chocolate.
Having devoured it in an instant, Fiora looked up at Leo, flapped her wings, and began hopping up and down.
Flap! Flap! Flap!
“What? You want more? There’s none left.”
Screech—!
“You’re really going to turn into a pig at this rate.”
At his words, Fiora flew up and bit down on his white hair, tugging it playfully.
‘S-So cute!’
‘I want one! A Phoenix!’
The students who had just been lost in complicated thoughts shouted in unison at Fiora’s adorable antics.
As Leo sat down, his Class 5 classmates swarmed around him.
“What is this?! When did you make a contract with the Phoenix?!”
“That’s insane!”
“Leo! Let me see too!”
Fiora, startled by the crowd forming around her, looked flustered.
It was the first time in her life she’d received this much attention.
But only for a moment.
Sitting atop Leo’s head, she lifted her chin with elegance.
“Kyaaah!”
“So cute!”
As the girls from Class 5 squealed, Fiora began striking poses.
And each time the crowd reacted, she became even more pleased with herself.
“Uh-oh! Hey! Professor Harrid is glaring!”
“Eek!”
But when Carr urgently shouted, everyone snapped back to their senses and quickly returned to their seats.
Having just basked in the attention, Fiora looked around in confusion as the crowd dispersed.
In the midst of the commotion—
Kalian, sitting at the highest seat, had been watching Leo.
“So he’s finally proven himself worthy of being student council president.”
Hearing Vice Principal Lieven mumble beside him, Kalian nodded and rose from his seat.
“What are you planning to do?”
“If he’s proven himself, isn’t it time to make it official?”
To that, Lieven replied, “I’m surprised. I knew you favored Leo Plov, but I didn’t expect you to push him this strongly.”
“He’s a student worthy of the title.”
Smiling, Kalian descended into the arena.
As the principal suddenly stepped into the center of the arena, all the students looked on in surprise.
Looking around at the students, Kalian began to speak.
“Well done, first-years. I’m sure you all learned a great deal from today’s matches.”
He looked at the first-years with a solemn expression.
“Some of you may have discovered how much you’ve grown since half a year ago. Others may have directly experienced how much someone you once considered beneath you has improved.”
Some students looked proud. Others looked frustrated.
“This is the path you must walk. Compete endlessly. Grow endlessly. That’s how you slowly become more like heroes. It’s the path your seniors walked—and the path I once walked as well.”
Kalian smiled warmly.
“And now, let’s talk about the student council president.”
Everyone held their breath.
He gazed across the crowd of tense students.
“Lumene’s motto is ‘Surpass your limits.’ In other words, anything is possible.”
Kalian looked up at the upperclassman stands.
“Do any of you believe Leo Plov is unqualified to be student council president?”
No one could respond.
Leo had just fought evenly with the academy’s strongest student.
And he was a Phoenix contractor on top of that.
Just looking at what Leo had accomplished so far made it clear he was more than qualified.
Of course, Leo wasn’t yet the strongest.
But he was only a first-year.
He held limitless potential.
He had proven the capacity to surpass even today’s strongest in the blink of an eye.
“There are few students truly qualified to be student council president. Even fewer have the innate traits for the role.”
Professor Harrid smiled.
“I judged that Leo Plov possessed both qualifications and qualities for the position, and thus accepted Rhys Zerdinger’s recommendation.”
No one could speak.
“Therefore, I intend to appoint Leo Plov as student council president here and now. Does anyone object?”
The students—and even the professors—were stunned, but no one raised an objection.
Watching their reactions, Kalian spoke again.
“Rhys Zerdinger, Leo Plov—step forward.”
With that, Leo and Rhys returned to the center of the arena.
“The formal appointment will happen at the end of the second semester, but since the transition must begin now, I think it’s best to announce it before all the students. What do you both think?”
“I’m fine with that.”
“So am I.”
At their response, Kalian smiled and nodded.
“Very well. Then I hereby declare Leo Plov the next student council president.”
The entire student body glanced at one another.
But when Rhys began clapping, others cautiously followed suit.
Clap— Clap— Clap— Clap—
As they witnessed the unprecedented appointment of a first-year president, countless emotions filled the air.
Elena leaned on her chin and smiled faintly.
‘Now I have to make sure Leo can fulfill his duties as president.’
Thinking so, she narrowed her eyes as she swept her gaze across the third-years.
‘What should I do about the ones who have a problem with this?’
Among the third-years were those who would follow Elena’s words without question.
But there were also those who acted on their own whims.
‘I’ll need to rein them in before they start using my name for something stupid.’
Elena smiled with the cold smirk of a tyrant.
Meanwhile, the fourth-year stands remained composed.
“Not bad, Leo Plov.”
A spark of fighting spirit flared in Hark’s eyes.
“I’d love to fight that guy.”
Those nearby sighed deeply at Hark, who thought of nothing but sparring when he wasn’t asleep.
“Leo. Would you share a few words as the new student council president?”
At Rhys’s request, Leo took the microphone enchanted with a voice amplification spell.
Everyone looked tense as Leo held the mic.
He scanned the crowd and spoke.
“I’ll do my best so that having a first-year student council president won’t become a blemish on the school.”
It was the perfect textbook response. The professors nodded approvingly.
“And if you ever try it out and don’t like how I’m doing things, come talk to me. Beat me in a fight, and I’ll hand over the position.”
“……!”
“……!”
Everyone stared at Leo with their mouths hanging open.
It was a direct provocation toward the second, third, and fourth-years.
Even Rhys looked at Leo with disbelief.
“Pfft! Puhahaha! Hahahahaha!”
Hark, sitting in the fourth-year stands, burst out laughing while holding his stomach.
“I like him! Yeah! A student council president needs to have that kind of boldness!”
“You think that’s funny? If this goes wrong, we might end up with a council war every year!”
Another fourth-year scolded him.
The student council president held great power.
If abused, it could throw the academy into chaos.
In fact, there had been such precedents in Lumene’s history.
And yet Leo had just declared that anyone who beat him could take the title.
Upperclassmen couldn’t help but feel tempted.
“Leave him be. He wouldn’t say something like that unless he was confident.”
Arms crossed, Hark looked at Leo with rare intensity.
“Fifth year’s gonna be fun.”
Then Leo added more.
“Oh, and I’ve already decided on the vice president. Fourth-year Hark Riguard.”
“Huh?”
“He’ll be handling all student council operations.”
Everyone looked shocked at Leo’s calm announcement.
The student council president’s power came from administration.
And Leo was handing that power to Hark?
‘Wait, like he’d ever actually do something that annoying, right?’
Everyone looked to Hark.
Just as expected, Hark shot up from his seat.
“Why should I do something that annoying?”
Scowling, Hark glared at Leo, who had an odd look on his face like he was about to say something ridiculous.
“Hark, I’m student council president next year, right?”
“Yeah.”
“And the student council president has the power to appoint positions, right?”
“Correct.”
“That’s why I assigned it to you.”
Hark’s face twisted violently.
Though not well-known due to his constant sleeping, Hark’s personality wasn’t exactly pleasant.
As he scowled, everyone around him grew tense.
A standoff between the new student council president and vice president from the very start.
And the situation itself was strange.
‘He’s refusing because he doesn’t want to do the admin work?’
“Like hell I’d do that. I refuse.”
“I refuse your refusal.”
“Who do you think you are?”
“I’m the student council president.”
Leo smiled.
“Deal with it.”
“You little—!”
Hark grabbed the back of his neck in frustration.
It felt like his chronic low blood pressure—caused by too much sleep—was suddenly cured.
“Hey! Say something! This guy just got the position and he’s already stepping on his senior!”
But the other fourth-years looked intrigued.
“If Hark’s holding the real power, isn’t that good for us?”
“Yeah. The council’s influence comes from the work it does.”
“And with the way he normally acts, it’s about time someone gave him a taste of his own medicine.”
No one ever backed Hark when things happened—he was always asleep.
“You guys are unbelievable…”
Hark trembled in frustration.
Leo looked at him and smiled.
“Power really is nice.”
Hark clutched the back of his neck once more.
—
Seiren.
“A student council president? And a first-year at that?”
“Leo Plov… Isn’t he the one who cleared the Founder’s Hero Dungeon recently?”
Even the elf students reacted in surprise.
Students at Seiren usually didn’t care about the other academies.
They were confident they were the true elite among hero cadets.
But the fact that a first-year became student council president caused quite a stir even in Seiren.
“I heard he made a contract with a Phoenix?”
“…This year’s Lumeiren might be more serious than we thought.”
The upperclassmen at Seiren began to see Leo as a threat.
Meanwhile, in her classroom, Lunia clenched her fist while reading the newspaper.
‘Leo became student council president?’
She thought she had finally caught up, but now he’d pulled ahead again.
‘Fine! I’ll make a contract with a Phoenix too and chase after him!’
Lunia’s eyes blazed with determination.
Next to her, Eiran smiled brightly while clipping out Leo’s photo from the newspaper.
‘Leo looks so cool in this issue.’
Eiran, who enjoyed collecting hero-related memorabilia, had recently started archiving everything related to Leo.
—
“…He’s doing pretty well for himself. A first-year president, huh?”
“And contracted with a Phoenix, too?”
“Kind of makes me want to challenge him.”
Murmurs full of competitive spirit echoed here and there.
In one classroom, a beastkin girl flicked her white cat tail and peered down at the newspaper.
‘Black Rabbit!’
Ar perked up her ears at the news of the boy she had declared her rival.
As the world watched—
Lumene was moving in a new direction.