Chapter 212
The final exam that marked the end of the semester had concluded.
Normally, once exams were over, Lumene students would fall into two categories.
First, those who felt a bittersweet sense of relief and freedom.
Second, those who trembled in fear, worried about being recommended to drop out.
But this time, the atmosphere at Lumene was different.
Everyone attended the end-of-semester assembly in a solemn mood.
It was the same for Class 5.
The usual noisy atmosphere was nowhere to be found.
Everyone quietly waited for Professor Harrid to enter the classroom.
Creak—
The door opened, and Professor Harrid stepped into the classroom.
As every student tensed up, Associate Professor Sena arrived with the report cards.
“You all worked hard this past year.”
Harrid scanned the students with his characteristic impassive expression.
While the Class 5 students grew nervous under his gaze, Harrid spoke.
“Some of you have already braced yourselves, haven’t you?”
At those words, the students with poor grades lowered their heads.
It was only natural.
In the first semester, Class 5 had miraculously managed to survive with no dropouts.
But Lumene was never an easy place to survive in.
In extreme cases, less than half of the students would move on from first to second year.
Carr let out a groan and scratched his head roughly.
“So this is it.”
He muttered quietly with a bitter smile when Harrid opened his mouth.
“Carr Thomas.”
“Y-Yes, sir!”
Carr shot up from his seat and stood at attention.
Seeing Carr’s tense face as he swallowed hard, the Class 5 students looked at him with pity.
Carr, with his friendly personality, got along with everyone.
The thought of someone like Carr leaving the school left Class 5 with heavy hearts.
“This guy hasn’t been recommended to drop out. I’m sure you all understand what that means.”
Carr blinked.
For a moment, even the rest of Class 5 who hadn’t grasped the situation wore blank expressions, until Sena smiled gently and spoke.
“Our entire class has advanced to the second year.”
“R-Really?”
“Is that true?!”
“Whaaaaat!”
Surprised reactions burst out all over Class 5.
And it wasn’t just Class 5—the entire first-year building erupted in response.
Tap—tap—
When Harrid lightly tapped the lectern, the students of Class 5 instantly sat upright.
“Consider yourselves lucky. The Lumene faculty council decided to promote all students this time.”
At those words, Eliana raised her hand.
“Was there a special reason behind that decision?”
“The professors highly valued the experience you all gained during the Lumeiren incident.”
Upon hearing that, the students of Class 5 froze.
The invasion of the Monster Queen and the return of Zegdiac.
It was an incident that only ended in victory because the great heroes appeared alongside Zegdiac.
Had the great heroes not shown up, none of them would have survived.
“On top of that, the department schedule wrapped up a month early this semester.”
Harrid was right.
Lumene had finished the departmental curriculum a month early, and now it was break time.
“Don’t think of vacation as just rest. Use it as a time to grow even further.”
With those final words, Harrid handed out report cards and letters for the students’ guardians.
“With this, the second semester of the first year is officially over.”
Harrid said indifferently to the students of Class 5.
“Congratulations to all of you on advancing to the second year.”
“Professor Harrid…”
“We couldn’t have advanced without your guidance!”
“Thank you!”
The entirety of Class 5 expressed their heartfelt thanks to Harrid.
When Harrid first became their homeroom professor, many students despaired.
Understandably so.
Known as the Wailing Wall of Lumene, Harrid was infamous for recommending the most students to drop out. He was the embodiment of fear.
But looking back now, it was because of Harrid’s guidance that they survived and achieved better results.
At their reactions, Harrid let out a faint chuckle and exited the classroom.
Left behind, Sena spoke with regret in her voice.
“I’d love to have a celebration party with all of you, but the circumstances won’t allow it. Everyone, you worked really hard this year.”
“Assistant Professor Sena!”
“Will you not be in charge of us next year?”
The female students swarmed around Sena.
Unlike the fearsome Harrid, Sena had been like an older sister to Class 5.
There were many students who wouldn’t have lasted without her to ease the atmosphere.
Seeing the students tear up, Sena smiled bittersweetly.
“Nothing’s been decided yet.”
Patting the students gently, Sena spoke brightly.
“Anyway, congratulations on advancing to the second year! From now on, you’ll have juniors, so make sure you grow into more dependable students, okay?”
—
The semester had ended.
Lumeria City, usually bustling, was quiet.
Neither Lumene nor Lumeria City had yet recovered from the death of Kalian.
Amidst that, Leo headed to the warp gate with his friends.
“This year was fun, but we’ll be scattered in second year.”
Eliana clicked her tongue regretfully.
Seeing her like that, Carr placed a hand behind his head and said,
“But we’ll still see each other in department classes, right? Department classes become even more important in second year.”
Carr was right.
While first year focused on class-based lessons, second year emphasized department-specific studies.
“But we won’t be hanging out by class like we did now.”
“Even if our classes change, we can still hang out often.”
At Nella’s comment, Tide nodded.
“Yeah. No one dropped out.”
Chatting cheerfully, they arrived at the warp gate.
“Have a great break.”
“See you after the semester ends~”
“Or maybe let’s all meet up during the break?”
“Sounds good!”
They continued to chat cheerfully as they each boarded warp gates for their homes.
Leo and Chelsea, both heading west, went to the western warp gate.
“Are you going straight home, Leo?”
At her question, Leo shook his head.
“No. I’m heading to the Lordren Empire this time.”
Chelsea’s eyes widened at Leo’s response, then she smiled brightly.
“Wow! Then we can do homework together!”
“Not sure. I’m stopping by my mother’s side of the family, so I don’t know if I’ll have time.”
“Oh.”
Chelsea let out a sound of disappointment and pouted.
Leo’s maternal side was the Zerdinger family.
Though they were casual at school, within the Lordren Empire, the Zerdinger and Lewellin families were rivals.
“But if there’s a chance, I’ll stop by the Lewellin household too.”
“Okay!”
Chelsea nodded happily at Leo’s words.
“You’re here?”
At the warp gate, Celia and Abad were waiting.
Leo stood by Celia while Chelsea went to Abad.
Having already heard from Celia that Leo would be visiting the Lordren Empire, Abad greeted him with a smile.
“Let’s meet up if we can during the break.”
“Chelsea and I were just talking about that.”
Leo replied with a chuckle, and Abad nodded.
“Well, we’ll head off first.”
“Bye, Leo~ See you! And Celia… bleh!”
Waving cheerfully at Leo, Chelsea stuck her tongue out at Celia.
Watching her vanish in a flash of light, Celia muttered,
“I’m going to have to flick her forehead someday.”
“What if you end up in the same class next year?”
“Don’t say horrifying things like that.”
Celia rolled her eyes at Leo’s comment.
Leo burst out laughing and stepped onto the warp gate.
“Let’s go.”
“Right.”
The two of them stepped onto the warp gate.
As the coordinates were set and the mages activated their magic, a bright light erupted.
A moment later—
Their vision was filled with blinding light.
As the light faded, they arrived at the Zerdinger family’s warp gate.
A family-owned warp gate.
As one of the twin pillars of power in the western Lordren Empire, the Zerdinger warp gate was as grand as expected.
Leo gasped in admiration at the marble statues of knights.
After a long look around, Leo noticed a phoenix carved on the ceiling and said,
“It’s way more extravagant than our capital’s warp gate.”
“This is another main gate of the Zerdinger family, after all.”
Celia grinned proudly at her cousin’s amazement.
Stepping out of the warp gate, they were greeted by waiting knights.
“Welcome, Lady Celia! Congratulations on advancing to the second year!”
“Congratulations!”
The knights who came to welcome her all offered congratulations at once.
Celia brushed her hair back and spoke indifferently.
“Is that really something to celebrate?”
While other students might be thrilled, Celia showed no such emotion.
Understandably so.
Celia was a genius so famous she was closely watched across the entire continent, not just in the Lordren Empire.
To her, advancing to the second year was only natural.
“Don’t make a fuss.”
At her words, the knights bowed their heads.
Amid that, all eyes turned to Leo.
“But milady, the gentleman beside you…?”
Glancing at Leo, Celia spoke plainly.
“Leo Plov. He’s my cousin. You all know him, right?”
“Huh?”
“Young Master Leo?”
The knights looked shocked.
Leo, confused by their reaction, asked,
“What? You were begging me to spend the first month of break here, but you didn’t even tell them I was coming?”
Celia chuckled.
“Yeah. I wanted to surprise them.”
Seeing his cousin joke around, Leo chuckled as well.
Celia naturally boarded the waiting carriage.
Leo followed her inside.
The griffon-drawn carriage swiftly made its way across the Zerdinger estate.
Leo admired the scenery flying past outside.
“There’s no end in sight.”
Leo and Celia had arrived at the Zerdinger main estate.
That is, Zerdinger territory.
As a ducal household of Lordren, their domain was vast.
Still, the main estate’s grounds seemed endless.
Celia smirked at Leo’s comment.
“Our estate is probably several times bigger than your royal palace.”
Leo leaned his chin on his hand.
“Rich is rich, I guess.”
“You’re the only one who would describe the Zerdingers as just rich.”
Celia shook her head in disbelief.
The griffon carriage quickly reached the Zerdinger fortress.
Staring up at the massive castle, Leo gasped again.
The old fortress was a stronghold at a glance.
‘Impressive.’
As Leo marveled, a huge crowd stood in front of the main castle, clearly notified ahead of time.
Among them stood Gis, the Zerdinger family head, and several elders lined up beside him.
Leo and Celia stepped down from the carriage and approached Gis.
Gis scolded Celia lightly.
“You should’ve told me you were bringing Leo.”
“I wanted to surprise everyone.”
Celia grinned playfully.
Seeing that, Gis chuckled and turned to Leo.
“Welcome to the Zerdinger estate, Leo.”
“Thank you for the welcome. But isn’t this a bit too grand?”
At Leo’s comment, Gis smiled.
“It’s your first visit as someone officially acknowledged as a direct descendant of Zerdinger. If anything, we should’ve prepared even more.”
“I didn’t say anything because I knew you wouldn’t like that kind of attention.”
Celia patted Leo’s shoulder as she spoke.
“What about Father?”
“He’s in the capital. He’ll return this evening.”
Celia nodded.
“Then before he returns, we’ve got something to take care of.”
Gis glanced at Leo.
“Leo.”
“Yes, Uncle Gis.”
“I know you just arrived, but I’m afraid we need to have a complicated talk.”
“What’s it about?”
Gis looked at Leo and said,
“It’s about inheritance.”