Chapter 231
Abad sat by the window in the Third Dormitory lounge, lost in thought.
‘What are the professors aiming for?’
He glanced sideways at the fellow second-years who would be leading the dormitory for the next year.
Duran Moira.
Eliza Hergin.
The top honors students of the Knights Department and Summoning Department.
The only issue was their poor relationship.
‘The Second Dormitory is the same.’
Celia and Chelsea were dormitory heads.
‘Walden isn’t interested in others, so there won’t be any trouble, but on the flip side, he won’t mediate their fights either.’
Abad narrowed his eyes.
Even now, Duran sat with his arms crossed and eyes closed, unmoving, while Eliza was, as usual, tending to her nails.
At a glance, they both seemed indifferent to each other, but there was a fierce battle of nerves happening between them.
“Shall we start by discussing dorm member selection?”
At those words, Duran opened one eye, and Eliza glanced at Abad.
“Before that.”
Duran spoke.
“Even though there are three dormitory heads, I think we need to choose a practical leader.”
“Oh my, well said. You were going to ask me to take on that role, weren’t you? Don’t worry. As the heir of the Hergin family, I’ll lead this dormitory splendidly.”
Eliza crossed her legs and stretched her hand out to admire her neatly trimmed nails.
Then, she nodded with satisfaction.
Seeing that, Duran smirked.
“You think someone as self-righteous as you suits the leader’s role?”
“I’ll return those words to you.”
Watching the two glare at each other with hostility, Abad let out a laugh.
‘How should I break this up? I have no idea.’
Even so, Abad had no intention of stepping aside for the leader’s position either.
If the other two agreed, he was prepared to claim it through merit.
‘There’s nothing in common among the three of us. How are we going to lead this dorm properly…’
That’s when Abad paused.
‘Something in common?’
His eyes sparkled.
Then, between the two about to draw swords and whips, he cast magic.
Whoosh—!
A sudden gust of wind made the two frown and look at Abad.
“What are you doing, Abad Lewellin?”
“So that’s it. You’re also unwilling to yield the leader’s seat?”
“That’s right, Eliza. I can’t give up the leader’s spot that easily. But before that, I’d like to talk about what lies ahead.”
“What lies ahead?”
“Yes.”
Abad walked over and sat on the sofa.
He wore a serious expression.
“The three of us have one thing in common.”
“Doesn’t seem like it.”
“I agree with Duran Moira.”
Abad smiled at the cynical Duran and the prim Eliza.
“Even now, the two of you share one common trait—terrible personalities.”
“Are you picking a fight?”
Duran scowled, and Eliza shot a glare at Abad.
Wearing a soft smile, Abad spoke.
“I’m joking. Our true commonality is this: we all want to beat Leo Plov.”
Duran and Eliza’s eyes twitched.
“And at the same time, we all acknowledge deep down that we can’t beat him.”
Just a year ago, it had been laughable when an unknown student no one had heard of took the title of year representative.
At first glance, Leo had seemed lacking as a representative.
But at some point, he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with them, then passed them in the blink of an eye, moving one step ahead.
Now, he stood far ahead.
“Who says we’ve acknowledged that?”
Duran spoke in a displeased tone.
But Eliza listened silently.
“Duran, let’s acknowledge what needs to be acknowledged.”
Emotion faded from Abad’s eyes.
Duran clicked his tongue.
“But I have no intention of giving up.”
Eliza said firmly.
“Same here. That’s why I said we have something in common.”
Abad smiled.
“We have the same goal. So, working together doesn’t sound like a bad idea, does it?”
“Work together?”
“Yes. The dormitory competition is already a confirmed event. In that case…”
Abad’s eyes narrowed.
“Let’s make winning the dormitory competition our goal.”
Duran and Eliza fell silent, then let out a deep sigh.
“I don’t like that I’m falling for your words, but I’ll go along with it.”
“In that case, the dorm members will be crucial.”
Now that their interests aligned, the three quickly pooled their opinions.
“Haul from the Knights Department is excellent. We definitely need him.”
“Jureden from the Summoning Department as well.”
“I don’t think just picking students with good grades is the best approach. The dorm atmosphere is important too. Our goal is to defeat Leo Plov. We should recruit students who share that goal.”
“Do you already have someone in mind?”
At Eliza’s question, Abad gave a wry smile and pulled out a stack of cards.
Each card contained names and photos of dormitory students.
“When did you prepare those?”
“Since first year. I made them to scout talents worth bringing into the family.”
With a smile, Abad pulled one card from the stack.
“This is the student we should recruit first.”
Eliza’s eyes twitched.
“Carr Thomas? He’s at the bottom of the Magic Department. Why is he the top recruitment priority?”
“You know what makes Carr useful.”
“Hmph. Usefulness and excellence are different. We need to beat Leo Plov’s dormitory. Don’t tell me you’re thinking of using his relationship with Leo to have him spy on them?”
“As if.”
Abad chuckled.
“Carr may be bottom of the class, but he has a unique trait—he’s aiming to become a supporter. That sets him apart from other students. He also excels in areas outside academics. Most importantly, he’s flexible enough not to be swayed by dorm atmosphere and can fulfill his role wherever he is.”
“Hmm!”
“Duran, your opinion?”
“He’s usable.”
At their responses, Eliza made a sullen face.
“Fine. Let’s accept Carr Thomas into our dormitory. But will he even want to join?”
“We’ll see.”
—
“Haha, aren’t you overestimating me?”
“No need to get intimidated. We recruited you because we need you.”
Abad smiled warmly.
Then, facing Leo and Chloe, he spoke.
“Our dormitory’s goal is to defeat the First Dormitory. To that end, the dormitory heads have united.”
In front of the cafeteria, Abad spread his arms and spoke to their fellow students.
“There won’t be any infighting between the dorm heads.”
Confidently smiling, Abad returned to Duran and Eliza.
At his words, murmurs began among the students.
“I am worried about Duran and Eliza’s relationship, but…”
“If their goal is to beat Leo, maybe they’ll actually work together…”
“That sounds reassuring.”
The students started showing interest in the Third Dormitory.
“Being in the same dorm as Eliza sounds like a perk, honestly.”
“Are you in her fan club or something? What’s so great about that cold queen?”
“Sh-shut up! That’s what makes her cool!”
“Abad and Duran are in the same dorm, right?”
“Just seeing them in one place is eye candy.”
Some students openly showed personal interest.
“But talking directly to those three is intimidating…”
“Should we ask Carr?”
“Oh, right. Carr’s in the Third Dorm too.”
“Yeah. Let’s ask him instead.”
Interest in the Third Dormitory surged.
Carr scratched his head as students approached him.
‘Did they even anticipate this outcome?’
Watching that, Leo smirked.
“They really got us good, huh?”
Not only had Carr been snatched away, they’d also been publicly challenged—and now even used for promotion.
“Yeah.”
Chloe tucked her magic book under her arm.
She looked calm, but her eyes burned with determination.
Meanwhile, watching it all, Walden spoke.
“Celia Zerdinger, Chelsea Lewellin.”
“What is it, Walden?”
“How long are you going to keep prioritizing personal feelings so childishly?”
“What?”
“They’ve already chosen a path.”
Until now, Walden had watched dispassionately, but now he gestured toward the Third Dormitory with his chin, his face expressionless.
“If we keep stalling, they’ll take all the good students, and we’ll be stuck forming a dorm with scraps. Do you really think we can beat them with that kind of team?”
Celia brushed her hair aside.
“I get your point, Walden. The Third Dormitory has chosen ‘defeating Leo’ as their goal. Then we need a goal too.”
At that, Chelsea crossed her arms.
“I don’t really care about beating Leo.”
“Of course not, Chelsea Lewellin. You never once aimed for the top during all of first year.”
“Ugh.”
Chelsea looked irritated but didn’t argue.
After all, in the Magic Department, her brother Abad stood above her.
And in class, Leo was the one at the top.
She had a bit of a rivalry with Celia, but that stemmed more from family dynamics than personal ambition.
“Celia Zerdinger, what kind of dorm do you want to build?”
“I want it to be Knight Department-focused.”
“Nope. I want it Magic Department-focused.”
“Really? Then I guess we’ve found our dorm’s theme.”
“What?”
Celia ran her fingers through her hair.
“The three of us have something in common.”
Walden looked intrigued.
“What is it?”
Celia answered.
“I believe swordsmanship is superior to magic and summoning.”
She pointed at Chelsea.
“She thinks magic is superior to swordsmanship and summoning. And you, Walden, think summoning is the most powerful ability. Am I wrong?”
Walden, while not taking Knight or Magic courses as a major, was auditing them as minors.
Of course, he had no talent for Aura or Mana.
But he used what he learned to enhance his spirit arts.
In other words, to him, martial arts and magic were just tools to strengthen summoning.
That meant he fundamentally believed summoning to be superior.
At Celia’s words, Walden smirked.
“I see. So you want to determine which department is strongest within the dorm?”
“Exactly. I’m sure there are students who’ll agree with us.”
Celia gave a warlike smile.
“We can’t just sit back and let that greasy butterball and Leo beat us.”
“Don’t call my brother a butterball!”
Chelsea snapped and tried to lunge at her, but Walden grabbed the back of her neck with one large hand.
Dangling off the ground, Chelsea shouted at Walden with a red face.
“What do you think you’re doing! Let go!”
“Save the fighting for when no one’s watching. For now, at least pretend to cooperate.”
“Ugh!”
Chelsea pouted but didn’t resist.
Watching them, Leo chuckled.
‘They found their direction faster than I expected.’
His eyes sparkled.
‘Second-year life is going to be fun.’
—
“Already? They are called the golden generation for a reason.”
Leena, who had just received the report in the principal’s office, looked intrigued.
“I thought they’d struggle a bit more.”
“They’re more competent than you expect.”
“When you say that, Harrid, I start to get my hopes up.”
Leena put the documents down.
“But I am a bit concerned. We’re short on freshmen this year. Only about 300, right?”
A member of the board of directors frowned.
They had sent him because they didn’t trust the new principal of Lumene, who had no achievements or reputation.
‘Planning to fire me if things go wrong? It’s probably not the chair’s intention though.’
Leena smirked inwardly.
“That’s not something you need to worry about. We’ve already held an additional exam.”
“Pardon?”
The other board members looked confused.
Someone walked into the principal’s office.
“Welcome, Albi. How was the exam?”
Under Leena’s orders, Albi had gathered the borderline rejects from the previous admissions and held an additional test.
Leena had determined that flashy public events were unnecessary and had avoided drawing global attention.
“About a hundred passed.”
“No more worries, right?”
“Y-yes.”
The board member replied begrudgingly.
After he left, Albi spoke.
“Leena.”
“I’m the principal now, Professor Albi.”
“Principal.”
“What is it?”
“Some of the freshmen you personally recommended are… odd.”
“You noticed?”
“Did Professors Harrid and Sedgen know too?”
“They agreed.”
“I understand they’re talented.”
Albi narrowed his eyes.
“But of all people, I thought you three would know best that Shadow Candidates can never truly mix with Hero Candidates.”
“Giving Shadow Candidates a chance to become heroes too.”
Leena rested her chin on her hand.
“That was my condition for accepting the principal position.”