Chapter 236
The three who were invited to lunch by Mel headed to the First-Year Magic Building.
Mel had asked them to wait there for a bit while she finished preparing, saying they would eat in her office.
“Ahh. The First-Year Magic Building. Brings back memories.”
“We were taking classes here just a few months ago.”
“Fresh little first-years! We were like that too once.”
“Anyone hearing this would think we already graduated.”
When Carr made a playful fuss upon arriving at the First-Year Magic Building, Chloe clutched her head while Leo burst out laughing.
Meanwhile, first-years who had been groaning over their textbooks at the café terrace in front of the building spotted the three and widened their eyes.
“Wait a sec. Those three… isn’t that Leo, Chloe, and Carr?”
“Where? Where?”
“It really is!”
The first-years looked stunned.
A crowd of Magic Department students rushed over.
Watching them, Carr muttered.
“Ohh. As expected, the top two students of the Magic Department and the Student Council President are really popular with the juniors…”
“Carr! Hello!”
“Nice to see you, Carr~”
“What brings you here?”
The first-years flocked around Carr.
Carr blinked in surprise.
A few steps back, Chloe tilted her head.
“You’re really popular with the juniors.”
“You were the most friendly to them during the welcome party.”
“That was just because you wanted to advertise your products, wasn’t it?”
“Still, from their perspective, you’re easier to talk to. You’re fun, too.”
“I can’t deny the ‘fun’ part…”
Trailing off, Chloe looked at Carr chatting cheerfully with the juniors.
Seeing this, Leo chuckled.
“What? Jealous?”
“J-Jealous? As if!”
As Leo watched Chloe snap back with a slightly red face, he pointed in a direction.
“Looks like there are some over there who want to get close to you.”
Chloe followed Leo’s gaze.
“I-It’s Chloe!”
“It’s my first time seeing her in person.”
“I’ve read all the magic papers she wrote in first year! I want an autograph!”
The first-years stared at Chloe with sparkling eyes.
Leo lightly tapped Chloe’s shoulder.
Chloe cleared her throat and stepped toward the juniors.
“You all. Why are you staring like that?”
“Gasp! C-Chloe?”
“If you’ve got something to say, go ahead. I’ll listen.”
As always, Chloe held her grimoire and stood tall with perfect posture.
She was trying to act dignified as a senior, but to the juniors, it came off differently.
“N-No, ma’am!”
“Sorry for staring!”
“We won’t make eye contact ever again!”
“N-No, that’s a bit…”
“W-We apologize!!”
The first-years screamed and scattered.
Chloe’s hand, which had reached out to connect with them, sliced through empty air.
Leo approached her.
“What did I even do to make them that scared?”
Watching Chloe’s teary face, Leo said,
“You froze all the test takers during the entrance exam, didn’t you? Maybe that’s why?”
“That was because Professor Harrid told me to do my best!”
“Either way, now they all think you’re a terrifying senior.”
“Ugh!”
Chloe slumped her shoulders.
Meanwhile, Carr stood proudly as the adored one.
“By the way, don’t you have something you want to ask me?”
The first-years’ eyes lit up.
“We do!”
“Hmph? What is it?”
“How did you make it to second year?”
“…What do you mean?”
“You said it yourself. You became a second-year despite being weaker than others.”
“And that your grades weren’t that great either! So you must have some amazing study tips, right?”
“Classes are so hard! How do you understand this stuff?”
The first-years were treating Carr like someone who’d barely scraped by into second year.
Anyone who had seen him during the entrance exam wouldn’t say that, but these students hadn’t been there.
They believed Carr must’ve had some miraculous secret for not getting expelled and advancing.
“Maybe it’s because you’re close to the Student Council President?”
“Guess it pays to befriend the powerful…”
Veins popped on Carr’s forehead as he watched them talk seriously.
“You arrogant little—!”
His casualness during the welcome party had backfired.
Especially in Lumene, where many students were nobles.
The more he loosened up, the more they walked all over him.
‘Chloe gets into trouble for being too scary, and Carr for being too easygoing.’
Leo, shaking his head, suddenly froze.
‘Hmm.’
He scanned the entire First-Year Magic Building.
‘An unpleasant gaze.’
He could feel someone watching him.
He was used to being the center of attention.
But…
‘I don’t like it when someone’s sneaking glances like they’re scouting me.’
Leo curled his lips into a smirk.
—
“Hmm. So that’s the famous Leo Plov?”
Fifth floor of the First-Year Magic Building.
From a spot with a clear view of the entrance, a first-year girl peered through binoculars while taking a big bite of bread.
“He just looks like a regular handsome guy.”
A boy standing neatly in the room responded.
“Don’t judge by appearances. He became Student Council President in his first year.”
He spoke flatly.
“He’s the strongest candidate to succeed the Sword Star. He might be someone we’ll have to protect with our lives one day. Study him well.”
The girl sneered at him.
“Well, maybe someone from Lumene like you would lay your life down for him. Not me.”
“So the Shadow of Shan only moves for Shan? No sense of justice or conviction, just a dog obeying its master.”
“Hmph. I’d rather be a dog that follows orders. Your so-called justice and conviction? Looks like madness to me.”
The two glared coldly at each other.
It wasn’t the kind of aura a hero candidate should have.
Sticky, ruthless bloodlust clung to the air.
Just as both lowered into a stance—
“You know fighting between students leads to disciplinary action.”
Startled by the voice beside them, both swung their arms.
Thwack! Thwack!
Leo caught both students’ wrists.
“Well now.”
Leo let out a low sound of admiration as he looked at the two.
The boy relaxed and stood still.
But the girl didn’t.
Whoosh!
Even with her wrist caught, she raised her leg to strike Leo’s arm.
Thwack!
Leo caught her ankle with his free hand.
Then stomped her foot.
“Ugh!”
The girl rolled on the floor clutching her foot.
Tears welled in her eyes as she stared at Leo.
“H-How did you get in here?”
“I came through the door.”
Leo replied dryly and crouched before her.
“Fighting on the first day? That’s a lot of spirit.”
“Y-You fought too!”
Leo looked down at the groaning girl and smiled.
“I wasn’t fighting. I was disciplining juniors.”
Then he looked at the boy.
Tall and slender, the boy adjusted his glasses and bowed politely.
“I’m Fritz Edgon, first-year of the Magic Department. Leo Plov.”
Seeing Fritz bow like a butler, Leo scratched his cheek.
“Just call me ‘senior.’”
“I prefer this.”
Leo turned to the girl.
“You’re not from the Magic Department, are you?”
“I’m from the Knights Department.”
The limping girl replied.
“El Jane.”
With black hair and eyes, she was clearly from the East.
“Alright. Then tell me—why were you spying on me?”
“Spying? I was just admiring the face of the senior I respect~”
El clasped her hands and spoke in a syrupy voice.
Leo chuckled.
“Oh yeah? Then let me ask—why hasn’t Chen Xia returned yet?”
“Huh? Why ask me about her?”
“Because you’re practicing the exact same aura cultivation technique as her.”
El flinched.
She silently dropped her act and narrowed her eyes at Leo.
Leo turned to Fritz.
“You two don’t seem to be from the same group. Why are Shadow agents from different factions enrolled here?”
Fritz looked shocked.
“How did you know…?”
“It’s obvious.”
No current student gave off a presence like theirs.
‘Except for Chen Xia.’
Thinking of his friend, Leo narrowed his eyes.
Even during the first-year escort assignment, he’d sensed some students with unnatural energy.
He already knew they were ‘Shadows.’
“Well, if you got found out so easily, that just means you’re inexperienced.”
“How humbling, to be called inexperienced by a great hero candidate.”
El said curtly.
“You don’t like that Shadows enrolled here, do you? Ask the Principal. And about Chen Xia…”
El glared at Leo.
“I have no obligation to tell you!”
With that, she turned and stormed out.
Leo turned to Fritz.
Fritz bowed politely.
“Until I’m ordered otherwise by the Principal, I cannot explain either.”
“Got it. I’ll ask her myself later.”
Leo stood up.
‘I’ll just get the info from Mel anyway.’
—
Bubble bubble—
Stew simmered in a pot.
Professors at Lumene usually customize their offices to suit their needs.
Magic Department offices usually had magical research tools.
But in Mel’s office, there was a full-blown kitchen.
“It’s a hobby.”
Mel explained with a warm smile to the surprised Chloe and Carr.
As they sat, Mel used magic to bring food to the table.
The two stared wide-eyed at the feast.
“Th-This is a lot, isn’t it?”
Carr asked nervously.
Mel’s eyes widened.
“You’re teenagers in your growth spurt! You have to eat lots to grow!”
She even served them herself.
Looking at the mountain of food on their plates, Carr muttered,
“Feels like I’m visiting my grandma.”
“Same.”
“Professor Mel, may I ask your age?”
“Asking a lady her age is rude, dear. Fufufu.”
As she covered her mouth and smiled gently, Carr scratched his cheek.
Chloe popped a meatball into her mouth and her eyes widened.
“It’s delicious! So good!”
“Really? Let’s see…”
Carr took a bite and was stunned.
“Whoa! This is better than the restaurants on campus!”
Excited by the food, the two dug in with joy.
Mel giggled watching them.
“Oof… I’m stuffed.”
“Same… I need to diet… Carr, don’t you want to make a weight-loss potion? It’d sell like crazy.”
“Even the girls in our dorm asked me that yesterday.”
“What’d you say?”
“I told them if they took weight-loss potions like snacks, they’d still get fat.”
Carr looked at Chloe with a lukewarm stare.
“I’ll give you the same answer.”
“You said that and still got beat up by your dorm girls, didn’t you?”
“Yeah.”
“Then why wouldn’t I hit you too?”
Veins popped on Chloe’s forehead as she smacked Carr with a book.
Carr blocked her strikes and asked,
“By the way, Professor Mel. Why did you invite us to lunch?”
“Hmm? No special reason. I just didn’t want to eat alone.”
Resting her chin on her hand with a smile, Mel gave Carr a grandmotherly vibe.
“Oh right—Carr, you’re into potions, and Chloe, you like grimoires, right?”
“Yes.”
“Correct.”
Mel smiled and walked to a bookshelf.
She pulled out a book.
Rumble—!
The bookshelf slid open like a door, revealing a hidden room.
She came out with a potion bottle and a grimoire.
Thud—
She set them on the table.
“A grimoire written with Dragon Blood and Dragon Speech Magic.”
“Gasp!”
Carr’s jaw dropped.
Chloe’s eyes widened too.
“You can’t take it out, but you’re free to read it in my lab.”
“Whoa!”
“Thank you!”
While the two beamed, Mel handed Leo a note.
“Here’s the information you asked for about Xia.”
Leo unfolded it discreetly, out of their sight.
Reading it, his eyes twitched.
“This is real?”
“Yes.”
Mel sighed bitterly.
“Due to family matters, Xia is resigning from being a hero candidate.”