Chapter 252

“Who are you going to ask to be your mentor?”

“Not sure… If possible, I’d like to ask someone in the Magic Department with top ten grades.”

“Should we try asking Senior Celia?”

“Hehe. Yeah right, no chance.”

The next morning.

As they ate breakfast, the first-years couldn’t hide their excitement.

Just one grade above them.

Seeing the so-called golden generation—second-years—personally approach and show interest had restored their confidence.

And the four who received the most attention were, unsurprisingly:

Aina and Haviden from the Knights Department,

Juen from the Magic Department,

and Shasha from the Summoning Department.

But others were also in the spotlight—those from famous Heroic Houses or new students who had built reputations in their home regions.

Luke marveled at his classmates.

No second-years had shown any interest in him.

And for good reason. Luke had left no impression during the entrance exam.

He only managed to pass thanks to barely holding out against Leo, known as the most difficult trial of the exam.

But everyone acknowledged that was only possible due to help from Aina, Juen, Haviden, and Shasha.

Because he didn’t give up against Leo, he gained a reputation for being tenacious—but that was it.

In reality, Luke was the weakest among the first-years.

From a second-year’s perspective, he was basically a ticking time bomb to avoid.

‘But where is Aina?’

The beautiful girl, who was always easy to spot, was nowhere to be seen.

There was no way she could be missed.

As the granddaughter of the Sword Star and the first-year representative, she was always surrounded by people.

‘Did something happen?’

Luke felt a bit concerned.

Which was odd in itself.

The top of the first-years and the bottom.

It wouldn’t be strange to say they were as different as heaven and earth.

And yet, Luke still worried about Aina.

It was probably because of the unease he’d seen in her during the entrance exam.

While Luke scratched his silver hair—

Murmur—murmur—

A commotion stirred at the cafeteria entrance.

The first-years all turned to look.

And their eyes widened.

“Aina! What happened to you?”

“Who the hell did this to you?!”

Aina was the model elite student.

Always neatly dressed, always composed.

So it was only natural the first-years were shocked to see her show up in such a mess.

“Don’t mind me. I’m just hungry.”

Aina replied calmly, staggering over to grab a tray before taking a seat.

Her usual followers didn’t dare approach, sensing something was off.

Plop—

She slumped into her seat and suddenly looked up.

She spotted Luke, and her eyes wavered for a brief moment.

Since the start of the semester, Aina and Luke had never exchanged a word.

They’d seen each other often enough, being in the same department, but they’d never bothered to speak.

Just as Aina turned away to start eating—

“Go-good morning, Aina.”

Luke greeted her awkwardly with a forced smile.

“Yeah. Good morning.”

Aina replied just as plainly.

And that was the end of that conversation.

Luke scratched his cheek awkwardly.

“You look like you had a rough night, Aina. You were with Leo all night, weren’t you?”

Shasha walked up, twirling her whip with narrowed eyes.

Before coming to breakfast, Shasha had seen the girls’ dorm leader furious about a student sneaking out overnight.

Now, seeing Aina’s condition, it was obvious who the culprit was.

“Let me guess—you went to ask Leo to be your mentor?”

Aina silently gripped her spoon.

Taking that as confirmation, Shasha gave a sly smile.

“Making the first move, huh? Impressive, Aina.”

“Wow~ You ignored all the other upperclassmen yesterday~”

Juen suddenly sat beside Aina with a teasing grin.

“You really move fast, Aina Beidian.”

Haviden plopped down beside Luke.

“Um, I think I’ll go sit somewhere else…”

Luke sensed he didn’t belong and started to get up with his tray.

“You can stay. We fought together against Leo during the entrance exam, didn’t we?”

Shasha gave a playful smile as she gently pressed down on Luke’s shoulders with both hands.

‘I mean, we were together, but the gap between us was…’

Luke chuckled awkwardly in his head.

All eyes from the first-year class turned to the group of five.

‘Why’s that bumpkin sitting with them?’

Just as confusion turned to whispering glances—

“So?”

Juen took a sip of iced tea and asked.

“Doesn’t look like you became Leo’s mentee. He gave you a test or something, didn’t he? What kind of test?”

Aina sighed and popped a piece of salad into her mouth before answering.

“Leo said he’d accept anyone as a mentee if they managed to land just one hit on him.”

The first-years buzzed.

“Ugh. Isn’t that impossible?”

“You’d get wiped out the moment he counterattacks.”

As they made troubled faces—

“No, Leo said he wouldn’t counterattack.”

“What?”

“He said he’d only dodge or block, and we could attack however we wanted.”

Now the first-years looked intrigued.

“Under those conditions…”

“Sounds doable, right?”

Their eyes lit up. (T/N: I cant imagine how Leo’s life would be if in every minute someone is planning on ambushing him. lol. But Leo is Leo. No one can ambush him haha.)

—

Around lunchtime, after morning classes ended—

The first-year Magic Department classroom was swarming with second-years.

“Hey, how about making me your mentor? Ah! My grades might be bottom-tier, but surviving to second-year in this school is no joke—”

“Ah, thank you, but I already have someone in mind…”

“Ugh…”

“Senior Chloe!”

One of the first-year girls rushed toward Chloe, who was calmly reading a grimoire from afar.

“Please be my mentor!”

Chloe looked up from her book and gave the girl a glance.

“An ice attribute mage?”

“Yes! I’m Betty Marste! My family’s line of magic is based on ice magic!”

Betty lifted the hem of her uniform skirt slightly and gave a polite bow.

Mages typically felt a kinship with those who shared their elemental affinity.

And the Marste family was a well-known magic family from the eastern continent.

Of course, Chloe had heard the name before.

She smiled faintly and opened a dimensional pocket, pulling out a thick book.

“Try reading this.”

“Huh? Uh—ack?”

As Betty absentmindedly accepted the book, she stumbled under its weight.

Grunting, she lifted it and looked at the title.

[An Inquiry into the Philosophical Necessity of Ice Mages Learning Ice Magic]

‘What kind of weird title is that?’

Even the title alone looked like it would give her a migraine.

“Submit a report on it by the day before the mentor deadline.”

“Wait, but shouldn’t I show you my magic—”

“I know you’re a skilled mage.”

Chloe smiled.

“But I want to know what kind of mage you are.”

Betty walked away in a daze.

Watching her leave, Carr turned to another boy.

“Hey! Want to make me your mentor—”

“I’m sorry! Senior Chelsea!”

This time, a first-year rushed toward Chelsea, who was stretching under a tree.

“Please be my mentor!”

“Hm? I don’t plan to take on a mentee. I’m busy with my own training.”

“Ah, then… how about Senior Abad—”

“Hmm. Show me your magic?”

Abad smiled gently, and the boy happily demonstrated his wind-based spell.

Abad nodded.

“Well done.”

“So then…”

“I think you’ll find a great mentor.”

The boy’s shoulders slumped.

Carr walked over with slumped shoulders too.

“Finding a mentee is tough.”

“Did you think it’d be easy?”

Chelsea giggled behind her hand.

“Hey! That’s not fair!”

“Come on. You just want to coast through the semester a little, don’t you?”

“…”

Carr flinched at her jab.

To someone like him, being guaranteed to stay through the semester was a huge bonus.

“Still, your experience will be really helpful for the first-years.”

Abad, leaning against the tree, gave his usual gentle smile.

“Ahh—unlike my nasty little sister.”

“What was that?!”

Chelsea shot him a glare and kicked at Carr.

Then—

“A big name’s arrived.”

Abad murmured.

A group of second-years swarmed around one first-year.

“How about becoming my mentee?”

“Juen! Long time no see! How’s your dad? Remember when we studied at the tower together? Want to team up again?”

Although the first-year grades hadn’t been released yet, the unofficial top of the Magic Department was Juen.

Naturally, second-years were fiercely trying to recruit her.

Just then—

“Juen Torbina.”

A boy stepped in front of her.

The other second-year mages flinched.

“Emio.”

“Going after Juen too, huh?”

Emio, ranked among the top five second-year Magic students, crossed his arms.

“Your specialty is snipe magic, right? Then you’d benefit most from choosing me, heir to the Luchan family.”

The Luchan family was a famous military house, experts in war magic.

And snipe magic was often used in warfare.

If that was her specialty, Emio’s guidance would be invaluable.

“I’ll seriously consider it.”

Juen gave a respectful nod.

Emio scoffed and walked away.

After turning down the rest of the second-years, Juen walked straight to Carr.

“Senior Carr.”

“You want to ask about Leo, don’t you?”

“How did you—”

“Someone like you wouldn’t ask me to be your mentor.”

Carr shrugged.

“Speaking of, Carr, where’s Leo?”

Chelsea tilted her head.

“He went to the Student Council.”

As Student Council President, it wasn’t strange for Leo to go there.

But since he hadn’t visited the council once since the semester began, Chelsea looked surprised.

“Oh.”

“It’s Leo!”

Just then, Leo appeared near the first-year Magic building.

Juen’s eyes sparkled.

A few first-years hurried toward him.

“Leo!”

But Chelsea beat them to it.

Naturally, all the first-years halted.

“What were you doing at the Student Council?”

“I needed permission to make a personal announcement to the first-years.”

“A personal announcement? That’s allowed?”

“I’m the Student Council President.”

“Oho.”

Chelsea’s eyes gleamed.

“So, what’s the announcement?”

Leo walked to the bulletin board at the Magic Department building entrance and posted it.

Chelsea read it and scowled, stepping away from Leo.

As Leo left the board, the first-years surged toward it.

Juen also looked shocked as she glanced at the announcement, then dropped onto a bench and stared at Leo.

First-years swallowed hard as they crowded around him.

Leo smirked.

“You all heard from Aina already, right?”

He jerked his chin toward the board.

“The school approved it.”

Leo swept his gaze across the students.

“So what’s there to hesitate about?”

Silence followed.

Then—

“Fire Explosion!” (T/N: Insert Megumin. lol. If you know, you know. HAHAHA )

Boom—!

One first-year suddenly cast a spell.

That set off a wave of magic targeting Leo.

The second-years looked on in disbelief.

“What the heck did that announcement say?”

—Notice—

For the next week, first-years are permitted to attack Leo Plov. Any resulting property damage will not be penalized.

—Lumene Student Council—

Second-years stared blankly at Leo, who dodged and deflected every spell.

“This looks fun. Maybe I should pick mentees like that too.”

Abad chuckled, but Chloe replied coldly.

“Don’t. One Leo causing a ruckus is more than enough.”

* * *

While the first-year Magic students bombarded Leo with spells—

Golden [Aura] and wind [Aura] surged forth.

Boom—!

Leo raised [Aura] in both hands and deflected the attack.

Tap—tap—

Two students landed in front of him.

“Aina! Haviden!”

“This is the Magic Department’s zone, you know? What’s the Knights Department doing here?!”

Some Magic students shouted angrily.

Haviden scoffed.

“I’ve got no business with Magic. I’m just here to challenge Leo—”

Fwoosh!

“Don’t get ahead of yourself, Aina!”

As he spoke, Aina had already charged Leo, sword in hand.

Haviden clicked his tongue and rushed in with his own blade.

Clang—!

Leo blocked Aina’s strike and burst out laughing.

“Didn’t you wear yourself out last night?”

“You did too, didn’t you?”

Golden light roared from Aina’s body.

“This time, it won’t be easy.”

Seeing her fierce [Aura], Leo smiled.

“I’m counting on it.”