Chapter 276

“My arms and legs… I can’t feel them…”

Carr, who had collapsed on the floor, muttered in a dying voice.

He wasn’t the only one groaning.

Most of the students who had become the targets of the Damienne students’ scramble were sprawled out on the ground, half-exhausted.

“You’re all pathetic!”

Chelsea, hands on her hips, lifted her chin and declared.

“If you show such weakness, the students from the other Hero Academies will look down on us!”

Growling, Chelsea grabbed Carr, who was lying on the floor, and shook him violently.

“Get up, Carr!”

“Hey! Hey hey hey! Don’t shake me by the arms—aaaagh!”

Carr screamed.

Watching the scene, Leo asked,

“What happened? You seem more upset than usual today.”

“Leo, you don’t know this, but she’s always this snappy.”

At Carr’s words, Chelsea shot him a sharp glare.

“She only acts sweet in front of you… Kuhk? I—I surrender! Guhk! I give up!”

As Chelsea choked him, Carr flailed and shouted.

Once barely released, Carr asked,

“Anyway, why are you in such a bad mood?”

“Those Azonia jerks made fun of me for being small.”

The reason for Chelsea’s foul mood was none other than the students from Azonia.

They had spotted Chelsea, whom the Dwarves had been avoiding out of annoyance, and said,

“Lumene lets someone that tiny attend? Who is she?”

“Looks like Chelsea Lewellin.”

“Chelsea Lewellin? Isn’t she kind of famous? But she looks like she’d fly away if you poked her.”

“Hey! Who are you calling tiny? Who looks weak? Fight me!”

At that, the Azonia students looked at each other and burst out laughing.

“Sorry, but we might get in trouble if we fought a little kid like you.”

“If you’re offended, I apologize. Here, take this as a peace offering.”

And they handed her a piece of candy before walking away.

She’d tried to retaliate in a fury, but her plan failed when Damienne students came swarming in.

“They treated me like a kid? Heh… You’re dead. Damn beast freaks.”

Chelsea clenched her fist, veins popping on her forehead.

Seeing her so murderous, Carr whispered to Leo,

“Hey, calm her down, will you? If she stays like this, I’m the one who suffers.”

In response, Leo pulled something out from his pocket and handed it to Chelsea.

“Here. Have a candy and cheer up.”

What he gave her was a candy made from a fatigue recovery potion—crafted by Carr.

Seeing Leo’s gesture, Carr screamed internally.

‘You’re treating her like a kid too?!’

“Thanks, Leo!”

But Chelsea smiled brightly and popped the candy into her mouth.

Carr muttered under his breath.

“She is a kid.”

“I’m only one year younger than you, you know?”

Chelsea glared.

“Carr, there’s something I want to ask you.”

“What is it?”

“That girl earlier, Driana—why do the Damienne students dislike her?”

“Driana? You mean that cute-looking Dwarf from earlier?”

Chelsea also looked curious.

Seeing their interest, Carr spoke up.

“Oh, that? I was curious too, so I squeezed in some research in between getting harassed by the Damienne guys.”

Crossing his arms, the ever-resourceful Carr began to explain.

“Driana is the granddaughter of Damienne’s principal, Gerwin. She got in without even taking the entrance exam—special admission.”

“Well, I can see why they’d hate her then.”

Chelsea nodded in understanding.

“No, they don’t hate her for that. In fact, not a single student has complained about it.”

“Why not?”

“Because Driana’s a born genius smith. They say she made an enchanted magic sword when she was just five.”

“A magic sword at five?”

Chelsea’s eyes widened.

There were two main methods for creating magic swords.

First, using materials imbued with Mana.

Second, enchanting ordinary materials with Mana.

“That’s incredible.”

Chelsea clicked her tongue.

Creating a magic sword through enchantment was much harder than using Mana-imbued materials.

Enchant magic itself wasn’t particularly difficult.

Chelsea, once called a genius herself, had learned enchant magic at five.

But enchant magic for magic swords was on a completely different level.

It involved embedding Mana directly into the object itself.

It wasn’t just about magical aptitude—it required a level of talent that most could never reach in their entire lives.

“With that level of skill, special admission is a given. Then why do the Damienne students dislike her?”

Chelsea tilted her head.

Carr scratched his head.

“Apparently, she worked hard crafting weapons up until the first semester of Year 1. She was even the top student at the time. But in the second semester, she suddenly lost all interest in making weapons.”

“What?”

“And even when she did make something, she only made replicas of the weapons crafted by Dweno.”

“What the heck? That talent’s going to waste!”

Chelsea was stunned.

A smith who could forge enchanted magic swords at age five.

Someone with the potential to create legendary weapons for future heroes.

And she was wasting that talent?

“No one knows why. She says she wants to make art now. They say she’s been making all kinds of weird stuff lately.”

“Art?”

“Yeah. She calls herself the greatest artist ever born in Dwernonia. Supposedly, she even held her own exhibition downtown.”

Chelsea looked dumbfounded.

A Damienne blacksmith, who should have had more pride than anyone, wasn’t creating but imitating.

And of all things, she was copying the works of the revered Divine Blacksmith, Dweno.

To the Damienne students, it was no wonder that Driana was despised.

“They think she’s tarnishing Dweno’s name.”

At those words, Leo lifted the sword he’d brought earlier—Wolf Fang.

‘Still, her skills are real. She was able to emulate Dweno’s craftsmanship, even if roughly.’

She hadn’t been trained by Dweno.

And yet, she had recreated a weapon close to his level.

‘That’s not something you can do without real skill.’

Leo narrowed his eyes.

‘Then why did she stop making weapons?’

* * *

That evening.

Lunia, who had been assigned to a dorm in Seiren, returned to her room after dinner.

Normally, as one of the candidates for next student council president, she would have been surrounded by people.

Lunia was Seiren’s pride, and Seiren’s pride was the Elves.

To become a representative hero of the Elves, many lower and intermediate class Elves tried to stay close to her.

But after the incident earlier in the day, everyone was too busy whispering about her.

“Who knew Lunia was such a violent Elf…”

“She’s scary…”

Lunia scoffed as she looked at her gossiping classmates.

She’d already expected this kind of reaction.

‘No reason to care about girls like that.’

Once she decided to drop the facade, she found she didn’t care at all what others thought.

“Ah, w-welcome back, Lady Lunia.”

Inside the room, her roommate Eiran quickly hid the book she was reading behind her pillow and greeted her.

Her hair was still damp, as if she’d just showered.

‘She’s reading another novel by a human author. Must be fun—she never lets me see them though.’

Whenever Lunia asked about it, Eiran would go out of her way to hide even the title.

Watching Lunia close the door and take a seat, Eiran looked worried.

“Lady Lunia, are you alright? The other Elves aren’t treating you poorly, are they?”

“I expected this. Honestly, it feels freeing. Now I don’t have to pretend anymore.”

Lunia smiled gently.

“Unless… you liked the old me who played nice?”

“N-no! I think your current self is way cooler, Lady Lunia. I’m sure Luca thinks so too!”

Eiran clenched her fist and declared.

“Thanks.”

Lunia gave her a bright smile.

“Oh, right. Eiran.”

“Yes?”

“Leo said he wants to see you.”

“Sir Leo?”

Eiran’s ears perked up, her face lighting up.

“When? When did he say that?”

“After midnight. He said to meet him in the main hall from earlier.”

“A-after midnight? But isn’t that past curfew?”

“Yeah. He told you to sneak out.”

“A-and what does he want at that hour…?”

“He said he’d tutor you.”

“T-tutoring?!”

“Why so surprised? Sure, he’s our peer and a year younger, but there’s a lot we can learn from him.”

“Y-yes! There is… to learn… Haah!”

Face turning bright red, Eiran clutched her cheeks.

‘She’s off imagining weird stuff again. Honestly, Eiran really has a wild imagination.’

Lunia shook her head, assuming Eiran was embarrassed after jumping to strange conclusions before realizing it was just tutoring.

“Yeah. So be ready.”

Leaving the blushing Eiran behind, Lunia stepped out to take a shower.

Left alone, Eiran was blushing all the way up to her ears.

‘L-Leo and me… alone… tutoring… in the middle of the night…!’

Just as Lunia expected, Eiran’s imagination was running wild.

And the problem was—it was still ongoing.

Eiran pulled out the book hidden behind her pillow.

[The Teacher’s Midnight Tutoring.]

‘I-it was true. H-humans… they really tutor… at night…!’

The former shut-in swallowed dryly, completely misunderstanding the situation.

* * *

Mount Erdean.

The far eastern edge of the continent.

A cursed land where monsters are born.

But to the Dwarves, this land was also a blessing.

It contained countless magic stones and rare ores.

A crucial place for weapon-smithing Dwarves.

That’s why, just beyond the forest near Mount Erdean, stood the great Dwarven city of Tarkam.

And Tarkam had high walls.

Once every few decades, monsters crossed the mountain and forest to launch a massive invasion.

That day, as usual, guards stood watch from Tarkam’s walls, looking toward Mount Erdean.

Rumble rumble rumble—

Suddenly, the ground shook.

“An earthquake?”

“There’s been a lot of those lately.”

Earthquakes were common around Mount Erdean.

Tarkam was used to them.

As the guards casually chatted, a Dwarf keeping watch at the top of the wall noticed something strange.

Thud! Rumble!

It felt like the very earth was trembling.

It didn’t feel like an ordinary earthquake.

‘What is that?’

Then, a patch of utter darkness appeared on one side of Mount Erdean.

For a moment, even the moonlight vanished.

He rubbed his eyes.

But in the blink of an eye, the moonlight returned—like nothing had happened.

‘Did I… imagine that?’

Frowning, the Dwarf raised his telescope.

He carefully scanned the area around Mount Erdean.

And then—

Flash—!

He locked eyes with pitch-black irises glowing in the dark.

“E-emergency! Emergency! A-a monster has appeared!”

Ding ding ding—

Having glimpsed the massive giant, the Dwarf panicked and rang the alarm like mad.

Tarkam was thrown into total chaos.

But the terrifying shadow that had exuded such overwhelming presence… had already vanished.