Chapter 31
“This is my first time coming to Lumeria since enrolling.”
As Leo spoke while getting off the regular ferry between Lumene and Lumeria, Celia nodded.
“Same here. I’ve been so busy that I never had a chance to come out.”
Many Lumene students come to Lumeria every weekend, but there still weren’t many first-years who visited regularly.
The reason was that they still weren’t used to the academic schedule.
Leo grabbed the collar of his uniform.
“Isn’t it kind of a stiff rule to have to wear the uniform even in Lumeria?”
“I don’t mind. Not only is our academy uniform stylish, but just being a Lumene student is a huge honor.”
Celia shrugged her shoulders.
“And the reason for that rule is so students don’t do anything stupid in Lumeria. If you’re in uniform, the school will find out immediately who did something dumb. That’s why I heard it’s a rule that a lot of students break. Of course, the moment a professor catches you…”
Celia drew her hand across her neck.
“It’s over for you, basically.”
Just as she said, there were quite a few students walking around Lumeria in plain clothes, and there were also plenty who got caught by professors.
“By the way, why does the student council president want to see us?”
It was pretty unusual for the student council president, who had been away, to call them out.
But at that question, Celia looked exasperated.
“Do you really not know?”
“I really don’t.”
“You don’t know who the student council president is?”
“No, I don’t.”
Hearing Leo’s answer, Celia let out a big sigh.
As they entered the bustling Kuraju street, Celia spoke.
“Student council president Rhys is the heir to our family! He’s your cousin!”
“Really? My cousin is the student council president?”
“Really? Seriously? How could you not know about Rhys? He’s the best student in Lumene and our family’s heir!”
“I mean, it’s possible not to know.”
Leo shrugged indifferently, and Celia clutched her head in frustration.
As they talked, they arrived at the lodging where they had stayed before the entrance ceremony.
Jingle—jingle—
As they opened the door and entered, a bell rang.
“Welcome! Ah, you’re students from Lumene! Are you planning to stay over the weekend?”
As the attendant asked with a bright smile, Celia replied.
“Rhys is staying here, right?”
“You mean Rhys Zerdinger? Yes, he is. Are you with him? Or do you have a separate appointment?”
As the heir to Zerdinger and the student council president of Lumene, he was quite the celebrity.
There were many people who would show up unannounced just to try to connect with Rhys.
Because of that, the hotel attendant, having seen such situations many times, was cautious.
As a staff member at an upscale hotel, it was their duty to provide the best resting place for guests.
“I’m…”
“Oh? Who is this! Isn’t it Celia?”
At that moment, a man with black hair and eyes, an eastern student, approached with a bright smile from the first-floor lobby.
“Senior Li Jamua. It’s been a while.”
Celia greeted him properly.
Li Jamua.
He was a fifth-year at Lumene.
“Haha! Isn’t that a bit stiff between us?”
Li Jamua laughed heartily.
“Miss attendant, these are our guests.”
“Ah, my apologies.”
“Not at all. Come on in.”
Waving his hand, Li Jamua led Celia and Leo inside.
“By the way, who’s this?”
“This is Leo Plov, my cousin.”
“Oh? So you’re the famous first-year representative?”
Jamua’s eyes sparkled.
All-Class ability user.
That alone was enough to shock not just his year, but the whole academy.
Even in Lumene’s history, where only the most talented were admitted, an All-Class ability user was unprecedented.
There were still some students and professors who suspected Leo was a fraud.
‘Well, even in my previous life, people looked at me strangely if they heard I was All-Class.’
Leo understood why people didn’t believe it and didn’t mind.
“You must be a pretty impressive knight.”
Jamua smiled at Leo.
“Rhys is waiting. Let’s go up.”
Striding ahead, he squared his shoulders.
“Magic is great and summoning is fine, but the best thing is the body itself!”
Jamua thumped his chest with his fist.
“If you polish your swordsmanship while supplementing with magic and summoning, you’ll become a remarkable knight!”
At those words, Celia nodded.
“Yeah. Leo, you’ve been neglecting your swordsmanship lately.”
“Oh no! If you slack off in training, you’ll never become a great knight.”
“Is that so? Celia, maybe we should ramp up the intensity of our training?”
Regretting bringing it up, Celia avoided Leo’s gaze.
Not knowing the circumstances, Jamua thought Leo was passionate and grinned with satisfaction.
“That’s the right attitude!”
“Shut up, Jamua.”
As they reached the top of the stairs, a sharp voice rang out.
“Don’t you remember the professors told us not to talk about our departments in front of Dual Class students? And you’re forcing a department on an All-Class junior you’ve just met?”
A woman with light brown skin and reddish-brown eyes, clearly from the south, was leaning against the second-floor hallway wall.
Judging by her Lumene uniform and the badge with a 5 on her left chest, she was also a senior.
The book and staff emblem embroidered on her right shoulder indicated she was in the magic department.
She pushed herself off the wall, her heels clicking as she brushed past Jamua and stood in front of Leo and Celia.
“Hello, my name is Torua Yan. You’re Celia, right? Rhys has told me a lot about you.”
“Hello, senior Torua.”
Though it was their first time meeting, Celia had also heard about her from Rhys.
She was said to be the top scorer in the written exams of the fifth-year magic department.
“And… you must be Leo Plov?”
Torua looked at Leo silently for a moment, then snorted.
“Professor Len praised you to the skies, so I was looking forward to meeting you… What’s this? That pathetic amount of Mana? I feel like an idiot for getting my hopes up.”
“Did you just call Leo pathetic?”
Celia snapped.
“I only stated the facts. Anyway. Leo.”
Click—click—
Torua approached Leo and said,
“Quit the knight and summoning courses right now and focus on magic.”
Torua put her arm around Leo’s shoulder and pointed at the ceiling.
“Leo, look up. Can’t you see your potential shining like the stars in the night sky?”
“All I see are the magic lights on the chandelier attached to the ceiling.”
“You didn’t get what I meant. I was telling you to look with your eyes closed.”
“Then I’d only see darkness.”
“You have a talent for evaluating things intuitively. That’s an essential trait for a mage. It seems you’re a mage by nature.”
Torua was a typical mage who only said what she wanted.
“Senior Torua, didn’t you just say we shouldn’t force our departments on others…?”
“Celia, sorry, but this is a matter for the magic department, so could you stay out of it?”
Celia frowned and asked Jamua,
“Is that allowed?”
“Of course not. But she’s a stubborn mage—no matter what you say, she won’t listen.”
Jamua shook his head.
“If the professors find out, she’ll be in big trouble.”
“But the professors don’t know.”
“They will.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m going to tell them.”
Celia looked blankly at the deep friendship Jamua and Torua had built through five years of surviving together.
—
“Brother!”
“Celia, have you been well?”
Celia walked into Rhys’s room, smiling brightly as she threw herself into his arms.
Leo looked at her with a surprised expression.
It was the first time he’d seen Celia, who always upheld perfect manners and conduct as a Zerdinger, act spoiled.
‘So she really is a fifteen-year-old kid after all.’
As Leo chuckled at the sight, Rhys spoke to him.
“So you’re Leo. I’ve heard a lot about you. How is your mother doing?”
“She’s well. Have you met her before?”
“I did, when you were young. After coming to Lumene, I’ve written her several times as well.”
“To my mother?”
Celia was surprised, and Rhys smiled.
“Your mother was famous in her school days. You’ll naturally hear the legends as you go through academy life.”
“Like what?”
“One time, she gathered students and stormed the principal’s office because the dorm cafeteria desserts were terrible. That’s a famous story.”
“That was my mother?”
“So it really was your mother.”
Celia’s jaw dropped, while Leo looked like he’d expected it.
“Yes. Thanks to her, students can eat good desserts even at the dorm cafeteria now. I got to try those desserts back then… As student council president, I wholeheartedly supported your mother’s opinion.”
Rhys nodded and laughed.
“Anyway, sorry for calling you out over the weekend. Once school starts, I’ll be too busy to see you for a while. That’s why I wanted to meet you separately now.”
“I don’t mind!”
Celia, happy to see Rhys after so long, chatted cheerfully.
Even as he cared for his younger cousin, Rhys also looked after Leo.
‘I can see why Celia looks up to him.’
As the heir of Zerdinger, and as student council president of Lumene.
Rhys was flawless.
He had both the ability and the character.
‘A man worthy of being called a hero.’
It felt like it was only a matter of time before Rhys would become a hero.
“So, Brother! Which Hero Dungeon did you clear this time? Who was the hero?”
While they were talking, Celia asked.
“That’s still confidential, so I can’t tell you, even you. But I can tell you that I recovered two pages.”
“Really?”
“Yes. But one was so badly damaged that it’s impossible to even recreate the Hero’s world from it.”
Looking regretful, Rhys checked his watch.
It was already dinnertime.
“It’s already time to eat. You two don’t know about Lumeria’s hidden restaurants, do you?”
“No. Are there really such places?”
“Of course. Do you think I’ve been in Lumene for five years for nothing? I’ll take you somewhere truly delicious today.”
“Wow!”
Celia smiled brightly and stood up.
“Leo, is there anything you can’t eat?”
“I eat anything.”
“Good. Wait downstairs. I’ll tidy up my things and be down in a bit.”
Humming a tune, Celia pushed Leo out as they left.
Rhys took out the box containing the page of the Hero Record he had recovered.
It was something he could never show to ordinary students, so he always carried it with him when he went out.
As Rhys picked up the box, just a bit smaller than his palm, he stopped.
A strange surge of power could be felt from the box.
‘What is this? Is the Hero Dungeon I just cleared going out of control?’
Rhys tensed.
The torn page was unstable.
Sometimes, even after being cleared, the dungeon would run wild again, creating another Hero Dungeon.
Rhys opened the box to check and furrowed his brow.
The Hero Record showed no reaction.
‘Wait. No way?’
He quickly opened the box containing the badly damaged page.
A tiny piece, no bigger than a fingertip, was emitting a faint gray light.
As the page, which had shown no signs until now, suddenly revealed its power, Rhys couldn’t help but be surprised.
‘What in the world is this…?’