Chapter 337
Leo was walking down the corridor alongside Anri.
Even if it was the lower class, it was impossible for Laura—a young elf who had dedicated her life to magic—to teach lessons that could satisfy the elite Seiren students.
That was why, though she had initially been full of enthusiasm when she first met Leo, Laura quickly grew dejected and sent him off with Anri.
She decided it would be better for the students to study independently.
“Miss Laura is such a kind person,” Anri said, walking ahead of Leo.
“She really cares about every student in our class. And her magic lessons are so fun and easy to understand.”
Anri couldn’t stop praising Laura.
“You’ll like her soon enough too, Lyle.”
Her bright smile dimmed slightly.
“Even if she’s not the best at teaching the other subjects.”
Her long ears drooped a little before she forced an awkward laugh.
“Ah, sorry. You must already feel down about being put in the lower class. I shouldn’t have said that!”
“Don’t worry about it,” Leo replied evenly.
Anri fidgeted with her hands.
“Still, I’m a little curious. You said you came down from the intermediate class, which means… someone from the lower class must’ve been promoted to replace you, right?”
She hesitated, clearly nervous.
“But… as far as I know, no one from the lower class ever gets promoted.”
“Ah.”
A sigh escaped Anri’s lips. Then she forced a weary smile.
Whether in Lumene or Seiren, competition among students was fierce.
Normally, if someone dropped from the intermediate to the lower class, another student would take their place. But Leo hadn’t actually come down from the intermediate class, so no one had been promoted.
“Sorry for saying something pointless.”
Still smiling awkwardly, Anri quickened her pace.
Following behind her, Leo fell into thought.
‘This problem is worse than I thought.’
A student strong enough to rival the year representative being stuck in the lower class…
And the fact that the lower class was left to rot like this…
Seiren’s situation was far more serious than expected.
‘They’ve always been obsessed with Star Magic, but this is too much.’
Seiren might have favored Star Mages, but it had never excluded other disciplines entirely.
Now, however, it seemed like they were refusing to give any opportunity to talented students outside that field.
Even with skill and potential, these were still first-years—yet they were forced to learn without proper instructors.
As Leo narrowed his eyes—
“We’re here.”
Anri led him to a shabby-looking training hall.
Inside the vast hall, first-year students were sparring with their weapons.
Leo glanced around.
“No theory lessons?”
Anri scratched her cheek.
“Well, we try to do theory too, but… we focus mostly on practical training.”
“I see.”
Leo nodded.
Seeing that, Anri adjusted her grip on her spear.
“What do you think, Lyle? Since you’re here, wanna spar?”
Leo smiled faintly.
“I’ll just observe for today.”
“Alright, fair enough. You’ve had a rough day.”
Anri didn’t press further and began sparring with another student.
A few others noticed Leo and whispered.
“Who’s that?”
“Some guy from the intermediate class, apparently,” Anri answered with a wry smile.
“For real? Guess he’s another dropout like us.”
Clicking his tongue, a male student frowned.
“Then why isn’t he sparring?”
“Said he’d just watch today.”
“He hasn’t realized he’s in hell yet.”
The boy sighed and squared off against Anri.
From afar, Leo rested his chin on his hand, watching.
‘There are quite a few talented ones here.’
Anri herself was strong enough to compete for the first-year representative position.
The others, too, were far from weak.
Their only flaw was their lack of achievement in Star Magic.
After quietly observing for a while, Leo stood and left the hall.
The lower-class students noticed but didn’t call out.
They held deep resentment toward the intermediate and advanced classes.
After all, they had to share one class and one teacher because most of the faculty assigned to first-years had been diverted to train upper-class students.
The intermediate class at least had the chance to advance upward, so the administration still paid them attention.
But not the lower class.
Only Laura—just one teacher—was left to guide them.
The school had written them off as hopeless.
The upper and intermediate students mocked and looked down on them.
Having been denied every opportunity, it was no surprise they greeted a former “intermediate” like Leo with hostility. (T/N: I really hate this school.)
As Leo stepped out of the hall, he spoke quietly.
“Elci.”
At his call, a mass of shadow gathered and formed into the shape of the spirit.
-Yes, Leo.
“Find me where the summoners are gathered around here.”
-One moment, please.
Elci closed her eyes to concentrate, then opened them again.
-This way.
As expected, not far from the lower-class area, the students studying Summoning were practicing.
Peeking into an empty classroom, Leo watched the lower-class summoners communicate with spirits and familiars.
He clicked his tongue.
‘Just as I thought—they’re talented too.’
There weren’t any as exceptional as Anri, but many were clearly misplaced in the lower class.
‘So that’s the real issue.’
Rubbing his chin as he walked the hallways, Leo soon returned to the lower-class classroom.
There, he found Laura sitting at her desk, diligently reading an Aura Studies textbook.
“Oh, Lyle! What brings you here? Did you forget something?”
Laura greeted him cheerfully.
Sitting down in front of her, Leo said,
“I wanted to attend your class.”
“Pardon?”
“I’d like to take your lesson. Would it be alright if it’s just me?”
“O-of course not!”
Laura beamed brightly and stepped up to the lectern.
Clearing her throat, she began,
“Starting now, we’ll begin our Aura Studies lecture!”
—
Tap, tap, tap—
In the second-year area, a girl with brilliant red hair walked down the corridor.
At the sight of her, the second-year students froze.
The second-year representative—Lunia El Lunda—had finally returned to the classrooms.
After her visit to Damienne, the high-ranking elves who oversaw her education had deemed her in need of “correction.”
Thus, instead of normal lessons, they had ordered her into isolated supplementary classes.
Officially, it was “special treatment” for the top student.
In truth, it was a way to keep her separated from others so she wouldn’t “influence” them.
Opening the classroom door—
Clack—
The upper first class of second-years looked up with bright smiles.
“Lunia! You’re back! How was your special class?”
One student greeted her with false friendliness.
Lunia glanced his way coldly.
“Don’t talk to me.”
The boy froze at her frosty tone.
Lunia despised him—he had been the one who replaced Luca, who’d ranked third last year, after Luca was expelled from the course for being a half-elf.
And, of course, the boy was a proud pureblood supremacist.
Even exchanging words with him disgusted her.
Under her icy stare, he slinked away.
Lunia went to her seat at the very back by the window and sat down.
Several friends gathered around her.
“How was the special class?”
“It felt so weird without you.”
Smiling faintly at her close friends, Lunia replied,
“It wasn’t anything special—just lectures about the ‘proper mindset of an elf,’ I suppose.”
“Ah…”
Her friends sighed bitterly.
Having been classmates since their first year, they knew she could be a bit rough around the edges, but that didn’t make her a bad person.
‘That’s just Lunia.’
‘She might be blunt and reckless, but she’s not the problem.’
As they thought that—
Clack—
Eiran entered the classroom.
Spotting Lunia, she rushed over and clasped her hands tightly, eyes glistening.
“You’re back, Miss Lunia!”
“Been doing well without me?”
Smiling softly, Lunia patted her teary-eyed friend’s head before turning to the others.
“Anything special happen while I was gone?”
“There was something big yesterday. The whole school’s talking about it.”
“What happened?”
“Lea Tingel from first year.”
“The top student? What about her—did she mess up?”
“If you can call it that. It’s a huge deal.”
The girl nearly squealed.
“She spoke with Lord Silload, the Fairy King!”
“What?”
“The school’s gone crazy because of it.”
“That’s quite an event.”
“Actually, we were planning to go see her after class today.”
As the students excitedly chatted—
The classroom door opened, and an elf teacher walked in.
Everyone quickly returned to their seats.
Looking around, the teacher began,
“I have an announcement. As you know, midterms are approaching.”
The teacher’s gaze swept the room.
“For the first-years, this will be their first exam. Some, such as those in the lower class, will find it especially important.”
He smiled faintly.
“Even the weakest students work hard before exams, right? To help them focus, upperclassmen are prohibited from interacting with the first-year lower class for now.” (T/N: Wow. How low can these shitheads be, huh?)
Murmurs filled the room.
Of all things, a ban on meeting the first-year lower class?
It was suspicious.
Lunia raised her hand.
“Yes, Lunia El Lunda?”
“Wouldn’t the lower-class students need more guidance from seniors? Why forbid it?”
“Because no matter how well-meaning, your advice would only confuse them. They lack the ability to comprehend it.”
‘…So something’s going on with the lower class.’
Lunia could feel it. Seiren had changed this semester—too much.
‘Whenever the higher-ups have something to hide, they start making up absurd rules like this to keep students in check.’
Her eyes narrowed.
‘Telling me not to meet them just makes me want to even more.’
—
Lunch break.
Having finished Laura’s Aura, Spirit, and Mana lectures, Leo mulled over his thoughts.
‘She’s a good teacher.’
Just as Anri had said, Laura was an excellent instructor in spirit.
Even in subjects outside her field, she put her whole heart into helping her students.
‘Still, her lessons won’t really help the lower-class kids much.’
Thinking that, Leo headed to the cafeteria.
When he entered, his expression froze in disbelief.
The cafeteria itself was divided by class rank.
Advanced, Intermediate, and Lower.
The advanced side was a lavish buffet.
The intermediate area had decent meals.
And the lower-class section—nothing but bread and water.
Not a single student was eating there.
Leo was the only one.
“Who’s that? Never seen him before.”
“Probably lower class.”
“Haven’t seen one of them here in ages.”
He could hear the sneers of the first-year elves.
‘If my friends saw this, they’d riot over the food discrimination.’
Students at Lumene were used to excellent meals. Some even dined at the finest restaurants on campus.
They were all food lovers—and very particular about it.
Skipping a meal was unthinkable.
Ignoring the giggling elves, Leo went to the lower-class table, sat down, and quietly ate his bread and water.
The upper and intermediate students laughed at him, but he treated them like barking dogs—beneath notice.
“Hey, isn’t that the guy from last night?”
Eclere, sitting in the advanced section, blinked curiously.
“Who?”
The gray-haired girl beside her lifted her head.
“You know, that weird lower-class kid I mentioned earlier.”
Eclere smiled brightly as her friend looked toward where she pointed.
The first-year representative, Lea Tingel, casually sipped her drink—until her gaze fell on a familiar face.
A “human face” she’d seen before… not in person, but in a newspaper from the human world.
Her eyes widened.
“Huh?! Cough! Cough!”
Choking in surprise, she coughed violently.
Eclere hurriedly patted her back.
Once she regained her composure, Lea stared again, disbelief clear in her eyes.
A Seiren uniform.
Pointed ears.
Everything fit—except that unmistakable human face beneath it all.
‘Why is the Student Council President of Lumene eating lunch in Seiren’s first-year cafeteria?!’