Chapter 338
Seiren, lunchtime.
Leo was walking down the corridor of the first-year building—the Castle of Beginnings.
Step, step—
At the far end of the long hallway—
Swoosh—
A gray-haired girl peeked out from behind the corner wall.
‘That’s Leo Plov, right? I’m sure it’s him? It’s not just someone who looks like him, right?’
After seeing Leo leave the cafeteria, Lea had hurriedly finished her own meal and followed him.
She was certain it was Leo, but she still couldn’t make sense of what she was seeing.
The Student Council President of Lumene, posing as a Seiren student?
‘And in the first-year lower class, no less?’
It was far too strange, so she had followed him to confirm for herself.
Step—
When Leo suddenly stopped walking, Lea flinched and instinctively hid behind a suit of armor standing in the corridor.
‘Wait, why am I hiding? I could just ask him, couldn’t I?’
Realizing how ridiculous she was being, she sighed inwardly.
“What are you doing?”
“Kyaaa!”
Startled by the voice behind her, Lea screamed and grabbed onto the armor in a panic.
Clatter—!
Unable to withstand her weight, the armor wobbled dangerously.
“Whoa—!”
Leo reached out, catching her before she fell, then used a gust of wind magic to set the armor upright again.
Now face-to-face with him, Lea was sure of it.
‘It really is Leo Plov!’
“You alright?”
Leo helped her stand.
Lea blinked up at him in shock before snapping back to her senses with a gasp.
She hurriedly stepped back and turned around, flustered.
‘It’s Leo Plov! The real Leo Plov!’
Straightening her clothes, Lea cleared her throat, turned around, and gave a polite bow to the boy towering over her.
“It’s an honor to meet you. My name is Lea Tingel.”
She even lifted the hem of her uniform skirt in a proper elven greeting, leaving Leo with a puzzled look.
‘The first-year representative?’
The same Lea Tingel Professor Tina had mentioned—Seiren’s top student who had successfully communicated with Silload, the Fairy King.
‘Well, meeting her isn’t strange since we’re both first-years… but why’s she being so formal?’
It was odd—she was treating a fellow first-year, and a lower-class student at that, as if he were a superior.
But Leo’s confusion didn’t last long.
“You’re Leo Plov, right? Why were you eating in the Seiren first-year cafeteria? In the lower class section, no less?”
‘So she recognized me.’
“W-wait! Were you sent here by Aunt Tina? Is that it? Right? Right?!”
“Why are you so worked up?”
“Because I like you!”
“……”
Leo’s face twisted into an odd expression at the sight of the girl declaring her affection for him after just meeting.
Unable to contain herself, Lea spoke rapidly.
“I’ve loved the story of Kyle, the Hero of Beginning, since I was little! His tale—it’s so tragic yet inspiring! I’ve always thought he was the truest of great heroes! And you—you’re an All-Class just like him! You even helped prove that Kyle really existed! Oh, my heart raced every time I heard your heroic stories!”
As she spoke at lightning speed, Leo could only stare in bewilderment.
In truth, even among Lumene’s students, there were quite a few who idolized the Great Heroes.
It wasn’t unusual—after all, every Hero Academy nurtured those who admired heroes and dreamed of becoming one.
And since the Great Heroes had saved the world, it wasn’t strange for students to revere them deeply.
Even among elves, there were those who admired Arron, the bravest among all races, or Lysinas, the Dragon of Wisdom.
Each person had their own hero they looked up to.
But—
‘She’s saying I’m her favorite hero?’
Though it was now proven that Kyle had truly existed, for thousands of years he had been dismissed as a mere legend.
To claim him as her favorite Great Hero was certainly unusual.
Even among those Leo knew, only Chelsea, Eiran, and Luke had ever shown any fondness for Kyle’s story—and none of them would have called him their favorite.
But here was an elf, of all people—a race proud of its lineage—calling Kyle the greatest of heroes.
“So anyway! I actually wanted to take Lumene’s entrance exam because of you! But my family strongly opposed it!”
Lea clasped her hands together as she spoke excitedly.
“So then, why are you here in Seiren?”
“I’m here as an exchange student.”
“An exchange student! Oh, I see! But…”
Lea’s face turned confused.
“Then why… the first-year lower class?”
Seiren didn’t even have an exchange student program.
But as a direct descendant of the Tingel family, Lea knew how much influence her house held.
Even though Tina couldn’t openly reveal her connection, if she requested it, the school could easily make exceptions.
Lea believed that Leo’s presence as an exchange student would be a tremendous asset to Seiren.
They hadn’t met before, but Leo’s achievements as a Hero Candidate spoke for themselves.
‘He’s like a living hero among us.’
But to place someone like him in the first-year lower class?
That made no sense.
Seeing her confusion, Leo spoke.
“Lea Tingel.”
“Ah! Please, just call me Lea, Senior Plov!”
“Senior? But I’m not even a Seiren student.”
“Still, you entered the Hero Academies a year before me, and we’re both Hero Candidates! Of course you’re my senior! Senior Plov… ah, what a beautiful sound!”
She practically glowed with joy, and Leo couldn’t help but laugh quietly.
“Alright, Lea. What do you think about the lower class?”
“The lower class? Our teachers said they’re just students who don’t try hard enough.”
Leo clicked his tongue softly.
‘So that’s the kind of nonsense they’re teaching here.’
Apparently, the lower-class students were being branded as lazy failures.
‘Seiren’s direction is clear enough.’
The academy founded by the Comet Mage—who sought to follow the footsteps of the Founder of the Nebula—had now been twisted.
It seemed the current administration intended to reshape Seiren into a school meant only for successors of the Comet Mage.
A place for exceptional Star Mages alone.
‘…Would the Comet Mage have ever wanted that?’
Even now, the Heroes of Genesis continued to fight against the fragments of Erebos within the Hero Record.
Among them was Seiren herself.
‘If Seiren conquered Luna’s world…’
Leo’s eyes dimmed.
‘If she truly inherited Luna’s will, would she have wanted a school for Star Mages only?’
Luna had wished for a world in full bloom—a peaceful world she had risked her life to protect against Erebos.
Though they had never met, separated by millennia, Leo could feel that her resolve to protect the world must have been no different from his and his friends’ five thousand years ago.
There was no way Seiren would have wanted to create a school solely for one type of mage.
She wouldn’t have sought a “successor” for herself.
She would have simply wanted to preserve the world Luna and the others had fought to protect, passing that wish down to the next generation.
‘If we’d been in their place, we would’ve done the same.’
The current Seiren had gone astray.
Surely there were upperclassmen who felt the same.
‘I was going to just stay quiet and let this place rot, but…’
Leo smirked faintly and looked at the odd elf girl who idolized the Hero of Beginning.
“Lea Tingel.”
“Oh, come on, call me Lea—”
“How about a little homework assignment?”
“Homework? If it’s about Star Magic theory, I can finish it by tomorrow—”
“Ask your seniors what they think about Seiren right now.”
“What the seniors think about Seiren? Which seniors?”
“Lunia and Eiran.”
At the mention of the second-year representative and vice representative—the two most talked-about names in the academy—Lea’s eyes widened.
“If they don’t want to talk, just say I told you to ask.”
“Alright! But in exchange, will you grant me one request if I do it?”
“What kind of request?”
“Treat me like your junior—and teach me magic, Senior Plov!”
Lea puffed out her chest proudly, and Leo chuckled.
“Alright.”
“Hooray!”
Her joy was so genuine that Leo couldn’t help but smile.
“And one more thing—keep it secret from the others that I’m an exchange student.”
“A secret between you and me, Senior Plov! Got it!”
Beaming, Lea ran down the hallway, no doubt heading straight for Lunia and Eiran.
Watching her go, Leo laughed quietly.
‘Hopefully I didn’t just get that girl into trouble.’
Even as that thought crossed his mind, he looked out the corridor window toward the Castle of Beginnings.
‘…Maybe it’s time I fixed this place properly.’ (T/N: This is going to be an interesting arc. I’d love to see how he demolishes their pride.)
—
Spring in the Northern Continent was harsh.
In this frigid land, it was almost expected.
Yet the faces of those working were bright and full of life.
The elves looked upon the soon-to-be-completed Castle of Beginnings with pride and hope.
They believed it would be the cradle of a new future.
“Your school’s almost finished too,” said a woman.
“Yeah.”
The elf woman smiled warmly at the lone human beside her.
“How’s your school, Lumene?”
At her question, Lumene smiled.
“The new students are adorable.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Don’t look so gloomy, Seiren.”
Lumene grinned at her friend’s somber face.
“Soon enough, heroes who’ll save the world will be born there.”
“Yeah. That’s what Hero Academies are for.”
Seiren smiled brightly and nodded.
While Lumene turned her gaze elsewhere, Seiren looked up.
And then—she saw it.
The one thing only her true eyes could perceive—
A sign of calamity.
Black fire.
When they had founded the Hero Academies, she had truly believed it.
That heroes would rise to protect the world.
But now…
‘It’s already been 2,900 years… can we really hold on until then?’