Chapter 359

Early morning.

“Fuwaaahm.”

Carr yawned lazily as he walked out to the dorm lounge.

Carr always woke up early.

Being naturally diligent, he started his day at dawn.

Of course, instead of schoolwork or magic training, most of his “morning routine” consisted of brainstorming business ideas for alchemy products. Still, he was the second earliest riser in the Noble dorm.

Scratching his stomach, Carr stepped outside.

Then he saw Duran sprinting at full speed even at this hour and clicked his tongue.

‘That guy really is a training machine.’

The earliest riser in the Noble dorm was, unsurprisingly, Duran.

Duran trained his body every morning.

He never hesitated to put in any effort to become stronger.

Thanks to that perseverance, he was ranked as one of the top students in Noble, alongside Abad.

Of course, Eliza also had excellent grades, but her poor class attitude constantly drew the professors’ ire.

‘A delinquent with good grades, basically.’

Clicking his tongue, Carr headed to the dorm mailbox.

Every morning, a newspaper was delivered to the students’ dorms.

It looked like a simple school newspaper.

But the moment a student bought an “individual subscription,” the quality skyrocketed.

Major internal information, dining hall events, predictions of the academy’s schedule—

The higher the subscription tier, the more information one obtained.

‘Maybe I should’ve joined the newspaper club instead of the merchant club.’

As a second-year well-known for his information network, Carr briefly wondered if joining the newspaper club would’ve been a good idea as he pulled out a thick envelope addressed to him.

‘How much am I paying for this every month…?’

He shed tears internally as he unfolded the paper.

Then his eyes went wide at the headline plastered across the front page.

[After the Founder’s Return—A New Miracle! The Comet Mage Returns!]

“Woah? What the—? That’s insane!”

Normally, he wouldn’t have believed such an outrageous headline.

But Carr had personally witnessed the appearance of the Hero of Beginning and the Founder of the Nebula last winter.

“How many secrets and powers are still hidden in the Hero Record…?”

The Great Heroes, and now the Genesis Heroes.

Seeing the greatest heroes in world history return one after another was simply breathtaking.

‘Seriously, Leo always gets caught up in something wherever he goes.’

When Leo said he was going to Seiren as an exchange student, everyone predicted something would happen.

They were right.

Carr eagerly read the front page, thrilled.

As a Magic Department student himself, he couldn’t help but feel excited at the news that Seiren—the legendary Comet Mage—had appeared in the present era.

He popped open his morning milk with a ‘pop!’ and flipped to the second page—

“Pffft!”

Milk sprayed everywhere.

“Cough! Cough! Kehek!”

Duran, who had just finished morning training, approached Carr as he choked.

“What are you panicking about this time?”

Looking at him with a disappointed expression, Duran accepted the newspaper Carr handed over.

A rare look of surprise flashed across Duran’s face.

[Seiren’s Successor: Leo Plov]

Through the miracle of the Hero Record, a hero candidate who inherited Cometes from the Comet Mage has appeared—and that candidate is Leo Plov… (continued)

Duran muttered as he read:

“Hmph. He’s becoming more and more worth chasing.”

Smirking, Duran tossed the paper back at Carr and immediately took off running again at full speed.

‘That’s not persistence—that’s obsession.’

Carr shook his head and looked back at the newspaper.

‘He doesn’t get caught up in events… he IS the event.’

“Is this guy some kind of… magnet for trouble?”

Carr could only shake his head at his friend who constantly became the center of attention.

—

Murmur— murmur—

Around the Hero Tower, the center of Lumene, was a dining district filled with restaurants.

A wide range of cuisines from many cultures—and even dishes from other races—could be enjoyed here.

When outsiders visited Lumene, the dining district was always on the recommended list.

Every day at lunchtime, the area overflowed with students.

As many students gathered, countless discussions bloomed across the streets.

Talks about academics, worldly issues—

It was a hub of lively conversation.

But today, there was only one topic.

“Leo is seriously the center of attention wherever he goes.”

Chelsea sparkled her eyes as she and her friends found seats after morning Magic Department class.

Eliana, stuffing her mouth with pizza, said:

“Does the class rep even have a limit?”

Chelsea reached for the last slice, but Eliana instantly snatched it away and shoved it into her mouth.

“Hey! Eliana!”

“Hmph!”

“You two are worse than ten-year-olds fighting over a single slice.”

Carr sighed.

“Oh-ho! My lovely students!”

A familiar voice sounded behind them.

Len approached them with a newspaper in hand and a benevolent smile.

The three quickly stood and bowed.

“Professor Len, hello. Here for lunch?”

“Yes. I promised to treat Senior Ain and Senior Yura today, so I came here.”

He pointed behind him—Ain and Yura were already seated.

“So, what were you chatting about so happily? Don’t tell me!”

Len raised his voice dramatically.

“Were you perhaps talking about our Magic Department’s pride—Leo?!”

The way he said it made it clear he wanted them to hear.

Carr and Chelsea laughed awkwardly.

Eliana shrank her neck, glancing nervously at Ain.

As a magic swordsman, Eliana was walking on a fine line between the Knight Department and the Magic Department.

Her grades were excellent in both, but it was time to choose her main department.

She needed to stay on good terms with both her Magic professor, Len, and the Knight Department’s Ain.

“Eliana! Isn’t it about time to choose your department? Since you consulted me earlier, you must be leaning toward the Magic Department over the Knight Department, correct?!”

‘Kyaaaaaaaaah!!!’

Eliana screamed internally.

She nervously looked at Ain, who gave her a cold smile and a chilling: “Oh?”

Chelsea and Carr exchanged glances immediately.

“That’s right, Professor Len. Eliana talked to us too. Right, Carr?”

“Yep, yep. She said she really wants to stay in Magic with us.”

“Hoh-hoh-hoh! I knew Eliana was meant for the path of a mage! Excellent! Very excellent!”

Content, Len walked away.

“My school life is ruined because of you two.”

“You’re the one trying to play both sides.”

“Exactly. Exactly. You can’t do that.”

Chelsea and Carr snickered while Eliana looked ready to faint.

Meanwhile, Yura said dryly:

“He really acts like Leo is already in the Magic Department.”

“Let him enjoy it.”

Ain replied calmly.

Yura smirked.

“Ain, you’re not really in a position to act calm. Leo’s the contractor of the Three Great Summoned Beasts. Do you really think he’ll pick the Knight Department?”

“Fufu… such baseless optimism, Yura.”

Len reappeared with a polished smile.

“Leo, future successor of Seiren—choose Summoning? Nonsense. Nonsense.”

“Hey… he’s the contractor of the Three Great Summoned Beasts. That’s unprecedented! UNPRECEDENTED!”

“I agree! Unprecedented! A mage contracting all three Great Summoned Beasts is unprecedented indeed!”

“This is pointless.”

“A reasonable, logical mind cannot communicate with someone blinded by emotion.”

“…Do you have a death wish?”

Yura grabbed Len by the collar.

Len shook his head calmly.

“Resorting to violence when you lose the argument—barbaric.”

“Die!”

“P-professors! No fighting inside the restaurant!”

Employees rushed out to separate them.

“Let’s bet. I’m voting for Professor Yura.”

“I’m betting on Professor Len.”

“I’m with Professor Yura.”

First-years looked terrified, but the upperclassmen casually made wagers.

Naturally, there was no result—

Ain subdued both Len and Yura shortly afterward.

During the now-quiet mealtime, a small summoned creature flew in and dropped a letter before Len.

“What’s that?”

“Assistant Professor Anna sent me an urgent report about the academic conference.”

Len proudly opened the envelope.

It contained feedback about his presentation of ‘Introduction to Star Magic’.

“Hoh? The elves are very pleased with my thesis. As expected! No one with a functioning brain would dare belittle my work.”

Smug, Len flipped to the next page—

Flutter~

A photograph slipped out.

Len picked it up—

—and froze.

His shoulders trembled violently.

“What’s wrong?”

“I must… go to Seiren. Immediately! Right now!”

He jumped to his feet and sprinted out of the restaurant.

“Hey! Pay the bill!”

Yura yelled angrily.

Ain frowned and reached for the fallen photo.

“Professor Ain, Professor Yura—what happened? He just ran off.”

Chelsea, Carr, and Eliana approached with puzzled expressions.

Ain clicked her tongue and showed them the photo.

It was a group photo of Seiren’s students.

Leo was in it—

Wearing the Seiren uniform, naturally standing among the Seiren students.

“Just because he wore the uniform, does Len really think Leo is transferring? He’s our Student Council President. At this point it’s a mental illness.”

Yura shook her head.

Chelsea muttered:

“Well… so much for having a proper magic class this afternoon.”

“Hurray!”

“Self-study!”

Carr and Eliana cheered loudly.

—

That afternoon.

Lumene buzzed with a new rumor.

“Think about it—he was chosen as Seiren’s successor, right? Would Seiren even let him go?”

“Come on, Seiren isn’t like that. They’re not gonna take a human student.”

“You never know. Leo’s Star Magic is pretty insane.”

Even walking through the courtyard after class, Leo was the topic everywhere.

Leaving the Magic Department building, Carr spotted Len shuffling back toward the faculty office looking half-dead.

Seeing Len like that, Chloe sighed.

“I wish Leo would hurry back so we can get proper classes again.”

“Why? I loved today’s classes.”

“…You like self-study?”

“Love it!”

Chloe rolled her eyes as Carr laughed.

Just then, Duran and Eliza passed by.

“Hmph. Leo Plov transferring to Seiren wouldn’t be bad.”

“Agreed. If he becomes a Seiren student, he’d be a proper rival we must defeat. It’s better than the lukewarm dynamic of being in the same school.”

Hearing them, Chloe and Carr turned toward Len—

He already had his staff drawn, aiming at the two of them.

“Professor Len! We have something to ask!”

Chloe hurriedly ran to distract him.

“Why are you two walking in front of the Magic Department building?!”

Carr shoved the two out of Len’s line of fire.

“How dare you push me? You must fear nothing.”

“You’ve lost your mind, Carr Thomas.”

“No, YOU two have lost your minds!”

Carr shouted desperately—

“Looks like you’re all getting along.”

A familiar voice cut through the chaos.

Carr’s eyes widened as he turned.

There stood Leo—and Anna—carrying travel bags.

“Leo, when did you get here?”

Carr asked, surprised.

Leo smiled faintly.

“Just now.”