Chapter 366

“What’s that supposed to mean? The country of pleasure?”

“It’s another way to describe the country of Aleham.”

Carr shrugged at Juen’s question.

After hearing that, Chloe pondered for a moment before tilting her head.

“Is it because of the casinos?”

“Ah, now that you mention it, Aleham is famous for its casinos.”

Juen, who was from the south, nodded.

Aleham was famous for having a royal casino in every city.

“It’s partly because of the casinos, but that’s not all.”

Carr crossed his arms.

“Aleham is the poorest of the human nations, and at the same time, it’s a country where all sorts of things that are illegal in other countries are legal.”

“So what do those illegal things have to do with it being called the country of pleasure?”

Chelsea still looked like she had no idea what was going on.

Except for Leo, the other students still didn’t understand what Carr was saying.

“Young ladies from prestigious families are so innocent.”

At Carr’s words, Celia spoke up.

“What are these illegal things?”

“It’s a little embarrassing to say.”

“Shouldn’t you explain what they are before saying something like that?”

At Celia’s words, Leo, who had been listening to the conversation, said,

“He’s probably talking about things like the sale of illegal drugs or monetary transactions for embarrassing relations between men and women. If things like that are legal, you’d probably see them happening openly on the streets.”

“What?”

The female students, momentarily flustered by Leo’s words, soon blushed and whipped their heads away.

Seeing Celia’s embarrassed reaction, Carr said,

“Lady Celia, I’ll answer your question. Those illegal things are, in fact…”

“I get it, so shut up!”

‘Thwack—!’

“Gack?!”

With her face beet red, Celia chopped Carr in the Adam’s apple.

Watching Carr clutch his throat and roll around on the floor, Luke laughed and said to Juen,

“Carr Sunbae is hilarious.”

“Carr? Who’s that?”

Juen blatantly ignored her own mentor.

After the small commotion died down, Leo spoke.

“If Aleham has the dangers Carr mentioned, it would be best to go fully prepared.”

At Leo’s words, Celia tilted her head.

“Is it really dangerous enough to call it a risk? I get that it’s a seedy place, but we’re students of Lumene, aren’t we? I don’t think anyone would dare mess with us.”

Most of the students nodded at Celia’s words.

“Think about it. Whether it’s gambling, drugs, or, you know, this and that.”

Carr clasped his hands behind his head and agreed with Leo.

“It’s true that it’s a tough place for people to live overall. Celia, just like you said, we are of course students of Lumene, and no one would dare mess with us, but.”

Carr narrowed his eyes.

“There are plenty of people in the world who don’t care about such things. Especially the kind of guys who have nothing to lose.”

At Carr’s words, Luke nodded as if he understood.

But the other students looked like they didn’t quite get it.

Celia, Chelsea, and Martina were nobles of the Lordren Empire, which occupied most of the continent’s western territory.

Among them, in particular, were members of the heroic noble families, Zerdinger and Lewellin, who could be said to be at the pinnacle of power.

Chloe, too, was from a family belonging to the Northern Magic Tower.

Of course, the Muller Family itself didn’t hold a high position in the Northern Magic Tower, but the very fact that it was a family belonging to the tower meant it was a good family.

Juen was the daughter of the Southern Magic Tower Lord.

Aina was the great-granddaughter of none other than the Sword Saint.

Betty was also from a good, influential magic family.

Having grown up seeing only the good things in life, it was only natural that they knew little about the world’s darkness.

Watching them, Leo said,

“What Carr means is that people with nothing to lose are scary. Well, it’s probably hard to understand just by hearing about it.”

Leo smiled brightly at Celia.

“It might not be a bad idea to experience it on this occasion. Professor Harrid wouldn’t be sending you with mentors for no reason.”

“You talk as if you’ve experienced such things.”

Chloe tilted her head.

Hearing that, Carr stroked his chin with a sly “Hoo-hoo-” laugh.

“Chloe. What kind of experience are you talking about?”

“What kind of weird thing are you about to say with that creepy look on your face?”

As Chloe scowled and glared at Carr, Carr grinned mischievously.

“No, I was just wondering if you were asking about Leo’s experience with women or something. With Leo’s popularity, enjoying a secret rendezvous with a female student in the middle of the night is…” (T/N : This guy is always asking to be hit lol. )

‘C-c-crack!’

“Using magic in the library is forbidden!”

Carr, who had been teasing Chloe, shrieked in terror at Chloe’s magic, which looked ready to freeze him solid at any moment.

“Stop saying weird things. Leo has never once been involved in a scandal like that, so what nonsense are you spouting?”

As dating was freely allowed at Lumene, there was nothing strange about being in a relationship.

However, school rules were in place to ensure students didn’t cross the line.

A prime example was the rule prohibiting entry into a dorm room of the opposite sex late at night.

This was the case for first-years, and it was the same for second-years who now used co-ed dorms.

Of course, even so, being hot-blooded teenagers, there were always brave souls in both the first and second years who tried to boldly break that rule.

Of course, they were invariably caught by the dorm supervisors and got thoroughly chewed out.

Since the dorm supervisors strictly monitored for violations of the no-trespassing rule, there had never been a single successful case.

At Chelsea’s words, Carr raised his index finger and wagged it back and forth.

“Hehehe—you don’t know anything.”

A smug Carr grinned.

“Of course he has no scandals with students from our school! But during the last Smith Exclusive Contract, Leo went out every night to meet a female student from Seiren and came back at dawn!”

“What?!”

Chelsea looked extremely flustered.

Chloe’s mouth hung open as well.

Watching his two flustered friends, Carr grinned mischievously.

“Leo told me everything back then. What he did with those female students.”

At Carr’s suggestive tone, Chloe’s and Chelsea’s faces turned red.

“Should I tell you what they did?”

“N-No, thanks! I’m not curious about that…”

“What Leo did with them was…”

As Carr lowered his voice, Chelsea, who had been about to snap back, shut her mouth.

Chloe also swallowed hard, her wavering eyes fixed on Carr’s lips.

As silence fell in the room, Carr said in a whisper,

“They studied magic diligently.”

“…Is that it?”

“That’s it.”

Seeing Chloe and Chelsea, their faces bright red, concentrating on his words, Carr burst into laughter.

“What on earth were you two thinking! Pwahahahaha! Gack!”

Chelsea planted a dropkick into Carr’s abdomen.

Carr, who had been rolling pathetically on the floor, struggled to get up, only to be hit by Chloe’s body blow and collapse to the floor again.

“Hitting the same spot again is… Wait! S-Stop! You hit my bone! You hit my bone!”

Carr screamed, but Chelsea and Chloe, holding a grudge for being cruelly teased, didn’t stop stomping on him.

Watching the scene, Celia crossed her arms with a pathetic look on her face.

“I don’t know why he’s so childish.”

Watching their sunbaes, the first-years thought.

‘The second-years are no different from us.’

”’

After discussing the mission practicum, they all moved to spend time with their respective mentors and mentees.

In Chelsea’s case, since she didn’t have a mentee, she followed Leo.

Arriving at one of the second-year Knight Department training grounds, the three of them sat down in their own spots.

“By the way, how’s your magic coming along?”

Chelsea asked, looking curious.

She had heard from Leo before that Luke had also been initiated into magic.

The fact that Len was personally teaching Luke magic was famous even among the second-year Magic Department students.

Chelsea herself had seen Luke receiving lessons on the basics of magic from Len several times when she went to ask questions.

At Chelsea’s question, Luke scratched his head and said,

“I’ve gotten to the point where I can use simple magic.”

“Let’s see you try.”

When Chelsea asked as if it were amusing, Luke created a simple Magic Missile.

Seeing it, Chelsea said,

“You don’t have any talent as a magician, do you?”

“Hahaha.”

Luke laughed awkwardly.

This assessment wasn’t simply because Luke’s mana was lacking.

Chelsea also knew that Luke’s power was in a state of being semi-forcibly suppressed by Leo’s magic.

The reason Chelsea judged him as untalented was because of the magic formula Luke had constructed.

‘It’s ordinary.’

He had just followed the contents of the book exactly.

Luke’s individuality couldn’t be felt.

In an era where magic was so advanced, anyone who could use mana could easily use low-level magic like Magic Missile.

“Don’t you have any magic that shows your own unique style?”

At Chelsea’s question, Luke hesitated and said,

“Well, I tried making an Original Magic.”

“Original Magic? You?”

Leo smiled with interest.

“Let me see it.”

“I’m not very good at it yet.”

“It doesn’t matter, just give it a try.”

At Leo’s words, Luke used his magic.

Chelsea let out a sound of admiration, and Leo stroked his chin.

“This could be useful.”

“I agree with Leo.”

* * *

“What are you looking at, Aina?”

Martina, who was having a practice spar with Aina, looked slightly flustered as she watched Aina stop moving.

Martina, who had been chosen by Leo from among the Zerdinger family trainees to become a student at Lumene, was a girl with outstanding talent for the sword.

But compared to the Aina in front of her, she couldn’t shake the thought that she was a firefly before a full moon.

The granddaughter of the Sword Saint.

She was a girl with a talent that couldn’t even be compared to her own.

It was enough to make one wonder if she was loved by the sword itself.

If looking at skill alone, Haviden, the second-best in the Knight Department, was also amazing.

But in Martina’s eyes, who had met renowned knights since she was young, Aina’s pure swordsmanship technique had already far surpassed the level of a first-year.

That’s why there was one thing Martina couldn’t understand.

“Are you worried about Luke?”

At Martina’s question, Aina glanced at her.

Martina was probably the only one who knew that Aina was concerned about Luke, the failing student of the same department.

This was because they often met for personal matters as they were both Celia’s mentees.

Thus, she naturally came to know that Aina sometimes looked at Luke.

“Martina.”

“Yeah.”

“How would you compare my skills and Luke’s?”

“Isn’t a comparison itself impossible?”

Leaving aside the Knight Department, Aina was the year representative, while Luke was last in the year.

It didn’t make sense to compare them on the same level.

At Martina’s words, Aina’s eyes darkened.

“Then why did Leo Sunbae take Luke as his mentee and not me?”

“That seems like a slightly rude question to Lady Celia.”

As Martina scratched her cheek, looking troubled, Aina replied.

“I’m not dissatisfied with Celia Sunbae’s guidance. No, on the contrary, it’s a great help to me. I’m always grateful to Celia Sunbae.”

Celia was also a girl who had been called a genius of the sword.

A genius understands a genius.

Celia unsparingly passed on her experience to Aina, and with that experience, Aina was able to grow faster than she had ever imagined.

“What I’m curious about is why Leo Sunbae acknowledged Luke, but not me.”

The Sword Saint had left his legacy to his cherished great-granddaughter.

However, as a prerequisite to fully inheriting the legacy, he had set the condition of receiving the acknowledgment of ‘Leo Plov.’

At Aina’s words, Martina crossed her arms.

“Hmm, I don’t think the Young Master has particularly acknowledged Luke.”

Tilting her head, Martina said,

“Could it be that he saw Luke’s potential?”

“Potential?”

“Yes, it was the same when he accepted us into his knightly order. He accepted trainees who he judged had potential according to his standards.”

“…Does that mean I have no potential?”

As Aina’s eyes darkened, Martina waved her hands dismissively.

“No, rather than that. Isn’t it because you can move forward even without the Young Master’s teachings?”

Martina smiled brightly.

“I think he thought you would do well even if Leo Sunbae didn’t guide you.”

“…”

“Let’s finish the spar. If Lady Celia catches us chatting like this, we’ll be in trouble.”

Aina nodded at Martina’s words.

As she did, she gripped her sword tightly.

‘During this mission practicum… I will get Leo Sunbae’s acknowledgment, no matter what.’

(T/N: I am excited about this arc. This will definitely showcase the 1st years skills espescially Luke. )