Chapter 405

“The World Summit?”

Carr’s eyes widened at what Leo had told them.

It wasn’t just Carr. Everyone at the table reacted with the same surprise.

The World Summit.

A conference where the most powerful figures in the world gathered in one place.

It began 3,000 years ago.

The site of the first World Summit was none other than Dragonia. Back then, the one who summoned the leaders of the world was the Dragon of Genesis, Rodia.

The reason it was convened was the second coming of Erebos.

Those now called the Heroes of Genesis—Lumene, Seiren, Azonia, and Damienne—and the heroes they led, all gathered together.

Since then, a World Summit had been held whenever a major event shook the world.

The venues were largely limited to five places.

Starting with Dragonia, the summit was hosted by the four great Hero Academies.

“Wow, a summit. So that means all the world’s leaders are gathering at Lumene?”

Eliana Laden clicked her tongue in amazement.

“Probably. Attendance isn’t mandatory, but if you skip a summit, you fall behind the flow of world affairs. Most of them will show up.”

“Chloe, how do you know all of that?”

“Books.”

Chloe Mueller pointed at the book in her hand.

“But the library is closed.”

“Yeah. I just happened to have a book about the World Summit stored in my Subspace.”

“…You store books in your Subspace?”

For Eliana, who usually kept her distance from anything that wasn’t a textbook, grimoire, or swordsmanship manual, it was a culture shock.

“But they don’t happen often, do they?”

“Of course not. It has a massive influence and ripple effect, so the conditions are extremely strict. It requires the consent of the four great Hero Academies, and then final approval from the Dragon Lord.”

Carr stroked his chin, muttering, “Wasn’t the last World Summit held about a hundred years ago?”

“To be precise, ninety-seven years ago.”

“Wow.”

A conference that could happen once in a lifetime.

And they were about to witness it up close.

“My heart’s kind of pounding.”

At Carr’s murmur, Eliana grumbled.

“My heart’s pounding too, sure. But we’ve also been saddled with a huge headache. We’re going to be swamped preparing to welcome all those guests.”

“That’s true. There’ll be plenty of people who want to see the students of our school.”

“We might have to put together something to show them.”

“We’re already busy preparing for finals, and now we have to be paraded around like zoo animals?”

At Eliana’s words, complaints erupted from here and there.

Whenever something big happened at school, it was always the students who suffered for it.

Amidst the noise, Celia Zerdinger spoke.

“If a World Summit is being held, does that mean the ‘Dragon of Silence’ has finally broken her silence?”

At that, the students’ eyes widened.

The Dragon of Silence.

It was Dragon Lord Melina’s epithet, born from the fact that she had rarely shown herself for a long time.

“I have a feeling this summit will be noteworthy in more ways than one.”

You could feel the world’s history beginning to move again.

Chelsea Lewellin looked at Leo.

“Leo, you’re going to be the busiest this time.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re the student council president. Don’t you have a lot to prepare?”

Chelsea brought a piece of cake—dessert—to her mouth with her fork.

Watching her chew with puffed cheeks like a squirrel, Leo chuckled.

“I have plenty of competent sunbaes above me. Why would I be busy?”

“Isn’t the vice president still away on his mission?”

“He is.”

“Then don’t you have to handle the summit preparations until he gets back?”

“It’s fine. Hark sunbae will take care of it. He’s the type whose efficiency goes up when time is tight.”

Everyone shook their heads as they watched Leo say that so casually—words that would’ve made Hark Riguard grab the back of his neck and lunge.

‘Isn’t Leo scared of Hark sunbae?’

Even after a year at Lumene, many second-years still feared their sunbaes.

And Hark was the strongest of the fifth-years, the heir to one of Lumene’s three great noble families.

Yet Leo spoke like working him to the bone was only natural.

Everyone looked at Leo with a fed-up expression.

As Leo got up to return his tray, Eliana said quickly, “I’m so glad I’m in the same year as Leo.”

“I know, right. If he were our sunbae or our hubae, we’d be worked to death,” Chelsea said, nodding.

“The power of the student council president comes from execution, but Leo seems completely unrelated to that,” Celia muttered, propping her chin on her hand.

Chloe nodded.

“That’s right. He has Hark sunbae completely wrapped around his finger. Hark sunbae holds the real authority… but it still feels like Leo’s the one playing him.”

“Let’s offer our condolences to our sunbaes,” Eliana said, clasping her hands as if in prayer.

Watching them, Carr clicked his tongue.

“You guys know one thing but not the other.”

“What?” Chelsea looked at him, puzzled.

“Hey. What do you think is the real reason Leo works his sunbaes so hard?”

“Because he doesn’t want to work and wants to make things easy for himself,” Eliana said.

Everyone looked at her like she was pathetic.

“Is Leo you?”

“It’s the way you think.”

“Chloe! The kids from the other dorms are bullying me!”

Eliana whined at Chloe with teary eyes, but Chloe didn’t disagree.

Carr continued, “Leo works his sunbaes because they’re competent. Now imagine those sunbaes graduate. Who do you think he’ll work to the bone next?”

At that, everyone stiffened.

“The way the sunbaes are now is your future.”

Carr chuckled.

“Well, that’s the sorrow of honor students—capable, competent, and with good grades. Hahahaha! I don’t have any skills anyway, so Leo won’t work me.”

Carr laughed confidently.

The others narrowed their eyes.

‘For some reason, it feels like you’ll be the one worked the hardest.’

The Leo they all knew was the kind of person who would find someone’s strengths no matter what and squeeze every last drop out of them.

“Should I tell him?” Chelsea murmured. “That it looks like Carr will be the one worked to the bone?”

Eliana smiled slyly. “Let him enjoy it.”

“Why? It’s annoying.”

“His grades are at the bottom, and he’s going to suffer the most. It’s pitiful, isn’t it?”

Chelsea tilted her head at Eliana’s logic, then nodded.

—

Excitement filled the air among the first-years as the World Summit—a major event—loomed over the school.

“The time has come to let the world know my skills.”

“Ah~ What if I get scouted by a country stronger than our kingdom?”

“Will there be sponsorship offers too? I heard quite a few sunbaes have them.”

The first-years buzzed with excitement, most of them wearing smug expressions.

A World Summit held right before finals was more than enough to inflate their expectations.

Even as hero candidates, it was rare for first-years to show off in front of the powerful figures who steered the world.

Finals were a stage to display everything they’d achieved over the semester.

And after feeling their own growth so vividly, the first-years were overflowing with confidence.

In the main auditorium of the first-year classroom building, the gathered students chatted endlessly, full of dreams.

Watching them, Luke Elda murmured, “Everyone seems to be looking forward to finals.”

“Are you not looking forward to them?”

Haviden Birsen, sitting beside him, narrowed his eyes.

“I’d be grateful just to make it to the second semester at Lumene, one way or another.”

Luke gave an awkward smile.

Then, ridicule rose from around them.

“Pfft, did you hear that?”

“His goal is to make it to the second semester.”

“Wow, shameless. With those grades, he still wants to stay?”

“Isn’t he just relying on the student council president?”

“Probably.”

“But even if he has the student council president backing him, isn’t it unfair for a failing student to stay enrolled?”

“That’s right.”

“Wouldn’t it be hilarious if the student council president got expelled with him?”

“That’d be fun.”

“Nah. No way. They’ll just expel that guy.”

“That’s unfair in its own way!”

Mocking jeers mixed with laughter poured out.

“It’s noisy. Stop barking and shut your traps.”

At Haviden’s cold voice, the students mocking Luke bristled.

“What did you say?”

“Did you just finish talking?”

Normally, they wouldn’t dare talk back to Haviden.

He was second in the Knight Department and ranked within the top five among all first-years.

But these students were different.

They were the so-called Aina faction.

In other words, students who gathered around Aina Beidna and styled themselves as her followers.

At Lumene, factions were practically tradition.

Talents from all over the world gathered here, and among them, there were always those with overwhelming ability.

Naturally, people clustered around those budding heroes.

Among the fifth-years, the Hark faction was the representative group, and among the fourth-years, the Elena faction was famous.

The third-years had Lily Luce, but because of her disposition, their year leaned heavily individualistic.

The second-years had so many formidable students that, early on, there were signs of splintering into multiple factions.

There were even concerns among the faculty that they would become a dysfunctional generation rather than a golden generation.

But instead, they became the year least inclined toward faction politics.

Then there were the current first-years.

Their representative faction was the Aina faction, centered around the year representative.

The problem was that Aina had no interest in factions and wasn’t managing anything.

The students who called themselves the Aina faction were simply loitering around her as they pleased.

And because Aina focused solely on training and studying, the Aina faction’s rampages had become more frequent lately.

Haviden curled his lip as he looked at them.

“Interesting. I’ll find out whether Aina Beidna protects you or not by beating you all to a pulp.”

The Aina faction flinched at Haviden’s cynical smile.

At least within the Knight Department, the only student who could stop Haviden was Aina.

“Just you wait.”

Gritting their teeth, they turned and left.

Watching them go, Haviden snorted.

“Thank you for helping me.”

Luke smiled awkwardly.

Haviden narrowed his eyes at Luke.

“You too. Stop pretending to be a pathetic, clumsy, failing student, Luke Elda.”

“Pardon?”

Luke looked flustered by the sudden remark.

Haviden stood up.

“You think my eyes—and everyone else’s—are just for decoration?”

Haviden’s voice was cold.

“I know exactly what kind of look you give me, and the others. It’s a very grating look.”

Haviden knew.

He knew this “failing student” was aiming for the position of year representative.

The one who had pointed it out first was Duran Moira.

‘If you’re aiming for year representative, be wary of Luke Elda.’

At first, Haviden hadn’t understood.

‘If Leo Plov chose him, there has to be a reason. And that guy’s eyes are the eyes of someone looking upward.’

Duran had curled his lip.

‘Don’t just look ahead and to the side. Your competition is also behind you.’

After hearing that and meeting Luke’s gaze properly, Haviden realized.

Luke wasn’t showing it, but—

Luke was genuinely trying to surpass him.

‘He doesn’t even seem to realize it himself. That makes it even more annoying.’

And during the mission practicum, Haviden and the other first-years had seen it.

The honor students who stood on the front lines, including Haviden, had seen it.

Luke’s sword strike in that moment.

“Being annoyingly nice is your nature, so I guess it can’t be helped. But at the very least, if you’re going to challenge me, show your fangs.”

Haviden snorted, as if declaring war.

“That way, I can beat you down with a clear conscience.”

(spoiler : next arc is the 1st year tournament arc + world summit)

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