Chapter 414
When Juen opened her eyes, she saw an unfamiliar ceiling.
She blinked a few times before hurriedly sitting up.
“…Where is this?”
Panicked, Juen looked around, then realized she was in the infirmary and let out a hollow laugh.
‘I lost.’
Bang-
Just then, the door opened and Carr walked in.
“Juen, you’re awake?”
“What happened?”
“Shock from mana exhaustion.”
Carr dragged a chair over and sat beside Juen’s bed.
“It was so close. If it had been a fair fight—not in a place that favored Aina—you would’ve won…”
“Losing is losing.”
Juen gritted her teeth at Carr’s words.
“Anything else is just an excuse. The result doesn’t change.”
“…Yeah.”
Carr, who had been trying to comfort her, closed his mouth and smiled bitterly.
He panicked as he watched Juen sit there in silence, head lowered.
“Hey, are you crying?”
Juen’s shoulders trembled slightly.
“I’m sorry. Sunbae helped me so much.”
Juen had come up with the winning strategy against Aina, but it was Carr who had predicted and analyzed Aina’s movements.
“I just did what any mentee would do. Don’t cry. You were really amazing, you know?”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. But I’m so frustrated.”
“It’s okay. You only lost once. It’s just the first-year final exam, right? You’ll have plenty of chances to pay her back.”
Carr soothed the frustrated Juen.
—
Lumene was buzzing after the first round of the first-year final tournament.
Luke was by far the most talked about.
His unexpected victory drew a huge amount of attention.
And the questions about why someone like him was the Student Council President’s mentee had faded away.
“Luke! Why have you been hiding your strength until now?”
“Was it a strategy to make the other students lower their guard?”
Newspaper Club students swarmed Luke, firing off questions.
“It was Leo Sunbae’s training method.”
“Oh? What was the Student Council President’s training like?”
At that, Luke’s face went pale.
‘What kind of training did I even go through?’
The Newspaper Club students made odd expressions as they watched Luke tremble.
The next most talked-about match was the one between Aina and Juen.
“Aina, what are your thoughts on the match against Juen?”
“She was very strong.”
Aina lowered her eyes, answered quietly, and returned to her dorm without another word.
Students who called themselves Aina’s faction panicked and chased after her.
Watching them, Luke muttered,
“She doesn’t look happy.”
“She probably didn’t expect to struggle this much. She almost lost, after all.”
Sasha, the class representative of Class 1 like Luke, replied as she fanned herself.
“Anyway, you were great, Luke. You brought honor to Class 1.”
Luke scratched his head at Sasha’s words.
“I’m looking forward to our match.”
A snort followed her smiling remark.
“Sasha Sienne Lordren, you won’t get a chance to fight Luke Elda.”
“What did you say?”
Sasha narrowed her eyes.
“Because you’ll be defeated by me before that.”
“Heh—You just said what I was going to say, Haviden Birsen.”
Sparks flew between Sasha and Haviden.
Other students slowly backed away from the two of them.
“From the beginning, I’ve been thinking I should defeat Luke Elda.”
“I feel the same way.”
El Jane, Haviden’s classmate from Class 10 and Chen Xia’s mentee, stared at them with a dumbfounded expression.
“Weren’t you two not even interested in Luke Elda? You didn’t know his skills until now.”
“I’ve been determined to defeat Luke since he became Leo Sunbae’s mentee.”
Sasha snorted, and El Jane smiled slyly.
“Jealous?”
“No, I’m not!”
Sasha flushed and flailed, earning a dry snort from Haviden.
“How pathetic, Sasha Sienne Lordren.”
Flustered by Haviden, Sasha turned to Luke.
“Luke, you tell me! Who do you want to fight more—me, or this guy?”
“Of course he’d want to fight me, a fellow Knights Department student.”
“I want to fight both of you.”
Luke scratched his cheek as he answered.
From Luke’s perspective, both Sasha and Haviden had been amazing since the moment they entered first year—students he’d admired.
And they were strong opponents he’d wanted to test himself against someday.
‘I want to see how far my skills go against people like them.’
That was Luke’s honest feeling.
Of course, Sasha and Haviden didn’t look convinced.
“Choose, Luke Elda.”
“Choose, Luke.”
Luke made a miserable face as the two closed in, eyes fierce.
“Someone help me!”
The first-years turned away. No one wanted to get dragged into Sasha and Haviden’s fight.
As the commotion spread among the first-years, Nella, a second-year who had come to find her mentees, muttered as she watched.
“Leo’s mentee is popular.”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
Eliana nodded.
“I’ll pass on that kind of popularity.”
—
The final exams weren’t just for first-years.
After the first-year tournament ended, each grade began their exams.
But because the first-year tournament was the main event, the other grades generally finished early.
The first-years also wrapped up their written exams quickly and continued the tournament.
Luke kept winning and moving up.
The top students from other departments did the same.
As for Juen—who’d been dealt a bad bracket—she made it into the main tournament through the loser’s bracket.
While the loser’s bracket matches continued, the biggest issue of the semester—
The World Summit finally began.
All grades gathered in the grand training ground by department.
“Wow.”
Eliana, reading the school newspaper, shook her head in disbelief.
Chloe tilted her head.
“Why?”
“No, I’m just wondering if Emio is really going to get expelled.”
“Ah.”
Chloe reacted as well.
Judging by grades alone, Emio was skilled enough to stay in Lumene until graduation.
But things had gone sideways because of the first-year tournament.
Emio’s mentee, Lement, suffered a shocking defeat to Luke in the very first match and fell into the loser’s bracket.
The problem was that Juen had fallen into the loser’s bracket too.
And Juen won her way through it.
It was a match between the first- and third-place students in the Magic Department, but Juen won overwhelmingly, sending the other side further down the loser’s bracket.
“The criteria for expulsion for first-years hasn’t been clearly defined yet. We’ll have to wait and see.”
Eliana snorted at Chloe’s words.
“I hope Professor Harrid is really strict. I hope I don’t have to see that annoying face again.”
“I agree.”
Chelsea, listening beside them, nodded too.
“But why are you here?”
“Huh?”
“Go back to the Knights Department.”
“Gasp! We’ve been studying together in the Magic Department—how can you say something so harsh!”
Chelsea narrowed her eyes as Eliana clutched at her chest like she’d been stabbed.
“Harsh my ass. You’re only here because it’s more visible. You come to the Magic Department when it’s convenient for you, right?”
Eliana looked away.
Watching her, Carr muttered,
“Should I drag her out?”
“Chloe! They’re all ostracizing me!”
As public opinion turned on her, Eliana clung to Chloe.
After the commotion finally settled, Eliana said,
“The Student Council President must be happy. He’ll be watching all the powerful people and Heroes from each country in the special seats, right?”
Leo stood in front of the warp gate, ready to greet the world leaders as the Student Council President.
—
“Leo, don’t be nervous. I’ll assist you well.”
“Lily Sunbae. I appreciate the thought, but could you look at me when you talk?”
Lily had her eyes tightly shut—probably from nerves.
Greeting the leaders and Heroes of each country up close had been assigned to the grade representatives of each year.
Hark and Elena would be returning from their mission tomorrow, so Lily was currently the highest-grade student.
That meant Lily’s role was to assist Leo—who was the Student Council President, yet still only a second-year.
But she was fidgeting, clearly nervous.
“Ooh—Aren’t you nervous, Leo? Worried you’ll make a mistake or show something disgraceful?”
“Not really.”
“As expected, Leo is amazing.”
Lily sounded genuinely impressed.
She’d thought he was amazing from the first time they met.
But now he wasn’t just an amazing hubae—he was the Student Council President, and a Summoner in a much higher position.
“Lily Sunbae, just act like you normally do.”
“Well, I guess then they wouldn’t think it’s strange.”
‘…They’ll think it’s strange either way, but whatever.’
Leo muttered to himself.
Lily thought of herself as ordinary, but her personality was anything but.
Of course, as a Spirit Mage, she was very ordinary.
‘Not just ordinary—she’s a monster without a single flaw.’
Despite her talent, Lily always found someone she thought was more amazing and compared herself, intimidating herself on her own.
‘But she never stops trying.’
She used comparison as a stepping stone, always looking up instead of down.
Leo shifted his gaze to Aina.
‘She’s in a similar state to Lily.’
If Lily was closing her eyes because she was nervous, Aina was staring at the ground.
‘She still hasn’t shaken off the shock from her match with Juen.’
“Aina.”
“Yes?”
Aina startled at Leo’s call.
“You look like you have worries.”
At that, Aina lowered her gaze again.
Her lips moved, then stopped.
Aina, who had never avoided Leo’s eyes—always insisting she would be recognized—was now avoiding him.
Leo looked at her and asked,
“Why do you think you have a mentor?”
“Yes?”
Aina lifted her head, startled by the question.
But before the conversation could continue, the warp gate activated, and the leaders and Heroes of each country began to arrive.
—
Flash-!
Numerous rulers and Heroes of various races arrived.
Each time, Lumene students cheered.
As everyone continued welcoming them warmly—
Flash-!
The warp gate activated again, and someone else appeared.
The Lumene students, mid-cheer, paused.
Not just them.
The kings and Heroes greeting one another also froze when they realized who had arrived.
Flutter- Flutter-
Flags rippled.
A group from the eastern continent stepped forward.
There had been many World Summits since the Heroes of Genesis.
But they—who had existed since before the Heroes of Genesis—had never once attended.
The country with the longest history in the world.
The country of shadows that had written its history in the dark.
Someone quietly spoke the name.
“Shan Empire.”