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Chapter 69




【69】68
The next morning.
The students from Lumeren and Seirun gathered in the middle of their accommodation.
Halingd and Herdium each led their respective students.
As Leo and Lunia, as class representatives, were helping to lead the students,
“Wait, isn’t that Eiran?”
A Seirun student said in a flustered voice.
At those words, Lunia's eyes widened and she turned her head.
She then noticed Eiran timidly following behind Rune.
The Seirun students began to murmur when they saw Eiran.
“Student Eiran!”
Herdium approached Eiran with a surprised expression.
“Ah, hello, Teacher Herdium.”
“Student Eiran! You must have decided to come back to school after hearing my story!”
Eiran gave an awkward smile at the proud smile of his homeroom teacher.
Herdium had also had a private meeting with Eiran, who had been his assigned student since coming here.
Eiran had refused to come to school from a certain point, which made Herdium feel regretful.
“Thank you for your concern, Teacher Herdium.”
“No, no, Teacher Rune. Ah, you are now the Grand Councilor, right?”
“Eiran, do you know how worried we were when you went back to your family without a word?”
“Miss Lunia, well, that is...”
“Are you feeling better now?”
The school had been informed that Eiran was resting at home due to illness.
Lunia, who approached with a blank face and asked various questions, made Eiran flustered. Then Leo came over.
“Are you also participating in this mission?”
“Ah! Lord Leo.”
Eiran, wearing the Seirun school uniform, looked like a proper hero cadet to anyone.
Lunia, who stopped and frowned when she saw Eiran smiling brightly at Leo, thought to herself,
‘Why is Eiran, who barely talks to me, so close to this guy?’
“I'll go and greet the Lumeren students.”
“Sure.”
She watched Eiran head over to greet the 5th class students, who had become friendly overnight, with a slightly pleased look.
Meanwhile, Lunia's face twisted when she saw Eiran chatting warmly with the Lumeren students.
“Leo.”
Lunia, who had instantly put on the mask of a top student, smiled and called out to Leo.
“Do you want to talk for a moment?”
Leo followed her into a deserted alley with a puzzled look on his face.
“Hey, what exactly did you do? Why is Eiran being so friendly to you and not to me?”
Once they were alone, Lunia, who had suddenly changed, looked at Leo with a curious expression.
“You seem more comfortable with me than with you.”
“Does that make sense? How long have you known Eiran?”
“Just two days at most?”
“That makes even less sense! I'm his schoolmate!”
“Eiran seems to be afraid of you?”
“What? No way.”
“After the duel evaluation, you seemed too scary. He thought you disliked him.”
“That was because I was focused on the duel. Eiran's skills are so outstanding that I couldn't guarantee a win.”
“Then why didn't you take care of him? Eiran seemed to want to be friends with you.”
Eiran had admired Lunia, who was always confident, according to her.
“Take care of him? Eiran, such an outstanding student? Wouldn't that be disrespectful to him?”
For elves, helping others is a virtue, but offering help to an equal can sometimes be seen as a form of disrespect.
Lunia had apparently recognized Eiran as an equal rival and stopped taking care of him as she used to.
‘Their personalities are completely opposite.’
The difference in their thinking seemed to be a barrier to becoming friends.
“Take care of him. He seems like someone who needs to be looked after by someone like you.”
Lunia looked at Leo with a puzzled expression.
As they were about to return to where the students were gathered, Lunia asked,
“Oh, by the way, are you really an all-class student?”
“Yeah.”
“Really? Is that even possible?”
“If you don’t believe me, why did you ask?”
“It sounds like something out of a fairy tale.”
At Lunia's words, Leo simultaneously released Aura, Magic Power, and Spirit Energy.
Lunia's mouth dropped open when she saw this.
Leo smiled at Lunia, who looked incredulous.
“Looks like we need to have a proper match someday.”
“I already won, didn’t I?”
“That wasn’t a proper match, was it?”
Lunia, who smiled slyly, folded her arms.
“I’m the type who wants to see things through to the end, especially when the opponent is strong.”
“Sure, sure. I’ll face you if the opportunity arises.”
As Leo and Lunia were talking and about to return,
Thud, thud,
students wearing Seirun school uniforms appeared from a distance.
They were none other than the upperclassmen from Seirun.
Twenty of them lined up neatly in front of the freshmen.
A male student who seemed to be the representative stepped forward.
“Teacher Herdium, all the second-year students have arrived after receiving the mission request.”
“Oh! Student Rauta, you’re here too?”
“Yes.”
“I read your paper on the Star Magic with great interest.”
“I’m glad you found it interesting, Teacher Herdium.”
“It’s all thanks to Student Rauta’s skills, isn’t it?”
“Yes, but I heard something strange, Teacher Herdium.”
“What is it?”
“I heard that a Lumeren student deciphered the Founder’s magic.”
“Rauta, that’s just a rumor.”
“Why would you make it difficult for Teacher Herdium by bringing it up?”
The other second-year students burst into laughter at Rauta’s question.
“It’s true.”
“Really?”
“This Lumeren first-year student, Leo Flaub, successfully deciphered the magic.”
Herdium introduced Leo with a smile.
The Seirun second-year students looked at Leo in disbelief.
After a moment of stiffness, Rauta regained his composure and smiled at Leo.
“Leo, right? Deciphering the Founder’s magic is quite an achievement. My name is Rauta Algraya, and I’m in the second-year advanced 2nd class.”
“My name is Leo Flaub.”
Leo introduced himself as he shook Rauta’s hand.
“...?”
Leo noticed a black ring on Rauta’s hand.
As Leo’s gaze fell on the ring, Rauta quickly let go of his hand and looked at Lunia.
“And you must be Lunia El Runda, the famous first-year representative. It’s an honor to meet you.”
“Thank you.”
“I’ll be watching your performance on this mission.”
After saying this, Rauta patted Lunia’s shoulder and returned to the second-year students.
“You don’t seem like a good senior.”
“You can tell that at a glance?”
“He was smiling, but his eyes weren’t.”
Lunia sighed at Leo’s words.
“I heard they look down on the junior and intermediate classes, but pretend to be model students in front of the teachers.”
“Seems like there are such people everywhere.”
Leo chuckled.
Meanwhile, the Seirun second-year students were chatting warmly with the freshmen.
“Our club’s second-year seniors only want to tease us.”
“Can the relationship between first and second-year students be that close?”
Lunia watched the Seirun second-year students taking care of their juniors and felt envious.
When Leo returned to the 5th class, he looked puzzled.
“Why are you all like this?”
“You don’t know because you don’t participate in club activities. Our school’s second-year students only see their juniors as toys or labor.”
Karl shook his head and said.
“Compared to them... sigh, I’m envious. Envious.”
While most of the students were looking on with envy,
Halingd and Herdium gathered the students.
“We will now begin forming teams. The team formation will be done by drawing lots, and the team leaders will be the second-year students from Seirun.”
After Halingd finished speaking, the first-year students drew lots.
Each team consisted of four first-year students and one second-year student.
“Leo! Which team did you get?”
“Team 1.”
“Oh! I’m in Team 1 too!”
Karl, with a pleased expression, went to where the team leader was.
The team leader of Team 1 was none other than Rauta.
“You are the Lumeren side of Team 1. I look forward to working with you.”
“I look forward to working with you too!”
Karl greeted cheerfully.
A moment later, the Seirun first-year students arrived.
It was none other than Lunia and Eiran.
“You are in Team 1?”
“Lord Leo, are you also in Team 1?”
“Yeah.”
Eiran’s face brightened when he saw Leo.
“Please take care of me, Miss Eiran.”
“Please take care of me, Lord Karl.”
Lunia frowned as she watched this.
‘Just a moment ago, he was checking my reactions like a mouse in front of a cat, but now his face brightens up as soon as he sees Leo.’
She recalled Leo’s words from earlier.
‘I can take good care of him too!’
“Eiran, come here. You need to greet the senior first.”
“S-Sorry!
Eiran apologized, shrinking his shoulders.
Lunia’s expression darkened.
“Eiran, don’t be so submissive. You are also a Seirun class representative. You should have more confidence...”
“S-Sorry for being submissive! I’m sorry for being a class representative!”
Eiran bowed deeply, thinking Lunia was angry.
“No, no, that’s not what I meant!”
Lunia, who had tried to encourage Eiran, was flustered by the opposite effect.
“Class representative? Miss Eiran was also a class representative?”
“Yeah. Eiran is the second-best in the first year at Seirun.”
“Oh? That’s impressive!”
Unlike Lumeren, where only the top student becomes the class representative, in Seirun, the top three students in each grade are class representatives.
Lunia, who had calmed Eiran, greeted Rauta.
“Senior Rauta, I look forward to working with you.”
“Please take care of me, senior.”
“It’s an honor to guide the class representatives.”
Rauta smiled.
“Well, two of the first-year class representatives are disgracing the school’s name.”
Eiran’s face turned pale at those words.
Lunia’s face hardened.
“Senior, isn’t that a bit harsh?”
“Lunia, you are undoubtedly an outstanding student. But Eiran and Luca here are not.”
Rauta said bluntly.
“Causing a truancy incident and being a half-blood class representative. Do you know how the second-year students view this year’s first-year representatives?”
Lunia’s face twisted.
‘Ah! Really! If he weren’t a senior, I’d punch him in the face!’
Lunia knew well how the seniors viewed the first-year representatives.
It was true that there were rumors about Eiran and Luca, the other class representatives besides Lunia, in the authority-conscious Seirun.
‘But Eiran and Luca earned their positions solely through their skills!’
“Please gather the second-year students.”
“I’ll be back, so get ready.”
As Rauta left, Lunia stomped her feet and growled.
“What a jerk! I’ll beat him up someday!”
“Wow, you’re full of energy.”
Lunia turned her head sharply, and Karl smiled and gave a thumbs up.
“So the top student act was just a mask, huh!”
“Why do you think that?”
“I could tell from the first day when you grabbed Leo by the collar.”
Karl, who chuckled, extended his hand.
“My name is Karl Thomas.”
“You’re a funny kid. I’m Lunia El Runda.”
Lunia, who had thrown off her top student mask, shook hands with Karl confidently.
“Anyway, he’s a real jerk, isn’t he? Don’t you think so, Leo?”
Karl, with his arms crossed behind his head, grumbled.
“Definitely harsh words.”
“Hmph! It’s probably because he’s full of inferiority complex.”
“Why would a second-year student have an inferiority complex?”
“I heard they were in the lower class until first year. They seem to have suddenly grown to the level of the advanced class in second year.”
Lunia’s words made Leo pause.
“Suddenly improved in skills?”
“Yeah. It was a huge issue at Seirun from the start of the semester. He’s the talk of the school this semester.”
‘Suddenly improved in grades?’
Leo narrowed his eyes and looked at Rauta, recalling the incident during the midterm exams.
‘Could it be?’
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