Chapter 69 -----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 69
Chapter Title: An Unpleasant Senior
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The next morning.
Students from Lumerne and Seirun gathered in the middle of the lodging area.
Halind and Herdium took charge of their respective students.
Leo and Lunia were helping lead the students as class representatives.
"Wait a second. Isn't that Eiran over there?"
A Seirun student asked in a bewildered voice.
At those words, Lunia's eyes widened, and she turned her head.
She spotted Eiran hesitantly following behind Rune.
The Seirun students also began to murmur upon seeing Eiran.
"Student Eiran!"
Herdium, too, approached Eiran with a surprised expression.
"Ah, hello, Professor Herdium."
"Student Eiran! You must have decided to return to school after our talk!"
Eiran gave an awkward smile at her homeroom teacher, who was beaming with pride.
Herdium had held a private meeting with Eiran, one of his students, after arriving here.
He had felt it was a shame that Eiran, a student of exceptional talent, had started refusing to attend school at some point.
"Thank you for your concern, Herdium."
"Not at all, Professor Rune. Ah, I mean, Chairman."
"Eiran. Do you have any idea how worried I was when you returned to your family's home without a word?"
"Miss Lunia. W-well, that's…"
"Are you feeling better now?"
The school had been told that Eiran was resting at home due to illness.
As Eiran grew flustered by Lunia's expressionless face and barrage of questions, Leo approached.
"Are you joining this request too?"
"Ah! Leo."
Dressed in her Seirun uniform, Eiran looked every bit the part of a proper hero cadet.
Seeing Eiran flash a bright smile at Leo, Lunia paused and narrowed her eyes.
'Eiran barely even talks to me, so why is she so friendly with this guy?'
"I'm going to go say hello to the Lumerne students."
"Alright."
He watched with some satisfaction as Eiran went to greet the Class 5 students she had befriended overnight.
Meanwhile, Lunia's face twisted slightly as she watched Eiran chatting warmly with the Lumerne students.
"Leo."
In an instant, Lunia put on her model-student mask and called to Leo with a sweet smile.
"Can we talk for a moment, just the two of us?"
With a look that said, *What is it with her now?*, he followed her into a deserted alley.
"Hey. What on earth did you do? Why is Eiran so much friendlier with you than with me?"
Leo regarded the suddenly transformed Lunia with an intrigued expression and replied.
"I guess she's more comfortable with me than you."
"How does that make any sense? How long have you even known Eiran?"
"Two days at most?"
"That makes even less sense! I'm her school friend!"
"Eiran said she was scared of you."
"What? That can't be right."
"She said you were so terrifying during the duel evaluation that she thought you'd come to hate her."
"That was just because I was focused on the duel. Eiran's skills are so exceptional that even I couldn't guarantee a victory."
"Then you should have looked out for her a bit. It seems Eiran wanted to be friends with you too."
Eiran had said she admired Lunia, who was always so confident in everything she did.
"Look out for her? A student as talented as Eiran? Wouldn't that be rude to her?"
For elves, helping others was a virtue, but offering unsolicited help to an equal could be seen as an insult.
It seemed Lunia had acknowledged Eiran as an equal rival and stopped looking after her as she had before.
'Their personalities are polar opposites.'
It seemed the difference in the two girls' ways of thinking had become an obstacle to their friendship.
"Look out for her. She seems like the type of person who needs someone like you to take care of her."
Even at Leo's words, Lunia still looked like she didn't understand.
As they were returning to where the other students were gathered, Lunia asked.
"Ah. By the way, are you really an All-Class?"
"Yeah."
"Really? Is that even possible?"
"If you're not going to believe me, why ask?"
"Because it sounds like something out of a fairy tale."
In response to Lunia's words, Leo simultaneously released his aura, mana, and spiritual power.
Seeing this, Lunia's jaw dropped.
Leo smiled at Lunia, who wore an expression of disbelief.
"Looks like I'll have to set aside a day to properly test my skills against you."
"Didn't I win our duel?"
"That wasn't a proper duel, was it?"
Lunia smiled sweetly and crossed her arms.
"The stronger my opponent, the more I feel the need to see things through to the very end. It's just my personality."
"Alright, alright. I'll face you when the opportunity arises."
Just as Leo and Lunia returned and were talking.
Thump— Thump—
In the distance, students wearing Seirun uniforms appeared.
They were none other than the upperclassmen of Seirun.
The twenty of them lined up in an orderly fashion before the first-years.
A male student who appeared to be their representative stepped forward.
"Professor Herdium. All of the second-years have arrived in response to the request."
"Oh! Student Lauta, you came as well?"
"Yes."
"Your thesis on star magic! I read it with great interest."
"I'm glad you enjoyed it, Professor Herdium."
"It's a testament to your skill, Student Lauta."
"Yes, but I've heard a strange rumor, Professor Herdium."
"What rumor is that?"
"They say the Founder's magic was deciphered, and that it was a Lumerne student who did it."
"Lauta. I told you it was a baseless rumor."
"Why are you bothering Professor Herdium with something like that?"
At Lauta's question, the other second-years let out scoffing laughs.
"That rumor is true."
"What?"
"This student right here, Lumerne's first-year representative, Leo Flove, succeeded in deciphering that magic."
Herdium introduced Leo with a smile.
The Seirun second-years looked on in disbelief.
Lauta's expression stiffened for a moment before he composed himself and put on a relaxed face in front of Leo.
"Leo, was it? To decipher the Founder's magic. That's truly impressive. My name is Lauta Algraya. I'm in Seirun's second-year Advanced Class 2."
"I'm Leo Flove."
Leo introduced himself as he shook the hand Lauta offered.
"...?"
For a moment, Leo's eyes were drawn to a black ring on Lauta's hand.
As Leo's gaze fell upon the ring, Lauta quickly let go of his hand and turned to Lunia.
"And you must be Lunia El Lundua. It's an honor to meet the famous first-year representative."
"You're too kind."
"I'll be watching to see your skills during this request."
With that, Lauta patted Lunia's shoulder and returned to the other second-years.
"He doesn't seem like a very nice senior."
"You can tell just by looking at him?"
"His face was smiling, but his eyes weren't."
Lunia sighed at Leo's words.
"I heard he looks down on the basic and intermediate classes. But in front of the professors, he pretends to be a model student."
"Seems like there are people like that everywhere."
Leo chuckled.
Meanwhile, the Seirun second-years were chatting amicably with the first-years.
"The second-year seniors in my club only think about teasing me."
"Could the relationship between first and second-years really be that warm?"
The students of Class 5 looked on with envy at the Seirun second-years taking care of their juniors.
Leo returned to the Class 5 group with a puzzled look.
"What's with everyone?"
"You don't do club activities, so you wouldn't know, Leo. The second-years at our school see their juniors as nothing more than toys or free labor."
Karl said, shaking his head.
"Compared to that, those guys over there… Ugh, I'm so jealous."
While most of the class stared in envy.
Halind and Herdium gathered the students.
"We will now begin forming teams. Teams will be decided by drawing lots, and the team leaders will be Seirun second-years."
After Halind finished speaking, the first-year students drew lots.
The teams were composed of four first-years and one second-year.
"Leo! What team did you get?"
"Team 1."
"Oh! I'm in Team 1 too!"
Karl headed over to where their team leader was, looking pleased.
The leader of Team 1 was none other than Lauta.
"So you're the Lumerne members of Team 1. Let's work well together."
"We'll be in your care!"
Karl greeted him cheerfully.
A moment later, the Seirun first-years arrived.
It was none other than Lunia and Eiran.
"You guys are in Team 1?"
"Are you in Team 1 too, Leo?"
"Yeah."
Eiran's face brightened slightly at the sight of Leo.
"Nice to be on the team with you, Eiran."
"You too, Karl."
Watching this exchange, Lunia narrowed her eyes.
'Just a moment ago, she was like a mouse in front of a cat, watching my every move. But the second she sees Leo, her face completely lights up.'
She recalled Leo's earlier words about looking out for her.
'I can look after her just fine!'
"Eiran, come here. You need to greet our senior first."
"S-sorry!"
Lunia frowned at the sight of her apologizing with hunched shoulders.
"Eiran. Don't be so servile. You're a Seirun class representative too. You should have more confidence…"
"I-I'm sorry for being so servile! I'm sorry that someone like me is a class representative!"
Thinking Lunia was angry, Eiran bowed deeply and apologized.
"N-no. That's not what I meant to say!"
Lunia, who had been trying to boost Eiran's spirits, was flustered when her words had the opposite effect.
"Class representative? Eiran, you were a representative too?"
"Yeah. Eiran is the salutatorian of the Seirun first-years."
"Oh? That's amazing!"
Unlike Lumerne, where only the top student in the year becomes the representative, Seirun appoints the top three students.
After calming Eiran down, Lunia greeted Lauta.
"Senior Lauta. We'll be in your care."
"P-please take care of us, Senior."
"It's an honor to lead the class representatives."
Lauta smiled faintly.
"Well, even if two of the first-year representatives are tarnishing the school's name."
At his words, Eiran's face went pale.
Lunia's expression hardened.
"Senior. Don't you think you've gone a bit too far?"
"Lunia. You are undoubtedly a very gifted student. But Eiran here, and Luka, are not."
Lauta stated flatly.
"A class representative who refuses to attend school and a half-blood class representative. Do you have any idea how the second-years view this year's first-years?"
Lunia's face contorted.
'Agh! Seriously! If he weren't my senior, I'd knock him flat!'
Lunia was well aware of how the upperclassmen viewed the first-year representatives.
It was true that at the authority-conscious Seirun Academy, there was gossip about the other representatives, Eiran and Luka.
'But Eiran and Luka earned their positions through skill alone!'
"Second-years, assemble."
"I'll be back. Get ready in the meantime."
As Lauta left, Lunia stomped her feet—*thump! thump!*—and growled.
"What a jerk! One of these days, I'm going to smash his face in!"
"Ooh! Full of spirit, aren't you?"
Lunia whipped her head around to see Karl grinning and giving her a thumbs-up.
"So the model student act was just a mask after all!"
"What made you think that?"
"I knew it from the first day when you grabbed Leo by the collar."
Chuckling, Karl extended his hand.
"I'm Karl Thomas."
"You're an interesting one. I'm Lunia El Lundua."
Having cast off her model-student mask, Lunia shook Karl's hand firmly.
"Anyway, he really is a jerk, isn't he? Right, Leo?"
Karl grumbled, lacing his fingers behind his head.
"He definitely went too far."
"Hmph! It's probably because he's a walking inferiority complex."
"Why would someone in the advanced class have an inferiority complex?"
"I heard he was in the basic class until his first year. It seems he suddenly grew to an advanced class level when he became a second-year."
Leo paused at Lunia's words.
"His skills suddenly improved?"
"Yeah. It was a huge topic throughout Seirun at the beginning of the semester. He's the talk of the school this term."
'His performance suddenly improved?'
Recalling the incident during the midterms, Leo narrowed his eyes and watched Lauta.
'Could it be?'
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