Chapter 172
Chapter Title: An Unexpected Recommendation
-----------------------------------------------------------------
172
A cafe in the first-year classroom building.
Lis brought his coffee over and sat down in front of Leo.
The first-years nearby spotted Leo and Lis, their eyes widening as they began to whisper amongst themselves.
The first-year representative meeting with the fifth-year representative and student council president.
It was impossible not to be interested.
Especially since the recent revelation that Leo's maternal family was the Jerdingers, the interest was bound to be even greater.
The next head of the Jerdinger family and his cousin.
A duo that could very well dictate the future of the empire.
Just then, a few female students approached Lis, their faces blushing.
“Um! Mr. President! Could we please have your autograph?”
“Me too! We're in the Knight Department!”
The two first-year girls asked for his autograph, their eyes sparkling.
Lis smiled and signed for them both.
“Of course. Keep up the hard work with your studies.”
“Thank you!”
“Wow! It's the president's autograph!”
Squealing with delight, the two girls then saw Leo and waved with bright smiles.
“See you in the next class, Leo.”
Watching the two girls leave happily, Leo spoke.
“You seem very used to this.”
“Because I am. As a year representative yourself, you'll be like this too when the new students arrive.”
Leo looked puzzled at Lis's words.
“The other year representatives don't seem to be nearly as popular as you, Lis.”
Hark, the fourth-year representative, sleeps all day and doesn't deal with anyone.
Elena, the third-year representative, is the queen of the school.
Leo saw her as approachable, but she was always surrounded by a royal guard of sorts.
As for Ril, the second-year representative, she was kind and friendly, but her devotion to the underclassmen was so great that if a first-year got caught by her, they'd be stuck listening to her for hours.
As a result, the first-years were weary of her and dreaded approaching her.
Lis let out a soft chuckle at Leo's words.
“Well, they are a bit peculiar.”
*More than just 'a bit,' I think.*
As Leo scoffed inwardly, Lis continued.
“Anyway, let's save this talk for later.”
*Clink—*
Lis lifted his coffee cup.
Taking a sip, Lis smiled faintly.
“The coffee here is still the same.”
“It must have been a while since you were here.”
“This is my first time since I was a first-year. As you know, the curriculum at Lumerne can be surprisingly hectic.”
Setting his cup down, Lis leaned back comfortably in his chair.
“I never really had the time to revisit old memories. It's only now, in my final year, that I've found the leisure to come to a place like this.”
Leo nodded in understanding.
“Right, and since you're the heir to the Jerdinger family, you must have been even busier.”
As the heir to the great Hero family, the Jerdingers, Lis would have had no choice but to be completely dedicated to his school life.
Celia, too, was famous among the first-years for being a flawless honor student.
It was due to the mindset that, as direct descendants of the Jerdinger line, they could not afford to show even the slightest flaw.
As Celia's older brother and the family's heir, Lis must have had to lead a school life that was the very definition of perfection.
*Knowing his personality, he was probably even stricter with himself than Celia is.*
That was why Lis was known as the flawless student council president.
A man who had risen to the top here at Lumerne, a place overflowing with talented students.
The student council president acknowledged by all.
That was Lis Jerdinger.
“That's true. Well, thanks to all that hard work, I'm thoroughly enjoying my school life now.”
Since the start of the second semester, most of the fifth-years were relaxed.
For five long years, they had been thrown into the crucible of competition and survival.
Now, with graduation just around the corner, there was no reason to worry about such things.
In the second semester, Lumerne's fifth-years would hand over their club and department positions and enjoy a leisurely time.
Even the professors didn't bother them much.
It was, quite literally, a rest period for the students who had worked so hard for five years.
Lis seemed to be no different.
He explained that he had already finished handing over his student council duties.
“Well, there is still one headache left.”
“A headache?”
“The next student council president.”
At Lis's words, Leo thought of the two students currently being discussed as candidates.
The first was the fourth-year, Hark Liguard.
He would be a fifth-year next year, and he was one of the top three strongest students in the entire Knight Department.
Furthermore, he was the heir to one of Lumerne's three great Hero families.
“Whether you look at his year, his skill, or his background, honestly, there's no one better suited than Hark.”
Lis sighed lightly.
“But he has no interest in the position. He also thinks he's not cut out to be president.”
“That's surprising. I heard a rumor he wanted to become president to keep Elena in check.”
“It's true that Hark and Elena are rivals, but Hark couldn't care less whether she becomes president or not. That rumor is circulating because the fourth-years don't particularly like Elena.”
Hearing this, Leo rested his chin on his hand and thought of Elena.
*She's definitely the type to make a lot of enemies.*
Leo let out a dry laugh.
She does what she wants without caring what others think.
She might seem like a simple, immature child, but the problem was that Elena had the ‘ability’ to back it up.
In particular, Elena was said to have had a lot of trouble with the seniors a year above her since the beginning of the semester.
*Are we similar in that regard?*
Leo shook his head at the thought.
*No. The second-years come and pick fights with me. She's the type to create incidents. I'm a moderate.*
“Anyway, it's not obvious on the surface, but the third and fourth-years don't actually get along very well right now.”
The third-years were completely under Elena's control.
As a result, the relationship between the fourth-years who disliked Elena and the third-years naturally soured.
“The fifth-years are keeping a lid on it for now, but once we graduate, it's going to become a real problem.”
Lis sighed lightly.
“If Hark were to become president, things would probably stabilize. But forcing someone who doesn't want the job would surely be counterproductive.”
“I suppose so.”
Nodding at Lis's words, Leo then looked puzzled.
“But why are you telling this to me, a first-year?”
He would have understood if Lis were consulting with Ril, a second-year.
After all, Ril had more options than Leo, who was only a first-year.
Yet Lis had specifically come to Leo to talk about the upperclassmen's affairs.
“This is where we get to the main point.”
Lis's expression turned serious.
“With Hark being the way he is, I was leaning toward Elena. I feel a bit sorry for the fourth-years, but I can't hand the presidency over to someone who has no heart for it. And it would be a problem to entrust the position to someone with mediocre skills.”
Leo looked surprised.
He had thought that someone like Lis would play it safe and give the position to a fourth-year.
But to make the bold move of passing it down to a third-year?
“She may be willful, but seeing how she has the third-years in her grasp, Elena has more than enough aptitude to be president.”
Lis sighed lightly.
“Besides, I believe the role of the president is more important now than ever.”
“An important time?”
“Yes. Externally, the current state of the world is precarious.”
Tartaros, which had lain dormant for so long, has begun to stir.
They are even extending their sinister reach to the Hero academies.
In the thousands of years of history for Lumerne and Seirun, it's been rare for Tartaros to target the Hero academies directly.
Lumerne and Seirun may seem quiet on the surface, but internally, they are moving more swiftly than ever before.
“Normally, the optics wouldn't be great. But at a time like this, a president with a long term isn't a bad thing at all.”
If the leader of a group maintains their position, the group stabilizes.
Whether Hark or another fourth-year became president.
Elena becoming president afterward was practically a foregone conclusion.
So, Lis's thinking was that it would be better to just make Elena the president early.
“Besides, while there's a gap between the first to third years, the skill difference between fourth and fifth-years is surprisingly small. Well, Elena was always a powerhouse who paid no mind to her year, anyway.”
Leo looked puzzled at that.
“Then shouldn't you just give the position to Elena?”
Regardless, it was the current president's job to choose the next one.
Besides, it wasn't unprecedented in Lumerne's history for a third-year to become president.
“You're right. She has the capability and the skill. Elena is suited for the presidency. She was even aiming for the position herself.”
Leo nodded.
“Then isn't there no problem?”
Looking at Leo, who was asking if there was a problem, Lis let out a deep sigh.
“Yes. There *was* no problem.”
“...?”
At Lis's sudden remark, Leo looked completely baffled.
Taking a sip of coffee, Lis pressed his temples.
It was an unusual display for someone who rarely showed any change in emotion.
*Did something happen?*
“This morning, I called Elena in and brought up the subject of the presidency.”
Lis's face contorted as if he had a massive headache.
“But she refused the position.”
“Isn't she just trying to make things difficult for you, Lis? That woman's hobby is messing with people.”
For someone as twisted as Elena, that was more than plausible.
“I thought so too, but she said something a little different.”
“Something different?”
“Yes. She declined, saying she wasn't cut out to be president. And then she recommended a candidate.”
“Who was it?”
The willful Elena recommending someone else for president?
Feeling a spark of interest, Leo asked, and Lis extended his index finger.
“...”
Leo frowned.
“Don't tell me.”
“Yes.”
Lis's fingertip was pointed straight ahead.
Directly at Leo.
“Leo, she recommended you as a candidate for student council president.”
*That woman, honestly.*
Leo could feel a headache coming on.
***
“Hum- hum- hum-”
The third-year classroom building.
Sitting on the cafe terrace, Elena hummed a tune, resting her chin on her clasped hands and tapping her foot.
“This is new, Elena. You've been paying attention in class lately. Is it because you're aiming for the presidency?”
A third-year classmate's question was met with a sweet smile from Elena.
“Not really. I'm not interested in being president anymore.”
The classmate's face stiffened at her sudden remark.
“What?”
“I've found something I'd rather do.”
“And what's that?”
Elena grinned.
“It's a secret.”
Elena thought of a certain boy.
A white-haired boy who exuded the air of a Great Hero.
*Leo Flove.*
Her greatest interest at the moment.
There was only one thing she desired.
*The birth of a perfect Great Hero.*