Chapter 190
Chapter Title: A Dragon Bone Sword and a Weekend Invitation
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190
Leo carefully stroked the surface of the longsword.
Dragon bone was one of the materials hailed as the best for crafting weapons.
An incredible material that would excite any alchemist or blacksmith just by hearing its name.
“Th-this is dragon bone…!”
Indeed, Karl was wiping drool from the corner of his mouth beside him.
“What is it?”
“What’s going on?”
“Leo got a sword made of dragon bone!”
“What?”
“No way. Who would gift something so precious?”
“Didn’t his family send it?”
“Isn’t he from a noble family in a remote kingdom?”
“His mother’s side is the Jerdinger family.”
“Eh, even for the Jerdingers, a sword made of dragon bone would be a stretch.”
Murmurs spread among the first-years.
The upperclassmen, hearing the growing commotion from the first-years, looked over with puzzled expressions.
“What’s happening?”
Halind approached.
At his approach, the first-years who had been chattering amongst themselves fell silent in an instant.
It was the formidable Halind effect.
Amidst the silence, Chelsea shot her hand up.
“Professor Halind! Leo received a sword made of dragon bone as a gift!”
“Dragon bone?”
Halind narrowed his eyes.
The professors had expected Leo to receive many gifts at this banquet.
‘But dragon bone is too extravagant.’
A weapon made of dragon bone was highly valued not only for its performance but also for its rarity.
It was an item that, true to its name, a dragon would only bestow upon someone it acknowledged.
An item imbued with a dragon's magic, its price was whatever the seller named.
It wasn't something one would send simply to curry favor.
“Who sent it?”
In response to Halind's question, Leo looked at the letter and said.
“The letter just says it's a congratulatory gift for becoming the student council president, but the sender isn't mentioned.”
“Hmm.”
Halind narrowed his eyes.
“Is there anyone you know who would send something like this?”
At that question, Leo naturally thought of the Dragon Lord, Melina.
Among the people Leo knew, she was the only one who could send such an item.
‘But it's not Melina.’
Leo glanced at the longsword.
If it were Melina, she would have let him know it was from her in a way he could recognize.
“No one.”
Hearing Leo's words, Halind fell into thought.
‘An extravagant gift from an unknown source.’
It would have been inspected upon entering Lumerne, but one could never be sure.
‘After all, until just last year, we didn't know a spy from Tartaros was hidden in Lumerne.’
In that case, there was no harm in being cautious.
“Leo. Just in case, I'll hold onto the sword for a while.”
As his fame and the attention on him grew, there could be those who would try to harm him secretly.
Leo nodded at Halind's words.
“Yes.”
Leo placed the sword back in its box and handed it to Halind.
As the atmosphere buzzed with excitement from the gift delivery.
Sedzen, who was seated at the head table among the professors, lightly tapped his wine glass.
*Clink— Clink— Clink—*
The gentle sound of glass echoed throughout the grand hall.
The students, who had been enjoying themselves chatting with one another, stopped their conversations and looked at Sedzen.
“Everyone. The headmaster will now give a speech. Your attention, please.”
At his words, the students put down their food and straightened their postures.
As Sedzen sat down, Kalian rose to his feet.
“You have all worked hard through the exams. This year, autumn has returned, and now only a quarter of the semester remains.”
Kalian smiled warmly as he looked at the students.
“I hope the fifth-years, our graduating class, will spend their remaining time here meaningfully, and I hope the underclassmen will give their graduating seniors a proper send-off.”
At Kalian's words, the fifth-years wore somewhat bittersweet smiles.
“And starting next week, we will have ‘guests’ from outside.”
At that, the students began to murmur.
“Guests?”
“We just had the joint classes with the three great academies not long ago...”
“Is it okay to have guests when the Lu-Se Games are so close?”
Seeing the students' bewildered reactions, Kalian continued.
“I know what you're worried about. But you need not be concerned. In a way, this may be of great help for the Lu-Se Games.”
Smiling, Kalian raised his wine glass.
“Finally, let us toast to victory in the Lu-Se Games, which will be held in a month.”
At his words, the students raised their glasses.
“To victory this year!”
“Cheers!”
*Clap, clap, clap—!*
As Kalian's banquet speech concluded, a storm of applause erupted.
The banquet began in earnest, and the students enjoyed themselves, relieving the fatigue from their exams.
Since the holidays started tomorrow, they could also take overnight leaves to Lumeria City.
While everyone was chattering cheerfully, Halind, who had slipped out of the banquet, gathered the professors of the magic department.
“So this is the sword that an unknown person sent to student Leo.”
Ren folded his arms and looked at the ordinary-looking longsword.
“Yes. I'd like your opinions on whether it might be cursed or something of the sort.”
In response to Halind, Ren reached out and carefully stroked the longsword's surface.
“It is definitely dragon bone. Though I can't tell the exact content.”
Ren muttered softly, then spoke to the professor next to him.
“Professor Lu. Can you tell?”
The middle-aged female professor called Professor Lu nodded and took out a monocle from her pocket.
Professor Lu, who specialized in alchemy, boasted the greatest knowledge of rare materials in all of Lumerne.
“Let's see.”
Professor Lu, who was closely observing the surface, exclaimed in admiration.
“It's 100% pure dragon bone. It's been a very long time since I've seen something like this.”
Taking off her monocle, Professor Lu wore a puzzled expression.
“It is certainly too extravagant to be sent as a gift.”
“Hmph. This is proof that the sender recognized student Leo's worth.”
Professor Ren looked smug.
Completely ignoring Ren, the magic department professors were about to examine the sword in detail when.
“I will have a look.”
Everyone's gaze turned in one direction.
Albi was approaching.
“Oh, if it's Professor Albi, you should be able to investigate this sword with ease.”
Albi, known as the Sorcerer of the Mystic Eye, possessed eyes that could see through all kinds of magic.
That included the curses and dark magic of Tartaros.
As Lu stepped aside, Albi stood before the sword and activated his Mystic Eye.
*Kiiing—!*
A golden light and the magic formula of fairies appeared in Albi's eyes.
A moment later.
Albi deactivated his Mystic Eye and spoke to Halind.
“There are no traces of Tartaros. Nor are there any spells that would harm the user.”
“Is that so?”
“However.”
“However?”
“The sword itself is an item that would be difficult for an ordinary knight to use.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“This sword is a magic sword.”
“A magic sword?”
“Yes, looking at the formula structure engraved within, it is imbued with spells such as Spell Power Boost, User's Mana Increase, and Casting Assist.”
“The material is one thing, but the formulas are also incredible. They are on a level that you could believe it was a high-grade magic staff.”
Ren exclaimed in admiration, then chuckled. “Hmph!”
“To gift such a magnificent item to student Leo! I don't know who this insightful person is, but they certainly have a keen eye for recognizing student Leo's worth!”
“I suppose so. It seems this item was sent from Seirun.”
*Crack—!*
Ren's face stiffened.
“Seirun?”
Halind looked puzzled.
“Yes. The formulas are engraved with ‘Star Magic.’ Therefore, the formulas here won't be of much help to a human mage. It's a weapon exclusively for a user of ‘Star Magic’—in other words, for elves.”
Albi let out a light breath.
“However, with Leo Flove's skills, it's an item he can handle sufficiently.”
Leo uses Star Magic, which could be called the magic of elves, as if it were perfectly natural.
It was only natural, as the one who taught Leo Star Magic was none other than its creator, Luna.
Currently, there is no one in this world who understands Star Magic as well as Leo.
“Among the elves, only Seirun can create an item of this caliber, which leads to the conclusion that a high-ranking person from Seirun sent a gift to Leo Flove.”
“I see.”
Halind nodded.
“Heheheh... Heheheheh. Hahahahaha. Mwahahahaha.”
At that moment, Ren burst into laughter.
Seeing this, the surrounding professors flinched and shuddered.
Ren abruptly stopped laughing and said, looking as he usually did.
“Let's throw it away.”
“Do you think it's right to dispose of a student's gift so carelessly?”
“Senior Albi. This is a cowardly scheme by those insidious knife-ears. It's a filthy plot to win student Leo's favor by sending such a paltry gift.”
Ren folded his arms.
“Therefore, this is a tainted object. An item meant to deceive student Leo's eyes! So it must be thrown away!”
“Drag him out.”
Halind said mercilessly, and the surrounding professors grabbed Ren and dragged him away.
“Professor Halind! Please listen to me! That sword must be thrown away imme—! Mph! Mph!”
Ignoring Ren, who was being dragged away with his mouth covered, Halind said.
“If there are no major issues, we can return it to Leo.”
“Will that be alright?”
“What do you mean?”
“Ren may have been spouting nonsense, but he's not wrong. This seems like Seirun is testing Leo Flove.”
It was as Albi said.
Lumerne, which evaluates potential in the World of Heroes.
Azonia, which proves skill through a desert-crossing marathon.
Each hero academy has its own unique entrance examination system.
And Seirun's entrance exam is about how well one can handle ‘Star Magic.’
This magic sword unleashes greater power the more proficient the user is with Star Magic.
In that it evaluates proficiency in Star Magic, it was very similar to Seirun's entrance exam.
Seirun's intentions were quite blatant.
At Albi's words, Halind let out a small laugh.
“That's surprising. To think you'd take such an interest in school affairs, Albi.”
“I am a professor at Lumerne, after all.”
Starting this year, Albi had begun lecturing and frequently participated in school matters.
Normally, he wouldn't have even attended a banquet like this.
For Halind, who knew what kind of change of heart he had undergone, it was a positive development.
“Whatever their intentions, there's nothing we can do. And if they want to try, let them.”
Halind's lips curled into a smirk.
“No matter how hard Seirun tries, Lumerne will not have its students stolen.”
Halind said confidently.
“Because Lumerne is the best academy.”
***
The evening after the banquet ended.
The first-year boys' dormitory was bustling.
“Freedom!”
“Let's leave Lumerne for the weekend and have some fun!”
Right after the exams ended, everyone had been exhausted, but after the banquet, evening brought a resurgence of energy with their youthful stamina.
It wasn't just the first-year boys' dormitory; all the dorms were the same.
They were all busy with overnight leave applications.
“Leo! Aren't you going to Lumeria City?”
“I don't know. I was planning to relax here at the academy.”
“Don't you ever get tired of school?”
Karl asked with a look of disbelief.
“Wait. Now that I think about it, aren't people going to ask you to hang out anyway? No date requests or anything?”
“None.”
Just as Leo replied to Karl's question with a chuckle.
“Hey, Leo. You have a visitor.”
“A visitor?”
A male student from another class came to call for Leo.
“Ooh~ Popular as always.”
Karl playfully poked Leo in the side.
“Who is it?”
“It's Ril, the second-year representative.”
At those words, Leo got up with a puzzled look on his face.
Karl, his curiosity piqued, followed Leo.
When they went outside the dormitory, Ril was indeed waiting there.
“Hello, Leo. Congratulations on becoming the student council president. And your friend is?”
“I'm Karl Thomas, Senior Ril!”
“Ah. The one who makes the fatigue recovery potions? I've been using them well.”
Ril gave a crisp bow.
Karl was slightly taken aback by Ril's attitude.
The upperclassmen at Lumerne were often quite condescending toward their juniors.
But Ril, despite being the second-year representative, was impeccably polite to Karl, a first-year.
“Thank you, Senior Ril. But what brings you all the way to the first-year boys' dormitory?”
Ril hesitated at Leo's question.
“Um... I know this might be a bit forward, but Leo. If you don't have plans this weekend, would you be able to go to Lumeria with me for two days and one night?”
“Hmm. I don't have any particular plans, so I don't mind.”
At Leo's words, Ril's expression brightened, and she smiled.
“Yes. Then I will come to pick you up at 6 AM tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
Leo readily nodded.
Ril then left.
Karl watched her go, his mouth agape.
“A-a two-day, one-night date with a second-year female senior?”
“It's not a date, more like she needs advice.”
“What kind of advice session takes two days and one night!”
“It could. Anyway, I have to wake up early tomorrow, so I'm going to bed.”
Leo went straight back to the dormitory.
“Huh? Karl! What are you doing standing here in a daze?”
Just then, Iliana, who was walking through the garden, spotted Karl and approached him.
“Hey, want to hear something huge?”
“What is it?”
“This weekend, Leo's going out with Senior Ril for two days and one night.”
“What?”
Iliana's eyes went wide.
“No way! No way! That's insane! A two-day, one-night date?”
“He said it wasn't a date.”
“Come on! If a guy and a girl are together for two days and one night, it's a date!”
“Right?”
The two, their adolescent imaginations running wild, began to get excited.
Thanks to them, the rumor spread throughout the entire first-year dormitory in no time.